RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......



.......In early 1938 , the then IRA Chief of Staff , Sean Russell , ordered Richie Goss to go to Dublin ; preparations were underway for a bombing campaign in England .......



Within months , Richie Goss was in England , helping to organise IRA Units , safe-houses etc for the campaign ; he was arrested in Liverpool in May 1939 for refusing to account for £20 in his possession (!) and was sentenced to seven-days in Walton Jail - when released , he reported back to the IRA in London .

About two months later , he returned to Ireland but was unlucky enough to be grabbed by the Free Staters in their round-up of known and suspected IRA members and supporters , in September that year (1939) ; on 2nd September 1939 , the Leinster House Administration (Free Staters) had issued a statement saying that , because of " the armed conflict now taking place in Europe , a National(sic) emergency exists affecting the vital interests of the State . "

On the following day (3rd September 1939) , the 'Emergency Powers Bill' was enacted (ie to all intent and purpose - 'martial law'). Days later (on 8th September 1939) a new Free State Minister for 'Justice' was appointed - the ferociously Anti-Republican Gerald Boland . All known or suspected Irish Republicans were rounded-up , but a Republican-minded lawyer , Sean MacBride (whose parents had fought alongside the IRA) supported the Republican prisoners and , on 1st December 1939 , due to a 'habeas corpus' application , Richie Goss and fifty-two other Republican prisoners were reeased from Mountjoy Jail .

(MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....


".......We were on our way to Ballingeary ; we passed through all the old historical places which we knew well , especially Atha Bhuadh which , according to tradition , will one day be the scene of our ultimate triumph ......."


" Crossing Atha Bhuadh by the little bridge , we were soon climbing the steep and wooded slope of Gort-an-Imill . Reaching the top , we paused to regain our breath and to view a most unusual and beautiful extent of rugged scenery . Mounting , we cycled down into Renanirree , on the road from Macroom to Beal a' Ghleanna and Ballingeary . Three further miles of a stiff uniform climb , on the bicycles , brought us to Beal a' Ghleanna . Here we rested and discussed the final arrangements for our project . When we mounted again it would be all a downhill three-mile run to the village of Ballingeary and , barring accidents , a non-stop one .

But now a serious question was raised , a question which should , there and then , have put a stop to our visit for that day . We had , we all admitted reluctantly , picked out the worst possible day in the year for the job . Why the devil had we not thought of that last night ? Most of the young people of Ballingeary and district had just passed by the RIC Barracks on their way north to Ballyvourney . So had people from places as far distant as Bantry . The enemy had just seen the last of them pass an hour ago . The RIC knew well where they were heading for . The village would be almost deserted .

Then twelve young men on bicycles would come from the north ........"

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(15 of 16).



Some gang members , however , will be due for release in the coming decade (ie -the 1990's). One is already out and , of course , many of those involved in the murders were never brought to justice and are still walking the streets of Northern Ireland (sic).

At least 17 people who were implicated in some of the killings were never brought before the courts , mostly due to insufficient evidence against them . Lenny Murphy , who walked out of prison in July 1982 , three years after the jailing of his gang , had killed again within 24 hours . He met his own death at the hands of a Republican assassination squad , as he parked behind his girlfriends house one evening that Autumn (1982).

Enemies within the Loyalist camp , it is thought , may have helped to set him up .

(MORE LATER).


(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)

---

RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......



.......In January 1934 , a Mr. Joseph McGrory from Dundalk assisted the Free State Gardai in their inquiries into a hold-up ; two IRA men were arrested as a result and , in February 1934 , McGrory's house was bombed - his wife died in the explosion . Richie Goss and two others were sentenced to three months (in March 1934) for refusing to explain their whereabouts on that February night .......



Then , in early July 1935 ,four IRA men were arrested and charged with the death of Mrs. McGrory - those men were Richie Goss , Eamon Coffey , Thomas Walsh and Bernard Murphy(all from Dundalk). The Free Staters had received information from an informer that five men were responsible for 'The McGrory Incident' - the four men named above , and one other ; James Finnigan . However , Finnigan was already in jail again , this time serving fifteen months for possession of weapons .

The informer was Matt McCrystal , an IRA man and , on his evidence, the first-ever 'murder trial' before a Free State Military Tribunal went ahead . But it was not successful - on 20th July , 1935 , after a five-day hearing , all the accused were acquitted .

Richie Goss was ordered to go to Dublin by Sean Russell , the then IRA Chief of Staff, in early 1938 , as his expertise in explosives was needed to prepare for the up-coming bombing campaign in England .......

(MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....


".......At short notice , we had assembled twelve IRA men - most of us were poorly armed , but we were all determined to attack Ballingeary Barracks . We had intended to base ourselves opposite the Barracks, in Shorten's Pub . But there was trouble ahead ......."


" We settled on reaching Ballingeary Village at about a quarter to two on Whitsunday . We left Ballyvourney just after noon , cycling away in twos and threes . People were still coming towards the place while we were going away from it . That in itself was not a good start , but would do no harm , since there was no means of quick communication between the two places at that time , and the people we met would mind their own business .

We cycled southward over the bridge of the Sullane and , turning east , we wound around the base of the Curragh Hill to Cathair Cearnach (the Fort of the Champion) in the valley of the Dubh-Glaise (the Dark Stream). Our road led us upstream and westward for a mile along the only placid stretch of the Dubh-Glaise , until we reached Atha-Bhuadh (the Ford of Victory). On either side of us the little green fields showed bravely on the steep slopes they had conquered from the Curragh and Rahoona Hills .

In front of us rose Gort-Ui-Rathaille , its foot-hills covered with stunted oak , birch , hazel and holly . Above us , in a clear sky , the noonday sun of May shone brightly . Within us were the thoughts of youth , stimulated by the legendary associations of our surroundings - Cathair Cearnach of ancient victories and Atha Bhuadh which , according to local tradition , will one day be the scene of our ultimate triumph ......."

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(14 of 16).



Sentencing eleven gang members , including William Moore , 'Big Sam' McAllister and Robert 'Basher' Bates , for their parts in nineteen murders , Mr. Justice Turlough O'Donnell talked of this " catalogue of horror " , and told William Moore - " You pleaded guilty to eleven murders carried out in a manner so cruel and revolting as to be beyond the comprehension of any normal human being . I see no reason whatever why you should ever be released . The facts speak for themseves and will remain forever a lasting monument to blind sectarian bigotry , " he told the court .

In all , the Shankill Butchers were given 2,000 years imprisonment , to run in concurrent sentences . British legal history was made with the 42 life sentences handed down , the largest number ever given out in one sitting .

(MORE LATER).

(NOTE - this site/blog will be winding itself down over the next few days -temporarily- as the '1169...' crew have mutinied ! They tell me they have'nt had a holiday since July 2003 , and are now insisting on a week off . Ya just can't get good help these days......)

---

RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......



.......at 19 years young in 1934 , Richie Goss was picked up by the Free State Special Branch and asked to account for his movements ; he refused .......


He was brought before a Free State Military Tribunal and sentenced to three months in prison ! The prison sentence was related , according to the ' Court' , to what became known as ' The McGrory Incident ' :


: In Dundalk , County Louth , on 9th January 1934 , a debt-collector (who was also said to be a member of the right-wing 'Blueshirt'[Fine Gael] party) was held-up by armed men and his bag of cash was taken . In making inquiries in the area about the robbery , the Free State Gardai(police) were assisted by a local man , a Mr. Joseph McGrory , from Chapel Street , Dundalk : two IRA men were jailed as a result of the evidence given by McGrory .

On the night of 11th February 1934 , a bomb was thrown through the front window of the McGrory house ; the explosion killed Joseph McGrory's wife . On 23rd March 1934 , Richie Goss and two others (James Finnigan and Matt McCrystal) were sentenced to three months in jail because they refused to " enter into recognisances " ie 'explain their whereabouts' on the night of the McGrory incident .

Then , in early July 1935 , four IRA men were arrested and charged with the death of Mrs McGrory .......

(MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....


"....... Volunteer Jer Carthy had been busy ; he had got the measure of the local RIC Barracks , which also housed a Black and Tan Unit . Fourteen armed men in all......."


" Jer had noticed how , for the past three or four Sunday's since the weather had got fine , a number of the Black and Tans regularly sat on the wall after lunch . The number varied , but on one occasion as many as ten were there together . At least seven or eight had always come out . What did we think of it ? Very few of them had ever come out armed . They sat on the wall talking and joking and commenting on the people who passed them by . They did not appear to be anticipating any attack , in the daylight at any rate . The only caution they displayed was that they did not go far afield from their barracks .

We decided to get in touch with all the Volunteers who possessed revolvers . These weapons were very scarce at the time , as were all other types of firearm . Before midnight we had mustered twelve men . Of these , only four carried service revolvers . Six were armed with smaller bore guns , while two could almost truthfully be said to be unarmed with miserable pocket revolvers . Little planning was necessary . To get into Shorten's Pub without attracting the attention of the enemy across the road was the first and most vital part of the operation .

It should also have been the easiest . Yet it was that which thwarted our scheme ....... "

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(13 of 16).



It was only , finally , in 1977 , that the Butchers made a fatal 'mistake' - they left a victim alive . 20-year-old Gerard McLaverty , dumped in an alleyway after being beaten and tortured with a knife , identified key gang members , including 'Big Sam' McAllister . The RUC searched McAllister's home and found a butcher's knife sticking out of the floorboards beside the bed , another knife under the bed , plus two butchers knives and a sharpening steel in the kitchen .

The knives ranged in size from six to ten inches , and the sharpener showed signs of heavy use . The breakthrough had been made . Most of the gang broke down under police questioning , some " crying like babies ."

(MORE LATER).

---

RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......



....... Ireland , 1933 ; Richie Goss had joined the IRA - he was 18 years young . The Nationalist population in the Six Counties was under seige .......


The then 'Grand Master' of the anti-Nationalist 'Orange Order' , a (British Senator) 'Sir' Joseph Davison , stated - " When will the Protestant employers of Northern Ireland (sic) recognise their duty to their Protestant brothers and sisters and employ them to the exclusion of Roman Catholics ? It is time Protestant employers realised that whenever a Roman Catholic is brought into their employment it means one Protestant vote less . It is our duty to pass the word along - Protestants employ Protestants . " !

That was the sentiment of those times - the blatant sectarianism that existed , and which Richie Goss , amongst others , hoped to bring to an end .

He was 18 years young , an IRA member and learning to use explosives - in early 1934 , at 19 years of age , Richie Goss was picked-up by the Free State Special Branch(political police) and asked to account for his movements ; he refused .......

(MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .....


".......My brother Pat and myself were in Ballyvourney for the Whitsunday celebrations ; we met another Volunteer , Jer Carthy from Ballingeary , our Intelligence Officer . He told us of a possible plan of attack on the enemy ......."


" For some time past , Jer had been closely watching the movements of the RIC and the Black and Tans in Ballingeary . The RIC had recently been reinforced by Black and Tans , and their combined strength was now fourteen men . They all lived together in the RIC Barracks in the middle of the village , across the street from Shorten's public house .

The road proper between the Barracks and Shorten's Pub was not a very wide one . Three cars abreast would fill it . The RIC Barracks was an ordinary two-storey house with a door in the middle . About fifteen feet in front of the building a wall ran along the edge of the roadway . It was breached by a small gateway straight opposite the front door . The wall was about three feet high . On a fine sunny day it would be an inviting and not uncomfortable seat for an active and leisurely young man .

Seated on it , his legs dangling , he would have a close view of everyone who passed by on the highway , or passed through the doorway of the pub across the road . The pub , like the Barracks , stood back from the roadway but had no wall or other obstruction in front . Like the poles of a magnet , one building attracted while the other repelled ......."

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(12 of 16).



An excerpt from a confession by one of the Shankill Butchers , 'Big Sam' McAllister , illustrates how the gang had used their knowledge of the law -


--" I was out in a car with another fellow who I don't wish to say ....we were looking for a Taig (a Catholic) for a kicking . There was a hatchet in the car and I took it with me and got out of the car . As this man walked by me on his own , I hit him over the head with the wooden part of the hatchet . I hit him about twice . It was only meant to give him a digging . He was not meant to be killed . I think drink was the biggest cause of this . "

In fact , neither of the gang members were drunk on this occasion , and the ill-fated "taig" , 49-year-old Cornelius Neeson , died from a fractured skull , a broken leg and multiple lacerations to the head , face , shoulder and hand .

The pathologist concluded that all the blows were delivered with considerable severity from the hatchet , and from fists and feet ....

(MORE LATER).

---

RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......


....... Richie Goss was 18 years young in 1933 , when he joined the North Louth Battalion of the IRA ; he began to train in the use of explosives .......



At that time in Ireland(which , by then , had been partitioned), the anti-Catholic bigots of the then two-year-old ' Ulster Protestant League ' were in full swing ; Nationalists all over the Six Counties were being hammered . British political leaders were voicing support for the Unionists - indeed , 'Sir' Basil Brooke actually boasted that he " had not a Roman Catholic about my own place " !

Also , the then British Stormont Minister for Labour, a Mr. J. M. Andrews , spoke out about what he termed " a foul smear " - that of " another allegation made against the (British) government , which is untrue : that , out of 31 porters at Stormont , 28 are Roman Catholic . I have investigated the matter and I have found that there are 30 Protestants and only one Roman Catholic , there only temporarily . "

The British Loyalists , too , in the form of the Orange Order , were putting pressure on the Nationalists in the Six Counties ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


BALLINGEARY BARRACKS .



" Whitsunday , ' Domhnach Cingcise ,' was always a big day in Ballyvourney and will be so forever , if fourteen centuries be taken as an indication of established custom . The day is not the feast of Saint Gobnait , but is a second day set apart in each year to do her honour . Starting on the eve of Whitsun , a stream of patrons visit her shrine to pray . Some keep vigil there all through the night .

The many crutches abandoned there give striking proof that prayers to Saint Gobnait are effective . Having visited the shrine and prayed , the people come down to the village to refresh and enjoy themselves . I am not going to pretend that the primary object of this great influx of people to Ballyvourney is always solely to honour Saint Gobnait by prayer alone . Certainly , it is the aim of many of them . But the young people and children seek amusement as well . And who can blame them ?

The sound of their merry laughter and the sight of their happy faces must be appreciated as much in heaven as on earth . Old people become young again as they watch the young enjoy themselves . The passage of half-a-century is ignored and once again they are children who have come to the ' Cingcis ' for the day .

It was Whit-Saturday night in 1920 . My brother Pat and I had come to Ballyvourney and were strolling along the village street . We met Jer Carthy . He was a Volunteer from Ballingeary , our Intelligence Officer for that district , and a good man he was . We drew aside to a quiet spot and Jer gave us the news ....... "

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(11 of 16).



By watching forensic evidence being produced in different court cases , Lennie Murphy learned how to remove lead residue from his hands and clothing , where it accumulates when a gun is fired in close proximity to a person . He discovered how to ruin an identification parade . And he learned never to give an alibi in case the RUC could break it - answering RUC questions by stating simply that they would have to prove any allegations they wished to make .

Murphy , McAllister , Moore and Bates , in fact , were so well versed in the law that they repeatedly refused , even while confessing , to avoid making admissions of premeditated killing - suggesting that only the beating , not the death , of the victim , was intended , and that alcohol had played a large part in their actions .


(MORE LATER).

---

RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .......



....... Ireland 1915 ; a split in the Irish camp , pro-British forces forming and arming , threatened mutiny within the British Army in Ireland : turmoil .......


Irish forces were re-grouping ; the ' Irish Citizen Army ' was recruiting for Volunteers , as was Sinn Fein , the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' and John Redmond's ' United Irish League ' . There was turmoil in the country .

A child was born into the above circumstances in Dundalk , in County Louth . He was child number three in the family , and one more was to be born after him . This third child in the Goss family , Richard , went to a local school and , like others in the Goss neighbourhood , tried to get work locally when he was finished his schooling - he was successful , and got a job in Rasson's Shoe Factory in Dundalk .

The troubled times he lived in got his attention and , at 18 years young(in 1933), Richie Goss joined the North Louth Battalion of the IRA , and trained in the use of explosives ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

"....... RIC Sergeant Kelly was in view ; two armed Volunteers stood in front of him and told him to stop . He tried to get through them ......."


" A shot aimed low knocked him off his bicycle and wounded him slightly in the leg . Jamie and Dan searched him . A notebook he carried contained the information he had got from a local informer about Jamie's own movements and the movements of others . Soon after this incident , the names of both Jamie and Dan appeared in the 'Hue and Cry' , an RIC newsheet .

The publicity made no difference . At one time it would have been of importance to the wanted men , who , in order to escape arrest would have had to leave the country . Now it did not matter as we were all on active service ."

[END OF - 'INCHIGEELA ....' : tomorrow - ' BALLINGEARY BARRACKS '].

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(10 of 16).


Such prolific activity brought Lennie Murphy high on the RUC's 'most wanted' list , and he was imprisoned briefly in the early 1970's - for minor offences- and again in 1976 , though he continued to direct 'Brown Bear' operations from his Maze Prison jail cell .

William Moore , the taxi-driving member of The Butchers , took up where Lennie Murphy had left off . Murphy had prepared well for his terrorist 'career' , attending many of the murder trials of the early 1970's , at Belfast's Crumlin Road Courthouse . He learned about the law , the nature of witness and forensic evidence , and when such evidence was ruled admissible or inadmissible , and why .

Attending IRA trials , he was able to identify IRA supporters in the public gallery who could later be targeted for assassination .......

(MORE LATER).

---

RICHIE GOSS : 1915-1941 --- A REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN .



Ireland 1915 ; The Irish Volunteer Movement had split ; approximately 170,000 men stayed with John Redmond and fought with England in the belief that to do so would guarantee a form of 'Home Rule' for Ireland - but about 10,000 men broke away as they had no faith in Redmond's plan .

Months earlier , British 'Sir' George Richardson had taken command of the Ulster Volunteer Force (a pro-British militia) and had landed about 25,000 rifles and two-and-a-half million rounds of ammunition at Larne in County Antrim - when the British Government in Westminster attempted to move against the UVF (as they had no control over them then) , British Army Officers mutinied in objection ...

Meanwhile , elsewhere in Ireland , other forces were recruiting .......

(MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......The RIC Sergeant , Kelly , took delight in burning down Irish Tricolour Flags which the locals put up in the area . One of our men , Con Sean Jer , placed a 'booby trap' device in a Tricolour flag and hung it high in Ballyvourney ....... "


" RIC man Kelly came across the flag and , as usual , set fire to it . He watched with evident satisfaction as the flame climbed upwards towards the green . Already , the white was more than half eaten . Suddenly , he found himself seated on the road as if a giant had pushed him backwards . The flag had disappeared with a loud explosion . Thoughtfully he arose and went home ...

The next day he passed by the Cross again . A new flag flew from the old staff . He did not bring his torch to burn it . He let it wave in triumph until it wore away . Now he was coming at a smart rate down Rath Hill . Two men with guns called on him to pull up . He tried to get through ......." (MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(9 of 16).



The RUC , though they knew not the perpetrators of the Shankill killings('1169...' Comment - those slaughtered by the gang were Catholics ; all members of that religion were suspected by the RUC to be either active IRA members or supporters of same - the 'Butcher Gang' was , 'unofficially' , doing the work of the Six-County State . The RUC were not too concerned .) recognised from a very early stage that they were dealing , not with ordinary terrorists , but with psychopaths .

" We're looking for somebody more brutal than the average terrorist and we'd better get to him , " RUC Detective Inspector Jimmy Nesbitt told his men as the first victims of the serial killers were found . " It represents for me a new degree of cruelty . We have seen victims who have been killed with concrete blocks , stabbed , shot or beaten to death , but the sight of this ....stirs something inside me which makes me feel cold , " Nesbitt said .

Speaking later , another RUC man recalled : " I knew I was witnessing something different , a more personal type of killing . " (MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......Three members of the Dublin Brigade IRA had been picked to do a fund-raising job in July 1943 ; Jackie Griffith , Charlie Kerins and Archie Doyle . A wages van delivered cash to a Dublin cigarette factory on a regular basis , at a set time .......



Each one of the three IRA men were on pushbikes when they intercepted the van at the gates of the factory and held it up ; they cycled off with over £5000 between them ! That wages-van job (1st July 1943 , a Thursday) was to be Jackie Griffith's last job for the Republican Movement ; he was not to live past the coming weekend ....

On Sunday , 4th July , 1943 , Jackie Griffith left the house in Ballsbridge , Dublin , where he was staying , on a pushbike , at around 1pm , to meet other Republicans in the Phibsboro area of the city . As he was cycling down Holles Street he was spotted by a car load of Free State Special Branch men - without warning , one of them rolled-down the car window and took aim at Jackie Griffith with a Thompson sub-machine gun and emptied a full ammunition-clip in his direction .

The young Volunteer , 21 years of age , was dead before his body reached the ground ; he had been hit by sixteen of the bullets fired at him . That year (1943) marked the eleventh successive year that De Valera and Fianna Fail had been in power in the then twenty-one year old Free State . They killed the wrong twenty-one year old in 1943 .....


How long must we travel ,
'till our journeys done ?
How long must we struggle ,
'till the fight is won ?
May we live in peace again , may we live to see ,
this land of ours , our Homeland ,
a true democracy .


(From 'Freedom Walk', as published in 'Songs of Resistance' , 1982).


[END of - ' JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......'].



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......The second raid on Inchigeela RIC Barracks had been postponed at very short notice . We were annoyed and angry , and wanted to take some action against the British ......."



" We came home in a very bad humour . The following day , as if to add insult to injury , the RIC Sergeant from Ballyvourney Barracks cycled alone to Renanirree , about half way between Ballyvourney and Inchigeela . Jamie Moynihan of Gortnascarthy and Dan Sullivan , his neighbour , had been with us at Inchigeela . They got the news that the RIC Sergeant had passed up the hill at Rath about a mile away . Taking shot-guns with them , they waited at the foot of Rath for his return . That RIC man , whose name was Flynn , had , from an early date , been very active against the rising tide of opposition to the old order .

He took a particular delight in the destruction of the Irish Tricolour when it was displayed in his area . He had a specially made torch mounted on a long staff for the purpose , and he always carried out the operation himself . At length , however , Con Sean Jer cured him of his incendiary tendencies . Con hung a Tricolour on the telephone wires at the Village Cross of Ballyvourney . The RIC Sergeant had already burned down several of the flags from the same setting . Had he looked closely , he might have noticed a 'fold' or 'wrinkle' in the middle of the white band of his latest target . Evidently , he had noticed nothing , for he applied his torch .

Within the fold was a white paper which wrapped half a stick of gelignite complete with detonator and a very short bit of fuse ......."

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(8 of 16).



Martin Dillon , the Author of this book , confirms Lennie Murphy's pleasure in these sadistic practices : " There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Lennie Murphy committed the crimes firstly for pleasure and secondly for information . Many studies have indicated that sadists need aggression and I believe that in Northern Ireland (sic) the conflict provides the trigger for this aggression . It also allows misfits to find social acceptance by expressing the prejudice which is not endemic but socially acceptable . It has enabled many people who cannot escape prejudice to find a security within it and to accept its manifestations as a badge of patriotism . "


(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......A colleague of Jackie Griffith's , Charlie Kerins , was put to death by Fianna Fail on 1st December 1944 - they paid an English hangman to do the job .......



Jackie Griffith and Charlie Kerins knew each other and worked closely together for a period in the early 1940's . The Free Staters were determined to put Griffith out of action as they felt humiliated by his jail-break (2nd November 1942) ; their informers told them that Jackie Griffith was staying in a safe-house in Margaret Place , in Dublin , and they raided there (in mid-1943) looking for him - he was'nt there . But the Staters were getting closer ....

Meanwhile , a fund-raising job had been planned by the Dublin Brigade IRA ; three men had been picked for the operation - Jackie Griffith , Charlie Kerins and Archie Doyle . An IRA Reconnaissance Unit had observed that a wages van kept to a routine on its deliveries - it was known that , on 1st July , 1943 , a few thousand pounds in cash would be dropped-off to the management of the Player Wills Factory on the South Circular Road in Dublin ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......We learned from our failed attack on the RIC Barracks ; but so did they - they re-inforced the weak-spots we had 'pointed-out' to them ......."


" I doubt not , if the matter had been left in the hands of our own local Battalion , that we would have regained our lost ground . But now the Brigade took a hand and told us to sit up and learn a lesson . Young as we were , we were yet anxious to improve our education . Some of us had indeed made certain suggestions for the overcoming of the new difficulties . We were told to watch our elders working and profit thereby . We humbly acquiesced and waited for the demonstration ...

On the night of 7th March we had again encircled Inchigeela RIC Barracks . I stood with a storming party drawn up at the edge of the barbed wire . Three IRA Brigade Officers were busy with a trestle of guncotton . While they inserted the primers and detonators with the fuses , I wondered with others how they were to cross the wire . Provision had been made (on paper) to block the bombing loophole . Another trestle stood by to effect this . But the wire had yet to be crossed . Very soon all was ready ...

The taller trestle stood like a Roman standard over our heads . I looked higher up to see the kites , but it was to dark . The 'brass hats' moved to the edge of the wire and stopped . Now was our time to learn something of the science of tactics . But we were to learn nothing . Very quietly we were withdrawn again . Ourselves alone knew of our discomfiture . The kites went home hungry ......."

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(7 of 16).



Despite warnings from 'Ulster Volunteer Force' superiors that only armed Republicans were to be considered as the enemy , the bulk of the Butchers' victims , in fact , were innocent civilians , picked up at random , easy pickings - " If you can't get an IRA man , get a Taig . "

Lennie Murphy was 'blooded' first on July 21 , 1972 , when , with other members of Loyalist paramilitary organisations , he was involved in the torture and killing of a 34-year-old Catholic , Francis Arthurs , who was picked-up by a Loyalist gang after leaving a Catholic area and taken to the Lawnbrook Social Club , a Loyalist club off the Shankill Road .

Francis Arthurs was beaten severely by a large group of drinkers , stabbed repeatedly by Murphy , interrogated , tortured and shot . That night , those present have said , Murphy was seen to demonstrate that he could cause the victim the most pain by hitting him harder than anyone else . Joe Bennett , who later became one of the major UVF 'supergrasses' , said that Lennie Murphy stood out as the most barbarous gang member present .


(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......Working in Carlow as Leinster Co-ordinator for the IRA , Jackie Griffith met Charlie Kerins ; in June 1944 , Kerins was arrested by the Free Staters and 'tried' before a Free State Military Tribunal .......



Charlie Kerins was sentenced to be put to death by hanging . They had no evidence against him , but someone had to pay ; a number of IRA men had already been charged at various times during the previous two years , with O'Brien's shooting , but nothing came of those charges . By putting Charlie Kerins to death , the Free Staters were sending a signal to their colleagues in Westminster of just how serious they were in dealing with " the dissidents " .

Indeed , it was to the Brits that Eamonn De Valera turned when he failed to get an Irishman to carry-out the death sentence on Charlie Kerins ; De Valera paid for an English hangman to do the job and , on 1st December 1944 , at twenty-six years young , Charlie Kerins became the last Irish Republican Soldier to die on the gallows for Ireland . His remains were re-interred in Rath Cemetery in the Tralee Republican Plot in September 1948 . And , to this day , De Valera's Fianna Fail party still describe themselves , on all their literature , as ' The Republican Party ' ! However , they are not alone , in Leinster House , in that respect.


(MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......Our raid on the RIC Barracks was going nowhere , and time was against us . Some of our Unit tried to break down one of the barrack walls , but with no success ......."


" Undoubtedly , there were alternative methods to the breaching of the barrack-wall , and had the failure of that failure been foreseen , others , like petrol bombs through the roof , could have been quickly substituted . It was my first acquaintance with Conny Creedon , a merchant in the village . He came out to the middle of the village street to offer us four or five barrels of paraffin he had in stock .

We returned home sadder but certainly much wiser men . We had gained nothing from the enemy but a little experience which would prove useful to us . In future we would not put our trust in numbers , but rather in quality . The following day we learned of the capture of Carrigtwohill RIC Barracks . With no better tool than a wall brad , the men at the wall had made a small hole in it . Inserting some gelignite , they had blasted a large breach in it . Through the breach a small IRA Unit entered and the RIC surrendered .

We were not to get again the opportunity we lost that night . The RIC took steps to strengthen their defensive positions , and the lesson of Carrigtwohill was not lost on them either . High up in the windowless gable-wall , they broke out a small loophole for dropping bombs . This they lightly plastered over again . From the gable outwards they threw a heavy entanglement of barbed wire . They also re-inforced the garrison ......."

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(6 of 16).


The "Murphy Gang" , in its heyday , included Robert "Basher" Bates and "Big Sam" McAllister , who joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (a pro-British murder-gang) at Murphy's bidding . Later , they were joined by William Moore , a taxi driver , who had learned to use a butcher's knife in a previous job . Meeting in The Brown Bear pub , the 'Brown Bear Gang' soon numbered close to two dozen men , mostly in their 20's - but one as young as 14 - and some who were not known to the RUC (pro-British 'Police') until such time as the Butcher gang were caught .

Officially , 'Brown Bear Gang' members were used by the UVF to carry out executions , bombings , assassinations and punishment beatings , to deal with troublemakers within the pro-British paramilitary ranks . 'Punishments' then might mean kneecappings , beatings with baseball bats , the use of a power drill on the kneecaps , or "breeze-blocking" - where concrete blocks were dropped on to the hands , or heads , of offenders .

"It is an incredible fact that , within the subculture of the paramilitary world , punishments of varying degrees were applicable according to the gravity of the offence . When it came to their respective terror campaigns , no such gradations applied to the atrocities committed " , writes Martin Dillon .


(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......After his jail-break from Mountjoy Jail (on Sunday , 2nd November , 1942) , Jackie Griffith laid low in Dublin for a few weeks . Then , on 26th December 1942 , he cycled to Carlow to work from there as Leinster Co-ordinator for the IRA .......



In that position , in Carlow , Jackie Griffith met , and worked with , another Irish Republican legend - Charlie Kerins ; a Kerry man , (from Tralee) who was (within a year of meeting Jackie Griffith , while the latter was working as Leinster Co-ordinator) to become Chief-of-Staff of the IRA . In June 1944 , Charlie Kerins was arrested by the Free Staters and accused , before a Free State Military Tribunal , with the shooting dead of Free State Detective Sergeant Denis ('Dinny') O'Brien , who was executed by the IRA on 9th September 1942 as he left his home in Ballyboden , Rathfarnham , Dublin .

When his 'trial' was over , the 'Court' was adjourned for a few hours to allow for Charlie Kerins to consider making a plea of mercy on his own behalf ; when the circus re-convened , Charlie Kerins did indeed take the floor - he stated : " You could have adjourned it for six years as far as I'm concerned , as my attitude towards this Court will always be the same ."

The Free Staters sentenced Charlie Kerins to be put to death by hanging ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......The attack on the RIC Barracks was not going as planned ; we should have caught them off-guard , but two carelessly-aimed shots put paid to that ......."



" Now they were settled down behind their loop-holed steel shutters , and were busy with rifle and small hand grenades . Two of their comrades were in houses in the village when the firing started . One of them , a man named Tobin , tried to get back to barracks , but he was shot down . He later recovered from rather serious wounds caused by shotgun slugs . The other RIC man in the village hid himself and was not found . A useless and prolonged exchange of fire was maintained by some of our men with the barracks garrison . The RIC bombs exploded with great violence quite near some of the Volunteers . At length a humorist amongst them remarked - " Those things must be all empty ! " This evoked a hearty laugh which the RIC Sergeant must have heard , for he shouted : " Fire away , lads , glass is cheap , " to show that his own morale was sound .

In vain we waited for news from a party of picked men who had been sent to breach one of the gables . Later we learned that , just as they had started to work with a will to break down the wall , some Volunteer had come and shouted an order to them to retire by the way they had come . This they had reluctantly obeyed , and when the IRA Officer in charge , who had gone on a circuit of the barracks , returned , they had gone . Mystified ,he , with others , started a search for the men . They had taken the tools with them , and by the time they were located it was rather late in the morning ........" (MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(5 of 16).


According to Martin Dillon , the author of this book - " Lennie Murphy was prepared to shoot anyone ; man , woman or child . Or a blind man . As long as he could reasonably establish the religion of the victim . " Victim after victim was killed in the same brutal way - hacked through the throat with a butcher's knife . So callous were Murphy's men , so brutalised , that , while their victims waited , it was not unknown for gang members to stop for a cup of tea or to watch football on TV .

Belfast is so much a city divided that , tragically , sectarian gangs are able to identify the religion of intended victims simply by the streets on which they are walking or working . Even on public routes , people travel towards either Protestant or Catholic housing estates . " Hundreds of people " , estimates Martin Dillon , had their fate sealed by this ghettoisation - and this was the basis on which The Shankill Butchers operated and selected their victims .

(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......At 21 years of age (in 1942) , Jackie Griffith was arrested by the Free Staters and sentenced to 33 years in Mountjoy Jail . The Republican prisoners in that jail wanted out .......



A metal bar on one of the cell windows was worked-on until it was fit to be pulled free - in late October 1942 it was ready to be removed . Three of the Republican prisoners were picked for the escape attempt ; Jackie Griffith , Frank Kerrigan and Jim Smith , and the early hours of Sunday morning , 2nd November 1942 was chosen as the date for the escape .

Early on that Sunday morning , a 'rope' ( canvass , sheets etc ) was thrown out of the cell window and the three men climbed down into the prison yard and scaled the wall - it was hours later before their absence was noted . The three men had split-up on escaping , and went their separate ways ; Jackie Griffith was placed in a safe-house in Margarets Place (near Grand Canal Street Upper , in Dublin - between South Lotts Road and Bath Avenue ) .

His first call was to the Dublin Brigade IRA and he was put back on active service . He kept his head down in Dublin for the first few weeks following his jail-break , then , as arranged , on 26th December 1942 , he used a pushbike to get to Carlow (a distance of some fifty miles) , where he was to be based by the IRA while working to co-ordinate the Leinster area for that organisation ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......We were in place around the RIC Barracks ; those inside knew nothing about our presence ......."


" It had previously been noticed that most of the RIC men visited pubs and other houses , and there was a great chance of finding the barracks door open , and only one or two of the garrison inside , unprepared . This was the case when we arrived . A local scout brought three Volunteers by the route we had taken . One of them saw an RIC man in front of the barracks , and quite close to him . What did he do ? Fired two shots at him and , to make matters worse , missed him altogether ! The RIC man , of course , dashed for the door which was wide open , and shut it behind him .

Two Volunteers , one my uncle , who saw him run , fired hurriedly in an effort to stop him . They had little chance of hitting him , since they were taken by surprise , the distance was short to the doorway , and the light none too good . Those two first shots closed the door , in more senses than one , against an easy victory . The RIC man had only come out to take the air . Had he been let alone he might have strolled up the village street . In that case , we could easily have grabbed him and pulled him in to our gateway , without raising any alarm . Had he remained loitering around the barracks gate , any two men , ostensibly on their way home , could have seized him .

A few more , with revolvers , through the open doorway , would almost certainly find inside men who were totally unprepared . But not now ......." (MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(4 of 16).



As a teenager , Lennie Murphy began to keep company with men in the Shankill district while , at local discos , it was he who decided who got in and who was turned away . In one early incident , a man who bumped against him at a bar , spilling his drink , was later badly beaten by his gang . Murphy joined the junior wing of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in 1969 and was in the midst of the violence when Protestant mobs invaded Catholic streets that summer , when hundreds of homes were burned . Says Martin Dillon , author of a new investigation of the gang's activities --


-- " He often talked overtly while drinking in the 'Bayardo Bar' of his hatred for all Catholics because they were 'scum and animals ...' He was beginning to develop into what one UVF man later called a "Super Prod " , which was shorthand for saying that Murphy was more anti-Catholic , anti-Nationalist and anti-Republican than even the most bitter man on the Shankill Road . "


(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......Back in Dublin in the early 1940's , Jackie Griffith was a member of the Dublin Brigade IRA ; his involvement was known by the Free Staters .......


When he was 21 years young( in 1942) he was jumped-on by at least three men in Benburb Street , in Dublin - he fought with them as best he could but was overpowered eventually . They were from the Special Branch (political police) and they arrested him . The Branchmen were apparently aware that , a few days before they jumped him , Jackie Griffith had , on behalf of the IRA , purchased a number of weapons from a Free State soldier who had removed them from the Free State Army Barracks at Islandbridge in Dublin .

His grandparents house in Ringsend was raided and about forty revolvers and ammunition for same was found ; Jackie Griffith was prosecuted before a Free State Military Court in Collins Barracks and was sentenced to thirty-three years in Mountjoy Jail .

He was not the only Republican prisoner in that prison at the time - and all wanted out to carry on the fight . A plan of escape was put together ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......We were on our way - through the meadow , pass the small bog , and out on to the Lios Bui road at Judy's Gully......."


" We kept to the road , and passed southwards to Ahacunna and crossed the Toon Road and river at Doire Airgid Bridge . That lovely road led upwards through the rocks and groves of Doire Airgid , through Cluan Siar and Cooleen of the hazel glens , until it brought us out on the main Macroom-Inchigeela road at Ros Mor . Near here we met the others , who had preceded us , and we all moved on to Carraigacurra . Here some were directed to cross the River Lee and go westwards by the fields until they reached positions immediately across the road from the RIC Barracks .

With these went my uncle and I . The others went on to the village to meet some men from Ballingeary and to close in from the north and west . Groups were detached to block roads and hold the barricades against enemy interference . The RIC Barracks , a detached building , stood on the road side , facing east . It overlooked a field across the road from it . We came from the southern side of that field and passed by the front of the barracks , sheltered by the road fence . With two others , I was allotted a position in a gateway , with a slanting view of the front of the barracks . My uncle was nearer the barracks , behind the road fence . We had got into our places silently and no one was the wiser .

It had been impressed on every man engaged in the actual encircling movement that no one was to make a move which would betray our presence to the enemy ......." (MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(3 of 16).



A murderer at the age of 20 , the use of a knife was to become the trademark of Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy , the leader of The Shankill Butchers . A flamboyant womaniser , only five-foot-six tall , Lennie Murphy began his bullyboy 'career' early . Ironically nicknamed " Murphy the Mick " by his primary-school classmates on account of his Catholic-sounding surname , he was a belligerent child who , by the age of ten , was threatening other children and relieving them of their pocket-money at knifepoint .

He ran rackets even at school - threatening other pupils , stealing their meal tickets and selling them to other boys at a reduced rate . He first came to the notice of the RUC at 12 years of age , when he was convicted of shopbreaking and larceny ........


(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



....... At 17 years young , Jackie Griffith was a member of an IRA Unit in England , where he met Jack McCabe , one of the best (but lesser-known) fighters for Irish Freedom .......


Jack McCabe was one of the main explosives experts for the IRA at that time (ie early 1970's) and that was how he was to meet a gruesome death - he was mixing explosives in the garage of his house ( on the Swords Road , in Dublin ) when a spark from the shovel he was using set the mixture off . His eyes were blown out of his head and his testicles were blown off but , before he died (on 30th December 1971) he managed to devise a safe method of mixing explosives to ensure that the same mistake would not be made again . Even on his death-bed , and in great agony , Jack McCabe's thoughts were with those he knew would follow in his footsteps ....

However ; back to Jackie Griffith - he was active with Jack McCabe and others in the 1939 bombing campaign in England and , following the end of same , he returned to Ireland and lived with his grandparents in Ringsend in Dublin ; he got a job in the near-by bottle-glass plant and became involved in trade union matters within the factory . He was by now a member of the Dublin Brigade of the IRA .

His Republican activities were now known to the Free Staters ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......We were about to leave my uncle's house to take part in an operation ; the moon was rising and there was snow on the ground . My uncle Dan was reminded of the ' Battle of Hohenlinden .......'"


" Underneath the verse in the grubby shopkeepers window was a parody on it , praising the quality of his rotten tea . I bought a pound of it and it nearly poisoned me ! Next time I was in town I went into his shop and quoted for him a parody I had made in the meantime :


" But thievish '-----' where e'er he go ,
the public shall the robber know .
And lower still the price shall go -
of tea that's rotting rapidly . "


It was time for us to go . Taking our guns , we went outside . Dan locked the door and , stooping , placed the key in a crevice of the old wall . It is remarkable how a small action is still fresh in the memory after the passage of years , while a major event is hardly remembered . The little incident impressed itself on my youthful mind . The man of fifty-five , leaving his comfortable house and excellent farm on a night of snow . Behind him his good fire and his books , his greatest pleasure . Before him , the rude elements of mid-winter , and the wrath of an empire whose reactions would be ruder still . He had already had ample experience of that rudeness . His offensive weapon now was a dilapidated fowling-piece , and his allies a few badly-armed youths ....

We went down the moonlit meadow , along the edge of a small bog , and climbed out on the Lios Bui road at Judy's Gully . We were not going back now ......." (MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(2 of 16).


A CATALOGUE OF HORROR -


* Thomas Madden : suspended by a rope from a wooden beam , a nine-inch double-bladed knife was used on his body as a sculptor would chip away at a piece of stone . In all , there were 147 stab wounds on his body , and a pathologist's report indicates that it was the work of one man , working clinically . A woman heard him screaming " Kill me , kill me ...."

* Francis Crossan : beaten with fists , feet and a wheel brace , Lennie Murphy (one of the 'Butchers') killed him by hacking at his throat with a knife , almost severing his head from his body .

* Sisters Frances Donnelly and Marie McGrattan / and teenagers Gerard Grogan and Thomas Osborne : all shot in cold blood in a robbery on a drink wholesalers . Murphy himself killed three of them , the two boys after hearing they were Catholics , and Marie McGrattan as she knelt on the floor .

* Student and songwriter Stephen McCann : dragged from his girlfriend , tortured at knifepoint , shot , and finally all but decapitated .

* Protestant Alexander Maxwell : killed for gatecrashing a party celebrating Lennie Murphy's release from prison . He was beaten and kicked . To kill him , Murphy drove a car over , and back over , the hapless victim .


(MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......


....... Ireland , early 1930's ; Jackie Griffith would have been almost a teenager and would have been a witness to a country in turmoil . Civil War , shootings , street-rallies - he took an interest in Irish Republican politics .......



When he was 17 years young (in 1938) , Jackie Griffith moved to England with his family , as his father had a job waiting for him there ; the IRA bombing campaign in British cities was about to begin , and Jackie Griffith wanted to help - he joined the IRA in England , where he met a legend of the Republican Movement - a man named Jack McCabe .

After the campaign in England , Jack McCabe was ordered back to Ireland where he continued to dedicate himself to the Cause of Irish Freedom ; in late 1969 /early 1970 , Jack organised for a shipment of weapons to be brought in to help defend the Nationalist community in the Six Counties . Amongst the weapons landed was a Schmeisser machine-gun ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......Myself , my uncle Dan and a local Volunteer were in my uncle's house at Knocksaharing ; we had been told to wait for a half-an-hour and then head-off to meet up with the rest of our Unit . Dan was examinng his rifle......."


" Dammit , Mick , " he said , " try that front trigger spring . " I tried it and found it broken . " Could you fix it ? " he asked . " I could , " I answered , " but not now . The only thing I can do now is a makeshift job . " Finding a piece of elastic cord , I tied the trigger forward to the trigger guard . " It works all right , " he said , " but do you know what , we have damn bad tools to fight an empire with . " Then musingly , the while he regarded the old gun , he quoted : " Some one of us three , Herminius , shall ne'er again see Rome . " " No matter ," he added brightly , " have a look abroad , Mick , and see what of the night . "

I went to the door and looked out . " The moon is rising , Dan , and there's snow on the ground , " I reported . " Well , well , " he said , " 'twill be like the battle of Hohenlinden . I knew a bloody scut of a shopkeeper one time and he had the first verse of Hohenlinden printed on a card in his shop window - "


' On Linden when the sun was low ,
all bloodless lay the untrodden snow .
And dark as winter was the flow ,
of Iser rolling rapidly .' "

(MORE LATER).

THE BUTCHER BOYS .

FROM THE BOOK ' The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder ' , by Martin Dillon . Published by HUTCHINSON .

(Reviewed by Niall O'Flynn , and published in ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , Tuesday , 1st August , 1989 , page 6 ).

(1 of 16).


In each country they occupied , the Brits have had their supporters - some of the natives wanted 'in' with the new establishment , in the hope that their new masters would leave them , if not in charge , then at least in a 'managerial' position ; others recognised an opportunity to " settle old scores , " or what they perceived to be " old scores ".......


Between 1972 and 1977 , the ' Shankill Butchers ' killed more people than any other mass murderers in Irish or British criminal history . That is the stark fact - more victims than the Yorkshire Ripper , more than the Moors Murderers . Selecting the targets at random from Belfast's Catholic ghettos , the Butchers dragged dozens of innocent victims to their homes , to their drinking holes and 'romper rooms' , sometimes just to darkened alleys , there to torture , humiliate , and finally , to kill them , slaughtering with butchers' knives .

But now (ie 1989) , ten years after the jailing of the butchers' inner circle , a new investigation has unearthed more than a dozen other murders committed by the gang and never before linked to them ....... (MORE LATER).

---

JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .......



.......a victim of circumstances , a baby-boy born in Killester (North Dublin) in November 1921 was , for two reasons , to have a short and bloody life .......


Those same two reasons effected many others as well , and still do -- first , because of British interference in Irish affairs and , secondly , because of the failure of some Irish people in recognising that a 'truce' , a 'treaty' , or an 'agreement' will not end the conflict while the British claim of jurisdiction over any part of Ireland remains in force .

Jackie Griffith was born in the same year that a group of ex-rebels sold his freedom for what they mistakingly believed to be their own . The Black and Tans , Civil War , Free State troops on the streets ; mass-rallies , shootings and 'Irregulars' (Anti-Treaty IRA) openly parading in towns and cities - it was into that atmosphere that Jackie Griffith grew up .

Like most young lads of his age , he took an interest in the political situation that was unfolding around him and , again , like many other young lads , he came down firmly on the Irish Republican side ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.......

".......Early January 1920 ; the Volunteers had full membership , but not all were suited to the task ......."


" Here I must say that credit is due to every man or woman who did his or her best , and went as far along the road as they were able . Some cannot endure what others can , nevertheless they must be honoured for having tried and failed . I always reserved my contempt for the jackeens who held aloof and never helped in any way . But I had the pleasure also of meeting young men and women who never joined the Volunteers but who , in an emergency , came forward and gave us valuable assistance . They were indeed the unknown warriors .

My uncle's house at Knocksaharing was the rendezvous for the men of Kilnamartyra and Ballyvourney that night . The old thatched house had often before been a meeting place , for Fenians as well as the IRA . Our objective was the Inchigeela RIC barracks . Our men had all turned up well before the appointed time , and had been directed to go on to a further point near the Macroom-Inchigeela road . My uncle , a local Volunteer and I were told to wait on for half-an-hour and then follow .

That half-hour was considerably shortened by Dan's humorous stories and comments . First he picked up his shotgun and , having looked through the barrels , tested all its action ......." (MORE LATER).



THE BEATLES AND IMELDA MARCOS - the beat and the beast.......

[From an article by Jackie Hayden , published in 'Hot Press' magazine , 1988].

(3 of 3).


When the 'Fab Four' got to the airport , the elevators and escalators had been turned off and the band and camp followers had to lug instruments , gear and luggage through a hostile mob of several hundred people , baying for blood and waving fists and hurling missiles at them . Six soldiers beat roadie Mal Evans to the floor . Brian Epstein got a sprained ankle and driver Alf Bicknell sustained a broken rib and a damaged spine . Ringo was floored with a punch , and only Paul McCartney escaped relatively bruise-free .

Finally aboard the plane , Brian Epstein was ordered off to be relieved of a large sum of money in "tax". Back at the Palace , Imelda Marcos probably threw out her Beatle -boots too .....


[END of - ' THE BEATLES AND IMELDA MARCOS - the beat and the beast.......].


Tomorrow - ..... The occupied Six Counties between 1972 and 1977 ; 'The Shankill Butchers'.......

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JACKIE GRIFFITH , 1921 - 1943 ; A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN .



November 1921 - those sent to Downing Street in London by the then Irish Republican leadership were only weeks away from accepting a 26 County Free State , a decision which still has repercussion's to this day ( and that will continue to be the case until the issue is properly resolved by a full British military and political withdrawal from Ireland ).

When Michael Collins and others signed-up to become Free Staters (December 1921), a baby , just a few weeks young , turned-over in his cot ....

That baby was Jackie Griffith , who was born in Killester (North Dublin) in November 1921 and , for two reasons , lived a short and bloody life ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

INCHIGEELA.

" We started the new year , 1920 , badly . It is said that first attempts are always the worst , and certainly our first effort at the capture of an RIC barracks was a lamentable one . The sympathetic youth of today who question me about " battles long ago " say feelingly : " Ah , ye had very poor equipment compared with that of the enemy , and ye also lacked men . "

Well , on the night of January 2 , 1920 , our equipment was indeed poor , but quite good enough for the work in hand . Neither was it lack of men that caused the failure . The fact of the matter was that it was due to a surplus of indifferent men . Up to that time the numerical strength of the Volunteers had increased to a peak point . True , it had been higher because of the Conscription menace to the youth generally but , that scare having passed , it had dropped again .

Yet it needed a little taste of war to separate the chaff from the grain and to reduce further mere numbers to a fighting unit of quality . In plain words we had , up to that very night , been carrying a lot of 'passengers' ......." (MORE LATER).



THE BEATLES AND IMELDA MARCOS - the beat and the beast.......

[From an article by Jackie Hayden , published in 'Hot Press' magazine , 1988].

(2 of 3).


When questioned at their hotel by the military police regarding when The Beatles would arrive at the party , Brian Epstein did a casual " What party ? " doubletake and refused to wake the lads . Even the British Embassy failed to persuade him that their absence would be taken as an unforgiveable snub ....

Not surprisingly , the local media magnified the insult . An attempted apology by Epstein on national T V was cut off in mid-grovel . In the middle of the night , the police hauled tour manager Vic Lewis to the Manila 'Bridewell' (prison) . Next day , the hotel withdrew all services to The Beatles .

All their security was cancelled and there was no police escort to the airport ... (MORE LATER).

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JOSEPH DENIEFFE , 1833 - 1910 : 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' Founder .......



....... Chicago , in the early 1860's ; Irish Rebel Joseph Denieffe found himself on a fund-raising tour when there was a falling-out between the Rebel leadership.......


He stayed in America , spreading the word and building contacts for the Irish Republican cause . In 1904 , at seventy-one years of age , he wrote a number of articles for the New York newspaper , ' The Gael ' ; those articles were later published as a book , entitled - ' A Personal Narrative of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood ' , , and is a fantastic read for those interested in the history of the on-going struggle for full Irish freedom .

At 77 years of age , Joseph Denieffe died in Chicago , on 20th April , 1910 . He gave sixty-three years of his life to the Irish cause , working for the most part either in the background or underground , never seeking the limelight . He is not as well-known as he should be but , like all true Irish Republicans , his objective was to promote and further the Irish cause , not himself .


" This land of mine , the old man said ,
will be alive when we are dead .
My fathers words still ring divine -
"God Bless this lovely land of mine." "


[End of - JOSEPH DENIEFFE , 1833 - 1910 : 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' Founder .]



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

A QUIET PERIOD.......

".......Two RIC men had waited outside the house , while the other two entered the kitchen . They were armed with revolvers and were curious as to who was in the house . Donncadh MacNeilus drew the hinged bolt on his Parabellum rifle and let it crash home with a wallop . The RIC Sergeant knew the sound ......."


" He turned pale , and for a few seconds stood motionless . Then , turning , he walked out of the kitchen , followed by his comrade . Quickly , the four RIC men reached the end of the short boreen , recovered their bicycles and rode away . They left in good time , as Donncadh , with a loaded .45 revolver , was edging forward to attack . That Sergeant appeared to have been gifted with no small share of commonsense .

Our programme for September was cancelled by GHQ , IRA . While they commended us for our enterprise , they advised that it was better to wait until other areas were ready for a more widespread operation ."


[END of - ' A QUIET PERIOD....... '].




THE BEATLES AND IMELDA MARCOS - the beat and the beast.......

[From an article by Jackie Hayden , published in 'Hot Press' magazine , 1988].

(1 of 3).


While Mark Chapman has gone down in ignominious history as the man who shot John Lennon , how many remember that Imelda Marcos came astonishingly close to causing the deaths of all four Beatles and their entourage ?

The near-fatal incident occurred during The Beatles' last world tour and involved a dangerous cocktail of oriental pomposity , Brian Epstein's carelessness and The Beatles' collective hostility towards authority . ('1169...' comment - tell that to 'Sir' Paul ...) With the 'Fab Four' scheduled to play two gigs at Manila's ' Araneta Coliseum ' , Imelda Marcos organised a party at the Malacanang Palace for three-hundred children and assorted Palace favourites to meet The Beatles .......

(MORE LATER).

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JOSEPH DENIEFFE , 1833 - 1910 : 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' Founder .......



....... March 1858 : Joseph Denieffe was back in America on a fund-raising tour , having played his part in establishing the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Ireland on St. Patricks Day , 17th March , 1858 . But all was not well between the Irish Rebels .......


James Stephens accused John O'Mahony and his people in America of being - " Irish tinsel patriots (who make) speeches of bayonets , gala days and jolly nights , banners and sashes , bunkum and filibustering , responding in glowing language to glowing toasts on Irish National Independence over beakers of fizzling champagne . "

It was in the middle of the above turmoil that Joseph Denieffe found himself in America in the early 1860's . Fund-raising in those circumstances was not possible , but he stayed in that country , perhaps hoping that , when things settled down .....

Joseph Denieffe never 'lost the faith'; he was now living in Chicago and was in his early-thirtys . He continued his work for Irish Freedom , even though the immediate momentum had been lost ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

A QUIET PERIOD.......

".......I was travelling the four miles , on my bicycle , to meet Donncadh MacNeilus and others ; I was almost there when I passed a four-man RIC patrol . I arrived at the meeting-house and was told of a near clash ......."


" A few minutes before , the lads had been seated in exactly the same positions . The RIC patrols had been the subject of discussion . " Traitors they are , " said the man of the house , " prowling about the country , dragooning the people like the old yeomen did . They should be shot at every door . "

Just then his wife entered the room . " There are two RIC men in the kitchen , " she said , " and two more outside . " So saying , she returned to the kitchen quickly . In all the old farmhouses , because of the big open hearth and chimney , a corridor called 'the entry' connected the parlour and kitchen . As our hostess returned to the kitchen , the RIC Sergeant stood just inside the kitchen door .

He could see into the parlour but could not see the table . Nevertheless , it was plain that he suspected from her hurried movements to and from that room that she had given warning to some party . Meanwhile , the other RIC men had moved further into the kitchen . At the warning , Donncadh MacNeilus had quickly arisen , a long Parabellum rifle in his right hand . Remembering that the gun had not a cartridge in its breech , he swiftly drew the hinged bolt with his left hand and let it home again with a crash .

That sinister sound smote on the RIC Sergeant's ear with telling effect ....... " (MORE LATER).



IT COULD HAPPEN TO A BISHOP.......


[From ' The Sunday Business Post ' newspaper , 16th February 1992 , page 22].


When John P. Hayden was Editor of 'The Westmeath Examiner' newspaper (which he was for seventy-two years !) he supported Charles Stewart Parnell during what became known as that man's 'Divorce Crisis'.

The then Bishop of Meath (not named in the article) objected to Hayden using the newspaper to support Parnell and a verbal row began between the two men . While the 'verbal's' were still being exchanged , a waterworks upgrade was proposed for the town of Mullingar , and the newspaper Editor and the Bishop again dis-agreed over the benefits or otherwise of the new water-works system .

The Bishop snapped - during his sermon at Mass the following Sunday , the Bishop told the congregation that he was now declaring it officially a sin for any of his flock to read The Westmeath Examiner !

......no doubt the old Editor and the Bishop clashed again over that one .......

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