.......In December 1857 , Joseph Denieffe went back to America again to raise funds - in March 1858 , he returned to Ireland with £80 . On 17th March that year (1858) he made his next move .......
Joseph Denieffe , Thomas Clark Luby and James Stephens met , as arranged , on St. Patricks Day in 1858 ; the three Irish Rebels then founded the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' , a military organisation whose aim was to overthrow British mis-rule in Ireland .
The following day , Joseph Denieffe returned to America to continue his fund-raising activities - but political trouble was brewing in America , too . Talk , and fear , of a Civil War was everywhere . To make matters worse for Joseph Denieffe's fund-raising efforts , James Stephens and John O'Mahony had fallen-out over the direction that armed resistence to the Brits was going .
America was now home to literally millions of Irish men and women who had been forced to leave Ireland because of British mis-rule and the Great Hunger yet , as far as James Stephens was concerned , John O'Mahony and the American leadership had failed to harness the support amongst the Irish for an armed campaign against the British....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
A QUIET PERIOD.......
"....... Donncadh MacNeilus was in our area to help us plan a raid on the RIC ; we were aware that a four-man team of RIC men would leave their barracks , carrying revolvers ......."
" Evidently , their (RIC) bosses calculated that such a number with rifles would invite attention and fall an easy prey to a local IRA group . Sometimes the patrol used bicycles . Either way , they were a menace to a man who moved about alone . One afternoon in the autumn , I went to meet MacNeilus at a certain house about four miles from home . It was accessible by a quiet bye-road , so I took a bicycle . I carried my revolver inside my coat . As I neared the house I rode down a steep hill at a fast rate . Near the foot of the hill the road made a double turn . Rounding the first bend , I ran into the RIC patrol of four men , with bicycles . They had dismounted and were pushing their bikes uphill . Two came first , one on either side of the narrow road . Twenty yards behind and similarly disposed came the other two .
I rushed between both pairs and around the second bend . I believe they hardly saw me . Within a few minutes I was at the house and in the kitchen . The good woman of the house greeted me and pushed me before her into the parlour . There , the man of the house , his son and MacNeilus were seated at a table , calmly drinking tea . " Did ye see those RIC men ? " , was my answer to their greeting . " We did " , they replied . " They were here . "
As I sat at tea with them , they told me of a very near clash ....... " (MORE LATER).
LUDDITES AND THE LONG VIEW .......
(From 'The Sunday Times' , 'News Review' Section , 4th January 2004 , page 8).
From an article by Tom Hodgkinson on technology --
-- " Most of us would not go as far as to smash up our computers , but it's worth remembering that the original luddites of the early 19th century were not , as routinely suggested in schools , uneducated blockheads who did'nt understand machines .
In fact they correctly predicted that the new weaving machines would take away their independence and turn them into wage slaves . So they smashed up the frames . But here follows a word of warning to potential new luddites : the powers that be don't like us very much . The government's response to the frame-breakers was to pass a law in 1812 that made frame-breaking a capital offence .
It then hanged or deported twelve convicted luddites , one of whom was just 12 years old . Luddism , then , is despised by the authorities but it's always hip : there was only one member of parliament at the time who opposed the frame bill and it was the original rock'n'roll poet himself , Lord Byron . "
Right , folks - now that you've read the above : stand up , take ten steps back , place your mobile-phone in your good hand and throw it at that damn computer screen .......
