SECOND DAY OF THE 'BORDER CAMPAIGN' OPERATION BEGINS : 13TH DECEMBER 1956.
IRA Volunteers, pictured around the time of the Border Campaign.
At the time of this IRA campaign, Eamon de Valera's Fianna Fail State Administration were of the opinion that it actually began in 1954, with the raid on Gough Barracks, in Armagh, on Saturday 12th June that year (1954), in which some 300 weapons were liberated from the British Army.
Fianna Fail considered that proof enough that the IRA "..had renewed its activities, was rearming, recruiting young men and engaging in drilling and other manoeuvres..." and indeed they were.
On 11th December 1956, communication was sent to the IRA Volunteers involved - over 150 men - that the operation would begin at midnight on 12th December and, at the appointed time, three IRA flying columns crossed the Free State border to attack British Army depots and administration centres, air fields, radar installations, British Army barracks, courthouses, bridges, roads and custom posts : the 'Resistance Campaign/Operation Harvest', had begun proper , on the 12th/13th December, 1956, and operations were co-ordinated from County Monaghan.
In a letter from the then leadership of the Sinn Féin organisation, which was signed by Maire Ni Gabhan and Miceal Treinfir [see 'Sinn Féin Rally In Dublin', here] (and which was sent from the Sinn Féin Office, 3 Lr. Abbey Street, Dublin) the Secretary of each Cumann was instructed to read out a statement after every Mass in their area, on Sunday 16th December (1956), announcing the start of 'the Border Campaign', an announcement which, later, prompted the then Free State 'Taoiseach', Fianna Fail's Seán Lemass, to describe the IRA as being "similar to fascists" re its decision to mount such a campaign.
Although it did not achieve its objectives, the Border Campaign kept 'the National Question' in the political forefront, enabled the Republican Movement to make new connections and ensured that valuable operational lessons were learned and documented for the next generation.
On 26th February 1962 the IRA, through the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, in a communication signed by J. McGarrity, sent out the following message :
"The leadership of the resistance Movement has ordered the termination of the Campaign of Resistance to British Occupation launched in December, 1956.
Instructions issued to Volunteers of the Active Service Units and of local Units in the occupied area have now been carried out. All arms and materials have been dumped and all full-time active volunteers have been withdrawn.
Foremost among the factors motivating this course of action has been the attitude of the general public whose minds have been deliberately distracted from the supreme issue facing the Irish people – the unity and freedom of Ireland.
The Irish resistance movement renews its pledge of eternal hostility to the British Forces of Occupation in Ireland. It calls on the Irish people for increased support and looks forward with confidence – in co-operation with the other branches of the Republican Movement – to a period of consolidation, expansion and preparation for the final and victorious phase of the struggle for the full freedom of Ireland."
Although that Campaign was called off as, indeed, were others like it over the centuries of resistance, opposition to British military and political interference in Irish affairs remains in place and has been bolstered by those 'failed campaigns'.
Even when we appear to have lost, we win!
Towards the end of 1919, an RIC 'Inspector General' in Ireland, a Mr Joseph Byrne, was rather annoyed (!) that 'his team' was about to be supplemented by ex and demobbed British soldiers, as Mr Byrne knew that those men would find it hard to adjust to 'policing roles', to put it mildly.
He was of the opinion that "...the general public is prepared to suffer rather than openly condemn the criminal acts (sic) of the republican fanatics.." (sic), and Westminster was looking at him with raised eyebrows ("Too bloody soft on the natives, what...!")
'The Times' newspaper, London, was watching developments and, on the 13th December, 1919, wrote -
"The population in southern Ireland is between two coercions, laws imposing restrictions upon ordinary liberty. Of the two powers, Sinn Féin has the more terror. That perhaps should be neglected.
The serious part is that, on the whole, Sinn Féin has more moral authority."
'The Paper Of Record' (!) got that part right, at least!
Incidentally and, no doubt, coincidentally, the 'Big Softie', Mr Byrne, was 'moved on' (!) from his position in December 1919 and replaced by his deputy, a Mr TJ Smith, a well known Orangeman...
========================================
'AMERICAN NOTES...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
The death occurred on February 20th of Larry Cooke (Cavan), a trusted member of the James Connolly Club, Clan na Gael-IRA Veterans of America Inc, for many years.
A tribute to the memory of this staunch soldier of the Irish Republic was paid on February 22nd by the Clan na Gael and members of his own club.
Chairman (sic) Patrick O'Mahoney (Kerry) paid a glowing tribute to his memory, Dr. Frank Monahan (Cavan) delivered the oration and a decade of the Rosary in Irish was recited by the assembly.
Imeasc laochra Gaedheal go raibh a Anam.
(END of 'American Notes' ; NEXT - 'Sinn Féin Notes', from the same source.)
In the British 'House of Commons', on the 13th December, 1920, Liberal MP T McKinnon Wood questioned 'Sir' Thomas Hamar Greenwood, the British 'Chief Secretary of Ireland' (and Chief 'Spin Doctor') if anti-Sinn Féin notices were being published in Irish newspapers at British Army gunpoint or not!
Mr Greenwood, who was known to 'condemn himself by his own immoral character', replied - "So far as can be ascertained, no members of the Crown Forces were responsible for the drawing up or the sending of the notices in question..."
Somehow or other, that arrogant man, described by his wife as a "stick shaker", lived to be 78 years of age and then, presumably, got 'stick' himself elsewhere...
========================================
A Dublin IRA Volunteer, John Hickey, was lying in a bed in Baggot Street Hospital, Dublin, on the 13th December, 1920, dying from two gunshot wounds.
John and a pal were walking near the Merrion Gates in Dublin on the 12th December when two men stopped them and asked him why he had his hands in his pockets.
Before he could answer or react, the strangers pulled out handguns and shot at him a number of times ; he fell to the ground, suffering two bullet wounds.
He died on the 14th December and is buried in Dun Laoghaire, in County Dublin. It is believed that the gunmen were 'off duty' members of the Crown Forces.
========================================
A British Army soldier, a Private (Alfred) John Allport (26), from Walsall, in the West Midlands, in England, who was a member of the 1st Battalion of the Leicester Regiment, died in Athlone, in Westmeath, in Ireland, on the 13th December, 1920, after a "misadventure".
He is buried in Bloxwich, in the West Midlands, in his own country.
========================================
On the 13th December, 1920, Mary Maher, a sixty-year-old shopkeeper in Main Street, Templemore, in County Tipperary, was found in her house, lying unconscious on the kitchen floor.
Her skull had been fractured, and she died on the 16th December.
There was uproar locally, understandably and, eventually, a British Army Private, a man named O'Brien, a member of the Northamptonshire Regiment, admitted to murdering M/s Maher. He said his wife was also involved.
M/s Maher was one of at least 98 Irish women that were murdered in that manner between 1917 and 1921 :
'At the height of the Irish War of Independence, 1919–1921...brutally raped...died of terrible wounds, almost certainly inflicted by drunken British soldiers. This article discusses her inadequately investigated case in the wider context of fatal violence against women and girls during years of major political instability. Ordinarily her violent death would have been subject to a coroner’s court inquiry and rigorous police investigation, but in 1920, civil inquests in much of Ireland were replaced by military courts of inquiry...' (From here.)
========================================
On December 13th, 1920, when Arthur Griffith and other Irish rebels were in 'discussions' with Lloyd George's political administration in London in relation to "the Irish question", Mr Griffith contacted a friend of his, a Fr Patrick Joseph Clune, to discuss developments.
Mr Griffith, rather annoyed about how the 'feeler talks' were going, told his friend that all was not well, that Lloyd George was offering the Irish 'terms that amounted to a call for surrender' and stated that "there would be no surrender, no matter what frightfulness was used..".
However, less than one year later, Mr Griffith was one of those who accepted 'terms that amounted to a call for surrender'.
'Put not your trust in Princes...'
========================================
The RIC Barracks in Ballinalee, in County Longford, stood at the crossroads in the village and was 'staffed' by about 30 uniformed anti-republican operatives, under an RIC Sergeant, a man named Thomas C. Napier.
In early 1920, in order to 'consolidate their forces', the barracks was emptied of its personnel who were re-located to outlying barracks, and the building was boarded up and, within a few months, it had been set on fire by local republicans.
Following the 'Battle of Ballinalee' in early November (1920), Crown Forces wanted to re-establish their presence in that village but their old barracks was not, by then, fit to accommodate man or beast, so they took over an empty shop (Pat Farrell's grocery shop) and converted it into something like their old building.
On the 13th December, 1920, at between 1am and 2am, a loud explosion resulted in a wall, and the interior steel plating covering it, being shattered and, at the same time, another mine was thrown into the building from its roof, which exploded on the ground floor, killing an RIC man, Thomas Manfred Taylor (18 years of age, 'Service Number 74612') from Surrey, in England, and wounding three of his RIC colleagues.
Gunfire was exchanged until about 7am, when the IRA withdrew from the village ; when the Crown Forces and their reinforcements had regrouped and settled themselves, they went on a rampage, burning down about half the houses in Ballinalee.
The RIC abandoned the remains of their new nest (!) so the local school committee renovated the building and an empty house next door to it ('Rose Cottage', which used to be owned by the Reynolds family) and turned it into something useful for the community - a new school!
Incidentally, three days after that attack (ie on the 16th December 1920), RIC Sergeant Thomas C. Napier received a letter in the post, addressed personally to him, in handwriting that he didn't recognise. The letter said -
'Ballinalee.
Take Notice.
You were in command of the English Army here on Sunday, murdering Irishmen - congratulations on your flight - don't think you will escape.
You are spying a long time in Longford, be prepared ; you won't do it much longer.
No Army will be here or anywhere else but the IRA.'
Two days later (ie on the 18th December 1920), RIC Sergeant Thomas C. Napier was 'promoted' to the position of 'Head Constable' and was relocated to a different area...
========================================
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
Exploring other theological elements, closeness to the Church was highest in the cohort born after 1970 (62 per cent) and lowest in the 1930 cohort.
On sexual morality, the percentage believing that premarital sex is wrong has plummeted, with very few of the younger age group supporting this, even among those attending weekly mass (25 per cent).
So whilst they adhere to many of the tenets of the Catholic faith, the young have discarded its sexual ethic. This is hardly surprising since our culture is highly sexualised with sex a marketable commodity. In addition, the serious flaws in the current religious education curriculum and the opting-out of parents from these sensitive areas means that many young people will be largely ignorant of the underpinnings of the traditional sexual ethic.
Contrary to popular opinion, Catholicism is alive and well in Ireland - although it may be popular devotion that is to the fore rather than the reflective faith so desired by the clergy...
(MORE LATER.)
Three IRA Battalions, totalling about 1,550 men from the Kildare Brigade (2nd, 5th and 6th Battalions) participated in training and drilling exercises in the 'Little Curragh' area of Kildare, on the 13th December 1921.
Programmes covered included engineering, first aid and military drills.
The IRA was a recognised and sophisticated guerrilla army which was based parish-by-parish ; a town (ie an area, neighbourhood or local community) organised itself as a 'Company', and an agreed number of such Units comprised a Battalion (being from the same district or constituency).
An agreed number of Battalions formed a Brigade (usually based by County), and these Units were organised into Divisions, when the need arose.
In the 1920's, the overall strength of the organisation was said to be 65 Brigades, 297 Battalions - a total of about 115,550 active Volunteers, all of whom were trained and drilled on a regular basis.
========================================
On the 13th December, 1921, Roman Catholic Bishops in Ireland held a meeting to discuss the offerings of the 'Treaty of Surrender' and a majority of them decided that their church should support it (in 1921, there were 4 Archbishops, 23 bishops, 3082 secular priests and 754 members of male religious orders, societies and congregations in Ireland) and they also agreed that their public statement about their meeting should be a "neutral" one in regards to the advice they were going to offer to their followers in relation to the 'Treaty'.
But that agreement was disregarded the following day when 15 members of the Irish Roman Catholic Hierarchy issued a statement supporting the 'Treaty', allowing (encouraging?) Westminster and soon-to-be Free Staters in Ireland the opportunity to further brow-beat Irish citizens into voting for what transpired to be a 'false dawn/bad deal'.
Indeed, in a Christmas Day sermon in Ennis Cathedral in County Clare, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Michael Fogarty, urged support for the 'Treaty' and warned of the dangers of a civil war if it wasn't accepted.
However, not all priests were in favour of the 'Treaty of Surrender' and one in particular, Monsignor John Hagan, the Rector of the Irish College in Rome, stated -
"The bishops (in Ireland) don’t want to listen to arguments about their political partisanship and the damage it has done to religion.
The bishops will not listen to any such view. They are persuaded that they are right and are inclined to tolerate no doubt. Indeed, I am inclined to gather that they regard doubts of the kind as a sort of personal affront.
Naturally, the main body of the priests in a diocese think as the bishop thinks, and thus we have a vicious circle, which bounds the horizon all round..."
We lost the 'Treaty of Surrender' debate and outcome - one 'round' in a fight which still continues to this day!
========================================
On the 13th December, 1921, the British Prime Minster, Mr David Lloyd George, sensing some apprehension in Mr Arthur Griffith about the 'Treaty' he was trying to sell to him, wrote a 'letter of assurance' to the then Sinn Féin rebel, giving him a guarantee that the British Exchequer would not go totally nuclear (!) on the Irish in relation to the arbitration of Ireland's financial liability (?!) to Westminster, that the British would not voice full opposition to the new 'Free State' lodging an application to the 'League of Nations' seeking membership, that the British would be sympathetic to the Staters while they drafted a 'Constitution' for their 'new State' and that the beginning of British troop evacuation from Ireland would start as soon as the 'Treaty' was ratified.
Mr Griffith, being too diplomatic for his (and our!) own good, never did tell Mr George to go f**k himself.
========================================
In a letter that he wrote to Mr Bonar Law (the British 'Lord Privy Seal'!) on the 13th December in 1921, Mr James Craig (the '1st Viscount Craigavon' and the then 'Prime Minister of Northern Ireland [sic]') stated -
"There is nothing in the terms of the (1921) Treaty (of Surrender) to show that the Boundary Commission must necessarily limit its functioning to little adjustments..."
In that same month, Mr Craig made a public speech in which he declared that the partioned area (ie the Occupied Six Counties) "..would oppose any boundary revision that threatened it with substantial loss of territory..."
A snake-oil salesperson, like any politician..!
========================================
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.)
'Fenian Proclamation 1867 :
Proclamation To The Irish People Of The World.
We have suffered centuries of outrage, enforced poverty, and bitter misery.
Our rights and liberties have been trampled on by an alien aristocracy who, treating us as foes, usurped our lands and drew away from our unfortunate country all material riches.
The real owners of the soil were removed to make room for cattle, and driven across the ocean to seek the means of living, and the political rights denied to them at home, while our men of thought and action were condemned to loss of life and liberty.
But we never lost the memory and hope of a national existence.
We appealed in vain to the reason and sense of justice of the dominant powers but our mildest remonstrances were met with sneers and contempt and our appeals to arms were always unsuccessful...'
(MORE LATER.)
On the 13th December, 1922, IRA Volunteer Tom Barry (who was denounced, decades later, by the IRA, for his journalistic work for the Free State Army) was in command of a Column of IRA fighters (consisting of about 100 men) which entered the town of Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary.
The Free State Army were in situ in the town and a gun battle erupted between the two armed forces, during which two FSA members were shot (one of whom, Lieutenant James Gardiner, died later) and a civilian was injured.
The Staters eventually surrended to the rebels and were held, as a group, in the Main Street of the town.
The IRA liberated 107 rifles, two Lewis machine guns, a Crossley Tender and two motor cars from the FSA that day, released their prisoners, unharmed, after a few days, and disappeared into the countryside!
========================================
Thomas Behan, an IRA Volunteer who was held captive by the Staters, was shot dead in the Curragh on the 13th December, 1922, while allegedly trying to escape.
He was one of ten Volunteers that were removed by the FSA from a dugout under the stables of the Moore's farm in Mooresbridge, Rathbride, near the Curragh, in County Kildare, on the 12th December.
The Staters were aware that that particular IRA Active Service Unit had taken part in a number of attacks on them and had disabled local rail infrastructure in counties Kildare and Wicklow.
Seven of the ten Volunteers were courtmartialled and executed at the Curragh on the 19th December 1922 and, although the IRA in Kildare had lost friends and comrades, the fight continued, as, indeed, it does to this day.
========================================
Thanks for the visit, and for reading.
Sharon and the team.
'LETTERS OF ASSURANCE' AND ALL THAT...!
On Wednesday, 13th December 2023, we'll be cominatya' with a 17-piece post on Irish history and politics, mentioning various occurrences which took place in Ireland - North, South, East and West - and abroad, all connected to our on-going struggle and campaign for full independence.
The happenings that we'll be covering include putting a bit of meat on the bones of a meeting held here, in the early 1920's, of the Catholic Church hierarchy, called specifically to discuss their 'direction' on the 1921 'Treaty of Surrender', and how that agreement between that hierarchy was broken by them the very next day...
We'll also be looking at the 'generosity' (!) of a certain British Prime Minister to one of the top men in the Sinn Féin organisation, and referencing the 'letter of assurance' he sent to the 'Irish rebel'...
...and then there's another 'letter of assurance' which one of Westminster's top men in Stormont sent to a top British political figure and, practically in the same breath, reneged on in public!
An IRA 'Dump Arms!' order was issued by the leadership, the reasons for it and a statement of what will happen next.
This RIC boss was wary of following orders from Westminster to recruit certain groups of people into 'his force' and was removed from his position, to be replaced by an even bigger bigot. 'The Devil You Know' and all that...!
As stated, we will have 17 articles, like the above, ready for posting on Wednesday, 13th December 2023.
Give us a shout then - if we disappoint you, sure ya always have Santa's visit to look forward to!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading ; see ye on the 13th!
Sharon and the team.
ON THIS DATE (6TH DECEMBER) 102 YEARS AGO : A TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE IS BORN.
One of the leaflets (pictured) distributed by Irish republicans in late 1921 to counteract anti-republican propaganda that the 'Treaty (of Surrender)' was "a stepping stone" to that which they had fought for - indeed, one of those who accepted that Treaty, ex-republican Arthur Griffith, declared, in a press release immediately after signing same - "I have signed a Treaty of peace between Ireland and Great Britain. I believe that treaty will lay foundations of peace and friendship between the two Nations. What I have signed I shall stand by in the belief that the end of the conflict of centuries is at hand."
Yet historian Nicholas Mansergh noted that, at practically the same time as Griffith had penned the above, the British were talking between themselves of "...concessions (from the Irish) wrung by devices..some of which can be described at best as devious..every word used and every nuance was so important..."
On Monday 5th December 1921 - the day before the Treaty of Surrender was signed - the then British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, announced to the Irish side in the negotiations that he had written two letters, one of which would now be sent to his people in Ireland ; one letter told of a peaceful outcome to the negotiations, the other told of a breakdown in the negotiations - Lloyd George stated that if he sent the latter one "it is war, and war within three days. Which letter am I to send?"
(Years later, the Minutes of a British Cabinet meeting at which the 'Treaty' was discussed were released, and they showed that the majority of British politicians at the meeting "generally agree" that "the rough treatment to which the Irish extremists had been subjected during the past twelve months... had brought home to the (IRA) men in the field the need for some equitable compromise..." [UK National Archives, CAB 23/27/17]. Those people were also of the opinion "that a Boundary Commission would possibly give Ulster [sic] more than she would lose..")
That 'war letter' meeting took place on the afternoon of Monday 5th December 1921 ; at around 7pm that same evening, the Irish team left the Downing Street meeting to discuss the matter between themselves and returned to Downing Street later that night.
At ten minutes past two on the morning of Tuesday 6th December 1921 - 102 years ago on this date - Michael Collins and his team 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 it should be noted that Collins and his team did not consult the [32-County] Dáil, the institution on whose behalf they were acting, before they signed it. Also, Mr Collins took the time to write to Kitty Kiernan saying that he did not get to bed until five o'clock that morning. He added - "I don’t know how things will go now but with God's help we have brought peace to this land of ours – a peace which will end this old strife of ours forever." He was wrong about it bringing peace, but was soon to catch up on his sleep. Also, when Mr Arthur Griffith got back to Dublin after his meetings in London, one of his first acts was to organise various meetings with 'representatives of the Southern unionists' [ie anti-republican elements in the country] to guarantee that "their interests would be safeguarded" in his new Free State!) :
On the 16th December (1921), the British so-called 'House of Commons' (by a vote of 401 for and 58 against) and its 'House of Lords' (166 for, 47 against) ascribed 'legitimacy' to the new State and, on the 7th January 1922, the political institution in Leinster House voted to accept it, leading to a walk-out by then-principled members who, in effect, were refusing to assist in the setting-up of a British-sponsored 'parliament' in the newly-created Irish Free State.
Mr Éamon de Valera was reportedly very annoyed when he heard that the 'Treaty' had been signed without his final consent but, later that same day, he dressed-up in his academic robes and, in his capacity as 'Chancellor of the National University of Ireland', he chaired an event to mark the anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri in 1321. Mr de Valera was later to fully enforce the structure and operation of that same 'Treaty'. Mr Alighieri was known to have penned some verses on 'hypocrisy'...
But, at an IRA convention on the 26th March (1922), at which 52 out of the 73 IRA Brigades were present - despite said gathering having been forbidden by the Leinster House institution (!) - the 'Treaty' was rejected and a statement issued deriding Leinster House for having betrayed the Irish republican ideal.
Within six months, a Civil War was raging in Ireland, between the British-supported Free Staters and Irish republicans who did not accept the 'Treaty' and that vicious fight continued until the 24th May 1923 when the IRA were ordered by their leadership to "..dump arms (as) further sacrifice on your part would now be in vain and the continuance of the struggle in arms unwise in the national interest...military victory must be allowed to rest for the moment with those who have destroyed the Republic.." , but, 'unofficially', Free Staters continued to exact revenge on republicans for some time afterwards and, indeed, are still doing so today, albeit in a different manner.
On the 11th July 1924, the Treaty was registered at the 'League of Nations' by the Free State authorities which, in our opinion, would have been the ideal occasion for a legal challenge to it, based on the fact that, when Michael Collins and his supporters were attempting to 'sell' it to their own side, they made a big deal of the 'Boundary Commission' clause and in particular the part of it which stated that the 'border' could be adjusted "in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants", which is precisely why Westminster 'took' only six of the nine Ulster counties - a built-in 'majority'.
Also, the British actually took it on themselves to amend the 1921 Treaty of Surrender to allow themselves (ie Westminster) to unilaterally appoint a representative to speak on behalf of the Stormont 'Parliament'.
That Boundary Commission clause ('Article 12') was not properly adhered to by the signatories of the 1921 Treaty thereby, legally, negating the Treaty itself but deep pockets would be required to take such an action.
And the only grouping in this State in a position to mount a challenge like that is the same (Free State) grouping which benefited then and continues to benefit today from that Clause and that which spawned it. For now they do, anyway...
(Incidentally, decades after the 'Treaty of Surrender' had been signed, the diary kept by a prominent British Army officer and politician, a 'Sir' Henry Wilson, was opened [after his death] and, in it, he had opined about that 'Treaty'- "The Agreement [sic] is complete surrender...a farcical oath of allegiance...withdrawal of our troops...a Rebel Army! The British Empire is doomed..."
If only it truly was, Mr Wilson. If only...)
'AMERICAN NOTES...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
The New York GAA have given the use of Gaelic Park for a field day in aid of the 'Prisoners Dependents Fund' on March 27th.
The president of the New York GAA, John Kerry O'Donnell, and the other officers of the New York Council, have given of their time to help plan the event, and preparations are also now nearing completion for the biggest Easter Commemoration that New York has had for years, and the 'Clan na Gael-IRA Veterans of America Inc' will direct the proceedings.
An active committee representative of many organisations in overseeing arrangements for the function to be held at the Pythian Temple, West 70th Street, New York, on Easter Sunday night : Barney Rooney is the General Chairman (sic)...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (6TH DECEMBER) 98 YEARS AGO : A 'CON' ARTIST IS BORN!
Con Houlihan, pictured, a sports writer who sometimes strayed into other subjects, was born on this date - 6th December - in 1925, 98 years ago on this date.
One of those 'other subjects' that Mr Houlihan occasionally visited was politics (he was a Fine Gael supporter, it seems) which prompted us to post a piece on this blog a few years ago in connection with a highly coloured article (!) that the man wrote after he happened to share street-space with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh -
'Not so much (or at all, even) 'speaking ill of the dead' in this piece as highlighting the straws an 'artist' will clutch at when they attempt to stray onto another 'canvass'. And Mr. Houlihan was indeed an 'artist' when it came to discussing and dressing-up/colouring in matters of the field and had wonderful turns of phrase which he employed with great timing.
But he done himself no favours when he attempted to 'stray' on to the well-trodden anti-republican 'canvass', where he was not as sure-footed as he was 'on the field' - indeed, the only way he could sustain an 'away trip' of that nature was to use a straw man argument in the hope that those as unfamiliar with that particular 'turf' as he was would consider him to be as good a 'pol corr' as he was a sports writer.
The first fault with Mr. Houlihan's effort in this piece is that a radio station would not be played through the same loudspeakers on the same stage at the same time as an Irish republican was addressing an Irish republican gathering. It just wouldn't happen, simple as and, whilst some might dismiss this example as 'nit picking', it is from such 'little acorns' that mighty deceptions spring from.
It was a 'straw man' introduction that the author invented in order to 'colour' the gathering as "inflamed with hatred..indoctrinated by bigots in pubs and cafes or by mob orators..", before bringing in the standard 'Nazi' comparison.
All standard fare for any 'straw man' author - invent a 'connection' then rage against it. Mr. Houlihan got his answer days later from that particular "bigot (of a) mob orator" but the damage had been done : through deliberate misrepresentation, one anti-republican had 'confirmed' to others of that ilk just how right they were to despise Irish republicans and republicanism in general and, job done, Con parked his 'straw weapon' (in the back of the net, no doubt) to be (ab)used another day. Which he did, by the way - and often - but I'll not go into that here , as I have no desire to 'speak ill of the dead'..' (from here.)
Mr. Houlihan died on the 4th August, 2012, at 86 years of age. He was a fantastic sports writer, so I'm told (regular readers will know that I'm not big into sports or those that write about it etc) but I knew Ruairí, and I know how republicans carry themselves at rallies and protest marches etc and considered it fitting, and necessary, to repeat the above piece on the 'Con Almighty's' birthday.
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
Further evidence for the ongoing role that Catholicism has in people's lives came from the study by Greally and Ward, published in late 2000, which surveyed 1,010 people in the Irish Republic (sic) as part of a larger, longitudinal European study.
The results are fascinating, not least because many of them are counter-intuitive and challenge the much-vaunted belief that the churches are empty and that our '20-somethings' have no interest in religion.
According to the results, Ireland is still the most religious country in Europe and there has been little change in weekly mass attendance during the 1990's, with the decline to the present level of 63 per cent occurring before the crop of clerical sexual scandals came to public attention.
The attitudes to the priests working in parishes at the coalface remain very positive, and the cohort now in their 20's have higher regard for these priests than any other age group, even when compared with their grandmothers born in the 1930's.
However, the institutional Church has suffered a serious decline in confidence since the last survey in 1991, with just 28 per cent having a great deal of confidence in the institutional Church...
(MORE LATER.)
6TH DECEMBER...
1919 :
IRA Volunteer Edward Malone, of Dunbrin, Athy, in County Kildare (a nephew of well-known cleric Reverend JJ Malone), was back in a British prison (Ship Street Barracks), having been in 'court' the previous day (5th December).
He had been charged with possession of 10 detonators, a document "likely to cause disaffection", a document "likely to prejudice discipline within the RIC" (!) and possession of a Winchester Rifle.
Volunteer Malone refused to recognise the 'court' but was sentenced anyway - to two years imprisonment with hard labour (but one year was remitted later).
==========
1919 :
John Charles Byrne (pictured) , aka 'Jack Jameson/Keith Prowse', a former British Army soldier who had been recruited into 'British Intelligence' by a Mr Basil Thomson of the London Metropolitan Police, arrived in Dublin on the 6th December, 1919, posing as a socialist theatre worker/musical instrument salesman, and let it be known that he could be helpful to the Irish republican Cause.
He was eventually put in contact with Michael Collins, who contacted one of his agents in London (Art O'Brien), who had supplied Mr Byrne with a cover note of introduction to Collins. The two men discussed the new 'benefactor', who had met with Collins twice and left an uneasy feeling behind him, on both occasions, with Collins and Squad members.
Mr Byrne was given false information by the IRA and, when that information was acted on by British operatives, the jig was up for the 'benefactor' : his body was found in Drumcondra, in Dublin, on the 7th March 1920.
'British Intelligence' later described him as "..the best Secret Service man we had...".
==========
1920 :
On the 6th December, 1920 (listed as 'October 1920' by some sources) as a Republican Court was in session in the village of Craggaknock, near Kilkee, in County Clare, armed and semi-uniformed men burst in to the building and stopped the proceedings.
The Black and Tans had arrived.
They were looking for one person in particular - an IRA man named William Shanahan (pictured) - they knew he had been there, but was no where to be found now.
But they wanted blood, so they opened-up on the unarmed civilians in the room, killing a local man, a Mr Thomas Curtin.
A local doctor stated that "the bullet had caused a wound about three to four and a half inches long. It had ripped up the skull, the coverings of the brain and the brain itself. The wound was about one inch wide. An ordinary rifle bullet was used, at about 500 yards range..."
==========
1920 :
On Monday, 6th December 1920, as Dublin Corporation was holding its monthly meeting in 'City Hall' in Dublin, British Auxiliaries stormed the venue, led by a Captain William King, and 'arrested' six elected political representatives - Michael Staines, Thomas Lawlor, Joseph Clarke, James V. Lawless, James Brennan and Michael Lynch.
Their intention was to disrupt Irish political life in Ireland, as they were aware that not all politicians supported 'the Crown'. They then "requisitioned" (under DORA 'legislation') the 'City Hall' building and another political institution, 'Municipal Buildings', for use by the British political and military forces.
==========
1920 :
On the 6th December, 1920, having been instructed by his betters (!) in Westminster to do so, British Army Lieutenant-General 'Sir' Henry Hugh Tudor ('KCB, CMG etc!') issued a notice to the British 'police force' in Ireland, the RIC, to, basically, 'calm down'.
That grouping, the RIC, had 'unofficially' been given carte blanche by Westminster to run riots in Ireland and terrorise the population, in order to 'restore and maintain law and order'. Britain's version of 'law and order', that is - the order was effective, for a few days, and then ignored. Westminster, too, ignored the fact that it had issued the order in the first place.
==========
1922 :
On the 6th December, 1922, Free State forces finally took over the town of Kenmare (pictured), in County Kerry.
The town had been held by the rebels (IRA) since September, 1922, and the Staters had tried, twice, to take it from them, but failed on both occasions. But, on the 6th December that year, the Leinster House Free State administration sent in three military columns of their armed forces to 'secure' the town, which they did, this time, and 'arrested' fourteen rebels in the process.
==========
1925 :
In order to 'legitimise the new Irish State in Northern Ireland' (sic) in the political eyes of the world, Westminster and its offspring in Leinster House needed to present the 'Stormont Government' (sic) in the Occupied Six Counties as 'an agreed positve advancement'.
So those three anti-republican, pro-British political institutions came up with a 'Tripartite Agreement' which all three would get on board with and sign off on.
In a speech in Dublin, Mr Éamon de Valera (playing the rebel) loudly objected, calling the 'Agreement' a "mediated crime" and described those in Leinster House as "Free Staters who had sold our countrymen for the meanest of all considerations – a money consideration..".
However, within two years, Mr de Valera and his followers had accepted political office in the Free State 'parliament' and Establishment...!
==========
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.)
Republican Sinn Féin, likewise, follows in the traditions of Tone, Emmet, the Fenians and Pearse.
We accept the programme of previous generations of republicans - 'Ireland Free'. No compromising 'interim settlement' is acceptable.
"The task we take up again is just Emmet's task of silent unattractive work, the routine of correspondence and committees and organising. We must face it as bravely and as quietly as he faced it, working on in patience as he worked on, hoping as he hoped, cherishing in our secret hearts the mighty hope that to us, though so unworthy, it may be given to bring to accomplishment the thing he left unaccomplished, but working on even when that hope dies within us..." - Padraig Pearse.
The Union Creed Of The United Irishmen :
"I believe the land, or any part of it, cannot become the property of any man, but by purchase, or as rewards for forwarding and preserving the public liberty.
I believe our present connection with England must be speedily dissolved.
I believe that old age, pregnant women and labour should be honoured.
I believe that treason is the crime of betraying the people.
I believe religious distinctions are only protected by tyrants.
I believe applying the lands of the church to relieve old age, to give education and protection to infancy, will be more acceptable to a united people, than maintaining lazy hypocrites and ravenous tithe-gatherers.
In this faith I mean to live, or bravely die..."
(MORE LATER.)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading.
Sharon and the team.
