JOHN SADLEIR and WILLIAM KEOGH - 19th Century Irish Turncoats .......
.......With about forty elected members in the British Parliament in Westminster , the 'Independent Irish Party' put its requests to 'Lord' Derby's Tory-led Government but were re-buffed - so the 'IIP' withdrew its support and that Administration collapsed .......
The main opposition party in Westminster , the 'Whigs' , led by 'Lord' Aberdeen , apparently promised John Sadleir IIP MP and William Keogh IIP MP that the 'Whigs' would be sympathetic to the interests of the 'Independent Irish Party' and the two Irish MP's , in turn , passed this information on to the Ruling Body of their own Party ; it was agreed to support the 'Whigs' in their bid for power which , with 'IIP' support , they got .
...And no sooner had 'Lord' Aberdeen climbed into the Prime Ministerial Chair when his political promises to Sadleir and Keogh were cast aside ; he was , it seems , prepared to 'honour' part of the agreement he made with the 'Independent Irish Party' representatives and Party , but not enough to satisfy them , and certainly not enough when compared with what he said he would do . This led to rows and bickering within the 'IIP' , a signal which 'Lord' Aberdeen picked-up on and used to his own advantage , in true Brit 'divide-and-conquer'-style.......
(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.
1921 - The Big Round-Up.......
".......We knew the Brits were planning a round-up ; our IRA Column had been temporarly disbanded , although seven of us stayed together . We were discussing our immediate plans to lay low somewhere......"
" The weather was unusually fine and dry and the mountains along and across the Cork/Kerry border would be well searched by enemy infantry - it was easy enough to search the same mountains , as most of them were bare and devoid of even heather . Certainly , a column of men could not hope to escape attention from enemy columns scattered about on the neighbouring hills . Even one man could not move without being seen by any fairly vigilant and well-posted sentry .
All of us present well knew the disadvantages of the bare Kerry mountain in a round-up or in a clash with stronger enemy forces ; yet , six out of the seven voted to go to Kerry well beyond the western limit of the circle . To escape the net was not entirely their motive - Corney wanted to avail of the period of inactivity to pay a visit home to west Cork , and the others declared that they would accompany him some distance and then go further into Kerry to meet some of the Kerry IRA men we knew .
My uncle and I opposed the decision to go into any mountain country or to leave our own ground at all - " I think, " said Dan , " it is a great mistake to go near those mountains now , for they will be swarming with troops . I'd much prefer to keep the low , broken boggy ground , be damned! "
The man was wise and the next few days were to prove his wisdom ; however , the others decided to go and asked me to come with them ......."
(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 .
(8 of 10).
The traumas of war and revolution inevitably caused economic stagnation which hindered Ethiopia's own ability to counteract the 1984/'85 famine . Also , though the Russians did give economic help , it was starved of Western governmental development aid ; while Somalia received $70 per capita and Sudan got $29 , Ethiopia was permitted only $9 . It was inevitable , in time, that things would give ...
The next significant Emperor , after Emperor Theodorus (1855-1868) was Johannes IV (1887-1889) who extended the 'royal' power , but battle was only really joined during the reign of his successor , Menilek (1889-1913). Under-funded , under-manned and unaware of the strength and firepower of Menilek's forces , previously supplied by French gunrunners like the poet , Arthur Rimbaud , the Italians marched into the mountainous interiors to be overwhelmed at Adowa in 1896 in what was the only conclusive African victory over a European power in the Colonial period .
So Menilek became the founder of the Ethiopian state , extending its rule to the south , west and east ; building Addis Ababa ; and starting the slow , technical modernisation of the state . At his death , Haile Selassie attained power , first as Regent , in 1916 , finally ascending the imperial throne in 1930 to face the second Italian assault on Ethiopia .......
(MORE LATER).
