IRELAND, 1880's : THE ALPHABET OF RESISTANCE!

ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 232 YEARS AGO - 'REFORM DEMANDED FOR ALL'.

On the 18th October 1791 - 232 years ago on this date - a group of socially-minded Protestants, Anglicans and Presbyterians held their first public meeting in Belfast and formed themselves as 'The Belfast Society of United Irishmen' (the organisation became a secret society three years later), electing Sam McTier as 'President' ; he was married to Martha, who was a sister of William Drennan.

The aims and objectives of the Society were revolutionary for the times that were in it, and brought the organisation to the attention of the less 'socially-minded' political (and military) members of the British ruling-class in Dublin, which was then (and, indeed, now!) England's political power-base in Ireland -

'That the weight of English influence in the government of this country is so great, as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our commerce...the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed, is by a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament... no reform is just which does not include every Irishman (sic) of every religious persuasion...'

The Belfast Society also adopted the 'Charter' of 'The United Irishmen' as a whole, and in so doing they drew further attention on themselves from their political enemies, at home and abroad -

'In the present era of reform, when unjust governments are falling in every quarter of Europe, when religious persecution is compelled to abjure her tyranny over conscience, when the rights of men are ascertained in theory, and theory substantiated by practice, when antiquity can no longer defend absurd and oppressive forms, against the common sense and common interests of mankind, when all governments are acknowledged to originate from the people, and to be so far only obligatory, as they protect their rights and promote their welfare, we think it our duty, as Irishmen, to come forward, and state what we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we know to be its effectual remedy.'

'We have no national government, we are ruled by Englishmen, and the servants of Englishmen, whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption, and whose strength is the weakness of Ireland; and these men have the whole of the power and patronage of the country, as means to seduce and subdue the honesty of her representatives in the legislature.

Such an extrinsic power, acting with uniform force, in a direction too frequently opposite to the true line of our obvious interest, can be resisted with effect solely by unanimity, decision, and spirit in the people, qualities which may be exerted most legally, constitutionally, efficaciously, by the great measure, essential to the prosperity and freedom of Ireland, an equal representation of all the people in parliament. Impressed with these sentiments...we do pledge ourselves to our country, and mutually to each other...'

And with those words, the assembled Irishmen - Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, William Sinclair, Henry Joy McCracken, Samuel Neilson, Henry Haslett, Gilbert McIlveen, William and Robert Simms, Thomas McCabe, Thomas Pearce and Samuel McTier, among others - ensured the continuity of the on-going struggle against the British military and political presence in Ireland.







'KEOGHBOYS OF THE 1950's...'

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.

William Keogh was appointed to office in Ireland.

John Sadlier and the other virtuous 'Tenant Righters' accepted offices in the new British ministry in Ireland, all bought by the plums of office.

William Keogh, the new 'Irish Solicitor General', was afterwards made a judge and became noted for his fondness for passing death sentences, and John Sadlier was made one of the 'Lords of the Treasury', lost his head and other people's money and then drank prussic acid.

Another of them, O'Flagherty, also got a 'good post' ; he had the same appititude as Sadlier and Keogh, but he later fled from Ireland.

(END of 'Keoghboys Of The 1950's' ; NEXT - 'First Things First', from the same source.)







ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 142 YEARS AGO : IMPRISONED IRISHMEN ISSUE A 'NO RENT' MANIFESTO.

'Fellow-countrymen! - The hour to try your souls and to redeem your pledges has arrived. The executive of the National Land League forced to abandon the policy of testing the land act, feels bound to advise the tenant-farmers of Ireland from this day forth to pay no rents under any circumstances to their landlords until the government relinquishes the existing system of terrorism and restores the constitutional rights of the people. Do not be daunted by the removal of your leaders...do not be wheedled into compromise of any sort by the threat of eviction.

If you only act together in the spirit to which, within the last two years, you have countless times solemnly pledged your vows, they can no more evict a whole nation than they can imprison them. Our exiled brothers in America may be relied upon to contribute, if necessary, as many millions of money as they have contributed thousands to starve out landlordism and bring English tyranny to its knees.

No power on earth except faintheartedness on your own part can defeat you. Landlordism is already staggering under the blows which you have dealt it amid the applause of the world...one more heroic effort to destroy landlordism at the very source and fount of its existence, and the system which was and is the curse of your race and of your existence will have disappeared forever...

No power of legalized violence can extort one penny from your purses against your will. If you are evicted, you shall not suffer ; the landlord who evicts will be a ruined pauper, and the government which supports him with its bayonets will learn in a single winter how powerless is armed force against the will of a united, determined, and self-reliant nation.

Signed CHARLES S. PARNELL, President, Kilmainham Jail

MICHAEL DAVITT, Hon. Sec. Portland Prison ;

THOMAS BRENNAN, Hon Sec. Kilmainham Jail

JOHN DILLON, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Jail;

THOMAS SEXTON, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Jail;

PATRICK EGAN, Treasurer Paris, 1881.'

The above is the wording of a 'NO RENT!' manifesto issued, from prison - on the 18th October 1881, 142 years ago on this date - by the incarcerated leadership of the 'Irish National Land League', calling on small tenant farmers in Ireland to withhold rents 'owed' to their British 'landlords' until such time as the latter agreed to the demand of the 'Land League' for the 'Three F's' - fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale.

The scale of unrest fostered by British greed can be judged by this article, from 'The Illustrated London News' of the 21st May, 1881 -

'Our Special Artist in the disturbed agricultural districts of the west of Ireland contributes another sketch of the perils that frequently beset a process-server when employed in the legal execution of his duty.

Some remarks on this subject were made last week, having reference to the instance of a landlord near Claremorris, Mr. Walter Burke*, who, finding that none of the ordinary process-servers in the country would venture to go round and deliver writs of ejectment to his defaulting tenants, has resolved to do it himself ; galloping quickly, with his trusty servant, from one farmhouse to another ; entering armed with a loaded revolver, not as a menace to others, but for his own needful protection**, and after showing the legal instrument, of which he leaves a copy, riding off as fast as he came...'

('1169' comment - *he paid the price for his bully-boy tactics the following year, in Claremorris...**he wouldn't have needed such "protection" had he been a decent human being in the first place.)

The alphabet of the 'Children's Land League' :

'A is the army that covers the ground ;

B is the buckshot we're getting all round ;

C is the crowbar of cruellest fame ;

D is our Davitt, a right glorious name ;

E is the English who've robbed us of bread ;

F is the famine they've left us instead ;

G is for Gladstone, whose life is a lie ;

H is the harvest we'll hold or we'll die ;

I is the inspector, who when drunk is bold ;

J is the jarvey, who'll not drive him for gold ;

K is Kilmainham, where our true men abide ;

L is the Land League, our hope and our pride ;

M is the Magistrate, who makes black of our white ;

N is no rent, which will make our wrongs right ;

O is Old Ireland, that yet shall be freed ;

P is the Peelers, who sold her for greed ;

Q is the Queen, whose use is not known ;

R is the Rifles, who keep up her throne ;

S is the sheriff, with woe in his train ;

T is the toil that others may gain ;

U is the Union that works bitter harm ;

V is the villain that grabs up the farm ;

W is the warrant for death or for chains ;

X is the ’Express', all lies and no brains ;

Y is 'Young Ireland' spreading the light ;

Z is the zeal that will win the great fight.'

And this is the continuity of that "great fight".







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.



The Irish have always had strong family bonds and a powerful extended family network, a feature that we shared with many of our European neighbours.

Time was, children were born into a family of two married parents, when problems were resolved within the family and childcare for those working outside the home was provided by family or neighbours.

Of course, this family could also be stifling and controlling, and the judgements meted out to those unfortunate enough to have children outside of marriage were harsh and punitive.

The change has been remarkable, with the numbers of children born outside marriage now above 30 per cent. One of the problems that flows from this is the serial father who has no emotional ties to the child, a situation which, according to RE Rowthorn, Professor of Economics at Cambridge, places it at the greatest risk of abuse, both physical and emotional.

In addition, cohabiting relationships are often unstable, with about 50 per cent splitting within ten years...

(MORE LATER.)







BEIR BUA.

The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.

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.)

The great Fenian revolutionary, O'Donovan Rossa, once said -

"It is in the dark days of a nation's distress that the truest of her sons cling closest to her, and those who are ashamed to associate their names with her fallen fortunes or who, by dangers of difficulties, are scared away from giving their assistance, are not the men fitted to raise her to a position of national independence."

Down the years the truth and sincerity of those words ring clear and inspire hope in a freedom struggle characterised as much by endurance as by action.

In giving the Republican Movement 'Beir Bua', the authors have provided not merely a manual for activism but a bible of endurance.

Its pages, like the words of Rossa, will instill Irish republicans with confidence and discipline, it will direct our energies and it will deliver our Republic, but especially in these treacherous times, it will guarantee our survival and bolster our resistance to the oppression which surrounds us daily on all sides... (MORE LATER.)







ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 103 YEARS AGO - BRITISH 'HAMAR' PUTS FINISHING TOUCHES TO HIS 'LAW AND ORDER' SPEECH.

British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (pictured, left, and short video here showing 'the Hamar' rewarding his troops in this country for the destruction they wrought while maintaining 'law and order') promised to put an end to republican "outrages" but that was just another outrageous false promise by the British!

In May 1920 the British Foreign Secretary, 'Lord' Curzon, proposed vigorous 'Indian measures' to suppress the rebellion in Ireland and he and other British imperialist 'gentlemen' formulated a policy with that objective in mind. On the 9th August 1920, the British 'Lords Commissioners' announced that 'Royal Assent' had been granted for the following 14 items -

1. Overseas Trade (Credit and Insurance) Act, 1920.

2. Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920.

3. Restoration of Order in Ireland Act, 1920.*

4. Aberdeen Corporation Order Confirmation Act, 1920.

5. Pilotage Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act, 1920.

6. Local Government Board (Ireland) Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act, 1920.

7. Ministry of Health Provisional Order Confirmation (Chesterfield Extension) Act, 1920.

8. Mid-Glamorgan Water Act, 1920.

9. Wallasey Corporation Act, 1920.

10. Life Association of Scotland Act, 1920.

11. Uxbridge and Wycombe District Gas Act, 1920.

12. Exmouth Urban District Council Act, 1920.

13. North British and Mercantile Insurance Company's Act, 1920.

14. Lever Brothers, Limited (Wharves and Railway) Act, 1920.

On the 18th October 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (who later threatened to resign his position if Westminster agreed to a ceasefire with Irish republicans before they had surrendered their weapons!) made final changes to the report on his 'law and order' campaign in Ireland, which he made public the next day -

"The outrages against the police and military forces since the 1st January last, which I regret to say include the loss of no less than 118 lives, are as follows: police killed -100, military killed -18, police wounded -160, military wounded -66. There have been 667 attacks on police barracks, resulting in most cases in their complete destruction. There has been an organised attempt to boycott and intimidate the police, their wives and relations.

The hon. Member will realise that I cannot publish the steps that are being taken to cope with the campaign of murder, outrage and intimidation, but I can assure him that the means available to the Government for protecting all servants of the Crown in the discharge of their duties, and for bringing to justice those who commit or connive at outrages, are steadily improving. The Royal Irish Constabulary is rapidly increasing in numbers owing mainly to the flow of recruits from ex-officers and ex-service men who served in the Army or Navy during the War.

The effective strength of the Force is now higher than it has been for the last 15 years. In the last three weeks alone there have been 194 trials by Court Martial under the 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920', and 159 convictions. The Forces of the Crown are now effectively grappling with the organised, paid and brutal campaign of murder in Ireland.."

(*The 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act' was a 'legal' item through which the British could authorise, in Ireland, 'the issue of Regulations under the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, for effecting the restoration and maintenance of order in Ireland where it appears to His Majesty in Council that, owing to the existence of a state of disorder, the ordinary law is inadequate for the prevention and punishment of crime, or the maintenance of order..')

The British claimed that the 'legal' changes had been rendered necessary by the abnormal conditions which at that time prevailed in certain parts of Ireland, where 'an organised campaign of violence and intimidation has resulted in the partial breakdown of the machinery of the ordinary law and in the non-performance by public bodies and officials of their statuary obligations...in particular it has been found that criminals (sic) are protected from arrest, that trial by jury cannot be obtained because of the intimidation of witnesses and jurors, and the local authorities and their officers stand in fear of injury to their persons or property if they carry out their statuary duties...'

The 'Order in Council' provided, among other things, for the putting into operation of many of the existing 'Defence of the Realm Regulations' for the purpose of 'the restoration or maintenance of order, for the trial of crimes by Courts Martial or by specially constituted Civil Courts, and for the investment of those Courts with the necessary powers'.

Also, it was now to be allowed for 'financial punishments' to be implemented - the withholding from local authorities who refuse to discharge the obligations imposed upon them by Statute, financial grants which otherwise would be payable to them from public funds and for the application of the grants so withheld to the discharge of the obligations which the local authority has failed to fulfill, for the holding of sittings of courts elsewhere than in ordinary courthouses, where these courthouses have been destroyed or otherwise made unavailable and 'although the Regulations are not, in terms, restricted to any particular part or parts of Ireland, it is the Government's intention that they shall not be applied in substitution for the provisions of the ordinary law in places where the judicial and administrative machinery of the ordinary law are available, and are not obstructed in their operations by the methods of violence and intimidation above mentioned...for instance, under the Regulations an ordinary crime can only be tried by a Courts Martial or by a specially constituted Civil Court, if the case is referred to the Competent Naval or Military Authority. Instructions will be issued by the Irish Executive to ensure that such cases will not be referred to the Competent Naval or Military Authority except where the prevalence of actual threatened violence or intimidation has produced conditions rendering it impracticable for them to be dealt with by due process of ordinary law...'

Greenwood stated the above, as mentioned, on Tuesday, 19th October 1920 and, the following day, a young (19 years old) IRA Volunteer, from Fleet Street in Dublin, Kevin Barry (pictured), became the first person to be tried by court martial under the new 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920' which,among its other trappings, allowed for the suspension of the courts system in Ireland (bad and all as that system was) and the establishment of military courts with powers to enforce the death penalty and internment without trial.

On the 10th December 1920 martial law was proclaimed in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary and, in January 1921, this order was extended to include Clare and Waterford. The 'ROIA' was widely used by the British against Irish republicans and, indeed, was used as a 'tool' to impose censorship on the media of the day, an imposition which was challenged, sometimes succesfully so - in 1921, a ROIA court-martial convicted the proprietors and editor of a Dublin newspaper for violating ROIA press regulations.

At the end of the trial, a military detachment acting without a written order from the military court arrested the defendants and conveyed them to a civil prison. The prisoners petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that a transfer from military to civil custody based merely on oral statements of anonymous soldiers was unlawful.

The Crown argued that since the defendants were subject to military law, they could be moved from military to civil confinement without a written order. Finding this contention to be "quite untenable," the King’s Bench put on record its desire "in the clearest way possible to repudiate" the doctrine that a civil prison could detain a king's subject without proper written authority -

"To sanction such a course would be to strike a deadly blow at the doctrine of personal liberty, which is part of the first rudiments of the constitution."

Moreover, the court-martial's failure to issue an order left the civil jailer "without the protection of any written mandate" and therefore exposed to the risk of a lawsuit.

Declaring that there was "no vinculum or bond of union between the military and the civil custody," the King's Bench issued the writ of habeas corpus. Ostensibly protecting the liberty of civilians against overreaching by the British Army, the court equally protected a civil institution from subordination to military command.

Today, the British and their political colleagues in Stormont and Leinster House are still attempting to use 'laws' of that nature, and media censorship and cooperation, to destroy Irish republicanism.

But it didn't work then and won't work for them today, either - we are in this for the long haul!







ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 22 YEARS AGO : FINAL ARRANGEMENTS STARTED FOR FREE STATERS TO 'HONOUR' IRISH REPUBLICAN.

"Fight on, struggle on, for the honour, glory and freedom of dear old Ireland. Our hearts go out to all our dear old friends. Our souls go to God at 7 o'clock in the morning and our bodies, when Ireland is free, shall go to Galbally. Our blood shall not be shed in vain for Ireland, and we have a strong presentiment, going to our God, that Ireland will soon be free and we gladly give our lives that a smile may brighten the face of 'Dear Dark Rosaleen'. Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!" - the last words of Limerick (Ballylanders) IRA man Patrick Maher, 32 years of age (pictured), to his comrades.

He was hanged by the Free State administration on the 7th June 1921 for his alleged involvement in the rescue of Tipperary IRA man Seán Hogan, even though he was not involved in that operation. Thousands of people (including his mother and sister) had gathered outside Mountjoy Jail in Dublin in protest against his execution, but to no avail (it should be noted that at the time, Munster and a small part of Leinster were under British 'martial law' and those executed there were shot as soldiers, but Dublin was under civilian law and that is why those executed in Mountjoy were hanged).

Patrick Maher and his comrade Edmond Foley were executed in Mountjoy jail, Dublin, on the 7th of June 1921, after being charged with 'the murder' of two RIC men (Peter Wallace and Michael Enright) - he strongly protested his innocence but, even though two juries failed to reach a verdict, he was convicted (by a military court martial) and sentenced to death.

He was one of 'The Forgotten Ten' IRA Volunteers (Kevin Barry, Patrick Moran, Frank Flood, Thomas Whelan, Thomas Traynor, Patrick Doyle, Thomas Bryan, Bernard Ryan, Edmond Foley, and Patrick Maher) - Kevin Barry was executed in 1920 by the British and the other nine men were put to death in 1921. All ten were buried in the grounds of Mountjoy Jail in Dublin, where six of them were placed in the same grave.

On Sunday, 14th October 2001, nine of those men were reinterred in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin by representatives of a 26-county state in an 'official' ceremony and, on Thursday/Friday, 18th/19th October 2001 - 22 years ago on this date - this state made the final arrangements to do the same for the tenth man, Patrick Maher, who was reburied in his home parish of Glenbrohane in Limerick (at the request of his family) on Saturday, 20th October 2001.

Both reinterments were carried out by representatives of a state which none of the ten men were fighting for - a 26-county 'Free State', which wasn't the objective of the republican campaign - then (1920/1921) or now (2023). Our campaign is for a free Ireland, not a partially-free Ireland.

And, to add insult to injury, the then Free State 'minister for justice', John O'Donoghue, was the 'official figurehead' present, on both occasions, during which he delivered the graveside orations. Irish republicans are looking forward to the day when those moral and political misappropriations can be corrected.







ON THE 18TH OCTOBER IN THE 1920's IN IRELAND...

On the 18th October, 1920, the IRA captured Ruan RIC Barracks in County Clare ; IRA Units involved in the operation were - 'A' (Crusheen), 'B' (Barefield), 'C' (Ballinruan), 'D' (Clooney) and 'E' (Ennis) Companies, 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, Kilnamona and Ruan Companies, 3rd Battalion, 5th Battalion and 6th Battalion.

One RIC member, John Longhead, was killed in the barracks during the IRA Operation, which was carried out with asssistance from RIC member William Carroll, who afterwards joined the IRA.

"About the middle of October, 1920, I received word from brigade headquarters to select ten or twelve men from my battalion, each of whom was to be armed with a revolver, for the purpose of raiding the RIC barracks in Ruan.

A few nights after hearing from the brigade, I took a party to Kilnaboy where a scout joined us and led the way across country to Ruan which we reached about half-past four next morning. Outside Ruan, we met Joe Barrett, brigade O/C operation, who explained that there had been a change in plans and that we would not be going into the barracks, but instead we would do outpost duty a quarter of a mile outside the village of Ruan on the Corofin road, to deal with any enemy reinforcements that might come from the RIC barracks in Corofin, about three miles away.

Barrett then asked for the revolvers which we were carrying and gave us rifles instead. He told us too, that, for the previous couple of days, he had been training men from the 1st and 2nd battalions in mock attacks in which each man was put through the part he would be called on to take in capturing the Ruan barracks.

We then went on to the position which had been allotted to us.

So far as my party was concerned, nothing happened until after daybreak when a scout came from the direction of the barracks and told us the operation was a failure. About five minutes later another scout arrived with the correct account. The barracks had been captured with all its equipment, and the garrison were prisoners. In a short while, we were called into the village where two of the police, Constables Wilmot and Carroll, were handed over to us, with orders to detain them in my battalion area until further instructions were received.

Taking the two prisoners, we made our journey homewards without incident, having got a much needed feed on the way at O’Briens, Caherlough. The two prisoners were sent on to Diffley’s cottage in Carron where the local company provided a guard over them.

I forgot to mention that a char-a-banc to take away the booty from the Ruan barracks was provided by Dwyer’s of Lisdoonvarna. This vehicle was driven by Mick Delahunty, a Tipperary man who was then employed in Dwyer’s. I can give no exact figures as to what comprised the booty but as far as I can remember hearing it included 14 rifles, 14 revolvers, several thousand rounds of ammunition, hand grenades and all the RIC bicycles.

The RIC barracks was burned to the ground.

Three nights after the taking of Ruan barracks, John Joe Clohessy, then attached to the brigade staff, came to me with orders to release Constable Wilmot. I cycled with him to Diffley’s in Carron and set this prisoner at liberty. The other prisoner's detention was only a sham. He, Constable Carroll was the man who had planned and arranged the capture of the barracks and it was pre-arranged that as soon as this was accomplished he would join the IRA and go into active service with our battalion.

Subsequently he fought in a number of engagements with the Mid-Clare brigade..." (From here.)



ALSO ON THE 18TH OCTOBER IN 1920 -

An ex-British Army soldier, described as "a civilian", Edward Turner, was shot and killed by British Army soldiers in Mallow, in County Cork. His trigger-happy comrades later claimed that shots had been fired at them from his direction and, on that same date and year, a British Army Corporal, Richard Hinds, who was attached to the 'South Wales Borderers', was on mobile patrol in the Clontarf area of Dublin when he "fell from the lorry and died", obviously not having been properly attached to it...

18TH OCTOBER 1922 -

At Kilmanagh, near Urlingford, in County Kilkenny, a Free State patrol (under Captain Anthony Lalor) was ambushed by IRA Volunteers. The firefight lasted for three hours and resulted in two deaths : IRA man Thomas O’Dea, from Mitchelstown, in County Cork, and Free State soldier Patrick Quigley, from Tullaroan, County Kilkenny. A number of IRA men were captured along with two rifles and a Lewis machine gun.

ALSO ON THE 18TH OCTOBER IN 1922 -

IRA man Tom Maguire, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Western Division IRA at the time, was captured by the Staters near Shrule, in County Mayo (on this date, according to some sources) ; his military duties were taken over by Christie Mackin.

Incidentally, in January the following year, Tom Maguire was sentenced to death by the Staters, but that never happened...

...and, yes (!), we're back from our escapades, as you will have noticed!

In the event, after all family, friends and Girl Gang members were rounded-up and sorted with transport, there was thirty-one of us altogether, in a seven-vehicle convoy.

We had mainly (!) an uneventful journey on the M50, heading to Waterford, although we did manage to temporary 'loose' one of the cars en route and, when we pulled in to our first picnic stop in Carlow, we 'misplaced' two young adults but t'was the hunger drove them back to us. Eventually...

We took a few 'toilet breaks' in a couple of pubs along the rest of the journey to Waterford (...well..that's why we told the little 'uns that we were stopping, anyway..!) and those of us that weren't driving had a lemonade (!) or two while the childer were doing their business. We eventually got to Tramore, in Waterford, stayed there for a little over a week, had the craic and then rounded everyone up, done a head count, back into the motors and headed for Galway.

And sure we weren't on the road long before 'rest stops/toilet breaks' intervened and we ended up bringing a decent bit of custom to some pubs along the way, as well as stopping at some of the '32 Stops' along the route. We had a busy 'holiday', as adults have to, but the younger ones had a ball ; and that's what it's all about!

Right - thanks for the visit, and for reading!

Sharon and the team.

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THE HARANGUES OF ENGLISH LEADERS.

ON THIS DATE (31ST MARCH) 47 YEARS AGO : IRA POW IN ENGLISH JAIL JOINS THE HUNGER-STRIKE.

Michael Gaughan (pictured), the eleventh Irish republican to die on hunger strike, was four months away from celebrating his 25th birthday.

Immortalised in song by Seamus Robinson, Michael Gaughan was an IRA activist in England and, in December 1971, he found himself in front of a British judge in the Old Bailey, where he was sentenced to seven years in Wormwood Scrubs for taking part in a (republican fund-raising) bank raid in north London.

Two years later, he was transferred to Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight and demanded that he be treated as a political prisoner. This was refused and he was placed in solitary confinement before being moved to Parkhurst Prison, also on the Isle of Wight. On the 31st of March, 1974 - 47 years ago, on this date - Michael Gaughan joined an on-going hunger-strike protest and, after 23 days, he was force-fed : the tube that was forced down his throat punctured his lung, killing him, in Parkhurst Prison, on the 3rd of June, 1974.

His body was removed from London and on Friday and Saturday, 7th and 8th June 1974, thousands of mourners lined the streets of Kilburn and marched behind his coffin, which was flanked by an IRA guard of honour, to a requiem mass held in the 'Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' in Kilburn.

On that Saturday (8th June 1974), his body was transported to Dublin where, again, he was met by mourners and another IRA guard of honour (pictured) who brought him to the Adam and Eve Franciscan church on Merchant's Quay, where thousands filed past as the body lay in state. The following day, his body was removed to Ballina, County Mayo. The funeral mass took place on the 9th June, at St. Muredach's Cathedral, Ballina, and the procession then went to Leigue Cemetery, Ballina.

Michael Gaughan was given a full republican burial and was laid to rest in the republican plot. Mayo republican Jackie Clarke (Seán Ó Clérigh, whose family later had political disagreements with the Provisional Sinn Féin party) presided at the last obsequies, and the oration at his graveside was given by Dáithí Ó Conaill, who stated that Gaughan "..had been tortured in prison by the vampires of a discredited empire who were joined by decrepit politicians who were a disgrace to the name of Irishmen...". His coffin was draped in the same Tricolour that was used for Terence McSwiney's funeral 54 years earlier. He left a final message in which he stated - "I die proudly for my country and in the hope that my death will be sufficient to obtain the demands of my comrades. Let there be no bitterness on my behalf, but a determination to achieve the new Ireland for which I gladly die. My loyalty and confidence is to the IRA and let those of you who are left carry on the work and finish the fight."

And today, 47 years after Michael Gaughan was buried, republicans are still working towards that same objective.







'REFLECTION.'

By Matt Furlong.

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, June, 1955.

'The river winds its way into the deep,

the lark will chant its lay and soar the sky,

if the eagle were in fetters would he keep

the spirit of the free, or would he die?



For thus it is the grievings in our hearts,

the symbol of our freedom it is seen,

oppressed when such oppression smarts

and a longing, deep, to see again the Green.



Unfurled and flowing free upon the wind

as the eagle when he soars above the hills,

glorying in his freedom, and his kind,

subdueing not to any other wills...' (MORE LATER.)







ON THIS DATE (31ST MARCH) 162 YEARS AGO : 'IRISH INDEPENDENT PARTY' DISBANDS.

In 1852, 'The Irish Brigade' ( a 'pressure-group' which lobbied Westminster on behalf of the Catholic Church, its members, and its 'flock') and 'The Tenant Right League' joined forces to get the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' revoked and, in July that year (1852) the new grouping came together as 'The Independent Irish Party' (IIP).

The 'IIP' declared that "legislative independence is the clear, eternal and inalienable right of this country, and that no settlement of the affairs of Ireland can be permanent until that right is recognised and established...(we will) take the most prompt and effective measures for the protection of the lives and interests of the Irish people, and the attainment of their natural rights..."

John Sadleir and William Keogh, two of the more prominent MP's in 'The Independent Irish Party' (of which there were about forty, as the new 'IIP' was joined by Irish MP's in Westminster) , like all the other 'IIP' representatives, took a pledge not to accept any Office in a Westminster administration or to co-operate with same until, among other things, the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' was done away with ; however, the British had seen developments like this elsewhere in their 'empire' and were preparing to manoeuvre things in their own favour.

The new 'Independent Irish Party' was flexing its muscle ; as William Keogh (a barrister and MP for Athlone) put it - "I will not support any party which does not make it the first ingredient of their political existence to repeal the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill. So help me God ..." By this stage, Charles Gavan Duffy had been elected as an 'Independent Irish Party' MP to Westminster, representing the New Ross area of Wexford.

The 'IIP', with forty members elected to Westminster, did actually hold the balance of power in 'Lord' Derby's Tory-led government in Westminster and so pressed their claims with that administration regarding the 'Titles Bill' and other matters pertaining to Ireland - but they got no satisfaction from 'Lord' Derby or any of his Ministers, so the 'IIP' 'pulled the plug' and the British government of the day collapsed.

The main opposition party in Westminster, the 'Whigs', led by 'Lord' Aberdeen (pictured), apparently promised John Sadleir IIP MP and William Keogh IIP MP that the 'Whigs' would be sympathetic to the interests of the 'Independent Irish Party' and the two Irish MP's, in turn, passed this information on to the ruling body of their own party and it was agreed to support the 'Whigs' in their bid for power which, with 'IIP' support, they got.

But no sooner had 'Lord' Aberdeen climbed into the prime ministerial chair when his political promises to Sadleir and Keogh were cast aside ; he was, it seems, prepared to 'honour' part of the agreement he made with the 'Independent Irish Party' representatives and party, but not enough to satisfy them, and certainly not enough when compared with what he said he would do. This led to rows and bickering within the 'IIP', a signal which 'Lord' Aberdeen picked-up on and used to his own advantage, in true British 'divide-and-conquer'-style.

'Lord' Aberdeen offered John Sadleir IIP MP the position of 'Lord of The Treasury' in the new British administration, and also 'threw a bone' to the other dog, William Keogh IIP MP - that of the Office of British Solicitor-General for Ireland and, despite already having their parsnips well buttered, both men took the offer, and the Catholic Church, subservient as ever to the British, when push came to shove, supported them for doing so!

This tore not only the 'Independent Irish Party' asunder (although it did manage to 'hobble' on for another few years, disintegrating along the way) until finally it disbanded on the 31st March 1859 - 162 years ago, on this date - but it also disappointed Charles Gavan Duffy IIP MP, one of the more prominent members of the party, so much so that, in October 1855, he emigrated to Australia in despair.

As 'Lord of The (British) Treasury', John Sadleir aspired to a lifestyle which he no doubt considered to be his of right - he was, after all, a British Minister and he also owned, by now, a community-type bank/financial house, in Ireland - the 'Tipperary Joint Stock Bank' (pictured) : however, such was his taste for the fine life and his desire to 'keep in' with his new 'friends', when his bank was found to be shy by over one million pounds the shame was too much and he killed himself in 1856.

However, his old buddy, the British Solicitor-General for Ireland, William Keogh, somehow managed to 'soldier-on' and was asked to perform another task for his British pay-masters and he became a British Judge, in Ireland, during the infamous Fenian Trials of 1865-1867, where he verbally cracked many an Irish rebel skull, saving his employers from getting their hands even more bloodier. His conscience must have eventually got the better of him because, in 1878, he, too, killed himself. It could only make you wonder that, had he a bank to embezzle, would he have lived longer?

Despite success at the polls, and having the 'ear' of the political bosses and the 'respect' of the British 'establishment' and good, favourable media coverage, being well-dressed, well-spoken and well-paid, if you lose your political principles, you're finished - draw your own conclusions....







NO RIGHT OF APPEAL...

Why the media consensus on a broad range of issues is increasingly disturbing.

By John Drennan.

From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.

Mary Ellen Synon was one of the 'bad journalists'* ; it was bad enough that she was a conservative, and her a woman, but she was also controversial. She didn't like Tribunals, or Social Partnership, or the Peace Process, or our new liberal junta. Worse still, she was original. A very bad bit of stuff indeed. They had been waiting in the long grass for Mary Ellen Synon for a long time.

Eventually, after she wrote a piece about the evils of moral equivalence which included the infelicitous use of a metaphor involving the Special Olympics ('1169' comment - she wrote about those who take part in the paralympics as being "grotesque...perverse...wobble in a wheelchair...swim by Braille.." ; in other words, she actually jumped out of "the long grass" and quite willingly surrendered herself on the Altar of Decency..), the mob was released. Her chosen epithets were offensive, and indefensible, but only a fool would construe the ensuing media melee as a reaction against those few badly chosen words**

It was a reaction against her entire outlook - an outlook she had been 'getting away with' for too long. When she eventually fell through her own thin ice, there followed a stirring display of journalistic unity ; blowhard radio presenters joined hand-in-glove with a woeful feminist clique to note that explanations and apologises were not enough.

In this particular Salem, as the sisterhood wailed "Where is Mary Ellen's heart..?", only the destruction*** of her career would do. The likes of it not been seen since the time when John McGahern was forced out of his teaching job by a similar mob****...

('1169' Comment -*Mary Ellen Synon uses words, as best she can, to cause outrage and, in so doing, make a name for herself. She isn't a journalist in the proper sense of that word. She is a 'sensationalist' writer, and will put pen to paper over whatever issue she believes will obtain the most publicity for herself and for whichever 'newspaper' it is at the time that has employed her.//** Those words were purposely chosen rather than "badly chosen" // *** Self-destruction, - not a "destruction" of someone else's making. // **** A chalk and cheese comparison, if even that, in our opinion.) (MORE LATER.)







'COMMENTS.'

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.

£14,000 Per Year :

It was announced recently in London that the salary and expenses of the English Governor General in the Six Counties would be a total of £14,000 per year. It was stated that part of this sum would be paid by the British Government and part by Stormont.

If the matter were examined closely it would be discovered that the people of the Six Counties will pay it all ; through the reserved services, income tax, indirect taxation (tobacco, liquor, purchase tax etc) Britain drains off from the Six Counties more than is returned in doles and grants.

At the same time it was announced in Belfast that a vast number of workers would become redundant in the Belfast shipyards. A huge protest demonstration was held by the shipyard workers ; they all marched to a public meeting in the city centre and were addressed by an English trade union official. Hurrah for the demonstration!

But we would urge the Belfast workers to examine closely the causes of their impending unemployment and not pay too much attention to the harangues of English leaders, whether Labour, Conservative or Liberal ; unemployment, the dole, hunger and misery - these are the recurring fruits of English control of Irish economic and political life... (MORE LATER.)







ON THIS DATE (31ST MARCH) 150 YEARS AGO : SINN FÉIN FOUNDER/TREATY OF SURRENDER SUPPORTER BORN IN DUBLIN.

One of the leaflets (pictured) distributed by Irish republicans in late 1921 to counteract anti-republican propaganda that the 'Treaty (of Surrender)' was "a stepping stone" to that which they had fought for - indeed, one of those who accepted that Treaty, ex-republican Arthur Griffith, declared, in a press release immediately after signing same - "I have signed a Treaty of peace between Ireland and Great Britain. I believe that treaty will lay foundations of peace and friendship between the two Nations. What I have signed I shall stand by in the belief that the end of the conflict of centuries is at hand."

Yet historian Nicholas Mansergh noted that, at practically the same time as Griffith had penned the above, the British were talking between themselves of "...concessions (from the Irish) wrung by devices..some of which can be described at best as devious..every word used and every nuance was so important..."

Arthur Joseph Griffith (Art Ó Griobhtha, pictured) was born at 61 Upper Dominick Street, Dublin on 31st March 1871 - 150 years ago on this date - into a working-class family. He was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers and earned a living as a skilled printer and typesetter. He joined the Gaelic League during the 1890's and was also a member of the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' (IRB).

At 34 years of age he founded a new political organisation, 'Sinn Féin' (on the 28th November 1905) to raise support for his own personal political notion that a 'dual government' of Britain and Ireland was the best solution to England's 'Irish Problem' ; he saw no value in Fenian-style armed rebellion and believed that 'passive resistance', including a refusal to pay Crown taxes, creating independent Irish courts and an Irish civil service, taking control of local authorities and boycotting British products, would achieve his required objective ie for this country to become part of a dual monarchy under the British crown and prosper, financially, as a result. His aim was "to make England take one hand from Ireland's throat and the other out of Ireland's pocket..." but the Sinn Féin organisation didn't fully support the objectives and methods as laid down by Griffith.

The Sinn Féin organisation, when established by Arthur Griffith and others, consisted of an amalgamation of Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Council (which was founded in the main to organise protests at the visit of the British King, Edward VII, and included in its ranks Edward Martyn, Séamus McManus and Maud Gonne) and the Dungannon Clubs, a largely IRB-dominated republican campaign group.

Contrary to the perception which has been advanced by some that Sinn Féin in its first years was not republican in character but rather sought a limited form of Home Rule on the dual monarchist model, Brian O'Higgins (pictured), a founding member of Sinn Féin, who took part in the 1916 Rising, and was a member of the First and Second Dáil, remaining a steadfast republican up to his death in 1962, had this to say in his Wolfe Tone Annual of 1949 :

"It is often sought to be shown that the organisation set up in 1905 was not republican in form or spirit, that it only became so in 1917, but this is an erroneous idea, and is not borne out by the truths of history. Anyone who goes to the trouble of reading its brief constitution will see that its object was 'the re-establishment of the independence of Ireland'. The Constitution of Sinn Féin in 1905, and certainly the spirit of it, was at least as clearly separatist as was the constitution of Sinn Féin in and after 1917, no matter what private opinion regarding the British Crown may have been held by Arthur Griffith..."

In 1917, Griffith stood down as President of Sinn Féin (de Valera took the position) because the organisation had become more republican-minded than he felt comfortable with, although he maintained his membership. He also had strong differences of opinion with the trade union leadership in Ireland over strike action, as he felt that such activity was counter-productive as it damaged Irish trade, overall, and that opinion, and other such political naratives, helped to secure his election as a 'Sinn Féin MP' in the East Cavan by-election in June 1918, and he held the seat in the General Election of that same year (and he was also returned for the seat of Tyrone North West).

Griffith and Michael Collins, and others, were sent to London by de Valera to negotiate the 'Anglo-Irish Treaty' (the 'Treaty of Surrender') and, on the 6th December, 1921, he signed it and declared that "..the end of the conflict of centuries is at hand.." (see our opening paragraph, above). Incidentally, Collins and Griffith (both pro-Treaty) had pressurised at least one of their colleagues, Robert Childers Barton (the Irish Minister for Economic Affairs) to accept the Treaty of Surrender, telling him that if he did not sign then he would be responsible for "Irish homes (being) laid waste and the youth of Ireland (being) butchered.." and, at about 11pm on Monday, 5th December 1921, Barton signed the document.

The stress and strain on Arthur Griffith took its toll and, on the 12th August, 1922, in his 51st year, he died, in Dublin, from heart failure and cerebral haemorrhage, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. The poor man went to his grave being wrong about "the end of the conflict of centuries" being at hand. The only Treaty that will secure that is one which witnesses the withdrawal of the British claim of jurisdictional control over any part of Ireland ; no 'fine words' offering a half-way house will be accepted by Irish republicans.

Thanks for reading,

Sharon.

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BRITISH AGREEMENT WITH 'INDEPENDENT IRISH PARTY' CAST ASIDE.

ON THIS DATE (28TH OCTOBER) 44 YEARS AGO : IRISH REPUBLICAN LEADER ASSASSINATED BY PRO-BRITISH DEATH SQUAD.

"We must take no steps backward, our steps must be onward, for if we don't, the martyrs that died for you, for me, for this country, will haunt us forever" - Máire Drumm, (pictured).

On the 28th October 1976 - 44 years ago on this date - the then Sinn Féin Vice President, Máire Drumm, was shot dead in her hospital bed by a pro-British loyalist death squad. She was born in the townland of Killeen, South Armagh, on the 22nd October 1919 to a staunchly republican family (the McAteer's) and her mother had been active in the Tan War and the Civil War.

In 1940, Máire joined Sinn Féin in Dublin but, in 1942, she moved to Belfast, which became her adopted city, and she continued her republican activities. Every weekend, she would carry food parcels to the republican prisoners in Crumlin Road Jail and it was here that she met Jimmy Drumm, who she married in 1946. When the IRA renewed the armed struggle in the late 1950s, Jimmy was again interned without trial from 1957 to 1961, and Máire became more actively involved in the civil rights movements of the 1960s. She worked tirelessly to rehouse the thousands of nationalists forced from their homes by unionist/loyalist pogroms.

During her work as a civil rights activist, Máire emerged as one of the republican movement's most gifted leaders and organisers and was the first to warn that the British troops sent in as 'peace keepers' were a force of occupation. Máire was a dynamic and inspirational speaker - once, when addressing a rally in Derry after the shooting of two men from the city, Máire said - "The people of Derry are up off their bended knees. For Christ sake stay up. People should not shout up the IRA, they should join the IRA..."



In 1972, she became Vice President of the then Sinn Féin organisation and, due to her dedication and the dedication of her family to the republican struggle, they were continuously harassed by the RUC, British Army and by loyalist paramilitaries.

The British Army even constructed an observation post facing their home in Andersonstown and, at one point, her husband and son were interned at the same time. Her husband, Jimmy, became known as the most jailed republican in the Six Counties and Máire herself was also jailed twice for 'seditious' speeches, once along with her daughter.

In 1976, at only 57 years of age, her eyesight began to fail and she was admitted for a cataract operation to the Mater Hospital, Belfast. On the 28th October 1976, as Máire lay in her hospital bed, loyalist killers wearing doctors white coats walked into her room and shot her dead. Máire Drumm, freedom fighter and voice of the people, was buried in Milltown Cemetery.





'BRITISH OCCUPATION CHALLENGED'.

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, June, 1955.

In spite of attempts by the unionists, the 'nationalists' and the so-called 'national press' to misrepresent the policy of Sinn Féin, the republicans and the separatists in the north rallied to the cause of Irish freedom and unity and elected two representatives to the republican parliament of the 32 Counties. The results are a striking vindication of Pearse's dictum that "the great, silent suffering mass of the Irish people are always ready to assert their right to freedom. The people have never failed Ireland. Always it has been the leaders who have failed the people."

On nomination day, the unionists tried to stampede the electors by declaring that votes cast for Mitchell and Clarke would be thrown away - that they would be completely discounted and the unionist candidate elected, but the republican electors were not deceived nor intimidated by the unionist tactics. Now that the smoke and fire of battle has cleared away, the unionists are regretting their rash threat and cannot decide what to do.

The legal position was made quite clear by the lobby correspondent of the London 'Observer' newspaper on Sunday 29th May, 1955, three days after the election : "Several Sinn Féin candidates were elected in 1918 although they were in prison, but no attempt was made to unseat them, and there has been no change in the law since then..."

(MORE LATER.)







ON THIS DATE (28TH OCTOBER) 169 YEARS AGO : 'REBEL' MP AND BARRISTER (AND PLEDGE-BREAKER) EXPOSED.

It's practically impossible to write about William Keogh (pictured) without mentioning his pledge-breaking colleague and fellow charlatan, John Sadleir. Both men were born into difficult times, but so were many others and not all of them resorted to being 'snake oil' sales people, the path chosen by Keogh and Sadleir.

Their 19th century Ireland was one in which approximately six-and-a-half million people 'lived' in, which was a rise in population of about three-and-a-quarter million since the introduction of the potato into the country in the middle of the 18th Century (ie 1760, population of approximately three-and-a-quarter million ; 1815 - population of approximately six-and-a-half million).

With the potato being in itself highly nutritional and a good basis for an adequate diet, as well as being a prolific crop, the poor were able to get better use from what little land they had and use their land to support more people, which led to an increase in the population. Also, the potato needed less land than, for instance, grain, and allowed the farmer to grow other crop elsewhere which he could then sell. Unfortunately for the Irish 'peasant' farmer (as the British described us) , this 'good fortune' was noticed by the British 'landlords' and rents were increased at the same period that land was scarce (due to the population increase) - the 'rent' for a 'holding' quadrupled between 1760 and 1815, so the 'holding' (ie small farm) was sub-let, usually to the farmers sons, so that the 'rent owed' for that patch of soil could be shared by the family.

However, the Irish spirit was strong, and the British 'landlords' and their agents did not have it all their own way. The so-called 'lower-ranks', the 'wretched people', those who wore 'the mark of slavery', had organised themselves as best they could ; secret, underground oath-bound societies fought back - the Whiteboys, Oakboys, Moonlighters, the Defenders and the Steelboys : fences belonging to British 'landlords' were ripped-up, the 'masters' cattle were taken, his haystacks and crop removed, his 'Big House' attacked and, when possible, levelled and burnt, and he himself, and his minions, put to death when the opportunity presented itself to do so. It was into this 'melting-pot of madness' that a child was born in County Tipperary in 1815 - John Sadleir.

At the time that John Sadleir (pictured) was growing-up, a man named George Henry Moore (who was connected to, and supported by, the Catholic Church Hierarchy) was organising a 'pressure-group' which was to be called the 'Irish Brigade' to lobby Westminster on behalf of the Catholic Church, its members, and its 'flock' - John Sadleir joined the 'Irish Brigade' lobby-group and became a prominent member of it, as did about twenty liberal-minded British MP's, including William Keogh. When John Sadleir was 36 years of age (in 1851) the British administration introduced the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' (on 6th February 1851) making it 'illegal' for any Catholic prelate (ie priest, arch-bishop, bishop etc) to be that which the Vatican claimed him to be - that is, under the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill', it was deemed to be 'a crime' to be described as the 'parish priest of XXX', 'arch-bishop of XXX', 'bishop of XXX' etc - in short, the assumption of titles by Roman catholic priests was outlawed by Westminster : the British wanted to curb the activities and influence of the catholic church, but this 'law' was not always followed-up (ie enforced) on the ground (what we in Ireland would call 'an Irish solution to an Irish problem').

However, enforced or not, the 'Titles Bill' was vehemently opposed by John Sadleir and William Keogh and 'The Irish Brigade' (who were by now known by the nick-name of 'The Popes Brass Band', such was their support for the catholic hierarchy) and others, too, were opposed to the 'Bill' - a group known as the 'Tenant Right League', which had been founded in 1850 by 'Young Ireland' Movement leaders Charles Gavan Duffy and Frederick Lucas (to secure better conditions for those that worked the land) also campaigned against 'The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' : the 'Tenant Right League' was formed in City Assembly House in William Street in Dublin in August 1850, after a four-day conference which was attended by a right mix of people - magistrates, 'landlords', tenants themselves, priests (of both Catholic and Presbyterian persuasion) and newspaper journalists and editors. In his own constituency, where he was entertained to a public banquet on the 28th October, 1851 - 169 years ago on this date - William Keogh declared, in the presence of Archbishop McHale : "I will not support any party which does not make it the first ingredient of their political existence to repeal the Ecclesiastical Titles Act..." and again, in Cork, on the 8th March, 1852, he declared : "So help me God, no matter who the Minister may be, no matter who the party in power may be, I will support neither that minister nor that party unless he comes into power prepared to carry the measures which universal popular Ireland demands..." As the British themselves are fond of saying - 'Fine words butter no parsnips'.

In 1852, 'The Irish Brigade' and 'The Tenant Right League' joined forces to get the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' revoked and, in July that year (1852) the new grouping came together as 'The Independent Irish Party', which declared that "legislative independence is the clear, eternal and inalienable right of this country, and that no settlement of the affairs of Ireland can be permanent until that right is recognised and established...(we will) take the most prompt and effective measures for the protection of the lives and interests of the Irish people, and the attainment of their natural rights..." John Sadleir and William Keogh, two of the more prominent MP's in 'The Independent Irish Party' (of which there were about forty, as the new 'IIP' was joined by Irish MP's in Westminster) , like all the other 'IIP' representatives, took a pledge not to accept any Office in a Westminster administration or to co-operate with same until, among other things, the 'Ecclesiastical Titles Bill' was done away with ; however, the British had seen developments like this elsewhere in their 'empire' and were preparing to manoeuvre things in their own favour.

The new 'Independent Irish Party' was flexing its muscle ; as William Keogh (a barrister and MP for Athlone) put it - "I will not support any party which does not make it the first ingredient of their political existence to repeal the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill. So help me God ..." By this stage, Charles Gavan Duffy had been elected as an 'Independent Irish Party' MP to Westminster, representing the New Ross area of Wexford. The 'IIP', with forty members elected to Westminster, did actually hold the balance of power in 'Lord' Derby's Tory-led government in Westminster and so pressed their claims with that administration regarding the 'Titles Bill' and other matters pertaining to Ireland - but they got no satisfaction from 'Lord' Derby or any of his Ministers, so the 'IIP' 'pulled the plug' and the British government of the day collapsed.

The main opposition party in Westminster, the 'Whigs', led by 'Lord' Aberdeen (pictured), apparently promised John Sadleir IIP MP and William Keogh IIP MP that the 'Whigs' would be sympathetic to the interests of the 'Independent Irish Party' and the two Irish MP's, in turn, passed this information on to the ruling body of their own party and it was agreed to support the 'Whigs' in their bid for power which, with 'IIP' support, they got. But no sooner had 'Lord' Aberdeen climbed into the prime ministerial chair when his political promises to Sadleir and Keogh were cast aside ; he was, it seems, prepared to 'honour' part of the agreement he made with the 'Independent Irish Party' representatives and party, but not enough to satisfy them, and certainly not enough when compared with what he said he would do. This led to rows and bickering within the 'IIP', a signal which 'Lord' Aberdeen picked-up on and used to his own advantage, in true British 'divide-and-conquer'-style.

'Lord' Aberdeen offered John Sadleir IIP MP the position of 'Lord of The Treasury' in the new British administration, and also 'threw a bone' to the other dog, William Keogh IIP MP - that of the Office of British Solicitor-General for Ireland and, despite already having their parsnips well buttered, both men took the offer, and the Catholic Church, subservient as ever to the British, when push came to shove, supported them for doing so! This tore not only the 'Independent Irish Party' asunder (although it did manage to 'hobble' on for another few years, disintegrating along the way) until finally it disbanded in 1858, but it also disappointed Charles Gavan Duffy IIP MP, one of the more prominent members of the party, so much so that, in October 1855, he emigrated to Australia in despair.

As 'Lord of The (British) Treasury', John Sadleir aspired to a lifestyle which he no doubt considered to be his of right - he was, after all, a British Minister and he also owned, by now, a community-type bank/financial house, in Ireland - the 'Tipperary Joint-Stock Bank' (pictured) : however, such was his taste for the fine life and his desire to 'keep in' with his new 'friends', when his bank was found to be shy by over one million pounds the shame was too much and he killed himself in 1856. However, his old buddy, the British Solicitor-General for Ireland, William Keogh, somehow managed to 'soldier-on' and was asked to perform another task for his British pay-masters and he became a British Judge, in Ireland, during the infamous Fenian Trials of 1865-1867, where he verbally cracked many an Irish rebel skull, saving his employers from getting their hands even more bloodier. His conscience must have eventually got the better of him because, in 1878, he, too, killed himself. It could only make you wonder that, had he a bank to embezzle, would he have lived longer?

Despite success at the polls, and having the 'ear' of the political bosses and the 'respect' of the British 'establishment' and good, favourable media coverage, being well-dressed, well-spoken and well-paid, if you lose your political principles, you're finished - draw your own conclusions....





'IS IT TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION...?'

By John Drennan.

From 'The Magill Annual', 2002.

The law exists to protect us but, as with the moral law of the Church, those who devote their lives to it should be under its closest scrutiny, precisely because they are more empowered by it than anyone else in our society.

It is time that journalism and politics started asking difficult questions of the legal profession. For starters, we can look into the scandal of the family courts, and then go on to ask who benefits the most from our relatively new-found public tribunal culture. Only then will we even begin to redress the balance of power between the people and the courts.

(END of 'Is It Time To Ask Questions Of The Legal Profession?' ; NEXT - 'In The Name Of The Law', from the same source.)





'THE REPUBLICAN POSITION ; STATEMENT ISSUED BY ÓGLAIGH NA H-ÉIREANN AND SINN FÉIN...'

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, November 1954.

"A Chara,

The following statement has been released for publication. Please publish it in full or not at all...

Those who think in terms of a compromise with the leadership of Fianna Uladh must also realise that when they seek to get an alignment with the latest arrival of the splinter parties they are seeking that which is tantamount to an alignment with either Clann na Poblachta or Fianna Fail, both of which, for their own separate ends, foster and promote the growth of Fianna Uladh, whose advent can only distract our people further.

Its continued existence can but serve to create further dissensions and its leaders appear to do all in their power to retard and obstruct the advance of the Republican Movement.

Issued by the Army Council, Óglaigh na hÉireann, and the Standing Committee, Sinn Féin."

(END of 'The Republican Position ; Statement Issued By Óglaigh na hÉireann and Sinn Féin'. NEXT - 'Return To Sinn Féin', from the same source.)

Thanks for reading - Sharon and the '1169' team. Are you still with us, out there? Hard to know just where we are, in this State, in relation to the health and safety of the citizens of this State, as 'regulated' by Leinster House, that is : we think, as it's a Wednesday, we're somewhere between level 3.5 and level 5 of the 'lockdown'. Not sure. And it could change tomorrow. Or maybe not. Sure we'll see how it goes...

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