....IRA attack on British military barracks , Mallow, County Cork, 28th September 1920 .....
.... when the IRA unit, under Liam Lynch, were in the process of taking over Mallow military barracks , a Sergeant Gibbs attempted to lock the door of the guardroom where the munitions were stored - he was shot dead .....
Some thirty rifles , a couple of light machine-guns and dozens of boxes of ammunition were removed from the barracks and placed in waiting motor cars which drove off immediately ; the RIC knew nothing of the raid and were not seen that morning .
As they were leaving the barracks , the IRA set fire to a load of straw, hoping to burn the place down, but the fire did'nt catch - the stairs, floors and walls were all made from stone flaggings.
The next night , British troops from surrounding areas wrecked and burned Mallow Town Hall and the local creamery , and looted any shop they could get in to. They were to pay dearly for their presence over the following months , as their own weapons were turned on them .....
... The Garrane Fight .....
.... after a forced march of some fifteen miles , the five Republican prisoners suffered swollen arms (from being strapped together) and had lost the use of their hands due to the cold and poor blood circulation because of the straps ....
" An officer named Swayne insisted on relieving the pressure , secured breakfast for them and let them rest . While they were there Captain 'Tiny' Lyons came up from Killarney with the escort which was to take them the rest of the way . Before they left Mountain Stage , Lyons arrested Frank Grady and shot him dead . That was the eleventh of March (1923). About twenty prisoners , arrested some weeks before, remained in the Workhouse at Bahaghs . They included Michael Courtney , Eugene Dwyer , Willie Riordan , John Sugrue , and Dan O'Shea " .
JOHN TADHG SULLIVAN OF KILLURLEY .
"John Sullivan's father and mother live in Killurley East and even while his column were hunted in the mountains he came home to them every week . As time went on and the war became more cruel it grew harder to see him go . "Don't fret , now, mother ," he said the last time , "I'll come to you on Thursday , never fear" ....... " (MORE LATER)>
" The SDLP are queen lovers - lets join them in a mass-movement .... " :
On 2nd February , 1989 , the Provos published an Ard Fheis issue of their 'paper ; on page five of same , the Stormont Minister for Agriculture and Education (!) , Martin McGuinness, was quoted - " Bloody Sunday made us all very angry and we all reacted as a community should react . We were also angered that the para's commander that day was later decorated by the British Queen. And I have been angered recently by the fact that Mary McSorley, SDLP Councillor for South Derry, was also decorated by the very same queen. That tells us an awful lot about the SDLP " .
---- good sound-bite, Martin - got the crowd moving , I'll bet .... BUT ..
..... on page six of the same Ard Fheis issue , the following was printed : "One of the most important debates of the weekend Ard Fheis was on motion 37 , in the section of political policy, which called for 'the adoption in principle of the need for an all-Ireland anti-imperialist mass movement' "- the motion was passed .
That so-called 'mass-movement' would include the SDLP ....
Friday, July 04, 2003
.... IRA attack on British military barracks , Mallow, County Cork , 28th September 1920 .....
...early on that Saturday morning (28th September , 1920) Richard Willis and Jack Bolster , two tradesmen, went to work in Mallow Barracks ; they were accompanied by their 'foreman' , Paddy McCarthy - all three were IRA Volunteers , and all three were armed .....
At the same time , Liam Lynch and eighteen members of the 'Flying Column' were assembled in small groups in Barrack Street (where the military barracks was located) and six other armed Volunteers were already in control of Mallow Town Hall , a building which the RIC would have to pass should the alarm be raised and the RIC attempt to get to Barrack Street.
The barrack gates opened as usual to allow the thirty or so Lancers out and, once they were out of sight, Liam Lynch walked up to the gate, with an envelope in his hand, and knocked until the guard opened up ; when the gate was opened enough to allow the guard to take the envelope , he was rushed by about twenty IRA Volunteers and held captive. The other twelve or so British soldiers were quickly rounded-up : a Sergeant Gibbs attempted to lock the door of the guardroom where the munitions were stored and was shot dead ...... (MORE LATER)>
THE GARRANE FIGHT .....
" The fight lasted until about three in the afternoon when the Free State troops retired , having lost five or six men . They had killed Dan Clifford and captured six Republicans. The remaining thirty had successfully retreated into the mountains. There was great anger against the handful of Republicans who had made such an obstinate defence . In Bahaghs Workhouse the six prisoners were punished , day and night, for a week.
Denis Daly received a blow on the head which, later , almost cost him his life ; Peter Brady, a medical student, was shot while he lay asleep with his cheek resting on his hand - his face was scarred and his thumb was shattered. Early on Sunday morning five of them were marched to Killorglin . They were very weak from beatings and from hunger. They were tied together in pairs with straps round their arms. By the time they had come to Mountain Stage , a distance of fifteen miles, their arms were swollen and their hands were dead cold ..... " (MORE LATER)>
-------Dorothy Macardle's 1924 book 'The Tragedies of Kerry' .
THE 'STICKIES' and the dual mandate .....
"...it is obviously not possible for people to be in two places at the one time " , stated the 'Workers Party',in 1985, in relation to the issue of the dual mandate : they continued - " and, as the European parliament and the 'Dail' often sit on the same days , it is inevitable that those operating the dual mandate will have to miss important business in either Leinster House or Strasburg " .
The then leader of the Stickies, Proinsias de Rossa, proved what good material he was for Leinster House (ie 'do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do') by canvassing for a seat in Leinster House AND the EEC parliament in the June 1989 elections to both institutions ! Good man , Frank - just keep your head down in Europe where you are now and keep adding to your bank balance .....
...early on that Saturday morning (28th September , 1920) Richard Willis and Jack Bolster , two tradesmen, went to work in Mallow Barracks ; they were accompanied by their 'foreman' , Paddy McCarthy - all three were IRA Volunteers , and all three were armed .....
At the same time , Liam Lynch and eighteen members of the 'Flying Column' were assembled in small groups in Barrack Street (where the military barracks was located) and six other armed Volunteers were already in control of Mallow Town Hall , a building which the RIC would have to pass should the alarm be raised and the RIC attempt to get to Barrack Street.
The barrack gates opened as usual to allow the thirty or so Lancers out and, once they were out of sight, Liam Lynch walked up to the gate, with an envelope in his hand, and knocked until the guard opened up ; when the gate was opened enough to allow the guard to take the envelope , he was rushed by about twenty IRA Volunteers and held captive. The other twelve or so British soldiers were quickly rounded-up : a Sergeant Gibbs attempted to lock the door of the guardroom where the munitions were stored and was shot dead ...... (MORE LATER)>
THE GARRANE FIGHT .....
" The fight lasted until about three in the afternoon when the Free State troops retired , having lost five or six men . They had killed Dan Clifford and captured six Republicans. The remaining thirty had successfully retreated into the mountains. There was great anger against the handful of Republicans who had made such an obstinate defence . In Bahaghs Workhouse the six prisoners were punished , day and night, for a week.
Denis Daly received a blow on the head which, later , almost cost him his life ; Peter Brady, a medical student, was shot while he lay asleep with his cheek resting on his hand - his face was scarred and his thumb was shattered. Early on Sunday morning five of them were marched to Killorglin . They were very weak from beatings and from hunger. They were tied together in pairs with straps round their arms. By the time they had come to Mountain Stage , a distance of fifteen miles, their arms were swollen and their hands were dead cold ..... " (MORE LATER)>
-------Dorothy Macardle's 1924 book 'The Tragedies of Kerry' .
THE 'STICKIES' and the dual mandate .....
"...it is obviously not possible for people to be in two places at the one time " , stated the 'Workers Party',in 1985, in relation to the issue of the dual mandate : they continued - " and, as the European parliament and the 'Dail' often sit on the same days , it is inevitable that those operating the dual mandate will have to miss important business in either Leinster House or Strasburg " .
The then leader of the Stickies, Proinsias de Rossa, proved what good material he was for Leinster House (ie 'do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do') by canvassing for a seat in Leinster House AND the EEC parliament in the June 1989 elections to both institutions ! Good man , Frank - just keep your head down in Europe where you are now and keep adding to your bank balance .....
Thursday, July 03, 2003
..... IRA attack on British military barracks , Mallow, County Cork, 28th September 1920.....
...the British soldier from the barracks in Mallow had complained to the two tradesmen of a possible security weakness in the barracks - the tradesmen were also members of the IRA ....
The seven IRA battalions in the Mallow and surrounding areas had recently formed , from within their ranks, a 'Flying Column' , with Paddy Clancy in charge . Richard Willis and Jack Bolster contacted Clancy and told him of the conversation they had with the British soldier - they also had plans and sketches of the barracks , and mentioned that other men in their unit knew the lay-out of the surrounding district , having lived in the area since they were born .
Clancy got in touch with Liam Lynch and Ernie O'Malley and a start was made on putting a plan together to raid the barracks for munitions . On Saturday morning, 28th September 1920, Richard Willis and Jack Bolster went to the barracks to continue with the job they were doing there , this time accompanied by Paddy McCarthy , whom they introduced to the guards as a Board of Works foreman ; all three were admitted , and all three were armed .... (MORE LATER)>
" Those who, sensitive to the sufferings of others yet tenacious of their own peace of mind , love to solace themselves with incredulity , will put down this book half read . To those who have any eagerness to understand that time in Ireland it is offered as an infinitesimal fragment of the truth . It is in Kerry, among the proud and undefeated people that they will hear all the history told :
THE GARRANE FIGHT
Cahirciveen was held by the Republican army during the summer of 1922.
On August 24th , Free State troops landed and, after a fight of some hours, occupied the town.During the winter the Republicans held the mountains inland,bravely welcomed and sheltered by the people in the little farms. Captures were made from time to time and the Free State troops kept their prisoners in the Workhouse at Bahaghs, a few miles from the town.
In March , on the Garrane Mountains, there was a column of about thirty-six rifle men. They had with them an engineer - Dan Clifford, who did not carry arms. When it grew light on the morning of March the fifth they found their retreat surrounded and five or six hundred Free State troops closing in on them over the hills ..... ". (MORE LATER)>
In 1985, the 'Workers Party' (Stickies) made a submission to the Free State 'Joint Oireachtas Committee on Secondary Legislation of the European Community' in which they strongly opposed the dual mandate of Leinster House members also functioning as MEP's.
The Stickies said in their document - " There is no doubt that the public perception of the dual mandate is double-jobbing, and that this has caused considerable resentment, particularly among the unemployed . It is obviously not possible for people to be in two places at the one time ...... " (MORE LATER)>
...the British soldier from the barracks in Mallow had complained to the two tradesmen of a possible security weakness in the barracks - the tradesmen were also members of the IRA ....
The seven IRA battalions in the Mallow and surrounding areas had recently formed , from within their ranks, a 'Flying Column' , with Paddy Clancy in charge . Richard Willis and Jack Bolster contacted Clancy and told him of the conversation they had with the British soldier - they also had plans and sketches of the barracks , and mentioned that other men in their unit knew the lay-out of the surrounding district , having lived in the area since they were born .
Clancy got in touch with Liam Lynch and Ernie O'Malley and a start was made on putting a plan together to raid the barracks for munitions . On Saturday morning, 28th September 1920, Richard Willis and Jack Bolster went to the barracks to continue with the job they were doing there , this time accompanied by Paddy McCarthy , whom they introduced to the guards as a Board of Works foreman ; all three were admitted , and all three were armed .... (MORE LATER)>
" Those who, sensitive to the sufferings of others yet tenacious of their own peace of mind , love to solace themselves with incredulity , will put down this book half read . To those who have any eagerness to understand that time in Ireland it is offered as an infinitesimal fragment of the truth . It is in Kerry, among the proud and undefeated people that they will hear all the history told :
THE GARRANE FIGHT
Cahirciveen was held by the Republican army during the summer of 1922.
On August 24th , Free State troops landed and, after a fight of some hours, occupied the town.During the winter the Republicans held the mountains inland,bravely welcomed and sheltered by the people in the little farms. Captures were made from time to time and the Free State troops kept their prisoners in the Workhouse at Bahaghs, a few miles from the town.
In March , on the Garrane Mountains, there was a column of about thirty-six rifle men. They had with them an engineer - Dan Clifford, who did not carry arms. When it grew light on the morning of March the fifth they found their retreat surrounded and five or six hundred Free State troops closing in on them over the hills ..... ". (MORE LATER)>
In 1985, the 'Workers Party' (Stickies) made a submission to the Free State 'Joint Oireachtas Committee on Secondary Legislation of the European Community' in which they strongly opposed the dual mandate of Leinster House members also functioning as MEP's.
The Stickies said in their document - " There is no doubt that the public perception of the dual mandate is double-jobbing, and that this has caused considerable resentment, particularly among the unemployed . It is obviously not possible for people to be in two places at the one time ...... " (MORE LATER)>
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
IRA attack on British military barracks , Mallow, County Cork, 28th September 1920.
Richard Willis , a carpenter, and his friend Jack Bolster, a painter, sometimes worked together on jobs; it was on one such occasion that the two men got talking to a British soldier from the military barracks in Mallow, where Willis and Bolster were working ; the conversation ended with the soldier complaining that those in charge of the forty-five strong Mallow garrison were taking a chance by sending a detachment of thirty Lancers out each morning , to exercise their horses for a few hours .
The soldier voiced his fear that the remaining fifteen or so soldiers in the barracks would be unable to prevent the IRA from taking munitions from the barracks should they attack , not realising that the two tradesmen he was talking to were themselves members of the IRA ..... (MORE LATER)>
"..... only a few can be named in this book. Of men put to death within the prisons , of men killed in action,nothing is said , and very little can be told of those we name . Such dark, fearful and secret happenings leave myths and rumours in their trial , but we have nothing to do with myths and rumours here .
The burning passions of impotent hate and anger that shook Kerry when these things were done have quieted into calm resolution . Now , by intimate questioning of witnesses, a few clear facts can be ascertained . It is those clear, indisputable facts only that are here set down, without art or artifice, as they were told ..... ".
------ Dorothy Macardle , in the 'Foreword' to her 1924 book 'The Tragedies of Kerry' - MORE LATER> ...
... the 'American Federation of Labour' called for a second demonstration to take place on 4th May , 1886 - four of its members had been killed by the police at its first demo on 1st May ; the second demo was attended by about three thousand people , and the police were there as well ; with a heavy hand .....
.... the crowd soon dwindled to a few hundred when the police 'came the heavy' with them - people remembered that it was the same force which, days previously, had killed four people in a similar situation. They were scared. Then a bomb exploded in the middle of the policemen, wounding sixty-six of them, of whom seven died later.Without any evidence against them , eight anarchist leaders were arrested , only one of whom was actually at Haymarket Square that day .
One year after their trial , Albert Parsons, a printer, August Spies , an upholsterer, Adolph Fischer and George Engel were hanged after every appeal was lost . Louis Lingg , 21, had previously taken his own life whilst in jail by exploding a dynamite tube in his mouth .
-------- the above incident seems to be lost in American trade-union history ; why ?
Richard Willis , a carpenter, and his friend Jack Bolster, a painter, sometimes worked together on jobs; it was on one such occasion that the two men got talking to a British soldier from the military barracks in Mallow, where Willis and Bolster were working ; the conversation ended with the soldier complaining that those in charge of the forty-five strong Mallow garrison were taking a chance by sending a detachment of thirty Lancers out each morning , to exercise their horses for a few hours .
The soldier voiced his fear that the remaining fifteen or so soldiers in the barracks would be unable to prevent the IRA from taking munitions from the barracks should they attack , not realising that the two tradesmen he was talking to were themselves members of the IRA ..... (MORE LATER)>
"..... only a few can be named in this book. Of men put to death within the prisons , of men killed in action,nothing is said , and very little can be told of those we name . Such dark, fearful and secret happenings leave myths and rumours in their trial , but we have nothing to do with myths and rumours here .
The burning passions of impotent hate and anger that shook Kerry when these things were done have quieted into calm resolution . Now , by intimate questioning of witnesses, a few clear facts can be ascertained . It is those clear, indisputable facts only that are here set down, without art or artifice, as they were told ..... ".
------ Dorothy Macardle , in the 'Foreword' to her 1924 book 'The Tragedies of Kerry' - MORE LATER> ...
... the 'American Federation of Labour' called for a second demonstration to take place on 4th May , 1886 - four of its members had been killed by the police at its first demo on 1st May ; the second demo was attended by about three thousand people , and the police were there as well ; with a heavy hand .....
.... the crowd soon dwindled to a few hundred when the police 'came the heavy' with them - people remembered that it was the same force which, days previously, had killed four people in a similar situation. They were scared. Then a bomb exploded in the middle of the policemen, wounding sixty-six of them, of whom seven died later.Without any evidence against them , eight anarchist leaders were arrested , only one of whom was actually at Haymarket Square that day .
One year after their trial , Albert Parsons, a printer, August Spies , an upholsterer, Adolph Fischer and George Engel were hanged after every appeal was lost . Louis Lingg , 21, had previously taken his own life whilst in jail by exploding a dynamite tube in his mouth .
-------- the above incident seems to be lost in American trade-union history ; why ?
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
.... IRA attack on Kilmallock RIC Barracks , 28th May , 1920.....
.....by 2am on the morning of the IRA attack on the barracks , its roof and upper storey were on fire ; the RIC men trapped inside the burning building were offered the opportunity to surrender - they refused the offer and , with the imminent collapse of the building, the gun battle started again .....
However , all was not as it seemed to the attackers ; the RIC men had been retreating to the outbuildings at the back of the barracks , braving the sniper-fire from the IRA Volunteers rather than face the onslaught coming through the front of the building.
By about 7am , with the barracks now a smouldering ruin, it was obvious that a fresh plan and re-deployment of the Volunteers would be necessary if the RIC were to be removed from the various outhouses they were now in , and the order was given for the IRA to withdraw ; one Volunteer, Liam Scully, was dead, and the RIC Sergeant and one of his constables were dead - six more RIC men were seriously wounded.
The Kilmallock attack , on 28th May, 1920 , in the middle of the Tan War, was one of the most prolonged and fiercest battles of that period.
" Around Kerry , in the Autumn and Winter of 1922 and the Spring of 1923 , an ominous wall of silence was drawn . The rumours that came through were so terrible that they were scarcely believed .
Those rumours were less terrible than the truth " .
----- Dorothy Macardle , in the 'Foreword' to her 1924 book, ' The Tragedies of Kerry ' :
" The whole history of the war in Kerry is being compiled by those who took part in it , and it is only when that slow labour is completed that Ireland will realize what was suffered for the Republic there . This little book is made , meanwhile, in memory of some of the soldiers of the Republic , men of Kerry, who, during those months, met with lonely and violent deaths " .
(MORE LATER)>
On 1st May , 1886, the 'American Federation of Labour' called for nationwide strikes to demand the reduction of the working day to eight hours. Two days later , strikers and sympathisers fought with scabs outside McCormick Harvester Works in Chicago ; police fired at the strikers , killing four and wounding many more of them .
Following these killings, a meeting was called for 4th May in Haymarket Square , and approximately three-thousand people attended . The police were there as well , and used a heavy hand ....
.....by 2am on the morning of the IRA attack on the barracks , its roof and upper storey were on fire ; the RIC men trapped inside the burning building were offered the opportunity to surrender - they refused the offer and , with the imminent collapse of the building, the gun battle started again .....
However , all was not as it seemed to the attackers ; the RIC men had been retreating to the outbuildings at the back of the barracks , braving the sniper-fire from the IRA Volunteers rather than face the onslaught coming through the front of the building.
By about 7am , with the barracks now a smouldering ruin, it was obvious that a fresh plan and re-deployment of the Volunteers would be necessary if the RIC were to be removed from the various outhouses they were now in , and the order was given for the IRA to withdraw ; one Volunteer, Liam Scully, was dead, and the RIC Sergeant and one of his constables were dead - six more RIC men were seriously wounded.
The Kilmallock attack , on 28th May, 1920 , in the middle of the Tan War, was one of the most prolonged and fiercest battles of that period.
" Around Kerry , in the Autumn and Winter of 1922 and the Spring of 1923 , an ominous wall of silence was drawn . The rumours that came through were so terrible that they were scarcely believed .
Those rumours were less terrible than the truth " .
----- Dorothy Macardle , in the 'Foreword' to her 1924 book, ' The Tragedies of Kerry ' :
" The whole history of the war in Kerry is being compiled by those who took part in it , and it is only when that slow labour is completed that Ireland will realize what was suffered for the Republic there . This little book is made , meanwhile, in memory of some of the soldiers of the Republic , men of Kerry, who, during those months, met with lonely and violent deaths " .
(MORE LATER)>
On 1st May , 1886, the 'American Federation of Labour' called for nationwide strikes to demand the reduction of the working day to eight hours. Two days later , strikers and sympathisers fought with scabs outside McCormick Harvester Works in Chicago ; police fired at the strikers , killing four and wounding many more of them .
Following these killings, a meeting was called for 4th May in Haymarket Square , and approximately three-thousand people attended . The police were there as well , and used a heavy hand ....
Monday, June 30, 2003
..... IRA attack on Kilmallock RIC Barracks , 28th May , 1920.....
.....the buildings around the barracks had been secured and armed IRA units had blocked all routes into the town .....
A few Volunteers were positioned near outhouses at the rear of the barracks . Just after midnight, IRA leader Tom Malone and his men took it in turns to lob heavy objects out of the skylight of the Carrolls' house , the object being to break a hole through the roof of the barracks, into which prepared petrol-bombs could be thrown.
When Malone's first object hit the roof, the IRA units positioned around the barracks opened fire on the front and rear of the building ;within minutes, the RIC men trapped in the building were shooting back. While this gun-fight was going on, Malone and his men succeeded in breaching the roof - dozens of parafin and petrol bombs were thrown through the hole, followed by a flaming torch and a grenade : the building was now on fire .
By 2am (approximately two hours after the attack began) the upper storey of the barracks was about to collapse on top of the ground-floor section , where the RIC men were now confined : the IRA stopped the attack and advised the RIC to throw out their weapons and then come out themselves - the RIC refused the offer ...... (MORE LATER)>
"..... an old dog chased its tail on the street where we once played 'kick the tin' and the old fellows made their way to the bookies for the first two across the card . Farmer Thompson's old faithful dog brought his sheep in , a few fields away, and a wood pigeon fell to a distant shotgun , as I arose , not from my panoramic platform, but out of the inky blackness in the corner of my filthy, cold cell, where , wrapping a dirty, flimsy blanket around me to cover my naked body , I stepped towards the barred window and leant my head against it " .
------ 'I Once Had a Life' , by Bobby Sands, first published on 17th March, 1979.
In the same year that Haughey tried to stab himself in the back with a (jewel-encrusted) dagger(1988) , a woman in Italy was out trying to 'earn' her own fortune ;
---- Maria Fioritti convinced thousands of people that she had seen the Virgin Mary, and her local priest, a Fr Vincenzo Diodati, backed her up . The Priest was, in his earlier days , a professional soccer player, and knew how to 'play ball' - both he and Maria wanted to 'score' big and they put the "Virgin Mary visitation" scam together in January 1988 .
It worked for two months but then , in April, they apparently 'scored an own goal' and confessed that the whole thing was a con. The couple were fined 500,000 lire , he was thrown out of the Church and she had to leave the locality.
.....and just what the hell that has to do with Charlie Haughey is beyond me - there is no possible connection between Italian gangsters and Fianna Fail .
.....the buildings around the barracks had been secured and armed IRA units had blocked all routes into the town .....
A few Volunteers were positioned near outhouses at the rear of the barracks . Just after midnight, IRA leader Tom Malone and his men took it in turns to lob heavy objects out of the skylight of the Carrolls' house , the object being to break a hole through the roof of the barracks, into which prepared petrol-bombs could be thrown.
When Malone's first object hit the roof, the IRA units positioned around the barracks opened fire on the front and rear of the building ;within minutes, the RIC men trapped in the building were shooting back. While this gun-fight was going on, Malone and his men succeeded in breaching the roof - dozens of parafin and petrol bombs were thrown through the hole, followed by a flaming torch and a grenade : the building was now on fire .
By 2am (approximately two hours after the attack began) the upper storey of the barracks was about to collapse on top of the ground-floor section , where the RIC men were now confined : the IRA stopped the attack and advised the RIC to throw out their weapons and then come out themselves - the RIC refused the offer ...... (MORE LATER)>
"..... an old dog chased its tail on the street where we once played 'kick the tin' and the old fellows made their way to the bookies for the first two across the card . Farmer Thompson's old faithful dog brought his sheep in , a few fields away, and a wood pigeon fell to a distant shotgun , as I arose , not from my panoramic platform, but out of the inky blackness in the corner of my filthy, cold cell, where , wrapping a dirty, flimsy blanket around me to cover my naked body , I stepped towards the barred window and leant my head against it " .
------ 'I Once Had a Life' , by Bobby Sands, first published on 17th March, 1979.
In the same year that Haughey tried to stab himself in the back with a (jewel-encrusted) dagger(1988) , a woman in Italy was out trying to 'earn' her own fortune ;
---- Maria Fioritti convinced thousands of people that she had seen the Virgin Mary, and her local priest, a Fr Vincenzo Diodati, backed her up . The Priest was, in his earlier days , a professional soccer player, and knew how to 'play ball' - both he and Maria wanted to 'score' big and they put the "Virgin Mary visitation" scam together in January 1988 .
It worked for two months but then , in April, they apparently 'scored an own goal' and confessed that the whole thing was a con. The couple were fined 500,000 lire , he was thrown out of the Church and she had to leave the locality.
.....and just what the hell that has to do with Charlie Haughey is beyond me - there is no possible connection between Italian gangsters and Fianna Fail .
Sunday, June 29, 2003
.....IRA attack on Kilmallock RIC Barracks , 28th May , 1920 .....
... plans were made to burn down the RIC Barracks at Kilmallock in County Limerick - a house to the right-hand side of the barracks was taller than it , and had a 'skylight' in its attic ....
Clery's Hotel and a Bank practically faced the barracks, as did a shop, owned by the O'Herlihy family . If , during the attack, RIC reinforcements from other areas were to attempt to rescue their colleagues they would find the routes into the town barricaded by armed IRA units.
Sixty IRA Volunteers were organised for the operation ; at least half of them , plus some local men, went out on the night of 27th May and blocked a number of roads leading to Kilmallock . IRA leader Tom Malone ('Sean Forde') and his unit took over Carrolls house , Tim Crowley and his Volunteer group took control of Cleary's Hotel , D O'Hannigan was in charge of a unit of IRA men which occupied the Bank and J McCarthy and an IRA unit moved in to O'Herlihy's shop for the night . Michael Brennan , an IRA leader from East Clare , was also in the shop ..... (MORE LATER)>
"..... in the distance stood another dogged giant , the Divis Tower, in the shadow of its like-named mountain ; and , nearer by, 'Napoleon's Nose' kept a watch on the city , perhaps in rememberance of Wolfe Tone who visited it all those years ago . I retraced my gaze and found with ease our old house . Nobody I knew was there any more , just strangers, who trimmed the lawn around the ash tree that I grew up with .
The fence needed a coat of paint and the front garden had been deflowered of its colour , my mother and father's pride and joy " . ........ (MORE LATER)>
--- Bobby Sands, 17th March , 1979.
In 1988 , when Charles Haughey was the (Fianna Fail) Free State Taoiseach and was on a 'tour' of Australia , it emerged that a Saudi Arabian government official had previously presented the bould Charlie with a small fortune worth of jewellery as a gift for the State ; there was apparently a record of said jewels being handed over, but no sign of the articles in the place where they should have been.....
Haughey was contacted and asked to comment on the issue , but declined to react, stating that he could not comment on domestic affairs while out of the country- he did, however , promise to hold a press conference when he returned to Dublin. A few days later his 'plane touched down and the Haughey fella strolled, with not a care in the world, into the room where the journalists were waiting and promptly announced that the press conference was cancelled! Just like that , bold as brass .
Haughey's bare-faced cheek ensured that the whole episode was given a new lease of life and it eventually came out that the item in question was , as far as I can remember, a jewel-encrusted dagger , worth a good few shillings. The media lost interest (or were encouraged to) but I suspect that said implement could have been the one used by Bertie in later years ....
(Don't ya just miss those years , when our 'leaders' knew their own value !).
... plans were made to burn down the RIC Barracks at Kilmallock in County Limerick - a house to the right-hand side of the barracks was taller than it , and had a 'skylight' in its attic ....
Clery's Hotel and a Bank practically faced the barracks, as did a shop, owned by the O'Herlihy family . If , during the attack, RIC reinforcements from other areas were to attempt to rescue their colleagues they would find the routes into the town barricaded by armed IRA units.
Sixty IRA Volunteers were organised for the operation ; at least half of them , plus some local men, went out on the night of 27th May and blocked a number of roads leading to Kilmallock . IRA leader Tom Malone ('Sean Forde') and his unit took over Carrolls house , Tim Crowley and his Volunteer group took control of Cleary's Hotel , D O'Hannigan was in charge of a unit of IRA men which occupied the Bank and J McCarthy and an IRA unit moved in to O'Herlihy's shop for the night . Michael Brennan , an IRA leader from East Clare , was also in the shop ..... (MORE LATER)>
"..... in the distance stood another dogged giant , the Divis Tower, in the shadow of its like-named mountain ; and , nearer by, 'Napoleon's Nose' kept a watch on the city , perhaps in rememberance of Wolfe Tone who visited it all those years ago . I retraced my gaze and found with ease our old house . Nobody I knew was there any more , just strangers, who trimmed the lawn around the ash tree that I grew up with .
The fence needed a coat of paint and the front garden had been deflowered of its colour , my mother and father's pride and joy " . ........ (MORE LATER)>
--- Bobby Sands, 17th March , 1979.
In 1988 , when Charles Haughey was the (Fianna Fail) Free State Taoiseach and was on a 'tour' of Australia , it emerged that a Saudi Arabian government official had previously presented the bould Charlie with a small fortune worth of jewellery as a gift for the State ; there was apparently a record of said jewels being handed over, but no sign of the articles in the place where they should have been.....
Haughey was contacted and asked to comment on the issue , but declined to react, stating that he could not comment on domestic affairs while out of the country- he did, however , promise to hold a press conference when he returned to Dublin. A few days later his 'plane touched down and the Haughey fella strolled, with not a care in the world, into the room where the journalists were waiting and promptly announced that the press conference was cancelled! Just like that , bold as brass .
Haughey's bare-faced cheek ensured that the whole episode was given a new lease of life and it eventually came out that the item in question was , as far as I can remember, a jewel-encrusted dagger , worth a good few shillings. The media lost interest (or were encouraged to) but I suspect that said implement could have been the one used by Bertie in later years ....
(Don't ya just miss those years , when our 'leaders' knew their own value !).
Saturday, June 28, 2003
IRA attack on Kilmallock RIC Barracks , 28th May 1920.
In 1867 , the Fenians attacked a British military outpost at kilmallock in County Limerick , but were repelled ; fifty-three years after that event, the Fenians (IRA) decided to burn the outpost (now an RIC barracks) to the ground.....
The barracks , a two-storey, solid masonry structure with steel shuttering , was set back from the road, and housed an RIC garrison of one sergeant and seventeen constables, all armed ; it was known to be a 'tough' building but had one possible weakness - its roof .
A house to the right-hand side of the barracks, which was owned by the Carroll family, was taller than the barracks, and had a 'skylight' in its attic ; .... (MORE LATER)>
" Where the life of the forest receded and fought to guard its flanks and outermost perimeter , a road in its infancy lay hollowed out in the black hardened clay , clustered with machinery . A row of houses appeared beyond, then another , leading to a massive concrete jungle where tiny figures moved to and fro .
There were deck-chairs in the gardens where the sun-worshippers gloated in contentment . A group of young lads played with a garden hose, the cool white jet of water rising into the air before toppling down upon them in a thousand shining little silver drops .
To the right lay Belfast , belching out the sweat of the early morning risers , and the cranes of the shipyard towered towards the cloudless sky ; .... (MORE LATER)>
------ 'I once had a life' , by Bobby Sands, 17th March , 1979.
Peter Robinson and his friends in the RAf have at least one admirer (and no doubt more) in Fine Gael ; in June 1993 , Michael Noonan (ex-FG leader) told 'Hot Press' magazine (16th June , page 44) that , in his opinion, Peter Robinson was "extraordinarily bright, very capable and very different from what his public image is in Ireland . I was impressed by him ."
---- Michael Noonan to join the DUP (in place of that Daniel O'Donnell look-a-like , whasisname ...) ?
---- Peter Robinson to be the next leader of Fine Gael (in place of...eh, the present leader.. whasisname ...) ?
In 1867 , the Fenians attacked a British military outpost at kilmallock in County Limerick , but were repelled ; fifty-three years after that event, the Fenians (IRA) decided to burn the outpost (now an RIC barracks) to the ground.....
The barracks , a two-storey, solid masonry structure with steel shuttering , was set back from the road, and housed an RIC garrison of one sergeant and seventeen constables, all armed ; it was known to be a 'tough' building but had one possible weakness - its roof .
A house to the right-hand side of the barracks, which was owned by the Carroll family, was taller than the barracks, and had a 'skylight' in its attic ; .... (MORE LATER)>
" Where the life of the forest receded and fought to guard its flanks and outermost perimeter , a road in its infancy lay hollowed out in the black hardened clay , clustered with machinery . A row of houses appeared beyond, then another , leading to a massive concrete jungle where tiny figures moved to and fro .
There were deck-chairs in the gardens where the sun-worshippers gloated in contentment . A group of young lads played with a garden hose, the cool white jet of water rising into the air before toppling down upon them in a thousand shining little silver drops .
To the right lay Belfast , belching out the sweat of the early morning risers , and the cranes of the shipyard towered towards the cloudless sky ; .... (MORE LATER)>
------ 'I once had a life' , by Bobby Sands, 17th March , 1979.
Peter Robinson and his friends in the RAf have at least one admirer (and no doubt more) in Fine Gael ; in June 1993 , Michael Noonan (ex-FG leader) told 'Hot Press' magazine (16th June , page 44) that , in his opinion, Peter Robinson was "extraordinarily bright, very capable and very different from what his public image is in Ireland . I was impressed by him ."
---- Michael Noonan to join the DUP (in place of that Daniel O'Donnell look-a-like , whasisname ...) ?
---- Peter Robinson to be the next leader of Fine Gael (in place of...eh, the present leader.. whasisname ...) ?
Friday, June 27, 2003
....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920 .....
.... the thirteen-strong 'Cairo Gang' were executed by the IRA in Dublin on Sunday 21st November , 1920 .....
FOOTNOTE - IRA Volunteer Frank Teeling , who was wounded and captured in a laneway at the back of Lower Mount Street , was sentenced to death - however , he escaped with others from Kilmainham Jail ;
Days after the 'Cairo Gang' were wiped-out , it emerged that Major Callaghan and Colonel Jennings , who were both absent from their digs when the IRA visited , had in fact stayed overnight in a local brothel ! ( I can only presume that they were both with women...) ;
On that Sunday ( 21st November, 1920) , a match took place between Dublin and Tipperary : the 'Black and Tans' came on to the pitch and opened fire on the players and the crowd - fourteen people were killed and sixty injured. The British later said they were fired on first....
" Clusters of timid yellow primroses lined both sides of my avenue . A young rabbit scurried across my path and vanished . Everything was alive and buzzing , but there was peace in the activity of nature . A passing crow cawed but the bees fed undisturbed upon the flowers ,while the refreshing scent of pine carried upon the breeze.
I mastered the twisting rising climb and crossed a clearing of lush green grass, where a solitary young sycamore threw its shadow towards a family of bluebells that flourished by a little trickle of a stream . I sat down upon an earthen mound and gazed down the hillside at the sweeping landscape of deep green and every shade of brown , speckled with orange and yellow and splashed with a million white dots " .
------ Bobby Sands , 17th March 1979 . (MORE LATER)>
At the end of June, 1993 , Peter Robinson (DUP) told news-reporters that "the RAF should wipe out the IRA headquarters in Belfast and Dublin . I do not decry a tough security policy which includes a military response " . Perhaps Peter meant that the RAF should drop a couple of hundred gun-licences over Belfast and Dublin - that was the "military response" that Robinson and Big Ian employed on a hillside , when they paraded their 'Third Force' militia .
That mindset is still there - 'No fenians about the place' (not even the tame ones....).
.... the thirteen-strong 'Cairo Gang' were executed by the IRA in Dublin on Sunday 21st November , 1920 .....
FOOTNOTE - IRA Volunteer Frank Teeling , who was wounded and captured in a laneway at the back of Lower Mount Street , was sentenced to death - however , he escaped with others from Kilmainham Jail ;
Days after the 'Cairo Gang' were wiped-out , it emerged that Major Callaghan and Colonel Jennings , who were both absent from their digs when the IRA visited , had in fact stayed overnight in a local brothel ! ( I can only presume that they were both with women...) ;
On that Sunday ( 21st November, 1920) , a match took place between Dublin and Tipperary : the 'Black and Tans' came on to the pitch and opened fire on the players and the crowd - fourteen people were killed and sixty injured. The British later said they were fired on first....
" Clusters of timid yellow primroses lined both sides of my avenue . A young rabbit scurried across my path and vanished . Everything was alive and buzzing , but there was peace in the activity of nature . A passing crow cawed but the bees fed undisturbed upon the flowers ,while the refreshing scent of pine carried upon the breeze.
I mastered the twisting rising climb and crossed a clearing of lush green grass, where a solitary young sycamore threw its shadow towards a family of bluebells that flourished by a little trickle of a stream . I sat down upon an earthen mound and gazed down the hillside at the sweeping landscape of deep green and every shade of brown , speckled with orange and yellow and splashed with a million white dots " .
------ Bobby Sands , 17th March 1979 . (MORE LATER)>
At the end of June, 1993 , Peter Robinson (DUP) told news-reporters that "the RAF should wipe out the IRA headquarters in Belfast and Dublin . I do not decry a tough security policy which includes a military response " . Perhaps Peter meant that the RAF should drop a couple of hundred gun-licences over Belfast and Dublin - that was the "military response" that Robinson and Big Ian employed on a hillside , when they paraded their 'Third Force' militia .
That mindset is still there - 'No fenians about the place' (not even the tame ones....).
Thursday, June 26, 2003
.....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....
....one of the leaders of the 'Cairo Gang' , a Major Callaghan, was staying at a guesthouse in Fitzwilliam Square ; he was not there when an IRA unit arrived at the premises , but his colleague , Captain Crawford , was ......
Crawford was held at gunpoint by the Volunteers : however , it was decided that, as he was not the intended target his life would be spared if he left the country within twenty-four hours - Crawford threw some things in a case and left immediately .
Another missed target was a Colonel Jennings , who was staying in the 'Eastwood Hotel' ; when the IRA unit broke in the door of his room,it was empty and there was no sign of him in the hotel - the Volunteers left the premises. A total of 13 British Secret Service executioners known as ' The Cairo Gang ' were themselves executed in Dublin on Sunday 21st November , 1920, by the IRA . The loss of those operatives , and the intelligence material they had accumulated, shook the British establishment to its roots , and highlighted on a global scale the extent of the British 'dirty-tricks' campaign in Ireland. (MORE LATER)>
" The sun hung high above , seemingly like a gaping hole in the still blue sky , out of which the golden light came pouring down like honey to feed the land and ripen the barley , while sending shimmering hazes quivering above the melting tarmacadam surfaces . It was hot and humid, the beads of sweat lined my forehead like an ornate jewel.
I walked along the well-trodden path that lay on the perimeter of the forest and which rose steeply before me . I was in no hurry . I had plenty of time to take in and enjoy the beautiful surroundings . A gentle breeze sighed , sending ripples across an ocean of shining green and rustic brown ferns that lay ahead of me " .
---- ' I Once Had a Life ' , by Bobby Sands, first published on 17th March , 1979 . (MORE LATER)>
A West-Belfast man , Patrick Coogan, joined the British Army and eventually obtained the rank of 'Major' ; he left the B A and became an author . On a publicity tour or somesuch, he was asked a question regarding his background in military service and his opinion on the war in the Six Counties - he replied : " If the British government abided by the will of the majority of the people in the first place , it would not have partitioned the country . Historically, partition has never worked, whether it is in Pakistan , Cyprus or Yemen. It is based on the old principle of 'divide and conquer' " .
----- ' G S ' , from Surrey , please copy !
....one of the leaders of the 'Cairo Gang' , a Major Callaghan, was staying at a guesthouse in Fitzwilliam Square ; he was not there when an IRA unit arrived at the premises , but his colleague , Captain Crawford , was ......
Crawford was held at gunpoint by the Volunteers : however , it was decided that, as he was not the intended target his life would be spared if he left the country within twenty-four hours - Crawford threw some things in a case and left immediately .
Another missed target was a Colonel Jennings , who was staying in the 'Eastwood Hotel' ; when the IRA unit broke in the door of his room,it was empty and there was no sign of him in the hotel - the Volunteers left the premises. A total of 13 British Secret Service executioners known as ' The Cairo Gang ' were themselves executed in Dublin on Sunday 21st November , 1920, by the IRA . The loss of those operatives , and the intelligence material they had accumulated, shook the British establishment to its roots , and highlighted on a global scale the extent of the British 'dirty-tricks' campaign in Ireland. (MORE LATER)>
" The sun hung high above , seemingly like a gaping hole in the still blue sky , out of which the golden light came pouring down like honey to feed the land and ripen the barley , while sending shimmering hazes quivering above the melting tarmacadam surfaces . It was hot and humid, the beads of sweat lined my forehead like an ornate jewel.
I walked along the well-trodden path that lay on the perimeter of the forest and which rose steeply before me . I was in no hurry . I had plenty of time to take in and enjoy the beautiful surroundings . A gentle breeze sighed , sending ripples across an ocean of shining green and rustic brown ferns that lay ahead of me " .
---- ' I Once Had a Life ' , by Bobby Sands, first published on 17th March , 1979 . (MORE LATER)>
A West-Belfast man , Patrick Coogan, joined the British Army and eventually obtained the rank of 'Major' ; he left the B A and became an author . On a publicity tour or somesuch, he was asked a question regarding his background in military service and his opinion on the war in the Six Counties - he replied : " If the British government abided by the will of the majority of the people in the first place , it would not have partitioned the country . Historically, partition has never worked, whether it is in Pakistan , Cyprus or Yemen. It is based on the old principle of 'divide and conquer' " .
----- ' G S ' , from Surrey , please copy !
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
.....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....
...six IRA men left number 22 Lower Mount Street by the back of the house, walking away up a laneway - they were challenged by British Auxiliaries and a gun-battle ensued ; two of the Brits were killed and one Volunteer , Frank Teeling, was wounded and captured . The rest of the IRA unit made good their escape ....
British Captain Bagally , who had made his reputation by presenting 'evidence' in showtrials which led to the executions of the Irish Republicans on 'trial' , was staying in number 119 Baggot Street when, on that Sunday morning, 21st November 1920, three IRA Volunteers (including Sean Lemass, a future Fianna Fail Free State Taoiseach) entered his room and shot him dead .
British Captains McCormack and Wilde were staying in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin's O'Connell Street when a number of men , claiming to be undercover British soldiers with a message to deliver to the two Captains, were shown by the hotel staff to the rooms they were looking for : as each man opened his door he was shot dead.
An IRA unit entered a guesthouse in Fitzwilliam Square to deal with a 'Cairo Gang' leader, British Major Callaghan ; he was booked in at the guesthouse but was not there at that particular moment - his colleague , however, a Captain Crawford, was present and was held at gunpoint by the Volunteers...... (MORE LATER)>
"..... I dare not conclude without finishing my grandfathers story . I once asked him whatever happened to the wicked man who imprisoned , tortured and murdered the lark ?
"Son" , he said , "one day he caught himself on one of his own traps, and no-one would assist him to get free . His own people scorned him, and turned their backs on him . He grew weaker and weaker , and finally toppled over to die upon the land which he had marred with such blood . The birds came and extracted their revenge by picking his eyes out, and the larks sang like they never sang before ".
"Grandfather", I said , "could that man's name have been John Bull ?".
---- Bobby Sands, 'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , 3rd February 1979.
(NOTE- Bobby Sands did not write that the Lark came to the rescue of its captor or tried to ease its captor's suffering - in short, the Lark did not 'play ball' with its captor ....).
A correspondent, 'GS from Surrey' , from where he/she called "the mainland" (sic) deposited , or dumped, a vile load of .... comment in my 'guestbook' (bottom of page- still there!) a few days ago , telling me ,amongst other things, of how he/she would have dealt with 'The Maguire Seven' and other such "Irish scum" .
As a rule, I don't reply to that type of contact , but 'GS' was unparalleled in his/her ignorance ; so , here's my reply -
The Maguire Seven , the Birmingham Six , Judith Ward and the Guildford Four ; a total of 18 innocent people (13 men, 3 women and two children) who, between them , spent a total of 216 years in prison . Anne Maguire , a mother of 5 children, was menstruating heavily and denied all toiletries for a week, and was beaten senseless .
Carol Richardson , who did'nt even know she was pregnant , miscarried in Brixton Prison days after her arrest. Pat O'Neill , who had minutes before entered the Maguires house to arrange for a baby-sitter when the police arrived , was told by a cop to swear that he saw a big cardboard box on Maguires table or else he would be done , refused to lie - he served eleven years. On his release , he found his marriage was broken beyond repair and that his six children had left the family home.
So there you have part of their story , 'GS' - not that it will make you think twice or anything . Remember this ; there are over 800 years of similar stories in this country . Deposit some of your vile in a Westminster 'in-box' : you have reason to do that.
...six IRA men left number 22 Lower Mount Street by the back of the house, walking away up a laneway - they were challenged by British Auxiliaries and a gun-battle ensued ; two of the Brits were killed and one Volunteer , Frank Teeling, was wounded and captured . The rest of the IRA unit made good their escape ....
British Captain Bagally , who had made his reputation by presenting 'evidence' in showtrials which led to the executions of the Irish Republicans on 'trial' , was staying in number 119 Baggot Street when, on that Sunday morning, 21st November 1920, three IRA Volunteers (including Sean Lemass, a future Fianna Fail Free State Taoiseach) entered his room and shot him dead .
British Captains McCormack and Wilde were staying in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin's O'Connell Street when a number of men , claiming to be undercover British soldiers with a message to deliver to the two Captains, were shown by the hotel staff to the rooms they were looking for : as each man opened his door he was shot dead.
An IRA unit entered a guesthouse in Fitzwilliam Square to deal with a 'Cairo Gang' leader, British Major Callaghan ; he was booked in at the guesthouse but was not there at that particular moment - his colleague , however, a Captain Crawford, was present and was held at gunpoint by the Volunteers...... (MORE LATER)>
"..... I dare not conclude without finishing my grandfathers story . I once asked him whatever happened to the wicked man who imprisoned , tortured and murdered the lark ?
"Son" , he said , "one day he caught himself on one of his own traps, and no-one would assist him to get free . His own people scorned him, and turned their backs on him . He grew weaker and weaker , and finally toppled over to die upon the land which he had marred with such blood . The birds came and extracted their revenge by picking his eyes out, and the larks sang like they never sang before ".
"Grandfather", I said , "could that man's name have been John Bull ?".
---- Bobby Sands, 'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , 3rd February 1979.
(NOTE- Bobby Sands did not write that the Lark came to the rescue of its captor or tried to ease its captor's suffering - in short, the Lark did not 'play ball' with its captor ....).
A correspondent, 'GS from Surrey' , from where he/she called "the mainland" (sic) deposited , or dumped, a vile load of .... comment in my 'guestbook' (bottom of page- still there!) a few days ago , telling me ,amongst other things, of how he/she would have dealt with 'The Maguire Seven' and other such "Irish scum" .
As a rule, I don't reply to that type of contact , but 'GS' was unparalleled in his/her ignorance ; so , here's my reply -
The Maguire Seven , the Birmingham Six , Judith Ward and the Guildford Four ; a total of 18 innocent people (13 men, 3 women and two children) who, between them , spent a total of 216 years in prison . Anne Maguire , a mother of 5 children, was menstruating heavily and denied all toiletries for a week, and was beaten senseless .
Carol Richardson , who did'nt even know she was pregnant , miscarried in Brixton Prison days after her arrest. Pat O'Neill , who had minutes before entered the Maguires house to arrange for a baby-sitter when the police arrived , was told by a cop to swear that he saw a big cardboard box on Maguires table or else he would be done , refused to lie - he served eleven years. On his release , he found his marriage was broken beyond repair and that his six children had left the family home.
So there you have part of their story , 'GS' - not that it will make you think twice or anything . Remember this ; there are over 800 years of similar stories in this country . Deposit some of your vile in a Westminster 'in-box' : you have reason to do that.
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
..... the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....
.... two British Lieutenants , McMahon and Peel (specialists in gathering intelligence) , who had been sent to Dublin from Russia , were working with the 'Cairo Gang' ; they were staying at 22 Lower Mount Street .....
McMahon had a score to settle with the IRA : he had previously shot dead a Sinn Fein member , John Lynch, in the mistaken belief that Lynch was the Divisional Commandant of the 1st Southern Division of the IRA , Liam Lynch . The IRA later shot McMahon in a billiard hall , wounding him, and he wanted revenge ...
The two 'Cairo' men were in different rooms in number 22 Lower Mount Street when the IRA unit was let in ; they entered McMahon's room just as he had picked up his revolver and shot him dead. On hearing the gunfire , Peel locked his door and then blocked it with a piece of furniture - unable to get in , the Volunteers fired more than a dozen bullets through the door , but Peel survived that day .
Na Fianna Eireann (Irish Republican Scouts) were also on Lower Mount Street that Sunday morning , as 'lookouts' ; one of their members ran into number 22 to tell the eleven-person IRA unit that the British Auxiliaries were on the street - five members of the IRA unit left calmly by the front door , the other six men went to the back of the house, out the back-door and walked away up a laneway . These six men were challenged by a number of Auxiliaries and a gun battle ensued - IRA man Frank Teeling was wounded , and two of the Brits, Garnin and Morris, were killed . The wounded Volunteer, Teeling, was captured, but the rest of his unit made good their escape. (MORE LATER)>
" But , dare I say it, similar to my little friend , I have the spirit of freedom that cannot be quenched by even the most horrendous treatment . Of course I can be murdered , but while I remain alive , I remain what I am , a political prisoner of war , and no-one can change that. Have'nt we plenty of larks to prove that ? Our history is heart-breakingly littered with them : the MacSwineys , the Gaughans , and the Staggs. Will there be more in H-Block ?
I dare not conclude without finishing my gradfather's story . I once asked him whatever happened to the wicked man who imprisoned , tortured and murdered the lark ...... " (MORE LATER)>
" Strenuous efforts must be made to bend towards the Unionists , to show them that their civil rights and their religious rights will be respected - EVEN (his emphasis) if that means making internal arrangements that will suit Unionists better than they will suit the rest of us ".
---- Gerry Adams , 'Hot Press' magazine, 19th May , 1993 , page 13 : so we can right an historical wrong by ..eh, carrying on in the manner that the wrong inflicted on us in the first place !
.... why did'nt I think of that ...
.... two British Lieutenants , McMahon and Peel (specialists in gathering intelligence) , who had been sent to Dublin from Russia , were working with the 'Cairo Gang' ; they were staying at 22 Lower Mount Street .....
McMahon had a score to settle with the IRA : he had previously shot dead a Sinn Fein member , John Lynch, in the mistaken belief that Lynch was the Divisional Commandant of the 1st Southern Division of the IRA , Liam Lynch . The IRA later shot McMahon in a billiard hall , wounding him, and he wanted revenge ...
The two 'Cairo' men were in different rooms in number 22 Lower Mount Street when the IRA unit was let in ; they entered McMahon's room just as he had picked up his revolver and shot him dead. On hearing the gunfire , Peel locked his door and then blocked it with a piece of furniture - unable to get in , the Volunteers fired more than a dozen bullets through the door , but Peel survived that day .
Na Fianna Eireann (Irish Republican Scouts) were also on Lower Mount Street that Sunday morning , as 'lookouts' ; one of their members ran into number 22 to tell the eleven-person IRA unit that the British Auxiliaries were on the street - five members of the IRA unit left calmly by the front door , the other six men went to the back of the house, out the back-door and walked away up a laneway . These six men were challenged by a number of Auxiliaries and a gun battle ensued - IRA man Frank Teeling was wounded , and two of the Brits, Garnin and Morris, were killed . The wounded Volunteer, Teeling, was captured, but the rest of his unit made good their escape. (MORE LATER)>
" But , dare I say it, similar to my little friend , I have the spirit of freedom that cannot be quenched by even the most horrendous treatment . Of course I can be murdered , but while I remain alive , I remain what I am , a political prisoner of war , and no-one can change that. Have'nt we plenty of larks to prove that ? Our history is heart-breakingly littered with them : the MacSwineys , the Gaughans , and the Staggs. Will there be more in H-Block ?
I dare not conclude without finishing my gradfather's story . I once asked him whatever happened to the wicked man who imprisoned , tortured and murdered the lark ...... " (MORE LATER)>
" Strenuous efforts must be made to bend towards the Unionists , to show them that their civil rights and their religious rights will be respected - EVEN (his emphasis) if that means making internal arrangements that will suit Unionists better than they will suit the rest of us ".
---- Gerry Adams , 'Hot Press' magazine, 19th May , 1993 , page 13 : so we can right an historical wrong by ..eh, carrying on in the manner that the wrong inflicted on us in the first place !
.... why did'nt I think of that ...
Monday, June 23, 2003
.... the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....
.....the 'Cairo Gang' member , British Captain Newbury , was shot dead by the IRA as he was half-way out of the window of his room ; his body was left draped over the open window for hours , as the Black and Tans believed it to be booby-trapped.....
At 38 Upper Mount Street , a maid let a number of men in to the building and led them to two rooms ; British Captain George Bennett was in one of the rooms, and British Colonel Peter Aimes was in the other one. Both men were armed and resisted the Volunteers, resulting in a gun-battle which left the two 'Cairo' men dead.
More documentation on IRA members, compiled by the 'Cairo Gang', was found at 28 Earlsfort Terrace , where British Captain Fitzgerald was staying ; he was shot dead on that Sunday morning and the paperwork removed for examination by the IRA Intelligence Department.
Two British Lieutenants , McMahon and Peel , had been brought in by the British from Russia, where they had been involved in gathering intelligence information - they were to do the same job , in Dublin, this time as members of the 'Cairo Gang' . They were staying at 22 Lower Mount Street ...... (MORE LATER)>
" I am now in H-Block , where I refuse to change to suit the people who oppress , torture and imprison me , and who wish to dehumanise me. Like the lark I need no changing . It is my political ideology and principles that my captors wish to change . They have suppressed my body and attacked my dignity. If I were an ordinary prisoner they would pay little , if any, attention to me , knowing that I would conform to their institutional whims .
I have lost over two years' remission . I care not . I have been stripped of my clothes and locked in a dirty , empty cell, where I have been starved , beaten and tortured , and like the lark I fear I may eventually be murdered " . (MORE LATER)>
---- Bobby Sands, 3rd February , 1979.
" Don't call it the 'Dail' , it isn't the Dail for which people fought " - so said the speaker from the Jackie Griffith/Mairead Farrell Cumann of Provisional Sinn Fein (motion 150) at their Ard Fheis in 2001 .
" There is nothing wrong with using the word 'Dail'; we don't use the word 'Dail Eireann' - replied PSF Vice President, Pat Doherty . Ah well-that's sorted then ....(the speaker should have known that , as a career politician , Pat would have all the answers.)
Motion 147 called for the rejection "of the term Republican Labour" by PSF leaders when describing their party , but Ard Chomhairle member Micheal MacDonncha said to do so "would restrict our language" ; his fellow full-timers (Micheal works in Leinster House) agreed with his answer and the motion was lost .
So the Provos are "Republican Labour" while the other shower are "Partitionist Labour" : and James Connolly would have nothing to do with either of them .
.....the 'Cairo Gang' member , British Captain Newbury , was shot dead by the IRA as he was half-way out of the window of his room ; his body was left draped over the open window for hours , as the Black and Tans believed it to be booby-trapped.....
At 38 Upper Mount Street , a maid let a number of men in to the building and led them to two rooms ; British Captain George Bennett was in one of the rooms, and British Colonel Peter Aimes was in the other one. Both men were armed and resisted the Volunteers, resulting in a gun-battle which left the two 'Cairo' men dead.
More documentation on IRA members, compiled by the 'Cairo Gang', was found at 28 Earlsfort Terrace , where British Captain Fitzgerald was staying ; he was shot dead on that Sunday morning and the paperwork removed for examination by the IRA Intelligence Department.
Two British Lieutenants , McMahon and Peel , had been brought in by the British from Russia, where they had been involved in gathering intelligence information - they were to do the same job , in Dublin, this time as members of the 'Cairo Gang' . They were staying at 22 Lower Mount Street ...... (MORE LATER)>
" I am now in H-Block , where I refuse to change to suit the people who oppress , torture and imprison me , and who wish to dehumanise me. Like the lark I need no changing . It is my political ideology and principles that my captors wish to change . They have suppressed my body and attacked my dignity. If I were an ordinary prisoner they would pay little , if any, attention to me , knowing that I would conform to their institutional whims .
I have lost over two years' remission . I care not . I have been stripped of my clothes and locked in a dirty , empty cell, where I have been starved , beaten and tortured , and like the lark I fear I may eventually be murdered " . (MORE LATER)>
---- Bobby Sands, 3rd February , 1979.
" Don't call it the 'Dail' , it isn't the Dail for which people fought " - so said the speaker from the Jackie Griffith/Mairead Farrell Cumann of Provisional Sinn Fein (motion 150) at their Ard Fheis in 2001 .
" There is nothing wrong with using the word 'Dail'; we don't use the word 'Dail Eireann' - replied PSF Vice President, Pat Doherty . Ah well-that's sorted then ....(the speaker should have known that , as a career politician , Pat would have all the answers.)
Motion 147 called for the rejection "of the term Republican Labour" by PSF leaders when describing their party , but Ard Chomhairle member Micheal MacDonncha said to do so "would restrict our language" ; his fellow full-timers (Micheal works in Leinster House) agreed with his answer and the motion was lost .
So the Provos are "Republican Labour" while the other shower are "Partitionist Labour" : and James Connolly would have nothing to do with either of them .
Sunday, June 22, 2003
....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920....
.... number 28 Pembroke Street in Dublin was the first address visited by the IRA on 21st November 1920 - the five members of the 'Cairo Gang' in the house were shot dead and the list they were working on was removed .....
British Lieutenant McLean , John Caldow (McLean's brother-in-law) and known informer T H Smith were staying at 119 Morehampton Road on that Sunday morning when six armed IRA Volunteers entered the building ; McLean , Caldow and Smith were caught off-guard and escorted to the top of the building , where IRA men Vincent Byrne and Sean Doyle shot them . John Caldow survived that morning and , after receiving medical attention, fled to Scotland (where he had come to Ireland from in order to join the RIC).
British Captain Newbury and his wife were staying at 92 Lower Baggot Street and heard the front door being kicked in - he immediately blocked the door to his room and made a run for the window ; he was half-way out of the window when his door was forced open and Volunteers Bill Stapleton and Joe Leonard shot him dead . His body was left draped over the open window for hours , as the Black and Tans believed it to be booby-trapped . (MORE LATER)>
" This brings me directly back to my own situation : I feel something in common with that poor bird . My position is in total contrast to that of an ordinary conforming prisoner : I am a political prisoner , a freedom fighter . Like the lark , I too have fought for my freedom , not only in captivity , where I now languish , but also while on the outside , where my country is held captive . I have been captured and imprisoned, but, like the lark, I too have seen the outside of the wire cage " .
---- Bobby Sands , 1979 . (MORE LATER)>
The American career criminal John Gotti died from throat cancer in June 2002 , at the age of 61 - he was serving a life sentence for racketeering at the time of his death . A few days ago , in 'The New York Daily News' , his family marked the first anniversary of his death with the words of Irish Hunger-Striker Terence McSwiney , Lord Mayor of Cork -
" It is not those who can inflict the most , but those who can suffer the most, who will conquer " ( I believe it is '....those who can endure the most, who will conquer' , but that's not my point). John Gotti may have been a hero to his family (as indeed any father should be to his children) but to insinuate that he followed in the footsteps of Terence McSwiney is to burst the bounds of possibility and reveal an ignorance of the Irish freedom struggle .
" There can be no peace between wrong and right , between truth and fallacy , between justice and oppression , between freedom and tyranny . Between them there must always be war until the wrong is righted , until justice is achieved , until freedom is won " .
----- Terence McSwiney .
' New York Daily News ' please copy .....
.... number 28 Pembroke Street in Dublin was the first address visited by the IRA on 21st November 1920 - the five members of the 'Cairo Gang' in the house were shot dead and the list they were working on was removed .....
British Lieutenant McLean , John Caldow (McLean's brother-in-law) and known informer T H Smith were staying at 119 Morehampton Road on that Sunday morning when six armed IRA Volunteers entered the building ; McLean , Caldow and Smith were caught off-guard and escorted to the top of the building , where IRA men Vincent Byrne and Sean Doyle shot them . John Caldow survived that morning and , after receiving medical attention, fled to Scotland (where he had come to Ireland from in order to join the RIC).
British Captain Newbury and his wife were staying at 92 Lower Baggot Street and heard the front door being kicked in - he immediately blocked the door to his room and made a run for the window ; he was half-way out of the window when his door was forced open and Volunteers Bill Stapleton and Joe Leonard shot him dead . His body was left draped over the open window for hours , as the Black and Tans believed it to be booby-trapped . (MORE LATER)>
" This brings me directly back to my own situation : I feel something in common with that poor bird . My position is in total contrast to that of an ordinary conforming prisoner : I am a political prisoner , a freedom fighter . Like the lark , I too have fought for my freedom , not only in captivity , where I now languish , but also while on the outside , where my country is held captive . I have been captured and imprisoned, but, like the lark, I too have seen the outside of the wire cage " .
---- Bobby Sands , 1979 . (MORE LATER)>
The American career criminal John Gotti died from throat cancer in June 2002 , at the age of 61 - he was serving a life sentence for racketeering at the time of his death . A few days ago , in 'The New York Daily News' , his family marked the first anniversary of his death with the words of Irish Hunger-Striker Terence McSwiney , Lord Mayor of Cork -
" It is not those who can inflict the most , but those who can suffer the most, who will conquer " ( I believe it is '....those who can endure the most, who will conquer' , but that's not my point). John Gotti may have been a hero to his family (as indeed any father should be to his children) but to insinuate that he followed in the footsteps of Terence McSwiney is to burst the bounds of possibility and reveal an ignorance of the Irish freedom struggle .
" There can be no peace between wrong and right , between truth and fallacy , between justice and oppression , between freedom and tyranny . Between them there must always be war until the wrong is righted , until justice is achieved , until freedom is won " .
----- Terence McSwiney .
' New York Daily News ' please copy .....
Saturday, June 21, 2003
....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920 ....
... the operation to wipe out 'The Cairo Gang' was set for Sunday 21st November , 1920 , as it was felt that the GAA match due to take place in Dublin that day would provide 'cover' in which the IRA units could escape in ....
British Army Captain Leonard Price , a Major Dowling , a Captain Keenlyside and two British Army Colonels, Woodcock and Montgomery, were staying in premises at 28 Pembroke Street in Dublin when , at 9am on Sunday 21st November 1920, eight armed IRA Volunteers entered the building ; Price and Dowling were in a room by themselves sorting paperwork when the IRA entered the room and shot them dead - one of the Dublin Volunteers , Andrew Cooney , gathered up the sheets of paper and left the building .
At the same time , British Captain Keenlyside and the two Colonel's found themselves confronted by some of the same IRA unit and a struggle ensued between Keenlyside's wife (no doubt present as part of what her husband probably considered a 'working holiday') and IRA Volunteer Mick O'Hanlon ; another IRA man , Mick Flanagan, pushed Mrs. Keenlyside out of the way and shot her husband dead . (MORE LATER)>
" Take an ordinary prisoner . His main aim is to make his period of imprisonment as easy and as comfortable as possible . The ordinary prisoner will in no way jeopardise a single day of his remission . Some will even grovel , crawl, and inform on other prisoners , to safeguard themselves or to speed up their release . They will comply to the wishes of their captors , and unlike the lark, they will sing when told to and jump high when told to move .
Although the ordinary prisoner has lost his liberty he is not prepared to go to extremes to regain it , nor to protect his humanity . He settles for a short date of release . Eventually , if incarcerated long enough, he becomes institutionalised , becoming a type of machine , not thinking for himself , his captors dominating and controlling him . That was the intended fate of the lark in my grandfathers story ; but the lark needed no changing , nor did it wish to change , and died making that point " .
----'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , by Bobby Sands , 1979.
(Each time I read the part about becoming "institutionalised , not thinking for himself, being dominated and controlled " , I picture Martin McGuinness and his colleagues shrivelling up in a grovelling position when sharing the same space with the Unionists or the Brits , in an attempt to appear less threatening - sickening !)
As President of the World Bank , James Wolfensohn , in launching its 2001 edition of its 'World Development Indicators' , pointed out re Cuba -
'Infant mortality rate was eleven in 1000 births in 1990 , then seven in 1000 by 1999 ; the sixth lowest in the world . Mortality rate for under 5's was thirteen per 1000 in 1990 , then eight per 1000 in 1999 - Latin America average 38 . Net primary enrolment for Cuban children reached one-hundred per cent in 1997 , up from ninty-two per cent in 1990 - higher than in the U S . Public spending on education in Cuba is 6.7 per cent of gross national income - the average youth (ages 15-24) illiteracy rate in Cuba is zero (seven per-cent in Latin America).
Public spending on health care accounts for 9.1 per-cent of its GDP (similar to Canada) , and Cuba has a ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1000 population , the highest in the world ' .
For all its faults , the Cuban leadership has apparently recognised at least one golden rule - stroke , fiddle and rip-off the system for your own personal benefit, by all means, but don't hog all the wealth ; let some of it trickle down to Joe Soap ......
... the operation to wipe out 'The Cairo Gang' was set for Sunday 21st November , 1920 , as it was felt that the GAA match due to take place in Dublin that day would provide 'cover' in which the IRA units could escape in ....
British Army Captain Leonard Price , a Major Dowling , a Captain Keenlyside and two British Army Colonels, Woodcock and Montgomery, were staying in premises at 28 Pembroke Street in Dublin when , at 9am on Sunday 21st November 1920, eight armed IRA Volunteers entered the building ; Price and Dowling were in a room by themselves sorting paperwork when the IRA entered the room and shot them dead - one of the Dublin Volunteers , Andrew Cooney , gathered up the sheets of paper and left the building .
At the same time , British Captain Keenlyside and the two Colonel's found themselves confronted by some of the same IRA unit and a struggle ensued between Keenlyside's wife (no doubt present as part of what her husband probably considered a 'working holiday') and IRA Volunteer Mick O'Hanlon ; another IRA man , Mick Flanagan, pushed Mrs. Keenlyside out of the way and shot her husband dead . (MORE LATER)>
" Take an ordinary prisoner . His main aim is to make his period of imprisonment as easy and as comfortable as possible . The ordinary prisoner will in no way jeopardise a single day of his remission . Some will even grovel , crawl, and inform on other prisoners , to safeguard themselves or to speed up their release . They will comply to the wishes of their captors , and unlike the lark, they will sing when told to and jump high when told to move .
Although the ordinary prisoner has lost his liberty he is not prepared to go to extremes to regain it , nor to protect his humanity . He settles for a short date of release . Eventually , if incarcerated long enough, he becomes institutionalised , becoming a type of machine , not thinking for himself , his captors dominating and controlling him . That was the intended fate of the lark in my grandfathers story ; but the lark needed no changing , nor did it wish to change , and died making that point " .
----'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , by Bobby Sands , 1979.
(Each time I read the part about becoming "institutionalised , not thinking for himself, being dominated and controlled " , I picture Martin McGuinness and his colleagues shrivelling up in a grovelling position when sharing the same space with the Unionists or the Brits , in an attempt to appear less threatening - sickening !)
As President of the World Bank , James Wolfensohn , in launching its 2001 edition of its 'World Development Indicators' , pointed out re Cuba -
'Infant mortality rate was eleven in 1000 births in 1990 , then seven in 1000 by 1999 ; the sixth lowest in the world . Mortality rate for under 5's was thirteen per 1000 in 1990 , then eight per 1000 in 1999 - Latin America average 38 . Net primary enrolment for Cuban children reached one-hundred per cent in 1997 , up from ninty-two per cent in 1990 - higher than in the U S . Public spending on education in Cuba is 6.7 per cent of gross national income - the average youth (ages 15-24) illiteracy rate in Cuba is zero (seven per-cent in Latin America).
Public spending on health care accounts for 9.1 per-cent of its GDP (similar to Canada) , and Cuba has a ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1000 population , the highest in the world ' .
For all its faults , the Cuban leadership has apparently recognised at least one golden rule - stroke , fiddle and rip-off the system for your own personal benefit, by all means, but don't hog all the wealth ; let some of it trickle down to Joe Soap ......
Friday, June 20, 2003
.....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920 .....
This gang of trained assassins settled quitely in bording houses and hotels in Dublin, and set about compiling a 'hit-list' of Irish Republicans for assassination : but the IRA were one step ahead of them .....
A Sergeant Mannix of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force,stationed at Donnybrook, was an IRA agent, and obtained the names and addresses of all the 'Gang' members and passed the list on to his IRA contact, Frank Thornton. A situation then developed that 'The Cairo Gang' were monitoring the movements of the IRA members that they intended to assassinate while being monitored themselves by the IRA Intelligence Department !
The Dublin Brigade of the IRA and the IRA Intelligence Department decided to work together on a plan to wipe out 'The Cairo Gang' , and a meeting was held at which Michael Collins , Dick McKee , Liam Tobin , Peadar Clancy , Tom Cullen , Frank Thornton and Oscar Traynor were present : the operation was to take place on Sunday morning, 21st November 1920 , as the then Leinster champions, Dublin and Tipperary, were to play in a GAA match, and large crowds would be in Dublin for the occasion, providing 'cover' for the IRA teams to escape in . (MORE LATER)>
"..... the lark refused , and the man became angry and violent . He began to pressurise the lark to sing , but inevitably he received no result . So he took more drastic steps . He covered the cage with a black cloth , depriving the bird of sunlight . He starved it and left it to rot in a dirty cage , but the bird still refused to yield . The man murdered it .
As my grandfather rightly stated , the lark had spirit - the spirit of freedom and resistance . It longed to be free , and died before it would conform to the tyrant who tried to change it with torture and imprisonment . I feel I have something in common with that bird and her torture, imprisonment and final murder . She had a spirit which is not commonly found , even among us so-called superior beings, humans " .
----Bobby Sands, 3rd February , 1979 .
In an 'Editorial' comment published on 6th May , 2001 (page 16), 'The Sunday Business Post' stated -
" The H-Block prisoners , and in particular the hunger-strikers, were people of extraordinary calibre and commitment, no less than the freedom fighters of earlier years that are celebrated as the heroes of our limited independence " .
---- And it should also be noted that Bobby Sands and the other hunger-strikers did not join or support the policies of the SDLP - the Provos today have policies similar to (if not borrowed from) the SDLP , yet the Provos still claim that Sands and the other men died for what Adams and Family are up to now . Each of the 22 hunger-strikers supported the use of arms to overthrow British rule and establish Irish democracy : Provisional Sinn Fein has condemned the use of armed struggle against British rule.
The Provos have retreated from the struggle , an indication that they have been purchased by partition.
This gang of trained assassins settled quitely in bording houses and hotels in Dublin, and set about compiling a 'hit-list' of Irish Republicans for assassination : but the IRA were one step ahead of them .....
A Sergeant Mannix of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force,stationed at Donnybrook, was an IRA agent, and obtained the names and addresses of all the 'Gang' members and passed the list on to his IRA contact, Frank Thornton. A situation then developed that 'The Cairo Gang' were monitoring the movements of the IRA members that they intended to assassinate while being monitored themselves by the IRA Intelligence Department !
The Dublin Brigade of the IRA and the IRA Intelligence Department decided to work together on a plan to wipe out 'The Cairo Gang' , and a meeting was held at which Michael Collins , Dick McKee , Liam Tobin , Peadar Clancy , Tom Cullen , Frank Thornton and Oscar Traynor were present : the operation was to take place on Sunday morning, 21st November 1920 , as the then Leinster champions, Dublin and Tipperary, were to play in a GAA match, and large crowds would be in Dublin for the occasion, providing 'cover' for the IRA teams to escape in . (MORE LATER)>
"..... the lark refused , and the man became angry and violent . He began to pressurise the lark to sing , but inevitably he received no result . So he took more drastic steps . He covered the cage with a black cloth , depriving the bird of sunlight . He starved it and left it to rot in a dirty cage , but the bird still refused to yield . The man murdered it .
As my grandfather rightly stated , the lark had spirit - the spirit of freedom and resistance . It longed to be free , and died before it would conform to the tyrant who tried to change it with torture and imprisonment . I feel I have something in common with that bird and her torture, imprisonment and final murder . She had a spirit which is not commonly found , even among us so-called superior beings, humans " .
----Bobby Sands, 3rd February , 1979 .
In an 'Editorial' comment published on 6th May , 2001 (page 16), 'The Sunday Business Post' stated -
" The H-Block prisoners , and in particular the hunger-strikers, were people of extraordinary calibre and commitment, no less than the freedom fighters of earlier years that are celebrated as the heroes of our limited independence " .
---- And it should also be noted that Bobby Sands and the other hunger-strikers did not join or support the policies of the SDLP - the Provos today have policies similar to (if not borrowed from) the SDLP , yet the Provos still claim that Sands and the other men died for what Adams and Family are up to now . Each of the 22 hunger-strikers supported the use of arms to overthrow British rule and establish Irish democracy : Provisional Sinn Fein has condemned the use of armed struggle against British rule.
The Provos have retreated from the struggle , an indication that they have been purchased by partition.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Serving British soldiers , former British soldiers, RIC members and ex-members, carpenters, plumbers, electricans, landlords(and landladies), servants , busdrivers and taximen , businessmen and women , postmen and housewives - and the IRA ; all the above, and others, combined their knowledge and skills to great effect on the morning of Sunday, 21st November , 1920 : it was on that morning , 83 years ago, that thirteen senior British intelligence officers were executed in Dublin ......
The IRA Intelligence Department at that time was an extremely efficient machine, run by Michael Collins , and the British were well aware of that fact ; Sir Henry Wilson wanted it and Collins eliminated , and sanctioned the use , in Ireland, of 'The Cairo Gang' , a unit of British agents which specialised in political assassinations - they got their name , and their reputation, from 'hits' in the Middle East, carried out on the instruction of Wilson and others in Westminster.
'The Cairo Gang' lived quietly in boarding houses and hotels in Dublin , never drawing attention to themselves, and set about compiling a 'hit-list' of Irish Republicans for assassination ; the IRA , however, were one step ahead of them ...... (MORE LATER)>
" My Grandfather once said that the imprisonment of the lark is a crime of the greatest cruelty because the lark is one of the greatest symbols of freedom and happiness . He often spoke of the spirit of the lark relating to a story of a man who incarcerated one of his loved friends in a small cage.
The lark , having suffered the loss of her liberty, no longer sung her little heart out, she no longer had anything to be happy about . The man who had committed the atrocity, as my grandfather called it, demanded that the lark should do as he wished : that was to sing her heart out , to comply to his wishes and change herself to suit his pleasure or benefit . The lark refused , and the man became angry and violent ...... "
----'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , by Bobby Sands - first published on 3rd February , 1979. (MORE LATER)>
At their foundation in 1986, and since then , the 'Progressive Democrats' (PD's) stated that their intention was to reform the libel laws, abolish the Free State Senate, eliminate God from the Free State Constitution , to end the dual mandate and to curtail Free State ministerial pensions until members had either reached 55 years of age or left Leinster House ; and the result of this 'wish list' ... ?
---- the 'dual mandate' issue is being discussed now (as is a legal action against the proposed changes) , but the libel laws are still used by the media as a reason not to expose their buddies in the political and business worlds (save for the odd bone thrown to the public dogs), the Free State Senate is still in existence and still used by the politicians , including the PD's, as a 'holding centre' for their friends while they attempt to get their'career' back on track ,elected politicians (again including the PD's) continue to receive pensions from their previous political positions , and God ....well , they all think they're him (or her) !
The IRA Intelligence Department at that time was an extremely efficient machine, run by Michael Collins , and the British were well aware of that fact ; Sir Henry Wilson wanted it and Collins eliminated , and sanctioned the use , in Ireland, of 'The Cairo Gang' , a unit of British agents which specialised in political assassinations - they got their name , and their reputation, from 'hits' in the Middle East, carried out on the instruction of Wilson and others in Westminster.
'The Cairo Gang' lived quietly in boarding houses and hotels in Dublin , never drawing attention to themselves, and set about compiling a 'hit-list' of Irish Republicans for assassination ; the IRA , however, were one step ahead of them ...... (MORE LATER)>
" My Grandfather once said that the imprisonment of the lark is a crime of the greatest cruelty because the lark is one of the greatest symbols of freedom and happiness . He often spoke of the spirit of the lark relating to a story of a man who incarcerated one of his loved friends in a small cage.
The lark , having suffered the loss of her liberty, no longer sung her little heart out, she no longer had anything to be happy about . The man who had committed the atrocity, as my grandfather called it, demanded that the lark should do as he wished : that was to sing her heart out , to comply to his wishes and change herself to suit his pleasure or benefit . The lark refused , and the man became angry and violent ...... "
----'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , by Bobby Sands - first published on 3rd February , 1979. (MORE LATER)>
At their foundation in 1986, and since then , the 'Progressive Democrats' (PD's) stated that their intention was to reform the libel laws, abolish the Free State Senate, eliminate God from the Free State Constitution , to end the dual mandate and to curtail Free State ministerial pensions until members had either reached 55 years of age or left Leinster House ; and the result of this 'wish list' ... ?
---- the 'dual mandate' issue is being discussed now (as is a legal action against the proposed changes) , but the libel laws are still used by the media as a reason not to expose their buddies in the political and business worlds (save for the odd bone thrown to the public dogs), the Free State Senate is still in existence and still used by the politicians , including the PD's, as a 'holding centre' for their friends while they attempt to get their'career' back on track ,elected politicians (again including the PD's) continue to receive pensions from their previous political positions , and God ....well , they all think they're him (or her) !
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
....released from the Free State internment camp at the North Dublin Union in 1924 , Katie O'Connor was elected leader of Clann na nGael , a position she was to hold for almost fifty years ......
On one of her visits to England in the late 1920's , in a hall in Gay Street in Liverpool, the 'Countess Markievicz' branch of the Clann was established ; Katie O'Connor and two other Clann leaders, Cissie Cunningham and Kathleen McLaughlin, became firm friends with the 'Markievicz' membership, especially the O/C , Kathleen Walsh and sisters Rita and Kathleen McSweeney .
It was members of Clann na nGael that organised the first van-load of supplies for the nationalist population of Belfast, and other areas, following the August 1969 pogroms. In the 1970's, Katie O'Connor stepped down as Clann leader (her replacement was Maura Lyons) but Katie did not end her support for the Movement - she assisted the IRA and worked with the prisoners organisation, 'An Cumann Cabhrach' (now 'Cabhair').
On 11th January , 1983, at 83 years of age, Katie O'Connor died ; another patriot whose name is not as well known as it should be - she spent sixty-seven years as a 'dissident' and a 'terrorist' . Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.
".....don't let them beat you . I need to hear those voices. They anger the monster. It retreats. The voices scare the devils. Sometimes I really long to hear those voices. I know if they shout louder they will scare the monster away and my suffering will be ended. I remember , and I shall never forget, how this monster took the lives of Tom Ashe , Terence MacSwiney , Michael Gaughan , Frank Stagg, and Hugh Coney , and I wonder each night what the monster and his black devils will do to me tomorrow .
They always have something new. Will I overcome it ? I must. Yes, I must . Tomorrow will be my seven hundred and fortieth day of torture - an eternity. Yes, tomorrow I'll rise in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. Yes, tomorrow I'll fight the monster and his devils again ! ".
-----' I Fought a Monster Today' , by Bobby Sands, first published 0n 7th October , 1978.
" Subject to the justification by overriding considerations of public interest , a journalist shall do nothing which entails intrusion into private grief and distress. A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information that he/she disseminates is fair and accurate , avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion , selection or misrepresentation " .
------ the 'Code of Conduct' issued by the 'National' Union of Journalists : Bryan Dobson , and all the others who have'nt been collared yet , take note .....
On one of her visits to England in the late 1920's , in a hall in Gay Street in Liverpool, the 'Countess Markievicz' branch of the Clann was established ; Katie O'Connor and two other Clann leaders, Cissie Cunningham and Kathleen McLaughlin, became firm friends with the 'Markievicz' membership, especially the O/C , Kathleen Walsh and sisters Rita and Kathleen McSweeney .
It was members of Clann na nGael that organised the first van-load of supplies for the nationalist population of Belfast, and other areas, following the August 1969 pogroms. In the 1970's, Katie O'Connor stepped down as Clann leader (her replacement was Maura Lyons) but Katie did not end her support for the Movement - she assisted the IRA and worked with the prisoners organisation, 'An Cumann Cabhrach' (now 'Cabhair').
On 11th January , 1983, at 83 years of age, Katie O'Connor died ; another patriot whose name is not as well known as it should be - she spent sixty-seven years as a 'dissident' and a 'terrorist' . Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.
".....don't let them beat you . I need to hear those voices. They anger the monster. It retreats. The voices scare the devils. Sometimes I really long to hear those voices. I know if they shout louder they will scare the monster away and my suffering will be ended. I remember , and I shall never forget, how this monster took the lives of Tom Ashe , Terence MacSwiney , Michael Gaughan , Frank Stagg, and Hugh Coney , and I wonder each night what the monster and his black devils will do to me tomorrow .
They always have something new. Will I overcome it ? I must. Yes, I must . Tomorrow will be my seven hundred and fortieth day of torture - an eternity. Yes, tomorrow I'll rise in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. Yes, tomorrow I'll fight the monster and his devils again ! ".
-----' I Fought a Monster Today' , by Bobby Sands, first published 0n 7th October , 1978.
" Subject to the justification by overriding considerations of public interest , a journalist shall do nothing which entails intrusion into private grief and distress. A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information that he/she disseminates is fair and accurate , avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion , selection or misrepresentation " .
------ the 'Code of Conduct' issued by the 'National' Union of Journalists : Bryan Dobson , and all the others who have'nt been collared yet , take note .....
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
..... like all other members of Clann na nGael , and its leadership, Katie O'Connor opposed the Treaty of December 1921 , and took the Republican side in the Civil War ; there was no split in the Clann over this issue .....
Katie O'Connor was jailed in Kilmainham in the autumn of 1922 and was subjected to degrading treatment by her Free State captors : she was stripped naked and jeered at by the Staters , who delighted in terrorising their 22 years-young female prisoner. She was the youngest of the women political prisoners , and was transferred along with other female prisoners to the Free State internment camp at the North Dublin Union Workhouse .
When released two years later (1924), Katie O'Connor was elected leader of Clann na nGael and, from then until well into the 1940's ,she travelled throughout Ireland and England setting up branches of the organisation (she was to hold her leadership position for almost fifty years)...... (MORE LATER)>
"..... Monsters do not exist . Nor do devils. There cannot be so many devils . I'm mad . Yes , that's it ; I'm insane. But my pain , suffering, and grief are real . It must be all real . No, I'm right , I know I'm right . I must resist, I have nowhere to run . My tomb may be my grave . I'm surrounded by a barbed wire jungle . The monster roars at me : ' You shall never get out of here . If you don't do as I say I shall never release you . ' I refuse.
My body is broken and cold . I'm lonely and I need comfort . From somewhere afar I hear those familiar voices which keep me going: 'We are with you, son . We are with you . Don't let them beat you ' " .
------- Bobby Sands, 7th October , 1978. (MORE LATER)>
.....the 'famine' of 1877-1878 in the North-Western provinces of India killed 1.3 million people when the harvest failed and surplus grain had been exported to Britain and southern India (shades of the Irish 'famine')......
Salt in their diet could have saved many people : sixty-three per cent of deaths were ascribed to fever and bowel complaints that could have been alleviated by salt , but still the British pressed these provinces for their salt tax and continued their bounty on any salt smugglers. The 'Great Hedge' was of a scale to be comparable to the Great Wall of China. Ghandi organised a 'salt march' in 1930 ; he marched 241 miles to the coast at Dandi , picked up a lump of salt and gave it away without paying taxes - millions followed his example and done the same , thus undermining British 'authority' in the country .
India , like so many other countries, has had its taste of British mis-rule ; Ireland continues to experience that 'bad taste' .....
Katie O'Connor was jailed in Kilmainham in the autumn of 1922 and was subjected to degrading treatment by her Free State captors : she was stripped naked and jeered at by the Staters , who delighted in terrorising their 22 years-young female prisoner. She was the youngest of the women political prisoners , and was transferred along with other female prisoners to the Free State internment camp at the North Dublin Union Workhouse .
When released two years later (1924), Katie O'Connor was elected leader of Clann na nGael and, from then until well into the 1940's ,she travelled throughout Ireland and England setting up branches of the organisation (she was to hold her leadership position for almost fifty years)...... (MORE LATER)>
"..... Monsters do not exist . Nor do devils. There cannot be so many devils . I'm mad . Yes , that's it ; I'm insane. But my pain , suffering, and grief are real . It must be all real . No, I'm right , I know I'm right . I must resist, I have nowhere to run . My tomb may be my grave . I'm surrounded by a barbed wire jungle . The monster roars at me : ' You shall never get out of here . If you don't do as I say I shall never release you . ' I refuse.
My body is broken and cold . I'm lonely and I need comfort . From somewhere afar I hear those familiar voices which keep me going: 'We are with you, son . We are with you . Don't let them beat you ' " .
------- Bobby Sands, 7th October , 1978. (MORE LATER)>
.....the 'famine' of 1877-1878 in the North-Western provinces of India killed 1.3 million people when the harvest failed and surplus grain had been exported to Britain and southern India (shades of the Irish 'famine')......
Salt in their diet could have saved many people : sixty-three per cent of deaths were ascribed to fever and bowel complaints that could have been alleviated by salt , but still the British pressed these provinces for their salt tax and continued their bounty on any salt smugglers. The 'Great Hedge' was of a scale to be comparable to the Great Wall of China. Ghandi organised a 'salt march' in 1930 ; he marched 241 miles to the coast at Dandi , picked up a lump of salt and gave it away without paying taxes - millions followed his example and done the same , thus undermining British 'authority' in the country .
India , like so many other countries, has had its taste of British mis-rule ; Ireland continues to experience that 'bad taste' .....
Monday, June 16, 2003
At the funeral of the Fenian leader Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin , in August 1915, a fifteen-years young girl , from Henrietta Street in Dublin, was moved by the scenes she witnessed ......
One year later, that girl , Katie O'Connor , now aged 16, involved herself in the Easter Rising carrying messages between the different rebel garrisons , and the following year she joined Clann na nGael , the Irish Republican girl scout organisation ( which had been founded by the Kelly sisters in 1910).
During the Tan War (1919-1921) Katie O'Connor was a dispatch carrier and , like all other members of Clann na nGael, she opposed the Treaty of December 1921 , and took the Republican side in the Civil War (there was no split in the Clan over this issue) ...... (MORE LATER)>
"... but the monster does not kill me. I often wonder why not ? But each time I face it, death materialises before me. The monster keeps me naked . It feeds me. But it did'nt feed me today because it had tried so hard to defeat me and failed . This angered it once more, you see. I know why it won't kill me. It wants me to bow before it, to admit defeat .
If we don't beat it soon it will murder me . Of this I am certain. It keeps me locked up in a dark smelly tomb and it sends its devils to keep me on edge , to keep the torture going . Each time the door of my tomb opens , the black devils attack me ! They nearly won yesterday . It was inhuman . They beat me into unconsciousness . I think -'is this really happening to me ?' and 'can this happen in this day and age?' " .
---- 'I Fought a Monster Today' , by Bobby Sands , October 1978 . (MORE LATER)>
.... the British 'customs line' in India was over 2,300 miles long , and was guarded by 12,000 men - it was a massive hedge of native trees and bushes, bolstered with rocks when vegetation became too patchy ; it was a ruthlessly policed barrier that cut off an affordable supply of an absolute necessity of life for Indian people : salt !
Famine is common in India and salt depletion is often the fatal ingredient in illness caused by malnutrition - the 'famine' of 1877-1878 in the North-Western provinces killed 1.3million people when the harvest failed and surplus grain had been exported to Britain and southern India (shades of the Irish 'famine') ....... (MORE LATER)>
One year later, that girl , Katie O'Connor , now aged 16, involved herself in the Easter Rising carrying messages between the different rebel garrisons , and the following year she joined Clann na nGael , the Irish Republican girl scout organisation ( which had been founded by the Kelly sisters in 1910).
During the Tan War (1919-1921) Katie O'Connor was a dispatch carrier and , like all other members of Clann na nGael, she opposed the Treaty of December 1921 , and took the Republican side in the Civil War (there was no split in the Clan over this issue) ...... (MORE LATER)>
"... but the monster does not kill me. I often wonder why not ? But each time I face it, death materialises before me. The monster keeps me naked . It feeds me. But it did'nt feed me today because it had tried so hard to defeat me and failed . This angered it once more, you see. I know why it won't kill me. It wants me to bow before it, to admit defeat .
If we don't beat it soon it will murder me . Of this I am certain. It keeps me locked up in a dark smelly tomb and it sends its devils to keep me on edge , to keep the torture going . Each time the door of my tomb opens , the black devils attack me ! They nearly won yesterday . It was inhuman . They beat me into unconsciousness . I think -'is this really happening to me ?' and 'can this happen in this day and age?' " .
---- 'I Fought a Monster Today' , by Bobby Sands , October 1978 . (MORE LATER)>
.... the British 'customs line' in India was over 2,300 miles long , and was guarded by 12,000 men - it was a massive hedge of native trees and bushes, bolstered with rocks when vegetation became too patchy ; it was a ruthlessly policed barrier that cut off an affordable supply of an absolute necessity of life for Indian people : salt !
Famine is common in India and salt depletion is often the fatal ingredient in illness caused by malnutrition - the 'famine' of 1877-1878 in the North-Western provinces killed 1.3million people when the harvest failed and surplus grain had been exported to Britain and southern India (shades of the Irish 'famine') ....... (MORE LATER)>
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