'TAN WAR' REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPER - 'An tOglach' , 1918-1921.......
.......December 8th , 1922 - Liam Mellows , an IRA leader , was in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin , and was shortly to be shot dead by a Free State firing squad . He was writing his last letter , to his mother .......
' Through you , I also send another message ; it is this - let no thought of reprisal or revenge dominate Republicans because of our deaths . We die for the truth , vindication will come, the mist will be cleared away , and brothers in blood will before long be brothers in arms , against the oppression of our country and imperialist England .
In this belief I die happy forgiving all , as I hope myself to be forgiven . The path the people of Ireland must thread is straight and hard and true , though narrow ; only be following it can they be men . It is a hard road , but it's the road our Saviour followed - the road of Sacrifice . The Republic lives , our deaths make that a certainty .
I have had the Chaplain to see me . It is sad but I cannot agree to accept the Bishops' Pastoral , my conscience is quite clear , Thank God , with the old Gaels . I believe that those who die for Ireland have no need for prayer .
God Bless and Protect you ,
Your Loving Son Willie . '
That was the last letter that Liam Mellows , IRA leader , wrote . That was in 1922 ; however , 46 years later (ie in 1968) , a Free State Army Captain , an Ignatius O'Rourke , spoke of what happened next .......
(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.
THE TRUCE.......
"...mid-year , 1921 ; an uneasy time . We were glad to be home , no need to 'duck and dive' , for now, anyway . We were summoned to an IRA Brigade meeting in Cork City ......."
" Paddy Donncha , our IRA Vice-Commandant , and Patsy Lynch , IRA Company Captain of Ballyvourney , had come over on a visit to us ; the four of us uncovered a Model T. Ford , once the property of the enemy . We found that , like 'Kempenfelt's ship' , " ...her timbers they were sound , and she would float again ! " She bore the marks of some of our bullets but none had penetrated her vitals ; we started her up and found her quite roadworthy .
About four o'clock in the evening we were on the road to Cork . We had read something about no ' provocative display of arms ' in the Truce terms , but we felt that it would be a very uncomfortable sensation travelling unarmed amongst the enemy and we therefore carried our revolvers inside our trench coats . We wore our brown gaiters and boots and so were complete in the uniform of the IRA . As we approached Macroom we wondered how the Brits and especially the Auxies would take to us .
It would be a new departure to meet and pass them by as non-belligerents ; our Model T. Ford rattled bravely down Pound Lane , and we would soon know what the enemy made of us now . We drove gallantly up Castle Street past the 'home' of the British Auxiliaries , and across the Square into the Main Street . Here we stopped .
Three of the lads went into a draper's shop a few doors away , while I stood on the kerb a few yards from the rear of the car . A few yards down the road stood a British Auxie - he was staring , looking for trouble ....... "
(MORE LATER).
TINKER , TAILOR , HIGH RISK SPY .......
By Frank Doherty .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' magazine , May 1987 , pages 7 , 8 and 9 .
Re-produced here in 11 parts .
(6 of 11.)
Only now (ie 1987) have British newspapers started to reveal , for example in 'The Observer' , that Maurice Oldfield liked to recall his days as an interrogator in the infamous Maadi Camp , in Cairo , when he "...talked cheerfully about beating (the Jews) up and pushing their heads under buckets of water ..."
Another of the myths about Oldfield is that his homosexuality was unknown - he was as notorious around Whitehall as his friend and fellow spy , Tom Driberg MP , who combined his political career with work for both MI5 and the KGB .
But 'Sir' Maurice Oldfield was not simply a homosexual ; he was a child molester and sadist . That is what the so-called 'rough trade' is all about ; he liked to pick up helpless youngsters and subject them to indignities and sexual assaults .......
(MORE LATER).
