'A descendant of Amhran ha bhFiann composer Peadar Kearney has launched High Court proceedings against a fund-appointed receiver seeking the return of items including an original copy of the national anthem signed by the composer...' (from here and here.)
Peadar Kearney, the uncle of Irish writers Brendan Behan, Brian Behan, and Dominic Behan, joined the IRB when he was 20 years young (in 1903) and, four years later, along with his friend Paddy Heeney, wrote the words and tune for 'Amhrán na bhFiann' ('The Soldiers Song').
He took part in the 1916 Rising, fighting alongside Thomas MacDonagh at Jacobs Factory, and managed to escape the round-up by the 'authorities' that followed, literally 'living to fight another day'. And he did - he was active again during the 'Black and Tan War', during which he was imprisoned for about a year.
Following the 'Treaty of Surrender' - and this is perhaps not as well known as his republican involvement - he took the Free State side and was actually in the 'Collins Convoy' at Béal na mBláth when, in August 1922, those Free Staters were ambushed by the IRA, and Michael Collins was killed.
It's also not as well known as it should be that he worked for the Free State in Portlaoise Prison as a 'Censor' ie removing what the State regarded as 'sensitive content' from letters that republican prisoners were trying to send out to family and friends : his conscience must have troubled him, as he only stuck that job for a week and, in the late 1930's, made public his (new-found) opposition to partition.
He died in Inchicore, Dublin, in 1942, at 59 years of age - on the 24th November, 79 years ago on this date - and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
As we say - 'Put not your trust..'
'TYRONE AFTER-MASS MEETINGS...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, July, 1954.
Sinn Féin is putting forward a policy to secure the unity and independence of our country in its 'National Unity and Independence Programme' which states that it will contest all twelve seats in the Six-County area for the Westminster elections, as per that same policy, which was put forward in Louth and Clare. It is a policy for all 32 Counties.
The need to build up the organisation, to press forward the forming of cumainn in every parish in the Six Counties and the quick build-up of the machinery required to secure the casting of every single vote in favour of the Republic, not merely in the constituencies which can be won but in every area, was particularly emphasised.
(END of 'Tyrone After-Mass Meetings' ; NEXT - 'British Army Made To Look Foolish' and 'Worldwide Headlines', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (24TH NOVEMBER) 81 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF A "PROTESTANT PARLIAMENT, PROTESTANT STATE (sic)" POLITICAL BIGOT.
At a meeting in London on the 2nd September 1920, the then 'Prime Minster' of Stormont, 'Sir' James Craig ("All I boast is that we are a Protestant Parliament and Protestant State...") demanded that a force of 'Special Constabulary' be established for Ulster and, six days later - on the 8th September - Westminster agreed that a force of "loyal citizens" were needed, and insisted that the then pro-British paramilitary gang known as the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' should be made 'official' and employed as such.
And, with a simple name change and the provision of a British uniform, a new State-sponsored paramilitary gang, the A,B and C Specials, was born : the 'A' gang (about 3,500 of them in total) were full-time operatives who lived in the local RIC barracks and were used as re-inforcements for the RIC, and were armed and on a wage. Essentially, their presence allowed more 'police officers' free to leave their desks and assist their British colleagues in cracking nationalist skulls.
The 'B' outfit (numbering 16,000 approximately) were armed but part-time and on 'expenses' only, and were usually to be found on street patrol and operating checkpoints and the 'C' grouping (about 1,000) were a reserve force with no specific duty as such but were 'on call' as an armed militia
Nationalists knew the danger of such a move for them - the UVF/Specials were not by any means 'neutral' in the conflict. The then 'Daily News' newspaper stated, re the establishment of the 'Specials' -'The official proposal to arm "well-disposed" citizens to "assist the authorities" in Belfast raised serious questions of the sanity of the government. It seems the most outrageous thing which they have ever done in Ireland. A citizen of Belfast who is "well-disposed" to the British government is, almost from the nature of the case, an Orangeman, or at any rate, a vehement anti-Sinn Feiner. These are the very same people who have been looting Catholic shops and driving thousands of Catholic women and children from their homes...' But all words of opposition, or even caution, were ignored.
The officer class in the 'Specials' were hired if they passed a civil service examination and were mostly upper and middle-class protestants with a moral connection to their 'mainland' (England) whereas the rank-and-file consisted of the thugs that once populated any anti-Irish paramilitary gang that would have them. The latter were not allowed 'serve' in their own county or that of a family member and were relocated on a fairly regular basis, living in the local barracks, and single men were not allowed to leave same at night to socialise.
'Specials' who wanted to get married could only do so after they had been with the gang for seven years or more and even then only if their girlfriend was deemed 'suitable' by the officer class, a 'test' which included the nature of her job before and after the marriage. Any such 'Special' family were under orders not to take in lodgers, not to sell produce locally (ie eggs, vegetables etc) and the husband was not entitled to days off (no 'rest days' or annual holidays) and was not permitted to vote in elections!
After Westminster forcibly partitioned Ireland in 1921 the British wanted control over the new 'State' to be exercised by their own kind (as opposed to 'Paddies in British uniforms') and, in late 1925, they felt confident enough to declare that the 'Specials' should be wound-up and a kitty containing £1,200,000 was put on the table to secure their disbandment : their main man in that part of Ireland, 'Sir' James Craig - up to then a great friend and supporter of the Specials - was jobbed to pass on the bad news.
On 10th December 1925, Craig told the 'A' and 'C' Specials that they were out of work (the 'B' gang were to be kept on) and offered each man two months pay. End of announcement - at least as far as Craig and Westminster were concerned, but the 'A' and 'C' Specials were not happy with the "disband" order and discontent in the ranks grew. The 'A' and 'C' Specials held meetings between themselves and, on 14th December 1925, they mutinied!
'A' and 'C' members in Derry 'arrested' their own Officers, as they did in Ballycastle - two days later (ie on 16th December 1925) a demand from the 'A' and 'C' 'rebels' was handed over to 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates, the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs', a solicitor by trade, who was also Secretary of the 'Ulster Unionist Council', a position he had held since 1905. He was not impressed with their conduct.
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 didn't back down immediately they would loose whatever few bob they were entitled to for being made redundant and, 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 Constabulary Association (the 'Specials') were disbanded. It was only in 1970 that the 'B' Special gang of thugs 'disbanded' (ie changed uniform into that of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) and carried-on with their mis-deeds) . It was actually in September 1969 that the (British) 'Cameron Commission' described the 'B' Specials as "a partisan and paramilitary force..." while the October 1969 'Hunt Report' recommended that the 'B' Specials be disbanded.
Since then, the RUC (formed in 1922) have been amalgamated into the 'PSNI' but, even though the uniforms changed, the objective didn't - the preservation of British rule in Ireland.
The main instigator in Ireland of the above turmoil, 'Sir' James Craig - '1st Viscount Craigavon' - died in his house in Glencraig, in County Down, in Ireland, on the 24th November, 1940 - 81 years ago on this date. He and his wife had listened to the 6pm news and she left him smoking his pipe and listening to a detective story. When she returned later, she found him dead.
His political supporters in Westminster deemed him to be a 'Baronet' in 1918 and 'promoted' him to the position of 'Viscount' in 1927. His last parliamentary speech was on the 29th October, 1940, during which he spoke loudly against a United Ireland, as usual.
THE NOT SO IRISH NEWS...
Her analysis shows how the paper reflects the political attitudes of the Stormont Castle Catholics (who dominate the SDLP*) and the conservative values of the Catholic Hierarchy, especially Bishop Cahal Daly.
(From 'Iris' magazine, October 1987.)
('1169' comment - *...and who now fill the ranks of other Stoop-like political parties in Stormont and Leinster House.) From 'IRIS' magazine, October 1987.
No superlatives are spared by 'The Irish News' newspaper in describing the new era ; The (Hillsborough) Treaty is '...the the most significant step towards a solution of the Irish question in 60 years...a shift in balance of historic magnitude (has occurred)...equality is the operative word..the unionist veto has been removed at a stroke..the Orange card has finally been trumped..nationalists discarded their second-class citizenship on November 15th 1985..'
The 'Public Order' law, 'a direct result' of the Treaty, is protecting us against unionist extremism, according to that newspaper, which no doubt explains why it has been used to declare all republican marches 'illegal'!
We were repeatedly reminded of the 'substantial progress' brought to us via the Treaty, especially in the area of fair employment (!), the demolition of the Divis Flats, disappearance of 'supergrass' trials, repeal of discriminatory Stormont legislation, firm steps to curb 'provocative sectarian displays' and, of course, we were reminded to vote for those who had achieved all these things on our behalf - the SDLP*.
(*How ironic that it is now the PSF grouping that are making those same claims in relation to the Stormont Treaty!)
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (24TH NOVEMBER) 201 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF A SCALLYWAG.
At Westminster he was expected to continue in opposition and in his first speech there, 18th March 1801, deprecated the alarmism manifest in the continuation of martial law in Ireland. On 28th May he called for the deferment of the Irish elections bill with a view to overhauling the whole process. Nevertheless, he did not join the minority. By December 1801 he was asking the Castle for patronage for his brothers Richard and George..' (from here.)
By all accounts, Mr French was a bit of a scallywag : he was a politician, a 'landlord' that was considered by some to be an Irish patriot, a skilled speaker, an opportunist and was enthusiastic about the 'sport' of fox-hunting.
The 'Big House' he lived in was awash with staff - butlers and servants, 'postillions and whipper-ins', and kennel boys all employed as per the 'Rules to be Observed by the Servants' book.
He was, it seems, a 'mixed bag', morally, when it came to the manner in which he lived his life ; politically he was of the opinion that "..the independence of Ireland must always be with us a most favourite object..", he was a critic of martial law in Ireland, was against the 'Penal Laws', campaigned against Westminster's attempts to 'regulate' (ie tax!) the 'illegal unlicensed distillation of poteen spirit' in Ireland, in regards to which the British 'Chief Secretary of Ireland', Robert Peel, called him "an abominable fellow" (!) but, at the same time, Mr French saw nothing wrong in using his political position to improve the finances of family members!
A man fit for Leinster House, with that CV!
He suffered from intermittent bouts of bad health and, at the age of only 55, his body gave out and he died. The 'Tatler Magazine' of the day, 'The Gentleman’s Magazine', half-jokingly claimed that his cause of death was excessive fox hunting..!
'REDEMPTION...'
I knew him, so did they, and they hailed him as their own,
there was no mistaking the countenance of the living Tone ;
Silence, deathly silence, as he raised his hand to speak
T'was the voice of our greatest one addressed the weak -
"You would kill her, loveliest maiden of the world,
and to this tomb of death her spirit would you have hurled.
And, she being dead - lifeless, spiritless - in her grave,
killed by you, who would don the garb of a slave.
Have you no hearts, have you no will to live as men,
to walk the green fields of our land in freedom once again?
Must all the sufferings of the past be cast aside,
and the glories of our race with you no more abide...?"
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (24TH NOVEMBER) IN...
...1843 :
'Richard "Boss" Croker was born ; he was a man who could show our current crop of corrupt politicians a thing or two. As head of Tammany Hall - the organisation that controlled the Democratic Party in New York - he amassed a vast fortune, taking at one time 27 different salaries from the city...he was born in Clonakilty, Co Cork, in 1843...(and)..at the height of the Great Famine (sic), his parents brought him to America. The young Croker became, successively, barman, blacksmith, machinist, professional boxer and, finally, boss of Tammany Hall...' (from here.)
Richard Welstead Croker, a Cork man - born in Ardfield, Clonakilty, Cork, on the 24th November, 1843* - died from pneumonia on the 29th April, 1922, in Glencairn House, his home in Stillorgan, Dublin. The pall-bearers were newly-minted Free Staters Arthur Griffith and Dr. Oliver St John Gogarty, but Michael Collins couldn't make it (he might very well have been having tea in Westminster at the time with his pals!) so he sent a Mr Kevin O'Shiel along to do the heavy lifting (!), A H Flauley, of Chicago and JE Tierney. Perhaps they admired the manner in which Tammany Hall operated..
A Mr. James MacMahon, the British Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, was also in attendance, as was South African Bishop William Miller, Edmund Bernard FitzAlan-Howard and JJ Walsh who, in 1927, claimed that the 'Boss' Croker was ready to throw his political lot in with the Staters but died before he could do so!
Mr Croker was initially buried in a tomb at his home (Glencairn) but when the house was sold by his widow some years after his death, the new owner had the tomb opened, and arranged for his remains to be buried in Kilgobbin Cemetery.
Incidentally - * - 'The Boss' is also listed by various sources as having been born on the 23rd November 1841. A slippery character, without a doubt..!
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in November 1865, the British again attempted to destroy Irish republican opposition to their mis-rule in Ireland and 'arrested' the leadership of the Fenians/IRB, after raiding their headquarters, which was located in the offices of 'The Irish People' newspaper at 12 Parliament Street, Dublin. An informer, Pierce Nagle, was 'feeding' information, for a price, to the 'authorities'.
Among those that they took into custody was James Stephens (pictured), which meant that a planned uprising had to be postponed ; the Irish Republican Brotherhood decided to break him out of Richmond Jail, in Dublin, as he was that organisations military strategist. The 'Richmond General Penitentiary' was a prison established in 1820 in Grangegorman, Dublin, as an alternative to transportation. It was part of an experiment into a penitentiary system and the IRB planned to 'experiment' with it!
John Devoy, the IRB's Organiser, put an escape plan together : Ellen O'Leary (John O'Leary's sister) had agreed to mortgage her home and use the money to bribe two somewhat sympathetic warders (John J. Breslin and Daniel Byrne) in Richmond Jail to hand over a set of keys which would enable James Stephens to simply let himself out of the prison. And it worked!
Within about two weeks of his incarceration in Richmond Jail, Stephens had his own set of keys to the place and, on the night of November 24th, 1865 - 156 years ago on this date - he used them successfully. He was met on the outside, as arranged, and taken to a safe house. In the early hours of the 25th, his absence was noticed and the prison was searched but, as O'Donovan Rossa was to recall in his recollections of prison life - it was too late ; "the bird had flown".
The British offered what was then a small fortune - £300 - for information on James Stephens and on how he escaped, but to no avail. Within months he was in Frace, where he continued his work for the Fenians and the IRB. However, he 'mellowed' somewhat in his politics, so much so that his colleagues in American denounced him as a 'rogue, impostor, and traitor'.
He went to France where he worked as a journalist and an English teacher and spent some years in France, Belgium and the USA, living in poor circumstances, before returning to Ireland in 1891 (thanks to a deal worked out between himself, Charles Stewart Parnell and the British).
He was now in Ireland again, at 66 years of age and in poor health ; his in-laws, the Hopper family, put a roof over his head in Blackrock, in Dublin, and between the good will of that family and a small fund that had been raised locally for him by supporters he survived into his 76th year : he died on the 29th March, 1901, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
His coffin bearers were James Bermingham, Michael Davitt, CG Doran, Michael Lambert, William Brophy and William Hickey, all of whom were respected Fenian veterans. He had 'dirtied his bib' abroad, in republican circles, but the 'old hands' at home still had enough respect for him to give him a decent burial.
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..1920 :
Patrick Flynn, from Roscommon, aged 23, worked on the family farm. He was the IRA Adjutant for the South Roscommon Brigade. The family home had been destroyed by British forces on the 2nd October when they raided, looking for Patrick, and discovered that he wasn't there - he had been staying with a near-neighbour, John Monaghan, but that home, too, was raided, on the 24th November.
The British found Patrick asleep in the Monaghan's house and shot him dead. They removed the remains, instructed that the Monaghan family leave the house, and burned the dwelling down.
His father, Frank, was later paid £800 compensation by Westminster.
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..1920 :
Michael Moran was the Officer Commanding of the Tuam Battalion IRA. He was 27, and a farmer of a small holding. He lived with his widowed mother, Margaret, at Carrowmoneen, in Tuam, County Galway. He was 'arrested' by the RIC in October 1920 and held in Galway Gaol for six weeks. On the morning of the 22nd October he was released, then rearrested, and held in Eglinton Street RIC Barracks for an additional two days of 'interrogation'.
On the 24th November he was being moved from there to a different 'interrogation' centre, Earls Island, when the transportation convoy was slowed down by crowds outside University College Galway ; according to the British Auxilaries, Michael Moran made a run for it but "was shot dead trying to escape". He was shot in the head and died behind the old handball alley on the grounds of Queen's College, Galway. The then new commander of 'D Company' of the British Auxiliaries, a Lieutenant Colonel Guard, was said by locals to have been the man who shot him.
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..1920 :
Denis O'Donnell, 36, lived in the family home in Meadstown, Kildorrery, in County Cork, with his father and five siblings ; he was a tailor by trade, and was helping to financially support the household.
The local British 'police force', the RIC, had their suspicions about Denis O'Donnell's knowledge about an IRA ambush that took place in Kildorrery on the 7th August which resulted in an RIC member, Ernest Watkins, being shot dead. During their investigations into that IRA operation, the RIC raided the home of a Mr James Dwaine and they found Denis O'Donnell asleep in one of the bedrooms ; RIC members Wood, Coe and Grey, from Kildorrery Barracks, woke him and took him outside the house.
The RIC raiders later claimed that O'Donnell made a run for it when he was taken out into the yard and 'Constables' Wood and Grey shot him dead. He is buried in Farrihy Churchyard Cemetery in Kildorrery.
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..1920 :
Patrick Trahey, 29, lived in No 6 Friar's Walk in Cork. He was married, with one child, and was the Vice Officer Commanding of the 2nd Battalion, Cork Number One Brigade, IRA.
On the 23rd November 1920, Patrick and three other men were standing at the corner of Patrick Street and Princes Street in Cork as a group of Black and Tans were going up near-by Careys Lane ; an object was thrown by the Tans at the four men and it exploded in their midst. Patrick Trahey took the force of the blast and died at 7am the following morning.
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..1920 :
On the 24th November, 1920, two officers of the IRA Cork No. 3 Brigade, Liam Deasy and Jim Lordan, were 'detained for questioning' by British Auxiliaries (under the command of a Colonel Francis Crake) at Castletownkenneigh, Enniskeane, County Cork, but they were later released.
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..1920 :
Thomas Dillon, 25, from Roscommon, joined the RIC on the 1st February, 1917, and done Britain's dirty work in the county of Wexford ; in March 1920 he was downgraded to the 'Reserve Force' and put to work in Dublin.
At about 9.30pm on the 24th November, 1920, himself and seven other members of the British forces stopped a tram near the gates of the Phoenix Park and 'ordered' all the passengers to get off with their arms up. However, some of the passengers got off with their arms outstretched and revolvers in their hands ; a gunfight ensued and two members of the British forces, Dillon and a Lance-Corporal named William Turner, from Northwood, Hanley, in Staffordshire, in England, a soldier in the '15th Kings Hussars', listed as 'Number 537303', were shot dead.
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..1922 :
He was born on the 25th June, 1870, in London, and was executed for his actions in support of the republican cause in the 'civil war' that followed the establishment of the Free State, and had 'served' the British in World War One as an intelligence and aerial reconnaissance officer.
He supported a wholly independent 32-County Irish republic and, in 1921, he was elected to the All-Ireland Dáil Éireann as a Sinn Féin deputy from County Wicklow and became the Dáil's minister of propaganda.
Later that year he served as secretary to the Irish delegation to the Anglo-Irish Treaty conference. Opposing the concessions that Irish leaders Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins made to the British in signing the treaty, he used his propaganda and publicity skills to support the Irish Republican Army in the ensuing 'civil war'.
After being captured by Free State forces, Childers was court-martialed in Dublin on a charge of 'unauthorized possession of a revolver' and was shot dead in Beggars Bush Free State Barracks, in Dublin, by a firing squad under the commanded of a Paddy O'Connor.
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..1922 :
One of those killed was State Captain Joe Ruddy (who was implicated in the killing of John Charles Milling on the 31st March, 1919). Another State casualty was poacher-turned-gamekeeper Joe Walsh, who was in the IRA's West Mayo Flying Column. Three IRA casualties were recorded - a Volunteer Woods from Westport Quay, a P.McEllin from Kiltimagh and a Volunteer Murphy from Galway.
Michael Kilroy later joined Fianna Fáil and took a seat in Leinster House.
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..1922 :
A Free State Army member, James Murray, is listed as being 'killed in action' on the 24th November, 1922, in Castledermot, County Kildare.
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..1972 :
On the 24th November, 1972, the 'RTÉ Authority' (the 'Board of Management') was forcibly replaced by Leinster House politicians after the station broadcasted a radio interview with IRA leader Seán Mac Stiofáin (pictured).
He was arrested and the interview was later used as evidence against him on a trial of IRA membership and, on the 25th November, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment by the 'Special Criminal Court' in Dublin. ==================================
CABHAIR CHRISTMAS, CALENDAR AND COVID.
However, due to Covid conditions and the very real likelihood of a State-wide lockdown in late December, the event will be severely curtailed : two swimmers (three at the most) and a family member or two with each swimmer, and two Cabhair Crew members will be present at the gig, with the usual trappings (ie music, foodstuffs, 'soup' (!) etc) not appearing, due to the need to keep crowd numbers down. This decision was the result of a number of meetings and was felt to be the way to proceed. Myself and many others will miss the craic but, with the times that are in it, it can't be helped. And there's always next year..!
The Republican Calendar for 2022 is now available, price £5/Euro 5 :
Thanks for the visit, and for reading,
Sharon.
