JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......
....... the British were quick to dismiss the failed 'Young Ireland' Rising of 1848 as "...a farce .." ; but , while the Brits were sniggering at the failure , the Irish were learning from it ...
The British derisively described that attempted Rising as "...the battle of the Widow MacCormicks cabbage garden .." ; the fact that armed British military personnel practically kidnapped five Irish children that day , and held them hostage to save their own skins , was not talked about . Incidentally , ten years after the Brits 'distinguished' themselves that day , 29th July , 1848 , in Ballingarry , County Tipperary , Irish Rebel veterans from that campaign , who had re-grouped , set-up the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) (ie in 1858) .
James Stephens had organised the IRB in a 'cell' system (which he learned while 'on the run' in France after the 1848 Rising) and John O'Mahony used his enforced 'stay' in America , again after the 1848 action , to obtain material resources and support from the Irish community there to have another go at the Brits . With 'thanks' to the British themselves , it can be seen that the 1848 Young Ireland Rising led to the establishment of the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1858 .
But the British would prefer that no link be made , that each Rising , each Rebellion , be dismissed as "...a farce .." , as the actions of an unrepresentative few 'malcontents' . That is , after all , how the 'Empire' was built and maintained ; and , for our part , this 'weblog' has no hesitation at all in cheering on those 'malcontents' !
[END of ' JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' Ireland , January 15th 1920 - Elections'.)
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" .......in 1907 , at 49 years young , Irish Rebel Tom Clarke returned to Ireland and opened a newspaper shop in Parnell Street , in Dublin . Padraig Pearse was amongst those who were frequent visitors ..... "
" They sought the help of the man who had for so long been tested in the crucible of suffering and had been found unbreakable ; nor did he fail them . In 1916 , they repaid him by insisting that his should be the first signature to the Proclamation of the Republic ; it was the greatest day of Tom Clarke's life , though well he knew it meant for him the end . He was shot on 3rd May 1916 , at 58 years of age . Of those only eighteen had been spent in Ireland .
A man is judged by the life he has led ; I know of no more splendid figure than Tom Clarke ; the onset of the years chills the blood of most men - add to this the incredible physical and mental torture which he had endured for almost sixteen of those years . Most of the remainder were years of hardship and disillusionment . His father's influence and his early environment militated against his faith yet , like Padraig Pearse , he turned his back on 'the beautiful vision of the world' , and set his face to the road before him , the road indicated by 'the Old Woman...'
It would be easy to give many more examples from amongst the elite of the followers of Roisin Dubh , as 'the Old Woman' is sometimes called , but space would not allow it . Our own time produced many heroic men and women of a standard that could not be excelled ; some of the greatest came from the least-expected direction - the British service . I will mention only two : Roger Casement and Jim Daly ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
(4 of 5).
" For those who would be concerned that such an intervention in the West Belfast election is a new tendency , or departure , they can be assured that the military struggle will go on with all the energy at our disposal and , in fact , victory would actually be hastened with the development of a complementary radical political offensive . ('1169...' comment - the Provo military struggle , against the British , at least , is over , and their "radical political offensive" now involves sitting in Stormont and Leinster House - the more things change etc .)
Our attitude to constitutional politics is quite simple and clear cut - there is no such thing as constitutional politics in this country ; the last legitimate constitutional forum in Ireland , Dail Eireann , was proclaimed "illegal" and subverted by the British and the Free Staters . Outside of a thirty-two county sovereign , independent , democracy the IRA will have no involvement in what is loosely called 'constitutional politics ' . " ('1169...' comment - "...no involvement ...in constitutional politics ..." Stormont ? Leinster House ? )
(MORE LATER).
