....... March 1858 : Joseph Denieffe was back in America on a fund-raising tour , having played his part in establishing the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Ireland on St. Patricks Day , 17th March , 1858 . But all was not well between the Irish Rebels .......
James Stephens accused John O'Mahony and his people in America of being - " Irish tinsel patriots (who make) speeches of bayonets , gala days and jolly nights , banners and sashes , bunkum and filibustering , responding in glowing language to glowing toasts on Irish National Independence over beakers of fizzling champagne . "
It was in the middle of the above turmoil that Joseph Denieffe found himself in America in the early 1860's . Fund-raising in those circumstances was not possible , but he stayed in that country , perhaps hoping that , when things settled down .....
Joseph Denieffe never 'lost the faith'; he was now living in Chicago and was in his early-thirtys . He continued his work for Irish Freedom , even though the immediate momentum had been lost ....... (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.......
".......I was travelling the four miles , on my bicycle , to meet Donncadh MacNeilus and others ; I was almost there when I passed a four-man RIC patrol . I arrived at the meeting-house and was told of a near clash ......."
" A few minutes before , the lads had been seated in exactly the same positions . The RIC patrols had been the subject of discussion . " Traitors they are , " said the man of the house , " prowling about the country , dragooning the people like the old yeomen did . They should be shot at every door . "
Just then his wife entered the room . " There are two RIC men in the kitchen , " she said , " and two more outside . " So saying , she returned to the kitchen quickly . In all the old farmhouses , because of the big open hearth and chimney , a corridor called 'the entry' connected the parlour and kitchen . As our hostess returned to the kitchen , the RIC Sergeant stood just inside the kitchen door .
He could see into the parlour but could not see the table . Nevertheless , it was plain that he suspected from her hurried movements to and from that room that she had given warning to some party . Meanwhile , the other RIC men had moved further into the kitchen . At the warning , Donncadh MacNeilus had quickly arisen , a long Parabellum rifle in his right hand . Remembering that the gun had not a cartridge in its breech , he swiftly drew the hinged bolt with his left hand and let it home again with a crash .
That sinister sound smote on the RIC Sergeant's ear with telling effect ....... " (MORE LATER).
IT COULD HAPPEN TO A BISHOP.......
[From ' The Sunday Business Post ' newspaper , 16th February 1992 , page 22].
When John P. Hayden was Editor of 'The Westmeath Examiner' newspaper (which he was for seventy-two years !) he supported Charles Stewart Parnell during what became known as that man's 'Divorce Crisis'.
The then Bishop of Meath (not named in the article) objected to Hayden using the newspaper to support Parnell and a verbal row began between the two men . While the 'verbal's' were still being exchanged , a waterworks upgrade was proposed for the town of Mullingar , and the newspaper Editor and the Bishop again dis-agreed over the benefits or otherwise of the new water-works system .
The Bishop snapped - during his sermon at Mass the following Sunday , the Bishop told the congregation that he was now declaring it officially a sin for any of his flock to read The Westmeath Examiner !
......no doubt the old Editor and the Bishop clashed again over that one .......
