Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

True to his word , when the 1921 Treaty was ratified , Ernie O' Malley's Second Southern Division IRA was the first to renounce its allegiance to both IRA GHQ and Dail Eireann : in the war against the Staters, Ernie O' Malley was (Acting) Assistant Chief of Staff to Liam Lynch and was also Officer Commanding of the Ulster and Leinster Commands . Liam Lynch was in the South/Cork area while Ernie O' Malley remained based in the enemy's stronghold of Dublin . He wrote of waging a guerrilla warfare that , this time , for him , was urban based rather than rural and , when asked by a journalist why the IRA were still fighting , he replied : " I think they think they're fighting for a younger generation. " Ernie O' Malley was 24 years of age at that time .

He himself knew that he was fighting imperialists , both British and Irish varieties , and believed that the Free State Cabinet and a few Catholic bishops should not be immune from the war . He also recognised and acknowledged the great support given to the Republican Cause by Cumann na mBan and other Irish Republican women , and one feature of his books is the courage , strength and involvement of such women . As he wrote - " During the Tan War the girls had always helped but they had never sufficient status . Now they were our comrades , loyal , willing and incorruptible comrades . Indefatigable , they put the men to shame by their individual zeal and initiative."

His book 'The Singing Flame' reveals much of Free State treachery and covers inside stories of the critical months before the IRA attack on the Four Courts began , and he paints a vivid picture of the war . But perhaps the most important pages are the prison chapters , detailing the scenes of prison life in Portobello Barracks, in Mountjoy, in Kilmainham Jail and in the Curragh internment camps, highlighting the deaths of comrades and the hunger-strike . Despite his wounds (hit over 20 times by Free State gunfire), the threats of execution , and a wasting sickness worsened by forty-one days on hunger-strike , Ernie O' Malley was a leading challenge to "...the petty automatons that help to keep one captive.." . Some of his most inspiring passages in 'The Singing Flame' concern that 'other war' that prisoners fought : in jail.......
(MORE LATER).



AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE RUC . RUC brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a paramilitary force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

James Joseph Rafferty , from Dungannon in County Tyrone , was arrested in November 1976 and held for three days in Omagh RUC Barracks where he was brutally beaten by RUC detectives from the 'Regional Crime Squad', which had only recently been established by the then RUC assistant chief constable Kenneth Newman for just such purposes . Eventually , James Joseph Rafferty was released without charge and taken to hospital where he remained for several days . The evidence of the brutality used against him was clear-cut : he had multiple bruising , his scalp was covered with blood-red pin-pricks , and his backside was gashed . Doctors testified that these injuries could not have been self-inflicted.

Nevertheless , after years of a stonewall conspiracy of RUC silence , which caused one member of the 'RUC Police Authority', Jack Hassard (see '26/2006' , here ) , to resign in disgusted frustration , James Joseph Rafferty's torturers were acquitted in 'court' and his claim for compensation has been , recently , dismissed . As the ex-RUC 'Police Authority' member , Jack Hassard , said - " The bastards who beat up James Joseph Rafferty would stop at nothing , even killing."

And they didn't stop for Brian Maguire-

'In Castlereagh from day to day
The tortured know no rest,
And men don't sleep and men must weep
Until they have confessed,
Confessed to 'crime' for sentenced time
Though guilt they may not know,
But that is law , however raw,
So bear your cross of woe... '
(Bobby Sands: 'The Crime of Castlereagh')
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

'Law and Order' patrolling in the Six Counties has two main purposes : domination of the ground , so as to deny the enemy freedom of movement and , secondly , to get to know the area intimately in order to build up a detailed knowledge of it and its inhabitants . During the period between 1969 and 1971 , British Army/RUC patrolling was re-active rather than preventive.

British battalions were having some difficulty in even keeping up with the pace of events and were seldom able to take the initiative . As the years passed , patrolling maps were updated and the sheer volume of Intelligence on the inhabitants of the battalion or company's area of responsibility provided such a degree of back-up that patrol commanders were able to put a name to most faces they passed in the street .

So as not to have to start from scratch , each battalion sent an advance party to the North of Ireland some weeks before the arrival of the main body of the battalion - this 'advance party' consisted of the commanding officer , company commanders , and platoon and section commanders , whose job it was to 'tramp the ground' with patrols from the battalion they were relieving . Thus by the time the battalion's second-in-command , the company seconds-in-command and the platoon sergeants brought over the bulk of the soldiers , the commanders had made themselves familiar with the ground. The Battalion Intelligence Officer had preceded the advance party by several weeks , so that he could assimilate the accumulated knowledge of the Intelligence Officer of the battalion being relieved . This system of relief took some years to develop and has now been refined to a drill but , during the early years , battalions were rushed out at little or no notice as both the British Government and the British military merely
re-acted to events.......
(MORE LATER).

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" Eighty-six years ago, in December 1922, the Curragh Camp was the scene of a terrible tragedy; it was the execution, by firing squad, of seven young men in the Military Detention Barracks, now the Curragh Prison. The full story of the events of the week from 13 December 1922, when the men were arrested, to 19 December 1922, when they were executed, is not now known. All of the people involved are dead, and with them their stories. It appears that all official records of the executions have been lost or destroyed....."
(From here)

FOR THE RECORD.....

Between 17 November 1922 and 2 May 1923 , seventy-seven Republican prisoners were removed from their prison cells and shot dead by order of the Free State administration . In this post we name those 77 men and list where each man was executed and the date of same : we do so in the hope that , after the search engines have archived this information it will be retrieved by those who , like us , are of the opinion that these men should not be forgotten.

1922 :
James Fisher , Dublin , November 17.
Peter Cassidy , Dublin , November 17.
Richard Twohig , Dublin , November 17.
John Gaffney , Dublin , November 17.
Erskine Childers , Dublin , November 24.
Joseph Spooner , Dublin , November 30.
Patrick Farrelly , Dublin , November 30.
John Murphy , Dublin , November 30.
Rory O Connor , Dublin , December 8.
Liam Mellows , Dublin , December 8.
Joseph McKelvey , Dublin , December 8.
Richard Barrett , Dublin , December 8.
Stephen White , Dublin , December 19.
Joseph Johnston , Dublin , December19.
Patrick Mangan , Dublin , December 19.
Patrick Nolan , Dublin , December 19.
Brian Moore , Dublin , December 19.
James O' Connor , Dublin , December 19.
Patrick Bagnel , Dublin , December 19.
John Phelan , Kilkenny , December 29.
John Murphy , Kilkenny , December 29.

1923:
Leo Dowling , Dublin , January 8.
Sylvester Heaney , Dublin , January 8.
Laurence Sheeky , Dublin , January 8.
Anthony O' Reilly , Dublin , January 8.
Terence Brady , Dublin , January 8.
Thomas McKeown , Louth , January 13.
John McNulty , Louth , January 13.
Thomas Murray , Louth , January 13.
Frederick Burke , Tipperary , January 15.
Patrick Russell , Tipperary , January 15.
Martin O' Shea , Tipperary , January 15.
Patrick McNamara , Tipperary , January 15.
James Lillis , Carlow , January 15.
James Daly , Kerry , January 20.
John Clifford , Kerry , January 20.
Michael Brosnan , Kerry , January 20.
James Hanlon , Kerry , January 20.
Cornelius McMahon , Limerick , January 20.
Patrick Hennesy , Limerick , January 20.
Thomas Hughes , Westmeath , January 20.
Michael Walsh , Westmeath , January 20.
Herbert Collins , Westmeath , January 20.
Stephen Joyce , Westmeath , January 20.
Martin Bourke , Westmeath , January 20.
James Melia , Louth , January 22.
Thomas Lennon , Louth , January 22.
Joseph Ferguson , Louth , January 22.
Michael Fitzgerald , Waterford , January 25.
Patrick O' Reilly , Offaly , January 26.
Patrick Cunningham , Offaly , January 26.
Willie Conroy , Offaly , January 26.
Colum Kelly , Offaly , January 26.
Patrick Geraghty , Laoise , January 27.
Joseph Byrne , Laoise , January 27.
Thomas Gibson , Laoise , February 26.
James O' Rourke , Dublin , March 13.
William Healy , Cork , March 13.
James Parle , Wexford , March 13.
Patrick Hogan , Wexford , March 13.
John Creane , Wexford , March 13.
Séan Larkin , Donegal , March 14.
Tim O' Sullivan , Donegal , March 14.
Daniel Enright , Donegal , March 14.
Charles Daly , Donegal , March 14.
James O' Malley , Galway , April 11.
Francis Cunnane , Galway , April 11.
Michael Monaghan , Galway , April 11.
John Newell , Galway , April 11.
John McGuire , Galway , April 11.
Martin Moylan , Galway , April 11.
Richard Hatheway , Kerry , April 25.
James McEnery , Kerry , April 25.
Edward Greaney , Kerry , April 25.
Patrick Mahoney , Clare , April 26.
Christopher Quinn , Clare , May 02.
William Shaughnessy , Clare , May 02.

The above-listed 77 men did not take up arms in the belief that they were fighting for the establishment of a morally-corrupt so-called 'half-way-house' institution , nor did they do so to assist the British in the 'governance' of one of their 'part' colonies : that which those men and many others fought for remains to be achieved . You can help present-day Irish Republicans to achieve that aim.......
Sharon.

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Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Ernie O' Malley's two books are best read together : it is in 'The Singing Flame' that the British faces fade and are replaced by Irish counterparts and the high noon of summer darkens to the Mulcahy/Cosgrave years . Of course 'The Singing Flame' is partisan ; one intended by its author as support for the republican tradition - with the 'cult' of 1916 transformed into the 'cult' of 1922 , where the Four Courts of Dublin stands in place of the GPO. It is also an exciting story , full of incidents and answering some questions that had been posed for half a century ; relating his Civil War days as Assistant Chief of Staff in Dublin where he commanded future Fianna Fail ministers like Sean Lemass and Tom Derrig, while leading a hunted existence in a city resembling Belfast of the 1970's .

The second of the books also has clear lessons for today , containing many parallels and the same abuse and falsified arguments used against the republicans then as now . In the early days of the Civil War , Ernie O' Malley and his IRA Company heard a priest at Mass denounce them as looters and murderers : " The Hand of God was against us .. " , according to the priest , he said . His officers wanted to walk out , but he motioned them to remain . " If we were going to be insulted when we could not hit back , we might as well be dignified . It was good to get out in the fresh air again . "

He could have accepted power and privilege under the Free State but he remained faithful to the Republic and rejected both the 1921 Treaty and de Valera's alternative Document No. 2. He told a Free State general , J.J. 'Ginger' O' Connell, at the time of the Treaty debates - " You'll have to fight in our area if you are false to your oath . That's where you'll meet with immediate and terrible war. " The irony was pointed : Lloyd George had threatened an "immediate and terrible war" if the Treaty was not accepted.......
(MORE LATER).



AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE RUC . RUC brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a paramilitary force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

Most of the few Nationalists who joined the UDR, in an initial belief in the reality of the 'reform' (about 12% of the UDR in all) resigned when it soon became clear that the UDR was no more than a 'Special Constabulary' in khaki uniform . As a further concession to the 'pride' of the 'B' Specials , former members were allowed to keep their weapons !

One other Hunt Report 'recommendation' was that the RUC be disarmed : this was implemented initially but , under loyalist pressure , the RUC soon resumed its traditional role as the armed paramilitary wing of loyalism . In fact , to suppress the militant nationalist population , the British administration actually strengthened the RUC in numbers and weaponry . In the history of nationalist and republican resistance to the Orange state , this better-armed , better-trained and numerically stronger RUC paramilitary force played a central and conscious role in the attempted repression of that struggle .

Their 'contribution' in particular to the post-internment H-Block/Armagh 'conveyor belt' , through the use of RUC-trained interrogators in Castlereagh and other torture centres across the North was a major factor in the torture , by physical or psychological methods , of the estimated 20,000 nationalists who have passed through these centres since the ending of political status in 1976 . Over 80% of those subsequently convicted by non-jury Diplock courts were jailed solely on the basis of 'confessions' obtained while under interrogation in those centres . The RUC's immunity from criticism in employing these methods is well illustrated by the Rafferty Case.......
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

The British Army Land Rover which was under fire was carrying Rifleman Daniel Holland , Rifleman Mark Mullen , a corporal from the Coldstream Guards (who were taking over from 2 RGJ) and an RAF sergeant . The driver , Corporal Lindfield , realising that his vehicle had been hit , accelerated out of the killing zone as fast as he could . He drove across the Springfield Road , into a side-street , where he stopped .

British Army Rifleman Daniel Holland had received gunshot wounds in the head and was unconscious : the RAF sergeant had also been shot in the head and was bleeding badly , although he was still conscious . The Coldstream Guards corporal had been hit in the head by a ricochet but was able to look after the other wounded men . The driver , Corporal Lindfield , rushed back across the Springfield Road with Rifleman Mark Mullen to where the other British Army Land Rover was standing in the killing zone . The driver of that other vehicle , Lieutenant Corporal Darral Harwood , having seen the other Land Rover hit , had endeavoured to get himself and his crew out of the vehicle before they reached the killing zone .

Harwood had managed to fall out of the driver's door , dropping his rifle in the process , but his companions were unable to get out so quickly . Rifleman Anthony Rapley was hit in the back of the head and died instantly ; Rifleman Malakos received gunshot wounds in the stomach , neck and jaw . Another Guardsman , who was unscathed , was in a state of shock as , by now , was Rifleman Mark Mullen who had attempted to assist Rifleman Anthony Rapley only to find that he was dead . Lieutenant Corporal Darral Harwood dragged Rapley's body behind a car , leaving Corporal Lindfield to run under fire to the door of the house whence the shooting was coming from . By now , British Army reinforcements had arrived from the nearby Springfield Road RUC Barracks - they had heard the firing and they were able to prevent Corporal Lindfield from going any further . In the incident , Rifleman Anthony Rapley was killed
instantly , Rifleman Malakos died on the way to hospital and Rifleman Daniel Holland died on the operating-table . The RAF Sergeant recovered from his wounds.......
(MORE LATER).

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The annual CABHAIR Testimonial Dinner was held last night (Saturday May 17th 2008) in 'The Royal Dublin Hotel' in O' Connell Street , Dublin , and was a fantastic success : every seat (over 100 of them!) was taken and , indeed , several late-comers would have had to stand for the night were it not for the organisational skills of the hotel management and staff , who went out of their way to accommodate this over-subscribed event .
The CABHAIR organisation is a charitable group solely dependant on public subscriptions and its aim is to help alleviate some of the suffering of the families of Irish republican prisoners . The organisation supports republican prisoners who do not receive assistance from any other body , and can be contacted at 223 Parnell Street , Dublin 1 , 'phone 01-8729747 / fax 01-8729757 and e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie .
This year , as usual , five life-long Irish Republicans were honoured for the service they have given to the Cause of Irish Freedom : Seamus Murphy , Leinster / Paddy White , Ulster / Micheál Ó Ceallaigh , Connacht / Liam Heaphy , Munster and Thomas Coyne Hosie , USA . These are the people who give us our past - veteran Republicans that we pay tribute to : the people that , like those that went before them , carry the torch of resistance and who have courageously maintained our Irish Republican tradition . Their experiences , their sacrifices and their example inspires us to follow their path . Éire Saor agus Gaelach - Tiocfaidh Ar La !
We publish with this post a few photographs from the event last night - other photographs and a proper report will be carried in the June 2008 issue of 'Saoirse' :

CABHAIR Testimonial brochure and Dinner ticket.

A section of the crowd .

CABHAIR Testimonial 'shop' .

The five CABHAIR Honouree plaques.

CABHAIR decorative tapestries .

CABHAIR Testimonial flag display.

Continuity not compromise!

Some of the CABHAIR raffle prizes.

POW craft .

A close-up view of one of the five CABHAIR Testimonial Plaques.

As stated : a proper report and more photographs will be carried in the June 2008 issue of 'SAOIRSE' , the monthly newspaper of the Republican Movement.
Thanks!
Sharon.

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Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

The prison chapters of his books illustrate how he and his comrades defied the prison system and bewildered their guards who , as O' Malley stated , "...had been told that we were murderers . That meant an image from a Sunday newspaper - twitching hands and furtive walk , or sullen hardness . They heard us laugh and sing , rag and annoy each other , joke and refuse to take prison regulations seriously.." But he pays tribute , too , to those who showed humanity to prisoners , which makes his verdicts on the others and on the British caste system all the more convincing .

After an historic escape from Kilmainham Jail on 14 February 1921 , Ernie O' Malley returned to the Martial Law areas and an intensified war campaign , until he was first baffled , then broken-hearted by the truce called in July 1921. One of the grimmest incidents had taken place one month previously , when Ernie O' Malley , as Officer Commanding of the IRA Division involved had taken it upon himself to execute three captured British Army officers because "...any officers we capture in this area are to be shot until such time as you cease shooting your prisoners.."

He wanted the Irish Republican Army to have status abroad , rather than be hidden behind the image of a suffering colonial people. As he bluntly put it to his affronted superiors later in 1921 - " We (the IRA) had never consulted the feelings of the people . If so , we would never have fired a shot . If we gave them a good strong lead , they would follow . " If his books were required reading in schools and universities , instead of the shoneen or revisionist (or simply non-existent) versions of modern Irish history , then the people of Ireland would be better prepared to achieve a true independence . As Ernie O' Malley wrote of the best of the IRA recruits , in words that typify his own unyielding spirit - " At times one came across a man who had been born free . There was no explaining it . One just accepted and thanked God in wonder ! "
(MORE LATER).



AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE RUC . RUC brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a paramilitary force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

The late 1960's saw this repressive role emphasised again , as RUC thugs batoned civil rights marchers to the ground , first on October 5th 1968 in Derry, in full view of the television cameras . Despite the outcry no investigation took place . When on August 14th 1969 the RUC finally admitted defeat , faced with the undaunted nationalist resistance of the Battle of the Bogside, and British troops entered Derry and then Belfast to safeguard the status quo , the 'B' Specials gave full vent to their anti-nationalist spleen , shooting dead a bystander in Armagh and Francis McCloskey in Dungiven, while in Belfast 'B' Specials and RUC men led loyalist mobs on attacks into nationalist streets .

When the first flames died down and the nationalists counted the cost in terms of human tragedy , the British summoned 'Lord' Hunt to prepare a report on the RUC - like subsequent reports it was essentially a whitewash .

August 1969 had revealed to the watching world that the RUC was a sectarian paramilitary force , and the British felt pressurised to act . Typically they summoned an academic , 'Lord' Hunt , to prepare a report which essentially would salvage the 'credibility' of the force : Hunt's report was issued on October 3rd 1969 and was announced as the 'reform' of the RUC . The 'reforms' , however , were not real but apparent . The 'B' Specials were disbanded but were replaced by the 'Ulster (sic) Defence Regiment' (UDR), which were attached to the British Army rather than to the RUC . But 90 per-cent of all 'B' Specials in 1969 joined the UDR at its formation in 1970 , meaning that 80 per-cent of the UDR was composed of former 'B' Specials.......
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

After Warrenpoint, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited her army in the Occupied Six Counties on several occasions and always made her support for those thugs very clear : it is said that she has an affinity with military men and this may very well be the case , but she certainly expects the same degree of efficiency from them as she demands elsewhere and having some of then killed in action does not fit-in with her overall strategy . Her Senior Officers have learned to get their briefings correct in every detail and have to be prepared to be cross-questioned minutely .

At the end of 1980 , the strength of PIRA was estimated to be between three and four hundred active members , with about one thousand active supporters who provided safe houses , transport and other facilities . The hard-core strength was about a third of the active strength of 1972 , but the reduction probably reflected deliberate policy as much as the effects of attrition . Thus by the end of 1980 startling advances had been made by the British - the level of violence had been reduced drastically since the early and mid 1970's , but PIRA still operated effectively .

British Army Corporal William Lindfield was in command of a mobile patrol , which was taking an RAF Sergeant from his Brigade HQ to the 'C' Company base at North Howard Street Mill . The patrol mounted its two Macralon Land Rovers (which were said to be blast resistant but not bullet-proof) inside the Springfield Road RUC Barracks and drove out through the back gates . They turned right and right again down Crocus Street back towards the Springfield Road . When the leading Land Rover , driven by Corporal William Lindfield , was 50 yards down Crocus Street , all hell was let loose - automatic fire was brought to bear on it from very close range.......
(MORE LATER).

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...and we're back . From New York , that is.... !

Well , that's not strictly true : John stayed in Dublin , catching-up with other things , and 'Junior' spent most(some?) of the time studying for his college exams . Myself and three of the girlfriends jetted off to New York for a week-long party....

...shopping.....

...mixing sport.....

...with a few bottles of cider.....

...and then going shopping again !

The 'Transportation Security Administration' branch of the ' U S Department Of Homeland Security' said 'Hello' to me as they 'borrowed' a suitcase padlock from me and 're-arranged' one of my suitcases but , apart from that and the 5-hour time difference between Ireland and New York and the 7-hour airplane journey to get there (and another seven hours to get back!) and really missing the kids , it was a brilliant holiday!

But we're back now , and the usual 'three-in-one' blog post will be published tomorrow (Wednesday May 14th) , probably a little later than usual ,as I'm still a wee bit jet-lagged . No , I tell a lie . I have sooooooo many new clothes to try-on that I just know I'm gonna be late with the post.....
;-)

Sharon.

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BOBBY SANDS COMMEMORATION 2008 :


BOBBY SANDS 1954-1981.


Between the years 1917 and 1981 , twenty-two Irish men died on hunger-strike in our on-going fight for Irish freedom -

Thomas Ashe, Kerry, 5 days, 25 September 1917(force fed by tube , died as a result).
Terence McSwiney, Cork, 74 days, 25 October 1920.
Michael Fitzgerald, Cork, 67 days, 17 October 1920.
Joseph Murphy, Cork, 76 days , 25 October 1920 .
Joe Witty, Wexford , 2 September 1923.
Dennis Barry, Cork, 34 days, 20 November 1923.
Andy O Sullivan , Cork, 40 days, 22 November 1923.
Tony Darcy, Galway, 52 days, 16 April 1940.
Jack 'Sean' McNeela, Mayo, 55 days, 19 April 1940.
Sean McCaughey, Tyrone ,22 days, 11 May 1946 (hunger and thirst Strike).
Michael Gaughan, Mayo , 64 days, 3 June 1974.
Frank Stagg, Mayo , 62 days, 12 February 1976.
Bobby Sands, Belfast , 66 days, 5 May 1981.
Frank Hughes , Bellaghy (Derry) , 59 days, 12 May 1981.
Raymond McCreesh , South Armagh , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Patsy O Hara , Derry , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Joe McDonnell , Belfast , 61 days, 8 July 1981.
Martin Hurson , Tyrone , 46 days, 13 July 1981.
Kevin Lynch, Dungiven (Derry) ,71 days, 1 August 1981.
Kieran Doherty , Belfast , 73 days, 2 August 1981.
Tom McIlwee , Bellaghy (Derry) , 62 days, 8 August 1981.
Micky Devine , Derry , 60 days, 20 August 1981.

The sectarian realities of ghetto life materialised early in Bobby's life when at the age of ten his family were forced to move home owing to loyalist intimidation even as early as 1962. Bobby recalled his mother speaking of the troubled times which occurred during her childhood; "Although I never really understood what internment was or who the 'Specials' were, I grew to regard them as symbols of evil".
Of this time Bobby himself later wrote: "I was only a working-class boy from a Nationalist ghetto, but it is repression that creates the revolutionary spirit of freedom. I shall not settle until I achieve liberation of my country, until Ireland becomes a sovereign, independent socialist republic..."
(From here.)
The fight for the same Cause that Bobby Sands died for in 1981 is on-going today , as six Irish counties remain under the jurisdictional control of Westminster , which enforces that control with military occupation. For the 28th successive year , a commemoration will be held in Dublin in honour of Bobby Sands , the thirteenth republican to die on hunger-strike since 1917: those attending this commemoration are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin at 2pm on Saturday May 10 , 2008 , and to march from there to the GPO in O'Connell Street .
All Welcome!
Sharon.
(Please note - we are taking a wee break for a week or so : we should be back before the middle of May. Go raibh maith agat!)

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Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Ernie O' Malley was very active in attacks on British Army barracks , ambushes , raids and always in organisation and leadership crucial for the building of a people's army . He fought the Auxiliaries, an elite group of ex-BA officers attached to the RIC - a sort of 1920 SAS . He admitted that the RIC had "...the guts to stick it out.." but insisted "...we can't admire Irishmen who fight for foreigners against us..". His books are still useful handbooks for contemporary guerrillas .

Britain was not immune then , either : Cathal Brugha was ready to wipe out the British Cabinet if Conscription was enforced in Ireland . English warehouses and docks went up in flames in a series of contemporary reprisals .

A significant section of ' On Another Man's Wound' concerns his eventual capture by British forces in Inistioge , County Kilkenny on 9th December 1920 (a notebook found on him had the names of all the members of the 7th Battalion IRA (Callan) of the West Kilkenny brigade - many of whom were subsequently arrested) and the torture and imprisonment he underwent at the hands of the British Army , including his interrogation ordeal in Dublin Castle, the 'Castlereagh of the Tan War' . Threatened with hanging for an action he did not commit , in the midst of brutal questioning , Ernie O' Malley replied - " With us hanging is no disgrace." It is a revealing line , and one which puzzled his British torturers , who never will understand the mentality , motivation and moral strength of their opponents.......
(MORE LATER).



AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE RUC . RUC brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a paramilitary force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

Both the 'Specials' and the RUC proceeded to wage a terror campaign against the nationalist people , indulging in widespread pogroms : reports of atrocities were common place between 1922 and 1925 and the 'Murder Gang' (a 1920's version of the 'Shankill Butchers') was composed of ex-British soldiers , UVF men and RUC/'B' Specials , and typical of their atrocities was the McMahon Murders on March 24th 1922 (which was organised and carried-out by RUC Detectives and District Inspectors J.W. Nixon and Harrison) in which all the male members of the McMahon family and a man employed by them were killed .

In another incident around this time , two elderly sisters were killed when 'B' Specials threw a hand-grenade into the bedroom of their Thompson Street home in east Belfast's isolated nationalist ghetto of Short Strand . Perhaps the most sadistic killings took place in Tyrone in 1924 - four IRA Volunteers were captured by a large platoon of 'B' Specials and shot on the spot . Their genitals were cut off and placed in their mouths and obscenities about the Pope were written on the road with blood from their entrails . At the inquest , the 'B' Specials' Commander defended their actions by stating that his men "...had seen action in Palestine.." . No action was taken against the perpetrators.

In the intervening years , the RUC came to reinforce its position as the institutional guardian of Orange sectarian privilege in the Occupied Six Counties , periodically (as in 1932 during the 'Outdoor Relief' strikes ) repressing nationalists by extreme brutal force . Its importance in that institutional repression can be gauged by the fact that the RUC , through its advice and intelligence reports , were instrumental in operating the internment of nationalist opponents of the state , not just in 1971 but in every decade since the foundation of the state in 1920. The late 1960's saw this repressive role emphasised again , as RUC thugs continued to 'keep the peace' with their batons.......
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

Late in the afternoon of August 27th , 1979 , a convoy of three British Army vehicles was travelling from Ballykinler Barracks , County Down (where one-time Barracks Commander Frank Percy Crozier used rally his troops by shouting at them - "You must lose your gentle selves .You must steel your hearts and minds and be callous of life and death. That is war." ) to Newry with men of Second Para on board. At 4.30pm they approached a trailer loaded with hay and straw bales parked in a lay-by at a place called Narrow Water, where Carlingford Lough is only a couple of hundred yards wide and where it separates Ulster from the 26-County State . As the end-of-convoy four-ton British Army truck passed the trailer there was a large explosion - an estimated 500lb of explosives had been placed in milk churns which had been hidden in the hay and straw bales and detonated by men in the 26-County State using a remote-control device .

A nearby British Army patrol in the town of Warrenpoint reported the explosion and , even as they were doing so , their remaining colleagues at the scene of the explosion were , in wild panic , spraying the surrounding area with gunfire , hitting a young English tourist who died from his injuries . Two BA Land Rovers from Second Para , on patrol in Warrenpoint , sped to the scene and , at Bessbrook in County Armagh the 1st Battalion of the 'Queen's Own Highlanders' put an airborne reaction force on standby , but it was held back until its Commanding Officer had evaluated the situation for himself . This Battalion of 'The Queen's Own' had started a 20-month residential tour only the previous month : BA Lieutenant-Colonel David Blair , with his radio-operator , Lance-Corporal Victor McLeod , landed in a Gazelle helicopter in a field behind a lodge with gates leading to a larger house .

Behind the gates and the associated wall , the surviving paratroopers had taken cover and were returning fire at the IRA Volunteers across the Lough . Doctors had also landed in a Wessex helicopter and were tending the wounded . It was 4.59pm when Lieutenant-Colonel David Blair ran over to talk to the Para Officer in Command , Major Furseman , and the Wessex with wounded in it commenced its take off . At that moment a 1,000lb device , placed in the lodge gates , exploded and killed twelve men including Lieutenant-Colonel David Blair , and seriously wounded two others . So close was Blair to the explosion that his remains were never found . The Wessex helicopter was damaged but not irreparably . In all , eighteen British soldiers , mostly Paras , were killed at Warrenpoint . It was the worst single incident - for the British forces in Ireland - up to that point in time.......
(PLEASE NOTE : we will be taking a break for a week or so in early May.)
(MORE LATER).

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American soldiers in Shannon , British Navy in Dublin...

British HMS Tyne, a 'River Class Patrol Vessel' , pictured , docked in Dublin , Sunday April 27th 2008.

A reader of this blog , driving along the Dublin Quays today , noticed a small crowd gathered in the one spot , parked her car and walked over to have a look . The crowd consisted of the curious and the annoyed - the source of same was the HMS Tyne , a British Navy ship which was built in Woolston Docks, Southampton and which is normally based at HM Naval Base Portsmouth.
The ship , which our reader suspects might be in for repairs , is heavily guarded on Sir John Rogerson's Quay -
armed Irish Special Branch on the quayside and armed 'Royal' Marine's on board , and is flying the 'Union Jack' flag in front , over one of its machine guns. One of the 'Royal' Marine guards , eager to impress a local lass (!) said he hoped to meet our reader later on tonight in the Temple Bar area , where "...they kicked up a storm last night.."
She told him to hold his breath and passed-on her wishes that he get a good night's sleep...

The 'Tyne' is a ship with a bloody past and one which its crew has been awarded a 'Freedom Award' which they described as "... one of the highest awards that can be bestowed upon a ship of the Fleet. It is a privilege which in days of old formed a contract between the military and the civil authorities of a city or borough such that in exchange for protection the military unit would be able to march freely through the place, bearing arms and flying their colours..."
So , if you're out and about in Temple Bar or another night-spot in Dublin tonight , keep an eye out for those 'colours' , won't you.....

A few more photographs from today :

The HMS Tyne docked in Dublin , guarded by armed 'Royal' Marines and armed Irish Special Branch members.

A fully-armed British Navy ship in Dublin ,Sunday 27th April 2008 .

....and , if you can't make it to Temple Bar tonight , the ship's crew expect to be out 'socialising' Monday and Tuesday nights as well - a 'British Bulldog' told our 'little Bird' that they 'up anchor' on Wednesday morning...
Sharon.

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IRISH ATHLETES PHYSICALLY PROTEST THE OLYMPICS....

Two Irish athletes protest over the political nature of the Olympics :
Peter O'Connor ,Waterford (or Wicklow or England?) , and Limerick man Con Leahy staged a highly visible political protest on the claims that they were part of the 'United Kingdom' or 'Great Britain' team - they did this by raising an Irish Flag to the top of the 200 foot mast which dominated the stadium in Athens...

Peter O' Connor...



...and Con Leahy.


Erin go Bragh: The King Of Spring....

"My name's Duncan Campbell from the shire of Argyll
I've travelled this country for many's the mile
I've travelled through Ireland, Scotland and a'
And the name I go under's bold Erin-go-bragh

One night in Auld Reekie as I walked down the street
A saucy big polis I chanced for to meet
He glowered in my face and he gi'ed me some jaw
Sayin' "When cam' ye over, bold Erin-go-bragh?"
(From here)

Contrast the above with this - 'Frank Greally, spokesman for the Athletics Association of Ireland, admitted the political atmosphere was "getting quite stormy", but said he couldn't see any athletes "...breaking ranks .There is lots of pressure, but it is more political pressure than anything involving the athletes."
Management for medal hopeful Derval O'Rourke indicated that she did not wish to comment on politics, but was "just going out there to . . . hopefully win a medal".'
(From here.)

"It is only the superficial qualities that last . Man's deeper nature is soon found out."
Oscar Wilde.
Shame on them.
Sharon.

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Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Hopefully , Ernie O' Malley's books should fire the imagination of a new generation of Irish republicans . In so many ways ' On Another Man's Wound' relates to what is happening today between the British and Irish nations . It is tragic that his wartime experiences should remain so pertinent but , nevertheless , those experiences are a source of guidance and encouragement to those who continue the struggle today. That book is one to convert the unbeliever and to inform the ignorant , just as Ernie O' Malley himself turned to republicanism at Easter 1916 when as a young medical student he witnessed Padraig Pearse reading the Proclamation outside the GPO in Dublin and then followed the subsequent events of the Rising .

His well-to-do family never discussed national politics at home - his elder brother was an officer in the British Army and died in that service , but Ernie devoted the best years of his life to the fight for the Irish Republic , so that in 1923 the Sinn Fein news-sheets claimed that he had '...perhaps the greatest individual record during the Tan War and was one of the bravest soldiers who ever fought for the independence of Ireland.' He wanted to show the struggle of a mainly unarmed people against the might of an 'empire' and his book pays constant tribute to the heroism of a risen people .

He was famed for his own courage , although like the truly brave he freely admitted to feelings of fear and inadequacy . Undeterred by mass condemnations from the British and their Irish allies, by newspapers and professional politicians and by the Catholic Hierarchy , between 1919 and 1921 the Irish Republican Army waged a war that also involved shooting 'policemen' , executing British Officers , burning buildings , punishing spies and informers - in short , all those actions which Westminster and Leinster House vie with each other in condemning today . And Ernie O' Malley was very active in all such actions.......
(MORE LATER).



AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE RUC . RUC brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a paramilitary force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

A departmental committee established under the Stormont administration to enquire into the organisation of a force to replace the RIC, recommended (on March 31st 1922) that a new force , the 'RUC' , be set up comprising 3,000 men . Nominally , this force was to include one-third Catholics in its number , but because of loyalist sectarianism and the force's political role in defending partition , it was from the outset an almost exclusively Protestant and loyalist force .

The first priority of the newly-formed RUC was to eliminate the republican forces who still enjoyed popular support in the nationalist areas of the Occupied Six Counties . To achieve this , the 'Constabulary Act (Northern Ireland) 1922', incorporated the already established 'Special Constabulary' fully into the RUC . This 'Special Constabulary' had been set up in 1920 by the British administration to combat the increasingly effective IRA forces in the north-east of the island . The unionist leader , 'Lord' Edward Carson, had organised it , and it was composed almost entirely of former units of the Ulster Volunteer Force from the gun-running era.

Within a year of its formation the 'Specials' - 'A' , 'B' and 'C' classes, although only the 'B' Specials lasted long , numbered more than 30,000 men , and at the end of 1921 the Stormont administration assumed control over them from the British government . By the end of 1922 when they were incorporated into the RUC , the 'Specials' numbered 50,000 well-armed men.......
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

Many lessons emerged from this operation : the 'chain of success' began with the suspicions of an alert British Army corporal on a routine patrol and the planned surveillance of the pub in question . The Observation Post Commander sent to watch it moved in time to evade trouble and to turn the tables on his probable assailants . The rapid arrival of reinforcements and their efficient direction from an airborne command post captured three of the four men directly involved and their weapons . It was a well-planned and stage-managed operation at every level .

The main technical innovations of the Provisional IRA in 1978 were the increased use of remote-controlled bombs which enabled them to destroy targets in greater safety and with more precision , and a new method of making explosives from fertilisers . Clearly this made life more difficult for the British despite restrictions on the sale of sodium chloride-based weed-killers , and the control in the import and movement of explosives .

Clearly radio-controlled bombs have made the British task immeasurably more difficult . The jamming of radio frequencies is difficult because of not knowing which frequencies to jam . The search for a counter to this threat continues by the British but , in the meantime , the IRA have a much more effective bombing capacity . The year 1979 saw an upsurge in attacks against British forces , particularly against 'off-duty' UDR men - the PIRA appreciated their importance as the eyes and ears of Westminster , and their value in supporting the RUC. Remotely-detonated bombs caused nearly thirty per cent of enemy deaths in an IRA campaign against the British Army which concentrated on rural and border areas.......
(PLEASE NOTE : we will be taking a break for a week or so in early May.)
(MORE LATER).

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(For 'Brit Queen Poster' article, click here)
(UPDATE : the foreign queen has left her Dublin 'throne' ...)

Captain Mártan Ó hÓgáin's Commemorative Stone , Gracepark Road , Dublin.


" A few months after Mártan Ó hÓgáin was done to death by Free State forces , four Tyrone IRA anti-treaty Volunteers were captured by a platoon of 'B' Specials and shot dead on the spot. Their genitals were cut-off and placed in their mouths and obscenities about the Pope were written on the road with blood from their entrails . At the 'inquest' into this butchery , the platoon Commander defended the savagery of his troops by stating that they had recently seen action in Palestine . No 'Court' penalty followed...."

- a section of the short speech delivered by the Chairperson of today's wreath-laying ceremony , John Horan -

Pike and RSF banner .


" The time of Captain Ó hÓgáin's death was the period in which the Free Staters sanctioned the executions of seventy-seven anti-treaty POW's . It was the period in which Free Staters tied nine POW's to a landmine at Ballyseedy before detonating it and riddling the mangled remains with machine-gun fire..."

1916 Proclamation being read at the Ó hÓgáin wreath-laying ceremony.

" Up to 1923 - when Mártan Ó hÓgáin was done to death by the Free Staters - seven Irish republicans had died on hunger-strike : Tom Ashe from Kerry , Michael Fitzgerald , Terence McSwiney ,Joe Murphy ,Denis Barry and Andy O' Sullivan, all from Cork , and Joe Witty from Wexford . Today - 85 years after the death of Captain Ó hÓgáin - twenty-two Irish men have died on hunger-strike. All fought and died for the same Cause , part of the same on-going struggle..."

Laying the wreath .

Those in attendance marched the short distance from the corner of Collins Avenue/Gracepark Road to the Commemorative Stone , where they were welcomed by the Chairperson , John Horan . After a short speech , John called for one minutes silence and then asked the Flag Bearer to dip the National Flag . He then asked Donal to play a lament ('The Foggy Dew') on the tin whistle , following which a Wreath was laid . The attendees were thanked (with the stated exclusion of the four Special Branch men present) and the Chairperson again reiterated the link between that which Captain Ó hÓgáin fought for and that which republicans today are fighting for . He then brought proceedings to an end.

Flag Bearer at Captain Mártan Ó hÓgáin's wreath laying ceremony.
(More on this wreath-laying ceremony can be found here and here.)
Sharon.

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YIELD TO A BRITISH MONARCH!


The above poster - all seventy foot of it - was recently erected on the side of a building in Dublin which hires itself out for functions/gigs etc. No doubt in an effort to secure free publicity for some upcoming event or other , the owners/promoters decided to try and 'stir things up' by using a controversial image in the hope of selling more tickets for whatever gig it is they're trying to advertise. It seems that not everyone appreciated their efforts -

WE NEED A NEW POSTER....


Could we suggest that if the owners/promoters of said venue/gig wish to use an image of a British monarch to obtain free publicity for a planned event , they use an image which more properly represents the legacy which said monarch has visited on this isle , such as the following picture represents -

LEGACY OF THE CROWN.


- it might not help with ticket sales but , as well as being more honest , it could save a few bob on poster repairs.....
(UPDATE : Radio station news reports have stated that the torn poster has been further damaged by at least two petrol bombs which were thrown at it. More information and , hopefully , a picture or two will follow if and when we receive same.)
Sharon.

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