JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......
.......the ' Loyal National Repeal Association ' had 'split' ; those that left formed ' The Young Irelanders ' and immediately called for an armed revolt against British mis-rule in Ireland . The Brits moved quickly .......
One of the leaders of 'The Young Irelanders' , John Mitchel , was 'arrested' for writing " ...wild and menacing words ..." then , in April 1848 , the 'Treason Felony Act' was introduced , followed by the suspension of 'Habeas Corpus' on July 25th , 1848 ; William Smith O'Brien recognised that the Brits were 'battening down the hatches' - with John Mitchel in a British prison , he was in command ; he called for an immediate Rising against the British .
A 'War Council' was appointed , comprising William Smith O'Brien , Thomas Francis Meagher and John Blake Dillon ; the latter was to come to the fore in the late 1870's when , as a member of the 'Irish National Land League' , which was formed in 1879 to protect the Irish 'tenantry' against the abuses of British 'landlords' , he led a campaign against a British 'landlord' who was buying-up lands from which Irish 'peasants' had been evicted .
As a result , a new word was to enter the English language .......
(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.......
".......we were milling around the scene of the 'lake' incident when , out of nowhere , our gentlemanly Officer announced that he had "...a good expedient ..." to save the situation ....... "
" He jumped in to the flood waters ; we were stricken with complete but short-lived paralysis , which gave way to violent contortions , followed by sustained convulsions . The group holding on to the big horse let him go and he started to drown again - they held on to each other and by this means managed to save their lives . Dan MacNamara took hold of me and somehow we managed to reach the house ; Sean O'Hegarty , our IRA Brigadier , had come outside to meet us but we could tell him nothing ; we staggered indoors - Sean now started to swear at us since we would not tell him the joke . At length I managed to speak the Officer's name , and Sean heard it .
" Maybe he's drowned ? " , he enquired . " Well " , I said , " he was under water when we left . " Sean now became afflicted by this announcement ; at length we sat on chairs and waited , our eyes on the open door . By and by the procession arrived , headed by the 'victim ' ! The 'mourners' made an indecent scramble for position , determined to extract the full value from this unexpected windfall : Sean's face was as grave as the hanging judge's as his eyes assessed the depreciation . " You got wet then , Dick ," he commented dryly ......."
(MORE LATER).
PASSPORT SCANDAL....... !
By Patrick Murphy .
First published in 'New Hibernia' magazine , May 1987 , page 13 .
A 'skit' in five parts .
(3 of 5).
Meanwhile , at the opening of a new IDA (Free State 'Industrial Development Agency') sponsored passport-making factory at Tallaght , Dublin , yesterday , the new Minister for Women's Affairs , Mrs. Bridget Tehran Radio announced that passports have gone on sale to all newsagents and post offices throughout the country . Anyone who buys two passports with the same number stands to win £1,000 , plus two Iranian women , plus the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs or one million free passports !
The State Government has disclosed that the money raised by the sale will go towards funding social security benefits for the three million Irish citizens who now live in Tripoli .......
(MORE LATER).
