PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.......
....... Philip Grey , in his early 20's , lived in a time when 2,466,414 Irish people emigrated or died because of 'The Great Hunger' of 1845-1849 .......
Philip Grey wanted justice ; his family had taken an active part in the 1798 Rising and now , he, too, wanted to play his part . He joined the Dublin Branch of 'The Irish Confederation' (which had its Offices in Queen Street , Dublin) and soon became Dublin Secretary for the organisation .
Not apparently inspired by politics (due perhaps to Daniel O'Connell's political failure to convince the British to change , or at least ease , its position re Ireland), Philip Grey studied military tactics and weapons use and , although by now working as a railway clerk in Drogheda , he could be found each night in the Queen Street Office in Dublin training other Rebels in all matters military.
In mid-1848 , while he was in County Meath , Philip Grey heard that 'The Young Ireland' Rising had began ; he tried to gather a fighting-force around him in that county (Meath) , but failed - he left for Tipperary , where he joined-up with William Smith O'Brien and James Stephens and took part in the 'Battle of Ballingarry'.......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......We were outnumbered and outgunned - but we were also lucky. Three British Army soldiers were wounded in the engagement , as was one of our men ......."
" The Dunmanway Auxiliaries arrived at Kilnamartyra , a few miles south of Coolnacahera , early in the forenoon while fighting was in progress . From several hilltops they viewed the scene and listened to the gun-fire ; instead of going straight towards it by a very direct road which would have brought them out at Poul na Bro , just where they were wanted on the western flank of the Column , they continued westward to Renanirree , four miles away . Turning north , they went in the general direction of Ballyvourney , but by the most intricate network of bye roads .
They arrived there , of course in time to be late , but that does not appear to have depressed them unduly . Indeed , at one of their stops in Kilnamartyra , one of them was heard to remark that they would be there quite soon enough ! An unarmed man running away from them would perhaps have roused their enthusiasm ; like their comrades who waited on the Killarney Road , the noise of battle did not appeal to them ! Fifty-two lorries of British Army Regular and Auxiliary soldiers were present at or near the scene of battle at noon . Excepting the Brit troops that entered Coomnaclohy , the others did not show any great desire to follow up our IRA Column .
Instead , they choose a more congenial occupation - they burned the two cottages that had sheltered the Auxiliaries and saved their comrades lives , and burned a neighbouring hayshed and two farmhouses . North of Ballyvourney Village , they shot down an unarmed IRA Volunteer , severely wounding him . But the day was not without its humour ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
[9 of 9].
Ironically , the judge who finally ordered William Quinn's extradition in the United States' Ninth Circuit Court , had said - " Clearly the evidence...linking Quinn with the Tibble murder is not overwhelming . If that were all the evidence introduced at a murder trial , Quinn could not be cinvicted . "
That was before the details of the "secret" identification had come to light . Meanwhile , Gareth Peirce is also disturbed at the role played by the Gardai in setting up an identification which she claims denied William Quinn all the safeguards normally insisted on in such cases .
[END of 'THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......'].
(Tomorrow - 'Breakaway Parties Have Poor Record ...' ; from 1985).
Friday, May 21, 2004
PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.......
....... Ireland , mid-19th Century - in his early 20's , Philip Grey would have witnessed ' The Irish Confederation ' being established to challenge the Brits regarding their mis-rule in Ireland ; but another plague was stalking the land - ' The Great Hunger ' . A pro status-quo newspaper , ' The Freemans Journal ' , wrote the following Editorial in February 1849 ...
" We ask again - is it not possible to contrive some means of saving the people from this painful and lingering process of death from starvation ? Do we live under a regular or responsible government ? Is there justice or humanity in the world that such things could be , in the middle of the nineteenth century and within twelve hours' reach of the opulence , grandeur and power of a court and capital the first upon the earth ? "
As mentioned in '1169.....' recently , 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper was a 'Castle-Catholic' organ , fully constitutionally-minded , regardless of the suffering of the population . A tangent - In 1841 , the population of Ireland was 8,175,124 ; a (then) normal rate of population increase for a ten-year period should have seen , by 1851 , at least 9,018,799 people on this island : however , the 1851 census recorded only 6,552,385 people 'living' in Ireland .
Emigration and death , caused by 'The Great Hunger' of 1845-1849 took away 2,466,414 Irish people .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......I never got my mug of tea ; in the distance we could see the line of British Army lorries heading towards us - they were full of armed soldiers ......."
" Our men had lined a fence parallel to the road and back a few hundred yards . The lorries stopped on the road opposite them ; the Brits must have seen someone . I saw one of our men stand up just before they stopped . At any rate , they dismounted and deployed as if on field exercise . Rapidly advancing , they reached the middle of the field - our men opened fire , and the enemy fell flat and returned a volley . Then rising , they again rushed forward .
I noticed that they had yet no casualty ; their flanks were extended beyond our line and they greatly outnumbered our men , who began to withdraw and shoot in like manner . The shooting on both sides was equally bad . Now our men had to face the hill and were doing so in the worst possible way - here , my brother intervened and directed them into a cumar , or bed of a stream , which ran slantwise to the enemy and so gave shelter . With a few men he held back the enemy while the others escaped . The British soldiers continued to fire but did not attempt to follow up .
When they reached us , Corney asked why we had not fired over their heads with the Lewis-Gun ; we replied that we could have done little or no damage at that range to the extended enemy , and might have caused confusion among some of our own men coming uphill . Three British soldiers were wounded in this skirmish , and one of our men got a very slight wound in the hand . While the shooting lasted and for some time afterwards , British Army lorries stood a few miles south of us on the Killarney Road .
Had they had the will to do so , they could actually have driven up behind us ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(8 of 9).
William Quinn's U.S. lawyer , Ms. Carlene Rohan , who was in court for the trial , commented that no American court would have admitted the evidence of identification . Gareth Peirce says it is a deeply worrying case and she has lodged an appeal on the grounds that British Police Constable Blackledge's identification should never have been put to the jury .
The result will be watched closely in the U.S. where a new Extradition Treaty with Britain was passed in 1986 only on the understanding that extraditees would get a fair trial before British courts .......
(MORE LATER).
....... Ireland , mid-19th Century - in his early 20's , Philip Grey would have witnessed ' The Irish Confederation ' being established to challenge the Brits regarding their mis-rule in Ireland ; but another plague was stalking the land - ' The Great Hunger ' . A pro status-quo newspaper , ' The Freemans Journal ' , wrote the following Editorial in February 1849 ...
" We ask again - is it not possible to contrive some means of saving the people from this painful and lingering process of death from starvation ? Do we live under a regular or responsible government ? Is there justice or humanity in the world that such things could be , in the middle of the nineteenth century and within twelve hours' reach of the opulence , grandeur and power of a court and capital the first upon the earth ? "
As mentioned in '1169.....' recently , 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper was a 'Castle-Catholic' organ , fully constitutionally-minded , regardless of the suffering of the population . A tangent - In 1841 , the population of Ireland was 8,175,124 ; a (then) normal rate of population increase for a ten-year period should have seen , by 1851 , at least 9,018,799 people on this island : however , the 1851 census recorded only 6,552,385 people 'living' in Ireland .
Emigration and death , caused by 'The Great Hunger' of 1845-1849 took away 2,466,414 Irish people .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......I never got my mug of tea ; in the distance we could see the line of British Army lorries heading towards us - they were full of armed soldiers ......."
" Our men had lined a fence parallel to the road and back a few hundred yards . The lorries stopped on the road opposite them ; the Brits must have seen someone . I saw one of our men stand up just before they stopped . At any rate , they dismounted and deployed as if on field exercise . Rapidly advancing , they reached the middle of the field - our men opened fire , and the enemy fell flat and returned a volley . Then rising , they again rushed forward .
I noticed that they had yet no casualty ; their flanks were extended beyond our line and they greatly outnumbered our men , who began to withdraw and shoot in like manner . The shooting on both sides was equally bad . Now our men had to face the hill and were doing so in the worst possible way - here , my brother intervened and directed them into a cumar , or bed of a stream , which ran slantwise to the enemy and so gave shelter . With a few men he held back the enemy while the others escaped . The British soldiers continued to fire but did not attempt to follow up .
When they reached us , Corney asked why we had not fired over their heads with the Lewis-Gun ; we replied that we could have done little or no damage at that range to the extended enemy , and might have caused confusion among some of our own men coming uphill . Three British soldiers were wounded in this skirmish , and one of our men got a very slight wound in the hand . While the shooting lasted and for some time afterwards , British Army lorries stood a few miles south of us on the Killarney Road .
Had they had the will to do so , they could actually have driven up behind us ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(8 of 9).
William Quinn's U.S. lawyer , Ms. Carlene Rohan , who was in court for the trial , commented that no American court would have admitted the evidence of identification . Gareth Peirce says it is a deeply worrying case and she has lodged an appeal on the grounds that British Police Constable Blackledge's identification should never have been put to the jury .
The result will be watched closely in the U.S. where a new Extradition Treaty with Britain was passed in 1986 only on the understanding that extraditees would get a fair trial before British courts .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, May 20, 2004
PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.......
.......When Philip Grey was one month away from his 20th birthday , William Smith O'Brien MP established a pro-Irish organisation - 'The Irish Confederation' ; that was in January 1847 .......
For all his "stiff and stilted mannerisms , his [posh English] accent " and his fine clothes , William Smith O'Brien was said to have traced his Irish ancestry back to the 11th Century - to Brian Boru , the High King of Ireland !
' The Irish Confederation' organisation was established with the intention of pushing harder against the British than Daniel O'Connell was prepared to do ; at that time in our History (ie between 1845 and 1849) the 'Great Hunger' [so-called 'Famine'] was upon the people .
The situation was that bad that one of the most prominent Dublin newspapers of the day , which was a pro-'Establishment' organ , 'The Freemans Journal' , was actually driven to publish an Editorial piece which , had same been published in another newspaper , it would in all probability have condemned .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... Ireland , 1921 - We were 'on-the-run' from the British Auxiliaries ; it was nine hours since we last had something to eat . Tired , hungry and thirsty , we stopped at a farmhouse for a bite and some tea . I was sitting , facing the window , about to put milk in my mug of tea ......."
" Away to the south-east , I could see a white ribbon of road ; I saw a speck appear on it , then another and another - they were coming , one behind the other ... " What do you think those are ? " I asked the girl of the house , indicating to her the road . With the teapot clasped between her hands , she regarded them : " I think they are bicycles, " she replied , still watching them . Then she said again - " No , they are lorries . " They were lorries , sure enough . We went outside , the better to investigate .
The lorries were on the Top Road which runs on high ground to the north of Ballyvourney Village , and parallel to the main road to Killarney . They were coming down to the junction with the mountain road to Millstreet - would they turn down to the Mills , Ballyvourney ? If they did we could return to our tea ; but they did not turn left for Ballyvourney , they turned right and came up the Millstreet Road . There was still a chance for us - would they turn right below Sean Hyde's place and go on to Millstreet ? They did not . They kept left and came on into Coomnaclohy .
We ran forward to a high meadow where we could be seen from the farmhouse below ; I whistled with my fingers , and one of the lads came out . We pointed down to the road . All the men came out of the farmhouse and we signalled them forward , and then to cover , behind a fence . They lined the fence , but my brother said he would go down to them . " If anything goes wrong , " he said , " the city lads may go the wrong way out of here - I'll have to talk to them . " Instructing us to keep an eye on the Killarney Road behind us , he ran downhill from us . Meanwhile , the British Army lorries kept coming , carrying soldiers from their regular army .......
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(7 of 9).
The only evidence against William Quinn was the fingerprints associating him with the Balcombe Street Four , who had the murder weapon , and the identification . The fingerprints of about a dozen other people had also been found in the house and Patrick Bishop and Eamonn Mallie in their recent book on the Provisional IRA name another associate of the Balcombe Street Group as having shot British PC Tibble .
Mr. Justice Rose told the jury that the circumstances of the identification were unsatisfactory but he refused to rule it out . The jury , by now aware from the details of the identification that William Quinn had been convicted of IRA membership in Ireland , convicted him of murder .......
(MORE LATER).
.......When Philip Grey was one month away from his 20th birthday , William Smith O'Brien MP established a pro-Irish organisation - 'The Irish Confederation' ; that was in January 1847 .......
For all his "stiff and stilted mannerisms , his [posh English] accent " and his fine clothes , William Smith O'Brien was said to have traced his Irish ancestry back to the 11th Century - to Brian Boru , the High King of Ireland !
' The Irish Confederation' organisation was established with the intention of pushing harder against the British than Daniel O'Connell was prepared to do ; at that time in our History (ie between 1845 and 1849) the 'Great Hunger' [so-called 'Famine'] was upon the people .
The situation was that bad that one of the most prominent Dublin newspapers of the day , which was a pro-'Establishment' organ , 'The Freemans Journal' , was actually driven to publish an Editorial piece which , had same been published in another newspaper , it would in all probability have condemned .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... Ireland , 1921 - We were 'on-the-run' from the British Auxiliaries ; it was nine hours since we last had something to eat . Tired , hungry and thirsty , we stopped at a farmhouse for a bite and some tea . I was sitting , facing the window , about to put milk in my mug of tea ......."
" Away to the south-east , I could see a white ribbon of road ; I saw a speck appear on it , then another and another - they were coming , one behind the other ... " What do you think those are ? " I asked the girl of the house , indicating to her the road . With the teapot clasped between her hands , she regarded them : " I think they are bicycles, " she replied , still watching them . Then she said again - " No , they are lorries . " They were lorries , sure enough . We went outside , the better to investigate .
The lorries were on the Top Road which runs on high ground to the north of Ballyvourney Village , and parallel to the main road to Killarney . They were coming down to the junction with the mountain road to Millstreet - would they turn down to the Mills , Ballyvourney ? If they did we could return to our tea ; but they did not turn left for Ballyvourney , they turned right and came up the Millstreet Road . There was still a chance for us - would they turn right below Sean Hyde's place and go on to Millstreet ? They did not . They kept left and came on into Coomnaclohy .
We ran forward to a high meadow where we could be seen from the farmhouse below ; I whistled with my fingers , and one of the lads came out . We pointed down to the road . All the men came out of the farmhouse and we signalled them forward , and then to cover , behind a fence . They lined the fence , but my brother said he would go down to them . " If anything goes wrong , " he said , " the city lads may go the wrong way out of here - I'll have to talk to them . " Instructing us to keep an eye on the Killarney Road behind us , he ran downhill from us . Meanwhile , the British Army lorries kept coming , carrying soldiers from their regular army .......
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(7 of 9).
The only evidence against William Quinn was the fingerprints associating him with the Balcombe Street Four , who had the murder weapon , and the identification . The fingerprints of about a dozen other people had also been found in the house and Patrick Bishop and Eamonn Mallie in their recent book on the Provisional IRA name another associate of the Balcombe Street Group as having shot British PC Tibble .
Mr. Justice Rose told the jury that the circumstances of the identification were unsatisfactory but he refused to rule it out . The jury , by now aware from the details of the identification that William Quinn had been convicted of IRA membership in Ireland , convicted him of murder .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.......
....... Ireland in the early 19th Century ; Catholics banned from sitting in the English Parliament , Daniel O'Connell striding the Nationalist stage - and a baby born , in February 1827 , in Dublin : Philip Grey .......
Philip Grey was born 24 years after Robert Emmets Rising and 21 years before the 'Young Irelanders' were themselves to rise-up in arms against the British ; the pro-British 'Orange Order' was 32 years on the go (formed in 1795) and , five years before the birth of Philip Grey (ie in 1822), an Ulster (ie- the Nine Counties) Presbyterian Clergyman , a Rev. James Law , was born ; he was later to become the father of a child , whom he christened 'Andrew Bonar' , a then-future leader of the British Conservative Party ... . Interesting times .
When Philip Grey was a young man of almost 20 years of age (in 1847), a Harrow-educated upper-class Protestant (and member of the British Parliament), a William Smith O'Brien (intially a supporter of Daniel O'Connell) established 'The Irish Confederation' organisation (in January 1847). Philip Grey was one month away from his 20th birthday at that time .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... Thirty-six lorry loads of British reinforcements were on their way to save their comrades in the cottages ; we had to retreat , which we did reluctantly - but we were due another clash with the Brits within the next two hours ......."
" We had no reserve forces to come to our relief . Our only hope lay in a speedy action , and a retreat in the right direction , before the net could be closed . Nevertheless , before we left , the British Auxiliaries were quiet boys ; fourteen had been killed and twenty-six wounded . Half of them , roughly, were out of action and it was only the certainty of relief that caused the remainder to hang on . We had no casualties and had , therefore , much to be thankful for .
We crossed over Cnoc an Uir and descended to Ullanes Valley ; turning west , we ascended Ullanes Hill and kept along its ridge until we came down to cross the mountain road from Ballyvourney to Millstreet . A branch of this road runs into the glen of Coomnaclohy - here , in the cul-de-sac from a military point of view , the city men of our IRA Column insisted on stopping for a cup of tea at Dinneen's Farmhouse . My brother Pat strongly opposed that proposal , pointing out to the men that , while we were safe from attack from behind us , a sudden invasion by lorry-borne British troops would compel us to ascend the steep sides of the glen where there was difficult footing and little cover .
Taking the Lewis-Gun Section with him , Pat went up to Muing Lia where , from a height , he could look down from the west on the valley we had just crossed . We went into the farmhouse and soon we were seated at a table , very much at our ease and about to enjoy a cup of tea which a young girl had just poured for each of us . Nine hours had passed since we had anything to eat - over forty years have passed since I saw that cup of tea poured out , and I have forgotten many things , but I can still see that cup of tea : I put sugar in it and I had the jug in my hand to put milk in it , but that was as far as I got . I had been looking through the window which was straight in front of me ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(6 of 9).
The British police did not apply for William Quinn's extradition while he was in Portlaoise Prison or after his release in early 1976 , although the Gardai kept them informed about his whereabouts during 1976 and 1977 . A British Crown lawyer told Quinn's trial that they did not want to get involved in complex extradition proceedings and they hoped he might return to Britain , where he might lead them to his accomplices and then be picked-up .
The Balcombe Street group had already been arrested by then , however - the hope that William Quinn might return to Britain was also given as a reason for not informing him about the identification . The British finally applied for Quinn's extradition in 1979 but by then he had retured to America , where he was working quite openly in his uncle's shop in San Francisco where he was arrested two years later .......
(MORE LATER).
....... Ireland in the early 19th Century ; Catholics banned from sitting in the English Parliament , Daniel O'Connell striding the Nationalist stage - and a baby born , in February 1827 , in Dublin : Philip Grey .......
Philip Grey was born 24 years after Robert Emmets Rising and 21 years before the 'Young Irelanders' were themselves to rise-up in arms against the British ; the pro-British 'Orange Order' was 32 years on the go (formed in 1795) and , five years before the birth of Philip Grey (ie in 1822), an Ulster (ie- the Nine Counties) Presbyterian Clergyman , a Rev. James Law , was born ; he was later to become the father of a child , whom he christened 'Andrew Bonar' , a then-future leader of the British Conservative Party ... . Interesting times .
When Philip Grey was a young man of almost 20 years of age (in 1847), a Harrow-educated upper-class Protestant (and member of the British Parliament), a William Smith O'Brien (intially a supporter of Daniel O'Connell) established 'The Irish Confederation' organisation (in January 1847). Philip Grey was one month away from his 20th birthday at that time .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... Thirty-six lorry loads of British reinforcements were on their way to save their comrades in the cottages ; we had to retreat , which we did reluctantly - but we were due another clash with the Brits within the next two hours ......."
" We had no reserve forces to come to our relief . Our only hope lay in a speedy action , and a retreat in the right direction , before the net could be closed . Nevertheless , before we left , the British Auxiliaries were quiet boys ; fourteen had been killed and twenty-six wounded . Half of them , roughly, were out of action and it was only the certainty of relief that caused the remainder to hang on . We had no casualties and had , therefore , much to be thankful for .
We crossed over Cnoc an Uir and descended to Ullanes Valley ; turning west , we ascended Ullanes Hill and kept along its ridge until we came down to cross the mountain road from Ballyvourney to Millstreet . A branch of this road runs into the glen of Coomnaclohy - here , in the cul-de-sac from a military point of view , the city men of our IRA Column insisted on stopping for a cup of tea at Dinneen's Farmhouse . My brother Pat strongly opposed that proposal , pointing out to the men that , while we were safe from attack from behind us , a sudden invasion by lorry-borne British troops would compel us to ascend the steep sides of the glen where there was difficult footing and little cover .
Taking the Lewis-Gun Section with him , Pat went up to Muing Lia where , from a height , he could look down from the west on the valley we had just crossed . We went into the farmhouse and soon we were seated at a table , very much at our ease and about to enjoy a cup of tea which a young girl had just poured for each of us . Nine hours had passed since we had anything to eat - over forty years have passed since I saw that cup of tea poured out , and I have forgotten many things , but I can still see that cup of tea : I put sugar in it and I had the jug in my hand to put milk in it , but that was as far as I got . I had been looking through the window which was straight in front of me ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(6 of 9).
The British police did not apply for William Quinn's extradition while he was in Portlaoise Prison or after his release in early 1976 , although the Gardai kept them informed about his whereabouts during 1976 and 1977 . A British Crown lawyer told Quinn's trial that they did not want to get involved in complex extradition proceedings and they hoped he might return to Britain , where he might lead them to his accomplices and then be picked-up .
The Balcombe Street group had already been arrested by then , however - the hope that William Quinn might return to Britain was also given as a reason for not informing him about the identification . The British finally applied for Quinn's extradition in 1979 but by then he had retured to America , where he was working quite openly in his uncle's shop in San Francisco where he was arrested two years later .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.......
....... Ireland in 1827 - Daniel O'Connell was the 'name of the day ' ; his 'Catholic Association' was supported by the majority of the Catholic population .......
However , what Daniel O'Connell often referred too as "the horror of popular violence" (that which this scribbler , amongst others , would view as "self-defence") was not part of the agenda as far as O'Connell and his 'Association' were concerned . The SDLP / Provisional Sinn Fein of its day ...
With that huge support-base in place , Daniel O'Connell contested a seat in Clare (for the British Parliament - incidentally , Catholics were at that time banned from sitting in that Parliament unless they took an oath abjuring their Catholic beliefs !) in 1828 and won the seat . (Another tangent - Commenting on O'Connell's win , the then British Home Secretary , Robert Peel , spoke about "the fearful exhibition of sobered and desperate enthusiasm" with which 'The Catholic Association' ran their campaign ; Peel must have been glad that O'Connell was not a military man ...)
Philip Grey was born into this atmosphere , in February 1827 , in Dublin .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... The British Auxiliaries , all ninty of them , were now easy targets ; those in the cottages were stationary and confined , and those wanting in had no cover worth talking about ......."
" Our IRA Column stood in a line along a fence . Every grenade we had was in a man's hand . We were ready for the final dash at them ; then suddenly we heard an exclamation from Sean O'Hegarty - " Look , lads , look ...! " He raised his Parabellum pistol and fired in the direction of an unbroken line of British lorries extended far to the east . The new enemy , thirty-six lorries strong , had come in time to save the Auxiliaries in the cottages . For a little time while they were massed together we fired at them in their hiding-place , then slowly we drew away to the high ground north of us . It was midday when we left them - the action had started at 7.45 a.m...
As we moved uphill we felt very disappointed - we had been very near victory despite many agencies working against us . First , the enemy had been forewarned , and arrangements had been made to send reinforcements from all quarters , then someone had blundered in the handing over of a vital position and a powerful weapon , to the incompetent and wretched "X" . Again there was the case of an IRA Section Leader who , though highly efficient in a town , could not understand the prolonged action and , thinking they were being encircled , withdrew a large number of the best men of the IRA Column . Thus was our striking-force much weakened and valuable time lost .
Looking at the bright side of the picture , the small number of us who engaged the British Auxiliaries had proved more than a match for those 'warriors' ; only six miles from their base , the strong Castle of Macroom , they had that day the heartening assurance of reinforcements converging on us from Cork and Ballincollig , Bandon , Dunmanaway , Bantry , Killarney , Millstreet and Macroom . We had fired on those reinforcements before we broke off the fight , and were destined to clash with more within two hours ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(5 of 9).
The lawyer Gareth Peirce says British Police Constable Adrian Blackledge literally had tunnel vision that day . He was brought into court along a corridor which left him facing the dock ; " The whole arrangements were so suggestive as to effectively point William Quinn out to him ," she says . She also notes that none of the other eye witnesses of the shooting were ever asked to identify William Quinn .
Quinn first learnt about the identification when he was arrested in America in 1981 . Chief Superintendent Patrick Doocey , who was in charge of William Quinn's case in the 'Special Criminal Court' that day , told the Old Bailey trial that no records were kept of the description of the two other men who were in the court or what any of the three were wearing . William Quinn himself cannot remember any details of an event which he dd not know was happening .......
(MORE LATER).
....... Ireland in 1827 - Daniel O'Connell was the 'name of the day ' ; his 'Catholic Association' was supported by the majority of the Catholic population .......
However , what Daniel O'Connell often referred too as "the horror of popular violence" (that which this scribbler , amongst others , would view as "self-defence") was not part of the agenda as far as O'Connell and his 'Association' were concerned . The SDLP / Provisional Sinn Fein of its day ...
With that huge support-base in place , Daniel O'Connell contested a seat in Clare (for the British Parliament - incidentally , Catholics were at that time banned from sitting in that Parliament unless they took an oath abjuring their Catholic beliefs !) in 1828 and won the seat . (Another tangent - Commenting on O'Connell's win , the then British Home Secretary , Robert Peel , spoke about "the fearful exhibition of sobered and desperate enthusiasm" with which 'The Catholic Association' ran their campaign ; Peel must have been glad that O'Connell was not a military man ...)
Philip Grey was born into this atmosphere , in February 1827 , in Dublin .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
"....... The British Auxiliaries , all ninty of them , were now easy targets ; those in the cottages were stationary and confined , and those wanting in had no cover worth talking about ......."
" Our IRA Column stood in a line along a fence . Every grenade we had was in a man's hand . We were ready for the final dash at them ; then suddenly we heard an exclamation from Sean O'Hegarty - " Look , lads , look ...! " He raised his Parabellum pistol and fired in the direction of an unbroken line of British lorries extended far to the east . The new enemy , thirty-six lorries strong , had come in time to save the Auxiliaries in the cottages . For a little time while they were massed together we fired at them in their hiding-place , then slowly we drew away to the high ground north of us . It was midday when we left them - the action had started at 7.45 a.m...
As we moved uphill we felt very disappointed - we had been very near victory despite many agencies working against us . First , the enemy had been forewarned , and arrangements had been made to send reinforcements from all quarters , then someone had blundered in the handing over of a vital position and a powerful weapon , to the incompetent and wretched "X" . Again there was the case of an IRA Section Leader who , though highly efficient in a town , could not understand the prolonged action and , thinking they were being encircled , withdrew a large number of the best men of the IRA Column . Thus was our striking-force much weakened and valuable time lost .
Looking at the bright side of the picture , the small number of us who engaged the British Auxiliaries had proved more than a match for those 'warriors' ; only six miles from their base , the strong Castle of Macroom , they had that day the heartening assurance of reinforcements converging on us from Cork and Ballincollig , Bandon , Dunmanaway , Bantry , Killarney , Millstreet and Macroom . We had fired on those reinforcements before we broke off the fight , and were destined to clash with more within two hours ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(5 of 9).
The lawyer Gareth Peirce says British Police Constable Adrian Blackledge literally had tunnel vision that day . He was brought into court along a corridor which left him facing the dock ; " The whole arrangements were so suggestive as to effectively point William Quinn out to him ," she says . She also notes that none of the other eye witnesses of the shooting were ever asked to identify William Quinn .
Quinn first learnt about the identification when he was arrested in America in 1981 . Chief Superintendent Patrick Doocey , who was in charge of William Quinn's case in the 'Special Criminal Court' that day , told the Old Bailey trial that no records were kept of the description of the two other men who were in the court or what any of the three were wearing . William Quinn himself cannot remember any details of an event which he dd not know was happening .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, May 17, 2004
PHILIP GREY ; 1827 - 1857 : AN IRISH MILITARY MAN.
Ireland , 1827 : The 'Catholic Association' , led by Daniel O'Connell (known as 'The Liberator' - not because he liberated this country from English 'rule' [which has still to be done] but because the majority of the country's population at that time considered O'Connell to be liberating them from political irrelevance), was a huge organisation ; 'associate membership' of 'The Catholic Association' cost one penny a month and , with the tens of thousands of members and associate members, the funds mounted-up ...
The small land-owners , those that worked for them , the many who had no jobs or land , the so-called 'middle class' and even the Catholic Clergy - all either joined or strongly supported 'The Catholic Association .......'
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......We had the British Auxiliaries 'on the run' - except they had no safe exit ! One of their drivers was attempting to turn his lorry around......."
" A fierce fire was opened on the man and the lorry ; but it got away , and went off at a high speed towards Macroom . The driver was a stout fellow and made skilful use of available cover while he quickly completed the manoeuvre . We could now expect their reinforcements - it transpired that they were on the way in any case . Meanwhile , the Auxies were crowding into the cottages . To make more firing positions , they started to break loopholes in the cottage walls . For this they used every kind of tool available , including their bayonets . The loopholes were to prove , for them, very unprofitable...
...for , immediately the outer plaster was broken , the hole in the wall became the target for every marksman who fancied himself ; several British Auxiliaries were mortally wounded inside these breaches . We were now called on to follow up the enemy and move with the Lewis-Gun to a point due north of the cottages - this we did easily . The windows and doors were now under Lewis-Gun fire and that of about fifteen riflemen . The Auxiliaries were in a bad way ; their total strength of the morning must have been nearly ninty men . Apart from those strewn around the road and further afield as casualties , the remainder were packed into the two cottages and lying close to cover around outside them .
Now and again a man would rise and dash for the door - but none succeeded in getting in to the cottage . We saw an Auxie fall on the doorstop , wounded , yet not one of his own attempted to drag him in . To do so would have entailed no risk for those inside since our fire was parallel to that particular doorway , yet there the wounded man was allowed to remain ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(4 of 9).
Once in Dublin , the Gardai told British Police Officer Adrian Blackledge that William Quinn had refused to take part in an identification parade and he would have to identify him in court ; Quinn claims he had never been asked to participate in a parade . PC Blackledge was secretly brought into Green Street Courthouse in Dublin where William Quinn was in the centrally positioned dock , flanked by two prison officers . The Gardai had put two other men nearby , one of whom had a moustache . The man who killed British Police Officer Stephen Tibble was clean-shaven ; so was William Quinn .
PC Blackledge identified the man in the dock as the killer , although it seems his appearance did not tally with the description Blackledge had given at the time.......
(MORE LATER).
Ireland , 1827 : The 'Catholic Association' , led by Daniel O'Connell (known as 'The Liberator' - not because he liberated this country from English 'rule' [which has still to be done] but because the majority of the country's population at that time considered O'Connell to be liberating them from political irrelevance), was a huge organisation ; 'associate membership' of 'The Catholic Association' cost one penny a month and , with the tens of thousands of members and associate members, the funds mounted-up ...
The small land-owners , those that worked for them , the many who had no jobs or land , the so-called 'middle class' and even the Catholic Clergy - all either joined or strongly supported 'The Catholic Association .......'
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......We had the British Auxiliaries 'on the run' - except they had no safe exit ! One of their drivers was attempting to turn his lorry around......."
" A fierce fire was opened on the man and the lorry ; but it got away , and went off at a high speed towards Macroom . The driver was a stout fellow and made skilful use of available cover while he quickly completed the manoeuvre . We could now expect their reinforcements - it transpired that they were on the way in any case . Meanwhile , the Auxies were crowding into the cottages . To make more firing positions , they started to break loopholes in the cottage walls . For this they used every kind of tool available , including their bayonets . The loopholes were to prove , for them, very unprofitable...
...for , immediately the outer plaster was broken , the hole in the wall became the target for every marksman who fancied himself ; several British Auxiliaries were mortally wounded inside these breaches . We were now called on to follow up the enemy and move with the Lewis-Gun to a point due north of the cottages - this we did easily . The windows and doors were now under Lewis-Gun fire and that of about fifteen riflemen . The Auxiliaries were in a bad way ; their total strength of the morning must have been nearly ninty men . Apart from those strewn around the road and further afield as casualties , the remainder were packed into the two cottages and lying close to cover around outside them .
Now and again a man would rise and dash for the door - but none succeeded in getting in to the cottage . We saw an Auxie fall on the doorstop , wounded , yet not one of his own attempted to drag him in . To do so would have entailed no risk for those inside since our fire was parallel to that particular doorway , yet there the wounded man was allowed to remain ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(4 of 9).
Once in Dublin , the Gardai told British Police Officer Adrian Blackledge that William Quinn had refused to take part in an identification parade and he would have to identify him in court ; Quinn claims he had never been asked to participate in a parade . PC Blackledge was secretly brought into Green Street Courthouse in Dublin where William Quinn was in the centrally positioned dock , flanked by two prison officers . The Gardai had put two other men nearby , one of whom had a moustache . The man who killed British Police Officer Stephen Tibble was clean-shaven ; so was William Quinn .
PC Blackledge identified the man in the dock as the killer , although it seems his appearance did not tally with the description Blackledge had given at the time.......
(MORE LATER).
Sunday, May 16, 2004
WILLIAM ROONEY , poet and journalist ; 1872-1901 .......
.......Are William Rooney and the countless others who were born into political conflict , common criminals? Are those same people guilty of keeping a criminal conspiracy going for over 800 years ...?
William Rooney dedicated at least ten full years of his 29 years on this earth campaigning against the British onslaught on Irish ways and culture , and went to an early grave because of those colonisers . If this small article , on this small weblog , inspires just one person to support the Irish Cause then William Rooney will still be fighting the British...
Be green upon their graves O happy Spring,
for they were young and eager who are dead.
With all things that are young and quivering with eager life be they remembered ,
for they move not here - they are gone to the clay .
They cannot die again for liberty ; be they remembered in their land , for aye ...
...green be their graves , green be their memory .
-- James Stephens.
Leabe i measc na bhFininni go raibh acu.
[END of ' WILLIAM ROONEY , poet and journalist ; 1872-1901 .......'].
(Tomorrow - Philip Grey ; 1827-1857 - An Irish Military Man).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......We were well spread-out , and had the British Auxiliaries pinned-down from all angles......."
" I believe the first two shots were fired by John Riordan ('Jack The Rookery') and Jer Casey ('Strac') - they had no other option since the two British Auxiliaries rushed up to their positions . The Lewis-Gun and about twenty rifles opened fire on the Auxies while most of them were still on the lorries , and though they quickly sought cover , many fell dead on the road and along the dykes . Seafield Grant , the British Officer Commanding of the Macroom Auxiliaries , escaped the first burst of gunfire ; standing on a patch of green, south of the road , he gazed north-west towards the rocks . Two bullets scored tracks in the sod in front of him and , stooping , he examined the scars . Straightening up , he looked back along the direction indicated by the bullets , but just then a third bullet came which killed him .
His fall must have disheartened the enemy very much ; at first their fire was vigorous - bullets struck the flat surface of vertical rocks with a loud thud , or curved high into the air with a wailing note when a sloping rockface was hit. A Hotchkiss gunner appeared to have an idea of the location of our Lewis , as his shooting was getting better - it cracked over our heads for a while , prompting Hughie to shout at me - " Keep a look out for that fellow ." At length we located him - " ...just below Diarmaid na gComharsan's cottage ": one sharp burst from the Lewis and the Brit gunner , frightened or hit , dragged his gun backwards . We did not hear any more from him ...
The Auxiliaries' fire weakened and now and then a man or two made a dash for the cottages . We also saw other indications that they were hard-pressed ; one of the lorries was being turned about on the road by its driver ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(3 of 9).
In February 1975 , British Police Constable Stephen Tibble was shot dead on a West-London street ; in a follow-up search , British police discovered bomb-making equipment in a nearby house . William Quinn's fingerprints and those of an IRA Unit (later known as 'The Balcombe Street Four') were found in the house and , later that year, when the IRA Unit was captured after a siege in Balcombe Street , one of them was found to have the gun that killed British Police Constable Stephen Tibble .
None of this connected William Quinn all that directly with the Tibble shooting but , a few hours before Quinn was due to appear in the 'Special Criminal Court' on the assualt and IRA membership charges , PC Blackledge was ordered to fly to Dublin . He was told a man suspected of the killing was being held there and he was to see if he could identify him ; he was not told why the man was suspected .......
(MORE LATER).
.......Are William Rooney and the countless others who were born into political conflict , common criminals? Are those same people guilty of keeping a criminal conspiracy going for over 800 years ...?
William Rooney dedicated at least ten full years of his 29 years on this earth campaigning against the British onslaught on Irish ways and culture , and went to an early grave because of those colonisers . If this small article , on this small weblog , inspires just one person to support the Irish Cause then William Rooney will still be fighting the British...
Be green upon their graves O happy Spring,
for they were young and eager who are dead.
With all things that are young and quivering with eager life be they remembered ,
for they move not here - they are gone to the clay .
They cannot die again for liberty ; be they remembered in their land , for aye ...
...green be their graves , green be their memory .
-- James Stephens.
Leabe i measc na bhFininni go raibh acu.
[END of ' WILLIAM ROONEY , poet and journalist ; 1872-1901 .......'].
(Tomorrow - Philip Grey ; 1827-1857 - An Irish Military Man).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......We were well spread-out , and had the British Auxiliaries pinned-down from all angles......."
" I believe the first two shots were fired by John Riordan ('Jack The Rookery') and Jer Casey ('Strac') - they had no other option since the two British Auxiliaries rushed up to their positions . The Lewis-Gun and about twenty rifles opened fire on the Auxies while most of them were still on the lorries , and though they quickly sought cover , many fell dead on the road and along the dykes . Seafield Grant , the British Officer Commanding of the Macroom Auxiliaries , escaped the first burst of gunfire ; standing on a patch of green, south of the road , he gazed north-west towards the rocks . Two bullets scored tracks in the sod in front of him and , stooping , he examined the scars . Straightening up , he looked back along the direction indicated by the bullets , but just then a third bullet came which killed him .
His fall must have disheartened the enemy very much ; at first their fire was vigorous - bullets struck the flat surface of vertical rocks with a loud thud , or curved high into the air with a wailing note when a sloping rockface was hit. A Hotchkiss gunner appeared to have an idea of the location of our Lewis , as his shooting was getting better - it cracked over our heads for a while , prompting Hughie to shout at me - " Keep a look out for that fellow ." At length we located him - " ...just below Diarmaid na gComharsan's cottage ": one sharp burst from the Lewis and the Brit gunner , frightened or hit , dragged his gun backwards . We did not hear any more from him ...
The Auxiliaries' fire weakened and now and then a man or two made a dash for the cottages . We also saw other indications that they were hard-pressed ; one of the lorries was being turned about on the road by its driver ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CONVICTION OF WILLIAM QUINN .......
' William Quinn was recently jailed for life in Britain having been convicted of the murder of a London policeman on the basis of evidence and an identification which has given rise to considerable controversy . '
BY MICHAEL FARRELL .
(First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1988 , page 18).
Reproduced here in 9 parts.
(3 of 9).
In February 1975 , British Police Constable Stephen Tibble was shot dead on a West-London street ; in a follow-up search , British police discovered bomb-making equipment in a nearby house . William Quinn's fingerprints and those of an IRA Unit (later known as 'The Balcombe Street Four') were found in the house and , later that year, when the IRA Unit was captured after a siege in Balcombe Street , one of them was found to have the gun that killed British Police Constable Stephen Tibble .
None of this connected William Quinn all that directly with the Tibble shooting but , a few hours before Quinn was due to appear in the 'Special Criminal Court' on the assualt and IRA membership charges , PC Blackledge was ordered to fly to Dublin . He was told a man suspected of the killing was being held there and he was to see if he could identify him ; he was not told why the man was suspected .......
(MORE LATER).
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