PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.......
....... Ireland in the early 19th Century ; Catholics banned from sitting in the English Parliament , Daniel O'Connell striding the Nationalist stage - and a baby born , in February 1827 , in Dublin : Philip Grey .......
Philip Grey was born 24 years after Robert Emmets Rising and 21 years before the 'Young Irelanders' were themselves to rise-up in arms against the British ; the pro-British 'Orange Order' was 32 years on the go (formed in 1795) and , five years before the birth of Philip Grey (ie in 1822), an Ulster (ie- the Nine Counties) Presbyterian Clergyman , a Rev. James Law , was born ; he was later to become the father of a child , whom he christened 'Andrew Bonar' , a then-future leader of the British Conservative Party ... . Interesting times .
When Philip Grey was a young man of almost 20 years of age (in 1847), a Harrow-educated upper-class Protestant (and member of the British Parliament), a William Smith O'Brien (intially a supporter of Daniel O'Connell) established 'The Irish Confederation' organisation (in January 1847). Philip Grey was one month away from his 20th birthday at that time .......
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WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... Thirty-six lorry loads of British reinforcements were on their way to save their comrades in the cottages ; we had to retreat , which we did reluctantly - but we were due another clash with the Brits within the next two hours ......."
" We had no reserve forces to come to our relief . Our only hope lay in a speedy action , and a retreat in the right direction , before the net could be closed . Nevertheless , before we left , the British Auxiliaries were quiet boys ; fourteen had been killed and twenty-six wounded . Half of them , roughly, were out of action and it was only the certainty of relief that caused the remainder to hang on . We had no casualties and had , therefore , much to be thankful for .
We crossed over Cnoc an Uir and descended to Ullanes Valley ; turning west , we ascended Ullanes Hill and kept along its ridge until we came down to cross the mountain road from Ballyvourney to Millstreet . A branch of this road runs into the glen of Coomnaclohy - here , in the cul-de-sac from a military point of view , the city men of our IRA Column insisted on stopping for a cup of tea at Dinneen's Farmhouse . My brother Pat strongly opposed that proposal , pointing out to the men that , while we were safe from attack from behind us , a sudden invasion by lorry-borne British troops would compel us to ascend the steep sides of the glen where there was difficult footing and little cover .
Taking the Lewis-Gun Section with him , Pat went up to Muing Lia where , from a height , he could look down from the west on the valley we had just crossed . We went into the farmhouse and soon we were seated at a table , very much at our ease and about to enjoy a cup of tea which a young girl had just poured for each of us . Nine hours had passed since we had anything to eat - over forty years have passed since I saw that cup of tea poured out , and I have forgotten many things , but I can still see that cup of tea : I put sugar in it and I had the jug in my hand to put milk in it , but that was as far as I got . I had been looking through the window which was straight in front of me ......."
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THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(6 of 9).
The British police did not apply for William Quinn's extradition while he was in Portlaoise Prison or after his release in early 1976 , although the Gardai kept them informed about his whereabouts during 1976 and 1977 . A British Crown lawyer told Quinn's trial that they did not want to get involved in complex extradition proceedings and they hoped he might return to Britain , where he might lead them to his accomplices and then be picked-up .
The Balcombe Street group had already been arrested by then , however - the hope that William Quinn might return to Britain was also given as a reason for not informing him about the identification . The British finally applied for Quinn's extradition in 1979 but by then he had retured to America , where he was working quite openly in his uncle's shop in San Francisco where he was arrested two years later .......
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