THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !
' Is ta an Francach faobhrach is a loingeas gleasta
Le cranna geara acu ar muir le seal ;
Se an siorsceal go bhfuil a dtriall ar Eirinn
Is go gcuirfid Gaeil bhocht aris 'na gceart ... '
' For on the ocean are ships in motion
And glad devotion on France's shore
And rumour's telling they'll now be sailing
To help the Gael in the right once more ... '
On December 16 , 1796 , a fleet of 46 ships sailed from Brest with a formidable army of 14,750 men under the command of General Lazare Hoche , one of the great Generals of the Revolutionary Army . Wolfe Tone was with them and so also was General Humbert - their watchword for their campaign in Ireland was : " Paix aux chaumieres , mort aux chateaux " - " Peace to the cottages , death to the castles . "
Bantry Bay was their destination , Cork City their first objective and Dublin their second .
Chualas areir (I heard last night)
Na daoine a re (The people to say )
Go raibh Cathair Chorcai a do go lar ; (That the City of Cork was being burned to the ground ;)
Go raibh Ginearal Hoche (That General Hoche)
Is a chlaiomh chinn oir (And his gold-headed sword)
Ag reiteach an roid (Was smoothing the road)
Do Bhonaparte ; (For Bonaparte ;)
Is O , bhean a' ti (And,O,woman of the house)
Cen bhuairt sin ort ? (What ails thee now ?)
(MORE LATER).
THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN . By Martin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)
P.H. Pearse said we have renewed the struggle down the centuries and that's the way we will be while one British soldier remains on Irish soil . Today there are up to 20,000 , and 9,000 armed sectarian 'police' in the pay of England on Irish soil .
Republican Sinn Fein and the Continuity Irish Republican Army are the only true organisations that uphold the Proclamation of 1916 , and the Declaration of Independence 1919 . It is sickening to hear the propaganda of the pro-British-Irish media styling individuals and their parties 'Republicans' , just to spread confusion .
The Proclamation of 1916 was endorsed by the Irish people at the general election of all Ireland in 1918 and the people's representatives in 1919 in National Parliament declared that foreign parliaments in Ireland were an invasion of the Irish people's rights and must never again be tolerated . Yet you hear people today styling themselves 'Republicans' who recognise two parliaments in Ireland (the 26 and the 6 counties) set up under the 'Government of Ireland Act 1920'.......
(MORE LATER).
INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War ....... From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.
IRSP informer Jackie Goodman incriminated a total of 21 people following his arrest in March 1982 and had been taken with his wife into 'protective custody' in England . He returned to the North of Ireland in mid-September and retracted his earlier statements .
A far greater problem for the RUC was posed in the cases of UVF informer Clifford McKeown and IRSP informer Sean Joseph Mallon (no link) : at the preliminary enquiries into charges against the individuals these two had incriminated , in July 1982 and September 1982 respectively , both McKeown and Mallon - coming for the first time since their arrests into contact with members of their families in court - retracted their statements and refused to give 'evidence' .
Futhermore , McKeown revealed that during his period in 'protective custody' he had been kept in a luxurious London flat and had been promised £50,000 if he gave 'evidence' ; the RUC have denied at all times that they have offered cash sums in return for individuals turning informer . Following Sean Joseph Mallon's retraction , two of those he had incriminated , and against whom there was no further 'evidence' , Armagh men Roddy Carroll and Oliver Grew (no link), were set free .
The other side of the RUC's determination to use every conceivable means against those they believed to be Republicans was to be seen shortly afterwards when - on December 12th , 1982 - Roddy Carroll and Oliver's brother , Seamus Grew , were shot dead by an RUC patrol in a stake-out that formed part of the grisly shoot-to-kill policy which - in Armagh alone - resulted in six men being shot dead by the RUC in the space of one month .......
(MORE LATER).
