Approximately 850 people were present on the ship at any one time, consisting of around 700 British military personnel and 150 prisoners, including Provisional and Official IRA members and some others that were not involved with either group.
James Emerson Bryson, Tommy Tolan, Thomas Kane, Tommy Gorman, Peter Rodgers, Martin Taylor and Sean Convery, a group of Irish republicans that became known as 'The Magnificent Seven' because of the nature of their escape from the Maidstone prison ship (pictured) on January 17th, 1972, were determined that their 'stay' on the ship would be a short one.
Of the 226 men detained following the introduction of internment in August 1971, 124 were initially held in Crumlin Road Jail while the remainder were held on the Maidstone, a prison ship moored at the coalwharf in Belfast docks. The prison ship, used as an emergency billet for British troops who arrived in 1969, was totally unsuitable as a prison - it was cramped, stuffy and overcrowded, with the 'lock-up' section located at the stern below the deck, which was used twice a day for exercise.
On January 16th, 1972 , fifty men were transferred from the ship to the new camp at Magilligan : this sudden move spurred on some of the internees who were planning to escape.
One of the group had spotted a seal slip through a gap in the barbed-wire draped around the ship and it was decided that if the seal could come in, then they could go out!
The men used black boot polish to camouflage themselves and smeared each other in butter, to keep out the cold. They had already cut through a bar in a porthole which they now slipped through, and clambered down the Maidstone's steel hawser and entered the water.
Several of them were badly cut by the barbed-wire, but they all managed to get through it. In single file, they swam the 400 yards through the ice-cold floodlit water to the shore : it took them twenty minutes, as some of the men could not swim and had to be helped by the others. On the bank, Volunteers of the Andersonstown Unit of the IRA's Belfast Brigade were waiting with four cars to transport the escapees to safety, but the escapees landed at the wrong spot, approximately 500 yards away.
The men realised their mistake and made their way to Queen's Road bus terminus where they commandeered a bus and drove across the city to the Markets area. During the journey, the bus was spotted by a British Army Land Rover which attempted to stop the vehicle ; however, the British soldiers backed-off when the bus entered the staunchly republican Markets district, which was then quickly surrounded by British reinforcements.
A search of the area was carried out by the British Army and RUC, but none of the escapees were found - the 'Magnificent Seven' were long gone to a different part of Belfast and, days later, gave a press conference in Dublin.
That 'deep dive' by Irish republican POW's took place on the 17th January 1972 - 52 years ago on this date.
'On April 4th, 1919, Michael Collins’s motion to Dáil Éireann to approve a £250,000 Dáil loan was approved.
Nothing was left to chance by the newly appointed minister of finance to ensure the success of the first Dáil loan and to fund the counter-state government that had been set up when the first Dáil met in January 1919.
Two million promotional leaflets and 500,000 copies of the prospectus were printed and distributed. More than 50,000 letters were sent to high-net-worth individuals. Full-page newspaper advertisements were budgeted, and €30,000 in today’s money was spent on a promotional film...' (From here.)
On the 17th January, 1920, Mr Collins and his Dáil Loan team, aware that interference by the British had effected the true potential of the 'Loan' to raise funds, issued a public circular announcing that the scheme had been extended until the 1st May 1920 and, on that same date (17th January 1920), the initiative was launched in America by Éamon de Valera, where about $5.5m was raised and just under £400,000 was raised in Ireland.
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'SINN FÉIN NOTES...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
CORK...
CUMANN BRIAN DIOLUN.
The activities of the Brian Dillon Cumann, Cork, augur well for the future of the organisation in the St Patrick's Parish area of the city.
The Cumann is also contemplating the formation of a Dramatic Group to promote amateur dramatics of a national and cultural background among its members and the organisation in general.
During the last few weeks the Cumann has had the pleasure to listen to two well-delivered lectures, one on John Mitchel, by Domhnall O Cathain, in which he dealt with the life of Mitchel and the part he played in the struggle for complete separation from England.
The other lecturer, Liam Early, gave a detailed and concise lecture on 'The Primary Objectives Of Sinn Féin', in which he traced the objectives of Sinn Féin since its inception up to the present day, and all members joined in the subsequent discussions.
Various and interesting motions have been forwarded to the next meeting of the Comhairle Ceanntair, covering a wide range of activities which include the forthcoming Local Government Elections, house-to-house collections, the Sinn Féin social and economic programme and the invitation of speakers from the Ard Comhairle to speak to the Cumann...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 17th January, 1921, the British Labour Party launched its campaign for 'Peace in Ireland' at a meeting in Manchester, which was just one such meeting in a series of about 500 overall, in various cities in England, Scotland and Wales.
One of the organisers, Arthur Greenwood, at the Manchester meeting, told the audience that "Manchester under German rule would be like Cork or Dublin under British rule today", but that level of support was absent from the higher level in British politics ; Llyod George jeered at the "Bolshevists and Sinn Féiners and faddists and cranks..." who were organising and attending those meetings.
However, within months of his jeer, Mr George himself was negotiating with those same "Bolshevists and Sinn Féiners and faddists and cranks..."!
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During the on-going campaign against Westminster interference in Irish political affairs, the fort on Spike Island in County Cork was the largest British military run prison for republican prisoners and internees in the 'Martial Law' area.
During 1921‚ approximately 300 prisoners and 900 internees were imprisoned there and a headcount carried out by the British, on the 17th January, 1921, gave a figure of 1,478 internees altogether at that point in time.
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On the 17th January, 1921, 25-year-old RIC member Robert Boyd ('Enlisted Number 708233'), from Banbridge, in County Down, was drinking a glass of stout in Margaret Moran's pub in Cappawhite, in County Tipperary.
The political atmosphere 'on the ground' was tense, as the death of Cork republican Terence James MacSwiney (Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne), a well-respected political and military activist, had occurred, at the hands of the British, on the 25th October 1920.
Four IRA Volunteers - P. English ('B' Company), J. Fitzpatrick ('C' Company) J. Ryan and O. Aherne (both from 'D' Company) entered the pub, approached the RIC man and shot him dead.
Mrs Moran's niece was hit in the leg by a ricochet.
Later that day, the RIC and their colleagues in the British Army burned down two business premises in Cappawhite.
Also on that same date (17th January 1921), an RIC car coming from the direction of Sixmilebridge was ambushed at Clonloun Cross, in County Clare.
==========================
British Army Private Alfred John Blitchford Williams (aged 18, 'Enlistment Number' 5373728) of the First Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment, based at Ballyvonare Military Camp, Buttevant, County Cork, died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen, on the 17th January, 1921, while he was said to be "temporarily insane".
He is buried in St John's Churchyard at Buttevant.
He was born in 1903 in Cornwall, England, and died, with no family member present, in a foreign country, as a teenager, in 1921. Sad.
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ON THIS DATE (17TH JANUARY) 193 YEARS AGO : 'SLAP-DOWN' SCRIPT FOR IRISH 'PET REBEL' APPROVED.
Although he campaigned on behalf of those who suffered as a result of injustices inflicted by Westminster, he made it clear that it was his desire that Ireland should remain as a unit governed by the British 'Monarchy' - saying, if you like - 'stay if you want, just treat us better'.
He had publicly and repeatedly vowed to work within 'the law' - British 'law'.
The only force to be used, he stated, was "moral force", but even this was too much of a demand for Westminster - 'Sir' Robert Peel (the then British Prime Minister) replied that to 'grant' O'Connell his way "would not merely mean the repeal of an Act of (British) Parliament, but dismemberment of a great Empire. Deprecating as I do all war but above all, civil war, yet there is no alternative which I do not think preferable to the dismemberment of Empire.." In other words - 'thus far, O'Connell, but no further'.
His subservience to British 'law' could have been used against him at any time and, in December 1830, that's what happened : he was one of a group of 'troublemakers' that were rounded-up for questioning in connection with meetings/assemblage of a type which had been forbidden by the British 'Lord Lieutenant of Ireland' - Westminster was 'jittery' regarding its political position in Ireland due, in the main, to four issues : corn (availability and price of), currency devaluations, the overall banking system and the 'catholic problem' ; this period in our history witnessed the beginning of 'an Cogadh na nDeachúna' - the 'Tithe War', and also heralded in catholic unrest in Belgium and Poland.
Westminster would not allow such actions to gather pace here, if it could help it, and so it was that, on the 17th January, 1831, the final 'Charge Sheet' against Mr O'Connell was presented to, and approved by, British 'legal eagles'.
The following day (18th January 1831), Daniel O'Connell was charged on 31 counts (14 of which were for 'violating the Suppression Act of 10 George IV 1829', to which O'Connell pleaded guilty) including 'conspiracy', and was arrested, fined 2,000 pounds and imprisoned for one year.
He served three months, mostly because the '1829 Acts' expired in April that year and those imprisoned under it were released by default. Westminster had 'boxed clever' - it had been seen to 'punish offenders' but not to the extent where the offender would become radicalised due to the severity of the punishment, a trick it performs to this day on those Irish people who consider themself to be 'radicals'!
In a report to Winston Churchill's 'Provisional Government of Ireland Committee' regarding the 'Ulster Special Constabulary', presented on the 17th January, 1922, it was recommended to stop funding the 'Specials' "at the earliest date that is legal or possible".
That advice wasn't given because Westminster was suddenly concerned that the vicious actions of their 'Special' forces in Ireland was bringing them into further disrepute, but rather because the 'buck' could now be passed.
On the 9th November, 1921, responsibility for 'security measures' (!) in the Occupied Six Counties had been transferred from Westminster to the puppet/Stormont regime in Belfast, and they were being told that it was now also their responsibility to finance their own 'security'!
'Mammy Bear' was hacking at the apron strings, and is still hacking at them...
==========================
On the 17th January, 1922, British Army General 'Sir' Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready (pictured), 1st Baronet, GCMG, KCB, PC ETC ETC (!) issued a 'Special Order of the Day' to all under his command -
"While I feel there is no desire on the part of the army to rake up past animosities or bitterness, you have been called upon to perform a duty in many respects repugnant to our traditions, and devoid of all the glamour of war, though in many ways entailing greater strain and greater individual danger...the Government having decided that the time has arrived to commence withdrawing troops from Ireland...you, officers and men, have accomplished the most difficult task that any soldier can be called upon to undertake and you have emerged with your discipline unshaken and your conduct in the eyes of all fair-minded men blameless.
When history is written you will find that by your pluck, vigilance and discipline, you have contributed no inconsiderable share towards what we hope may prove eventually to be the settled peace and prosperity of Ireland..."
The arrogance of the man, and of that which he represented ; his upper lip was so stiff that it evidently covered his eyes and his ears.
==========================
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
Stating that life is sacred from conception until natural death will stimulate chants of "hypocrisy" or "misogyny", as it recently did in Dail Éireann (sic).
Comments by Cardinal Connell about the theological prowess of one of his Church of Ireland colleagues reported in a book led to exhaustive media coverage, and comments in the same book by a senator - an icon of liberal Ireland - that the Pope was "an instrument for evil" received scarcely a mention from our national broadcaster, nor from the 'paper of record' (The Irish Times), even though his view could be interpreted as insulting at best and possibly sectarian.
So in modern Ireland, certain issues are deemed out of bounds for public discussion by our politically correct elite, and those who attempt to raise them are branded, often, as fundamentalists...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (17TH JANUARY) 102 YEARS AGO : DUBLIN UNEMPLOYED GROUP PREPARE TO OCCUPY LANDMARK BUILDING.
On the 17th January, 1922, the Dublin-based 'Council of Unemployed' held a meeting to finalise their protest to highlight their grievances and the lack of address by the 'authorities' to same :
'On January 18th 1922, a group of unemployed Dublin workers seized the concert hall of the Rotunda. 'The Irish Times' of the following day noted that '..the unemployed in Dublin have seized the concert room at the Rotunda, and they declare that they will hold that part of the building until they are removed, as a protest against the apathy of the authorities...a 'garrison', divided into 'companies', each with its 'officers', has been formed, and from one of the windows the red flag flies..'
Liam O'Flaherty, as chairman of the 'Council of Unemployed', spoke to the paper about the refusal of the men to leave the premises, stating that no physical resistance would be put up against the police and that the protest was a peaceful one, yet they intended to stay where they were -"If we were taken to court, we would not recognise the court, because the Government that does not redress our grievances is not worth recognising.." O'Flaherty told the Times...' (more here.)
Rather than 'tackle' (occupy, in this case) symptoms of the disease (ie the Rotunda Hall and other 'Establishment' venues), the actual disease itself should be 'tackled', providing those doing so have no apparent embarrassing baggage.
ON THIS DATE (17TH JANUARY) 90 YEARS AGO : LAST FULL DAY ON EARTH FOR AN IRISH NATIONALIST LEADER.
Mr. Devlin stated - "The Protestants are to be armed. Their pogrom is to be made less difficult. Instead of paving stones and sticks they are to be given rifles."
Joe Devlin led a busy life - a barman and journalist at the start of his working life, he was elected as a 'Home Rule MP' (British Parliament) for North Kilkenny in 1902, at 31 years young, and held his seat until 1906, when he was elected again, this time for the West Belfast area.
He was that area's representative in Westminster until 1922 ; he acted as General Secretary for the 'United Irish League' (UIL)/Home Rule Party', from 1904 to 1920, and was also involved with the 'Ancient Order of Hibernians' when, at 34 years of age, he served as the 'National President' of that organisation, a position he held for 29 years (!), during which time he forged links between the 'AOH' and the 'United Irish League'.
He first took a seat in Stormont in 1921 (at 50 years of age, and stayed there until 1934) ; in 1928 he founded, and chaired, the 'National League of the North'. Incidentally, he was not related to Bernadette Devlin or Paddy Devlin.
The 'Irish News' newspaper wrote the following piece the day after Joe Devlin died -
"It is with feelings of the most profound sorrow that we record the death of Mr Joseph Devlin, MP...his own people, like many others, were driven from the country by the conditions of the times into the growing city of Belfast, and lived in humble circumstances in the West Division. A little household typical of thousands where life was a daily struggle to avert poverty, and where the youngest were expected to do their share, was the home of his early years...like the majority of the Catholic youth of Belfast at that period, he left school early to take his part in the battle of life...Speaking of him, Mr John Redmond M.P., said: "Mr Devlin's career has been a proud one for Ireland. It has been more than that – it has been a hopeful one for Ireland. Few public careers in the last century have been so rapid as the career of Mr Devlin. He today holds a foremost position in the public life of our country, and if I were asked to explain the reason, in my opinion, for the rapidity and success of his career, I would say that its success and rapidity have been due to the combination of several great qualities – superb debating power and dauntless courage, combined with a cautious mind and a cool judgement ; transparent honesty and enthusiasm combined with an absolutely untiring industry; perfect loyalty to his leader for the time being, to his comrades, and to his Party – combined, let me say, with a modest and lovable disposition...".
At the General Election of 1906 Mr Devlin was elected by a majority of 16...there was an indescribable outburst of enthusiasm when the figures were announced. Angered by the rout of the Tory, a mob of Unionists, who had been expecting the defeat of Mr Devlin and had come to the Courthouse on the Crumlin Road, where the votes were counted, with drums, bands and banners to celebrate the event, gave full expression in the usual manner to their chagrin.
As Mr Devlin MP was descending the steps of the Courthouse, surrounded by his friends, a police inspector advised him not to leave that way. Mr Devlin's response was characteristic. "I am not going to sneak out by the back way." He then proceeded down the steps in face of the mob, and one of the police, realising his undaunted courage, shouted for fair play for Mr Devlin. The West was truly awake that night ; it was Belfast's night of jubilation, in which old and young came out to expression to the joy they felt at the triumph of their fellow citizen – a man who later was destined to plead their cause all over the civilised world.
The historic division that night was ablaze with bonfires and illuminations, and the dawn had broken before the people retired to rest..."
Joe Devlin died young, at 63 years of age, on Thursday, the 18th January 1934 - 90 years ago tomorrow.
BEIR BUA...
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
'WHY WE WANT RECRUITS'.
(Padraic H. Pearse, May 1915.)
"We want recruits because we have undertaken a service which we believe to be of vital importance to our country, and because that service needs whatever there is of manly stuff in Ireland in order to do its effective rendering.
We want recruits because we have a standard to rally them to.
It is not a new standard raised for the first time by the men of a new generation. It is an old standard which has been borne by many generations of Irish men, which has gone into many battles, which has looked down upon much glory and upon much sorrow ; which has been a sign to be contradicted, but which shall yet shine as a star.
There is no other standard in the world so august as the standard we bear ; and it is the only standard which the men of Ireland may bear without abandoning their ancient allegiance. Individual Irishmen have sometimes fought under other standards : Ireland as a whole has never fought under any other.
We want recruits because we have a faith to give them and a hope with which to inspire them. They are a faith and a hope which have been handed down from generation to generation of Irish men and women unto this last..."
(MORE LATER.)
"it is merely a question of whether at some stage of the descent of Ireland into anarchy and chaos the British Government will step in. If Ireland is to be left to its own devices, it is an ugly sore and in the end may poison the whole body of the Empire..."
That quote is taken from a letter that its author, Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (sic), KG, MVO, PC, PC ETC ETC (!) - 'Lord Londonderry' (pictured) - sent to Winston Churchill, on the 17th January, 1923.
If Westminster had only left Ireland "to its own devices", and not interfered here, politically and militarily as, indeed, it continues to do in six of our counties, we wouldn't be such "an ugly sore".
The so-called 'British Empire' claimed jurisdictional control over at least 56 countries, all of which it "poisoned" in one form or another.
Mr Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart died, at the age of 70, in 1949, in County Down, from a stroke. His body, like his mind and morality, was 'poisoned', you could say...
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Thanks for the visit, and for reading.
Sharon and the team.
We won't be here next Wednesday [24th] or the following week, or the...!
Myself and the rest of the Girl Gang were Christmas-gifted an all-expenses paid holiday to Spain by our families [including a few bob spending money!] and we'll be heading over there within the next week, and staying until mid-February. The two lads said they'd keep the blog going but the three of us then decided that we'd all take a break and get back to business here, refreshed, sometime in February.
I'll still be on 'X' and Facebook, and sure I might even post a few pics of the five of us on the beach...!
So take care, y'all - off now to do some packing ; sun-cream oil, bikinis, sun hats, sunglasses...all the stuff you won't need, y'know...!
