ON THIS DATE (21ST NOVEMBER) 98 YEARS AGO : BRITISH SPIES EXECUTED IN DUBLIN.
Members of the British 'Cairo/Special Gang', pictured, who were executed in Dublin by the IRA on the 21st November 1920, 98 years ago today.
Serving British soldiers, former British soldiers, RIC members and ex-members, carpenters, plumbers, electricans, landlords(and landladies), servants, busdrivers and taximen, businessmen and women, postmen and housewives - and the IRA ; all the above, and others, combined their knowledge and skills to great effect on the morning of Sunday, 21st November , 1920 : it was on that morning, 93 years ago today, that thirteen senior British intelligence officers were executed in Dublin. The IRA Intelligence Department at that time was an extremely efficient machine, run by Michael Collins, and the British were well aware of that fact - Sir Henry Wilson wanted it and Collins eliminated, and sanctioned the use, in Ireland, of 'The Cairo/Special Gang', a unit of British agents which specialised in political assassinations - they got their name, and their reputation, from 'hits' in the Middle East, carried out on the instruction of Wilson and others in Westminster.
'Tis broad day!
High the sun rides o'er the hill,
Gold grain's bursting, blades are rusting,
And ye steeped in slumber still.
Brave men wrought when ye were weeping
Wise ones sowed when ye were sleeping,
Now a harvest's for the reaping,
Sickles many, labourers few,
Sons of Banba, Rouse ya! Rise ye!
There is work for men to do.
Sons of Banba, Wake ye! Wake ye!
Passing, fleeting, is the morn,
Let God's harvest fall and wither,
And ye'll wake to shame and scorn.
Hear ye! Hear! The cry for workers.
You men! True men! Loungers, shirkers,
Slaves and knaves and low-born lurkers,
Them let stupor woo,
Sons of Banba, Rouse ye! Rise ye!
There is work for men to do.
(END of 'The Call' ; next, from the same source - 'Armagh Raid Good Propaganda In USA'.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST NOVEMBER) 131 YEARS AGO - BIRTH OF A 1916 RISING LEADER.
Joseph Mary Plunkett/Seosamh Máire Pluincéid (pictured) was born on the 21st November 1887 - 131 years ago today - into a wealthy family, then living at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin. His father was George Noble Plunkett and his mother was Mary Josephine Cranny ; Joseph had five sisters and two brothers, but he was troubled by ill health - he suffered from tuberculosis (TB) which left him physically weak for every one of the 28 years he lived.
He was educated by the Jesuits at Belvedere College in Dublin and would later attend Stonyhurst College in Lancashire in England - he excelled at languages and joined the 'Gaelic League', at which he formed a lifelong friendship with Thomas MacDonagh ; the two young men joined the 'Irish Volunteers' where they learned military skills in the company of, among many others, Joseph's brother George (Jnr) and his father, George (Snr) and his other brother, John ; Joseph helped to formulate the Easter Week manoeuvres and was trusted by the other IRB leaders to do so - he was frail, physically, but not mentally or militarily, and he secured a property, in Kimmage, Dublin, owned by his father, to be used by the 'Irish Volunteers' as a training camp/billet for those who refused to take up arms during 'WW1' ('the war between three cousins') deciding instead to fight for Ireland.
His health took a turn for the worse in early 1916 and he had to have an operation on his neck glands, which left him practically bedridden (he left his sickbed to sign the 1916 Proclamation) but he insisted on being present in the GPO during Easter Week and, although he was there with Padráig Pearse and Thomas Clarke, he couldn't be as active as he had hoped to be, and was helped throughout the week by his 'aide de camp', Michael Collins, who worked with Joseph's father as a financial adviser in his business dealings.
Joseph Mary Plunkett married Grace Clifford on the 4th May 1916 and, hours later, he was executed by a British firing squad in Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, and buried in Arbour Hill Cemetery.
"..with all my love I place this wedding ring upon your finger, there won't be time to share our love, for we must say goodbye.." (from here.)
MY FIGHT FOR IRISH FREEDOM ; FEBRUARY 1954 - JANUARY 1955.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, February 1955.
In the 'Sunday Press' newspaper of January 13th the following letter appeared :
'I WOULD NOT ATTACK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
In your issue of last Sunday Mr. P. Pearse Danaher asks me to remain "silent" on the means to end partition. I fully know that going cap in hand to England or any imperial power will get us nowhere, yet I cannot agree with wasting young Irish lives. I admire bravery. I always shall, but I don't believe in foolhardy enterprise. I have never asked anyone to do anything I would not do myself and I would not attack the North under present circumstances, or in fact under any circumstances.
I believe that the spirit of **McCracken, Hope, Russell** and other patriots will re-awaken in the North some day and when that day comes Ireland will be free and undivided.
Signed - Dan Breen'.
'In August 1923, while still in custody in Limerick Prison, Breen was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1923 general election as a republican anti-Treaty Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary constituency. He spent two months there before going on hunger strike for six days, followed by a thirst strike of six days...he was released in the autumn after signing a document to desist from attacking the Free State...in January 1927, he became the first anti-Treaty TD to take the Oath of Allegiance (and sit in Leinster House) after the establishment of the Irish Free State.
Standing as an independent republican he was defeated in the June 1927 general election. Thereafter Breen travelled to the United States, where he opened a speakeasy. He returned to Ireland in 1932 following the death of his mother, and regained his seat as a member of Fianna Fáil (in Leinster House) at that year's general election. He represented his Tipperary constituency without a break until his retirement at the 1965 election...' (from here.)
Dan Breen was a Fianna Fáil member of Leinster House until he retired in 1965 and was content with that station in life, even though it was not the political outcome he fought for. Also **, McCracken, Hope and Russell physically attacked the British presence in this country and went to their graves without condemning or slighting anyone for doing the same.
(END of 'I Would Not Attack Under Any Circumstances' ; next, from the same source - 'Irish History For The British'.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST NOVEMBER) 251 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF 'THE MAN FROM GOD KNOWS WHERE'.
Thomas Paliser Russell (pictured) was born in Betsborough ('Fern Hill'), just outside the village of Dromahane, in the parish of Kilshannig, south-west of Mallow, in the county of Cork, on this date (21st November) in 1767 - 251 years ago on this date. His family was Anglican and he was reared in a pro-British environment (his father was an officer in the British Army and had fought against the 'Irish Brigade' in the memorable battle of Fontenoy), so much so that he joined the British Army at the age of 16 and was dispatched to an 'unruly' India, where noises were being heard about the 'Townshend Duties' (imposed taxes) and other British injustices against the native population : he was stationed there for about five years and his eyes were opened to the curses of imperialism. On his return to Ireland, at the age of 21, he was appointed Captain of the British '64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot' but, by then, he was not only disillusioned with the 'Empire' but was prepared to act against it, even though it offered him the prospect of a good living - he was appointed to the position of 'Seneschal to the Manor Court of Dungannon', and was also made a justice of the peace for the County of Tyrone but resigned from both positions, stating that ".."he could not reconcile it to his conscience to sit as magistrate on a bench where the practice prevailed of inquiring what a man's religion was before going into the crime with which a prisoner was accused..."
The 'high life' he was leaving behind had brought him into contact with other like-minded individuals such as Wolfe Tone, Samuel Neilson and Henry Joy McCracken, among others and, in October 1791, he assisted his colleagues in establishing the Belfast branch of the 'United Irishmen', whose revolutionary ideals he promoted in pamphlets and in 'The Northern Star' newspaper. His association with 'dissidents' and his writings brought him, again, to the attention of Westminster and, on the 16th September 1796 he was taken into custody and held in two different prisons (Newgate in Dublin and Fort George in Scotland) until early 1802 but, on his release, age 35, he returned to 'active service' ("Had I a thousand lives, I would venture them all for the sake of this people...") - he worked with Robert Emmet in France and was asked to return to Ireland and concentrate his efforts in gaining support for an uprising in the Ulster area but, following the collapse of the 1803 rebellion (...about which, in a letter to
Mary Ann McCracken he stated - "I hope your spirits are not depressed by a temporary damp, in consequence of the recent failure..of ultimate success I am still certain..")
he moved to Dublin where, on the 9th September 1803, he was arrested by the infamous Major Henry Charles Sirr, 'the chief agent of the castle authorities', and taken to County Down for a 'trial' - he was, of course, found 'guilty of high treason' on the 19th October (1803) and put to death on the 21st October 1803, at 36 years of age : he was hanged and then beheaded -
Rode a man from God-knows-where;
None of us bade him stay or go,
Nor deemed him friend, nor damned him foe,
But we stabled his big roan mare:
For in our townlan' we're a decent folk,
And if he didn't speak, why, none of us spoke,
And we sat till the fire burned low...'
'BUYCOTTS' AND BEANS....
Ethical buying : is there any point? It would be a pity if the focus on the difficulties with boycotts led people to conclude that the answer to the wider question is 'No'.
By Oisín Coghlan. From 'Magill' magazine, July 2002.
Faced with an array of ethical considerations and a proliferation of corporate initiatives - some meaningful, some empty PR - consumers must not forget that we arecitizens too. Just as we expect our government to regulate the safety of our electrical products and our food, we can call on our government, the European Union and the international community to regulate transnational companies to safeguard the ethical considerations that would otherwise not feature in their bottom line. (END of 'Buycotts And Beans' : next - 'On The Take', from 'Magill' magazine, February 1998.)
Thanks for reading, Sharon. And, if you feel like a shorter (!) read, here ya go...!
ON THIS DATE (7TH NOVEMBER) 95 YEARS AGO - LAST LETTER FROM AN IRA HUNGER-STRIKER.
"Dearest Br. Miceal, Thanks ever so much. I really can't find words to explain adequately my gratitude for your prompt response to my appeal for some cash. I have been very hard up for many things especially smokes and of course I would not ask anyone - besides, I could never bring myself to beg. I am much cheered by the news that Cork is now with us in the fight. I always expected that and should it be a fight to a finish I shall die happy in the thought that my bones will moulder in its confines.
I asked you for to arrange that I should be buried by my old chief's side in Fermoy. My heart is so set on the freedom (of my people) that my spare moments are always devoted to devising ways and means to expedite that Glorious Dawn. With that object in view I have decided that if Mallow Republicans provide a Republican Plot in the new Cemetery near the railway, I shall order my interment there instead of at Fermoy, as the latter place has enough in L. Lynch's and FitzGerald's graves to keep aflame the burning torch of Freedom. Matter wants something in its midst to counter the awful shoneenism that permeates its walls and I came to the conclusion that if I can no longer alive take the same active part in the battle I may at least in my mouldering grave do still some little to help those who come after me with that object in view.
I ordered that nothing should be inscribed besides my name by way of epitaph. Over my remains but the simple motto of my late life work. When the Republic so estated functioning and duly recognised then, but not till then, let men dare to eulogise my name in cold press over my grave. Then too will Lynch's and Emmet's blazon forth. This is rather gruesome but one so often thinks of the apparent inevitable in this struggle that it becomes quite secondary, thoughts of the spiritual world.
In the latter line I am quite at peace, prepared and content. There will be no swerving from the straight rugged path to the goal. I set the motto for the strike, 'Freedom or Death'. I am Prison Adjutant now and by long ways the strongest man on the strike even though judging by the looseness of my clothes I must have dropped at least 3 stone weight. There are 124 of us on strike now. A large number were shifted to the various camps and many of the leaders were taken from here to Kilmainham. It is all alike to us, we carry on. Of course some weak ones have given in. About 60 out of the total here have gone off and taken food on a promise of release. Immediately they were strong enough in hospital they were thrown back into C wing just as they were before the strike and told they could not be released until a big batch was ready.
Fr. James McCabe came up when they heard of my being on Hunger Strike and with his friend went to G.H.L and found they have me held on suspicion only but have no evidence and would release me if I went off strike and signed the usual form. Of course Fr. James asked me to do this and I sent him out the definite reply NEVER! At the same time my profuse thanks for his trouble in my behalf. Well, I must close this long winded letter. Remember the change, Mallow instead of Fermoy, in case I do. Undying Love,
Your Aff Br., Andy."
- the last letter (above) that Cavan-born IRA hunger-striker Andrew Sullivan (pictured, above) sent to his brother, Miceal (Michael) : it was sent on the 7th November 1923, 95 years ago on this date. Andrew Sullivan (aka Andy O'Sullivan), 5th Battalion, Cork 4th Brigade, was one of three IRA men to die on hunger-strike in 1923 - he was 41 years of age at the time (the other two men were Joe Witty, 19 years young, and Dennis Barry, 40 years of age ; Joe died on the 2nd September that year, and Dennis died on the 20th November).
'Captain Andrew Sullivan was born in Denbawn, County Cavan in 1882, the oldest of eight children born to Michael Sorahan and Mary Smith...he eventually became the agricultural inspector for the Mallow area, County Cork and held that position for many years. During the War of Independence Sullivan was the Commanding Officer for Civil Administration in the North Cork area and later in the 1st Southern Cork division...a supporter of the anti-Treaty side during the Irish Civil War, he was arrested and interred on July 5, 1923. Between 1922 and 1923, hundreds of others in all parts of Ireland were arrested by the (*) British controlled Irish police force (*), without any charge, and were kept in the prisons and internment camps without trial...in the Autumn of 1923 the conditions in the prisons grew worse and the men and women were being treated as convicts rather than political prisoners. To protest their imprisonment and bring public attention to the cruelty they were receiving, the only 'tool' they felt they had at their disposal was a hunger strike...' (from here).
(*)- an accurate description, in our opinion, but the timeline would show that, 'officially', at least, the then existing 'police force' would be acting under instruction from the then 'new' Free State administration in Leinster House rather than 'officially' taking orders from Westminster. However, as republicans know (and history has since attested to) that 'police force' was a proxy force for Westminster - as, indeed, was the Leinster House 'parliament' that established that 'police force'- so the description 'British controlled Irish police force' is, as we said, accurate. Also, as regards the POW's being treated as convicts, one of the prisoners, Alfred McLoughlin, who was interned for a year without being told why, managed to get a letter published in 'The Irish Times' newspaper in which he wrote - "I slept on bare boards in the Curragh military prison for five nights..I was handcuffed night and day..I was threatened, with a gun, several times, that I would be shot..".
W.B. Yeats, Lord Granard and Sir Bryan Mahon campaigned for proper treatment for the prisoners and, in April 1923, the 'International Committee of the Red Cross' carried out an 'investigation' into the conditions in the prisons, reporting (in keeping with those who had facilitated their visit ie the Staters) that "the prisoners were treated like prisoners of war". However, it later emerged that their report was flawed as not one prisoner was interviewed during their 'investigation'!
Anyway - in that particular year (1923), there were about 12,000 Irish republicans interned by the Free Staters and, as stated, above, those men and women "were being treated as convicts rather than political prisoners", and a decision was made, by both the POW's themselves and the leadership outside, to go on hunger strike and, on the 13th October 1923, Michael Kilroy (pictured ; a respected republican, at the time) OC of the IRA POW's in Mountjoy Jail, announced that 300 republicans in that prison/internment camp (including ten men who had been elected to a 32-County Dáil Éireann) had voted to go on hunger strike (those 300 men were soon joined by 162 more of their comrades in that institution) and, within days, thousands more imprisoned republicans joined the protest - 70 in Cork Jail, 350 in Kilkenny Jail, 200 in Dundalk Jail, 711 in Gormanstown Prison Camp, 1,700 in Newbridge, 123 in 'Tintown', 3,390 in the Curragh Camp, 100 in Harepark Camp and 50 women in the North Dublin Union prison.
Finally - from 'The Scotsman' newspaper, 26th November 1923 (page 10) : 'Death of Irish Hunger-Striker : At the inquest on Saturday on Andrew Sullivan, a hunger-striker, who after removal from Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, died on Friday afternoon in a military hospital, a doctor stated that Sullivan went on hunger-strike on October 14, and about a week ago he lost his sight. The jury found that death was due to pneumonia.' We mention that because the Friday in question would have been the 23rd November, 1923 and, on researching the inconsistency, we found the following : 'Many of the newspapers of the time reported Captain Andrew O'Sullivan died on November 22, 1923. That may have been the date he was removed from Mountjoy Prison and brought to St. Bricin's Military Hospital where he was pronounced dead on November 23, 1923...he died on 23 November 1923 at St. Bricin Military Hospital, Dublin City, County Dublin, Ireland, at age 41.5...the information on the death record was provided by Louis A. Burns, coroner for the City of Dublin. Inquest held 24 November 1923...(and) at the inquest on Saturday on Andrew Sullivan, a hunger-striker, who after removal from Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, died on Friday afternoon in a military hospital, a doctor stated that Sullivan went on hunger-strike on October 14, and about a week ago he lost his sight...' (from this genealogy site). However, the majority opinion is that the man died on the 22nd November 1923, and we, ourselves, believe that to be the correct date, and he wrote his last letter to his brother on the 7th November, 1923 - 95 years ago on this date.
'THE CALL', by Seamus MacManus (the Donegal poet and shanachaí).
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, October 1954.
In a recent letter to us, Seamus MacManus very kindly gave us his permission to use any of Eithne Carbery's or, to to quote himself, "..my own poor stuff.."! We have great pleasure in republishing a poem of his which was published in the early 1900's and is still as true (unfortunately) as the day it was first written -
Sons of Banba, WAKE! 'Tis day-break! All the stars are off the sky,
And the world's awake and striving,
While in torpor still ye lie!
Heard ye not reveille playing,
Voices calling, watchdogs baying,
Quick feet trampling, horses neighing,
Songsters choiring in the blue:
Sons of Banba, ROUSE YE! Rise ye!
There is work for MEN to do.
Sons of Banba, WAKE! 'Tis morning!
Long the bell for work has pealed,
All around ye droops the harvest,
Lone the steward waits in the field,
Oft his call - nor were ye hearing,
Men are needed for the shearing,
Men toil - loving, men unfearing,
Brave of heart, and hard of thew,
Sons of Banba, ROUSE YE! Rise ye!
There is work for MEN to do. (MORE LATER).
MY FIGHT FOR IRISH FREEDOM ; FEBRUARY 1954 - JANUARY 1955.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, February 1955.
In the April issue of 'Resurgent Ulster' the following article appeared :
DAN BREEN UPHOLDS POLICY OF IRA TODAY.
In the 'Sunday Postbag' of the 'Sunday Press' newspaper of the 7th February 1954, we read with interest and, I'm afraid, amazement, a letter penned by Dan Breen, Fianna Fáil 'TD' for Tipperary. He was defending, quite rightly, both his own and his comrades actions in the Soloheadbeg Ambush on January 21st, 1919, when two members of the RIC were killed by them. It was the concluding paragraph of his letter which interested us and made us wonder if Dan Breen was contemplating returning to his old allegiance. Read these words of his :
"I still believe it is the duty of every man and woman whose country is held in subjection, like mine was and still is in part, to use every means within reason to rid their land of the invader. You can't free a country held in subjection with kid glove methods. Well, then, use the weapons best at hand, and if you need better weapons and the garrison have them, it is your duty to take them and, in doing so, if you kill as we did in Soloheadbeg, you are still only doing your duty."
Is Dan Breen prepared to preach this same Gospel in opposition to the policy of the government of which he is a member? That government is opposed to those beliefs, as expounded in the quoted extract. Not only are they totally opposed to the use of force in our struggle for freedom but they have imprisoned, shot, hanged and allowed men to die on hunger strike who spoke those same sentiments as Dan Breen, and unfortunately Dan Breen had a share in the responsibilities of those imprisonments and deaths, being a member of that government. Can we be blamed then if we question the sincerity of the statement made by Dan Breen? It was certainly the voice of Dan Breen of the 1918-1921 period that was speaking. Incidentally, that 7th February letter to the editor only appeared in the 26-county edition of the newspaper.
(END of that 'Letter to the Editor' : next, from the same source ; "I would not attack under any circumstances" - Dan Breen.)
'BUYCOTTS' AND BEANS....
Ethical buying : is there any point? It would be a pity if the focus on the difficulties with boycotts led people to conclude that the answer to the wider question is 'No'.
By Oisín Coghlan. From 'Magill' magazine, July 2002.
Gerardo de Leon is the marketing manager for a co-operative in Guatemala that sells 'Fairtrade' coffee to Bewleys : speaking on a recent visit to Ireland he said - "Fairtrade is a seed in the ground, and we hope for more in the future. Right now the small coffee farmers need to get the money in their pocket to survive." Ireland has responded well to this challenge - more and more cafes and restaurants now offer 'Fairtrade' coffee. You can enjoy your morning boost while also giving the producers a boost in places such as 'Nude', 'Busyfeet & Co' and 'Havana' in Dublin, the 'Qusay Coop' in Cork, 'Clements' coffee shops in Belfast, 'Bia' in Waterford and 'An Gabhann Org' in Galway. Indeed, many of us can make a difference without even leaving our desk.
More and more workplaces now serve 'Fairtrade' coffee and, overall, 'Fairtrade' has four per cent of the catering coffee market and it is also available in many supermarkets so we can take the experience home, too, and it offers producers practical help as well. 'Fairtrade' is most powerful as a demonstration of what is possible when the will is there. (MORE LATER).
ON THIS DAY NEXT WEEK (WEDNESDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 2018)...
..we should be just about finished our multitasking job - this Sunday coming (the 11th November) will find myself and the raffle team in our usual monthly venue on the Dublin/Kildare border, running a 650-ticket raffle for the Dublin Comhairle of RSF : the work for this event began yesterday, Tuesday 6th November, when the five of us started to track down the ticket sellers and arrange for the delivery/collection of their ticket stubs, cash and unsold tickets (...as if!) and, even though the raffle itself is, as stated, to be held on Sunday 11th November, the 'job' is not complete until the following night, when the usual 'raffle autopsy' is held, although that 'autopsy' may well have to be held over cyberspace : RSF are holding their 114th Ard Fheis in Dublin on Saturday and Sunday, 10th and 11th November, meaning that some or other of us may just be too busy for that usual Monday night meeting.
Anyway - the time constraints imposed by the Ard Fheis and the monthly raffle will mean that our normal Wednesday post will more than likely not be collated in time for next Wednesday (14th) and it's looking like it will be between that date and the Wednesday following same (the 21st November) before we get the time to put a post together - but do check back over that time period as something or other might catch out attention between now and then...!
WE STILL THINK IT'S TOO EARLY TO MENTION THIS...
...it is only November..
..but what the heck!
In a couple of days time they'll be advertising Easter Eggs (!) so we might as well get our spoke in now (again..)!
So we'll do it. Sort of - a link rather than a graphic and a write-up :
And here it is. Sorry about that. But we always knew we were ahead of our time on this blog...!
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (31ST OCTOBER) 45 YEARS AGO : 'UP LIKE A BIRD'!
The 'Alouette II' helicopter (pictured) which the IRA used on the 31st October 1973 - 45 years ago on this date - to rescue three Irish republicans from Free State custody.
In March 1973, IRA leader Joe Cahill was arrested by the Free State Navy in Waterford, aboard the Claudia, a ship from Libya loaded with five tons of weapons, and was sentenced to three years imprisonment, and another IRA leader, Seamus Twomey, was appointed IRA Chief of Staff. In early October that year, Twomey was caught and arrested by the Free Staters and imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail, which meant that three top IRA operatives (Twomey, J.B. O'Hagan and Kevin Mallon) were now housed in the one location - and the IRA wanted them back!
An 'American businessman', a 'Mr. Leonard', approached the manager of the 'Irish Helicopters' company at Dublin Airport and discussed hiring a helicopter for an aerial photographic shoot in County Laois and, after being shown the company's fleet of helicopters, this 'businessman' booked a five-seater Alouette II helicopter for October 31st. 'Mr Leonard' arrived at Irish Helicopters on the day and was introduced to the pilot of the helicopter, a Captain Thompson Boyes, who was instructed to fly to a field in Stradbally, County Laois, to pick up photographic equipment.
After landing, the pilot saw two armed and masked men approaching the helicopter from nearby trees and he was held at gunpoint and told he would not be harmed if he followed instructions. 'Mr Leonard' left the area with one gunman, while the other gunman climbed aboard the helicopter armed with a pistol and an Armalite rifle. Captain Boyes was told to fly towards Dublin following the path of railway lines and the Royal Canal, and was ordered not to register his flight path with Air Traffic Control. As the helicopter approached Dublin, Boyes was informed of the escape plan and instructed to land in the exercise yard at Mountjoy Prison.
On Wednesday, 31st October 1973 - 45 years ago on this date - at 3.40pm in the afternoon, the Alouette II helicopter landed in the 'D Wing Exercise Yard' of Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, when a football match was taking place between the prisoners, and Twomey, O'Hagan and Mallon jumped aboard, but were quickly spotted (!) by an alert (!) prison screw who used his training and power of intuition to take immediate action - he *called on the screws at the gate to close them over as he feared the helicopter was trying to escape (*according to the RTE 'Scannal - Prison Break' programme!). Another IRA prisoner who was in the yard at the time recalled how an embarrassed screw told him that he had apologised to the prison governor in relation to the incident, saying that he thought the helicopter contained a visiting (Free State) Minister for Defence (and well-known publican) Paddy Donegan : the IRA prisoner replied that, in fact, "..it was our Minister of Defence leaving...!"
All three men reported back to the IRA and continued their work for the Movement but, after a few weeks of freedom, Kevin Mallon was recaptured at a GAA Dance in the Montague Hotel in Co. Laois on 10th December 1973, J.B.O'Hagan was recaptured in Dublin in early 1975 and Seamus Twomey managed to remain uncaptured until December 2nd, 1977, after the Special Branch came across him in a 'suspicious car' parked in Sandycove, in Dublin. He had managed to evade the forces of 'law and order', North and South, for fifty months, despite been hunted by the best that Leinster House and Westminster could throw at him!
4 (SO FAR) FOR THE 42ND ON THE 25TH!
The CABHAIR Swim (pictured) : the 42nd successive Cabhair Swim (1976-2018) will be held, as usual, on Christmas Day next at 12 noon at the 3rd lock of the Grand Canal in Inchicore, Dublin.
We weren't going to mention this event until mid-November (...it's only Halloween and we're already talking about Christmas!) but the initiative was taken from us on social media, not least by this eager beaver
- that brave man will be one of four confirmed swimmers on the day with, we're told, at least another two swimmers to be confirmed between this and then. The local Cabhair Crew will be doing the annual collection of 'goodies' from the surrounding shops, pubs, clubs etc in the next few weeks and, as usual, the Swim tables will be overflowing (!) with the proceeds, which will be distributed to those present on the day. All funds raised will go here, as always and, again as always, there are no expenses requested or taken in relation to the event. We'll definitely give this another plug before the day, and we'd ask our readers to copy and paste/share this fundraising gig on their own blogs/pages etc and, if you can attend, please do so - it's for a great cause and the craic does be Ninty!
LETTER TO THE EDITOR - 'JAILED NATIONALISTS'. (By Thomas Neanon, Bayview Avenue, Dublin, and originally published in 'The Evening Mail' newspaper, 19th August 1954.)
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, October 1954.
Sir,
Much has been said by the political parties in the Republic (sic) on the imprisonment of Mr. Liam Kelly in Crumlin Jail, Belfast. The sympathy of the Irish people always went to the men in jail, and to Liam Kelly. But before our (sic) politicians condemn the imprisonment in the Six Counties, they might pay a visit to the cemeteries and churchyards of the Republic, (sic) and the jails, and they can also see many memorials to Irish nationalists over the past 32 years.
If we survey the position we will find that from 1922 to 1932 the Free State government, as it then was*, gave us coercion acts, military courts, internment camps and 77 executions. Many nationalists had to flee the Free State, the chief industries being unemployment and emigration. We will find that from 1932 to 1948, Fianna Fáil (the 'Republican Party') gave us a similar system and between shooting, hanging and deaths in prison became a good second with a total of 33 executions. Trial by jury in these cases was abolished and in many cases inquests prohibited and, together with this, hundreds were imprisoned without trial.
It is not my purpose to condone coercion in the Six Counties or the system that exists there, but why should we condemn tyranny in one place and condone it in another place? As I am one of the unfortunates not overburdened with intelligence, I would like to know what difference does it make to a nationalist whether he is jailed or executed by the unionist government of Stormont or the 'republican' government of Dublin? I think it is time we started to put our own house in order.
Thomas Neanon,
Bayview Avenue,
Dublin.
(*'1169' comment - ..and, indeed, as it still is.)
(END of 'Jailed Nationalists' : next, from the same source - 'The Call', by Seamus MacManus, the Donegal poet and shanachaí.)
ON THIS DATE (31ST OCTOBER) 88 YEARS AGO : A SPACER* WAS BORN (OR WAS HE?)...
"The all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced...(we) would continue to turn, serenely ignoring subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding..I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated...we are thrown left and right against our straps in spasmodic little jerks. It is steering like crazy, like a nervous lady driving a wide car down a narrow alley, and I just hope it knows where it's going...we have brought back rocks, and I think it is a fair trade.." **
Then, at about 7pm on the evening of Monday, the 5th of December in 1921, Michael Collins and others left a meeting in Downing Street in London to discuss issues among themselves and, having done so, returned to that same venue later that night where, at ten minutes past two on the morning of Tuesday 6th December 1921, Michael Collins and those others accepted 'dominion status' and an Oath which gave "allegiance" to the Irish Free State and "fidelity" to the British Crown - the Treaty was signed and, within six months, a Civil War was raging in Ireland, between the British-supported Free Staters and the Irish republicans who did not accept that 'Treaty'.
Confusing, all right! Two Michael Collins' featured above - one in a wrongly-captioned graphic complete with a quote from the other Michael Collins, followed by quotes ** from that same, unpictured, Collins! The best way to differentiate between them is to remember that only one of them went on a successful mission and did not wreck havoc afterwards on those who once stood side-by-side with him. And in relation to the above quotes - from here and here. And please note that we didn't photoshop the above graphic - we found it here ; *...and this definition * might be useful for our overseas readers..!
POPPY-NECKED BUT NOTHING TO CROWE ABOUT.
Mary Lou making a 'silent' attire-facilitated statement in support of another female Provisional Sinn Féin (PSF) poppy supporter, both of whom were backed, verbally (so far, only..) by one of their Leinster House colleagues -
- Seán Crowe, from Tallaght, in Dublin, who is (...and has been, for decades) 'on board' with the political direction of PSF in requesting improved 'civil rights' from Westminster for the citizens of the occupied Six Counties rather than demanding a British military and political withdrawal.
Seán was recently at a meeting of the 'British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly' grouping (which he co-Chairs) and, in what was described as an "agreed choreography", he declined an invitation to propose a toast to the English 'queen' - then, as arranged, the Free State ambassador to Britain, Adrian O'Neill, stepped-in and proposed the toast and our Seán raised his glass in salute to his majesty, after which he and his British chums laid Poppy wreaths at a war memorial in Westminster Palace, claiming that he done so as he "..didn't want to be putting anybody in an uncomfortable position" by not doing so! And, indeed, no doubt, it would make Seán and his type "uncomfortable" to use such occasions and meetings as an opportunity to highlight the continuing and unwanted British military and political presence in Ireland.
He then further proved his credentials by stating that the current British 'queen' "..has done more for peace and reconciliation for these islands than many prime ministers". That same member of the British 'royal family' is the commander-in-chief of the British military and is, as such, responsible for the carnage inflicted in this country by that same military force. But you could make people 'uncomfortble' by saying that...
WATERFORD NEWS.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, February 1955.
Waterford, traditionally a stronghold of reactionary 'loyalty' ("Treason anywhere but in Éire") has in the last few months shown an encouraging rise of interest in the Republican Movement.
The Northern raids have brought home to many genuine but misled nationalists the basic fact of British military occupation of part of Ireland and the futility of trying to oust force by appeasement. The result has been a spontaneous influx of recruits for the Army Unit and the establishment of a cumann of the civil organisation, Sinn Féin. The cumann, named in honour of Waterford's pride, Cathal Brugha, has been fortunate in acquiring the clubrooms in Colbeck Street in Waterford which were occupied by Sinn Féin and the Volunteers right through the stormy years 1917 to 1922.
A public meeting was held by the new cumann in Broad Street on the 22nd January and was addressed by Tomas MacCurtain, D MacCionnaith, Liam Earley and M MacCarthaigh of Cork. The 'Cork Volunteers Pipers Band', which travelled to Waterford for the occasion, was given an enthusiastic reception. The Christmas Collection for the prisoners and their dependents was successful beyond expectation - City £146, Dungarvon and surrounding areas £190, and great credit for this must go to the GAA and the NACA Clubs and to IRA veterans of the calibre of Pax Whelan and Vincent O Donoghue, President of the GAA, Lismore.
Go gcuitighidh Dia a saothair. A Cuirm Ceoil* in aid of the same fund, organised by the NCA Clubs, was held in the Municipal Theatre in Waterford on Sunday 16th January last. (* - a food, drink and Irish music party.)
(END of 'Waterford News' : next, from the same source - 'My Fight For Irish Freedom ; Dan Breen Upholds Policy Of IRA Today'.)
'BUYCOTTS' AND BEANS.
Ethical buying : is there any point? It would be a pity if the focus on the difficulties with boycotts led people to conclude that the answer to the wider question is 'No'.
By Oisín Coghlan. From 'Magill' magazine, July 2002.
There are dilemmas facing consumers who consider the use of boycotting certain goods - the shifting web of corporate interests and continually evolving ethical considerations means it can be a daunting task for an individual consumer to know how best to use their purchasing power for good. But two points are worth making in response ; boycotts can still play an important role in driving change and there is much more to ethical consumerism than simply the refusal to buy. Boycotts work best when they are part of a wider co-ordinated campaign rather than simply an isolated action - the most famous example is the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Equally, boycotts are appropriate when called for by the legitimate representatives of the people you are trying to help.
On her release from house arrest recently, Aung San Suu Kyi, the elected leader of Burma, reiterated her call for a tourism and investment boycott until the military government negotiates a return to democracy. While individuals always have the right to express their ethical principles by refusing to buy a product which offends them, consumers can often make more of a difference by choosing to buy particular products - this sort of positive purchasing power is often called a 'buycott', not a 'boycott', and 'Fairtrade' products are one example of this : the 'Fairtrade' label is an independent guarantee that the producers in the Third World get a fair price, with a little extra to invest in the community and the environment.
In the case of coffee this can be the difference between survival and ruin. The price of coffee on the world market is at its lowest point for 30 years, selling at $50 for a 100lb sack having touched $280 five years ago. The same amount of coffee costs $70 just to produce in Guatemala and will sell through coffee shops here for between $15,000 and $20,000. Faced with this crisis, 'Fairtrade' offers real hope to coffee farmers and their families, offering a minimum price of $126 for 100lb... (MORE LATER).
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
26TH OCTOBER 2018 : AN OPPORTUNITY TO HIT BACK.
"I assume that at some point in the future, I might do it again (in Quebec, they call it the "Parti nul" option). But it also affirms something I've believed for a long time : that all ballot papers for political office should include a 'None Of The Above' option, and that in an age such as ours, as many abstainers as possible should use social media and the web to explain why they haven't cast a vote. As negative and often nihilistic as that may seem, it needs doing : to provide an index of how bust and broken politics is, why we feel so disconnected from our parties and institutions – and, perhaps, what we might start to do to restore them to health..." (from here).
For the above reasons (and more), that's why I'll be voting 'NOTA' on Friday 26th October 2018 in the State presidential election - one of the other reasons is to do with the actual Office, the position, itself : I don't believe it should exist, full stop : it serves no useful purpose to the man/woman in the street, except as a sweetener for the 'establishment' to place one of their own in, in safe-keeping as a reward for 'services rendered' or as a propaganda stunt for, again, one of their own, that they are seeking to promote for their own benefit in later years.
'In a sense, 'none of the above' is a formal vote of protest. It's a rejection of the current parties and ideologies that dominate the political system. While many who are displeased with all of the candidate options choose not to vote altogether, a lot of time their lack of participation is written off as apathy. By selecting 'none of the above', voters can indicate that they both care and pay attention, but they are not happy with business as usual...'none of the above' could become a valuable tool to more accurately gauge the wishes of voters..' (from here).
There are six candidates who desire to obtain a life of idle pleasure from seven years of 'work' - four of those candidates are either millionaires already or are at least financially very comfortable, and will be for the rest of their lives, and bravo to them for that! Their good fortune can become even better with this opportunity but they will be powerless to improve the on-the-ground situation/position of those that voted for (or against) them but that fact won't be acknowledged by those that vote for them until after they have got your vote. Fool me once (although I can in good conscience state that I never once voted for any of them in the past and nor will I in the future), shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me.
"The 'none of the above' reform is potentially the most speculated upon while being very lightly researched or trialled so its practical impacts are little known (acknowledging the Australian Greens use this in their pre-selection process). It is suggested that the presence of an option which lets a voter disengage entirely would serve as a limiter to highly adversarial behaviour as neither party would seek to shrink the pool of available votes with its attendant funding impact.." (from here).
There is huge disquiet here (temporary, unfortunately), and rightly so, in relation to the taxpayer-supplied riches available to the incumbent, some of which need not be receipted/vouched for, yet most of those who are outraged at how that incumbent is living the highlife at their expense want to vote him out of office and insist on voting in someone else who will have access to that same taxpayer-funded lifestyle! That can't be just an 'Irish thing', can it?
"I figure voting for (any of them) is just as silly as them running for office. That's as silly as me running for office. What is not silly is the power of the people's vote. I think the people should use it to vote for none of the above! What I'm saying is I think only an idiot would vote for me. I'm here to talk to you about 'none of the above'. You know how, at election time, you decide not to vote because the candidates are so repulsive? Repulsive's not the word. We're all full of shit. Write in 'none of the above' on your ballot. Don't vote for any of us. We're assholes.
We'll only make things worse..." (from here).
"Under democracy, a candidate always devotes their chief energies to trying to prove that the other candidates are unfit for office — and they commonly succeed, and are right." (...apologises to H.L. Mencken [he was right, too, about the White House...] for the editing!) Don't hesitate - vote NOTA on the 26th October 2018. A plague on all their selfish desires and their (big) houses.
'LETTER TO THE EDITOR'...
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, October 1954.
Mr. J. Power of the Waterford Corporation said that many people were getting a fine living in this country out of selling foreign Sunday newspapers, but has Mr. Power ever considered how many more people would get 'a fine living' if we produced our own newspapers here? We now produce about five percent of our reading matter, but other countries produce about ninty-five percent and import the other five percent. Why shouldn't we? Why should we leave thousands to emigrate when they could be given employment here in a flourishing publishing industry? Surely the prospect of providing a few thousand Irish people with the employment for which they are crying out for should be an adequate reason for ending the present import of foreign publications.
With regard to Mr. Griffin's statement that "..when we see anything very seriously wrong we will have the Christian humility to ask for the guidance of our priests.." I need only quote the words of Father Benedict OCD in a sermon at Knock - "We must not continue to allow the minds and souls of our youth to be poisoned and perverted by bad so-called 'comic' papers imported from America and by objectionable cross-channel Sunday newspapers. The sooner we get alarmed into action against those two great evils, the better. To spend even one threepence on such newspapers is something we should consider a very serious matter."
Many of the Bishops drew attention to the dangers of the foreign Press in their Lenten Pastoral Letters and Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, Archbishop of Tuam, spoke at length on this subject in his sermon at Westport on the day of the pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick in July. We call on our readers to take action now by supporting worthy Irish publications and by boycotting objectionable foreign comics, magazines and newspapers.
Fe coimirce Muire thus, Cait Chambers, Leas Rúnaí, An tEagarthoir, An tÉireannach Aontuighthe.
(END of that 'Letter to the Editor' : next, from the same source - letter re 'Jailed Nationalists', from a Dublin reader.)
MOTHER OF CHARLES DALY DIES.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, February 1955.
Republican Ireland and especially republican Kerry mourned the passing of Mrs Ellen Daly of Knocknane, Firies, County Kerry, who died on December 31st last. She was the mother of Charlie Daly (pictured) executed by Free State forces at Drumboe, County Donegal, in March 1933, and of the late Tom Daly,
formerly Adjutant General of the IRA, who died in 1939.
Mrs Daly and her family had been staunch supporters of the Republican Movement in the 'Black and Tan' days and continued to give every possible help after the Treaty of Surrender. Her home was burned down by British forces in May 1921 but was re-built and became an open house for members of the Republican Movement and was constantly raided and ransacked by Free State troops. Right up to the time of her death the soldiers of the Irish Republican Army found a ready welcome in her home and many, including some of those now serving sentence in Crumlin Road Jail were as honoured to accept her hospitality and help as she was proud to give it.
Her funeral was of huge proportions : friends from all over Kerry and many of the adjoining counties attended, as did former comrades of Charlie and Tom, and a Guard of Honour was formed. The oration was given by John Joe Sheehy, Tralee, County Kerry. Ar dheis laimh De go raibh a anam.
('1169' comments : a different IRA man, also named Charlie Daly, a Cork man, was shot dead in cold blood in early March 1921 by undercover RIC men in a case of mistaken identity - more here. Also, detailed piece here re Charlie Daly, Kerry - 'It was the summer of 1920. Republican forces in Munster, particularly in Cork and Kerry, were being hard pressed by the British, and were carrying more than their share of the struggle. The Western Brigades were doing their best to ease the situation, as were Limerick, Waterford, Dublin and other parts of Leinster. But pressure on the extreme South was very great. Cork had been declared a Martial Law area. So had Kerry. Thousands of British troops were concentrated in these two counties, and if the war against was to be carried out at all, there had to be an easing of the pressure, temporarily at any rate. IRA General Headquarters in Dublin reviewed the situation. Then they took a decision. Ulster was too quiet. The Ulstermen must be organised and brought into the fight on a more widespread scale, so Headquarters appointed a Kerryman to carry out the job. His name was Charlie Daly...')
(END of 'MOTHER OF CHARLES DALY DIES' : next, from the same source - 'Waterford News'.)
COLUMBIA : NO IRISH NEED APPLY...
The arrest of the 'Colombia Three' on charges of training left-wing FARC guerrillas had implications for more than the North's peace process. Colombian paramilitaries suddenly had an excuse to target other Irish people in that country.
By Paul O'Brien. From 'Magill' magazine, July 2002.
Gearoid O Loingsigh (34), a Dubliner, is a member of the Irish-based 'Latin America Solidarity Centre', and is now back in Bogota, where Sembrar continue to review his security and that of other foreigners with the organisation. This is his second stint working with Sembrar, having worked there in 1995 as well, and he is scheduled to continue working in Colombia until October.
Despite his scare, he says he has no intention of leaving sooner - "I have no plans to cut short my stay, despite the security risks, though if things get very hot and heavy, I will leave. I am willing to be in a dangerous situation but I am not willing to do stupid things and neither is Sembrar."
(END of 'COLUMBIA : NO IRISH NEED APPLY' : next, from the same source - 'Buycotts and Beans', by Oisín Coghlan.)
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
