Monday, June 14, 2004

JOHN SADLEIR and WILLIAM KEOGH - 19th Century Irish Turncoats .......

.......The Irish were 'down' but not 'out' - various secret societies were striking-back as best they could against the ruthlessness of the British 'ruling-class' and their 'Landlords' and agents .......

It was into this era that a child was born in 1815 , in County Tipperary ; John Sadleir . At the time that John Sadleir was growing-up , a man named George Henry Moore (who was connected to , and supported by , the Catholic Church Hierarchy) was organising a 'pressure-group' which was to be called the 'Irish Brigade' to lobby Westminster on behalf of the Catholic Church , its members , and its 'flock' - John Sadleir joined the 'Irish Brigade' lobby-group and became a prominent member of it , as did about twenty liberal-minded British MP's , including William Keogh (who , in later years , was to be appointed a Judge by the British , to act against the Fenians).

When John Sadleir was 36 years of age (in 1851) the British Administration introduced the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' (on 6th February 1851) making it 'illegal' for any Catholic prelate (ie Priest , Arch-Bishop , Bishop etc) to be that which the Vatican claimed him to be - that is , under the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' it was deemed to be 'a crime' to be described as the 'Parish Priest of XXX' , 'Arch-Bishop of XXX' , 'Bishop of XXX' ! In short , the assumption of titles by Roman Catholic Priests was outlawed by Westminster .......

(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.

KNOCKSAHARING.......

".......We had scattered the British Auxiliaries during our ambush , but now they had re-grouped and were coming back on foot ; it was time for us to withdraw ......."

" Leaving my uncle's house , we went southwards to Lios Bui where an aeroplane hovered over us in an azure sky ; it circled about as if looking for a movement of troops - that was one decided advantage we had over the British forces - we could , without aeroplanes , easily discover British troop movements , while it was quite impossible for them to detect ours, for the simple reason that the 'troops' did not exist ! It would require keen eyes to see the seven of us reclining against a rock in the middle of the Lios Bui Bog ...

The day being still young , and we feeling hungry , we crossed the Toon River to the Claonrath houses where we had tea - then , as the sun started to decline , we retraced our steps to Patsy Dineen's where we heard the news of the day . The Auxiliaries had retrieved their comrades and the lorry and started for Macroom but , at Carrigaphooca , three miles from the town , they found the road blocked by trees . In a panic , fearful of another ambush , they tore them away and broke through ; reaching Macroom , they found that the Workhouse had been burned in their absence ! It had not been , for them , a very profitable day - they had , in fact , received what the Irish would call "more kicks than ha'pence !"

We were unable to find out anything about the enemy's losses on that day ; the Auxies reported that they had no casualties , as they would do in any case , but we could not claim that we had inflicted any , even if we had killed numbers of them in the lorries . We had not even the opportunity of seeing what happened to the lorry that was ditched . The one thing certain was that they had got a bad fright - they had come out to Renanirree expecting to find a number of people , unarmed , gathered together in the school or dance hall . Had they found them , they would , like the brutal yeoman Hempenstall , have constituted themselves as judge , jury , hangman , gallows , rope and all......."

(MORE LATER).


ETHIOPIA - A Brief History .......

(First published in 'HOT PRESS' Magazine , 6th May 1988 , Volume 12 , No. 8 , page 28).

Re-produced here in 10 parts .


(4 of 10).


By then , Ethiopia's isolation had led to the romantic European myth of 'Prester John' , a benevolent Christian King encircled by the hordes of pagan Africa ; the reality was less glamorous - by the 19th Century , the 'King of Kings' had only a titular role , with the real powers held by the Provincial 'Lords' . As the European powers began the colonisation of Africa , the Ethiopian monarchy revived ; Emperor Theodorus (1855-1868) was the first to seek to re-establish its powers but when (British) Queen Victoria's minions (through insensitive bureaucratic omission , it must be said) refused to answer a diplomatic letter and he imprisoned the British representatives at his court , a punitive expedition led to his defeat and suicide .

But this colonial foray was'nt a prelude to British conquest . Their campaign had been much aided by the other Ethiopian Lords' refusal to support the unpopular and over-ambitious Theodorus . Besides , the British would soon be embroiled fighting the Mahdi in the neighbouring Sudan .......

(MORE LATER).