After a peaceful Civil Rights march on the 30th January, 1972 - from Creggan to Free Derry Corner - units of the British army Parachute Regiment opened fire with automatic rifles and shot dead 13 unarmed civilians, injuring many more. It was later revealed that some days prior to the massacre the British soldiers involved had been briefed to "shoot to kill" at the march.
"This Sunday became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and bloody it was. It was quite unnecessary. It strikes me that the (British) army ran amok that day and shot without thinking of what they were doing. They were shooting innocent people. They may have been taking part in a parade which was banned, but that did not justify the troops coming in and firing live rounds indiscriminately. I would say without reservations that it was sheer unadulterated murder. It was murder , gentlemen.." - the words of British Major Hubert O'Neill, Derry City Coroner, at the conclusion of the inquests on the 13 people killed by the British Army.
'The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed by a furious crowd of demonstrators protesting over the shooting deaths of 13 people in Derry on Sunday, January 30th, 1972.
There was a lot of very anti-British feeling amongst the protestors, a feeling that the British Embassy should be asked to leave Dublin. The march was an opportunity for people to vent their anger. Four men carrying black flags, accompanied by a band playing the Dead March, led the procession to the embassy. When it reached Merrion Square, a few petrol bombs were hurled at the building over the heads of about 200 gardaí stationed in front and behind.
Rain poured down. Three coffins draped in black were placed on the steps of the embassy. A couple of Union Jack flags were burned, as were pictures of Brian Faulkner and effigies of a British soldier and the British Prime Minister Edward Heath. Shortly after dusk, the embassy was well aflame. You could see the glow of fire across the roofs of Merrion Square. Fire engines arriving to fight the blaze were blocked. Their hoses were cut.
"Burn, burn, burn," chanted protesters, who continued to hurl stones and missiles as well as petrol bombs. Every window in sight was smashed. Whenever the fire broke into new parts of the building, the cheering increased...' (from here.)
The British Army is still in this country, and the claim from Westminster of jurisdictional control over six Irish counties remains in place. Both will have to be removed.
'THE ARMAGH ACTION...'
This dramatic account of the action was given to one of our representatives in an interview with one of the men who took part.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, July, 1954.
THE COOL MAN IN THE GREEN COAT :
A civillian came over and stood casually watching the proceedings. "What's going on?", he asked."Are you men over from Portadown?".
"Yes, we've just arrived. The officer in charge is in there in the armoury, if you'd like to have a word with him." The man walked into the armoury and was at once tied up. He was 'the man in the green coat' that some Dublin papers reported to be 'cooly directing operations'!
There were quite a few women looking on at the action from the windows of the married quarters, not knowing, until it was too late, what had been happening. It was most likely one of them who told the news men about 'the man in the green coat'. She didn't notice that the 'cool man' never came out of the armoury.
Then came the expected 'Territorials', a truck load of them. They waved as they passed the armoury, and our men waved back at them and smiled.
EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL :
It was now 2.55pm. Everything was under control and going according to plan. Into the guardroom was sent every Tommy on his way out and when inside he was bound hand and foot ; altogether there were eighteen soldiers and one civillian tied up.
It was quite amusing to see them adjusting their uniform before going into the guardroom to be 'passed out' and then to watch their amazement when they entered and had a revolver jabbed into their back...
(MORE LATER.)
BRITISH AUXIES SURRENDER TO IRA AFTER AMBUSH.
On the 2nd of February, 1921 - 101 years ago on this date - eighteen members of 'M Company' of the Auxiliary Division of the RIC grouping (pictured), travelling in two Crossley trucks, were ambushed at Clonfin, near Ballinlee/Granard, in County Longford, by IRA Volunteers from the North Longford Flying Column of the IRA, operating under the command of General Seán MacEoin (then a republican gamekeeper but later to morph into a Free State poacher).
The IRA had secured their positions in three different sections of the road ; 'Section 1' under MF Reynolds, 'Section 2' under Seán Duffy and 'Section 3' under Hugh Hourican.
Mick Mulligan suggested the ambush site and a land mine was constructed by Paddy Callaghan, who detonated it at the appropriate time, disabling the lead truck.
Before the Auxies eventually surrendered, two of them were killed and two more died two days later ; a Lieutenant-Commander District Inspector Francis Worthington Craven (32), a retired officer of the Royal Navy, who had been awarded the 'Distinguished Service Order', the 'Distinguished Service Cross' and the 'Distinguished Service Medal' during 'World War 1', died on that day (he was bandaging a bullet wound in his leg when another bullet passed through his neck) as did RIC Cadet John Aldridge Houghton (25), who had been a Lieutenant in the 'Royal Sussex Regiment' and was later a member of the Sussex Constabulary in England.
Two other Auxies, both listed as 'RIC Cadets' - George Bush, from Hertfordshire, in England (22) and Harold Clayton, a 'Royal Field Artillary' man and a commissioned officer in the 'Duke of Wellington's Regiment' (24, and a holder of a 'Distinguished Conduct Medal') - died on the 4th February from wounds they received in the ambush. Seven of their colleagues were subsequently discharged as 'medically unfit due to the severity of their injuries'.
Incidentally, Bush and Clayton were removed from the site of the ambush by the IRA, who transported them to Dr. Steevens' Hospital in Dublin for treatment but they died, as stated, on the 4th February.
As a result of that operation, the IRA requisitioned 18 rifles, 20 revolvers, a Lewis machine gun and a large amount of ammunition.
The next day, in retaliation, a number of houses and farms in the area were burned by an Auxie patrol, under the command of a W. Elmslie ; one of his men, named Ridgeway, shouted at a local man some distance from him to stop but the man, 70-year-old Michael Farrell, had apparently no idea that those British forces were behind him and that they had shouted at him, and he was shot dead.
Ridgeway 'resigned from service' soon after, no doubt to nurse a guilty conscience.
RIC 'DISTRICT INSPECTOR' WITH "FAVOURABLE RECORD" NOT 'FAVOURED' BY ALL.
The Cork area was where Tom Barry and his men were based and one of their many operations was an attack on Rosscarbery Barracks (Tom Barry's home town) in Cork, which was the centre of operations for the RIC and the Black and Tans.
Tom Barry and his men decided to base themselves in a near-by 'Big House', Burgatia House, to plan proceedings. That 'Big House' was situated about one mile east of Rosscarbery and about 200 yards up an avenue from the main road, and was owned at the time by 'landowner' Thomas Kingston, a 'Justice of the Peace' who was openly hostile to Irish republicanism and mixed in British Army circles.
On the 2nd February, 1921, the IRA made their move and took over the house ; the employees and staff on the premises were placed under arrest and confined to a room in the building, with special attention given to securing Mr Kingston's presence.
But, at around lunch time, the postman called to the House with a delivery and found himself in the middle of an IRA operation ; if he was held on the premises his absence from work would be noticed and the RIC would be tasked to locate him, which could lead to RIC members calling to the house. He pleaded to be let go about his business, and swore blind that he wouldn't say anything to anyone. So he was let go to carry on with his rounds.
But he didn't - an IRA 'spotter' in Rosscarbery, Sonny Maloney, called to the House and reported that the postman had ran into the RIC Barracks and stayed there. Reports also came in to the IRA Unit that a significant number of British Army soldiers and Black and Tans had left Skibbereen and Clonakilty, and were heading towards the Rosscarbery area.
The order was given by Tom Barry (pictured) to pick a target and fire - the advancing Crown Forces were caught by surprise, broke ranks in their panic, and ran in the opposite direction. The IRA then opened-up with rapid fire and, in small groups, left the House.
They re-grouped close by and marched for about three miles, with some of their number being sent into Rosscarbery to 'dissuade' the Crown Forces from further terrorising the population, as was their wont after losing out on 'scalps' ; those IRA men announced their presence and their intent by firing on and at the Crown Forces in the town, before they withdrew, hours later, to re-join their comrades.
It was RIC 'District Inspector' Michael Keany who had organised and led the Burgatia House 'counter ambush', and he wasn't shy about boasting about it. He was awarded a 'First Class Favourable Record' and a £10 note for his deed but, on the burning down of Burgatia House shortly afterwards, by the IRA, he must have wondered if those 'rewards' were worth it.
That must have been troubling him because, on Saturday, the 11th February 1922 - over one year after he became a 'hero' - he was moving his wife and family and their personal belongings, furniture etc out of the RIC Barracks in Clonakilty, accompanied by his 18-year-old son, Edward James Keany, and was walking from the local hotel to the barracks at about 11pm that night when he was shot four times, and died at the scene. He is buried in Saint Finbarrs Cemetery, in Cork.
His son, Edward, was wounded in the attack and reportedly died later from his wounds, but was later said to have survived but was invalided as a result of his wounds, and then it was reported that he had taken up a job with the British Merchant Marine.
His wife received compensation from the 'Compensation (Ireland) Commission' to the value of £1500 for herself and £600 for each of their five children. When the widow herself died one of the sons, Michael Francis, put a claim in, in 1927, for £2,500, but records don't show whether he got it or not.
Incidentally, RICDI Michael Keaney was 54 years of age when he was killed, having given 33 years of his life to the British Crown.
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.)
Catholic, but not Nationalist...:
The Pope's visit to Chile provided the opportunity for an editorial ostensibly about human rights in Latin America, but did not fail to remind us that the church "..will always oppose violent solutions."
Saint Patrick, the Pope, the Cardinal Bishop Daly, assorted priests and even the odd Protestant cleric are held up to us as examples against the 'men of violence'. For the bishops, as for the business-people, the greatest evil is 'violence' ; quoting Bishop Daly, we are told unequiovocally that "two decades of sterile violence is an oppression far greater than that manifested in economic inequality" (March 28th).
Sterile Condemnations :
Occasionally a gesture of evenhandedness is made and loyalist 'men of violence' receive ritual condemnation, but the overwhelming majority of verbiage is directed to republicans engaged in armed struggle.
The theme is repeated so often that even the editors find it difficult to come up with suitable adjectives, but no opportunity is missed. Even an editorial congratulating the winners of the Young Scientist Awards becomes a lecture about violence...
(MORE LATER.)
1921 : BRITISH 'POLICE' IN IRELAND ROB AND KILL ONE OF THEIR OWN LEGAL REPS.
One of the men outside replied "Military" and demanded that the door be opened. The son said he needed to put on his clothes and asked them to wait a few minutes ; he went back upstairs, alerted his father, grabbed a poker and went to the hall door.
When he unlocked it, two men with their faces covered forced the door open and rushed in. They each had revolvers, and demanded money. Dixon Senior was on the stairs, took money from his pocket and gave it to the two gunmen, but they demanded more, and fired a shot down the hall to show their intent. Dixon Senior went back upstairs to get more money, accompanied by one of the thieves.
The son grabbed the man left in the hall and they started fighting ; the thief from upstairs came back down on to the stairs and shot the son in his left shoulder. The son was now armed with the revolver he had taken from the thief in the hall and pointed it at the intruder on the stairs and pulled the trigger. But the gun didn't fire.
The thief on the stairs fired again, this time hitting the son in his hip area, and he fell on the floor. The two thiefs were now back in the hallway but the son managed to get to his feet and tried to tackle both of them, but his strength gave out and he fell to the floor again and one of the intruders smashed down on his head with the butt of his gun. In all the gunfire and the commotion, Robert Dixon Senior, 'JP', was shot dead.
There were two women in the house and both of them then attacked the intruders with sticks and whatever else came to hand and the two thieves fled the scene.
Indeed, they left in such a hurry that they left behind items which were identified as RIC-issued 'tools of the trade' ; clothing, a flashlight, and bullets, which were immediately traced back to the two men that those items had been issued to - two Englishmen, both members of the RIC ; 'Constable' Arthur Hardie and 'Constable' William Mitchell, both of whom were arrested by their colleagues that same day.
It transpired that it was Hardie that had shot Mr Dixon but, before another representative of the British 'justice' system in Ireland could pronounce sentence on him, he killed himself in Dunlavin RIC Barracks, on the 3rd February.
His RIC colleague, Mitchell, was executed by hanging in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin on the 7th of June, 1921. He is the only member of the British Crown Forces to hang for murder during this period. Many of his other colleagues got away with it, obviously...
ON THIS DATE (2ND FEBRUARY) 101 YEARS AGO : IRA OFFICER COMMANDING SHOT DEAD WHILE LEADING AN AMBUSH.
At just 16 years young (in 1915) he enlisted in the British Army ('service number 3876') at Victoria Barracks in Athlone, County Westmeath, stating that he was almost 19 years old, and was placed in the 5th Battalion of the Connaught Rangers (later serving with the 3rd Battalion) and shipped-out to Gallipoli.
He was wounded in both legs and one arm and, during treatment, it was discovered that he had lied about his age when he enlisted, was discharged from further service and he returned home to Ireland.
He joined the 'Irish Volunteers' and worked his way up the ranks, eventually being appointed as the Officer Commanding of an 'Active Service Unit' attached to the Athlone Brigade of the IRA and he and his Unit took the war to the British. He was killed in action during an ambush of British forces in Cornafulla, County Roscommon, on the 2nd February, 1921, when his four-man Unit was taken by surprise by the arrival of British reinforcements. His comrades secretly buried him in Clonmacnoise Graveyard ('Old Abbey/Seven Churches') in County Offaly and a brass plate was fixed to his coffin, reading 'James Tormey killed in action February 2nd 1921.'
British Crown Forces discovered the burial site and removed his body to Custume Barracks in Athlone, County Westmeath, before eventually being handed over to his parents and he was finally laid to rest in the local Mount Temple Cemetery in the family plot, but not before the RIC and their British Army colleagues interfered ; dressed in full war regalia, those agents of the British Crown caused disruption by attempting to seize the Irish Tricolour flag (which was buried with him to prevent it from being grabbed by an RIC/BA member) and searching and questioning all the men present.
James Tormey was then finally able to meet his brother, Joseph, who was 'arrested' by the British in November 1920 and held in custody in Ballykinlar Internment Camp in County Down. On the 14th January 1921, Joseph and another Westmeath IRA Volunteer, Patrick Sloan, from Moate, were shot dead by a camp sentry. John Macken, an officer of the IRA's Mullingar Brigade who was imprisoned in Ballykinlar from January to December 1921, stated that they were shot "for talking across the barbed wire to prisoners in the other camp." This was confirmed in the subsequent military court of enquiry, which also concluded that the sentry had contravened regulations by opening fire. That fact was censored from the public at the time.
We have really only scratched the surface of James Tormey's history with, and involvement in, Irish republicanism, and would suggest that readers interested in knowing more about this brave man should take a look at a detailed account of same, to be found here.
The Ballad of James Tormey.
'SINN FÉIN NOTES...'
ACTIVITIES :
The Austin Stack Cumann, Dublin, has started a Gaelic Language class and Ceilidhe dancing class, which are held at No. 6 Gardiner's Row every Tuesday night at 8pm, and new members are always welcome.
Cumann throughout the country are urged to start similar classes, if they have not already done so, as it is an important branch of Cumann activity to foster in every possible way the Gaelic language and all Gaelic culture.
Every effort should be made by all members to kindle in the minds and hearts of their neighbours a love and respect for the Gaelic language, which is the distinctive badge of our individual nationality. Terence McSweeney's words should be remembered and thought on very seriously - "When Ireland was wholly Gaelic, Ireland was wholly free."
LONDON :
The Secretary of the London Comhairle Ceanntair informs us that Sinn Féin is now going from strength to strength there. New members are welcome, if they are prepared to work. There is so much work to be done that there is little time for talk ; if you live in the London area and want to work for the freedom of Ireland write or call to D.Ryan, Secretary, London Comhairle Ceanntair.
A new cumann will be formed shortly in Watford and anyone living in this area should contact D. Ryan immediately...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (2ND FEBRUARY) IN...
...1921 :
On the 2nd of February, 1921 - 101 years ago on this date - eighteen members of 'M Company' of the Auxiliary Division of the RIC grouping, travelling in two Crossley trucks, were ambushed at Clonfin, near Ballinlee/Granard, in County Longford, by IRA Volunteers from the North Longford Flying Column of the IRA, operating under the command of General Seán MacEoin (then a republican gamekeeper but later to morph into a Free State poacher). The IRA had secured their positions in three different sections of the road ; 'Section 1' under MF Reynolds, 'Section 2' under Sean Duffy and 'Section 3' under Hugh Hourican.
Mick Mulligan suggested the ambush site and a land mine was constructed by Paddy Callaghan, who detonated it at the appropriate time, disabling the lead truck.
Before the Auxies eventually surrendered, two of them were killed and two more died two days later ; a Lieutenant-Commander District Inspector Francis Worthington Craven (32), a retired officer of the Royal Navy, who had been awarded the 'Distinguished Service Order', the 'Distinguished Service Cross' and the 'Distinguished Service Medal' during 'World War 1', died on that day (he was bandaging a bullet wound in his leg when another bullet passed through his neck) as did RIC Cadet John Aldridge Houghton (25), who had been a Lieutenant in the 'Royal Sussex Regiment' and was later a member of the Sussex Constabulary in England.
Two other Auxies, both listed as 'RIC Cadets' - George Bush, from Hertfordshire, in England (22) and Harold Clayton, a 'Royal Field Artillary' man and a commissioned officer in the 'Duke of Wellington's Regiment' (24, and a holder of a 'Distinguished Conduct Medal') - died on the 4th February from wounds they received in the ambush.
Seven of their colleagues were subsequently discharged as 'medically unfit due to the severity of their injuries'. Incidentally, Bush and Clayton were removed from the site of the ambush by the IRA, who transported them to Dr. Steevens' Hospital in Dublin for treatment but they died, as stated, on the 4th February.
As a result of that operation, the IRA requisitioned 18 rifles, 20 revolvers, a Lewis machine gun and a large amount of ammunition.
The next day, in retaliation, a number of houses and farms in the area were burned by an Auxie patrol, under the command of a W. Elmslie ; one of his men, named Ridgeway, shouted at a local man some distance from him to stop but the man, 70-year-old Michael Farrell, had apparently no idea that those British forces were behind him and that they had shouted at him. Mr Farrell kept on walking and he was shot dead.
Ridgeway 'resigned from service' soon after, hopefully in an attempt to nurse a guilty conscience.
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..1921 :
In 1896, an Antrim man, Orr Graham (46), who was married with four children, gave up farming for a living and joined the RIC ('service number 57367'). He was constantly moved out of one area and placed elsewhere, for some reason - from Down, to Derry, to Belfast and, in 1909, to Armagh.
He was known to be facing a disciplinary charge (or charges) and, at about 11.30 pm, on the 2nd February in 1921, he was in an upstairs hallway in Bessbrook Barracks in County Armagh when he shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
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..1921 :
Samuel Green was born in Middlesex, in England, in 1898 and, as a young man, he thought it would be a good idea to go to Ireland and help 'police' the colony for Westminster, which he did.
He joined the RIC ('service number 75477') and was placed in a barracks in Balbriggan, County Dublin. All was well for him for two months and he felt comfortable enough to venture out to the local pub, Fagan's, located in the Square, in Balbriggan.
On Wednesday, 2nd February in 1921, he was having a pint in that pub when three men walked in and shot him. Two locals helped him up off the floor and assisted him to get back to his barracks. He was then rushed to Dr Steevens' Hospital in Kilmainham, in Dublin, but he died from his wounds the next day.
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..1921 :
Following the family 'tradition', he joined the British 'Royal Engineers' and 'seen service' in France, but was discharged due to ill-health in February 1919.
He returned to his house near the Turnpike, outside Portlaoise, in County Laois, and decided to apply to join the British 'police' in Ireland, the RIC, but his application fell into the hands of the local IRA.
On the 2nd February, 1921, this ex-British soldier had left his house at about 6am when his wife, still in the house, heard shouting outside and went out to have a look. She saw an armed man hitting her husband and tried to help by kicking the attacker ; she turned to pick up a hatchet but turned again when she heard a shot. The attacker declared to the wounded William Vanston "You'll never join the fucking police.."
The gunman then fired a second shot into Vanston, got back on his pushbike and cycled away. Mr Vanston died at about 8.30am that morning and is buried in Oakvale Cemetery in Stradbally, in County Laois. His widow later secured £3000 in compensation.
Incidentally (and ironically), the attacker, Thomas O'Neill, the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Leix Brigade IRA, later 'joined the fu**ing police' himself, becoming a Free State Garda, and worked in collaboration with the British presence in Ireland.
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..1921 :
An RIC member, Patrick Mullany, and one of his colleagues, both dressed in 'civvies', were cycling back to their barracks at about 9pm on the evening of the 2nd February, 1921. They were passing the Moira Hotel on Trinity Street in Dublin City Centre when four men called on them to stop, but they ignored the instruction and carried on their journey.
Two shots were fired at them, one of which hit RIC man Mullany and he died at the scene.
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..1922 :
A Charles Robert Thompson Ednie, from Edinburgh, in Scotland, joined the RIC in 1921 ('service number 75392') and was operational in County Kerry. On the 2nd February in 1922 his grouping were involved in a gunfight with the IRA in Killarney and he was shot dead.
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..1923 :
On the 2nd February in 1923, a section of the East Kilkenny Active Service Unit of the IRA set-up an ambush site in Shankill, Paulstown, close to the Carlow border, for a Free State Army patrol that they knew would be passing that way. And it did, but it was bigger in size and better equipped than the IRA had been led to believe, and the 'dissidents' had no choice but to withdraw from the fight.
As they were doing so, some of their number decided to stand their ground for as long as they could to facilitate the escape of their comrades. One of those IRA fighters, 18-year-old Patrick Barcoe, from Neigham, Gowran, in County Kilkenny, who also stayed in a dwelling in nearby Goresbridge, was shot dead by the Staters, and five of his colleagues were captured.
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..1923 :
On the 2nd February, 1923, two of the 'Big Houses' in the newly-spawned Free State, owned by Free State-supported 'landlords', were attacked and burned down by the IRA ; Clermont House, near Blackrock in County Louth (owned by Colonel Charles Davis Guinness, a representative of the 'Irish Unionist Alliance' Party) and Ballygassen House (owned by a JJ Russell) in Annagassen, in County Louth, were both destroyed.
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Thanks for the visit, and for reading,
Sharon and the team.