In June, 1920, a Lieutenant Colonel, a Mr Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth, 34, (pictured), was sent from London to Ireland, to deal with "the troublesome Irish", as he had been seconded by his political bosses as the new 'RIC Divisional Commander for Munster'.
He rallied his somewhat demoralised troops in Listowel Barracks, in County Kerry, and delivered a 'tally-ho!' speech to the poor devils -
"Sinn Fein has had all the sport up to the present and we are going to have the sport now. I am promised as many troops from England as I require, thousands are coming daily. I am getting 7,000 police* from England.
Police and military will patrol the country at least five nights a week. They are not to confine themselves to the main roads but take across the country, lie in ambush, and when civilians are seen approaching shout "Hands up!".
Should the order not be immediately obeyed, shoot, and shoot with effect. If persons approaching carry their hands in their pockets and are in any way suspicious looking, shoot them down.
You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped and you are bound to get the right persons sometimes.
The more you shoot the better I will like you ; and I assure you that no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man and I will guarantee that your names will not be given at the inquest..." (*Black And Tans)
Mr Smyth had been sent here to 'shake up' the manner in which the RIC were attempting to get the better of the IRA and, as part of his 'new broom' approach (his 'Order Number 5', issued on the 17th June 1920), he stated -
"A police man (sic) is perfectly justified in shooting any man who he had good reason to believe is carrying arms and does not immediately throw up his arms when ordered. Every proper precaution for protection will be given to police at inquests so that no information will be given to Sinn Féin as to the identity of individuals.."
Mr Smyth's 'shoot on sight, with impunity' instructions came to the attention of Sean O'Hegarty (pictured), the Acting Officer Commanding of the Cork Number 1 Brigade of the IRA, and a Unit was formed to have a chat with Mr Smyth, the main players of which were Sean Culhane, John O'Connell, Sean O'Donoghue, Daniel ('Sandow') O'Donovan and Cornelius O'Sullivan.
Mr Smyth's fondness for being wined and dined in the 'Country Club' (known as the 'Conservative Club') on the South Mall, in Cork City, was noted.
A friendly waiter in that Club, a Mr Ned Fitzgerald, was contacted, and a plan was put in place.
On Saturday, 17th July, 1920, as Mr Smyth and his friends were having a bite to eat and drink and chinwagging in the Club, IRA Volunteer Daniel ('Sandow') O'Donovan walked up to him, shot him dead and wounded a Mr George Craig, an RIC 'County Inspector'.
Unsubstantiated legend has it that, as he approached Mr Smyth, Volunteer O'Donovan all but introduced himself, and said - "Your orders were to shoot on sight. You are in sight now, so make ready..."
Later that day (and on the next day, 18th July 1920) the Crown Forces (British Army and RIC members) sought their revenge on the citizens of Cork.
A Mr James Burke, an ex-British Army soldier from Cork, was killed by British troops on North Main St in Cork City, and it was said at the time that his killers used his blood to write their regimental name on a nearby wall. The inquest into Mr Burke's death found that he was killed by a bayonet- wielding soldier and that "it was unjustified".
At his funeral, almost 5,000 Cork native ex-British Army men and others marched behind his hearse.
Mr Burke's death led to hand-to-hand fighting between off-duty British Army soldiers and Cork-native ex-British Army soldiers over the next few days and, during these disturbances, another ex-British Army soldier, a Mr William McGrath, was shot for no reason from a passing British Army vehicle near North Gate Bridge and he died from his wounds on the 23rd July.
A young IRA Volunteer, John P. O'Brien, was killed (on the night of the 18th July) by British Army machine gun fire in King Street (now MacCurtain Street) when he was going to aid an injured woman.
Incidentally, Mr Smyth's brother, also a British Army operative - a Major George Osbert Sterling Smyth DSO, MC ETC ETC (!) pictured, who was stationed in India at the time - on hearing of his brothers death in Ireland, made arrangements to travel to this country to seek revenge on those who had killed his brother.
Eleven days after his brothers shooting, Major George left his post in India and made his way to Dublin where, he believed, apparently, the IRA Volunteers involved in the Country Club operation could be found.
On the 12th October (1920), he was part of a Crown Force raiding party (9 armed men) which raided a house in Drumcondra, on the corner of Home Farm Road and Upper Drumcondra Road, in Dublin, at about 2am, and Major George was shot dead (by Dan Breen and Seán Treacy, who were sheltering there) as was a Captain AP White, while a Corporal Worth was wounded.
The examination on the body of Major George showed that a bullet had gone through his chest, through his liver and exited from the right side of his back. The second bullet went through his back from the left side, through his right lung and then through a vertebra.
Death was due to shock and haemorrhage, with even more shock (!) being caused to the 'Establishment' when railway workers refused access for Mr Smyth's body to any of their rolling stock!
Mr Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth was born on the 7th September, in 1885, in Dalhousie, India, and he died on the 17th July, 1920, in Cork, Ireland, working on behalf of the British military. His brother, George, died in Ireland on the 12th October 1920, while also in the employ of the British military.
After large rallies in New York and Boston, Éamon de Valera (and Harry Boland, pictured) set out on a tour of the United States on the 17th July, 1919, visiting many states, capital cities and addressing large crowds, rallying support for the Irish struggle against the British military and political presence in Ireland.
Mr de Valera had arrived in New York on board the SS Lapland, having been smuggled aboard in Liverpool, and spent the nine-day journey concealed in the ship's boiler room.
On arrival, he met with Harry Boland and Joseph McGarrity in the back room of Phelan's Bar on 10th Avenue, and the group then moved to Liam Mellows’ apartment on East 39th Street where they met with John Devoy.
Between July and August 1919, Mr de Valera and his entourage travelled over 6,000 miles from New York to San Francisco, addressing huge crowds at dozens of venues, filling Madison Square Garden to capacity and receiving a thirty-minute standing ovation from about 25,000 people in Chicago's 'Wrigley Field'.
And, actually, at the Madison Square Garden rally, 15,000 people packed the venue and a further estimated 10,000 people waited outside, bringing the traffic on 7th Avenue to a standstill.
Mr de Valera's presence in America was kept secret for the first 10 days during which he visited his mother in Rochester and his half-brother, Fr Thomas Wheelwright, in Boston, and made strategic visits to Cardinal James Gibbons in Baltimore and Senator James Borah in Washington.
He prepared for the tour with the help of Mr Joseph McGarrity in Philadelphia where Mr McGarrity told him - "From the moment you leave this house, you go as President of the Irish Republic..."
That was 1919 ; eight years later, Mr de Valera would have been contacting most of the same people to explain why it was he was selling out that same Republic...
==========================
'SINN FÉIN STATEMENT.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
Mr McAteer is quoted as saying that he is.. "...surprised that groups and organisations which display the most contemptuous disregard for parliamentary institutions are now showing the most interest in this coming election.."
Sinn Féin is surprised that Mr McAteer displays such ignorance of Sinn Féin policy and what Sinn Féin stands for.
Sinn Féin is not contemptuous of parliamentary institutions, except when such institutions happen to be British created and British controlled and purport to legislate for the Irish people...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 17th July, 1920, an RIC member with 13 years 'service', a Mr James F. Masterson (35) was been driven from Limerick to Galway to begin a holiday break with his wife and two children.
As the car was travelling through the townland of Coolanoran, in Newcastle West, County Limerick, it drove into an IRA ambush position and Mr Masterson was shot dead.
Apparently, it later transpired that Mr Masterson was supplying the IRA with information on Crown Force activity ; if that was the case, then perhaps the ambush Unit weren't aware that that was the case, or maybe he had been caught out passing false information if, indeed, he was secretly assisting the IRA at all?
Anyway ; the next night his RIC colleagues caused havoc in the town of Newcastle West - Carnegie Library was wrecked and looted and the local creamery was partially burned.
==========================
In 1920 in this country, the British political and military presence was operating practically on a day-to-day basis, being challenged almost hourly by the Republican Courts on the political front and by the IRA on the military front.
Some within the British political and military leadership in Westminster were insisting that military courts should be held in place of the (British) crippled legal (!) system in Ireland but, they were told, to do so would require new legislation, which would take time that they didn't have.
The 'pro-military courts' people suggested that if martial law was declared in Ireland, military courts could be installed practically instantly, and this gave food-for-thought to the 'Top Table' politicians and officers who were loudly whispering about the 'benefits' of doing so.
However, on the 17th July, 1920, their boss, General 'Sir' Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready (pictured), aware of the number of Irish people living in England and also recognising that British people would be concerned that 'if they can do that in Ireland then what's to stop them from doing it here...', let it be known that he had wrote that very day to to the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood, stating -
"I do not for one instant think that the British public would stand for Martial Law (in Ireland) for one week over here..." and, effectively, that notion was dropped for the time being...
==========================
On the 17th July, 1920, the Minister for Finance in the (British 'outlawed') First Dáil Éireann (the 32-County body, definitely not to be confused with the present institution in Kildare Street in Dublin), Mr Michael Collins, announced that the £250,000 loan target issue had been over-subscribed.
Mr Collins announced the winding-up of that loan scheme, stating that the final amount raised overall was £371,849 (equivalent to about €20 million today) describing the exercise as an outstanding success, which it certainly was, considering it had been operated by an 'underground government' in open defiance of an established and hostile British administration.
Mr Collins himself, however, was soon to align himself with that same administration...
==========================
SO, FAREWELL THEN, CELTIC TIGER....
It had to happen, sooner or later.
Most of the pundits and economists were too busy singing the Celtic Tiger's praises to notice, but a few critical observers worried all along about the weaknesses of a boom economy that depended so much on a few companies from one place - the United States.
By Denis O'Hearn.
From 'Magill' Annual 2002.
The proportion of southern Irish workers on low pay also rose after 1987.
Ireland has twice as many workers on low pay than the rest of the EU, and five times more than Scandinavia.
Relative poverty increased along with inequality, and the Irish poverty rate rose to the highest in the EU, with 15.3 per cent of the population living in poverty.
The 'Celtic Tiger' created lots of jobs, and the average Irish family has a higher income today than in 1988 because they have work, but the jobs are still woefully low-paid and terribly insecure.
Many families are better off today only because they have two low-paying jobs in place of one dole cheque. Is that good enough in a boom economy...?
(MORE LATER.)
BEIR BUA...
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
REPUBLICANS AND THE STATE :
In 'Dílseacht', Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said that Arthur Griffith had declared that, if he was elected, he.. "...would keep the Republic in being until after the Free State is established when the people can decide for and against...I want the Republic kept in being until the people can have a free election and give their votes."
As Ruairi put it - "There were express undertakings to maintain the Republic, yet these men's subsequent actions totally belied their words."
The IRA fought a civil war against the new Free State Army but eventually had to end hostilities, and did that by dumping arms without surrendering.
For Irish republicans the legitimate government of Ireland continued to be the Second (All-Ireland) Dáil, the government of the All-Ireland Republic.
The Second Dáil continued to function in the shadows, largely ignored, until December 8th, 1938, when it passed on its powers as the Government of the Republic of Ireland to the Army Council of the IRA...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 17th July, 1922, during a gun-fight between the IRA and Free State forces at Bunahowe on the road between Gort and Ennis in County Clare, IRA Captain Seán ('Jack') O'Halloran (21) (pictured) was killed.
Captain O'Halloran was born, in 1901, in Crusheen, in County CLare, and was a member of the Crusheen Piper Band and had joined the Republican Movement in 1917, operating between the Miltown Malbay and Ennistymon areas.
He is buried in his own native parish church-yard, and respects were paid on behalf of Commandant Peadar O'Loughlin and the members of all ranks of the Mid-North Clare IRA Brigades.
==========================
On the 17th July, 1922, the Free Staters in Leinster House issued two press releases in which they practically bragged about the fact that they had now decided not to "take action" (ie imprison/shoot/execute) anyone "not found in arms" who was campaigning for the All-Ireland Republic.
In other words - 'Protest/campaign against us but only in the manner we allow...'
The second press release was a notification that their army now consisted of 15,000 armed soldiers.
In other words - 'Protest/campaign against us but only in the manner we allow. Or else...'
On the same date, the railway bridges in Yeomanstown, in Naas, and Killeenmore, in Kill, both in County Kildare, were put out of use by the IRA. No press release was issued...
==========================
An IRA Unit, located in Baltinglass (pictured), County Wicklow, came under attack from the Free State Army on the 17th July, 1922.
The Staters had grouped in the town of Donard, about 8 miles away and, using ground troops and aeroplanes - after a battle that lasted for about three hours - the IRA withdrew.
One State soldier was killed, and among the IRA Volunteers captured were two brothers from Kildare Town, John and Michael Breslin, and Volunteer John Rafferty and Volunteer Peter Gill, both from Naas, County Kildare.
That wasn't the first or only such encounter in Baltinglass, County Wicklow, between agents of the Crown and/or their hirelings and Irish rebels -
'...according to Dwyer, McAllister sacrificed his life by standing in the doorway and drawing the soldiers' fire in order that Dwyer might escape, which he did...' : from here.
==========================
Thanks for the visit, and for reading!
Sharon and the team.
REVENGE WAS HIS MOTIVE, AVENGE WAS THEIR OBJECTIVE...
Ireland, 1920's - this British Army man was promoted in rank and sent to Ireland 'to put manners on the Irish'.
And maybe he thought he could do so from the posh club he frequented, or maybe he needed to go there to unwind after a day of handing out 'manners' (!) but, either way, a waiter recognised who he was.
And the waiter also recognised where his duty lay and he was in contact with men who put their duty into action.
And the British Army man's brother believed he, too, had a duty...
...and YOU , too, have a duty (!) - to check back in with us on Wednesday, 17th July 2024, to find out what happened to the British Army man and his brother when they came here, one from shores further than England, with revenge in their hearts and on their minds...
And that's just one of the dozen or so pieces we'll be writing about, from 1798, the 1920's, 1955...oh never mind!
I've lost your attention already, 'cause yer fixated on the British Army man and his brother, ain't ya...?
Good!
Ya can read all about it here, on Wednesday 17th July 2024.
Thanks for the visit, and for reading ; see y'all on the 17th!
Sharon and the team.
ON THIS DATE (10TH JULY) 97 YEARS AGO : FREE STATE MINISTER FOR 'JUSTICE' EXECUTED BY THE IRA.
Kevin Christopher O'Higgins (Caoimhghín Críostóir Ó hUigín, pictured) was 23 years young when he joined the Republican Movement in 1915, and proved himself to be a trusted operative and, unfortunately, also proved the truth in the maxim 'put not your trust in princes' ; he supported the 'Treaty of Surrender' in 1921 to the extent that he managed to keep a straight face when he declared, in relation to his support for that treaty -
"I have not abandoned any political aspirations to which I have given expression in the past, but in the existing circumstances I advise the people to trust to evolution rather than revolution for their attainment..".
But, as expected from such a shabby and false institution as the Free State institution was then, and still is, it was (and is) 'evolution of the self' that O'Higgins and his Free State colleagues were interested in.
When war commenced between Irish republicans and Free Staters in June, 1922, O'Higgins was one of those who signed the paperwork 'authorising' the death sentences on 77 republican POW's (including Rory O'Connor, who had been best man at his wedding) ; O'Higgins and his Leinster House colleagues now considered those they had fought with, against the British, as 'criminals' and were determined to do whatever it took to secure the Free State, as instructed by Westminster.
His father was then shot dead by the IRA, and the family home in Stradbally, in County Laois, was burned to the ground.
There was turmoil in the country, North and South, militarily and politically resulting, in 1927, in Free State soldiers been given ever more of a free reign to impose the wishes of their paymasters in Leinster House, with the passing of the gloriously misnamed 'Public Safety Act'.
In July 1927 a general election was called in the Free State and Fianna Fail won 44 seats to Cosgrave's 47 : de Valera's policy was not to enter the Free State parliament until the Oath of Allegiance to the British monarch was removed but, in that same month, Kevin O' Higgins was assassinated - on the 10th of July, 1927, 97 years ago on this date - and the Free State government passed a law which would force future Leinster House candidates to swear on their nomination that they would take the 'Oath of Allegiance'. In August 1927, de Valera led the Fianna Fail elected representatives, many of them with revolvers in their pockets, into Leinster House and signed the 'Oath of Allegiance' document.
A second general election was held in September 1927 and Fianna Fail increased its vote, winning 57 seats.
The 'Public Safety Act', passed in the Free State assembly by 41 votes to 18 on the 27th of September, 1927, allowed for the State to execute those captured bearing arms against it and permitting State agents 'to punish anyone aiding and abetting attacks on the National (sic) Forces', and/or anyone having possession of arms or explosives 'without the proper authority (or anyone) disobeying an Army General Order'.
'Section 5' of the Act declared that '..every person who is a member of an unlawful association at any time after it has become by virtue of this Act an unlawful association shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof to suffer penal servitude for any term not less than three years and not exceeding five years or imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years..'.
'Section 28' stated that '..any person found guilty by a special court of the offence under the Firearms Act, 1925 (No. 17 of 1925) of having possession of or using or carrying a firearm without holding a firearm certificate therefor, shall if the offence was committed while this Part of this Act is in force be liable to suffer death or penal servitude for life, or any term of years not less than three years, or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years, and shall be sentenced by such court accordingly..' That 'Act' was a politically and morally corrupt piece of legislation and was enacted by a then, and now, politically and morally corrupt political assembly.
Anyway - Kevin O'Higgins, who once described himself as "..the most conservative-minded revolutionary that ever put through a successful (sic) revolution.." was shot by the IRA on his way to Mass at the Church of the Assumption in Booterstown, Co Dublin, and died in his house about five hours later.
The Free State 'intelligence service' was almost certain that he had been shot by Mick Price, the then Director of Intelligence for the IRA. Or Seán Russell. Or Ernie O'Malley, Seán McBride, Éamon de Valera or Frank Aiken but it was revealed, over half-a-century later that, at the same time as O'Higgins was on his way to Mass on that day, three IRA men - Bill Gannon, Archie Doyle and Tim Coughlan - were on their way to a football match when they crossed paths with O'Higgins and took the opportunity to shoot him.
This republican militant-turned-Free-Stater who, in his latter years, dismissed the 'Democratic Programme of the First Dáil' (pictured) as consisting of "mostly poetry" - despite having taking up arms and fighting for the implementation of same - was shot dead by the IRA on Sunday, 10th July, 1927 - 97 years ago on this date.
'SINN FÉIN STATEMENT.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
At the annual convention of the Anti-Partition League held in Belfast on Wednesday, 30th March, the suggestion was made by Mr E. McAteer, Stormont MP, that "the Anti-Partition League should nominate candidates for Mid-Ulster and Fermanagh South-Tyrone which they hold, against all others who advocate abstention."
It is now three years since Sinn Féin made public its determination to contest all twelve constituencies ; for the constituencies of Fermanagh-South Tyrone, to which Mr McAteer refers, two Omagh prisoners, Tom Mitchell and Phil Clarke, have already been selected.
Our purpose in contesting the Westminster General Elections is to give all the people of the Six Counties an opportunity of voicing their opposition to the continued occupation of Irish territory by British troops, and to elect representatives to an All-Ireland Parliament...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 10th July, 1920, a Mr Patrick Kelly was taken prisoner by the IRA in the small town of Craggaknock, in County Clare.
His father, Mr Christopher Kelly, a State 'Justice of the Peace', was contacted and advised that his son would be released from custody when he resigns his State position as a 'JP'.
He does so, and his son is released, a bit shook, but otherwise unharmed.
A more widely known somewhat similar operation was carried-out 14 years later -
'Irish Free State Prosecuting Barrister Kidnapped, Tarred and Tied to Railings Outside Arbour Hill Prison, 1934.
Mr PJ McEnery, the well-known Dublin barrister, who has appeared for the State in recent cases tried by the Military Tribunal, was the victim of a startling affair last night.
While on his way from the Courts to his home at Killiney, Dublin, he was kidnapped by armed men, who forced him into a waiting taxicab.
He was driven back to the city and subsequently was discovered chained to the railings near Arbour Hill Prison (pictured). Tar had been placed upon his head and he was suffering severely from shock...' (From here.)
Revolutionary justice.
==========================
On the 10th July, 1920, the Schull area of Cork was reorganised by the IRA leadership.
That territory was now the operational area of the 7th Battalion of Cork Number 3 Brigade, with Seán Lehane (pictured) as the Officer Commanding, Denis Murphy as the Vice-Commander, Ross Gibbs as the Adjutant and James Hayes as the Quartermaster.
==========================
An RIC 'Sergeant', a Mr John Mooney, in Dungloe, in County Donegal, had forged a reputation for himself with civilians as a 'hardman', but was known in Irish republican circles as a thug.
Two local IRA Volunteers - Frank O'Donnell and John Walsh - were tasked with firing a warning shot at Mr Mooney, to encourage him to cool his ardour.
On the 10th July, 1920, Mr Mooney was approached by the two Volunteers and received "a charge of buck shot in the belly".
Message received, ardour cooled.
==========================
On the 10th July, 1920, the first batch of recruitment advertisements were published in London, seeking members for the Auxiliary Division of the RIC.
In the years following, batches of notifications were published in London (and elsewhere) offering condolences to the families of those who had answered those ads.
==========================
On the 10th July, 1920, two Companies of the British Army's 'Manchester Regiment' (pictured) arrived in Ballincollig in County Cork, two other Companies arrived the next day in Macroom, North Cork and, within a day or two, detachments were stationed in Ballyvourney, Inchigeela and Millstreet.
Within weeks, they were given an Irish welcome -
"Mick the Soldier stood on the rock, feet apart, pouring rapid magazine fire downwards.
Dannie Harrington stood a few yards from him to the west firing more slowly.
Across the road, Con Sean Jer fired six shots from a double-barrelled shotgun while, near him, Jamie Moynihan rapidly worked another.
A British Army Captain, named Airey, was killed beside the driver, who was himself hit twice, in the arm and the neck.
The British Army lorry was by now out of control and it hit the northern rock-face a glancing blow, which tore off a spare wheel mounted on that side.
Swerving across the road, it mounted a low wall which dropped inside to a depth of about fifteen feet - it was 'touch-and-go' for a good distance ; if it toppled in, the survivors would have little fight left in them..." (From here.)
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SO, FAREWELL THEN, CELTIC TIGER....
It had to happen, sooner or later.
Most of the pundits and economists were too busy singing the Celtic Tiger's praises to notice, but a few critical observers worried all along about the weaknesses of a boom economy that depended so much on a few companies from one place - the United States.
By Denis O'Hearn.
From 'Magill' Annual 2002.
In 1999 the three foreign-dominated sectors accounted for less than one per cent of employment growth and in 2000 for only six per cent.
Rather, the vast majority of jobs created under the Celtic Tiger have been in services, mostly filled by women, ofter working part-time or on a fixed contract for low wages.
Both wages and personal incomes became more unequal in the 1990's, and the disposable incomes of the top 40 per cent of households grew twice as quickly as the bottom 40 per cent after 1987.
Measured by the difference between incomes of the richest 10 per cent and the poorest 10 per cent, Ireland (ie the State*) is now the most unequal country* in Europe.
It is second only to the United States within the OECD...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 10th July, 1921, two British soldiers - Sergeant John William Reynolds ('Service Number 4794121') and a Lieutenant Rowles - were 'on patrol' in the village of Mullinahone, in County Tipperary, when they were shot by the IRA.
Mr Rowles was seriously injured, and Mr Reynolds (21), from Streatham, in London, died from his wounds the following day. Both were members of the 1st Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment (pictured).
==========================
On the 10th July, 1921, IRA Volunteer William C. Regan and one other rebel from the Doneraile Company of the Castletownroche Battalion of the Cork Number 2 Brigade abducted a British Army Private, Mr Richard Edward Larter (19), as he was walking with another BA soldier in the Doneraile area, at about 7pm, on their way back to their barracks in Ballyvonare. Private Larter's colleague escaped.
Private Larter was taken to an area about 3 miles west of the Ballyvonaire Barracks and executed.
He was a member of the 1st Battalion Machine Gun Corps, and was born in Henstead, in Norfolk, England, and is buried in Swainsthorpe Churchyard, near Norwich, in his own country.
That night, at about 10pm, a group of approximately 25 young people in the village of Kilconnor, near Doneraile, who were on their way to a dance, were fired on by British soldiers and one young man, Thomas McCarthy (19), a labourer, was shot dead.
The British claimed that the group of young people were "shot at for failing to halt when ordered to do so.."
==========================
In July, 1921, in order to 'stamp their authority' in the Dunamore area of County Tyrone, Crown Forces attacked and burned down a number of community-owned creameries (co-ops) and done the same to the Sinn Féin Hall in the village of Dungate, in the Kildress Parish of that county.
The Hall had been erected by republicans in the Dunamore (Cookstown) area in 1920 by voluntary labour and was an extensive building over 100 foot long and 20 foot wide.
In order to stop the British forces from causing more destruction in the area, local IRA Commander Charlie Daly (in early 1920 IRA General Headquarters had sent Volunteer Daly to County Tyrone, naming him as the Officer Commanding of the IRA's 2nd Northern Division) and fighters under his command decided to pay a visit themselves to a local creamery that hadn't been 'visited' by the Crown Forces, as it was a co-op owned, staffed and for the Unionist community in the area -'Doon's Creamery', which was situated in a Unionist/Loyalist stronghold in the county.
The RIC Barracks was only about one mile from the creamery, and about ten armed 'policemen' were stationed there, with 'B Specials' visiting regularly.
Commander Daly was aware that a 'Truce' was about to be called at 12 Noon on the 11th July, so he and his men planned to visit (!) the creamery on the night of the 10th and into the early morning of the 11th.
Volunteers from within the operational area that Commandant Daly presided over and from nearby constituencies were mobilised, a lorry and fuel was 'commandeered' from a Mr Paddy McCullough (a republican supporter) and a car belonging to the 2nd Northern Division of the IRA was procured, and the Volunteers were driven to the creamery.
As the two vehicles drove into the yard of the business, an RIC 'watchman' who was on duty was arrested by the IRA men and held prisoner, and the premises was attacked and burned down.
The RIC member was put in the back of the lorry when the job was done and put out of it a few miles away, after being calmed down, fed and watered on the journey. When he was ejected from the lorry, he was let go.
==========================
In July, 1921, the Crown Forces were involved in a 'search and roundup' operation in the Coachford district of County Cork, seeking to arrest all local males between the ages of 15 and 45 and, in the townland of Leemount (Ard na Laoi), in the Magourney area, raided the house of farm labourer, Mr John Foley (38), on the 10th July 1921, at about 6am.
The two British Army soldiers that raided his house - Corporal FJ Smith and Lance Corporal Pearson, from the 'West Yorkshire Regiment - later claimed at a military inquest (at which they were the only witnesses!) that Mr Foley attacked them with a knife and... "...as we were meekly retreating, Foley again attempted to attack us and we fired, fatally wounding him..".
However, local accounts have it that, when the British soldiers burst into the Foley home, they ordered Mr John Foley to dress, and then shot him in the back when he moved to grab his coat.
Locals stated that Mr Foley "attempted to crawl to safety at a neighbour's house and, collapsing en route, was left to die in a ditch by the same British soldiers, who then took his twin brother, Timothy, prisoner, in order to beat and humiliate him by leaving him tied to a telegraph pole in Coachford village..."
The CFR (Cork Fatality Register) noted that... '..the army officers heading the inquest admitted that Foley had no connections whatsoever to the IRA, but found nevertheless that Foley had launched an unprovoked attack on a force of armed British soldiers..'
Another imaginative, creative and inventive 'British inquest' in a long list of same in this country.
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In early July 1921, Humphrey Murphy, the Officer Commanding of Kerry Number 2 Brigade IRA and his Officers began working on a plan of attack against the Crown Forces who operated in the town of Castleisland.
It was known that a 'curfew patrol' of about 15 to 20 British soldiers from the '2nd Loyal North Lancashire Regiment' regularly left their barracks in the town and patrolled the area, being on the Main Street at a certain time in the evening.
The night of the 10th July was agreed for the attack, and small units of armed Volunteers were tasked for duty at various locations along a section of the path usually followed by the British soldiers - the laneway at Saint Stephen's Church, the ruins of the library building (which the IRA had burned down a few weeks previously) and the Limerick Road junction.
The 'curfew patrol' duly left their barracks at the usual time and, as they were making their way up Main Street, the IRA Unit at the road junction opened fire on them - they took whatever cover they could, and a firefight ensued. The IRA Unit in the library ruins then opened fire on the enemy patrol and the Volunteers at the laneway concentrated their fire on other troops who were trying to get out of the barracks to reinforce their colleagues.
Some of the British Army soldiers took cover outside their barracks and fired on the Volunteers who, naturally (!) returned the compliment but others ran back into the barracks and exited through a back entrance, split into two groups and made their way to where the IRA Units were, making their way around to the back of the Volunteers, who spotted them.
The IRA men fired as they retired towards the north of the town, sometimes going from house back gardens to back garden, managing to 'tie down' the British soldiers who were pursuing them and, at the same time, giving cover to their Volunteer comrades in the other Units on the western side of the town.
The retiring/cover fire IRA Unit then began to come under machine gun fire, as did the other Units, and Volunteers Jack Prendiville, Richard Shannhan and Jack Flynn were killed, as were at least four British soldiers - Sergeant John Davies, Private William Kelly, Private George Rankin and Private William Ross.
The IRA Units involved also included Volunteers Humphrey Murphy (Brigade O/C), Dan Keating, Thomas Daly, Jerry O'Leary, David McCarthy and Con O'Leary.
The British later claimed that they had killed ten Volunteers and wounded twenty!
Incidentally, during the gunfight, two severely wounded British soldiers were taken into Reidy's pub and they rested there until the fighting was over. As a result, Denis Reidy, the owner, experienced great animosity from the locals and his business suffered greatly, financially, for years afterwards.
Also, previous to that IRA operation (on the 8th May that year [1921]), two RIC members were shot by the IRA while leaving Castleisland Parish Church, one of whom died from his wounds and, on that same date in May (8th), Humphry Murphy's house in Bally Beg Currow, Farranfore, in County Kerry, was burned down by the Black and Tans because of the family's known connections to the freedom struggle.
Then, on Thursday, 12th May 1921, in a field in Gortaglanna, in the parish of Knockanure in North Kerry, three unarmed IRA men - Jerry Lyons, Paddy Walsh and Paddy Dalton - were lined up beside each other and executed by a company of Black and Tans from Listowel. A fourth IRA man, Con Dee, managed to escape.
The month of May in 1921 wasn't the best of months for Kerry republicans, but they remained as defiant as ever...
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On the 10th July, 1921, four British Army soldiers, who were stationed in Victoria Military Barracks in Cork City (pictured), were captured by the IRA near Goal Cross and taken to the town of Togher and executed.
They were named as 'Sappers' Albert Camm and Albert Powell of the 'Royal Engineers', Lance-Corporal Harold Daker and Private Henry Morris of the South Staffordshire Regiment.
Their bodies were found blindfolded in a field near Saint Finbarr's Cemetery on the Glasheen Road, in Cork City.
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William Dillon, an eighteen-year-old student from Kilcash in County Tipperary, attended Carrick-on-Suir Christian Brothers' College and was said to be differently abled - that he had an intellectual disability or a behavioural disorder.
In early July 1921, William and his brother Michael reported the presence of an IRA 'Flying Column' near to their home to the British Army, resulting in the IRA raiding the Dillon house to interview the family.
But the raid went wrong ; 15-years-young Brigid Dillon (pictured) was accidentally shot dead, and her two brothers escaped.
The IRA let things sit until the 4th May the following year (1922) when they returned to the issue and arrested William Dillon and took him to Tullamaine Castle, near Fethard, in County Tipperary, where they shot him dead.
In October 1922 his body was found by his family who, after the funeral, packed up their belongings and departed for England.
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On the 10th July, 1921, a Cork-based 'Justice of the Peace', a Mr Charles Sealy-King, left Ireland for good.
He had been abducted by the IRA and held for ten days before being released, and stated that he felt he was unable to stay in Ireland... "..on account of threats and continuing conspiracy against me.."
Also on the 10th July, another Cork-based 'Justice of the Peace', a Mr Edwin Swanton (the managing director of the [pro-unionist] 'Skibbereen Eagle' newspaper) was arrested by the IRA - he was to be held for ten weeks before he 'escaped' from custody and fled to England.
Apparently, the main attraction of a mostly unpaid 'Honorary Commission of the Peace' was the so-called 'social status' it offered, and those that put themselves forward for the position were generally substantial farmers and/or wealthy merchants.
But it drew a different 'status' from the IRA -
"Our attention has been drawn to the fact that you are still a magistrate under the despotic government that is the essence of every crime more devilish than Satan himself viz murderers, church desecrators, robbers, torturers of human beings, as a matter of fact violators of every principle of civilised Christian morality and civilisation ever established.
We hereby notify that you are to hand in your resignation and have same published within a week from the receipt of this notice.
Failing this you shall be summarily dealt with by the Irish Republican Army."
- a notice handed to 'JP's by the IRA.
In County Cavan, for instance, the RIC reported that 15 'Justices of the Peace' had resigned during July 1920 alone, six of whom had written to the British 'Lord Chancellor' to inform him they had done so as they.. "...no longer wish to be associated with an Executive whose actions are subversive of equity and justice.."
The IRA let it be known that they considered 'JP's to be a danger to the Movement who had or were likely to assist the enemy, and that consideration was taken into account by those social status grifters.
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The East Clare Brigade of the IRA blew up the central span of Bunratty Bridge in May 1921 and, fearing booby-traps, the Crown Forces wouldn't go near it for a few weeks.
On the 9th July, an attempt was made by British Army engineers to make the bridge passable and, when they finished their work and went back to their barracks, the IRA sabotaged the bridge again, this time on the Ennis side of it.
On the 10th July, at about 2pm, two dispatch riders from the 2nd Battalion of the 'Royal Welch Fusiliers' were crossing Bunratty Bridge from the Limerick direction when the bridge collapsed and both of them were thrown into the Raite River.
One of them, a Private William Reginald Williams ('Service Number 4179390') split his head open on the stonework and lost consciousness as he fell ; his colleague managed to save himself but Mr Williams was seen by a local publican, a Mrs Ryan, and her daughter, to go under the water.
His body was swept down the river and found by a local farmer two or three weeks later, caught up in bulrushes on the eastern bank, two hundred yards north from Bunratty Bridge.
The local farmer who found him had also witnessed the fatality, and dragged the body from the river and buried him nearby in marshy ground.
The British 'Governor General's Secretary' in Dublin wrote to Richard Mulcahy, a republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free State poacher, seeking help in recovering Mr Williams body and, in 1925, the Free State Army spent several days excavating the banks of the Raite River looking for the poor man's remains, but with no success - his remains had apparently sunk too deeply into the marshy ground to be recovered.
The inquest report stated that Mr Williams "died as a result of IRA activity at Bunratty, County Clare..".
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An RIC member, a Mr Mathias Kelly ('Service Number 80859') killed himself in the RIC Barracks in Spiddal in County Galway on the 10th July 1921.
No more information is available on Mr Kelly.
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A 'justice of the Peace', sometimes Unionist politician and British Army Major, a Mr George Bernard O'Connor, was shot at in February 1921 by IRA Volunteers from the 2nd Battalion of the Cork Number 1 Brigade and, although his wife (Elizabeth Anna, 64) was wounded in the shooting, Mr O'Connor himself wasn't injured.
An IRA Volunteer later stated -
"During the month of February 1921, the following spies were shot in my battalion area on instructions from the brigade : 10th February 1921, Reilly, living in Douglas, was shot in his home at night.
This man was a member of the senior secret service of the Y.M.C.A.*
He was manager of the large grocery premises of Woodford Bourne And Company, Patrick Street, Cork.
With Reilly** that night (in a pony and trap, which IRA Volunteers got into) was a retired British army officer named Major O'Connor. He, too, was shot and killed..."
(The commandeered pony and trap was driven to Mr Reilly's house where he was removed from it, a 'Spies Beware' label was pinned to his coat and he was shot dead.)
As stated above, Mr O'Connor was shot at , but not killed on that occasion.
In May 1921, Mr O'Connor assisted in building a case against IRA Volunteers who had taken part in the 'Clonmult Disaster' (February 1921) and was collaborating with the British in relation to IRA mail raids.
The IRA were interested in Mr O'Connor because of his anti-Irish activities including sending information on IRA movements to a Captain Kelly, the British Army's '6th Division Intelligence Officer' in Victoria Barracks, Cork.
On the 10th July (1921), the IRA executed Mr O'Connor outside his (large) house (...of fourteen rooms, with a groom, a cook, and a third servant!) at Number 1 Hop Island, Douglas, in the district of Passage West and in the parish of Corarrigaline, in Cork.
British liability for his passing was accepted, and compensation of £5,000 was awarded to his wife at the Cork quarter sessions on the 14th October 1921. We don't believe the groom, cook or third servant got a few bob out of it...
(* '..following political upheaval in Ireland, the memory of the war in Unionist and Nationalist communities diverged. Increasingly, in both Britain and Ireland, the First World War has become politicised, with contemporary politics linked to its commemoration...' - YMCA.)
(** Mr Alfred Riley, also a 'Justice of the Peace'.)
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'In August 1920 Dáil Éireann ordered a boycott of Belfast goods and a withdrawal of funds from the city's banks in support of Catholic workers expelled from the shipyards.
A Department of Boycott was created in 1921 and hundreds of local boycott committees were established across Ireland. Firms breaking the boycott were fined and the IRA carried out its own boycott patrols.
Nationalists encouraged Irish citizens to support the action. The boycott officially ended in January 1922 with the announcement of the first agreement between James Craig and Michael Collins, when Craig promised to aid the return of the expelled Catholic workers...' (From here.)
The Irish Republican 'Boycott Committee' ordered the citizens of the Irish Free State to stop dealing with the Ulster Bank, the Northern Bank and the Belfast Bank, and stated that any persons in the possession of notes from these banks would have them confiscated.
On the 10th July, 1921, the IRA levied fines on two residents in Kilcock, County Kildare, and a farmer in the same area, for doing business with the Ulster Bank.
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Belfast Riots, 10th July 1921 -
'On Sunday, 10th July 1921, West Belfast erupted.
Bullets raked the city’s trams. Rival nationalist and loyalist snipers traded shots from rooftops. Mobs burned rows of houses, especially along the unofficial frontier between catholic and protestant neighbourhoods....'
"We turned a corner then a shout in a Southern Brogue, 'Halt, hands up!' Jack Donaghy was using a Peter Painter 12 rounder [Mauser C96 automatic pistol]. He opened fire, three Policemen fell, one killed and two wounded."
'The dead policeman was Constable Thomas Conlon, based in Springfield Road barracks ; the two wounded were Constable Edward Hogan and the driver of the Crossley tender, Special Constable Charles Dunne.
Conlon, a catholic policeman originally from Roscommon, was viewed by the IRA as being sympathetic – according to Montgomery, "he was good at giving tips of police raids."
The most immediate response to the ambush was that a GAA club hall was burned down in Raglan Street that night, where it was stated that "a German rifle and a thousand rounds of ammunition" were found by police during a follow-up search. As no loyalists could have penetrated so deep into the Lower Falls, the hall must have been burned by the police. This was merely a foretaste of what was to come...' (From here.)
The ensuing disturbances last until July 15th and result in the deaths of over 20 people with injuries to many more. Over 200 houses were destroyed, in what is known as 'the Belfast Riots'.
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BEIR BUA...
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
REPUBLICANS AND THE STATE :
A truce was called in 1921 and a period of negotiations began ; these culminated on December 6th, 1921, when 'the Treaty' was signed by the Irish delegation in London.
The 'Treaty' set out that an 'Irish Free State' would exist over 26 Counties.
That 'Treaty' was an acceptance of the British-imposed partition of Ireland into separate States in the '1920 Government Of Ireland Act' and a betrayal of the All-Ireland Republic endorsed by the Irish people in two general elections, in 1918 and 1921.
In 'Dílseacht : The Story Of General Tom Maguire And The Second (All-Ireland) Dáil', Ruairi Ó Brádaigh says -
"Arthur Griffith was Head of Dáil Éireann and yet he called into existence a rival parliament - surely an action without precedent in history.
Likewise Mulcahy in the very last words spoken in the Dáil on January 10th said -
"It is suggested that I avoided saying the Army will continue to be the Army of the Irish Republic. If any assurance is required - the Army will remain the Army of the Irish Republic.
In the name of the Republic was the Republic betrayed.
Earlier that day, Arthur Griffith had said - "The Republic of Ireland remains in being until the Free State comes into being. Whatever position the President (de Valera) occupies, if I am elected I will occupy the same until the people have the opportunity of deciding for themselves..."
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (10TH JULY) 84 YEARS AGO : DEATH SENTENCE ON REPUBLICAN COMMUTED.
Tomás Óg MacCurtain (pictured), a known member of the IRA Executive at the time, and also known, by friend and foe alike, as staunch a republican as his father was.
He was walking on St. Patrick Street, in Cork city centre, on the 3rd January 1940, when he was jumped-on by a Free State Special Branch detective, a Mr John Roche, from Union Quay Barracks.
Mr Roche had apparently made it his mission-in-life to disrupt republicanism, and was known to have been harassing Tomás Óg for the previous few weeks.
A scuffle between the two men ensued and a gun was fired - the Free Stater fell to the ground, wounded, and he died the next day.
On the 13th June 1940, the Free State 'Special Criminal Court' sentenced Tomás Óg MacCurtain to death - sentence to be carried out on the 5th July 1940. An application for 'Habeas Corpus' was lodged and the execution was postponed for a week, but the Free State Supreme Court then dismissed the appeal.
The whole country was divided over the issue - some demanded that MacCurtain be put to death immediately as a 'sign' from the Fianna Fail administration that they were serious about 'cracking-down' on their former comrades in the IRA, while others demanded that he be released.
Finally, on the 10th July 1940 - 84 years ago on this date - the Free Staters issued a statement -
'The President, acting on the advice of the government, has commuted the sentence of death on Tomas MacCurtain to penal servitude for life.'
Tomás Óg served seven years in prison, and reported back to the IRA when he got out.
It has since been alleged that a sister of Cathal Brugha's widow, who was then the Reverend Mother of an Armagh Convent, had intervened on behalf of Tomás Óg to get his death sentence overturned and this, if indeed it did happen, and the fact that his father had actually shouldered a gun alongside many members of the then Fianna Fail administration (before they went Free State, obviously), saved his life.
Tomás Óg MacCurtain died in 1994, at 79 years of age.
RIP.
In 1922, the newly-spawned Free State Leinster House institution was coming under political, civilian and clerical pressure to address the severe shortcomings in the prison system it was trying to run in the State it claimed jurisdictional control over.
Limerick Prison, in particular (pictured), was signaled out for its lack of basic civil facilities, and the Staters were aware that, for instance, among its critics over the prison system was a Mr Denis Hallinan, the Catholic Bishop of Limerick, who was putting together a critique of that system, which he intended to send to W.T. Cosgrave (a high-ranking Free Stater) in which he was going to 'express his concern about the very serious overcrowding' in Limerick Prison.
Also, 'The Freeman's Journal' newspaper had reported that... "..there were approximately 600 prisoners in Limerick Prison occupying sixty cells, an average of ten persons per cell.."
Another high-ranking Free Stater, Caoimhghín Críostóir Ó hUigín (Kevin Christopher O'Higgins) admitted that it was "bad to have too many prisoners crowded into a place such as was the case in Limerick...".
On the 10th July, 1922, the Free State Leinster House institution made an attempt to address the political, civilian and clerical pressure it was coming under in relation to the prison system it was trying to run and, at the same time, to address the concerns expressed by its own prison system operators who were complaining of a lack of space in the prisons.
A political decision was made on that date to the effect that IRA POW's could be released if they signed a pledge not to bear arms against the Staters and its entities, stating that...
"..while it might be advisable to keep some of the leaders in custody for the present, no good purpose would be served by retaining large numbers of the rank and file, and that the public should be prepared by careful propaganda for an early general release..."
Also, Kilmainham Jail in Dublin was re-opened (with Seán O Muirthile as governor), Diarmaid O'Hegarty moved to being governor of Mountjoy Jail (Dublin) and Gormanstown and the Curragh were also re-opened.
Prison spaces are only a symptom of the problem ; the problem being a military and political denial, whether by Westminster or the Staters in Leinster House, of a 32-County, single Irish political entity.
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On the 10th July, 1922, Sean Moylan (a republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free State-poacher, pictured) led a column of about 230 IRA Volunteers to New Ross in County Wexford, in a show of strength.
After staying around for a few days, he leads them out of New Ross and into Limerick, where he had a meeting with IRA leader Liam Lynch.
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On the 10th July, 1922, two men - Mr Thomas Reilly, from Valleymount, in County Wicklow, and Mr Paddy Tierney, from Newbridge, in County Kildare - were approaching Coolcarrigan House (pictured, an IRA base/safe house), in Naas, County Kildare, when they were both shot.
Mr Reilly died from his wounds and, although he was badly wounded, Mr Tierney survived.
It is believed that both men were members of the Free State Army and were trying to make contact with the IRA with the intention of joining the organisation.
Mr Tierney was shot through both lungs, and was rushed to Naas Hospital, where he recovered from his injuries, but Mr Reilly, as stated, never recovered from his injuries ; the inquest found that he.. '...died by gunshot from a person or persons unknown (but) the Free State Army were not involved...'
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On the 10th July, 1922, in keeping with their policy of disrupting the ability of British soldiers/Free State Army soldiers from being able to travel around the country, the IRA sabotaged the railway line at Oghill, near Monasterevin, in County Kildare.
A few weeks after that operation, the Free State administration went over the management of the railway companies and approached the 'National Union of Railwaymen', seeking its help in establishing a body of men to protect the railway network from the IRA.
That trade union, to its shame, agreed to the establishment of a grouping called 'The Railway Protection and Maintenance Corps' and further agreed with the Staters that the grouping would fall under the remit of the Free State Army, with a Colonel Charles Russell in command of it.
The 'corps' was supplied with armoured trains and Lancia armoured cars fitted with rail wheels and, at its peak (in June 1923), it consisted of about 3,000 officers and men.
It had two categories of soldiers - 'Class A' who were railwaymen, and 'Class B', who were regular soldiers in the Free State Army and, while it hindered somewhat the IRA 'transportation policy', it didn't prevent it.
The 'RPMC' grouping was disbanded in September 1923.
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On the 10th July, 1922, A Mr Peter Moore, and his wife, of Mountarmstrong, Domhnach Dheá (Donadea), in the barony of Ikeathy and Oughterany in the north of County Kildare, were arrested by the IRA and conveyed to Coolcarrigan House (pictured), in Naas, County Kildare.
In the House they were both charged with "resisting the taking of a car and firing on republicans" ; they were cautioned about any future such activity, a shotgun was confiscated from them and they were both released without harm.
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Thanks for the visit, and for reading!
Sharon and the team.
