"Sixty-one persons have been convicted since 1st January last for complicity in attacks on military or police (sic), or on police barracks (sic).
In 21 cases, sentences of penal servitude for periods exceeding two years have been inflicted, and there have been 20 cases of sentences of imprisonment with hard labour for periods of two years.
In the remaining 20 cases, sentences ranging from 18 months to one months imprisonment with or without hard labour were imposed.
There has been no case in which capital punishment has been inflicted..." (*)
(* Not 'officially', anyway.)
- the words of the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', a Mr 'Sir' Thomas Hamar Greenwood (pictured), 1st Viscount Greenwood, PC, KC ETC ETC in the British 'House of Commons', on the 21st October, 1920, and reported on in newspapers on the 22nd.
Mr Greenwood also stated that, between the months of January 1919 and the 21st of October 1919, about 127 (political) meetings had been prohibited, 22 newspapers suppressed, 16 creameries had been totally destroyed and 11 creameries had been partially destroyed or damaged.
So - a perfectly normal ten month period in British-occupied Ireland, then...
On the same day that people were reading the newspaper reports in which Mr Greenwood was basking in the destructiveness of his 'Empire', the 10.45am express train from Cork ran into trouble in Newbridge, in County Kildare.
For t'was in the Newbridge Station that British Army soldiers boarded the train, on their way to no doubt give Mr Greenwood more material to write about, when the railway workers said "NO!!" - and refused to operate the train until the foreign gunmen disembarked!
And the same thing happened later that day with the 1.15pm train from Dublin : when it arrived at the Sallins Station, in County Kildare, the workers refused to proceed until the foreign gunmen disembarked.
The reason given was 'health and safety' - the British Army soldiers were likely to be attacked by the IRA, which put the workers and other passengers in danger etc etc but...ah, sure, ya know yerself... ;-) !
And I'd say that those soldiers of the 'Empire' were disappointed that they couldn't get up the country to the county of Leitrim, about 140km (90 miles) from Kildare where, on that same date (the 22nd October 1920) their equally-armed and troublesome comrades were burning the local hall (community centre) in the small town of Aughavas, but they probably made it for the 'Greenwood Goodies' that took place in Leitrim over the following two weeks - town halls were burned down by those armed thugs in the villages of Annaduff, Fenagh, Gorvagh, Gowel and Ballinamore.
Had those bowsies taken the time to read that days 'Times of London' newspaper (22nd October 1920) they might have had a change of heart (!) because of a write-up in it about the 'Cambridge Union Society' having discussed and passed a motion condemning the British government's actions in Ireland ; a game-changer, if ever there was one, for sure...
On that same date (22nd October 1920), 'The Cork Constitution' newspaper reported that the Mayor of Wexford, a Mr Richard Corish, had received a threatening letter from "the Wexford Branch" of a pro-British grouping, the so-called 'Anti-Sinn Féin Society' ('ASFS').
The letter stated that there would be "severe reprisals against Sinn Féin supporters in the event of the shooting or wounding of government officials (sic)..."
That 'organisation' was known by the IRA to be a loose network of pro-British intelligence agents involved in 'counter-insurgency' activities, on a 'plausible deniability'-basis by Westminster ; indeed, on the 25th November (1920), Mr Greenwood stated, in Westminster -
"The Government have no information concerning this so-called society, and no branch of the public service in Ireland has relations with any such organisation..." (From Hansard HC Deb Vol 135 c645W).
The grouping made itself a target for the IRA and, when located, its members and leadership were executed ; for instance, a Mr James Charles Beale, an 'ASFS' leader, was shot dead in February 1921 and his living quarters were searched.
An 'ASFS' membership list was found, leading to the execution of 13 other pro-British spies and marauders and the IRA let it be known that they had names, addresses and contact details for other members and supporters and those people were advised to back off, which they did, rather sharpishly, as the British themselves might put it...
By March, 1921, the grouping had outlived its usefulness to the British and had effectively ceased to exist.
"We approached (RIC member) Cullen's house and knocked at the door.
He asked who was there and we said 'Open up in the name of the IRA'.
Cullen refused to open the door.
Volunteer Andrew Kirwan then fired a revolver shot up towards the roof of the house and Volunteer Walter Walsh and I began to break in the door with a hatchet we had with us.
When Cullen heard us smashing the door he went upstairs and threw a grenade out through the window ; it landed about three-quarter ways across the street before it exploded.
Volunteer Walsh and I fell down with the blast and then got up and ran around a corner out of range.
Volunteer James Power, who was some way out on the road, went across the street and into the chapel yard after the explosion, but we lost him in the darkness.
I set out for the IRA Commandant's house at Ballycraddock, about four miles distant, with a view to getting hold of a few rifles and, when I returned to the village of Kill ('1169' comment - the village of Kill in Waterford, not Kildare) later that night I found that our men had dispersed to their homes.
The following day I heard that Volunteer James Power had been badly wounded the previous night by the grenade thrown by the RIC man, Cullen.
Volunteer Power had apparently gone home a distance of over a quarter of a mile the previous night in spite of his bad wound.
We brought Doctor (Joseph C.) Walsh of Bunmahon (pictured) to attend him but it was no use, as the poor fellow died three days afterwards and is buried in Kill Graveyard.
At the time of Volunteer Power's death it was said by his relatives that he died of pneumonia, and everybody - except those of us who really knew - believed that.
The idea was, of course, to keep the British ignorant of the truth and so save his people from raids or, maybe, arrest..."
- a statement from one of the IRA Volunteers who was on that military operation with Volunteer James Power.
(Incidentally, a well-known [apparently?!] British comedian [!] with a very poor grasp of Irish history has a family connection with an IRA Volunteer of the same name as the Volunteer we wrote about, above, who is also from Waterford, and was actually on the same military operation as Volunteer Power ; more here.)
RIP Volunteer James Power.
On the same day that Volunteer Power was caught-up in the grenade explosion, 150 km/95 miles or so up the road in County Offaly, the newly formed Flying Column from the Athlone Battalion IRA were waiting at an ambush point they had established in the Parkwood area of Clara, County Offaly (just inside the Offaly border, outside the town of Moate).
Volunteers James Tormey and George Adamson were in command of the rebels who, with limited ammunition, were waiting for an RIC patrol (19 armed members) to pass that way, on its journey from Gormanstown Barracks in County Meath to the town of Ballinasloe, in the East of County Galway.
At about 1pm, three Crossley Tender trucks drove up to the ambush point, the first of which the rebels allowed pass unhindered - but a continuous fusillade of shots from revolvers and rifles stopped the second truck immediately.
Intermittent fire was returned and, as the rebels were low on ammunition, they used the last of their firepower to withdraw from the scene.
One of the RIC members, a Mr Harold Biggs (23, 'Service Number 73983'), from London, died the following day from his wounds.
Mr Biggs had only joined the RIC on the 9th October that year but, even at the young age he was when he died, he had eight years of military training to his 'credit' : at 15 years young he had joined the British Army but was discharged a year later and re-enlisted at 18 years of age.
Before he was discharged, he had been wounded in France, had been a member of the London Metropolitan Police (from which he resigned after four months) and then continued his military 'career' with the RIC in Ireland.
He ended it here, too...
On the same day of that successful IRA ambush (22nd October 1920), the villages of Moate and Horseleap, in County Westmeath, and the village of Killbeggan, on the border between County Westmeath and County Offaly, were attacked and terrorised by armed Crown Force members, many civilians were wounded and a former 'Irish Parliamentary Party' urban councillor, a Mr Michael Burke (50, pictured), was shot dead by the foreigners.
Those Crown Force revenge attacks were raised in the British 'House of Commons', and a Mr Thomas Hamar Greenwood ('1st Baron Greenwood' - him again!) replied to the concerns expressed -
"It is inevitable that in the conditions prevailing in Ireland, the innocent should sometimes suffer for the acts of the wrongdoer..."
It should not have been "inevitable", but Mr Greenwood died peacefully ('unspecified causes') at 78 years of age, in London, on the 10th September, 1948.
Marbhfháisc air!
Léan léir air!
Drochbhreith ort!
Díth béasa ort!
"The creation of the Special Constabulary would place the lives of Catholics at the mercy of opponents, armed by the British government.
If I had the power, I would organise special constables to fight your special constables.
The Chief Secretary is going to arm pogromists to murder the Catholics. Their pogrom is to be made less difficult. Instead of paving stones and sticks they are to be given rifles..."
- Mr Joe Devlin, addressing Mr Hamar Greenwood in the British 'House of Commons', on October 25th, 1920.
The occasion was necessitated due to an order issued on the 22nd October by the British military and political 'Head Office' in Ireland, in Dublin Castle that, under the British 'Special Constabulary Ireland Acts of 1832 and 1914', a 'Special Constabulary' was to be created for Ireland, recruitment for which was to commence on November 1st.
Four groupings were to be established ; full-time 'A Specials', part-time 'B Specials', reserve force 'C Specials' and 'CI Specials', consisting of loyalist paramilitary members.
In order to lessen opposition to this new group of bandits, guarantees were given that the 'Specials' would not be let loose on their own ie only allowed out accompanied by, and under the command of, an RIC member - a faulty warranty, if ever there was one!
Overall, the financial situation faced at the time by Westminster would indicate that they were reluctant to recruit more soldiers and RIC members for placement in Ireland and believed they could get the same results (ie defeat the Irish opposition to their presence) by initiating a new (para-)military force.
"I sincerely trust there is no foundation for this rumour.
You cannot in the middle of a faction fight (sic) recognise one of the contending parties and expect it to deal with disorder in the spirit of impartiality and fairness essential in those who have to carry out the Orders of the Government..."
- 'Sir' John 'Pompous John' Anderson (pictured), the British 'Under Secretary For Ireland' (appointed to that position on the 16th May that year), in a letter he wrote to a Mr Bonar Law, on the 2nd September, voicing his opposition to the formation of any new 'official' (para-)military grouping.
British Army General 'Sir' Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready was not in favour of the new grouping, and the British 'Chief of the Imperial Staff', 'Sir' Henry Hughes Wilson, also spoke out against the 'Specials' (but Mr Wilson later publicly changed his opinion of them - on St Patrick's Day in 1922, of all days, when he called for an increase in the number of 'Special Constables' especially, he said, the 'C Specials'!)
"The proposal to arm 'well-disposed citizens' raised serious questions of the sanity of Government...", wrote 'The Daily Mail' newspaper on the 15th September, stating that it shows that the British Government had abandoned any pretence of impartiality.
"Membership of the Special Constabulary was a perfect fit for all the eager spirits who have driven nationalist workmen from the docks or have demonstrated their loyalty by looting Catholic shops...", wrote 'The Westminster Gazette' newspaper, on the 16th September.
"The special constables would prove to be nothing more and nothing less than the dregs of the Orange lodges, armed and equipped to overawe Nationalists and Catholics...", wrote 'The Fermanagh Herald' newspaper, on the 27th November.
At the time and, indeed, since then, various political authors have stated that the formation of the 'USC' gave the Stormont administration "the ability to legitimise the UVF as an arm of the state, thereby controlling its unruly nature, while harnessing its power...in the summer of 1920 loyalist violence predominated where the balance of forces favoured the UVF, such as Belfast, Lisburn and Banbridge or Cookstown in Tyrone. The creation of the 'USC' facilitated the westward spread of unionist violence...it is likely that some police officers (sic) were guilty either of direct involvement in the murder of Catholics, or else of collusion with loyalist terrorists. Certainly the Specials became pariah figures for many Catholics...in essence, the arming of the majority against a minority..."
British imperialism the world over - set the majority against the minority by fostering religious and ethnic divisions : divide and rule...
(The 'Ulster Special Constabulary' (USC) was 'officially disbanded' in March 1970, with most of its members being absorbed into a new part-time grouping, the 'Royal Ulster Constabulary' and its 'Reserve Force', and/or the new 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR), equally treacherous outfits.)
==========================
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.
Meanwhile, sources say that compulsory purchase orders are being issued to landowners along the Mayo/Galway route of the proposed pipeline to ensure that the framework of the pipe network is in place prior to the general election this year.
The American Kingspan pipeline construction company recently offered to fund the development cost of a North-South interconnector, at no cost to Bord Gais, in order to pool all of the State's existing gas infrastructure with Keyspan.
This, say industry sources, allied with the impending privatisation of Bord Gais, will end any possibility of Irish involvement in the distribution of our own natural resources.
In another transaction described by experts as "incredible", the government recently disposed of the Irish National Petroleum Corporation (INPC) at a time when its raison d'etre was finally coming into force...
(MORE LATER.)
Listed in one of our sources was an unfortunate incident involving an IRA Volunteer, Hugh O'Neill who, in October, 1921, is said to have accidentally shot himself in his hand.
He was treated for the injury but tetanus set in and he was taken to a hospital in Newry, County Down, but died from the disease on the 22nd of that month.
This incident is not recorded anywhere else, at least not where we could find a record of it.
On the 17th October, 1921, Volunteers attached to the 2nd Battalion of Kerry No 2 Brigade of the IRA were securing an arms dump which was located on a farm in the village of Molahiffe, near the village of Firies, in County Kerry (underground passages ran from Molahiffe to Firies and were used by the rebels).
Volunteer Maurice 'Mossie' Casey was working on gunpowder supplies when the area he was working in exploded.
Badly burnt, he was taken to Tralee Union Infirmary but he couldn't be saved - the poor man died there on the 22nd of that month.
Circumstances at the time dictated that Volunteer Casey be buried in a local cemetery without a grave marker : those circumstances changed in time but not, unfortunately - God forgive us - for Volunteer Casey.
Not until 2016, that is - the 'National Graves Association' (NGA) take up the story -
"In 1921 Volunteer Mossie Casey died a terrible death after being horribly injured in an explosion while on active service near the village of Firies in County Kerry.
He was buried under a green patch of grass in a local cemetery without a marker.
Mossie Casey and his grave were soon forgotten by a nation who quickly consigned his memory to the national amnesia, even though he had died a dreadful death for the (limited) freedom that they now enjoyed.
After three years of investigations the cemetery and eventually the exact location of the forgotten, unmarked grave was identified by the NGA.
And so, after 95 years of lying forgotten, and with assistance of two local men who gave very generously of their time and skill, the NGA erected a headstone (pictured) over that fallen soldier.
Let all who pass now know that Vol Mossie Casey died for Ireland and will not be forgotten..."
RIP Volunteer Maurice 'Mossie' Casey (and sincere apologies for our carelessness).
==========================
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON...
Had the electoral rules entitled him to run again for the White House in 2000, few are in any doubt that Bill Clinton would be at this present moment in time relaxing in the Oval House, toying with a fat cuban and possibly smoking a cigar...
From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.
Firstly, niggling constitutional issues regarding our favourite President's right to a nomination could be swept aside by a referendum of the type we as a nation (sic) seem somewhat addicted to ; in the clause which demands that the President be a citizen of the republic of Ireland (sic) we need only insert the caveat 'unless the President's name is William Jefferson Clinton'. That motion would be passed with record approval.
We could, while we are at it, make him exempt from any other Irish laws which he might deem unsavoury or unwarranted so that he might enjoy a smoother presidential ride on this side of the Atlantic than he has done heretofore.
Secondly, with his faded good looks, financial problems, and uncertainty about the future, the man from Little Rock personifies the current post-Tiger Zeitgeist like no other could...
(MORE LATER.)
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.
At a sitting of the Maltese Board of Inquiry on the 14th May, 1997, Piper Corporation Senior Accident Investigator, Paul Lehman, "..made reference to the missing alternator belt and the depletion of the aircraft battery..."
According to the inquiry report -
"He affirmed that a fully charged battery would render 30 minutes of energy but, considering the energy required to start the aircraft engine, the remaining battery life would not be more than 10-15 minutes.
Moreover, he asserted that in flight, once the battery went flat, the pilot would have lost all communications."
If, therefore, the aircraft did manage to start up and take off with a fully charged engine, Paul Lehman's expert opinion suggest that the energy remaining would allow the pilot to communicate for a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes, meaning that by between 3.54am and 3.59am communications between the missing aircraft and Djerba ATC would begin to fail...
(MORE LATER.)
In mid-October, 1922, the Free State Army were searching part of a mountain range, in the Woodhouse area, in Waterford for IRA rebels.
An IRA ASU was thought to be on the run in that area, with Volunteer Patrick Curran in command, and it was this Unit's ambush position that the FSA troops came across.
In the inevitable gunfight, two FSA soldiers, both from Waterford - a Mr Patrick Foley and a Mr Laurence Phelan - were killed.
At around that same time (3am-ish), across the country, eastwards, about 58 km (36 miles) away, a five-man IRA Unit, with Volunteer Robert Lambert in command, had established their own ambush position on a railway bridge over the main Ferrycarrig to Wexford road.
They were lying in wait for a FSA Lancia armoured car, which was fitted-out with steel plates on each side, front and back, but no added protection on its roof.
As it passed under the bridge, the IRA opened fire on it with heavy weaponry, opening its roof, through which a Mills Bomb was dropped from the bridge into it.
The bomb exploded in the vehicle, killing four of the occupants - Mr Christy Kearns (a Dublin man), Mr Patrick O’Connor (Wexford), Mr William Doyle (Wexford) and a Mr Peter Behan (Kildare) - and three of their FSA colleagues - Mr John Murphy, Mr James Kirwan and a Mr William Jones - were badly wounded.
The driver of the armoured Lancia lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a wall.
The IRA Unit returned safely to base.
On that same date (22nd October 1922), about 115km (70 miles) to the west, an FSA soldier on sentry duty in Cashel, County Tipperary - a Mr James Burke - shot himself dead with his own gun.
As Mr Burke's life came to an end, 80km (about 50 miles) down the road in Cork, a Free State Army Brigadier-Commandant, a Mr Ahern, and his soldiers, were waiting outside a Catholic Church in the townland of Rathduane, Caherbarnagh, in Drishane Civil Parish, County Cork.
As the Mass-goers came out, the FSA grouping closed-in on two men that they suspected were IRA Volunteers, and 'arrested' both of them.
As the FSA bandits were returning the prisoners to their Millstreet Barracks, they were ambushed at Annagloor by the IRA, who opened fire from both sides of the road.
One of their number, a Mr Thomas Mahony (19), received a serious wound in the stomach and died at Blarney while being rushed in a military ambulance to the Mercy Hospital in Cork city.
And again, on that same date, and also in Cork (about 60km/35 miles from the Annagloor shooting), on Curragh Hill, near the town of Clonakilty, an FSA patrol was heading to the town of Rosscarbery with orders for their troops based there.
The IRA had set-up an ambush position, with a Thompson machine gun and small arms, and opened fire on the Staters, killing one of them, a Mr Daniel Sullivan.
His body was taken to O'Donovan's Hotel, in Clonakilty.
The 22nd October 1922 - a bad day for the Leinster House Army.
==========================
Thanks for the visit, and for reading - appreciated.
Sharon and the team.
(We'll be back on Wednesday, 5th November, 2025.)
