On the 4th August, 1919, at about 11.15pm, two RIC members - a Mr John Riordan (48) and a Mr Michael James Murphy(19) - were ambushed in the Curtin's Gate area, at a crossroads called '81 Cross', three and a half miles from Ennistymon and three quarters of a mile from an RIC hut (in Derrymore), in County Clare, which was where they were headed to.
Shots were fired at them, and they fired back.
In the gunfight that followed, RIC man Murphy was shot dead, his colleague was wounded and died the following day from the wound, and Volunteers Martin Devitt (pictured) and Ignatius O'Neill were also wounded (Volunteers John Joe Neylon and Seamus Conneely also took part in that operation).
Anyway - on the 13th August (1919), British military command in Dublin Castle issued legislation (!) for the county of Clare - they deemed Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers, Cumman na mBan and the Gaelic League to be "prohibited organisations in Clare" but, as expected, the rebels continued rebelling!
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ON THIS DATE (13TH AUGUST) 56 YEARS AGO : THE BATTLE OF THE BOGSIDE BEGINS.
Amongst other acts of provocation perpetrated by Westminster and its agents in the Occupied Six Counties, the attack on the Devenney family was still fresh in the memory of the population in the deprived Bogside area of Derry.
The 'Battle of the Bogside' has had so many thousands of words printed about it over the last 56 years that it is unlikely that we can give any fresh insights into it nor do we feel it necessary to even attempt to do that - regardless of the position that this incident is viewed from, it is beyond doubt that it helped to further expose the lie from Westminster that its 'police force', the RUC, and its army, were only in that part of Ireland to 'keep the peace between two warring religious factions'.
And it should be remembered that some of the files related to/connected with that event did not become public until 2022 - 53 years after the event!
The Free State administration declared that it "...could not stand by and watch innocent people injured and perhaps worse.." and they didn't - they dressed the wounds of the injured (!) but backed off when it came to intervening to prevent any more injuries and, indeed, have themselves inflicted injuries on those of us who continue to oppose the British military and political presence in Ireland.
But we have broad shoulders, as had those whose footsteps we follow, and we will persist, as will, no doubt, those who follow us.
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.
An Irish rig-worker told 'Magill Magazine' -
"Eventually, we managed to get about 26 jobs.
In the 1970's we had about 80 jobs per rig, so it was down a lot, but we figured that that was as good as we'd get at that time.
The oil companies were starting to cite EU law - free movement of labour within the EU - and other new equations, and the excuse of pay was also used, but that wasn't the issue ; the Brits were on higher pay, the Dutch and Norwegians were on higher pay, too."
'Magill Magazine' spoke to another rig worker who told us -
"Irish rig-workers believe the real reason behind this is that it's an effort to remove the only people in Ireland who would know what the oil companies are really finding in Irish waters - lads with local educated knowledge.
To add insult to injury, Enterprise Oil and Statoil want Bord Gais, at Irish State taxpayers expense, to build a gas pipeline from Mayo to Dublin via Galway, so they can sell the gas to the ESB for their new gas-fired power station..."
(MORE LATER.)
"Doubt was expressed as to whether the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (pictured) would succeed for any length of time unless the opinion of the country was behind it.
Strong measures would be required to put down the policy of the extremists, and there might come a point when public opinion would desert the Government..."
- from the Minutes of a British Cabinet meeting, held on the 13th August 1920.
The 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (ROIA)' of 1920 was a British law, for Ireland, passed in response to the escalating conflict during that part of our on-going campaign to remove the British military and political presence from Ireland.
It strengthened the British writ by increasing military powers and limiting civilian oversight in Ireland, more-or-less replacing the'Defence Of The Realm Act (DORA)', expanding the use of courts-martial, including the power to jail individuals without charge or trial.
When the Free Staters took power in their Free State, they changed the name of that Act but kept those powers...
At the same time as 'DORA' was being replaced by 'ROIA' (13th August 1920), the British military and political 'Head Office' in Dublin, in Dublin Castle, began the 'in-house' distribution of a weekly pamphlet entitled 'Weekly Summary of Outrages' (pictured), a propaganda exercise designed to put 'fire in the belly' of its military and paramilitary groups and gangs in Ireland.
The objective was two-fold : to "boost morale" by 'spinning' the truth of what happened and to unofficially encourage retaliation.
After studying and monitoring the phamplet for a few months, the Republican Movement, through its 'The Irish Bulletin' publication, described the phamplet of having.. "..the deliberate intention of inciting the English armed forces in Ireland to acts of outrage and violence against the Irish people.."
Before it had the opportunity to fade into obscurity, the 'Weekly Summary of Outrages' ceased publication when the Staters agreed to take over the 'policing' of Ireland from the British.
In 1920, between 7,000 and 8,000 workers, Catholic and Protestant, were laid-off/sacked/expelled from their workplaces in the Occupied Six Counties (mostly in the Belfast, Counties Antrim and Down, area).
The expulsions were orchestrated by loyalist workers, fueled by sectarian tensions and political unrest.
Dozens of factories, Harland and Wolff and Workman Clark shipyards threw their employees out of the workplace, under 'instructions' imposed by loyalist paramilitaries and, on the 13th August that year, 'The Irish News' newspaper published an appeal from the 'Expelled Workers Group' for funding to relieve the distress and economic hardship among the expelled workers and their families.
The fund-raising drive was a huge success, with financial aid flowing in from Ireland, Britain, North America, France and Australia, among other countries but, just as important, the sectarianism of British interference in Ireland was highlighted and further exposed.
One man who didn't read the newspaper appeal was a Mr Henry Rowland Gould (31), from 5 Crosbie Row, in County Limerick, a member of the British Army 'Royal Army Service Corps' ('RASC Service Number 57101, 1166th MT Coy').
Mr Gould had 'seen service' in West Africa, South-West Africa and Sudan, came to Ireland to further his military career and, on the 13th August (1920), died in a motor traffic accident in Ballysimon, County Limerick, and is buried in his own country in Wales, in Rhyl Church Cemetery, Denbighshire.
'The Luck of the Irish...'
On the night of the 12th August/morning of the 13th, 1920, the 'Big House' belonging to a Mr William Upton Tyrell (/Tyrrell), 'Ballindoolin House' (pictured), Carbury, County Kildare (near the Kildare-Offaly border) was attacked by the IRA as a warning to the man.
The Tyrell family were 'civil servants' for the English Crown, employed as 'Land Agents', and had connections with the 'Royal Military Academy' in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England, and were associated with the 'Royal Irish Rifles'.
Mr Tyrell himself had 'served' with the British Army in India and with the 'Royal Air Force', during which times he is on record for stating.. "..shooting Germans was very like shooting snipe at Ballindoolin..."
Anyway - in the early hours of the 13th August (1920), Mr Tyrell claimed he fired shots at the rebels who, he said, fired about thirty shots back at him (!) and not only that, he stated he wounded one of the Volunteers.
Job done, message delivered, the IRA withdrew from the scene ; the message was apparently understood, as Mr Tyrell lived to be 79 years of age, dying in 1983.
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CASH NO EXCUSE FOR RTE PUTTING DOCUMENTARY TO DEATH...
It has been a disastrous 12 months for RTE.
£23.5 million in cutbacks, a bid to increase the licence fee rejected, an enforced postponement of digital expansion, and a predicted £20 million loss to report for 2001.
By Belinda McKeon .
From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.
But if anything should serve as assurance that there is a large audience for Irish-produced arts documentaries, however, it is a look at the international scene.
Last month, 'Freedom Highway', the latest film from the Irish producer Philip King, received pride of place at the International Documentary Forum in Amsterdam.
Again, backing a successful producer like Philip King is a safe option for RTE, but evidence that there is a market for work of less obvious international appeal comes from TG4, which has sold documentaries on artists like Michael Hartnett and the poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh as far afield as Mexico and Korea, despite the purported Irish-language barrier.
This is where the question of the duty of a national broadcaster meets the question of commercial returns...
(MORE LATER.)
"The geographical propinquity of Ireland to the British Isles (sic) is a fundamental fact.
The history of the two islands for many centuries, however it is read, is sufficient proof that their destinies are indissolubly linked.
Ireland should recognise the force of geographical and historical facts ; no derogation from Ireland's status as a Dominion..."
- Mr David Lloyd George, British 'Prime Minister', in a letter he sent to Éamon de Valera on the 13th August, 1921 and, at that same time, Mr George was telling the media in his own country that Ireland and the Sinn Féin rebels had been offered "freedom" without mentioning the restrictions which he was so quick to tell Mr de Valera about!
He also told his own audience that the alternative for the Irish to accepting that "freedom" would be (more) military coercion in Ireland.
But sure isn't that how politics 'works' (!) - speaking out of both sides of your mouth at the same time, and Mr de Valera himself would have not only recognised that, but done it himself...
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DEATH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN...
Desmond Boomer, a Belfast engineer working in the Libyan oil-fields, disappeared seven years ago.
Officially, the plane on which he was a passenger crashed as a result of mechanical failure and pilot error.
But is that the real story?
Or were the Irishman and his fellow passengers unwitting victims of the shady war between Islamic fundamentalism and Mossad, Israel's intelligence network?
A special 'Magill' investigation by Don Mullan, author of 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday'.
From 'Magill' magazine, January 2003.
It appears, however, that Malta had not been informed of any inbound flight by Tunisia, despite the fact that this is standard aviation practice.
Bizarrely, at 4.35am, some 25 minutes after its last alleged radio contact with Captain Bartolo, Djerba ATC telephoned Malta ATC asking it to to make radio contact with the aircraft.
Initially, Malta ATC treated the flight as a communication failure, however, when the aircraft failed to arrive or make contact, Malta Radio was asked to broadcast distress messages so that ships in the area would look for possible signs of a crash.
These broadcasts commenced at 7.45am.
The first aircraft to assist in the search mission was dispatched by the Italian armed forces at 8.12am, almost four hours after concerns for the safety of the flight began and, also, other local civilian aircraft were later called to assist...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 13th August, 1922, a search party of six Free State troops were travelling in a car in the Crosspark area on the Kilkenny/Tipperary border, on a mission to locate, 'arrest' or kill IRA Volunteers that were thought to be in the location.
They pulled-in at a row of houses in the Bawnmore district and proceeded, quietly, to get out of the car, but just then a shot was fired.
One of the Stater soldiers, a man named Norton, shouted "Ned Maher is hit...".
FSA Lieutenant Edward Maher (a republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free State-poacher), from Gortnahoe in County Tipperary, was staggering around on the footpath, having been hit in the leg by a shot he himself fired, accidently, as he was getting out of the car!
He was bleeding heavily, and his colleagues laid him down, removed his trousers and bandaged the wound as best they could, then drove off with him to a Doctor Mitchell in nearby Johnstown.
The doctor dressed the injury and accompanied Mr Maher and his colleagues to their barracks in the town of Urlingford (in County Kilkenny) : the wounded man was conscious and in his full facilities during the journey but, at about 5am on the 14th, he took a turn for the worst, the doctor tended to him but advised to send for his family and for a priest.
Mr Maher died at about 12.30pm that afternoon.
Lesson learned - when armed, be extra carefull when getting out of a car...
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Thanks for the visit, and for reading - appreciated!
Sharon and the team.
(We'll be back on Wednesday, 27th August 2025.)
