Once, scurrying through back streets , and foolishly on an unlighted bicycle, I all but bumped into a civic guard. His hand came down on the handlebars and he said sharply "What's your name?" We were under a street lamp and I saw recognition flick a light in his eyes. I told him that I could think up a name for him if I tried and, as he let go of the bicycle, he said - "It's you. To hell with you. Be on your way. No, by God..." he added quickly, "...but good luck to you." It was a nice thing to happen, in the fever of those days.
It was during this period that I wrote Wrack , my one and only attempt at a play, which I intended to be a glimpse of an island dying. The island I had in mind has since died. I do not recall, now, how I came to pass it on to W. B. Yates, but I think it unlikely that I sent it to the Abbey at that time, although it was produced there later. I got a friendly note from W.B. , addressed to me at 39 Marlborough Road, Dublin, asking me to call to see him but, as I had no doubt that my letters were under scrutiny, I was afraid to chance it. I sent him a letter, delivered by hand, explaining my difficulty, and he made immediate and elaborate arrangement for our safe meeting.
Events were pressing hard both on the Free State government and the IRA , forcing both towards an inescapable, major clash - neither side had left itself any room for manoeuvre. Arbour Hill prison, where IRA prisoners were held, was, at its best, a pretty brutal place - I have vivid memories of a few weeks there in 1923 - but, nowadays, it is a hell-hole. Country IRA officers complained, clamoured, even, for permission to put an end to the humiliation of police persecution..... (MORE LATER).
THE ANATOMY OF AN AFTERNOON : THE STORY OF THE GIBRALTAR KILLINGS........
The shots which Mairead Farrell received to her back were extremely close together at the point of entry - close to the midline of the back - and all displayed an upward trajectory ie they exited at the front, higher up in the body than they had entered at the back. They had either been fired from a crouching position or while Farrell's body was falling forward or while she was lying face-down on the ground. Pathologist Dr. Alan Watson said that the closeness of the entry wounds together indicated that they had been fired from the same gun from close range while she was on the ground. The only other possible explanation, Dr. Watson suggested, was that the three shots had been fired in quick succession from the same gun while she was in the process of falling.
Daniel McCann, according to Dr. Watson, had been killed by two shots in the back , causing damage to the liver, heart and left lung, and/or by two shots to the head causing multiple fractures, laceration of the left cerebral hemisphere and extensive brain damage. The damage to the brain had been caused, in fact, by just one of the two shots, entering at the rear left side of the head and exiting at the left side of the neck. The other shot had hit him in the jaw and had caused only superficial damage. This could have been caused by a ricochet or by a bullet which had already passed through Mairead Farrell's body, said Professor Watson.
Soldiers 'A' and 'B' gave evidence that they both shot at Farrell and McCann, and this confused the issue somewhat, but Soldier 'A' was specific and emphatic that he fired first one shot into McCann's back then one shot into Farrell's back, then three more at McCann - two into his back and one into his head. Discounting the mysterious wound in his left cheek, which may well have been as Professor Watson suggested, a ricochet, this is one more shot which Soldier 'A' claims he fired into McCann's back than McCann actually received. One possibility is that Soldier 'A' missed with one of his shots. There were, according to the evidence, twelve shots in all fired outside the petrol station - five by Soldier 'A' , seven by Soldier 'B'. But only nine 'hits'. (MORE LATER).
MICHEÁL MARTIN TAKES THE (WRONG) BOUNDARY COMMISSION TO TASK.
However, a more important 'skewing' by a Boundary Commission has been ignored by Mr. Martin and his party and, indeed, by the administration and the so-called 'opposition' in Leinster House-the 'Boundary Commission' established under 'Article 12'of the 1921 'Treaty of Surrender',which was tasked with 'determining the boundaries between the newly-partitioned 6 and 26-county 'states' ' ,the deliberations of which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland!(PART 17 - END OF ARTICLE)
In 1935 , 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates' friends in the Orange Order called his bluff (between 23rd and 27th June that year) after forcing him to either take them on or 'back down' - he choose the latter. But he was still arrogant ; he introduced internment for republicans in 1938 .......
'Sir' Bates was born in 1877 , and was a solicitor (in Belfast) by profession. He was Secretary to the Ulster Unionist Council at 28 years young, and held that position until he was aged 44 (ie from 1905 to 1921) . In 1921, he was elected to Stormont and was appointed as the 'Minister of Home Affairs', a position he held for 22 years (ie from 1921 to 1943) . At 66 years of age (in 1943) he retired to the 'back benches', where he stayed until 1945. He died four years later (in 1949) at 72 years of age, having been a 'proud Orangeman' for all his adult life.
And this was the man to whom the 'A' and 'C' Specials, who had mutinied and taken their own officers as hostages had, on 16th December 1925, handed their letter of demands to : 'Sir' Bates was not impressed. The 'A' and 'C' Specials were looking for more money : they demanded a £200 tax-free 'bonus' for each member that was to be made redundant. Two days later (ie on 18th December 1925) 'Sir' Bates replied to the Special 'Rebels' (!) that not only would they not be getting the £200 'bonus' but if they did'nt back down immediately they would lose whatever money they were entitled to for being made redundant! That message was delivered to the 'mutiniers' on 18th December 1925 ; on 19th December 1925 the 'rebels' all but apologised to Bates, released their hostages and signed on for the dole - the 'hard men' of the 'Specials' had been put in their place by a bigger thug than they were. By Christmas Day, 1925 , the 'A' and 'C' Sections of the 'Ulster (sic) Special ConstabularyAssociation' - the 'Specials' - were disbanded. A sort of 'Peace on Earth', if you like !
And, regarding the other group of 'hard men' on this island - the Free Staters - let us not forget their 'contribution to World Peace' in that same Christmas month in 1925 , for it was on the 3rd December in that year that they sold-out to the British once again by agreeing that the conclusions of the Boundary Commission should be ignored and the Commission itself be abolished. And they have been selling-out to Westminster ever since.
ON THIS DATE (20TH AUGUST) 33 YEARS AGO : THE 22ND IRISH REPUBLICAN HUNGER-STRIKER DIES.
ON THIS DATE (20TH AUGUST) 95 YEARS AGO : OATH OF ALLEGIANCE ANNOUNCED.
Anyway - as per their stated intention, the republican representatives assembled in Dublin's Mansion House on Tuesday 21st January 1919 at 3.30pm where, amongst other business, the Secretary of Defence, Cathal Brugha, called for all representatives present to take the following oath, stating - "Every person and every one of those bodies undermentioned must swear allegiance to the Irish Republic and to the Dáil..."
1. The Deputies.
2. The Irish Volunteers.
3. The Officers and Clerks to the Dáil.
4. Any other body or individual who in the opinion of the Dáil should take the same Oath.
I, ------ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I do not and shall not yield a voluntary support to any pretended Government, authority or power within Ireland hostile and inimical thereto, and I do further swear (or affirm) that to the best of my knowledge and ability I will support and defend the Irish Republic and the Government of the Irish Republic, which is Dáil Eireann, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me, God."
On the other hand, the Free State 'parliament' , Leinster House, which was 'born' in London with British guns as midwife and an English hangman as chief nurse, can lay claim to its own 'oath of allegiance' : 'I ____________ swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth , Her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors in Person, Crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors and of the Generals and Officers set over me....'
It could lay claim to the above, and should , but doesn't. Not verbally, anyway.
ON THIS DATE (20TH AUGUST) 26 YEARS AGO : 8 DEAD , 28 WOUNDED.
On the 21st August 1988, the 'New York Times' stated - "The blast occurred shortly after midnight, when the 52-seat bus, which carried no military markings, was about nine miles from its destination, an army barracks at Omagh, 55 miles west of Belfast. The soldiers were returning from leave in England. According to the I.R.A. statement, the bomb was made of 200 pounds of plastic explosives. The blast left a crater six feet deep in the road and sent wreckage flying as far as 100 yards from the center of the explosion...." The PIRA issued a statement in which they declared that they would not lay down their arms "....until the peace of a British disengagement from Ireland...." had been achieved ; and in that - not the 'job' itself - they were being either dishonest or were being mislead as, two years previously, they had agreed to support, politically, a Leinster House political party which now administers British 'rule' in six Irish counties. In regards to Irish republicanism, Adams and his supporters have missed the bus.
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
