THE HIRELINGS OF BRITAIN ASSAULT IRISH TOWNS...We will resume 'normal' posting on Wednesday 16th January 2008 : sort of !
Our usual '3-articles-in-one-post' format will , beginning on Wednesday 16 January next , be published on the Wednesday of each week - on other days of the week we will post a mixture of unrelated articles , comments on various political happenings and/or reports on political protests/pickets/commemorations etc , all of which will have one issue in common : Irish Republicanism.
As a 'Holding Post' , we offer the following : a one-hundred-and-thirty-one year-old story of British troops on Irish streets .....
"Bravo Limerick! We publish elsewhere from the 'Daily Express' , an account of a collision , which occurred on Sunday night , in the street of Limerick , between the (British) soldiers of the 90th Regiment and a number of inoffensive civilians . According to our Tory contemporary (ie 'Daily Express') the redcoats began the onslaught by maltreating a poor old woman . This dastardly conduct aroused the indignation of the lookers-on , who soon taught the cowardly soldiers a lesson they will not soon forget.
A handful of boys and women chased 'the Gallant 90th' through the streets of the City of Sarsfield , and showed themselves more than a match for the vaunted hirelings of Britain . The uniformed heroes , after one feeble effort , sought refuge in flight , and were pursued to the very gates of the barrack by the indignant crowd . One soldier sought to escape dressed in female attire - a garb which admirably suited his craven temperament .
Every true Irishman must feel glad that military insolence has at last received an effective check . As it is , there is , we believe , little cause to fear that 'the Gallant 90th' will attack any more old women during their stay in Limerick . They will , we are sure , be very careful not to stir beyond the walls of their barrack except under heavy escort . It is time the inhabitants of Irish towns should begin to resent the perpetual provocation of the military . It is only the other day that the people of Nenagh in County Tipperary had to inflict salutary chastisement on the soldiers of another English Regiment .
The presence of foreign regiments in our midst is bad enough , in all conscience , but if we have to tolerate it , there is no reason why these soldiers should not be obliged to observe the ordinary rules of decency and good conduct . If the Constabulary will not keep them in order , it is evident , from the recent occurrences in Nenagh and Limerick , that the people will."
From 'The Connaught Telegraph' newspaper , 14 April , 1877 . And- 131 years later -we are still having trouble with 'British hirelings' (some of whom are native) on Irish streets...
Back Wednesday 16 January 2008 . Or maybe between this and then.......
Sharon.
