George Plant was executed by de Valera's Fianna Fáil administration on the 5th March 1942, and the circumstances leading to that act have left unanswered questions to this day*.
In late August 1940, a Dublin house (22 Lansdowne Road, pictured) was raided by the Special Branch and, among others, a lorry driver (for the Shell-Mex Company in Wexford) in his mid-twenties, Michael Devereux, from Wexford, was arrested.
At the time, Devereux was the Quarter-Master of the IRA in Wexford.
He was held and questioned for three days by ex-IRA man (who was once the Commander of 'C' Company, 4th Battalion, IRA, Dublin Brigade) , now Free State Detective, Dinny O'Brien (registration number 8288) , who made a name for himself with his fellow Staters as 'a good Broy Harrier man'.
Volunteer Michael Devereux was released without charge and, shortly afterwards, the State Gardai 'stumbled upon' a major IRA arms dump in the Wexford area : it had been suggested at the time and since then that the Staters knew about that arms dump weeks before they raided the house in Lansdowne Road but willingly used the circumstances to set up Volunteer Devereux.
The then new IRA Chief-Of-Staff, Stephen Hayes, ordered George Plant and Kilkenny-man Michael Walsh to execute "the informer Michael Devereux" and, even though the two IRA men were uneasy about the task, and questioned same, they executed him, on the 27th September, 1940 (his body was only located a year later ie 27th September 1941).
In October 1941, George Plant was arrested by the Staters and charged (in effect, in front of a Free State Military Tribunal) with the 'murder' of Michael Devereux but the 'trail' collapsed within days as 'witnesses for the prosecution' refused to condemn the man, leaving the State no option but to declare a 'nolle prosequi' , which should have brought the issue to an end.
But in December that year (1941), George Plant was re-arrested (under 'Emergency Order 41F') and brought before the 'Special Military Court' (where Free State Army officers act as 'judges' who could only impose the death penalty with no right to appeal) and again charged with the 'murder' of Michael Devereux.
Also that same month (December 1941) , in an attempt to wipe-out his former IRA comrades, de Valera enacted an 'Emergency Powers Act' (to be enforced retrospectively, if required) in which 'witness' statements, once given (or, indeed, 'once taken' by the Staters) could be used in court even if the person who 'gave' same withdrew it later and was or was not in court!
At this second 'trail', George Plant was found guilty, sentenced to death and executed in Portlaoise on the 5th March 1942, by firing squad, 83 years ago on this date.
He was buried at St. Johnstown Cemetery, near Fethard, County Tipperary, following an oration by John McGrath (NGA), who said -
"George Plant worshipped at a shrine different to the majority of his fellow countrymen, but like his illustrious co-religionists, Wolfe Tone, Emmet, the Brothers Sheares, and many more, he fearlessly trod the path that they trod to their doom in the cause of Ireland's freedom..."
(*The then IRA Chief-of-Staff, Stephen Hayes, was said to be a paid informer in the employ of de Valera and, to earn his keep, he accused Michael Devereux of revealing the location of the arms dump in order to conceal the fact that he, Hayes, had actually turned it over to de Valera and his fellow Free Staters.
Also, George Plant was in the Republican Movement for twenty-five years and, as such, he would have known the 'achilles heel' of many of those who served with him, some of whom, at that time, were now 'respectable' career politicians in the young Free State and, indeed, not long after the man was buried, a Tipperary Churchman found a journal written by George Plant but he destroyed it after reading it as he deemed its contents to be a political game-changer for the Free Staters if it was ever to become public knowledge.
Questions were also asked in relation to an IRA bank robbery in 1928 in Tipperary, allegedly carried out by George Plant [then 24 years young] and his brother, Jimmy, after been ordered to do so by ex-IRA man, Frank Aiken [who was a Fianna Fáil member at the time], the proceeds of which were given to Frank Aiken for safekeeping until it was to be handed over to the IRA.
The money, however, apparently ended-up in the election coffers of Fianna Fáil and if George Plant knew that then best to silence him....?)
On the 5th March, 1919, Sinn Féin members were involved (mostly) on the side of farmers, fox-hunting and horse-racing aficionados in the Kildare area at a large public meeting held in Naas Courthouse (pictured), at which those 'For' and 'Against' were discussing (!) the issue.
Between 400 and 500 farmers attended the meeting, and were mostly in favour of both 'sports', as were some of the republicans present who distributed leaflets entitled 'Fox-Hunting For Freedom'.
However, those 'sports' divided the public and political organisations -
'On march 5, 1919, twenty-five members of the Muskerry Foxhounds from east Cork rode out. The Muskerry’s master, Jerry Rohan, was not present.
For several weeks he had sought a compromise that would see local Sinn Féin activists end their campaign to stop fox-hunting, but by early March he had conceded defeat, leaving the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) inspector for the area to report that the Muskerry had abandoned their sport for the year.
Master or no master, however, twenty-five defiant members set off that morning and, according to the correspondent of the Freeman’s Journal newspaper, at first “all went merrily” and there “was abundant promise of a good day’s sport.”
Early on, two men on foot attempted to persuade the hunters to stop, but after a brief conversation the spoilsports were ignored and the incident was momentarily forgotten when a fox appeared, offering the opportunity of a chase.
When that fortunate animal eluded them, the hunters moved on to the townland of Ballyshoneen. There the unusual action began. As the hunters prepared to rouse a new quarry they heard the sound of whistles that signaled the arrival of fifty to sixty Sinn Féin supporters.
This group adopted a vigorously persuasive approach.
Wielding hurleys and sticks, they immediately set upon the hounds and horses.
When a Catholic clergyman, who was among the hunting party, demanded that the attackers desist, he was, in the words of the Freeman’s prolix euphemism, “answered by an opprobrious sally of unseemly names and epithets.”
Hurleys, sticks, and stones were met with riding crops, but soon the hunt was in full retreat, withdrawing to the sound of a revolver shot and the shouted question, “Now will you obey Sinn Féin and the orders of our Executive...?"
For what it's worth, the '1169' blog team voted unanimously against fox-hunting (ie 3-0), but 2-1 in favour of horse racing.
It was a secret ballot, of course, so I'll just say "that's lads for ya" and leave it at that...!
==========================
GAS LADS...
The massive finds of oil and gas on our western seaboard could ensure Ireland's financial security for generations.
Wealth approximating that of the Arab countries is within our grasp, but the Irish government seems content to sell off our birthright for a handful of votes and a few dollars.
In a special 'Magill' report, Sandra Mara investigates just what we are giving away, and why.
From 'Magill' magazine, March 2002.
The State sold the family silver.
After confirming the commerciality of the Corrib North find, 'Enterprise Oil' lobbied the government for a reduction of the already small, by industry standards, tax rate to 12.5 per cent.
The oil industry in Ireland, the 'Irish Offshore Operators Association' (IOOA), then proposed that a $5 subsidy be paid by the State for any oil found in Irish waters, a proposal which smacks of the deal done with the American Indians to buy New York for a handful of beads and a few dollars.
Informed industry sources suggest that the oil companies view the west coast of Scotland as being the main base of operations for the Atlantic Margin, described as the new oil and gas frontier.
The North Sea oil and gas fields, they believe, have a finite life span, which is expected to stretch into the latter part of this century, so to base their operations in Scotland makes sound economic sense for the oil companies which have built up the Scottish infrastructure for the past 25 years - the Atlantic Margin stretches from west of the Shetlands, west of Scotland, down as far as the western seaboard of Ireland...
(MORE LATER.)
In early 1920, the Cork No.1 Brigade of the IRA received sanction from IRA GHQ to organise simultaneous attacks on four enemy barracks in their command area - Carrigtwohill (for East Cork units), Ballygarvan (south side Cork city units), Kilmurray (Macroom area units) and Inchigeela (Ballyvourney area units).
The Cork Brigades were well-staffed, well-armed and disciplined ; for instance, at around that period, the Cork No.3 Brigade had over 5,500 active Volunteers/support base that it could rely on.
On the 5th March (1920) the British Army and the RIC tried to hit back by harassing local republicans and, among those 'arrested' or pulled in for questioning were at least six members of the Bandon Battalion of the IRA but it didn't stop the rebels, or even slow them down - within weeks, the Cork Brigades had paid a visit (!) to enemy installations at Blarney, Farran, Inchigeela, Clondrohid, and Cork city (MacCurtain Street).
'Cute hoors' when they wanted to be, those Corkonians!
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JACK THE LAD.....
....Jack Murphy (pictured), that is - 68 years ago on this date (5th March, 1957) , an unemployed carpenter was elected to Leinster House (with 3,036 first preference votes) as an Independent representative for Dublin South Central but was marked out in that institution for being 'different' (ie 'genuine') and resigned his seat 15 months later, saying -
"I was fed up with the callous indifference of the big parties to the situation of the workers."
He was born near Synge Street in Dublin in 1920, and was number thirteen in the family - his parents, five brothers and five sisters. His father was active in republican circles and Jack joined Na Fianna Éireann in 1930, at ten years of age and, at 16 years young, he joined the IRA.
He was interned for republican activity in the Curragh at 21 and released four years later.
When he entered Leinster House he divided his monthly wage of £52 into three sections - one-third each to his own family, unemployed action groups and organisations that were trying to look after the old.
On resigning his seat in May 1958, he received only £2-1s a week unemployment assistance and could only find short-term temporary work.
In early 1959 he had no option but to emigrate (to Canada), saying -
"Since Christmas I have been unable to get any work, apart from a couple of weeks.
The building trade is finished. But there is plenty of work if only the Government would put up the money for it instead of putting millions into the purchase of jet planes.
Irish tradesmen have emigrated in thousands. And they will continue to go. There is no hope for them here. Many people will say that I am quitting, pulling out in failure. But mostly they will be people with good, solid jobs.
If I saw the slightest hope I would stay, I repeat that, but it broke my heart to see my wife trying to get along on a few shillings a week. I tried hard all along and no one can say that I did not try to spotlight the problems and evils of our country.
Again let me stress that I am not pulling out from any motive of selfishness. There are fine young men in this country who will lead the people if they are prepared to follow them.
I wish those men all the luck in the world. They will need it in their fight to overcome the apathy that is making it all too easy for the big political parties to continue to run the country (sic) as if the working people did not matter."
Some of those that worked alongside him in the 1957 election campaign were not in agreement with his decision to resign his seat and there was a falling-out between them but our research for this piece would indicate that Jack Murphy was simply disappointed and frustrated that he found himself powerless in Leinster House to affect real change for the working class, the unemployed and the elderly and, realising that that was the case, saw no benefit in staying there.
He died on the 11th of July, 1984.
Also elected in that same State election (5th March 1957) were four Irish republicans, for Sinn Féin, on an abstentionist basis : Ruairi Ó Brádaigh (Longford/Westmeath) , Éineachán Ó hAnnluain (brother of Feargal O'Hanlon, Monaghan constituency) , John Joe Rice (South Kerry) and John Joe McGirl (Sligo-Leitrim) all of whom knew, whilst canvassing for that British-imposed 'parliament', that they, too, would be unable to affect meaningful change for the working class, the unemployed or the elderly and canvassed on the basis that they would not take their seats or their salary.
Sixty-eight years have gone by since then, but the Leinster House institution remains as corrupt and ineffectual as it was then.
On the 5th March, 1921, about 100 armed IRA Volunteers from various Units - the Newmarket Battalion Column* (under Sean Moylan), a section of the Kerry No. 2 Brigade Column (under Tom McEllistrim), a section of the Charleville Battalion Column* (under Paddy O'Brien) and the Millstreet Battalion Column* (under Con J Meany) established an ambush position in the townland of Cloonbannin (on the road between Rathmore and Mallow), in County Cork.
(*These Columns were attached to the Cork No.2 Brigade.)
The rebels were out to destroy a joint British Army and RIC convoy, which was travelling from Killarney to Buttevant, in Cork, consisting of about 40 enemy forces in three lorries, an armoured car and a touring car (the BA soldiers were from the the East Lancashire Regiment).
The IRA were armed with land mines (which, in the event, failed to explode) rifles, hand grenades, and a Hotchkiss machine gun (which actually jammed during the engagement).
The convoy arrived at the ambush point and the IRA opened fire ; such was the volume of shots hitting them that the BA/RIC forces panicked, their armoured car ran into the touring car (which was carrying their Brigadier-General, a Mr Hanway Robert Cumming) and then sank in the soft margin of the road, but the machine gun mounted on the armoured car still worked and was used against the Volunteers.
The battle lasted for about 90 minutes and resulted in the deaths of four enemy soldiers - the Brigadier-General himself and a Mr Harold de Maligny, a Mr Harold Turner and a Mr William Walker ; more here about that successful operation.
==========================
Speaking at the Clare Spring Assizes on the 5th March, 1921, a Mr Thomas Francis Moloney, the 'Lord Chief Justice of Ireland', declared that, while he was disappointed and annoyed with the people of County Clare "for allowing themselves to be cowed, intimidated and downtrodden by a comparatively small number of reckless and wicked men.." (ie by which he meant the IRA!), he stated that he understood why that was happening - "...the people of Clare dislike the crime but they dislike more assisting the police (sic)..."
Obviously, from his Ivory Tower high up in the clouds, Mr Moloney never witnessed the people being cowed, intimidated and downtrodden by "the police".
==========================
The Captain of the Coppeen Company, 3rd (Dunmanway) Battalion, Cork No. 3 Brigade IRA, Volunteer Jeremiah O'Mahoney, was accidently shot dead by a comrade near Ballyvelone Cross, Enniskeane, County Cork, on the 5th March 1921.
'But faith marked him out for a short bright career, midst the trouble of warfare and strife,
whilst engaged in his duties for Irelands protection, was accidently wounded, he lost his young life.
Great was his loss to his comrades who loved him, he was determined, partial and brave,
Bold and determined in dealing with justice, in civil affairs he was courteous and mild.
In football and hurling and bowl playing he revelled,
Few were his equals in all manly play.
For his score in the goal-field, how sadly we miss him,
And from the glorious Ireland that is dawning today...'
RIP Volunteer Jeremiah O'Mahony.
==========================
On the 2nd March, 1921, five IRA Volunteers from 'Sections 1 and 2' of the Active Service Unit of the Dublin Brigade IRA (with Volunteer Tom Flood [pictured ; a-republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free State poacher] in command) had established an ambush position at the junction of Capel Street and Parnell Street in Dublin City Centre.
The Volunteers were waiting for a three-vehicle British Army patrol to show up and, when it did, each Volunteer lobbed a bomb at one of the vehicles and quickly left the scene.
Three days later - on the 5th March (1921) - roughly in the same part of Dublin, eleven IRA Volunteers from 'Sections 1 and 2' of the ASU bombed and shot at another three-vehicle Crown Force convoy, injuring several members of the RIC's 'Igoe Gang', with one injury themselves - Volunteer Seán Quinn was wounded in the operation.
Incidentally, the Dublin Brigade's 'Section 1 and 2' ASU was a full-time Unit - the members of it had quit their jobs and were paid £4.10.00 a week by the Movement, given a 'Short Webley' (revolver), 12 rounds of ammunition and access to hand grenades when needed.
And we'll bet not one of them dreaded Monday morning...!
==========================
On Friday morning, 4th March, 1921, on-the-run IRA Volunteer Tom Lee (20,pictured) from Tipperary, ran past a farmer tending to his lifestock in Fethard, County Tipperary, and he shouted at the farmer to go back into his house.
The farmer saw that the IRA man was being chased by a British Black and Tan, so he stepped out in front of the Tan to try and slow him down but he was hit in the face with the butt of his rifle, sending the elderly farmer to the ground.
With that, the Tan ran up a little hill, took aim with his rifle, and fired three shots at Volunteer Lee, who fell in the field he was running across.
The Black and Tan turned to the farmer on the ground and said -
"It's your lucky day, Paddy. If I hadn't shot him, I would have shot you..."
Volunteer Lee, although only 20 years of age, was a seasoned military activist, and had been on-the-run for a few months. Earlier on that morning, himself and IRA Captain Pat Ryan had both slept overnight in a Mr Coffey's haybarn, near the town of Fethard.
They left the barn and went to another safehouse nearby for breakfast, which they never finished - they seen a force of Black and Tans and RIC members beginning to surround the house and decided to fight their way out.
Gunfire was exchanged between the IRA men and the Crown Forces, and Volunteers Lee and Ryan escaped out through a back window and split up.
Volunteer Lee got to the Cashel Road, ran past the Danagher's house and into Holway's Field...and that's when three shots were fired at him.
The Tans commandeered a horse and cart and made their way to where Volunteer Lee was lying - he had been shot twice, but was still alive.
He was thrown in the back of the cart and, by the time they got out of the field a small crowd had gathered, including local priest, Reverend PC Ryan, who climbed onboard the cart and stayed with the Volunteer on the journey to Fethard Military Barracks in Tipperary. Rev Ryan anointed the IRA man on that journey.
Volunteer Tom Lee (who had eight brothers and three sisters, ranging in age from 3 to 24, at the time) died in that Crown Force military barracks at 2.30am on Saturday, 5th March 1921, and was laid to rest on the 8th with his ancestors in the old graveyard in the village of Clerihan (Ballyclerahan).
'The Nationalist' newspaper carried a report on March 9th -
'His body was immediately removed to Tipperary Town for the military inquiry and, after the inquiry, the remains were then transferred to Cashel and taken from there by hearse to the parish church in Fethard.
All shops and banks were closed with blinds fully drawn for the arrival of the funeral cortege.
In the church, a guard of honour formed by Volunteers watched by the coffin, which was draped in the Tricolour, and had a glass panel through which the boy's face and shoulders could be seen.
Thousands viewed the remains on Monday and Tuesday morning, various clergy were in attendance and Mass was celebrated by the parish priest, the Very Rev PC Ryan..."
Within three weeks of Volunteer Tom Lee's burial, his mother, Bridget, gave birth to her final child, a daughter, Patricia.
Incidentally, the cursed Tan who killed Volunteer Tom Lee was a 24-year-old Scottish man, from Aberdeen, named James Paterson. Mr Paterson was working as a farm labourer after he had been demobbed from the British Army, left the labouring job and decided to impose 'law and order' in Ireland as a member of a British paramilitary gang.
We tried to find more details on Mr Paterson but - priorities - the cat wanted out the back.
==========================
In March, 1921, a Mr Walter Harold Wiggins (aka 'Walter Jones'), a Private in the British Army, and listed as being '...one of the two non-commemorated members of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry..' was recorded as having '..died in southern Ireland during the Black and Tan campaign (having) expired in Limerick Workhouse (then in use as a British Army barracks) from a self-inflicted wound on 5 March 1921..'
Bloody cat still wants out...
==========================
In late February/early March in 1921, the Crown Forces in Leinster let it be known that, on Saturday, 5th March, all fairs, street stalls, and markets would be prohibited from taking place.
On that Saturday, the 'Anglo-Celt' newspaper reported that all markets etc within a 10 mile radius of the towns of Maynooth and Edenderry had been banned by the British military, and 'The Nationalist and Leinster Times' newspaper reported that they had also been banned in Monasterevin, Kildare, Portarlington, Portlaoise ('Maryborough') and Mountrath.
It was understood at the time that such actions were a financial punishment on the public for supporting the rebels ; the stalls etc disappeared, but the support never did...
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THE NUMBER'S UP...
How some famous gambling conspiracies came to light.
By Con Houlihan.
From 'Magill' Magazine Annual 2002.
To survive he must know or sense what money is 'informed' and what is not.
People who bet can be divided into five categories ; you have 'the plungers', those men and women who have more money than sense, but they are now a rare breed - they flourished in the nineteenth century.
Then there are 'the punters', and they are the great majority - betting for them is a hobby or part of a night out.
There is also a breed that is hard to define but easy to recognise ; they are not compulsive gamblers, but occasionally they put on big bets - you could call it serious money.
Our old friend, Mick O'Toole, famous greyhound trainer and even more famous as a racehorse trainer, gave the ultimate answer long ago - " A big bet is a bet you cannot afford."
Then there are the people known as compulsive gamblers ; you will find them in all walks and stumbles of life, and I have known a few in my time.
They were all nice intelligent people but were dependent on gambling as others are on nicotine or alcohol...
(MORE LATER.)
158 YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE (5TH MARCH) : FENIAN RISING (1867).
1867 Irish Fenian Proclamation : 'English Monarchical government a curse...' -
'The Irish People of the World.
We have suffered centuries of outrage, enforced poverty, and bitter misery. Our rights and liberties have been trampled on by an alien aristocracy, who treating us as foes, usurped our lands, and drew away from our unfortunate country all material riches.
The real owners of the soil were removed to make room for cattle, and driven across the ocean to seek the means of living, and the political rights denied to them at home, while our men of thought and action were condemned to loss of life and liberty.
But we never lost the memory and hope of a national existence.
We appealed in vain to the reason and sense of justice of the dominant powers. Our mildest remonstrance's were met with sneers and contempt. Our appeals to arms were always unsuccessful.
Today, having no honourable alternative left, we again appeal to force as our last resource. We accept the conditions of appeal, manfully deeming it better to die in the struggle for freedom than to continue an existence of utter serfdom.
All men are born with equal rights, and in associating to protect one another and share public burdens, justice demands that such associations should rest upon a basis which maintains equality instead of destroying it.
We therefore declare that, unable longer to endure the curse of Monarchical Government, we aim at founding a Republic based on universal suffrage, which shall secure to all the intrinsic value of their labour. The soil of Ireland, at present in the possession of an oligarchy, belongs to us, the Irish people, and to us it must be restored.
We declare, also, in favour of absolute liberty of conscience, and complete separation of Church and State.
We appeal to the Highest Tribunal for evidence of the justness of our cause. History bears testimony to the integrity of our sufferings, and we declare, in the face of our brethren, that we intend no war against the people of England – our war is against the aristocratic locusts, whether English or Irish, who have eaten the verdure of our fields – against the aristocratic leeches who drain alike our fields and theirs.
Republicans of the entire world, our cause is your cause. Our enemy is your enemy. Let your hearts be with us.
As for you, workmen of England, it is not only your hearts we wish, but your arms. Remember the starvation and degradation brought to your firesides by the oppression of labour. Remember the past, look well to the future, and avenge yourselves by giving liberty to your children in the coming struggle for human liberty.
Herewith we proclaim the Irish Republic.
The Provisional Government.'
The link in the title of this post will give a background to, and details of, the 1867 Rising, leaving us to concentrate on one of the thousands of men and women that struck a blow for Irish freedom in that year - Peter O'Neill Crowley, from Cork, who was killed in Tipperary by the British :
A child born in the townland of Ballymacoda in County Cork, in 1832, learned how to make a living from the land and was considered in the locality, as a young adult, to be what would now be called 'a pillar of society'.
He was known as an expert farmer and had a wide circle of friends.
An Irish republican at heart, Peter O'Neill Crowley joined the Fenian Movement in Cork and rose quickly through the ranks - at 35 years young, he was in command of a 'Fenian Circle', which numbered more than one hundred men.
It is almost certain that Crowley and his 'Circle' were involved in the capture of the RIC Barracks at Ballynockane, County Cork, on the night of the 5th March, 1867 ; Fenian leaders J F X O'Brien, Michael O'Brien and William Mackey Lomasney had combined their forces into one 'Circle' consisting of over 2,000 Fenian fighters and, in early March 1867, caused havoc in Cork for the British administration.
As well as capturing the Ballynockane RIC Barracks (and removing anything of value to the Fenian war effort) the Fenian's sabotaged large sections of rail-track used by the 'Great Southern and Western Railway', destroyed the 'points-system' belonging to same and rendered inoperable the telegraph system in the district.
In that same month (March 1867), Peter O'Neill Crowley and his group attacked an armed coastguard station at Knockadoon.
The Knockadoon coastguard station, located about eight miles from Youghal in Cork, was staffed by ten armed employees ; they were over-powered, held captive and their rifles and ammunition taken.
It is not perhaps as well known as it should be, but the 'main' Fenian Rising of 1867 lasted for just over twenty-four hours, although isolated attacks on the British continued for a few weeks.
When Peter O'Neill Crowley and his second and third in command, John McClure and John Edward Kelly (see page 5, here) realised that the Rising had failed, they knew the British would be determined to 'round-up' the leadership ; they issued orders to their 'Circle' to disperse.
After the 'dispersal' order was given (towards the end of the first week in March 1867) , the three Fenian leaders - Crowley , McClure and Kelly - fled to the limited safety of Kilclooney Wood in County Tipperary.
On 31st March, 1867, a large force of British soldiers entered Kilclooney Wood and 'scouts' from the same force soon located the whereabouts of the three Irish rebels.
Within hours they were surrounded by the enemy and ordered to surrender ; they refused.
The three were well-armed, and fought courageously, but were no match for the numbers ranged against them. The gun-battle lasted for several hours,but it ended when Peter O'Neill Crowley died, with at least three gunshot wounds to his body.
John McClure and Edward Kelly were arrested and were later sentenced to life imprisonment.
The county of Cork practically came to a standstill for Crowley's funeral, in his native Ballymacoda. The Fenian leader, John Devoy, said of the man -
"Peter O'Neill Crowley was one of the best men in the Fenian Movement, and Ireland never gave birth to a truer or more devoted son. His devotion to the Cause of Irish liberty was sublime and his courage dauntless."
The two men captured in Kilclooney Wood in Tipperary after the gun-battle, John McClure and John Edward Kelly, were released four years later, in the 'general amnesty' of that year (1871).
Incidentally, the 'Kilclooney Wood Engagement' is considered to be the last action of the 1867 Fenian Rising but by no means the end of our on-going struggle for full independence from Westminster interference and misrule in Irish affairs.
Divided streets ; IRA on one side of the road, Free State Army on the other, and an uneasy truce between the two.
Not referencing the 5th March 1922 specifically, but encompassing that date.
In short : when the British military and their proxies in the RIC/Black and Tans were vacating their barracks and buildings in the Free State following the Treaty of Surrender, both sides - the IRA and the FSA - recognised the importance of taking them over.
This led to 'shapes being thrown' by both sides and no where more so than in Limerick - between both sides, about 700 armed men were involved in repeated 'shouting matches' in and around the town and outside the emptying barracks and buildings, with the FSA somehow thinking it was a good idea to opine out loud that that situation wouldn't have occurred if only the British had stayed on the ground a little longer!
IRA Volunteers from Cork and Kerry were arriving into the city to support their rebel comrades, and FSA members from outside the district (FSA 1st Western Division) were moving in, as well.
But then, on the 12th March, both sides agreed that their men from outside the Limerick areas would return to their own bases and that the Limerick IRA leadership would divide the military garrisons in the city between Pro- and Anti-Treaty units, and that Limerick Corporation repair crews and workmen would oversee the maintenance of the barracks and buildings (the IRA took over the Ordnance Barracks, Castle Barracks, the New Barracks and Strand Barracks, leaving the FSA to scramble for the leftovers!).
The FSA men on the ground talked about that compromise as offering too much, too soon to the IRA, whereas the IRA Volunteers (who were numerically superior) were not happy that they had been ordered to compromise with the Staters.
But the Staters continued grumbling and throwing shapes and, as they were by then better armed (thanks to their sponsors in Westminster) they made their move on the 11th July that year "to take Limerick back" and between then and the 20th of that month, they unfortunately succeeded - a more detailed article can be accessed here.
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"War, though necessary and noble for necessary and noble ends, has terrible effects incidental to it, not only material ruin, but moral effects when prolonged unrighteously, a tendency to lose balance and judgment, to forget and misinterpret the real object of the national struggle, to grow to believe that strife, even fratricidal strife, is noble in itself. Such things must cease as soon as freedom is secured or the nation will perish..."
-Mr Michael Collins, 5th March 1922, as quoted in 'The Irish Independent' newspaper on the 6th March 1922.
"...misinterpret the real object of the national struggle.." which, as we now know, or should know, apparently, was to obtain a Free State within our 32-County Republic.
T'was the objective all along...
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POLITICAL LIFESTYLES IN IRELAND...
His lavish lifestyle was funded by wealthy admirers.
Time after time, his debts were taken care of by friendly businessmen.
In exchange for giving people access to government leaders, he cheerfully lined his own pockets.
From 'Magill' Magazine, January 2003.
Happily, Brendan O'Carroll is showing more staying power -
"I know for a fact that I will stand in Dáil Éireann (sic) one day", he iunforms me cheerfully.
"If not at the next election, the one after that for sure. And make no mistake, I'll be going in to legislate as well."
The Finglas funnyman has, of course, an impeccable political pedigree - not so much from his mother, who was a Labour Party TD (sic), but from the fact that in his former life as a waiter he once had the pleasure of attending to the needs of Margaret Thatcher at a European summit in Dublin Castle.
But anyway, what exactly would the author of 'How's Your Jolly Roger' hope to achieve in his new career...?
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (5TH MARCH) 221 YEARS AGO - 'CONVICTS' REVOLT : FIRST FULL DAY OF THE 'VINEGAR HILL' NSW UPRISING.
Although not a lot is known about this Irish hero, it is recorded that he moved to Clonmel, Tipperary, in the 1790's and worked as a stonemason, supplementing his income from same by opening up a small pub.
Peter Cunningham and about two hundred other 'convicts' turned on the Redcoat soldiers who had imprisoned them, locked them up and broke into a weapons hut.
Martial law was declared as a result, in the Sydney area, and residents in the town of Parramatta were advised to assemble at the docks, ready to flee the area if needed. The rebels had by now based themselves on a hilltop and declared it to be their 'Vinegar Hill'.
A Major George Johnson and his men from the New South Wales Corps and a detachment of fifty mercenaries from the 'Loyal Association' marched through the night and a short battle commenced in and around 'Vinegar Hill', ending the rebellion. Peter Cunningham was later executed without trial.
'The Sydney Gazette' newspaper covered(/coloured) the event, in its edition of the 11th March 1804, in the following manner -
'REBELLION AT CASTLE HILL.
Major Johnston on arriving at Toongabbee, received information that a considerable Body were on their way to the Hawkesbury : Notwithstanding the fatigue of his small Detachment in marching up from Sydney and the distance they had gone since, they immediately ran in good Order, with their followers, and after a pursuit of Seven Miles farther, Major Johnston and a Trooper, who had preceded the Detachment, came up with the rear of the Insurgents at 11 o'clock, whose number have since been ascertained to be 233 men, armed with Musquets, Pistols, Swords etc., and a number of followers which they had taken from the Settlers.
After calling to them repeatedly they halted, and formed on the rise of a Hill : The Major and Trooper advanced within pistol shot, and endeavoured to persuade them to submit to the Mercy that was offered them by the Proclamation, which they refused.
The Major required to see their Chiefs, who after some deliberation met them half way, between the Detachment and Insurgents, when by a great presence of mind and address the Major presented his pistol at the head of the Principal leader (Phillip Cunningham), and the Trooper following his motions, presented his Pistol also to the other leader's head (William Johnston) and drove them into the Detachment without the least opposition from the body of the Insurgents..'
That rebellion may very well have been shortlived and its leader, Peter Cunningham, almost forgotten in our history, but it, and he, live on in the memory of every Irish republican to this day.
As it should be.
On the 5th March, 1923, three columns of Free State Army soldiers were making their way cautiously through the Garrane Mountains near Cahersiveen, in County Kerry (pictured).
They were acting on information that a column of IRA Volunteers (comprising men from the Kerry No.3 Brigade and the Kerry 1st Battalion) were billeted in, and at, the O'Connell farmhouse and, when they got there, they were fired on.
Both sides were well armed, but the IRA were outnumbered and fought as long as they could.
Six IRA men offered to surrender (including Volunteers Denis Daly, Dan O’Connor and Michael Griffin) and, in the confusion and the 'to-ing and fro-ing' during the handover, the remainder of the IRA column managed to escape towards the town of Glencar.
Two FSA members, a Mr Timothy O’Shea and a Mr Jeremiah Quaine, were killed during the farmhouse gunfight and, in an attempted follow-up operation, another FSA member, a Mr William Healy (from Valentia, in County Kerry) was shot dead and two of his comrades wounded.
One member of the IRA column who escaped during the six-man-surrender, Brigade Engineer Dan Clifford (26, an electrician and blacksmith by trade, from Reenalagane, Cahersiveen, County Kerry, attached to the No.3 Brigade and No.1 ASU, and who was originally attached to the Kerry 1st Battalion IRA) had made it, unarmed, to a neighbouring farm and took shelter in a shed, but an FSA member found him and shot him dead.
Volunteer Dan Clifford is buried in The Republican Plot in Kilnavarnogue Cemetery, Cahersiveen, in County Kerry.
The following day (6th March) IRA Volunteer Sean T. O'Sullivan was killed by the Staters at Gleesk, near Gleann Beithe (Glenbeigh) in County Kerry, as they were searching for the escaped IRA Volunteers.
RIP Volunteer Dan Clifford and Volunteer Sean T. O'Sullivan.
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Thanks for reading - delighted that ya could make it!
Sharon and the team.
We're taking a short(ish!) holiday as we've to do a fair bit of travelling in the country, North, South, East and West.
Between confirmations, birthdays anniversaries and our day jobs we're gonna be kept busy until about the 17th of this month, meaning that we won't be back blogging until Wednesday, 26th March.
...but ya can still catch me on X/Twitter and Facebook, if yer that desperate for some company!
