1169 AND COUNTING.......
American Fenians / Cork Jail Tunnel Escape / The B Specials / 13 hours in New Ross , Wexford.......
.......AND RIC 'NEWSPAPER'.
Irish history , Irish politics ;..back on MONDAY , 8th MARCH 2004 .
Friday, March 05, 2004
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Monday, March 01, 2004
Sunday, February 29, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
....... Irish Republican author Brian O'Higgins wrote about Richie Goss and other Republican soldiers in the 1950 edition of 'The Wolfe Tone Annual' .......
" Those who would make all Ireland free must follow in his and their footsteps or fail . Men talk foolishly today , as they and others have talked for many futile years , of "declaring" the Republic of Ireland . There is no need to declare it . Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet founded it and made it known to the world .
Daniel O'Connell reviled and repudiated it , but John Mitchel and Fintan Lalor stood beneath its banner and gave it their allegiance . The Fenians made it articulate and preserved it through two generations until the men and women of 1916 proclaimed it in arms . The whole people of Ireland accepted it a few years later , giving it the most unanimous vote that has ever been cast in this country , and it was established and declared on January 21 , 1919 .
It has never been dis-established since , but it has been suppressed by falsehood and by force , and it is suppressed at this moment . Against that force and falsehood , against that unjust and unlawful suppression , the men we honour today - Patrick McGrath , Thomas Harte , George Plant , Richard Goss , Maurice O'Neill and Charles Kerins - did battle unto death . Their blood cries out for only one vengenance - the restoration of the suppressed Republic of Ireland . "
-- Brian O'Higgins , as quoted in ' The Wolfe Tone Annual ' , 1950 , speaking about the remains of the six Irish Rebels which were handed-over to their comrades and relatives on 18th September 1948 .
[END OF - RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......].
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......The twelve of us were in Ben Shorten's Pub opposite the RIC Barracks . The Brits knew we were there , but they did'nt know why . We were trying to draw them out ......."
" We had now been two hours in the pub . We sent Jer Carthy away , after arranging to meet again . After a lapse of a quarter of an hour , we left in a leisurely manner . Some talked loudly , while others walked a little unsteadily . We all laughed loudly and heartily at a few who were acting drunk . But no one of the twelve had touched any drink with a trace of alcohol in it . Getting hold of our bicycles , we started an argument as to which way we should go . All the time we were being keenly watched . Finally , we mounted in a disorderly manner and left in the Bantry direction , away from home . Rounding a few sharp bends of the road to the west , we reached the gate of Colaiste na Mumhan . Entering there , we hid our bicycles inside the hedge of the road and lay down on the grass . Very soon , Jer Carthy appeared again .
" Ye had not turned the second corner , " he said , " when four of them came out and sat on the wall , but they have their revolvers with them this time . " " We must have patience , Jer ," said my brother , " until more of them come out . " Jer went off again . We sat or lay in the shade of the hedge and waited . Every quarter of an hour Jer returned and reported ; " There are three out now ," or " there are five out now ," and so on . At length Pat said to him : " When there are six out , Jer , come and we will have at them . " Again Jer disappeared .
Now started a very long period of waiting , whiled away by a thorough rehearsal of the procedure when we should return to the village . When the word came that we were to grab our bicycles , each would take the place allotted to him in the agreed file and we would then take the last corner at top speed . Riding hard , we would then pull up on the raising of Pat's hand in front , lay down each bicycle swiftly on the road , and get busy . The leading six would then rush the door of the RIC Barracks , while the remainder would attack the men on the wall . It was a chancy business , but every man we had could be relied on to do his part .
Each had eagerly intimated his desire to fight these Black and Tans under any conditions . Certainly , it was half the battle to have such men , and it would go far in countering the advantages possessed by the enemy in quality of arms and position . We waited on . Suddenly Jer dashed in the gate on his bicycle ......."
(TO BE CONTINUED...... ....on Monday , 8th March - if you can't wait , then buy the book !)
SHARON has all the bag's packed and the taxi is outside waiting . We're away for about a week . Hope you will 'click' back next Monday , 8th March . Slan go foill anois ).
....... Irish Republican author Brian O'Higgins wrote about Richie Goss and other Republican soldiers in the 1950 edition of 'The Wolfe Tone Annual' .......
" Those who would make all Ireland free must follow in his and their footsteps or fail . Men talk foolishly today , as they and others have talked for many futile years , of "declaring" the Republic of Ireland . There is no need to declare it . Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet founded it and made it known to the world .
Daniel O'Connell reviled and repudiated it , but John Mitchel and Fintan Lalor stood beneath its banner and gave it their allegiance . The Fenians made it articulate and preserved it through two generations until the men and women of 1916 proclaimed it in arms . The whole people of Ireland accepted it a few years later , giving it the most unanimous vote that has ever been cast in this country , and it was established and declared on January 21 , 1919 .
It has never been dis-established since , but it has been suppressed by falsehood and by force , and it is suppressed at this moment . Against that force and falsehood , against that unjust and unlawful suppression , the men we honour today - Patrick McGrath , Thomas Harte , George Plant , Richard Goss , Maurice O'Neill and Charles Kerins - did battle unto death . Their blood cries out for only one vengenance - the restoration of the suppressed Republic of Ireland . "
-- Brian O'Higgins , as quoted in ' The Wolfe Tone Annual ' , 1950 , speaking about the remains of the six Irish Rebels which were handed-over to their comrades and relatives on 18th September 1948 .
[END OF - RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......].
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......The twelve of us were in Ben Shorten's Pub opposite the RIC Barracks . The Brits knew we were there , but they did'nt know why . We were trying to draw them out ......."
" We had now been two hours in the pub . We sent Jer Carthy away , after arranging to meet again . After a lapse of a quarter of an hour , we left in a leisurely manner . Some talked loudly , while others walked a little unsteadily . We all laughed loudly and heartily at a few who were acting drunk . But no one of the twelve had touched any drink with a trace of alcohol in it . Getting hold of our bicycles , we started an argument as to which way we should go . All the time we were being keenly watched . Finally , we mounted in a disorderly manner and left in the Bantry direction , away from home . Rounding a few sharp bends of the road to the west , we reached the gate of Colaiste na Mumhan . Entering there , we hid our bicycles inside the hedge of the road and lay down on the grass . Very soon , Jer Carthy appeared again .
" Ye had not turned the second corner , " he said , " when four of them came out and sat on the wall , but they have their revolvers with them this time . " " We must have patience , Jer ," said my brother , " until more of them come out . " Jer went off again . We sat or lay in the shade of the hedge and waited . Every quarter of an hour Jer returned and reported ; " There are three out now ," or " there are five out now ," and so on . At length Pat said to him : " When there are six out , Jer , come and we will have at them . " Again Jer disappeared .
Now started a very long period of waiting , whiled away by a thorough rehearsal of the procedure when we should return to the village . When the word came that we were to grab our bicycles , each would take the place allotted to him in the agreed file and we would then take the last corner at top speed . Riding hard , we would then pull up on the raising of Pat's hand in front , lay down each bicycle swiftly on the road , and get busy . The leading six would then rush the door of the RIC Barracks , while the remainder would attack the men on the wall . It was a chancy business , but every man we had could be relied on to do his part .
Each had eagerly intimated his desire to fight these Black and Tans under any conditions . Certainly , it was half the battle to have such men , and it would go far in countering the advantages possessed by the enemy in quality of arms and position . We waited on . Suddenly Jer dashed in the gate on his bicycle ......."
(TO BE CONTINUED...... ....on Monday , 8th March - if you can't wait , then buy the book !)
SHARON has all the bag's packed and the taxi is outside waiting . We're away for about a week . Hope you will 'click' back next Monday , 8th March . Slan go foill anois ).
Saturday, February 28, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
.......Shot dead by a Free State firing-squad in Portlaoise Prison on 9th August 1941 , the 26 years young Richie Goss was re-interred in Dowdallshill Cemetery in Dundalk , County Louth , in September 1948 . Brian O'Higgins wrote , in the 1950 edition of 'The Wolfe Tone Annual'.......
" On September 18 , 1948 , the bodies of Patrick McGrath , Thomas Harte , George Plant , Richard Goss , Maurice O'Neill and Charles Kerins were disinterred in prison yards and given to their comrades and relatives for re-burial among their own . These men were condemned to death and put to death as criminals , as outlaws , as enemies of Ireland . Today , that judgement and verdict is reversed , even by those who were and are their opponents , and they are acknowledged to be what we have always claimed them to have been - true comrades of Tone , of Emmet , of Mitchel , of the Fenians , and of all the heroic dead of our own day and generation .
There was no bitterness in their hearts towards any man or group of men , no meanness in their minds , no pettiness or brutality in their actions . They were , and are , worthy to rank with the greatest and noblest of our dead , and the younger men we salute and pray for and do homage to today are worthy to be their comrades . The only shame to be thought of in connection with those Republicans is that Irishmen slew them and slandered them , as Irishmen had slain and slandered the men of 1922 , for the 'crime' of being faithful soldiers of the Republic of Ireland .
Let us remember that shame only as an incentive to action and conduct that will make recurrence of it impossible ever again . Wolfe Tone built his plan for true indepdence on the resistance tradition of all the centuries from the beginning of the conquest to his own day , and these men who were his faithful followers , knew no plan but his would ever end English domination in Ireland......."
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......The twelve of us had left our bicycles outside Ben Shorten's pub , near the RIC Barracks . A Black and Tan eventually strolled out at his leisure from the barracks but , on noticing the bicycles , walked quickly back inside ......."
" Now , we said , the cat is out of the bag . We wondered what the result would be . It might be very favourable for us . If the Tans wanted to allay their thirst , they would doubtless cross the road to do so . Or if they wanted to satisfy their curiosity they might do likewise . We expected them to come and made preparations for their reception . Scarcely had the Black-and-Tan time to tell his comrades of the plague of bicycles when we saw the reaction to his announcement . Faces peered cautiously from behind every window opening . We took good care that they would see nothing . We had instructed Ben to clear out immediately we would tell him of their coming .
We had hoped that the more venturous among them would prevail , and that a strong party would dash across and enter the bar-room through the wide-opened door . After all , they were a poor-spirited lot . As the time wore on our contempt for them increased . We tried a number of tricks to draw them out . These were largely based on showing them that we were a harmless party , unarmed and out for amusement only . Some sang songs , others went out in their shirt sleeves to check their bicycles , leaving their coats and guns inside . It was no use . Finally , Jer Carthy came up the street on a bicycle and came in . After a consultation with Jer it was decided to try another ruse ....... "
(MORE LATER).
(NOTE- we will be publishing tomorrow [SUNDAY 29th] and then 'closing down' for about a week for ..eh.."necessary maintenance"...yeah.......)
.......Shot dead by a Free State firing-squad in Portlaoise Prison on 9th August 1941 , the 26 years young Richie Goss was re-interred in Dowdallshill Cemetery in Dundalk , County Louth , in September 1948 . Brian O'Higgins wrote , in the 1950 edition of 'The Wolfe Tone Annual'.......
" On September 18 , 1948 , the bodies of Patrick McGrath , Thomas Harte , George Plant , Richard Goss , Maurice O'Neill and Charles Kerins were disinterred in prison yards and given to their comrades and relatives for re-burial among their own . These men were condemned to death and put to death as criminals , as outlaws , as enemies of Ireland . Today , that judgement and verdict is reversed , even by those who were and are their opponents , and they are acknowledged to be what we have always claimed them to have been - true comrades of Tone , of Emmet , of Mitchel , of the Fenians , and of all the heroic dead of our own day and generation .
There was no bitterness in their hearts towards any man or group of men , no meanness in their minds , no pettiness or brutality in their actions . They were , and are , worthy to rank with the greatest and noblest of our dead , and the younger men we salute and pray for and do homage to today are worthy to be their comrades . The only shame to be thought of in connection with those Republicans is that Irishmen slew them and slandered them , as Irishmen had slain and slandered the men of 1922 , for the 'crime' of being faithful soldiers of the Republic of Ireland .
Let us remember that shame only as an incentive to action and conduct that will make recurrence of it impossible ever again . Wolfe Tone built his plan for true indepdence on the resistance tradition of all the centuries from the beginning of the conquest to his own day , and these men who were his faithful followers , knew no plan but his would ever end English domination in Ireland......."
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......The twelve of us had left our bicycles outside Ben Shorten's pub , near the RIC Barracks . A Black and Tan eventually strolled out at his leisure from the barracks but , on noticing the bicycles , walked quickly back inside ......."
" Now , we said , the cat is out of the bag . We wondered what the result would be . It might be very favourable for us . If the Tans wanted to allay their thirst , they would doubtless cross the road to do so . Or if they wanted to satisfy their curiosity they might do likewise . We expected them to come and made preparations for their reception . Scarcely had the Black-and-Tan time to tell his comrades of the plague of bicycles when we saw the reaction to his announcement . Faces peered cautiously from behind every window opening . We took good care that they would see nothing . We had instructed Ben to clear out immediately we would tell him of their coming .
We had hoped that the more venturous among them would prevail , and that a strong party would dash across and enter the bar-room through the wide-opened door . After all , they were a poor-spirited lot . As the time wore on our contempt for them increased . We tried a number of tricks to draw them out . These were largely based on showing them that we were a harmless party , unarmed and out for amusement only . Some sang songs , others went out in their shirt sleeves to check their bicycles , leaving their coats and guns inside . It was no use . Finally , Jer Carthy came up the street on a bicycle and came in . After a consultation with Jer it was decided to try another ruse ....... "
(MORE LATER).
(NOTE- we will be publishing tomorrow [SUNDAY 29th] and then 'closing down' for about a week for ..eh.."necessary maintenance"...yeah.......)
Friday, February 27, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
....... Ireland 1939 ; 'State of Emergency' declared , 'Emergency Powers Bill' enacted , new Free State 'Justice' Minister appointed . Republicans were rounded-up and imprisoned but , on 1st December 1939 , due to a writ of 'habeas corpus', Richie Goss and fifty-two other Irish Republican prisoners were released from Mountjoy Jail .......
The men reported back to their IRA Unit's and continued the fight - Richie Goss was promoted to the position of Divisional Officer Commanding of the North-Leinster/South Ulster IRA . In July 1941 , Richie Goss was staying in the house of a family named Casey in Longford when it was surrounded by Free State troops and Gardai ; a shoot-out ended in the capture of the then twenty-six years young Richie Goss and the wounding of a Free State Army Lieutenant, resulting in a charge of attempted murder against Goss.
A Free State Military Tribunal returned a "guilty" verdict on Richie Goss and he was sentenced to death . That was in July , 1941 ; on the 8th August 1941 , Richie Goss was taken , under armed guard , from Mountjoy Jail in Dublin and put in the back of a truck . He was forced to sit on his own coffin on the journey from Dublin to Portlaoise Jail . On 9th August 1941 , Richie Goss , 26 years young, was shot dead by a Free State firing squad and buried in Portlaoise Prison yard . In September 1948 - seven years after his execution- his remains were released and re-interred in Dowdallshill Cemetery in Dundalk , County Louth .
A well-known Irish Republican of the time (and still remembered by the Movement to this day) Brian O'Higgins , wrote in the 1950 edition of 'The Wolfe Tone Annual'.......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......The twelve of us had picked a bad day for our operation ; it was Saint Gobnaits day and Ballingeary would be deserted - we would stand-out too much ......."
" Had we arrived some four or five hours later , we would have passed as a party returning home after the day . We then discussed the value of making a detour and coming into the village from the west . It would look all right just now about midday , we decided, but afterwards we should wait at Shorten's Pub for two hours or more before the time for action . It would do no good now at any rate . What then was to be done ? Postpone the job until next Sunday , go back to the Cingcis at Ballyvourney and enjoy ourselves for the evening ? What do ye say to that ? Would it not be the wise thing to do ? Of course it would , but everytime we had been over-wise we had gained nothing .
Soon we were mounted and speeding down the winding road . Turning right when we met the main Macroom-Bantry road , we crossed the bridge parallel to the gable of the RIC Barracks and fifty yards distant from it . Turning left and in single file , we ran down the short incline and pulled up in front of Ben Shorten's Pub . Leaning our bicycles against its long front wall , we entered . There was no sign of life around the barracks across the way , and despite the warm day , the bar was deserted . Presently , Ben himself appeared . We gave him greeting and while some ordered soft drinks , other of us scanned the windows of the barracks from the depths of the shadows of the bar-room . For a quarter of an hour we saw nothing . Then a Black and Tan strolled out to the gate .
From the moment he had appeared at the doorway he became the object of an intensive study . He carried no arms and appeared wholly at his ease . He bore all the appearance of a person who had just had a good lunch and had walked aimlessly out to idle in the sunshine . He was bareheaded , a big man , young and not ill-looking . Sauntering to the gate , he stopped and stared straight in front of him into vacancy . Then his eyes ranged slowly up and down the road under his feet . Raising his head slightly his gaze appeared to become fascinated ...
We knew what interested him . It was our array of bicycles . He stiffened , rubbed his eyes , half turned , looked again and , completing the turn, walked quickly back and disappeared through the door of the barracks . Now , we said, the cat is out of the bag ......."
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(16 of 16).
After Lennie Murphy's execution by the then IRA , 'The Belfast Telegraph' newspaper carried 87 death notices , including ones from William Moore , Robert 'Basher' Bates and other gang members in the Maze Prison . His Aunt Agnes penned the following tribute to Murphy :
: " Nothing could be more beautiful than the memories we have of you . To us , you were very special and God must have thought so too . "
His mother told reporters : " My Lennie would not have hurt a fly ....."
(As Oscar Wilde put it - " If one tells the truth , one is sure , sooner or later , to be found out .").
[END OF ' THE BUTCHER BOYS '].
(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)
....... Ireland 1939 ; 'State of Emergency' declared , 'Emergency Powers Bill' enacted , new Free State 'Justice' Minister appointed . Republicans were rounded-up and imprisoned but , on 1st December 1939 , due to a writ of 'habeas corpus', Richie Goss and fifty-two other Irish Republican prisoners were released from Mountjoy Jail .......
The men reported back to their IRA Unit's and continued the fight - Richie Goss was promoted to the position of Divisional Officer Commanding of the North-Leinster/South Ulster IRA . In July 1941 , Richie Goss was staying in the house of a family named Casey in Longford when it was surrounded by Free State troops and Gardai ; a shoot-out ended in the capture of the then twenty-six years young Richie Goss and the wounding of a Free State Army Lieutenant, resulting in a charge of attempted murder against Goss.
A Free State Military Tribunal returned a "guilty" verdict on Richie Goss and he was sentenced to death . That was in July , 1941 ; on the 8th August 1941 , Richie Goss was taken , under armed guard , from Mountjoy Jail in Dublin and put in the back of a truck . He was forced to sit on his own coffin on the journey from Dublin to Portlaoise Jail . On 9th August 1941 , Richie Goss , 26 years young, was shot dead by a Free State firing squad and buried in Portlaoise Prison yard . In September 1948 - seven years after his execution- his remains were released and re-interred in Dowdallshill Cemetery in Dundalk , County Louth .
A well-known Irish Republican of the time (and still remembered by the Movement to this day) Brian O'Higgins , wrote in the 1950 edition of 'The Wolfe Tone Annual'.......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......The twelve of us had picked a bad day for our operation ; it was Saint Gobnaits day and Ballingeary would be deserted - we would stand-out too much ......."
" Had we arrived some four or five hours later , we would have passed as a party returning home after the day . We then discussed the value of making a detour and coming into the village from the west . It would look all right just now about midday , we decided, but afterwards we should wait at Shorten's Pub for two hours or more before the time for action . It would do no good now at any rate . What then was to be done ? Postpone the job until next Sunday , go back to the Cingcis at Ballyvourney and enjoy ourselves for the evening ? What do ye say to that ? Would it not be the wise thing to do ? Of course it would , but everytime we had been over-wise we had gained nothing .
Soon we were mounted and speeding down the winding road . Turning right when we met the main Macroom-Bantry road , we crossed the bridge parallel to the gable of the RIC Barracks and fifty yards distant from it . Turning left and in single file , we ran down the short incline and pulled up in front of Ben Shorten's Pub . Leaning our bicycles against its long front wall , we entered . There was no sign of life around the barracks across the way , and despite the warm day , the bar was deserted . Presently , Ben himself appeared . We gave him greeting and while some ordered soft drinks , other of us scanned the windows of the barracks from the depths of the shadows of the bar-room . For a quarter of an hour we saw nothing . Then a Black and Tan strolled out to the gate .
From the moment he had appeared at the doorway he became the object of an intensive study . He carried no arms and appeared wholly at his ease . He bore all the appearance of a person who had just had a good lunch and had walked aimlessly out to idle in the sunshine . He was bareheaded , a big man , young and not ill-looking . Sauntering to the gate , he stopped and stared straight in front of him into vacancy . Then his eyes ranged slowly up and down the road under his feet . Raising his head slightly his gaze appeared to become fascinated ...
We knew what interested him . It was our array of bicycles . He stiffened , rubbed his eyes , half turned , looked again and , completing the turn, walked quickly back and disappeared through the door of the barracks . Now , we said, the cat is out of the bag ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(16 of 16).
After Lennie Murphy's execution by the then IRA , 'The Belfast Telegraph' newspaper carried 87 death notices , including ones from William Moore , Robert 'Basher' Bates and other gang members in the Maze Prison . His Aunt Agnes penned the following tribute to Murphy :
: " Nothing could be more beautiful than the memories we have of you . To us , you were very special and God must have thought so too . "
His mother told reporters : " My Lennie would not have hurt a fly ....."
(As Oscar Wilde put it - " If one tells the truth , one is sure , sooner or later , to be found out .").
[END OF ' THE BUTCHER BOYS '].
(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)
Thursday, February 26, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
.......In early 1938 , the then IRA Chief of Staff , Sean Russell , ordered Richie Goss to go to Dublin ; preparations were underway for a bombing campaign in England .......
Within months , Richie Goss was in England , helping to organise IRA Units , safe-houses etc for the campaign ; he was arrested in Liverpool in May 1939 for refusing to account for £20 in his possession (!) and was sentenced to seven-days in Walton Jail - when released , he reported back to the IRA in London .
About two months later , he returned to Ireland but was unlucky enough to be grabbed by the Free Staters in their round-up of known and suspected IRA members and supporters , in September that year (1939) ; on 2nd September 1939 , the Leinster House Administration (Free Staters) had issued a statement saying that , because of " the armed conflict now taking place in Europe , a National(sic) emergency exists affecting the vital interests of the State . "
On the following day (3rd September 1939) , the 'Emergency Powers Bill' was enacted (ie to all intent and purpose - 'martial law'). Days later (on 8th September 1939) a new Free State Minister for 'Justice' was appointed - the ferociously Anti-Republican Gerald Boland . All known or suspected Irish Republicans were rounded-up , but a Republican-minded lawyer , Sean MacBride (whose parents had fought alongside the IRA) supported the Republican prisoners and , on 1st December 1939 , due to a 'habeas corpus' application , Richie Goss and fifty-two other Republican prisoners were reeased from Mountjoy Jail .
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......We were on our way to Ballingeary ; we passed through all the old historical places which we knew well , especially Atha Bhuadh which , according to tradition , will one day be the scene of our ultimate triumph ......."
" Crossing Atha Bhuadh by the little bridge , we were soon climbing the steep and wooded slope of Gort-an-Imill . Reaching the top , we paused to regain our breath and to view a most unusual and beautiful extent of rugged scenery . Mounting , we cycled down into Renanirree , on the road from Macroom to Beal a' Ghleanna and Ballingeary . Three further miles of a stiff uniform climb , on the bicycles , brought us to Beal a' Ghleanna . Here we rested and discussed the final arrangements for our project . When we mounted again it would be all a downhill three-mile run to the village of Ballingeary and , barring accidents , a non-stop one .
But now a serious question was raised , a question which should , there and then , have put a stop to our visit for that day . We had , we all admitted reluctantly , picked out the worst possible day in the year for the job . Why the devil had we not thought of that last night ? Most of the young people of Ballingeary and district had just passed by the RIC Barracks on their way north to Ballyvourney . So had people from places as far distant as Bantry . The enemy had just seen the last of them pass an hour ago . The RIC knew well where they were heading for . The village would be almost deserted .
Then twelve young men on bicycles would come from the north ........"
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(15 of 16).
Some gang members , however , will be due for release in the coming decade (ie -the 1990's). One is already out and , of course , many of those involved in the murders were never brought to justice and are still walking the streets of Northern Ireland (sic).
At least 17 people who were implicated in some of the killings were never brought before the courts , mostly due to insufficient evidence against them . Lenny Murphy , who walked out of prison in July 1982 , three years after the jailing of his gang , had killed again within 24 hours . He met his own death at the hands of a Republican assassination squad , as he parked behind his girlfriends house one evening that Autumn (1982).
Enemies within the Loyalist camp , it is thought , may have helped to set him up .
(MORE LATER).
(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)
.......In early 1938 , the then IRA Chief of Staff , Sean Russell , ordered Richie Goss to go to Dublin ; preparations were underway for a bombing campaign in England .......
Within months , Richie Goss was in England , helping to organise IRA Units , safe-houses etc for the campaign ; he was arrested in Liverpool in May 1939 for refusing to account for £20 in his possession (!) and was sentenced to seven-days in Walton Jail - when released , he reported back to the IRA in London .
About two months later , he returned to Ireland but was unlucky enough to be grabbed by the Free Staters in their round-up of known and suspected IRA members and supporters , in September that year (1939) ; on 2nd September 1939 , the Leinster House Administration (Free Staters) had issued a statement saying that , because of " the armed conflict now taking place in Europe , a National(sic) emergency exists affecting the vital interests of the State . "
On the following day (3rd September 1939) , the 'Emergency Powers Bill' was enacted (ie to all intent and purpose - 'martial law'). Days later (on 8th September 1939) a new Free State Minister for 'Justice' was appointed - the ferociously Anti-Republican Gerald Boland . All known or suspected Irish Republicans were rounded-up , but a Republican-minded lawyer , Sean MacBride (whose parents had fought alongside the IRA) supported the Republican prisoners and , on 1st December 1939 , due to a 'habeas corpus' application , Richie Goss and fifty-two other Republican prisoners were reeased from Mountjoy Jail .
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......We were on our way to Ballingeary ; we passed through all the old historical places which we knew well , especially Atha Bhuadh which , according to tradition , will one day be the scene of our ultimate triumph ......."
" Crossing Atha Bhuadh by the little bridge , we were soon climbing the steep and wooded slope of Gort-an-Imill . Reaching the top , we paused to regain our breath and to view a most unusual and beautiful extent of rugged scenery . Mounting , we cycled down into Renanirree , on the road from Macroom to Beal a' Ghleanna and Ballingeary . Three further miles of a stiff uniform climb , on the bicycles , brought us to Beal a' Ghleanna . Here we rested and discussed the final arrangements for our project . When we mounted again it would be all a downhill three-mile run to the village of Ballingeary and , barring accidents , a non-stop one .
But now a serious question was raised , a question which should , there and then , have put a stop to our visit for that day . We had , we all admitted reluctantly , picked out the worst possible day in the year for the job . Why the devil had we not thought of that last night ? Most of the young people of Ballingeary and district had just passed by the RIC Barracks on their way north to Ballyvourney . So had people from places as far distant as Bantry . The enemy had just seen the last of them pass an hour ago . The RIC knew well where they were heading for . The village would be almost deserted .
Then twelve young men on bicycles would come from the north ........"
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(15 of 16).
Some gang members , however , will be due for release in the coming decade (ie -the 1990's). One is already out and , of course , many of those involved in the murders were never brought to justice and are still walking the streets of Northern Ireland (sic).
At least 17 people who were implicated in some of the killings were never brought before the courts , mostly due to insufficient evidence against them . Lenny Murphy , who walked out of prison in July 1982 , three years after the jailing of his gang , had killed again within 24 hours . He met his own death at the hands of a Republican assassination squad , as he parked behind his girlfriends house one evening that Autumn (1982).
Enemies within the Loyalist camp , it is thought , may have helped to set him up .
(MORE LATER).
(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
.......In January 1934 , a Mr. Joseph McGrory from Dundalk assisted the Free State Gardai in their inquiries into a hold-up ; two IRA men were arrested as a result and , in February 1934 , McGrory's house was bombed - his wife died in the explosion . Richie Goss and two others were sentenced to three months (in March 1934) for refusing to explain their whereabouts on that February night .......
Then , in early July 1935 ,four IRA men were arrested and charged with the death of Mrs. McGrory - those men were Richie Goss , Eamon Coffey , Thomas Walsh and Bernard Murphy(all from Dundalk). The Free Staters had received information from an informer that five men were responsible for 'The McGrory Incident' - the four men named above , and one other ; James Finnigan . However , Finnigan was already in jail again , this time serving fifteen months for possession of weapons .
The informer was Matt McCrystal , an IRA man and , on his evidence, the first-ever 'murder trial' before a Free State Military Tribunal went ahead . But it was not successful - on 20th July , 1935 , after a five-day hearing , all the accused were acquitted .
Richie Goss was ordered to go to Dublin by Sean Russell , the then IRA Chief of Staff, in early 1938 , as his expertise in explosives was needed to prepare for the up-coming bombing campaign in England .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......At short notice , we had assembled twelve IRA men - most of us were poorly armed , but we were all determined to attack Ballingeary Barracks . We had intended to base ourselves opposite the Barracks, in Shorten's Pub . But there was trouble ahead ......."
" We settled on reaching Ballingeary Village at about a quarter to two on Whitsunday . We left Ballyvourney just after noon , cycling away in twos and threes . People were still coming towards the place while we were going away from it . That in itself was not a good start , but would do no harm , since there was no means of quick communication between the two places at that time , and the people we met would mind their own business .
We cycled southward over the bridge of the Sullane and , turning east , we wound around the base of the Curragh Hill to Cathair Cearnach (the Fort of the Champion) in the valley of the Dubh-Glaise (the Dark Stream). Our road led us upstream and westward for a mile along the only placid stretch of the Dubh-Glaise , until we reached Atha-Bhuadh (the Ford of Victory). On either side of us the little green fields showed bravely on the steep slopes they had conquered from the Curragh and Rahoona Hills .
In front of us rose Gort-Ui-Rathaille , its foot-hills covered with stunted oak , birch , hazel and holly . Above us , in a clear sky , the noonday sun of May shone brightly . Within us were the thoughts of youth , stimulated by the legendary associations of our surroundings - Cathair Cearnach of ancient victories and Atha Bhuadh which , according to local tradition , will one day be the scene of our ultimate triumph ......."
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(14 of 16).
Sentencing eleven gang members , including William Moore , 'Big Sam' McAllister and Robert 'Basher' Bates , for their parts in nineteen murders , Mr. Justice Turlough O'Donnell talked of this " catalogue of horror " , and told William Moore - " You pleaded guilty to eleven murders carried out in a manner so cruel and revolting as to be beyond the comprehension of any normal human being . I see no reason whatever why you should ever be released . The facts speak for themseves and will remain forever a lasting monument to blind sectarian bigotry , " he told the court .
In all , the Shankill Butchers were given 2,000 years imprisonment , to run in concurrent sentences . British legal history was made with the 42 life sentences handed down , the largest number ever given out in one sitting .
(MORE LATER).
(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)
.......In January 1934 , a Mr. Joseph McGrory from Dundalk assisted the Free State Gardai in their inquiries into a hold-up ; two IRA men were arrested as a result and , in February 1934 , McGrory's house was bombed - his wife died in the explosion . Richie Goss and two others were sentenced to three months (in March 1934) for refusing to explain their whereabouts on that February night .......
Then , in early July 1935 ,four IRA men were arrested and charged with the death of Mrs. McGrory - those men were Richie Goss , Eamon Coffey , Thomas Walsh and Bernard Murphy(all from Dundalk). The Free Staters had received information from an informer that five men were responsible for 'The McGrory Incident' - the four men named above , and one other ; James Finnigan . However , Finnigan was already in jail again , this time serving fifteen months for possession of weapons .
The informer was Matt McCrystal , an IRA man and , on his evidence, the first-ever 'murder trial' before a Free State Military Tribunal went ahead . But it was not successful - on 20th July , 1935 , after a five-day hearing , all the accused were acquitted .
Richie Goss was ordered to go to Dublin by Sean Russell , the then IRA Chief of Staff, in early 1938 , as his expertise in explosives was needed to prepare for the up-coming bombing campaign in England .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......At short notice , we had assembled twelve IRA men - most of us were poorly armed , but we were all determined to attack Ballingeary Barracks . We had intended to base ourselves opposite the Barracks, in Shorten's Pub . But there was trouble ahead ......."
" We settled on reaching Ballingeary Village at about a quarter to two on Whitsunday . We left Ballyvourney just after noon , cycling away in twos and threes . People were still coming towards the place while we were going away from it . That in itself was not a good start , but would do no harm , since there was no means of quick communication between the two places at that time , and the people we met would mind their own business .
We cycled southward over the bridge of the Sullane and , turning east , we wound around the base of the Curragh Hill to Cathair Cearnach (the Fort of the Champion) in the valley of the Dubh-Glaise (the Dark Stream). Our road led us upstream and westward for a mile along the only placid stretch of the Dubh-Glaise , until we reached Atha-Bhuadh (the Ford of Victory). On either side of us the little green fields showed bravely on the steep slopes they had conquered from the Curragh and Rahoona Hills .
In front of us rose Gort-Ui-Rathaille , its foot-hills covered with stunted oak , birch , hazel and holly . Above us , in a clear sky , the noonday sun of May shone brightly . Within us were the thoughts of youth , stimulated by the legendary associations of our surroundings - Cathair Cearnach of ancient victories and Atha Bhuadh which , according to local tradition , will one day be the scene of our ultimate triumph ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(14 of 16).
Sentencing eleven gang members , including William Moore , 'Big Sam' McAllister and Robert 'Basher' Bates , for their parts in nineteen murders , Mr. Justice Turlough O'Donnell talked of this " catalogue of horror " , and told William Moore - " You pleaded guilty to eleven murders carried out in a manner so cruel and revolting as to be beyond the comprehension of any normal human being . I see no reason whatever why you should ever be released . The facts speak for themseves and will remain forever a lasting monument to blind sectarian bigotry , " he told the court .
In all , the Shankill Butchers were given 2,000 years imprisonment , to run in concurrent sentences . British legal history was made with the 42 life sentences handed down , the largest number ever given out in one sitting .
(MORE LATER).
(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
.......at 19 years young in 1934 , Richie Goss was picked up by the Free State Special Branch and asked to account for his movements ; he refused .......
He was brought before a Free State Military Tribunal and sentenced to three months in prison ! The prison sentence was related , according to the ' Court' , to what became known as ' The McGrory Incident ' :
: In Dundalk , County Louth , on 9th January 1934 , a debt-collector (who was also said to be a member of the right-wing 'Blueshirt'[Fine Gael] party) was held-up by armed men and his bag of cash was taken . In making inquiries in the area about the robbery , the Free State Gardai(police) were assisted by a local man , a Mr. Joseph McGrory , from Chapel Street , Dundalk : two IRA men were jailed as a result of the evidence given by McGrory .
On the night of 11th February 1934 , a bomb was thrown through the front window of the McGrory house ; the explosion killed Joseph McGrory's wife . On 23rd March 1934 , Richie Goss and two others (James Finnigan and Matt McCrystal) were sentenced to three months in jail because they refused to " enter into recognisances " ie 'explain their whereabouts' on the night of the McGrory incident .
Then , in early July 1935 , four IRA men were arrested and charged with the death of Mrs McGrory .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
"....... Volunteer Jer Carthy had been busy ; he had got the measure of the local RIC Barracks , which also housed a Black and Tan Unit . Fourteen armed men in all......."
" Jer had noticed how , for the past three or four Sunday's since the weather had got fine , a number of the Black and Tans regularly sat on the wall after lunch . The number varied , but on one occasion as many as ten were there together . At least seven or eight had always come out . What did we think of it ? Very few of them had ever come out armed . They sat on the wall talking and joking and commenting on the people who passed them by . They did not appear to be anticipating any attack , in the daylight at any rate . The only caution they displayed was that they did not go far afield from their barracks .
We decided to get in touch with all the Volunteers who possessed revolvers . These weapons were very scarce at the time , as were all other types of firearm . Before midnight we had mustered twelve men . Of these , only four carried service revolvers . Six were armed with smaller bore guns , while two could almost truthfully be said to be unarmed with miserable pocket revolvers . Little planning was necessary . To get into Shorten's Pub without attracting the attention of the enemy across the road was the first and most vital part of the operation .
It should also have been the easiest . Yet it was that which thwarted our scheme ....... "
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(13 of 16).
It was only , finally , in 1977 , that the Butchers made a fatal 'mistake' - they left a victim alive . 20-year-old Gerard McLaverty , dumped in an alleyway after being beaten and tortured with a knife , identified key gang members , including 'Big Sam' McAllister . The RUC searched McAllister's home and found a butcher's knife sticking out of the floorboards beside the bed , another knife under the bed , plus two butchers knives and a sharpening steel in the kitchen .
The knives ranged in size from six to ten inches , and the sharpener showed signs of heavy use . The breakthrough had been made . Most of the gang broke down under police questioning , some " crying like babies ."
(MORE LATER).
.......at 19 years young in 1934 , Richie Goss was picked up by the Free State Special Branch and asked to account for his movements ; he refused .......
He was brought before a Free State Military Tribunal and sentenced to three months in prison ! The prison sentence was related , according to the ' Court' , to what became known as ' The McGrory Incident ' :
: In Dundalk , County Louth , on 9th January 1934 , a debt-collector (who was also said to be a member of the right-wing 'Blueshirt'[Fine Gael] party) was held-up by armed men and his bag of cash was taken . In making inquiries in the area about the robbery , the Free State Gardai(police) were assisted by a local man , a Mr. Joseph McGrory , from Chapel Street , Dundalk : two IRA men were jailed as a result of the evidence given by McGrory .
On the night of 11th February 1934 , a bomb was thrown through the front window of the McGrory house ; the explosion killed Joseph McGrory's wife . On 23rd March 1934 , Richie Goss and two others (James Finnigan and Matt McCrystal) were sentenced to three months in jail because they refused to " enter into recognisances " ie 'explain their whereabouts' on the night of the McGrory incident .
Then , in early July 1935 , four IRA men were arrested and charged with the death of Mrs McGrory .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
"....... Volunteer Jer Carthy had been busy ; he had got the measure of the local RIC Barracks , which also housed a Black and Tan Unit . Fourteen armed men in all......."
" Jer had noticed how , for the past three or four Sunday's since the weather had got fine , a number of the Black and Tans regularly sat on the wall after lunch . The number varied , but on one occasion as many as ten were there together . At least seven or eight had always come out . What did we think of it ? Very few of them had ever come out armed . They sat on the wall talking and joking and commenting on the people who passed them by . They did not appear to be anticipating any attack , in the daylight at any rate . The only caution they displayed was that they did not go far afield from their barracks .
We decided to get in touch with all the Volunteers who possessed revolvers . These weapons were very scarce at the time , as were all other types of firearm . Before midnight we had mustered twelve men . Of these , only four carried service revolvers . Six were armed with smaller bore guns , while two could almost truthfully be said to be unarmed with miserable pocket revolvers . Little planning was necessary . To get into Shorten's Pub without attracting the attention of the enemy across the road was the first and most vital part of the operation .
It should also have been the easiest . Yet it was that which thwarted our scheme ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(13 of 16).
It was only , finally , in 1977 , that the Butchers made a fatal 'mistake' - they left a victim alive . 20-year-old Gerard McLaverty , dumped in an alleyway after being beaten and tortured with a knife , identified key gang members , including 'Big Sam' McAllister . The RUC searched McAllister's home and found a butcher's knife sticking out of the floorboards beside the bed , another knife under the bed , plus two butchers knives and a sharpening steel in the kitchen .
The knives ranged in size from six to ten inches , and the sharpener showed signs of heavy use . The breakthrough had been made . Most of the gang broke down under police questioning , some " crying like babies ."
(MORE LATER).
Monday, February 23, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
....... Ireland , 1933 ; Richie Goss had joined the IRA - he was 18 years young . The Nationalist population in the Six Counties was under seige .......
The then 'Grand Master' of the anti-Nationalist 'Orange Order' , a (British Senator) 'Sir' Joseph Davison , stated - " When will the Protestant employers of Northern Ireland (sic) recognise their duty to their Protestant brothers and sisters and employ them to the exclusion of Roman Catholics ? It is time Protestant employers realised that whenever a Roman Catholic is brought into their employment it means one Protestant vote less . It is our duty to pass the word along - Protestants employ Protestants . " !
That was the sentiment of those times - the blatant sectarianism that existed , and which Richie Goss , amongst others , hoped to bring to an end .
He was 18 years young , an IRA member and learning to use explosives - in early 1934 , at 19 years of age , Richie Goss was picked-up by the Free State Special Branch(political police) and asked to account for his movements ; he refused .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......My brother Pat and myself were in Ballyvourney for the Whitsunday celebrations ; we met another Volunteer , Jer Carthy from Ballingeary , our Intelligence Officer . He told us of a possible plan of attack on the enemy ......."
" For some time past , Jer had been closely watching the movements of the RIC and the Black and Tans in Ballingeary . The RIC had recently been reinforced by Black and Tans , and their combined strength was now fourteen men . They all lived together in the RIC Barracks in the middle of the village , across the street from Shorten's public house .
The road proper between the Barracks and Shorten's Pub was not a very wide one . Three cars abreast would fill it . The RIC Barracks was an ordinary two-storey house with a door in the middle . About fifteen feet in front of the building a wall ran along the edge of the roadway . It was breached by a small gateway straight opposite the front door . The wall was about three feet high . On a fine sunny day it would be an inviting and not uncomfortable seat for an active and leisurely young man .
Seated on it , his legs dangling , he would have a close view of everyone who passed by on the highway , or passed through the doorway of the pub across the road . The pub , like the Barracks , stood back from the roadway but had no wall or other obstruction in front . Like the poles of a magnet , one building attracted while the other repelled ......."
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(12 of 16).
An excerpt from a confession by one of the Shankill Butchers , 'Big Sam' McAllister , illustrates how the gang had used their knowledge of the law -
--" I was out in a car with another fellow who I don't wish to say ....we were looking for a Taig (a Catholic) for a kicking . There was a hatchet in the car and I took it with me and got out of the car . As this man walked by me on his own , I hit him over the head with the wooden part of the hatchet . I hit him about twice . It was only meant to give him a digging . He was not meant to be killed . I think drink was the biggest cause of this . "
In fact , neither of the gang members were drunk on this occasion , and the ill-fated "taig" , 49-year-old Cornelius Neeson , died from a fractured skull , a broken leg and multiple lacerations to the head , face , shoulder and hand .
The pathologist concluded that all the blows were delivered with considerable severity from the hatchet , and from fists and feet ....
(MORE LATER).
....... Ireland , 1933 ; Richie Goss had joined the IRA - he was 18 years young . The Nationalist population in the Six Counties was under seige .......
The then 'Grand Master' of the anti-Nationalist 'Orange Order' , a (British Senator) 'Sir' Joseph Davison , stated - " When will the Protestant employers of Northern Ireland (sic) recognise their duty to their Protestant brothers and sisters and employ them to the exclusion of Roman Catholics ? It is time Protestant employers realised that whenever a Roman Catholic is brought into their employment it means one Protestant vote less . It is our duty to pass the word along - Protestants employ Protestants . " !
That was the sentiment of those times - the blatant sectarianism that existed , and which Richie Goss , amongst others , hoped to bring to an end .
He was 18 years young , an IRA member and learning to use explosives - in early 1934 , at 19 years of age , Richie Goss was picked-up by the Free State Special Branch(political police) and asked to account for his movements ; he refused .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....
".......My brother Pat and myself were in Ballyvourney for the Whitsunday celebrations ; we met another Volunteer , Jer Carthy from Ballingeary , our Intelligence Officer . He told us of a possible plan of attack on the enemy ......."
" For some time past , Jer had been closely watching the movements of the RIC and the Black and Tans in Ballingeary . The RIC had recently been reinforced by Black and Tans , and their combined strength was now fourteen men . They all lived together in the RIC Barracks in the middle of the village , across the street from Shorten's public house .
The road proper between the Barracks and Shorten's Pub was not a very wide one . Three cars abreast would fill it . The RIC Barracks was an ordinary two-storey house with a door in the middle . About fifteen feet in front of the building a wall ran along the edge of the roadway . It was breached by a small gateway straight opposite the front door . The wall was about three feet high . On a fine sunny day it would be an inviting and not uncomfortable seat for an active and leisurely young man .
Seated on it , his legs dangling , he would have a close view of everyone who passed by on the highway , or passed through the doorway of the pub across the road . The pub , like the Barracks , stood back from the roadway but had no wall or other obstruction in front . Like the poles of a magnet , one building attracted while the other repelled ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(12 of 16).
An excerpt from a confession by one of the Shankill Butchers , 'Big Sam' McAllister , illustrates how the gang had used their knowledge of the law -
--" I was out in a car with another fellow who I don't wish to say ....we were looking for a Taig (a Catholic) for a kicking . There was a hatchet in the car and I took it with me and got out of the car . As this man walked by me on his own , I hit him over the head with the wooden part of the hatchet . I hit him about twice . It was only meant to give him a digging . He was not meant to be killed . I think drink was the biggest cause of this . "
In fact , neither of the gang members were drunk on this occasion , and the ill-fated "taig" , 49-year-old Cornelius Neeson , died from a fractured skull , a broken leg and multiple lacerations to the head , face , shoulder and hand .
The pathologist concluded that all the blows were delivered with considerable severity from the hatchet , and from fists and feet ....
(MORE LATER).
Sunday, February 22, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
....... Richie Goss was 18 years young in 1933 , when he joined the North Louth Battalion of the IRA ; he began to train in the use of explosives .......
At that time in Ireland(which , by then , had been partitioned), the anti-Catholic bigots of the then two-year-old ' Ulster Protestant League ' were in full swing ; Nationalists all over the Six Counties were being hammered . British political leaders were voicing support for the Unionists - indeed , 'Sir' Basil Brooke actually boasted that he " had not a Roman Catholic about my own place " !
Also , the then British Stormont Minister for Labour, a Mr. J. M. Andrews , spoke out about what he termed " a foul smear " - that of " another allegation made against the (British) government , which is untrue : that , out of 31 porters at Stormont , 28 are Roman Catholic . I have investigated the matter and I have found that there are 30 Protestants and only one Roman Catholic , there only temporarily . "
The British Loyalists , too , in the form of the Orange Order , were putting pressure on the Nationalists in the Six Counties ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .
" Whitsunday , ' Domhnach Cingcise ,' was always a big day in Ballyvourney and will be so forever , if fourteen centuries be taken as an indication of established custom . The day is not the feast of Saint Gobnait , but is a second day set apart in each year to do her honour . Starting on the eve of Whitsun , a stream of patrons visit her shrine to pray . Some keep vigil there all through the night .
The many crutches abandoned there give striking proof that prayers to Saint Gobnait are effective . Having visited the shrine and prayed , the people come down to the village to refresh and enjoy themselves . I am not going to pretend that the primary object of this great influx of people to Ballyvourney is always solely to honour Saint Gobnait by prayer alone . Certainly , it is the aim of many of them . But the young people and children seek amusement as well . And who can blame them ?
The sound of their merry laughter and the sight of their happy faces must be appreciated as much in heaven as on earth . Old people become young again as they watch the young enjoy themselves . The passage of half-a-century is ignored and once again they are children who have come to the ' Cingcis ' for the day .
It was Whit-Saturday night in 1920 . My brother Pat and I had come to Ballyvourney and were strolling along the village street . We met Jer Carthy . He was a Volunteer from Ballingeary , our Intelligence Officer for that district , and a good man he was . We drew aside to a quiet spot and Jer gave us the news ....... "
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(11 of 16).
By watching forensic evidence being produced in different court cases , Lennie Murphy learned how to remove lead residue from his hands and clothing , where it accumulates when a gun is fired in close proximity to a person . He discovered how to ruin an identification parade . And he learned never to give an alibi in case the RUC could break it - answering RUC questions by stating simply that they would have to prove any allegations they wished to make .
Murphy , McAllister , Moore and Bates , in fact , were so well versed in the law that they repeatedly refused , even while confessing , to avoid making admissions of premeditated killing - suggesting that only the beating , not the death , of the victim , was intended , and that alcohol had played a large part in their actions .
(MORE LATER).
....... Richie Goss was 18 years young in 1933 , when he joined the North Louth Battalion of the IRA ; he began to train in the use of explosives .......
At that time in Ireland(which , by then , had been partitioned), the anti-Catholic bigots of the then two-year-old ' Ulster Protestant League ' were in full swing ; Nationalists all over the Six Counties were being hammered . British political leaders were voicing support for the Unionists - indeed , 'Sir' Basil Brooke actually boasted that he " had not a Roman Catholic about my own place " !
Also , the then British Stormont Minister for Labour, a Mr. J. M. Andrews , spoke out about what he termed " a foul smear " - that of " another allegation made against the (British) government , which is untrue : that , out of 31 porters at Stormont , 28 are Roman Catholic . I have investigated the matter and I have found that there are 30 Protestants and only one Roman Catholic , there only temporarily . "
The British Loyalists , too , in the form of the Orange Order , were putting pressure on the Nationalists in the Six Counties ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .
" Whitsunday , ' Domhnach Cingcise ,' was always a big day in Ballyvourney and will be so forever , if fourteen centuries be taken as an indication of established custom . The day is not the feast of Saint Gobnait , but is a second day set apart in each year to do her honour . Starting on the eve of Whitsun , a stream of patrons visit her shrine to pray . Some keep vigil there all through the night .
The many crutches abandoned there give striking proof that prayers to Saint Gobnait are effective . Having visited the shrine and prayed , the people come down to the village to refresh and enjoy themselves . I am not going to pretend that the primary object of this great influx of people to Ballyvourney is always solely to honour Saint Gobnait by prayer alone . Certainly , it is the aim of many of them . But the young people and children seek amusement as well . And who can blame them ?
The sound of their merry laughter and the sight of their happy faces must be appreciated as much in heaven as on earth . Old people become young again as they watch the young enjoy themselves . The passage of half-a-century is ignored and once again they are children who have come to the ' Cingcis ' for the day .
It was Whit-Saturday night in 1920 . My brother Pat and I had come to Ballyvourney and were strolling along the village street . We met Jer Carthy . He was a Volunteer from Ballingeary , our Intelligence Officer for that district , and a good man he was . We drew aside to a quiet spot and Jer gave us the news ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(11 of 16).
By watching forensic evidence being produced in different court cases , Lennie Murphy learned how to remove lead residue from his hands and clothing , where it accumulates when a gun is fired in close proximity to a person . He discovered how to ruin an identification parade . And he learned never to give an alibi in case the RUC could break it - answering RUC questions by stating simply that they would have to prove any allegations they wished to make .
Murphy , McAllister , Moore and Bates , in fact , were so well versed in the law that they repeatedly refused , even while confessing , to avoid making admissions of premeditated killing - suggesting that only the beating , not the death , of the victim , was intended , and that alcohol had played a large part in their actions .
(MORE LATER).
Saturday, February 21, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......
....... Ireland 1915 ; a split in the Irish camp , pro-British forces forming and arming , threatened mutiny within the British Army in Ireland : turmoil .......
Irish forces were re-grouping ; the ' Irish Citizen Army ' was recruiting for Volunteers , as was Sinn Fein , the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' and John Redmond's ' United Irish League ' . There was turmoil in the country .
A child was born into the above circumstances in Dundalk , in County Louth . He was child number three in the family , and one more was to be born after him . This third child in the Goss family , Richard , went to a local school and , like others in the Goss neighbourhood , tried to get work locally when he was finished his schooling - he was successful , and got a job in Rasson's Shoe Factory in Dundalk .
The troubled times he lived in got his attention and , at 18 years young(in 1933), Richie Goss joined the North Louth Battalion of the IRA , and trained in the use of explosives ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
"....... RIC Sergeant Kelly was in view ; two armed Volunteers stood in front of him and told him to stop . He tried to get through them ......."
" A shot aimed low knocked him off his bicycle and wounded him slightly in the leg . Jamie and Dan searched him . A notebook he carried contained the information he had got from a local informer about Jamie's own movements and the movements of others . Soon after this incident , the names of both Jamie and Dan appeared in the 'Hue and Cry' , an RIC newsheet .
The publicity made no difference . At one time it would have been of importance to the wanted men , who , in order to escape arrest would have had to leave the country . Now it did not matter as we were all on active service ."
[END OF - 'INCHIGEELA ....' : tomorrow - ' BALLINGEARY BARRACKS '].
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(10 of 16).
Such prolific activity brought Lennie Murphy high on the RUC's 'most wanted' list , and he was imprisoned briefly in the early 1970's - for minor offences- and again in 1976 , though he continued to direct 'Brown Bear' operations from his Maze Prison jail cell .
William Moore , the taxi-driving member of The Butchers , took up where Lennie Murphy had left off . Murphy had prepared well for his terrorist 'career' , attending many of the murder trials of the early 1970's , at Belfast's Crumlin Road Courthouse . He learned about the law , the nature of witness and forensic evidence , and when such evidence was ruled admissible or inadmissible , and why .
Attending IRA trials , he was able to identify IRA supporters in the public gallery who could later be targeted for assassination .......
(MORE LATER).
....... Ireland 1915 ; a split in the Irish camp , pro-British forces forming and arming , threatened mutiny within the British Army in Ireland : turmoil .......
Irish forces were re-grouping ; the ' Irish Citizen Army ' was recruiting for Volunteers , as was Sinn Fein , the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' and John Redmond's ' United Irish League ' . There was turmoil in the country .
A child was born into the above circumstances in Dundalk , in County Louth . He was child number three in the family , and one more was to be born after him . This third child in the Goss family , Richard , went to a local school and , like others in the Goss neighbourhood , tried to get work locally when he was finished his schooling - he was successful , and got a job in Rasson's Shoe Factory in Dundalk .
The troubled times he lived in got his attention and , at 18 years young(in 1933), Richie Goss joined the North Louth Battalion of the IRA , and trained in the use of explosives ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
INCHIGEELA.......
"....... RIC Sergeant Kelly was in view ; two armed Volunteers stood in front of him and told him to stop . He tried to get through them ......."
" A shot aimed low knocked him off his bicycle and wounded him slightly in the leg . Jamie and Dan searched him . A notebook he carried contained the information he had got from a local informer about Jamie's own movements and the movements of others . Soon after this incident , the names of both Jamie and Dan appeared in the 'Hue and Cry' , an RIC newsheet .
The publicity made no difference . At one time it would have been of importance to the wanted men , who , in order to escape arrest would have had to leave the country . Now it did not matter as we were all on active service ."
[END OF - 'INCHIGEELA ....' : tomorrow - ' BALLINGEARY BARRACKS '].
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(10 of 16).
Such prolific activity brought Lennie Murphy high on the RUC's 'most wanted' list , and he was imprisoned briefly in the early 1970's - for minor offences- and again in 1976 , though he continued to direct 'Brown Bear' operations from his Maze Prison jail cell .
William Moore , the taxi-driving member of The Butchers , took up where Lennie Murphy had left off . Murphy had prepared well for his terrorist 'career' , attending many of the murder trials of the early 1970's , at Belfast's Crumlin Road Courthouse . He learned about the law , the nature of witness and forensic evidence , and when such evidence was ruled admissible or inadmissible , and why .
Attending IRA trials , he was able to identify IRA supporters in the public gallery who could later be targeted for assassination .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, February 20, 2004
RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .
Ireland 1915 ; The Irish Volunteer Movement had split ; approximately 170,000 men stayed with John Redmond and fought with England in the belief that to do so would guarantee a form of 'Home Rule' for Ireland - but about 10,000 men broke away as they had no faith in Redmond's plan .
Months earlier , British 'Sir' George Richardson had taken command of the Ulster Volunteer Force (a pro-British militia) and had landed about 25,000 rifles and two-and-a-half million rounds of ammunition at Larne in County Antrim - when the British Government in Westminster attempted to move against the UVF (as they had no control over them then) , British Army Officers mutinied in objection ...
Meanwhile , elsewhere in Ireland , other forces were recruiting .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
".......The RIC Sergeant , Kelly , took delight in burning down Irish Tricolour Flags which the locals put up in the area . One of our men , Con Sean Jer , placed a 'booby trap' device in a Tricolour flag and hung it high in Ballyvourney ....... "
" RIC man Kelly came across the flag and , as usual , set fire to it . He watched with evident satisfaction as the flame climbed upwards towards the green . Already , the white was more than half eaten . Suddenly , he found himself seated on the road as if a giant had pushed him backwards . The flag had disappeared with a loud explosion . Thoughtfully he arose and went home ...
The next day he passed by the Cross again . A new flag flew from the old staff . He did not bring his torch to burn it . He let it wave in triumph until it wore away . Now he was coming at a smart rate down Rath Hill . Two men with guns called on him to pull up . He tried to get through ......." (MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(9 of 16).
The RUC , though they knew not the perpetrators of the Shankill killings('1169...' Comment - those slaughtered by the gang were Catholics ; all members of that religion were suspected by the RUC to be either active IRA members or supporters of same - the 'Butcher Gang' was , 'unofficially' , doing the work of the Six-County State . The RUC were not too concerned .) recognised from a very early stage that they were dealing , not with ordinary terrorists , but with psychopaths .
" We're looking for somebody more brutal than the average terrorist and we'd better get to him , " RUC Detective Inspector Jimmy Nesbitt told his men as the first victims of the serial killers were found . " It represents for me a new degree of cruelty . We have seen victims who have been killed with concrete blocks , stabbed , shot or beaten to death , but the sight of this ....stirs something inside me which makes me feel cold , " Nesbitt said .
Speaking later , another RUC man recalled : " I knew I was witnessing something different , a more personal type of killing . " (MORE LATER).
Ireland 1915 ; The Irish Volunteer Movement had split ; approximately 170,000 men stayed with John Redmond and fought with England in the belief that to do so would guarantee a form of 'Home Rule' for Ireland - but about 10,000 men broke away as they had no faith in Redmond's plan .
Months earlier , British 'Sir' George Richardson had taken command of the Ulster Volunteer Force (a pro-British militia) and had landed about 25,000 rifles and two-and-a-half million rounds of ammunition at Larne in County Antrim - when the British Government in Westminster attempted to move against the UVF (as they had no control over them then) , British Army Officers mutinied in objection ...
Meanwhile , elsewhere in Ireland , other forces were recruiting .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
INCHIGEELA.......
".......The RIC Sergeant , Kelly , took delight in burning down Irish Tricolour Flags which the locals put up in the area . One of our men , Con Sean Jer , placed a 'booby trap' device in a Tricolour flag and hung it high in Ballyvourney ....... "
" RIC man Kelly came across the flag and , as usual , set fire to it . He watched with evident satisfaction as the flame climbed upwards towards the green . Already , the white was more than half eaten . Suddenly , he found himself seated on the road as if a giant had pushed him backwards . The flag had disappeared with a loud explosion . Thoughtfully he arose and went home ...
The next day he passed by the Cross again . A new flag flew from the old staff . He did not bring his torch to burn it . He let it wave in triumph until it wore away . Now he was coming at a smart rate down Rath Hill . Two men with guns called on him to pull up . He tried to get through ......." (MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(9 of 16).
The RUC , though they knew not the perpetrators of the Shankill killings('1169...' Comment - those slaughtered by the gang were Catholics ; all members of that religion were suspected by the RUC to be either active IRA members or supporters of same - the 'Butcher Gang' was , 'unofficially' , doing the work of the Six-County State . The RUC were not too concerned .) recognised from a very early stage that they were dealing , not with ordinary terrorists , but with psychopaths .
" We're looking for somebody more brutal than the average terrorist and we'd better get to him , " RUC Detective Inspector Jimmy Nesbitt told his men as the first victims of the serial killers were found . " It represents for me a new degree of cruelty . We have seen victims who have been killed with concrete blocks , stabbed , shot or beaten to death , but the sight of this ....stirs something inside me which makes me feel cold , " Nesbitt said .
Speaking later , another RUC man recalled : " I knew I was witnessing something different , a more personal type of killing . " (MORE LATER).
Thursday, February 19, 2004
JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......
.......Three members of the Dublin Brigade IRA had been picked to do a fund-raising job in July 1943 ; Jackie Griffith , Charlie Kerins and Archie Doyle . A wages van delivered cash to a Dublin cigarette factory on a regular basis , at a set time .......
Each one of the three IRA men were on pushbikes when they intercepted the van at the gates of the factory and held it up ; they cycled off with over £5000 between them ! That wages-van job (1st July 1943 , a Thursday) was to be Jackie Griffith's last job for the Republican Movement ; he was not to live past the coming weekend ....
On Sunday , 4th July , 1943 , Jackie Griffith left the house in Ballsbridge , Dublin , where he was staying , on a pushbike , at around 1pm , to meet other Republicans in the Phibsboro area of the city . As he was cycling down Holles Street he was spotted by a car load of Free State Special Branch men - without warning , one of them rolled-down the car window and took aim at Jackie Griffith with a Thompson sub-machine gun and emptied a full ammunition-clip in his direction .
The young Volunteer , 21 years of age , was dead before his body reached the ground ; he had been hit by sixteen of the bullets fired at him . That year (1943) marked the eleventh successive year that De Valera and Fianna Fail had been in power in the then twenty-one year old Free State . They killed the wrong twenty-one year old in 1943 .....
How long must we travel ,
'till our journeys done ?
How long must we struggle ,
'till the fight is won ?
May we live in peace again , may we live to see ,
this land of ours , our Homeland ,
a true democracy .
(From 'Freedom Walk', as published in 'Songs of Resistance' , 1982).
[END of - ' JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......'].
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
".......The second raid on Inchigeela RIC Barracks had been postponed at very short notice . We were annoyed and angry , and wanted to take some action against the British ......."
" We came home in a very bad humour . The following day , as if to add insult to injury , the RIC Sergeant from Ballyvourney Barracks cycled alone to Renanirree , about half way between Ballyvourney and Inchigeela . Jamie Moynihan of Gortnascarthy and Dan Sullivan , his neighbour , had been with us at Inchigeela . They got the news that the RIC Sergeant had passed up the hill at Rath about a mile away . Taking shot-guns with them , they waited at the foot of Rath for his return . That RIC man , whose name was Flynn , had , from an early date , been very active against the rising tide of opposition to the old order .
He took a particular delight in the destruction of the Irish Tricolour when it was displayed in his area . He had a specially made torch mounted on a long staff for the purpose , and he always carried out the operation himself . At length , however , Con Sean Jer cured him of his incendiary tendencies . Con hung a Tricolour on the telephone wires at the Village Cross of Ballyvourney . The RIC Sergeant had already burned down several of the flags from the same setting . Had he looked closely , he might have noticed a 'fold' or 'wrinkle' in the middle of the white band of his latest target . Evidently , he had noticed nothing , for he applied his torch .
Within the fold was a white paper which wrapped half a stick of gelignite complete with detonator and a very short bit of fuse ......."
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(8 of 16).
Martin Dillon , the Author of this book , confirms Lennie Murphy's pleasure in these sadistic practices : " There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Lennie Murphy committed the crimes firstly for pleasure and secondly for information . Many studies have indicated that sadists need aggression and I believe that in Northern Ireland (sic) the conflict provides the trigger for this aggression . It also allows misfits to find social acceptance by expressing the prejudice which is not endemic but socially acceptable . It has enabled many people who cannot escape prejudice to find a security within it and to accept its manifestations as a badge of patriotism . "
(MORE LATER).
.......Three members of the Dublin Brigade IRA had been picked to do a fund-raising job in July 1943 ; Jackie Griffith , Charlie Kerins and Archie Doyle . A wages van delivered cash to a Dublin cigarette factory on a regular basis , at a set time .......
Each one of the three IRA men were on pushbikes when they intercepted the van at the gates of the factory and held it up ; they cycled off with over £5000 between them ! That wages-van job (1st July 1943 , a Thursday) was to be Jackie Griffith's last job for the Republican Movement ; he was not to live past the coming weekend ....
On Sunday , 4th July , 1943 , Jackie Griffith left the house in Ballsbridge , Dublin , where he was staying , on a pushbike , at around 1pm , to meet other Republicans in the Phibsboro area of the city . As he was cycling down Holles Street he was spotted by a car load of Free State Special Branch men - without warning , one of them rolled-down the car window and took aim at Jackie Griffith with a Thompson sub-machine gun and emptied a full ammunition-clip in his direction .
The young Volunteer , 21 years of age , was dead before his body reached the ground ; he had been hit by sixteen of the bullets fired at him . That year (1943) marked the eleventh successive year that De Valera and Fianna Fail had been in power in the then twenty-one year old Free State . They killed the wrong twenty-one year old in 1943 .....
How long must we travel ,
'till our journeys done ?
How long must we struggle ,
'till the fight is won ?
May we live in peace again , may we live to see ,
this land of ours , our Homeland ,
a true democracy .
(From 'Freedom Walk', as published in 'Songs of Resistance' , 1982).
[END of - ' JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......'].
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
INCHIGEELA.......
".......The second raid on Inchigeela RIC Barracks had been postponed at very short notice . We were annoyed and angry , and wanted to take some action against the British ......."
" We came home in a very bad humour . The following day , as if to add insult to injury , the RIC Sergeant from Ballyvourney Barracks cycled alone to Renanirree , about half way between Ballyvourney and Inchigeela . Jamie Moynihan of Gortnascarthy and Dan Sullivan , his neighbour , had been with us at Inchigeela . They got the news that the RIC Sergeant had passed up the hill at Rath about a mile away . Taking shot-guns with them , they waited at the foot of Rath for his return . That RIC man , whose name was Flynn , had , from an early date , been very active against the rising tide of opposition to the old order .
He took a particular delight in the destruction of the Irish Tricolour when it was displayed in his area . He had a specially made torch mounted on a long staff for the purpose , and he always carried out the operation himself . At length , however , Con Sean Jer cured him of his incendiary tendencies . Con hung a Tricolour on the telephone wires at the Village Cross of Ballyvourney . The RIC Sergeant had already burned down several of the flags from the same setting . Had he looked closely , he might have noticed a 'fold' or 'wrinkle' in the middle of the white band of his latest target . Evidently , he had noticed nothing , for he applied his torch .
Within the fold was a white paper which wrapped half a stick of gelignite complete with detonator and a very short bit of fuse ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(8 of 16).
Martin Dillon , the Author of this book , confirms Lennie Murphy's pleasure in these sadistic practices : " There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Lennie Murphy committed the crimes firstly for pleasure and secondly for information . Many studies have indicated that sadists need aggression and I believe that in Northern Ireland (sic) the conflict provides the trigger for this aggression . It also allows misfits to find social acceptance by expressing the prejudice which is not endemic but socially acceptable . It has enabled many people who cannot escape prejudice to find a security within it and to accept its manifestations as a badge of patriotism . "
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......
.......A colleague of Jackie Griffith's , Charlie Kerins , was put to death by Fianna Fail on 1st December 1944 - they paid an English hangman to do the job .......
Jackie Griffith and Charlie Kerins knew each other and worked closely together for a period in the early 1940's . The Free Staters were determined to put Griffith out of action as they felt humiliated by his jail-break (2nd November 1942) ; their informers told them that Jackie Griffith was staying in a safe-house in Margaret Place , in Dublin , and they raided there (in mid-1943) looking for him - he was'nt there . But the Staters were getting closer ....
Meanwhile , a fund-raising job had been planned by the Dublin Brigade IRA ; three men had been picked for the operation - Jackie Griffith , Charlie Kerins and Archie Doyle . An IRA Reconnaissance Unit had observed that a wages van kept to a routine on its deliveries - it was known that , on 1st July , 1943 , a few thousand pounds in cash would be dropped-off to the management of the Player Wills Factory on the South Circular Road in Dublin ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
".......We learned from our failed attack on the RIC Barracks ; but so did they - they re-inforced the weak-spots we had 'pointed-out' to them ......."
" I doubt not , if the matter had been left in the hands of our own local Battalion , that we would have regained our lost ground . But now the Brigade took a hand and told us to sit up and learn a lesson . Young as we were , we were yet anxious to improve our education . Some of us had indeed made certain suggestions for the overcoming of the new difficulties . We were told to watch our elders working and profit thereby . We humbly acquiesced and waited for the demonstration ...
On the night of 7th March we had again encircled Inchigeela RIC Barracks . I stood with a storming party drawn up at the edge of the barbed wire . Three IRA Brigade Officers were busy with a trestle of guncotton . While they inserted the primers and detonators with the fuses , I wondered with others how they were to cross the wire . Provision had been made (on paper) to block the bombing loophole . Another trestle stood by to effect this . But the wire had yet to be crossed . Very soon all was ready ...
The taller trestle stood like a Roman standard over our heads . I looked higher up to see the kites , but it was to dark . The 'brass hats' moved to the edge of the wire and stopped . Now was our time to learn something of the science of tactics . But we were to learn nothing . Very quietly we were withdrawn again . Ourselves alone knew of our discomfiture . The kites went home hungry ......."
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(7 of 16).
Despite warnings from 'Ulster Volunteer Force' superiors that only armed Republicans were to be considered as the enemy , the bulk of the Butchers' victims , in fact , were innocent civilians , picked up at random , easy pickings - " If you can't get an IRA man , get a Taig . "
Lennie Murphy was 'blooded' first on July 21 , 1972 , when , with other members of Loyalist paramilitary organisations , he was involved in the torture and killing of a 34-year-old Catholic , Francis Arthurs , who was picked-up by a Loyalist gang after leaving a Catholic area and taken to the Lawnbrook Social Club , a Loyalist club off the Shankill Road .
Francis Arthurs was beaten severely by a large group of drinkers , stabbed repeatedly by Murphy , interrogated , tortured and shot . That night , those present have said , Murphy was seen to demonstrate that he could cause the victim the most pain by hitting him harder than anyone else . Joe Bennett , who later became one of the major UVF 'supergrasses' , said that Lennie Murphy stood out as the most barbarous gang member present .
(MORE LATER).
.......A colleague of Jackie Griffith's , Charlie Kerins , was put to death by Fianna Fail on 1st December 1944 - they paid an English hangman to do the job .......
Jackie Griffith and Charlie Kerins knew each other and worked closely together for a period in the early 1940's . The Free Staters were determined to put Griffith out of action as they felt humiliated by his jail-break (2nd November 1942) ; their informers told them that Jackie Griffith was staying in a safe-house in Margaret Place , in Dublin , and they raided there (in mid-1943) looking for him - he was'nt there . But the Staters were getting closer ....
Meanwhile , a fund-raising job had been planned by the Dublin Brigade IRA ; three men had been picked for the operation - Jackie Griffith , Charlie Kerins and Archie Doyle . An IRA Reconnaissance Unit had observed that a wages van kept to a routine on its deliveries - it was known that , on 1st July , 1943 , a few thousand pounds in cash would be dropped-off to the management of the Player Wills Factory on the South Circular Road in Dublin ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
INCHIGEELA.......
".......We learned from our failed attack on the RIC Barracks ; but so did they - they re-inforced the weak-spots we had 'pointed-out' to them ......."
" I doubt not , if the matter had been left in the hands of our own local Battalion , that we would have regained our lost ground . But now the Brigade took a hand and told us to sit up and learn a lesson . Young as we were , we were yet anxious to improve our education . Some of us had indeed made certain suggestions for the overcoming of the new difficulties . We were told to watch our elders working and profit thereby . We humbly acquiesced and waited for the demonstration ...
On the night of 7th March we had again encircled Inchigeela RIC Barracks . I stood with a storming party drawn up at the edge of the barbed wire . Three IRA Brigade Officers were busy with a trestle of guncotton . While they inserted the primers and detonators with the fuses , I wondered with others how they were to cross the wire . Provision had been made (on paper) to block the bombing loophole . Another trestle stood by to effect this . But the wire had yet to be crossed . Very soon all was ready ...
The taller trestle stood like a Roman standard over our heads . I looked higher up to see the kites , but it was to dark . The 'brass hats' moved to the edge of the wire and stopped . Now was our time to learn something of the science of tactics . But we were to learn nothing . Very quietly we were withdrawn again . Ourselves alone knew of our discomfiture . The kites went home hungry ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(7 of 16).
Despite warnings from 'Ulster Volunteer Force' superiors that only armed Republicans were to be considered as the enemy , the bulk of the Butchers' victims , in fact , were innocent civilians , picked up at random , easy pickings - " If you can't get an IRA man , get a Taig . "
Lennie Murphy was 'blooded' first on July 21 , 1972 , when , with other members of Loyalist paramilitary organisations , he was involved in the torture and killing of a 34-year-old Catholic , Francis Arthurs , who was picked-up by a Loyalist gang after leaving a Catholic area and taken to the Lawnbrook Social Club , a Loyalist club off the Shankill Road .
Francis Arthurs was beaten severely by a large group of drinkers , stabbed repeatedly by Murphy , interrogated , tortured and shot . That night , those present have said , Murphy was seen to demonstrate that he could cause the victim the most pain by hitting him harder than anyone else . Joe Bennett , who later became one of the major UVF 'supergrasses' , said that Lennie Murphy stood out as the most barbarous gang member present .
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......
.......Working in Carlow as Leinster Co-ordinator for the IRA , Jackie Griffith met Charlie Kerins ; in June 1944 , Kerins was arrested by the Free Staters and 'tried' before a Free State Military Tribunal .......
Charlie Kerins was sentenced to be put to death by hanging . They had no evidence against him , but someone had to pay ; a number of IRA men had already been charged at various times during the previous two years , with O'Brien's shooting , but nothing came of those charges . By putting Charlie Kerins to death , the Free Staters were sending a signal to their colleagues in Westminster of just how serious they were in dealing with " the dissidents " .
Indeed , it was to the Brits that Eamonn De Valera turned when he failed to get an Irishman to carry-out the death sentence on Charlie Kerins ; De Valera paid for an English hangman to do the job and , on 1st December 1944 , at twenty-six years young , Charlie Kerins became the last Irish Republican Soldier to die on the gallows for Ireland . His remains were re-interred in Rath Cemetery in the Tralee Republican Plot in September 1948 . And , to this day , De Valera's Fianna Fail party still describe themselves , on all their literature , as ' The Republican Party ' ! However , they are not alone , in Leinster House , in that respect.
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
".......Our raid on the RIC Barracks was going nowhere , and time was against us . Some of our Unit tried to break down one of the barrack walls , but with no success ......."
" Undoubtedly , there were alternative methods to the breaching of the barrack-wall , and had the failure of that failure been foreseen , others , like petrol bombs through the roof , could have been quickly substituted . It was my first acquaintance with Conny Creedon , a merchant in the village . He came out to the middle of the village street to offer us four or five barrels of paraffin he had in stock .
We returned home sadder but certainly much wiser men . We had gained nothing from the enemy but a little experience which would prove useful to us . In future we would not put our trust in numbers , but rather in quality . The following day we learned of the capture of Carrigtwohill RIC Barracks . With no better tool than a wall brad , the men at the wall had made a small hole in it . Inserting some gelignite , they had blasted a large breach in it . Through the breach a small IRA Unit entered and the RIC surrendered .
We were not to get again the opportunity we lost that night . The RIC took steps to strengthen their defensive positions , and the lesson of Carrigtwohill was not lost on them either . High up in the windowless gable-wall , they broke out a small loophole for dropping bombs . This they lightly plastered over again . From the gable outwards they threw a heavy entanglement of barbed wire . They also re-inforced the garrison ......."
(MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(6 of 16).
The "Murphy Gang" , in its heyday , included Robert "Basher" Bates and "Big Sam" McAllister , who joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (a pro-British murder-gang) at Murphy's bidding . Later , they were joined by William Moore , a taxi driver , who had learned to use a butcher's knife in a previous job . Meeting in The Brown Bear pub , the 'Brown Bear Gang' soon numbered close to two dozen men , mostly in their 20's - but one as young as 14 - and some who were not known to the RUC (pro-British 'Police') until such time as the Butcher gang were caught .
Officially , 'Brown Bear Gang' members were used by the UVF to carry out executions , bombings , assassinations and punishment beatings , to deal with troublemakers within the pro-British paramilitary ranks . 'Punishments' then might mean kneecappings , beatings with baseball bats , the use of a power drill on the kneecaps , or "breeze-blocking" - where concrete blocks were dropped on to the hands , or heads , of offenders .
"It is an incredible fact that , within the subculture of the paramilitary world , punishments of varying degrees were applicable according to the gravity of the offence . When it came to their respective terror campaigns , no such gradations applied to the atrocities committed " , writes Martin Dillon .
(MORE LATER).
.......Working in Carlow as Leinster Co-ordinator for the IRA , Jackie Griffith met Charlie Kerins ; in June 1944 , Kerins was arrested by the Free Staters and 'tried' before a Free State Military Tribunal .......
Charlie Kerins was sentenced to be put to death by hanging . They had no evidence against him , but someone had to pay ; a number of IRA men had already been charged at various times during the previous two years , with O'Brien's shooting , but nothing came of those charges . By putting Charlie Kerins to death , the Free Staters were sending a signal to their colleagues in Westminster of just how serious they were in dealing with " the dissidents " .
Indeed , it was to the Brits that Eamonn De Valera turned when he failed to get an Irishman to carry-out the death sentence on Charlie Kerins ; De Valera paid for an English hangman to do the job and , on 1st December 1944 , at twenty-six years young , Charlie Kerins became the last Irish Republican Soldier to die on the gallows for Ireland . His remains were re-interred in Rath Cemetery in the Tralee Republican Plot in September 1948 . And , to this day , De Valera's Fianna Fail party still describe themselves , on all their literature , as ' The Republican Party ' ! However , they are not alone , in Leinster House , in that respect.
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
INCHIGEELA.......
".......Our raid on the RIC Barracks was going nowhere , and time was against us . Some of our Unit tried to break down one of the barrack walls , but with no success ......."
" Undoubtedly , there were alternative methods to the breaching of the barrack-wall , and had the failure of that failure been foreseen , others , like petrol bombs through the roof , could have been quickly substituted . It was my first acquaintance with Conny Creedon , a merchant in the village . He came out to the middle of the village street to offer us four or five barrels of paraffin he had in stock .
We returned home sadder but certainly much wiser men . We had gained nothing from the enemy but a little experience which would prove useful to us . In future we would not put our trust in numbers , but rather in quality . The following day we learned of the capture of Carrigtwohill RIC Barracks . With no better tool than a wall brad , the men at the wall had made a small hole in it . Inserting some gelignite , they had blasted a large breach in it . Through the breach a small IRA Unit entered and the RIC surrendered .
We were not to get again the opportunity we lost that night . The RIC took steps to strengthen their defensive positions , and the lesson of Carrigtwohill was not lost on them either . High up in the windowless gable-wall , they broke out a small loophole for dropping bombs . This they lightly plastered over again . From the gable outwards they threw a heavy entanglement of barbed wire . They also re-inforced the garrison ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(6 of 16).
The "Murphy Gang" , in its heyday , included Robert "Basher" Bates and "Big Sam" McAllister , who joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (a pro-British murder-gang) at Murphy's bidding . Later , they were joined by William Moore , a taxi driver , who had learned to use a butcher's knife in a previous job . Meeting in The Brown Bear pub , the 'Brown Bear Gang' soon numbered close to two dozen men , mostly in their 20's - but one as young as 14 - and some who were not known to the RUC (pro-British 'Police') until such time as the Butcher gang were caught .
Officially , 'Brown Bear Gang' members were used by the UVF to carry out executions , bombings , assassinations and punishment beatings , to deal with troublemakers within the pro-British paramilitary ranks . 'Punishments' then might mean kneecappings , beatings with baseball bats , the use of a power drill on the kneecaps , or "breeze-blocking" - where concrete blocks were dropped on to the hands , or heads , of offenders .
"It is an incredible fact that , within the subculture of the paramilitary world , punishments of varying degrees were applicable according to the gravity of the offence . When it came to their respective terror campaigns , no such gradations applied to the atrocities committed " , writes Martin Dillon .
(MORE LATER).
Monday, February 16, 2004
JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......
.......After his jail-break from Mountjoy Jail (on Sunday , 2nd November , 1942) , Jackie Griffith laid low in Dublin for a few weeks . Then , on 26th December 1942 , he cycled to Carlow to work from there as Leinster Co-ordinator for the IRA .......
In that position , in Carlow , Jackie Griffith met , and worked with , another Irish Republican legend - Charlie Kerins ; a Kerry man , (from Tralee) who was (within a year of meeting Jackie Griffith , while the latter was working as Leinster Co-ordinator) to become Chief-of-Staff of the IRA . In June 1944 , Charlie Kerins was arrested by the Free Staters and accused , before a Free State Military Tribunal , with the shooting dead of Free State Detective Sergeant Denis ('Dinny') O'Brien , who was executed by the IRA on 9th September 1942 as he left his home in Ballyboden , Rathfarnham , Dublin .
When his 'trial' was over , the 'Court' was adjourned for a few hours to allow for Charlie Kerins to consider making a plea of mercy on his own behalf ; when the circus re-convened , Charlie Kerins did indeed take the floor - he stated : " You could have adjourned it for six years as far as I'm concerned , as my attitude towards this Court will always be the same ."
The Free Staters sentenced Charlie Kerins to be put to death by hanging ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
".......The attack on the RIC Barracks was not going as planned ; we should have caught them off-guard , but two carelessly-aimed shots put paid to that ......."
" Now they were settled down behind their loop-holed steel shutters , and were busy with rifle and small hand grenades . Two of their comrades were in houses in the village when the firing started . One of them , a man named Tobin , tried to get back to barracks , but he was shot down . He later recovered from rather serious wounds caused by shotgun slugs . The other RIC man in the village hid himself and was not found . A useless and prolonged exchange of fire was maintained by some of our men with the barracks garrison . The RIC bombs exploded with great violence quite near some of the Volunteers . At length a humorist amongst them remarked - " Those things must be all empty ! " This evoked a hearty laugh which the RIC Sergeant must have heard , for he shouted : " Fire away , lads , glass is cheap , " to show that his own morale was sound .
In vain we waited for news from a party of picked men who had been sent to breach one of the gables . Later we learned that , just as they had started to work with a will to break down the wall , some Volunteer had come and shouted an order to them to retire by the way they had come . This they had reluctantly obeyed , and when the IRA Officer in charge , who had gone on a circuit of the barracks , returned , they had gone . Mystified ,he , with others , started a search for the men . They had taken the tools with them , and by the time they were located it was rather late in the morning ........" (MORE LATER).
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(5 of 16).
According to Martin Dillon , the author of this book - " Lennie Murphy was prepared to shoot anyone ; man , woman or child . Or a blind man . As long as he could reasonably establish the religion of the victim . " Victim after victim was killed in the same brutal way - hacked through the throat with a butcher's knife . So callous were Murphy's men , so brutalised , that , while their victims waited , it was not unknown for gang members to stop for a cup of tea or to watch football on TV .
Belfast is so much a city divided that , tragically , sectarian gangs are able to identify the religion of intended victims simply by the streets on which they are walking or working . Even on public routes , people travel towards either Protestant or Catholic housing estates . " Hundreds of people " , estimates Martin Dillon , had their fate sealed by this ghettoisation - and this was the basis on which The Shankill Butchers operated and selected their victims .
(MORE LATER).
.......After his jail-break from Mountjoy Jail (on Sunday , 2nd November , 1942) , Jackie Griffith laid low in Dublin for a few weeks . Then , on 26th December 1942 , he cycled to Carlow to work from there as Leinster Co-ordinator for the IRA .......
In that position , in Carlow , Jackie Griffith met , and worked with , another Irish Republican legend - Charlie Kerins ; a Kerry man , (from Tralee) who was (within a year of meeting Jackie Griffith , while the latter was working as Leinster Co-ordinator) to become Chief-of-Staff of the IRA . In June 1944 , Charlie Kerins was arrested by the Free Staters and accused , before a Free State Military Tribunal , with the shooting dead of Free State Detective Sergeant Denis ('Dinny') O'Brien , who was executed by the IRA on 9th September 1942 as he left his home in Ballyboden , Rathfarnham , Dublin .
When his 'trial' was over , the 'Court' was adjourned for a few hours to allow for Charlie Kerins to consider making a plea of mercy on his own behalf ; when the circus re-convened , Charlie Kerins did indeed take the floor - he stated : " You could have adjourned it for six years as far as I'm concerned , as my attitude towards this Court will always be the same ."
The Free Staters sentenced Charlie Kerins to be put to death by hanging ....... (MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
INCHIGEELA.......
".......The attack on the RIC Barracks was not going as planned ; we should have caught them off-guard , but two carelessly-aimed shots put paid to that ......."
" Now they were settled down behind their loop-holed steel shutters , and were busy with rifle and small hand grenades . Two of their comrades were in houses in the village when the firing started . One of them , a man named Tobin , tried to get back to barracks , but he was shot down . He later recovered from rather serious wounds caused by shotgun slugs . The other RIC man in the village hid himself and was not found . A useless and prolonged exchange of fire was maintained by some of our men with the barracks garrison . The RIC bombs exploded with great violence quite near some of the Volunteers . At length a humorist amongst them remarked - " Those things must be all empty ! " This evoked a hearty laugh which the RIC Sergeant must have heard , for he shouted : " Fire away , lads , glass is cheap , " to show that his own morale was sound .
In vain we waited for news from a party of picked men who had been sent to breach one of the gables . Later we learned that , just as they had started to work with a will to break down the wall , some Volunteer had come and shouted an order to them to retire by the way they had come . This they had reluctantly obeyed , and when the IRA Officer in charge , who had gone on a circuit of the barracks , returned , they had gone . Mystified ,he , with others , started a search for the men . They had taken the tools with them , and by the time they were located it was rather late in the morning ........" (MORE LATER).
THE BUTCHER BOYS .
FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .
(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).
(5 of 16).
According to Martin Dillon , the author of this book - " Lennie Murphy was prepared to shoot anyone ; man , woman or child . Or a blind man . As long as he could reasonably establish the religion of the victim . " Victim after victim was killed in the same brutal way - hacked through the throat with a butcher's knife . So callous were Murphy's men , so brutalised , that , while their victims waited , it was not unknown for gang members to stop for a cup of tea or to watch football on TV .
Belfast is so much a city divided that , tragically , sectarian gangs are able to identify the religion of intended victims simply by the streets on which they are walking or working . Even on public routes , people travel towards either Protestant or Catholic housing estates . " Hundreds of people " , estimates Martin Dillon , had their fate sealed by this ghettoisation - and this was the basis on which The Shankill Butchers operated and selected their victims .
(MORE LATER).
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