ON THIS DATE (22ND JANUARY) 97 YEARS AGO : THREE REPUBLICAN PRISONERS EXECUTED BY THE FREE STATERS.
Three Anti-Treaty IRA Volunteers ('Irregulars', as the Staters called them), who had been captured by Free State forces on the 7th January, 1923, and 'found guilty' of having arms and ammunition in their possession "without proper authority", were executed on this date (22nd January) in 1923 - James Melia (pictured), aged 20, of 2 Bridge Street Dundalk, Thomas Lennon, aged 19, from Dowdallshill, Dundalk and Joseph Ferguson, aged 27, of Giles Quay, Bellurgan, Dundalk.
"Considerable moral courage, not to speak of physical courage, was required of anyone having anything to do with Sinn Féin and the IRA here...their task would have been more pleasant if it had to be carried out in the heart of England itself because treachery and the very bitter hatred that was part and parcel of the Irish loyalist would not be encountered, or at least would be expected and prepared for..." (from here.)
That the three young men mentioned above (and, indeed, tens of thousands of other men and women) were brave and had the moral courage to make a stand against both British and their proxy forces in the Free State is without question. Also without question is that those who sought to destroy the republican struggle and its (on-going) objectives had, and have, the 'moral courage' of a de Vichy administration.
'MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly :
A terrible beauty is born...'
The struggle continues.
'A SACRED TRUST.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
"The whole of this wooden building is reeking with plum-pudding. I hear a distant sound of loud applause and stamping of feet, reminding me of Conciliation Hall...I wish them all a merry Christmas, and many happy returns of the same. But I doubt if it will ever return to me. I am sitting all day, shrunk together in my cell, dismally ill, and wrapped in coats, like a man on the box-seat of a coach..." - it is a gloomy picture that John Mitchel paints of his first Christmas in an English prison.
To those of us who have not spent a Christmas in prison or, in fact, have never been in prison at all, it is hard to imagine the state of mind of those who must endure it. Particularly hard is it for those who have families and dependents, who face a cheerless Christmas bereft of their loved ones.
It is no new thing in Irish history for the men to be in prison, and this generation, and this year, are no exception but, despite cynicism and slave-mindedness, there are still men to be found who will sacrifice all - family, position and friends - to serve the ideal of 'Ireland a Nation'. Do not think that these men have not counted the cost, or have set out lightly on the hard road to freedom. Do not think that they are fools or fanatics, or both. They are ordinary men of all walks of life, who have put into practice the principles so many of us affirm... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (22ND JANUARY) 48 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF A POACHER-TURNED-GAMEKEEPER.
"Garda Special Branch - Britain’s lackeys : Gombeen men lured down from the mountains of Kerry by the smell of fresh meat.." - so summarised Brendan Behan the men of Special Branch over 50 years ago. Some things have changed since then, they now have the odd female detective and on rare occasions you may even hear a Dublin accent from the men in the (Ford) Mondeo. To republican activists they are synonymous with harassment and thuggery..." (from here.)
Col. Eamon Broy, who died on Saturday at his home, Oaklands Drive, Rathgar, Dublin, aged 85, was a former Commissioner of the Garda Siochana. During the War of Independence he was one of Michael Collins’s three 'contacts' among the detective force in Dublin Castle and played a leading part in breaking the secret information system there. A native of Rathangan, Co. Kildare, he joined the old D.M.P. in his youth and was attached to G Division – the secret service arm of the British administration in Ireland. During this period he and his police colleague, David Neligan*, formed the heart of Collins’s intelligence service. Between 1917 and 1921 they fed him with vast amounts of highly classified information and warnings.
Col. Broy was arrested by the British in February, 1921, and imprisoned in Arbour Hill until the Truce. He was subsequently secretary of the then (Free State) Department of Civil Aviation and later adjutant of the first Irish Air Corps, with the rank of commandant. On his promotion to colonel he was made OC of the ground organization of the corps.
In 1922 he became secretary to the D.M.P. and on the formation of the Dublin Metropolitan Garda in 1925 he was appointed chief superintendent. In 1929 he was transferred to the Depot, Phoenix Park, as commandant. In February, 1933, he became chief of the Detective Division in succession to Col. David Neligan and inside a month was appointed Commissioner of the Garda Siochana to replace General Eoin O’Duffy who had been dismissed by the Government.
In the same year Col. Broy established a new force attached to the Special Branch, to deal with the situation arising from the refusal of some farmers to pay rates during the period of the Blueshirt movement. The members were drafted to parts of the country (sic) where the no-rates campaign was in progress. They escorted bailiffs on cattle seizures and were involved in many violent incidents...he retired in 1938...and died on the 22nd January, 1972, aged 85... (from here.)
(*David Neligan was another poacher-turned-gamekeeper ; he was a particularly vicious Free State operative who 'made his name' in the fight against republicans in Kerry during the Civil War. His overall intention was to wreak havoc on the Republican Movement and he had no hesitation in turning his weapon on those he had once fought alongside.)
We have wrote about those 'poachers-turned-gamekeepers' before - here, and here, for instance - and, in time, there will be many other opportunities (and requirements) for other writers to do the same.
'SIMON CALL FOR IMMEDIATE STATE ACTION ON HOMELESS CRISIS.'
From 'USI News' magazine, February 1989.
In its pre-budget submission launched in January 1989, the Simon Community demand that the issue of homelessness be treated as a political priority. At its press conference, Brian Harvey of 'Simon' described homelessness as one of the most avoidable social problems of modern times. However, because successive Irish governments (sic) have failed to adopt a practical approach to the issue, the problem has steadily worsened. Brian Harvey estimated the number of homeless people at between three to five thousand.
In their submission, 'Simon' have outlined a comprehensive programme of action for the homeless, including reinvestment in housing, a responsible level of social welfare payments, realistic help for voluntary organisations, adequate funding for community health services, an integrated system of housing benefit and the repeal of archaic discriminatory laws.
(END of 'Simon Call For Immediate State Action On Homeless Crisis' ; NEXT - 'Women Aiding Women', from the same source .)
'SEÁN TREACY LOOKED DOWN WITH PRIDE'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, November 1954.
On Sunday, 17th October (1954), the 34th anniversary of Seán Treacy's death was commemorated at the cemetery in Kilfeackle, County Tipperary, in the presence of many of his old comrades. Comdt. Seán Treacy of the Third Tipperary Brigade led the first attack on the British forces in the 'Black and Tan War' at Soloheadbeg and, from then until his death in October 1920, his career was one of unceasing struggle against the enemy.
He had one purpose - to hit the invaders as hard and as often as possible, and he carried out that purpose relentlessly until his death in action alone against two lorry loads of British military and auxiliaries in Talbot Street in Dublin ; the street which is now well known by his name, in spite of some traders' opposition.
On the morning of the commemoration an even more fitting tribute was paid in his memory - this time in Omagh, County Tyrone. The raid on the British military barracks was an action after his own heart ; he would have delighted in it, would have exulted in the chance once again to hit and hit hard the enemy occupation forces still in our land. We may be sure that Seán Treacy's spirit looked down in pride and eager sympathy on the men who (after 30 years of futility) were once again getting down to the vital, fundamental issue - to get the invaders out, completely and as quickly as possible.
(END of 'Seán Treacy Looked Down With Pride' ; NEXT - 'OMAGH', by M. Ó Cinnéide, from the same source.)
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (8TH JANUARY) 97 YEARS AGO : FIVE IRA MEN EXECUTED BY FREE STATERS.
In memory of Leo Dowling, Sylvester Heaney, Laurence Sheeky, Anthony O'Reilly and Terence Brady.
'Laurence Sheeky had a remarkable short life. He was just 22 when he was executed in 1923 during a turbulent time in Irish history...(he) was born 1901, the son of Patrick and Margaret Sheeky, in Braystown, Robinstown Co. Meath. He joined the (Free State) Army and in 1922 Private Sheeky was assigned to Baldonnel Aerodrome to guard aircraft.
Around this time the Leixlip Flying IRA Column was founded and its leader, Patrick Mullaney, a teacher from Balla, Co. Mayo, would often visit Baldonnel and became very friendly with the Free State soldiers, Laurence Sheeky amongst them. On the 27th September 1922 the provisional (FS) government granted itself emergency powers, that any civilian charged with taking up arms against the State or even possessing arms could be tried in a military court and face the death penalty. Still, such a sentence did not impact on Laurence's Republican feelings and he decided to join the Flying Column. In December 1922, the Column came under attack after taking over Grangewilliam House in Leixlip and after a fierce gun battle, 20 IRA gunmen were captured, Sheeky and Sylvester Heaney from Dillonstown amongst them as well as Thomas McCann from Duleek Street, Drogheda, who had also been stationed at Baldonnel.
They were put on trial and the death sentence was handed down to Sheeky and Heaney, who was just 19 at the time. Three others would also be put to death. On 8th January 1923, the five were executed by firing squad. Laurence Sheeky's family were never told about his execution and his parents learned of their son's death on their way to Ardee by a family friend who sympathised with them. In 1938, Laurence Sheeky's body was brought home to Co Meath and he was buried in the new cemetery on the Boyne Road with full military honours...
After a skirmish on the border of County Kildare and County Meath, the Meath Anti-Treaty IRA column, consisting of 22 men under Paddy Mullally is captured. The Republicans attack a Free State supply column near Leixlip. One Republican and one Free State soldier are killed in the action and three Republicans are wounded. Five of the Anti-Treaty men, who had previously deserted from the National (FS) Army, are executed in Dublin on 8 January 1923 for "treachery".
Three Meath men were executed in 1923, Two, Laurence Sheeky from Braytown and Terence Brady from Wilkinstown, were executed in Portobello on 8th January 1923 and Thomas Murray from Kilcarn but originaly from Whitecross Co, Armagh was executed on 13th January 1923 in Dundalk Jail. Laurence Sheeky and Terence Brady were executed with comrades Leo Dowling from Askinran Co, Kildare, Sylvester Heavey from Dillonstown Co, Louth and Anthony O`Reilly from Celbridge Co, Kildare. All five who deserted from the National army were arrested in Leixlip Co, Kildare on 1st December 1922 when an attack was carried out on an army (FS) supply lorry which had broken down in the townland of Collinstown on the Maynooth road.
In follow up searches carried out by the Free State army a number of confrontations occurred with insurgents resulting in over twenty insurgents being arrested. During the battles three insurgents were wounded and a Free State soldier killed. Twenty one rifles, a Thompson sub-machine gun, six revolvers, a Lewis sub-machine gun, grenades and a substantial amount of ammunition were recovered. The five - Sheeky, Brady, Dowling, Heavey and O`Reilly - were brought to Kilmainham Jail and Court Marshalled on 11th December 1922. The charges were as follows:
1) "TREACHERY ON THE 1ST DECEMBER 1922 IN THAT THEY AT LEIXLIP, CO, KILDARE ASSISTED CERTAIN ARMED PERSONS IN USING FORCE AGAINST THE NATIONAL ARMY"
2) "TREACHERY COMMUNICATING AND CONSERTING WITH ARMED PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE FIRST CHARGE, IN THE PLACE AND AT THE TIME MENTIONED"
All five were found guilty of both charges and sentenced to death. The men were executed on 8th January 1923 at Keogh barracks and were buried there, however, just a year later, the bodies were handed over to the families for burial in their own home towns...' (from here.)
In memory of those Irish republicans executed by colleagues who were led astray and turned against them.
'WHO HONOURS PEARSE..?'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Padraig Pearse's love of the poor, dumb, suffering people, which he expressed in so many parables, was "Christ-like", according to some of the conscience-jugglers, and his fierce patriotism was "supremely Christian", according to them. Yes, gentlemen ; but allow me to maintain reverence and still pursue the parallelism of Pearse's 'Christ-like' virtures - like Our Lord, Pearse claimed many astonishing things that did not suit 'respectability', nor current rulers.
Christ said he was the Son of God ; that is God or madman talking. Pearse said he would answer to God for the bloodshed and destruction of the 1916 Rising. The main thing, as Pearse saw it, was to get Irish political power back into Irish hands. After that, the social and economic conquest could be extirpated. Like Pearse, Irish republicans would be glad to use only moral force if England used ONLY moral force, but England continues to press her conquest with British 'law' and wartime exploitation of the shipbuilding and linen industries, the same industries that are left to rot in peacetime. But her chief weapon in maintaining the conquest is, as ever, armed force. That is why constitutional agitation has failed to bring freedom any nearer in the 30-odd years since the 'Trick Treaty' was forced on us by the enemy under threat of "immediate and terrible war".
Who honours Pearse as Pearse would have wished to be honoured - the politicians who make a virtue of apathy by calling it 'patience'? Or the man who strikes to free his children from shameful bonds?
(END of 'Who Honours Pearse?'. Next - 'A Sacred Trust', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (8TH JANUARY) 149 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF A 40,000-STRONG PRO-BRITISH PARAMILITARY LEADER.
"..James Craig (pictured) was born in Belfast in 1871, son of a distiller. He was a millionaire by the age of 40 – much of his money coming from his adventures in stockbroking...he first distinguished himself in the (British) Army. Everybody had enjoyed the first Boer War so much that they decided to do it all over again and from 1899 Craig served as an officer in the 3rd Royal Irish Rifles. He was, at one point, imprisoned by the Boers and was finally forced home by dysentery in 1901..." (from here.)
Before the British partitioned Ireland in 1921, pogroms by loyalists in Belfast were carried out by the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary outfit, with the British Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) looking on, but not intervening. The loyalist political leader, James Craig , who was concerned at the level of resistance to pro-British misrule, realised that the British hold on the island was slipping but was determined to protect his own patch, in the North-Eastern corner - he insisted that Westminster establish a 'Special Constabulary' to assist the British Army and the RIC and, at a meeting of the British Cabinet on 6th September, 1920, he got his wish ; a force of "well-disposed and loyal citizens" was to be established for operational purposes in the North-Eastern Counties only - the Six County area. This new unit was to be known as the 'Ulster Special Constabulary' and was to be divided into three sub-units ; the A, B and C Specials.
DÁITHÍ Ó CONAILL COMMEMORATION, 12.45PM, WEDNESDAY 1ST JANUARY 2020, GLASNEVIN, DUBLIN.
"Dáithí came from a strong Cork Republican family. His uncle Michael O’Sullivan (17), along with five of his comrades, was bayoneted to death by British Crown forces in March 1921. He joined Sinn Féin at the age of 17 during the local elections in 1955. By the end of the following year he was on active service as a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army , serving as an organiser under GHQ staff in Co Fermanagh.
On January 1, 1957 he was second-in-command of the Pearse Column during the attack on Brookeborough RUC barracks which resulted in the deaths of two of his comrades, Fearghal Ó hAnluáin and Seán Sabhat. Four others were wounded including the column commander. At 18 years of age Dáithí took command and led a successful withdrawal back across the border – evading 400 RUC, B-Specials, two helicopters and the British army – where they were forced to retire. He was then imprisoned in Mountjoy and the Curragh Concentration camp from where he escaped with his friend and comrade Ruairí Ó Brádaigh in September 1958. He returned to active service and for a period was Director of Operations. He was critically wounded in an ambush by the RUC and B-Specials in Arboe, Co Tyrone on the shores of Lough Neagh in November 1959. He made his escape but was forced to seek help because of loss of blood and his weakened condition. He was captured by Crown Forces and was sentenced to eight years which he served in Belfast’s Crumlin Road Jail. Following his release in 1963 he reported back to active service.
In 1969/70 he again made his talents available to the Republican Movement. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said of him he possessed the 'ablest mind in the Republican Movement for over 20 years'. The sheer breadth of his ability and intellect was evidenced by his service to the All-Ireland Republic both militarily and politically. He had a central role in framing ÉIRE NUA and remained a tireless advocate of it right up to his death in 1991. Dáithí Ó Conaill never equivocated on what was the cause of the war in Ireland or what was required to deliver a just and lasting peace for all of the Irish people. Speaking in Belfast at Easter 1973 he said: 'Today, the central issue in the war is one of conflict between Ireland’s right to freedom and England’s determination to keep us in subjection. All other issues are subordinate to this basic point. There can be no compromise on the fundamental issue as to who should rule Ireland: the British Parliament or the Irish people. We have had 800 years of British ineptitude in ruling Ireland; we have never known rule by the Irish, of the Irish, for the Irish. Until we do, we shall never enjoy peace and stability in our land.' " (From here.)
The commemoration will be held, as stated, on New Year's Day (Wednesday, 1st January, 2020) in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. Those attending are asked to assemble at the main gates at 12.45pm. Go raibh maith agat.
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
SWIMMING WITH THE 'COR(R)AL(LED)' : CABHAIR SWIM, 25TH DECEMBER 2019.
Some of those present, and some of the 'Goodies' on offer - Cabhair Swim, 25th December 2019.
2° Celsius in Dublin on Christmas Day 2019 ; a dry, 'brisk' morning with weak sunshine, and a thin sheet of ice covered the barely-flowing water which was making its way to the 3rd Lock of the Grand Canal in Inchicore, Dublin - a perfect day for an outdoor swim (says she, who wasn't getting in!), but other obstacles apart from the weather had conspired against the Cabhair Christmas Swim.
The first-to-arrive members of the 'Cabhair Christmas Crew' were spreading out the banners, flag, tables, goodies etc on the bank of the canal at about 9.30am when a Garda squad car drove onto the canal bank from the Naas Road entry, about 100 feet from where they were working, drove slowly past them, occupants staring at them, and parked about 100 feet up the bank, past them ; that car and its occupants stayed put until they deemed their 'job' done, then drove away. At roughly the same time as the squad car had placed itself on the canal bank, two Special Branch men placed themselves at that same Naas Road entry point, thus 'corralling' those 'Crew' members between 'a rock and a hard place'!
Undeterred, the two lads carried-on with the job in hand and were soon joined by two of the swimmers and a handful of supporters, but the State 'blockade' had been a 'success' : dozens of people, who had made their way to the swim site from either the Inchicore, Bluebell, Naas Road, Benbulbin Road/Drimnagh direction were either stopped or deterred from going further by one or other of the State obstacles, thus drastically reducing the crowd in
attendance.
The organisers were then notified that a vehicle, carrying two other swimmers and some supporters, had been stopped en route to the swim site and confiscated, leaving the passengers stranded. As it was nearing the 'kicking off' time, a decision was made to get the proceedings underway, albeit in a much reduced capacity. But the event was held, for the 43rd successive year, despite those State-inspired setbacks. Down, certainly, but definitely not 'out'!
Here's a few pics that were taken on the day - pretty poor looking, granted, compared to all 42 other years, but the circumstances which led to such a 'poor show' were outside of Cabhair's control -
The two banners and the Irish tricolour, on display at the Naas Road entry point to the Grand Canal. As usual, despite the interference!
A thin sheet of ice covered the water, just feet away from the actual swim area - but we've had worse!
Some of the Swim 'goodies', which those on site were delighted with ; especially the hot 'lemonades', which went down a treat. So I'm told...!
One of the swimmers, either making a break for dry land or in a hurry to get it over with...
One (almost!) ready, one watching (..to see how NOT to do it..!)
...but he still somehow managed to bellyflop it!
Looking for his colleague..
The two swimmers, earning their keep. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated that it wasn't a crowded space. But it was a space put to good use, all the same!
And that's it, readers, in regards to the Swim report. The ills of that day were, as stated, outside of the control of the organisers. 'Half-hearted' it may have been, in terms of 'size', but most certainly not in terms of spirit!
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (18TH DECEMBER) 141 YEARS AGO : "YOU'LL NEVER SEE THE LIKES OF THEM AGAIN.."
The graphic shows alleged members of the 'Molly Maguires' being led to their death.
'On 21st June 1877, in the anthracite-mining county of Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, ten Irish immigrant men alleged to have been members of an oath-bound secret sect of vigilantes called the 'Molly Maguires' were hanged in what came to be known as 'The Day of the Rope'. Twenty members of the group in all would be executed, following a kangaroo court that American historian John Elliot called "one of the most disgraceful episodes in the history of the bench and bar in the United States." Oppression, exploitation, racial and ethnic bigotry, strikes and union-busting are common enough themes in the American labour movement, but the story of the 'Molly Maguires' and the ruling class's attempts to destroy these Irish workers is so especially contemptible it has achieved legendary status..' (from here.)
On what became known as 'Black Thursday' (21st June, 1877), ten coal miners were hanged until dead in eastern Pennsylvania ; all ten had been born in Ireland but were forced to leave because of the attempted genocide known as 'An Gorta Mór'. It was claimed that they, and others, were involved in 'organised retributions' against corrupt and unfair employers and other members of the establishment, and operated as such under the name 'Molly Maguires' ('Molly Maguire' had become famous in Ireland [or 'infamous', as the 'landlord' class described her] for refusing to bow down or bend the knee to the monied 'gentry').
The workers had been arrested for their alleged part in several killings and, despite much doubt cast over the 'evidence' used against them, they were convicted and sentenced to death. The court case was widely seen as employers drawing 'a line in the sand' in regards to what they considered to be 'uppity' workers looking for better wages and conditions, and an excuse for the establishment to vent its anti-labour and anti-Irish prejudice - the first trials began in January 1876. They involved 10 men accused of murder and were held in 'Mauch Chunk' (an Indian name meaning 'Bear Mountain') and Pottsville.
A vast army of media descended on the small towns where they wrote dispatches that were uniformly pro-prosecution. The key witness for the prosecution was yet another Irishman, James McParlan : back in the early 1870's, when bosses had hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to spy on workers, McParlan had gone under cover to infiltrate the 'Mollies' and gather evidence. And gather he did — or at least he claimed he did during the trials. On the stand he painted a vivid picture of 'Molly Maguire' secrecy, conspiracy and murder. With Irish Catholics and miners excluded from the juries, the verdicts were a foregone conclusion.
All 10 were convicted and sentenced to hang. No doubt seeking to send the most powerful message to the region's mining communities, authorities arranged to stage the executions on the same day — June 21st, 1877 – in two locations. Alexander Campbell, Michael Doyle, Edward Kelly, and John Donahue were hanged in 'Mauch Chuck' (where the four men "all swung together"), while James Boyle, Hugh McGehan, James Carroll, James Roarity, Thomas Duffy, and Thomas Munley met a similar fate in Pottsville (where all six "swung two-by-two"). Although the hangings took place behind prison walls, they were nonetheless major spectacles that drew huge crowds and generated international news coverage. It was reported that there was "..screams and sobbing as husbands and fathers were bid goodbye.." and that "..James Boyle carried a blood-red rose and Hugh McGehan wore two roses in his lapel (as) James Carroll and James Roarity declared their innocence from the scaffold.."
Over the following two years, ten more alleged members of the 'Molly Maguires' were hanged, including Thomas P. Fisher (on the 28th March 1878) and James McDonnell and Charlie Sharp (on the 14th January 1879). In 1979 - 101 years after the cruel deed - the state of Pennsylvania pardoned one of the men, John 'Black Jack' Kehoe, after an investigation by its 'Board of Pardons' at the behest of one of his descendants. John Kehoe was led to the gallows on the 18th December, 1878 - 141 years ago on this date (incidentally, Seán Connery played the part of John Kehoe in the film 'The Molly Maguires') ; on the 5th December 2005, the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives passed a resolution recognising the lack of due process for several of the men :
'The basic facts of the case are clear. As the 'Death Warrant' indicates, Governor John F. Hartranft ordered the execution of John Kehoe. In l877, he had been tried by the 'Court of Oyer and Terminer', a 'court of criminal jurisdiction', and was found guilty of the murder of Frank W.S. Langdon, a mine foreman, fifteen years earlier. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Kehoe's attorney appealed the decision to the State Supreme Court, which supported the lower court. Governor Hartranft signed Kehoe's death warrant in February 1878. As a last resort Kehoe's attorney issued three pleas for clemency to the Pardon Board, which also denied his appeals. The Governor eventually signed a second death warrant on November 18, 1878. Kehoe was executed before a large crowd in Pottsville on December l8, l878..' (from here.)
Make way for the Molly Maguires,
They're drinkers, they're liars but they're men.
Make way for the Molly Maguires,
You'll never see the likes of them again.
Down the mines no sunlight shines,
Those pits they're black as hell,
In modest style they do their time,
It's Paddy's prison cell.
And they curse the day they've travelled far,
Then drown their tears with a jar.
Backs will break and muscles ache,
Down there there's no time to dream
of fields and farms, of woman's arms,
"Just dig that bloody seam".
Though they drain their bodies underground,
Who'll dare to push them around.
So make way for the Molly Maguires,
They're drinkers, they're liars but they're men ;
Make way for the Molly Maguires -
You'll never see the likes of them again.
The 'Molly Maguires' were an organised labour group that had allegedly been responsible for some incidences of vigilante justice in the coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania, defending their actions as attempts to protect exploited Irish-American workers. We badly need the 'likes of them' again.
'WHO HONOURS PEARSE..?'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Padraig Pearse persistently advocated force as "the only means I know by which Irish freedom can be obtained and, when obtained, maintained."
No wonder some nationalists suffer conscience-juggling to equate this contradiction. What more natural than that the majority of conscience-jugglers should accept the contradiction as palatably as possible - accept Pearse's greatness and patriotism, reject (but oh so discreetly) his uncompromising adherence to the doctrine of right versus might. Discreetly reject and hide it all in the word 'impractical'.
Now it occurs to me that not only are such conscience-jugglers unfair to the truth about Padraig Pearse - their logic is also very nearly bad faith. You do not believe me? Then let me recall favourite phrases of those more enthusiastic conscience-jugglers who wield pens... (MORE LATER.)
'MANUS IN A PICKLE(S)'...
'Manus Nunan is a small, genial, cultivated Irish gentleman whose mother was an actress. He speaks fluent French. He was born in Dublin in 1926 and was educated there, graduating from Trinity College with third-class honours in law ; he is no high-flyer, intellectually, as he admits, but circuit judges and recorders do not need to be. His Irish catholic family was one of the few to continue to serve the crown after the partition of Ireland in 1922. His family has a history of service to the crown..' - this is how the English judge, James Pickles, introduces a central character in his new book, 'Straight From The Bench'. From 'Magill' magazine, May 1987.
Manus Nunan was permitted to bring one other person of his choice to the meeting with 'Lord' Hailsham. Judge James Pickles declined the invitation because "it might not help his case if Hailsham and I went for each other's throats! Any animosity of Hailsham against me would spill on to Nunan." Alan Rusbridger, a 'Guardian' newspaper journalist, went along as a friend and not as a journalist ; he did, however, use his professional's shorthand to take detailed notes of the encounter and, reproduced in Pickle's book, they record a dramatic confrontation, as Hailsham told Nunan that some doubts had been raised about his performance on the bench.
Nunan tried to get elaboration, Hailsham refused and then insisted that Nunan explained his previous remarks about his (Hailsham's) anti-Irish sentiment. There had been earlier warning signs for Nunan, the 'Lord' Chancellor insisted but, the notes record, "he didn't blame him for missing the signs. He (Hailsham) had been in the Army." On such self-assured English upper-class tracks the conversation proceeds, going nowhere. "Nunan must get it into his mind...", Rusbridger noted Hailsham as saying, "..that with the great responsibility of the office, he (Hailsham) had to be sure that recorders and judges were up to stuff."
Nunan, evidently, was not 'up to stuff..' (MORE LATER.)
'BRITISH BARRACKS ATTACKED IN OMAGH'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, November 1954.
The fable about "the consent of the people" disappeared immediately and the real nature of the occupation, sheer weight of arms and threat of "immediate and terrible war" appeared once more in full sight. But the very numbers of the occupation forces engaged shows their own realisation of the shaky position here ; they know they are not wanted here, they know they only hold on here by force of arms, they know they are invaders, aggressors, robbers, in Ireland, and that their presence is bitterly resented. They know that it is only natural and to be expected that the young men* of Ireland will resist, will strike back as hard as they can at the invading forces.
As sure as night follows day, aggression will bring resistance and that resistance will continue until the aggressors have cleared out.
The Omagh Raid, although no weapons were seized, has driven home that point to the English invaders, to their collaborators in Ireland, and to the free nations of the world. It has sent a cry echoing round the world - 'Ireland Demands Unity And Freedom!' Omagh, even more than Armagh, has been a resounding success... (*..and women!) (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DAY NEXT WEEK (25TH DECEMBER 2019)...
...we won't be here ; we'll be swimmin' with the fishes!
Well...not really!
We'll actually be here, with a group of our colleagues, comrades and friends, observing as a good deed and brilliant fund-raiser takes place in the great outdoors, regardless of the weather. And, if the after-party doesn't go on for too long (..it might finish on the same day it starts..!) then we should be able to post a few pics of the event in this space before the end of Christmas Week. We hope our readers have a quiet Christmas and enjoy the break - and a BIG 'GRMA!' to you all for checking-in with us in 2019. Much appreciated!
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
43 YEARS UNDER WATER ON THE 25TH DECEMBER 2019...
A scene from the 2010 Cabhair Christmas Swim (pictured) - the year of the 'Big Freeze'. As a Cabhair rep said at the time - "If we can continue to hold this fundraiser in that weather, and get our swimmers and supporters out, we can do it in any weather.."
And they've done it again - on the 25th December next, the 43rd successive Swim will be held, at about 12 noon, at the 3rd lock of the Grand Canal, in Inchicore, Dublin ; it's a family day out, and all are welcome!
It began - properly structured and organised - in 1976, as a 'fundraiser with a difference', combined with the need to gain extra publicity for a situation which was then - as now - making world headlines. Those that sat down together in early September 1976 to tighten-up the then 'hit-and-miss' affair were a dedicated team who fully understood that to fail in their business would not only bring derision on them and the issue they sought to highlight, but would give their enemy a publicity coup which they would exploit to the fullest extent. With that in mind, the team persevered - favours were called-in, guarantees were secured, provisions obtained and word dispatched to like-minded individuals in the near-locale. At the appointed time on the agreed day - 12 Noon, Christmas Day 1976 - a soon-to-be 43-years-young event was 'born'. The CABHAIR Christmas Day Swim is, thankfully, still going strong and will be, as mentioned, 43-years-young on December 25th next!
More details can be found here.
'WHO HONOURS PEARSE?'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Which of us has not met the Irishman, inevitably a professed nationalist, whose spontanous comment on Patrick Pearse is something like this - "A great man, a fine patriot, but impractical, of course, like all idealists.." ?
At my first encounter with this kind of opinion, my blood pressure rose sharply ; Pearse, the founder of St Enda's, "impractical"! Pearse, the pioneer of modern bi-lingual education in Ireland, "impractical"! The man who gave vital inspiration in the re-creation of the Irish national spirit and was its chief modern voice - "impractical"!
The clue to this all-too-common opinion is not difficult to discover - the Leinster House politicians and their newspaper voices have been largely responsible for this schizophrenic attitude to Pearse. Foremost in praising Pearse as a true patriot and great Irishman they have tried to discredit the means he would have had in mind to use to achieve freedom : armed force... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (4TH DECEMBER) 132 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF A 'TROUBLESOME WOMAN'.
'4th December 1887 - Winifred Carney, trade unionist and revolutionary, is born in Bangor, Co. Down.
Winifred Carney was a suffragist and an advocate for trade unions. She was an activist in the Irish Textile Workers Union and became James Connolly's personal secretary while he was based in Belfast in 1912. She was active in organising solidarity work for workers during the Dublin Lockout and she joined Cumann na mBan.
She became involved in the Easter Rising when Connolly asked her to come to Dublin to work for him. She was the only woman who participated in the initial occupation of the GPO where the Irish Citizen Army set up its headquarters. She was armed with a typewriter and a revolver. Winifred was well known for her reputation of being a crack shot. She was among the final group to leave the GPO (along with Elizabeth O’Farrell and Julia Grennan) as she would not leave the wounded Connolly. She was arrested and taken to Kilmainham Gaol and later Aylesbury prison and was released in December 1916. Winifred died in 1943 and is buried in Belfast...' (From here.)
"The conditions of your toil are unnecessarily hard, that your low wages do not enable you to procure sufficiently nourishing food for yourselves or your children, and that as a result of your hard work, combined with low wages, you are the easy victims of disease, and that your children never get a decent chance in life, but are handicapped in the race of life before they are born.." - part of the speech which Winifred Carney and James Connolly prepared for his speech to millworkers in Belfast in late 1911. Connolly was the Belfast Organiser for the ITGWU at the time, and Carney was just a few weeks away from becoming the full-time Secretary of the then newly-formed 'Irish Textile Workers' Union'.
On the 4th of December 1887 - 132 years ago today - Alfred and Sarah Carney welcomed the birth of their sixth child, Winifred, into their existing family - three boys (Ernest, Louie and Alfred) and two girls ( Maud and Mabel). The family were then living in Bangor, County Down but, not long after Winifred was born, the marriage broke down and Sarah moved with the children to Carlisle Circus in Belfast, where she started a small shop.
Winifred found work as a teacher and developed a love for the Irish language, joining the Gaelic League to further her interest and, at 27 years of age, she joined (membership number 56077) the then newly-formed 'Cumann na mBan' organisation and, indeed, was present in Wynn's Hotel in Dublin in April 1914 when that organisation was founded. Her duties included teaching first aid to the other members as well as training in the use of weapons, as she was known to be proficient in that particular field (a skill no doubt learned due to her activity with the 'Irish Citizens Army', which she joined on its formation in 1913). This was two years before the (1916) Easter Rising and, due to her connection with James Connolly and her membership of various republican/nationalist organisations, Winifred Carney knew that an action against British interference in Ireland was being discussed and she was determined to play her part in any such blow against the 'empire' and said as much to Connolly, who by then had stationed himself in Dublin to assist the workers there in what became known as 'the great lock out'.
Winifred Carney stayed in Belfast, collecting whatever money she could for the Dublin strikers and billeting as many families of the strikers as she could. Connolly kept her up to date on developments and, when the time came - April 1916 - he asked her to come to Dublin to help with the preparations for a rising against Westminster, which she did. At first she was 'jobbed' in Liberty Hall, writing dispatches and mobilisation orders etc but, on the day the rising began - 24th April 1916 - as an Adjutant in the Irish Citizen Army, she carried both 'tools of her trade' into the GPO : a typewriter and a revolver.
During the early stages of the week-long battle she was the only female in the building and, towards the end of that particular battle (..but not the end of the fight itself!) she refused orders at the time to leave the premises, as did her two colleagues, Julia Grenan and Elizabeth O'Farrell. Altogether, there was a total of thirty-four women in the GPO at the time, members of the 'Irish Citizens Army' and 'Cumann na mBan', thirty-one of whom followed orders and vacated the building, with the wounded. The female Volunteers were also tasked with carrying military instructions around the city during which trips they gathered intelligence on the strength and locations of the enemy and carried as much food and ammunition as they could safely deliver to their comrades.
The Rising ended when Winifred Carney, Nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell and Julia Greenan, who were by now based in the Moore Street Headquarters as there was no safety or shelter to be had in the remains of the GPO, were instructed to deliver a surrender notice to British General Lowe, stating the following - 'In order to prevent further slaughter of the civil population and in the hope of saving the lives of our followers, the members of the Provisional Government present at headquarters have decided on an unconditional surrender, and commandants or officers commanding districts will order their commands to lay down arms.
P.H. Pearse, Dublin, 30th April 1916.'
Winifred Carney , Brigid Foley, Maire Perolz, Nell Ryan and Helena Moloney were the five female Volunteers that were deported to prisons and internment camps in England and Wales, following the surrender, as were 1,836 male Volunteers, and approximately 80 other female Volunteers were taken, firstly, to Richmond Barracks and then to Kilmainham Jail and, although most were released within a week, Winifred Carney, Helena Moloney and Nell Ryan were held captive in Aylesbury Prison in Buckinghamshire in England until the 24th December (1916). They had been offered early release if they signed an undertaking "...not to engage in any act of a seditious character.." but they had refused to do so.
She maintained her republican principles in the years that followed, despite being targeted repeatedly by agents of the State and, despite many personal setbacks (most of which were related to her strong political beliefs) she never compromised her republicanism. When ill health forced her off the picket lines she continued to verbally challenge the State at every opportunity until even that became too much for her : she died at fifty-five years of age on the 21st November 1943, just as opposed to Free Staters and partition as she had always been, and is buried in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast. The Republican Movement lost a woman like her recently, but there are still more like her in the ranks. Thankfully.
'MANUS IN A PICKLE(S)'...
'Manus Nunan is a small, genial, cultivated Irish gentleman whose mother was an actress. He speaks fluent French. He was born in Dublin in 1926 and was educated there, graduating from Trinity College with third-class honours in law ; he is no high-flyer, intellectually, as he admits, but circuit judges and recorders do not need to be. His Irish catholic family was one of the few to continue to serve the crown after the partition of Ireland in 1922. His family has a history of service to the crown..' - this is how the English judge, James Pickles, introduces a central character in his new book, 'Straight From The Bench'. From 'Magill' magazine, May 1987.
For nine years, Manus Nunan had been averaging an annual fifty days on the bench, mostly in the north-east of England. He had never had a conviction or dismissal successfully appealed against him. He assumed his meeting with an official in the British Lord Chancellor's office in September 1984 to be a routine affair prior to the renewal of his recordership.
On October 11th, the official wrote to Manus Nunan - "I will be writing to you again in due course about the renewal of your recordership." On December 7th, the official wrote again - "The Lord Chancellor has decided not to renew your recordership when your current term runs out on 31st December 1984."
There was no explanation, and all of Nunan's - and later, Judge James Pickles' - efforts were not to produce an explanation. Manus Nunan was to state that he believed he was the victim of anti-Irish prejudice. He linked his failure to be re-appointed - generally an automatic affair - to one particular event : on the day after his meeting with the British Lord Chancellor's official, the IRA had set off a bomb in Brighton aimed at British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The 'Guardian' newspaper took up the case in 1986 when Judge Pickles drew their notice to it and, as a result, the Bar Council and the Liberal Party also made representations. And, following various ventures through the "Kafka-like" - as Judge Pickles calls it - world of judicial officialdom, a first-ever direct meeting was arranged between Manus Nunan and Lord Hailsham... (MORE LATER.)
'BRITISH BARRACKS ATTACKED IN OMAGH'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, November 1954.
Sunday morning, 17th October, at 3.30am, saw a daring raid carried out by an IRA detachment on the British Army barracks at Omagh, County Tyrone. The raiders succeeded in entering the barrack grounds, had taken prisoner the boilerman and approached one of the sentries on the main gate. This man surrendered immediately but, terrified with fright, became hysterical and started to scream.
The alarm was given before he could be silenced, and the soldiers in the guard-room turned out armed with rifles and machine guns. A pitched battle ensued, lasting 15 to 20 minutes, in which five British soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously. Two of the IRA Volunteers were also wounded in the fight. Then began the greatest panic that the British occupation forces in Ireland have undergone for years - army, navy, air force, RUC and B Specials, all armed to the teeth, swarmed into County Tyrone. Estimates range from 7,000 as high as 30,000 men, with every type of equipment from helicopters to police dogs.
Every road and lane was patrolled by armed men, road blocks set-up at each crossing, cars stopped, searched and travellers questioned. Naked and unashamed, the British invaders showed their traditional attitude in Ireland, or any other country unfortunate enough to come under their heel. Everyone not in uniform was treated as an enemy to be threatened, brow-beaten, cowed, by the armed bullies of the Empire... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DAY NEXT WEEK (WEDNESDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2019).....
...we won't be posting our usual contribution, and probably won't be in a position to post anything at all until the following Wednesday (18th) ; this coming weekend (Saturday/Sunday 7th/8th December) is spoke for already with a 650-ticket raffle to be run for the Cabhair group in a venue on the Dublin/Kildare border (work on which begins on the Tuesday before the actual raffle) and the 'autopsy' into same which will take place on Monday evening, 9th, in Dublin, meaning that we will not have the time to post here. But we'll be back, as stated above, on Wednesday 18th December 2019, providing we recover in time - the gig on the 8th is the last such fund-raiser for 2019 (apart from the Christmas Swim) and there's always a bit of a do afterwards...!
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
