BACK FROM STAYCATION (AND SAVING FOR A REAL HOLIDAY!).
We survived it!
By hook and by crook, by pure good fortune, quick thinking, the gift of the gab, and by being quick on our feet, we survived it.
But we really shouldn't be trusted to be let out on our own, with no responsibilities (except to each other), not having to clock-watch, no (adult-ish!) children or grandchildren to keep an eye on - or them, on us! - come and go as we please, not confined to set times for breakfast or supper or meals in between, and not answerable to any authority only our own.
A surefire receipe for disaster. And it was delicious...!
We had the use of two mobile homes, one in Waterford, the other in Kilkenny, and we had two cars between the five of us so, all-in-all, everything more-or-less (!) worked out well for us ; the designated drivers were picked by the short straw method, a system which worked for us, and which also ensured that at least two of our number had their full wits about them on all of our trips to various big and small towns.
And there were many such trips to the different towns we visited, both in and around Waterford and Kilkenny, even though all venues we were in were on semi-lockdown, due to Covid. But, using our local knowledge and contacts, a knock on a side window can open many a door, so to speak!
We have always found staycations like this to be expensive, and this one was no exception : in our shared opinion, most of the venues we visited had increased their prices, some substantially, to make-up for their loss of trading abilities over the last eighteen months or so. The price increases were noticeable and, before we declined the service on offer, we made sure that our objections to same were equally as noticeable!
The weather was mostly good to us - we were, after all, in 'the sunny south-east' - and, overall, it kept true to its moniker, allowing us on more than one occasion to spend most of a day on a beach (excuse the fuzzy pic, top of article - must have been the mad heat that affected the camera lens...!), watching the world go by, and plotting our night-time assault on that same world! But our planned assaults had to be tempered by the fact that we were in either Waterford or Kilkenny, not in New York, so we toned things down a bit. Sort of..!
Anyway ; we're all back now, unmolested by any Covid (or other!) restrictions or State laws and 'normal' business will be resuming soon, both here - on the blog - and in what some consider to be 'real life' ie bills, work, timelines, babysitting/child-minding, dinners, teas, food shopping and etc etc and we need another break already..!
See ye all on Wednesday, 25th August 2021 when, among other pieces, we'll be writing about an IRA ultimatum to Westminster and an Irish republican operation in England that went horribly wrong...
1917 - 1981 : TWENTY-TWO IRISH REPUBLICANS DIED ON HUNGER-STRIKE.
Terence McSwiney, Cork, 74 days, 25th October 1920.
Michael Fitzgerald, Cork, 67 days, 17th October 1920.
Joseph Murphy, Cork, 76 days, 25th October 1920.
Joe Witty, Wexford, 2nd September 1923.
Dennis Barry, Cork, 34 days, 20th November 1923.
Andy O Sullivan, Cork, 40 days, 22nd November 1923.
Tony Darcy, Galway, 52 days, 16th April 1940.
Jack ‘Sean’ McNeela, Mayo, 55 days, 19th April 1940.
Sean McCaughey, Tyrone, 22 days, 11th May 1946 (hunger and thirst Strike).
Michael Gaughan, Mayo, 64 days, 3rd June 1974.
Frank Stagg, Mayo, 62 days, 12th February 1976.
Bobby Sands, Belfast, 66 days, 5th May 1981.
Frank Hughes, Bellaghy (Derry), 59 days, 12th May 1981.
Raymond McCreesh, South Armagh, 61 days, 21st May 1981.
Patsy O Hara, Derry, 61 days, 21st May 1981.
Joe McDonnell, Belfast, 61 days, 8th July 1981.
Martin Hurson, Tyrone, 46 days, 13th July 1981.
Kevin Lynch, Dungiven (Derry), 71 days, 1st August 1981.
Kieran Doherty, Belfast, 73 days, 2nd August 1981.
Tom McIlwee, Bellaghy (Derry), 62 days, 8th August 1981.
Micky Devine, Derry, 60 days, 20th August 1981.
ON THIS DATE (4TH AUGUST) 143 YEARS AGO : MARGARET MARY PEARSE BORN.
On the 4th of August, 1878, James and Margaret Pearse (nee Brady), then living in number 27 Great Brunswick Street in Dublin, celebrated the birth of a daughter, Margaret Mary, pictured (a sister for their future son, Padraig).
As a child, Margaret went to school at the Holy Faith Convent in Glasnevin, Dublin, and liked the experience so much that she wanted to train as a teacher, which she did, even though she didn't think too much of the education system that existed in the State at the time. And neither did her brothers, Padraig and William - so all three set about establishing their own school, in Cullenswood House, Rathmines, Dublin, in 1908.
In 1916, Padraig and William were executed by the British for their part in the Easter Rising that year, which left Margaret Mary in charge of the school, a position she maintained (with great assistance from Fergus De Búrca) until the early 1930's.
In the 1930s, the then relatively new 'Fianna Fáil' party was on the look-out for 'names' to help boost its political profile, and Margaret Mary was approached by two people she knew, a Doctor James McCann and her work colleague, Fergus De Búrca, and it was suggested to her that she join the new Party and contest a seat in a Leinster House election for it, in the then 'Dublin County' constituency.
She agreed, although one must wonder how and why she did so, as she must have known that Fianna Fáil's political policy, then and now, was counter to that which her brothers, and thousands of other political fighters, fought and died for.
In 1933, at 55 years of age, Margaret Mary, who was introduced as 'a spinster from St Enda's College', won a seat in Leinster House for Fianna Fáil but lost that position (on the seventh count) four years later but, as continues to happen now, that failed candidate was 'tucked away' in the Free State 'Senate' on the so-called 'Administrative Panel' for futher use by her Free State party.
Margaret Mary (pictured) stayed in that well-remunerated talking-shop until she died, at 90 years of age, in 1968, in Linden Convalescent Home in Dublin, on the 7th of November that year.
Sad to say that herself and, indeed, her mother, Margaret, 'lent themselves' to Fianna Fáil (and the State) as 'figureheads' ie the Fianna Fáil party and the State used their name as leverage when it was seeking votes and political legitimacy.
'THE BREAK OF ARMAGH : A SUGGESTION BY A WORLD-FAMOUS POET...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, July, 1954.
The present fortuitous opportunity for Ireland's holding the attention of a world awaked to her plight should not be thrown away.
The 'Break of Armagh' that so dramatically appraised the world of the rape of a nation needs following by further action to continue holding the world's attention - and I would humbly suggest a possible first step ; without loss of time, a detail of the most patriotic ones, regardless of party, in each of Ireland's Mayoral cities - and of course not omitting Belfast and Derry etc - should wait upon and request the man (sic) they have elevated to the Chair of 'Chief Magistrate', to form with his fellows a committee of Ireland's Mayors who, on an appointed day, at an appointed place, in the presence of a throng of people, come from Ireland's five ends, to decorate with medals, specially struck for the occasion, the breasts of fifteen boys (sic) who are worthy to shine hencefort in Irish song and story.
No harm, moreover, if the brave ones be rolled up to the grandstand in a lorry that has well-earned its share of immortality!
The arresting news that Ireland's Mayors lead such a remarkable demonstration will be flashed to the world's corners, and will, once again, arouse and impress that world... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (4TH AUGUST) 102 YEARS AGO : TWO BRITISH 'POLICE OFFICERS' KILLED BY THE IRA.
'Derrymore is a townland approximately four miles from Ennistymon and the same distance from Inagh. As a result of agrarian trouble some years before the war, a man named Kildare had been murdered, and consequently the R.I.C. (pictured) built a hut in the area. A sergeant, a constable and a number of other police went into occupation to try to identify the murderer. Their attempts, however, were unsuccessful and because of this they lost the confidence of the local people.
Sergeant O’Riordan and Constable Murphy did their rounds of duty on bicycles and their movements were carefully watched by the local I.R.A. members in the Lavareen Company area. It had been noted that the men got off their bicycles at the bottom of the hill near 'Curtin’s Gate' and it was here the ambush party, which consisted of Martin Devitt, John Joe Neylon, Jackie and Micko McGuane and Mickey and Tom Kelleher, lay in wait.
After getting off their bicycles, as the party had hoped, the sergeant took the lead and his comrade followed at a distance of about one hundred yards. When the sergeant reached Curtin’s Gate he was rushed on and overpowered. This had been the signal to attack the constable, whose rifle was slung over his shoulder in the usual way. Because of his surprise the constable fell across the bicycle and his shoulder strap became entangled in the handlebars and had to be cut by the I.R.A. in order to get the rifle.
The ambushing party then dispersed delighted with their success as this had been their first attempt to disarm R.I.C. in the area. The two policemen departed, shocked and swearing vengeance but glad to have escaped with their lives. A house search was carried out and locals, including some of the men who took part, were questioned, but no information was given.
Following the success of this ambush another one was planned for August 4th of the same year. However, this time the policemen put up a fight and both were shot dead. This ambush occurred at a place called “81 Cross” which is about three and a half miles from Ennistymon and only three quarters of a mile from the hut in Derrymore. The policemen were returning from Ennistymon to the hut at about eleven fifteen p.m. when they were fired on from behind a ditch.
They were not wounded by the first volley of shots and the Sergeant drew his revolver and fired on a man he saw in the ditch. The shooting continued and Constable Michael Murphy was shot dead. Sergeant John O’Riordan was wounded and died shortly afterwards...' (from here.)
One of the IRA Volunteers was wounded in that operation, but he lived to tell the tale. One of the RIC men, Michael 'James' Murphy (badge number 69587) was only 20 years young when he died, having been shot through the heart. The other British 'policeman', John O' Riordan, who was 44 years of age at the time, died from his wounds. But their colleagues in the British Army wanted revenge ; this is from the same source as above -
'...ten days later...a fifteen year old Sinn Féin Boy Scout was shot dead while reading a book by the fireside at his home in Glann, on August 14th, 1919.
At an inquest his father told of how the family had retired to bed on the night of the 14th at about 10.20 p.m. while Francis (pictured) remained in the kitchen reading a book. At about 12.30 a.m. he was awakened by the sound of shots and falling of mortar in his own room. Another shot was fired and then he saw a flash going through the partition.
As he went into the kitchen, he found his son lying in a pool of blood but he could see nobody about. After receiving evidence of some locals including Pete Connole, a night watchman for the West Clare Railway, the jury concluded that the murder was carried out by the (British) military as revenge for the shooting of the two policemen and passed the following verdict: 'Francis Murphy, of Glann, Ennistymon was unlawfully and wilfully murdered..by a bullet unlawfully and wilfully fired by members of the (British) military..which caused immediate death'.'
15-years-young Francis Murphy had played no part in the IRA ambush of the two paramilitary 'policemen' but the young lad was associated with the Republican Movement, so the IRA leadership sent one of its operatives, Michael Knightly, from Dublin to County Clare, to investigate what had happened. He went, as ordered, and handed his report in to Arthur Griffith -
"On returning to Dublin I went to Sinn Féin headquarters and informed Mr. Arthur Griffith that in no doubt young Murphy had been shot by crown forces. Mr. Griffith attached considerable importance to the matter and appeared to think that it would be a serious blow to British rule in Ireland if it could be proved that their forces had resorted to such measures.
He engaged Mr. Patrick Lynch, Kings Counsel, to attend the inquest on behalf of the Murphy family. I attended the inquest as a reporter and gave what assistance I could to elucidate the facts. A verdict of murder against British crown forces was returned..."
The verdict obviously didn't bring young Francis back to his family, but hopefully it gave them some small comfort.
'WHAT IS TO BE DONE? THE STRUGGLE IN THE 26 COUNTIES...'
The following article was solicited by 'IRIS' from a political observer in the 26 Counties. The article - whose author, John Ward, is not a member of the Republican Movement - is aimed at provoking discussion within (P)Sinn Féin. From 'IRIS' magazine, October 1987.
('1169' comment - please note that 'IRIS' magazine had, at that time, recently morphed from a republican-minded publication into a Trot-type mouthpiece for a Leinster House-registered political party.)
Fianna Fáil seemed to be living in the real world. As well as the 'national question' it talked about the everyday problems that faced the people, like land annuities, land redistribution, unemployment, slum clearance and public health.
And Fianna Fáil seemed to be prepared to use any weapon to hand - including entering Leinster House - to deal with these problems*. The people wanted a road forward and de Valera seemed to show them one. It turned out to be the wrong road, except for the Fianna Fáil fat cats who made money and careers out of it. But (P) Sinn Féin appeared to be against roads at all, regarding them as some sort of foreign invention. They wanted to stay barefoot in the boreens**.
Some of the IRA leadership saw the futility of all this and tried to adopt their own radical social and economic policies in 'Saor Éire' and then to ally with other left and radical elements in the 'Republican Congress', but apart from the specific reasons for the collapse of the 'Republican Congress', it was just not possible for a clandestine military organisation to carry on political campaigns...
('1169' comment * ; And how has that worked-out for them, do you think? Also, such innocent wishful-thinking comments remind me of Homer and alcohol in 'The Simpsons' - "Ah, beer. The cause of and solution to all of life's problems..". Leinster House is the cause of those problems and issues, not the solution to them. That is not the objective of that particular institution, never has been, and never will be, regardless of what type of so-called 'new beer' you pour into it.)
('1169' comment ** ; the author of that sentiment either has no idea, genuinely, of the history of Irish republicanism and electoral intervention and/or non-intervention and the reasons for such action or else he's hoping that you don't know of same and will take him at his word. Please don't, for fear you end up becoming him!)
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (4TH AUGUST) 103 YEARS AGO : GAA REBEL AGAINST BRITISH DIKTAT.
'In July 1918 the British government declared the GAA a 'dangerous organisation' and Gaelic games were banned.
The British authorities informed the GAA that no hurling or football games would be allowed unless a permit was obtained from Dublin Castle.
On 20 July 1918, the GAA held a meeting in the Sackville Street rooms in response to the Dublin Castle edict. Those at the meeting unanimously agreed that no such permit should be applied for, under any conditions, and instead defiantly organised a series of matches throughout the country. After a short discussion, it was decided that no permits would be asked for under any conditions and provisional councils, county committees, leagues and clubs were to be notified accordingly, and also that no member was to participate in any competition if any permit had already been obtained.
It was further decided to arrange for Sunday, 4 August, at 3 pm, a series of matches throughout each county to be localised as much as possible. The GAA organised a game in every parish, and on 4 August 1918 around 1,500 hurling or football matches were held throughout the country on what became known as 'Gaelic Sunday'.
In Dublin, matches were played at Croke Park, Phoenix Park, Ringsend, Clondalkin, Sandymount, Baldoyle, Fox and Geese, Crumlin, Balneary, Clonsilla, Terenure, Church Road and Bray. In all, there were 22 football and two hurley matches throughout each county to be localised as much as possible..'
(from here.)
That was back when the GAA had balls to spare (excuse the language and the pun) and they actually knew where they stood as an organisation, in relation to the British military and political presence in this country.
Even before the 'Top Table' in the GAA agreed to campaign for dropping Rule 21 and roll out the welcome mat for armed British and pro-British terrorists in this country, a sea-change had taken place around that 'Top Table', prompted by 'political considerations'.
If such an edict was issued today by the British in relation to GAA clubs in the Occupied Six Counties, the Ulster GAA leadership's first reaction would more than likely be to seek financial compensation for 'loss of earnings', and the GAA 'Top Table' would be ok with that, provided it got a share of the spoils.
A ball-less own goal, if you like.
'AN EMPTY FORMULA.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
In this country, political acrobatics has become a fine art, and there is certainly no question of 'conscience making cowards of us all'. It would seem, rather, that cowards make consciences for us all.
A few weeks ago, Mr de Valera, at a debate in UCD, was asked by a few students there about the 32-county republic, and he said he had done his share, an answer which prompted these young men (sic) to ask for an explanation of the execution of Irishmen for which he was responsible in the 1940's.
In the course of his reply, Mr. de Valera stated - "Pearse and Connolly would have done it, too." This outrageous statement passed, apparently, as gospel. There was no rush of 'Letters to The Editor' in the 'Times' or 'Mail' newspapers in defence of the men (sic) of Easter Week 1916. Would the men who signed the Proclamation knowing that it was their own death warrant, realising that they would pay for this deliberate repudiation of British 'law' in Ireland with their lives, have signed an 'Oath of Allegiance' to the same British 'law' and make the paltry and un-Christian excuse that it was "an empty formula"?
And, having by way of the "empty formula" got into a position of political power, would the Easter Week fighters have kept 'law and order' among the republican Irishmen and women by jailing and executions, because England was too taken-up with the rights of other small nations to keep them in proper subjection...? (MORE LATER.)
JUST A REMINDER...
(Sorry about the fuzzy pic, but if we posted a clear image it would probably be distributed by the State Admin as a 'WANTED!' poster..!)
...that this will be our last post until around the end of this month. The '1169' Crew are taking a break, which means that meself and the Girl Gang are going off on the rampage!
Not to New York, unfortunately, but a two-week staycation, in this country - with no menfolk [none that we're bringing with us, anyway!] and no little folk - is better than nothing.
I'll more than likely post a few comments during the holliers on Facebook and/or Twitter, depending on the internet/wi-fi availability and on my sobriety (!)...but, now that I've mentioned it, sure with a few drinks on me I'm liable to post stuff I normally wouldn't post, maybe even including a few decent pics of the Girl Gang in action!
Or maybe not. But who knows...?!
Anyway - the '1169' blog will be open for business again at the end(ish) of this month, lookin' down on ye all from our new perch located one-million-plus hits above the blogosphere. And thanks for that, readers - we do appreciate it ; heartening to know that our lil' aul corner of this vast platform can get such attention.
GRMA!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading,
Sharon.
OVER ONE MILLION HITS. AND COUNTING...!
It has taken us a good few years to get here although, really, we never started this blog with a 'hits/views' objective in mind. But, having said that, it's a nice place to have arrived at!
Our 'Junior' dips in to our stat counter now and then, out of curiosity, more than as some sort of ego trip or whatever, and we know that we have regular readers from, among other places, this country - Ireland - from England, Scotland, Wales and the USA. We have had well-known film actors, authors, television 'celebrities' and politicians not only read our blog but avail of some of our output in their own work.
We have been watched by the White House and monitored by Moscow, and 'hit on' by all places in between and, over the years, we have been approached three times, by different professional entities, offering to 'monetise' this blog ie take it off a blog platform and turn it into "a real website behind a paywall". Out of courtesy (not curiosity!) we met reps from each entity and politely declined their offers.
We are not in this for financial gain. Our intention, way back when we started this blog (on the old 'Pyra Labs' platform!) was, and still is, to write about an issue which the three of us are committed to - the unjust and unwanted British military and political presence in this country.
We are Irish republicans, and proud to be so. We are the 'Irish dissidents' and the 'Irish terrorists' that the State political 'establishment' here, in Dublin, warn you against as do, no doubt, the political administrations in whatever country you are reading this in.
But we are not 'bad' people. We are, as stated, 'committed' people. We always knew we had an 'audience' out there, and we hope you'll stay with us as we strive to increase our readership.
Finally, thanks to all our sources and our fact-checkers for their assistance over the years. Sure we couldn't have done it without yis!
And thanks, again, to our many readers for checking-in on us as often as you do. Appreciated.
Sharon,
on behalf of the '1169 And Counting' team. GRMA agus slán go fóill anois. We'll be back here on Wednesday, 4th August 2021. We should be just about finished celebrating by then..!
'THE BREAK OF ARMAGH : A SUGGESTION BY A WORLD-FAMOUS POET'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, July, 1954.
Dear Sir,
The major portion of the multitude who were elated by the brilliant coup of fifteen Irish boys in Armagh - the most courageous and dramatic feat of this generation - do not realise its richest result ; namely, that it has awaked the world to the fact, long cloaked from them, that Britain - loudly bawling for Russia to free her oppressed satellites - has all along been maintaining by her side her own satellite in disrupted North-Eastern Ireland.
Since the brilliant 'Break of Armagh' there isn't now on the world's round a single civilised or semi-civilised country possessed of even one news-sheet but has been startlingly informed of Britain's own private satellite, complete with its governing stooges , its prowling, terrorising Gestapo, and paralysing army of occupation.
Between the world's ends there isn't a territory but has got a startling glimpse behind Britain's own Iron Curtain - got a glimpse of, and through, the 'Curtain' which a handful of gallant boys pierced.
They pierced and entered the den of Britain's alleged 'Lion', and they plucked his supposed 'Majesty's' beard, they pulled his nose, slapped his face and casually walked away with his most prized possession, revealing to the astonished world that which some had long suspected ; that the far-and-long 'British Lion' was, after all, only just a jackass who had camouflaged himself in a thieved lion's skin, to frighten the world's children with his endless horrendous braying.
But now, alas, no more! The fellow's fiercest braying now provoke more laughter-shouts than shivers...
(MORE LATER.)
'WHAT IS TO BE DONE? THE STRUGGLE IN THE 26 COUNTIES...'
The following article was solicited by 'IRIS' from a political observer in the 26 Counties. The article - whose author, John Ward, is not a member of the Republican Movement - is aimed at provoking discussion within (P)Sinn Féin. From 'IRIS' magazine, October 1987.
('1169' comment - please note that 'IRIS' magazine had, at that time, recently morphed from a republican-minded publication into a Trot-type mouthpiece for a Leinster House-registered political party.)
Getting more votes is not the be all and end all of the exercise, but is a rough guide to how people view (P) Sinn Féin.
History, 17 years and maybe even 60 years of it, sits like a monkey on Sinn Féin's back. A lot of republican history is full of emotional rhetoric*, not cold logic. To go back 61 years, those who went with Fianna Fáil in 1926 are always described as traitors and renegades, and those who stayed with Sinn Féin as pure-souled patriots. Maybe that was true, but the people, the republican-minded people, backed Fianna Fáil**, not Sinn Féin. Of course, maybe the people should have been dissolved!
To the working-class and small farmers of the late 1920's and 1930's, Sinn Féin, with its talk of the Second Dáil as the only legitimate authority in Ireland, was living in cloud cuckoo land***. At least Fianna Fáil seemed to be living in the real world because, as well as the national question, they talked about the everyday problems that faced the people...
(* '1169' comment - not so. If anything, '..a lot of republican history is full of emotional happenings, not "emotional rhetoric". Those who describe our history as "emotional rhetoric" do so for one reason - they are new to Irish republicanism [visiting from an Irish 'nationalist' background] and are attempting to change republicanism into a Trot-like type of what they perceive Irish republicanism to be. And that's the "cold logic" of that particular situation.)
(** '1169' comment - again, not so, but an understandable mistake, coming from such a 'nationalist' source : the author of that claim doesn't understand the difference between 'republicanism' and 'nationalism', and is so politically ignorant, in that regard, that they believe that an Irish republican would actually vote for Fianna Fáil in the first place! A 'nationalist' would, an Irish republican wouldn't, but try explaining that to a Trot...!)
(***'1169' comment - it was actually, for the most part, the republican-minded within the working-class and the small-farming population that sustained such republican institutions in Ireland, and were derided for doing so by 'trendy lefties' who had [and have] no respect for Irish history or culture. Those 'trendy' types are capitalists with a small 'c' who's idea of socialism is to give you marginally more crumbs from the table than a bigger 'bossman' would!) (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (28TH JULY)...
...in 1769 -
NAPOLEON'S IRISH JAILER BORN ;
Born in Galway on the 28th of July in 1769, ('Sir') Hudson Lowe further enhanced his military name when, at 46 years of age, he was appointed as the 'custodian' (jailer) of Napoleon Bonaparte on the prison island of St Helena, a remote island - a 'British possession' - in the South Atlantic Ocean (nearest landmass would be Africa).
'Sir' Lowe was known as a 'stickler' in regards to military matters, as was Bonaparte, and both men were the same age ; they clashed regularly, and each refused to fully recognise the military standing and/or authority of the other, guaranteeing a testy (albeit enforced) relationship between the two men. There was no love lost between the pair of them!
The Jailer Lowe was the son of a British Army surgeon and, although he moved among British so-called 'aristocracy' and was impressed by that sort, they were always a bit wary of him, as he really wasn't 'one of their own'.
He was 'gazetted an ensign' (began his career in the British Army) in 1781, when he was only 12 years of age (!) and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant ten years later and then, four years after that, received his stripes as a Captain.
He was 'Knighted' in 1814, at 45 years of age, and promoted to the rank of Major-General that same year and, shortly afterwards, received his stripes as a 'Quartermaster General', and was then placed as a British Army 'Commander' in Genoa within months of his 'QMG' promotion.
He lived to be 75 years of age, and died, in Chelsea, England, from paralysis, in 1844, and is buried in the graveyard in St Mark's Church, near Hyde Park Corner, in London.
"Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them..." (Napoleon Bonaparte.)
...IN 1846 -
'Impatience among some Young Irelanders with O’Connell’s views had been evident for some time before the split occurred in 1846. Thomas Davis, The Nation’s editor, clashed with O’Connell in 1845, leaving the relationship between O’Connell and the Young Irelanders tenuous. The following year many Young Irelanders decided there were too many differences between the views of the Repeal Association and the Young Irelanders.
Consequently, on 28 July 1846 the Young Irelanders seceded from the Repeal Association (and) formed the Irish Confederation...' (from here.)
'In Conciliation Hall in Dublin, on July 28th, 1846, Meagher gave a speech to the assembled throngs of Daniel O'Connell's supporters, defending the position of the Young Irelanders. O'Connell had called on all his supporters to renounce violent revolution as a means of freeing Ireland; the twenty-two year old Meagher had been chosen to give Young Irelands answer. Imagine yourself for a moment, at the age of twenty-two, standing in front of a crowded hall, filled with the supporters of a man called the "Uncrowned King of Ireland," and in front of that great man himself, about to give a speech rejecting that man's position...' (from here.)
A section of Daniel O'Connell's 'Loyal National Repeal Association' walked-out of a meeting which was being held in the Conciliation Hall in Dublin on the 28th of July in 1846 - 175 years ago on this date - and broke with the O’Connell-led 'Repeal Association' for good.
The so-called 'Uncrowned King of Ireland' objected to 'fighting fire with fire' ; even when Irish 'violence' was to be employed in self-defence, Daniel O'Connell's 'Loyal National Repeal Association' was against it.
This led to tension within that organisation, and a 'split' developed - those that left included William Smith O'Brien (a Member of the British Parliament, Harrow-educated, with an accent to match!), Thomas Francis Meagher and John Mitchel.
A new group was established - 'The Young Irelanders'.
That new group's political position was outlined in their newspaper 'The United Irishman' : a call for immediate armed revolt against the British, and a 'War Council' was appointed, comprising William Smith O'Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher and John Blake Dillon -
'..the rising petered out ingloriously. After a week's peregrination within Tipperary, accompanied by fluctuating bands of ill-fed and ill-armed peasants, whom he forbade to commandeer supplies, O'Brien's failure to capture a party of police barricaded in widow McCormack's house (pictured) near Ballingarry marked the effective end of the revolt. Though sporadic resistance continued till late 1849, O'Brien and three leading colleagues were quickly arrested.
Their death sentences were commuted to transportation to Van Diemen's Land, where they were joined by Mitchel and two other Young Ireland editors. The four later escaped to America. O'Brien, a better martyr than an insurgent leader, and his two remaining colleagues, were released in 1854 and returned to Ireland in 1856. Refusing to return to parliament, O'Brien lived quietly till his death in 1864...' (from here.)
That particular Uprising is derided by most historians and, while the character and the moral standing of the leadership of same is admired by those same detractors, they tend, in the main, to dismiss the 'foot soldiers' involved as 'a wild rabble', or somesuch.
But any man or woman who voluntarily steps into that breach, knowing full well the penalty they will face if unsuccessful, is, in our opinion, to be admired. That attempt to remove the British political and military presence from this country can be said to have led directly to the foundation of Fenianism, which in turn led directly to the Land League revolution and indeed the 1916 Rising.
And that's one thing that the British or the Staters can't take from us - our history, and our links to previous generations that sought to remove the British political and military presence from this country.
'MÓR MÓ NÁIR...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
The girl said to me - "You know, I used to hate being asked to sing at gatherings because I never knew any songs except the ones I learned at school, and I felt an awful fool, in the middle of all the latest songs, getting up to sing 'Silent Oh Moyle' or 'An Chuilfhiann' ".
No wonder she felt a fool, for 'Bimbo' and the 'Chuilfhiann' somehow just don't mix!
But so it goes : long ago we rejected our language because 'gentlemen' spoke the English and no clod-hopper of an Irish-speaking savage would be employed by the government of the conqueror. Now, in deference to the imported slush of the music hall and nightclub, we turn our backs on our own songs and dances and wholesome Irish fun.
But, Girls of Ireland! We have it in our power to shed the slough of weakness and apathy. We can band ourselves together in Sinn Féin and help drive out not only the actual army of occupation of a foreign power, but the even more destructive force of its pagan and immoral influence. For Ireland cries - Mise Éire ; Sine mé ioná an Chailleach Béarra.
Mór Mo Ghlóir ; Mé do rug Cú Chulainn cródha.
Mór mó Náir ; Mo chlann féin do dhíol a máthair.
Mise Éire ; Uaignighe mé ioná an Chailliach Béarra!
(END of 'Mór Mó Náir'. NEXT - 'An Empty Formula', from the same source.)
PROPER 'STAYCATION' LOOMING...!
And it is a proper one, this time ; no (adult) children with us, no grandchildren, no squabblin', no taking turns to babysit etc etc!
Just the five of us - the NYC Girl Gang, properly constituted - and, even though we won't be in our usual destination, we will be footloose and fancy-free in this State, and maybe a trip or two across Britain's border in Ireland to visit our friends, colleagues and comrades in the O6C.
We are looking forward to it but, at the same time, we are disappointed not to be taking-up the many offers we have received over the past few months from our buddies in NYC, our second home. Try as we did, combinations of Covid restrictions and our own timelines plus family commitments etc ganged-up on the five of us to ensure that we were unable to get our acts together to try and sleep(ish!) in the city that never does - not this year, anyway - but we intend to enjoy our staycation here as best we can anyway.
We are heading off on our great two-week (mis-)adventure (!) on Saturday, 7th August next and, if we successfully avoid being banned, jailed and/or held hostage somewhere, we should arrive home to Dublin on Saturday, 21st August 2021. Well...some of us should, anyway!
We'll be posting as usual next Wednesday, the 4th of August, but probably won't be in a fit position to string two words together until Wednesday, 25th August. Or maybe sooner, depending on when bail is posted what state we're gonna be in after our escape in this State...!
Check us out, if ya can, between this and then - we're almost on our one-millionth hit and, vain and all as we are, we value your contribution to our efforts in achieving world domination. Or somethin' like that...!
(Oh and sorry for the fuzzy out-of-focus pic, but I had to do something to protect the innocent. Ah no, wait...that doesn't make sense...!)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading : see y'all next Wednesday, 4th August!
Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (21ST JULY) 45 YEARS AGO : WILLING EMPIRE PAWN ASSASSINATED IN DUBLIN.
Christopher Thomas Ewart-Biggs (pictured), a British career diplomat and a 'CMG', an 'OBE', and an M16 'Senior Foreign Office Liaison Officer', was appointed by Westminster to be the 'British Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland' (sic) in early July, 1976.
Two weeks later he was assassinated in Dublin by the then IRA. He was 55 years of age, and died immediately after a 200lb land mine, which had been placed in a culvert about 320 yards from his house in Sandyford, in Dublin, exploded.
Four days after the death (pictured) of Ewart-Biggs, the then 'Acting Ambassador', a John Hickman, wrote in a memo to the 'Northern Ireland Office' (that is , the British political 'Front Line' in Occupied Ireland) that he could not imagine "..a better time than the present for the Irish government (sic) to bring itself to make some specific gesture of good-will towards Britain...".
He then declared that - "..the biggest single benefit which we could expect to derive from the Irish people's sense of shame and responsibility.." (!) would be an official decision by Leinster House not to pursue the state case at Strasbourg concerning the inhuman and degrading treatment of suspects being interrogated by British forces in the North-East of Ireland!
Mr. Hickman also toyed around with the idea of using the death of Ewart-Biggs as an opportunity to secure from Leinster House cross-border 'rights' for armed British forces ; that is, to allow those armed thugs to freely cross the imposed border whenever they wanted. But then the good 'acting ambassador' changed his mind, stating - "The overall benefit (of 'cross-border rights') would certainly not be comparable in political terms to the removal of the prospect of Her Majesty's government being nagged and pilloried over the state case (ie the Strasbourg 'Inhuman and Degrading Treatment' case) for a long time to come.."
In other words - 'We (Westminster) can get better value out of the death of our friend and colleague Ewart-Biggs by using it as a you-owe-us to convince Dublin to turn a blindeye to the way we abuse suspects in the North'.
Mr Hickman stated that, on July 22nd 1976, he told Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael, pictured) that "..there would never be a time when the inhibiting effects of public opinion on the Irish government's (sic) freedom of action would be less than now." Mr. Hickman then reported back to political officials in the 'Northern Ireland Office', stating - "As time goes on, the psychological opportunity to speak in specific terms (ie 'to use the death of Biggs to get exactly what we want') to the Irish government (sic) will pass. It might not be possible to indicate to them (Leinster House) that the onus is on them to respond to the present situation (that is, the death of Biggs) by making a significant political gesture."
He was of the opinion that Leinster House would issue "..an agreed statement.." that "...(they) do not intend to take further action.." on any Strasbourg report into the ill-treatment of suspects and/or detainees by British forces in the North!
However, on hearing of Mr. Hickman's intentions, an un-named 'senior civil servant' at Westminster's 'Foreign And Colonial Office' voiced his unease over such a 'deal' : on July 28th, 1976, this 'conscientious objector' wrote in an internal memo : "To canvass the idea of a 'bargain', however tactfully and obliquely, on the lines adumbrated by Mr Hickman, would appear to be in bad taste, especially to the Irish who, if one may generalise, tend to treat death and funerals with more attention than we do."
But the 'Northern Ireland Office' disagreed with their "in bad taste" colleague and, on July 29th, 1976, a meeting was held by the 'NIO' to discuss how 'Her Majesty's Government' might best profit from the situation.
It was actually during that same meeting that word came through that Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) had contacted Roy Hattersley (pictured), the then British Minister of State at the British Foreign And Commonwealth' Office, to say that his administration might postpone the publication of the Strasbourg report, but 'NIO' officials were already having second thoughts about looking for such a postponement, fearing that the report would actually have a greater impact if it became known that they had tried to 'hush it up'.
In the summer of 1976, Mr. Hickman reported back to Westminster : "Even the assassination of a British ambassador in Ireland has not been enough to persuade Irish opinion that the time has come to forget the past (sic- it's still a live and on-going political issue in Ireland) and unite to destroy the common enemy.."
What he meant by 'the common enemy' was the IRA which, at the time, was indeed an 'enemy' of Westminster's plans for and intentions towards Ireland, instead of the anti-republican militia which that organisation is today. Mr. Hickman added -"The goodwill passed as quickly as it came..", meaning that Westminster had believed that the opportunity to 'spin' the death of Christopher Ewart-Biggs and make politicl capital from his death was always an opportunity for the asking at some stage.
In December 1976, the Leinster House administration (under Liam Cosgrave, Fine Gael, pictured) handed over a sum of £65,000 sterling to Westminster in 'compensation' in relation to the death of Ewart-Biggs, but the 'NIO' wanted more : British Officials insisted that the Dublin Administraton should also pay for the transportation costs incurred by its people in relation to travelling to Dublin in connection with the Biggs case!
Apparently, it never got that 'claim for expenses' from Leinster House - probably only due to misplaced paperwork or some such 'innocent' reason, as it's not like those servile political parasites in that institution to say 'No' to Westminster!
Footnote : Britain invaded and occupied more than 56 countries, and murdered an estimated six million native people in those countries who resisted their 'presence'. It is the opinion of this blog, and an opinion shared by true Irish republicans wherever they might be, that the only solution to that British presence is to remove it, by whatever means necessary. So-called 'Treaties' and/or 'Agreements' only prolong that vile presence, making the native lackies rich and 'respectable' in the process.
For Ireland to 'Move On', politically, Westminster will have to 'Move Out'.
'O'DONOVAN ROSSA...'
By Margaret Buckley.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, July, 1954.
Rossa, his wife, and their two daughters were welcomed at Queenstown (Cobh) by members of the 'Celtic Society' and 'Inginide na h-Éireann' (of which I, Margaret Goulding, was President) and escorted to a house in Blackrock which we had rented and furnished for their reception.
Mr. and Mrs. O'Donovan-Rossa lived there and he took up his job with the Council. They were constant visitors to our rooms in Great Georges Street (now Washington Street) taking part in our debates, lectures etc. We were all young, and were glad and proud to have the opportunity and privilege of learning from their more mature and personal experiences of Irish history. The two girls returned to America and eventually prevailed on their parents to re-join them.
Thus, until we marched behind his coffin to Glasnevin, we had only our loving memories of a great man.
(END of 'O' Donovan Rossa' ; NEXT - 'The Break Of Armagh : A Suggestion By A World-Famous Poet', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST JULY) 48 YEARS AGO : TWO FREEDOM-FIGHTERS KILLED IN PREMATURE EXPLOSION.
On the 21st July, 1973, two IRA members who were carrying-out an operation met untimely deaths when the device they were transporting exploded prematurely, killing both of them.
Alphonsus Cunningham and Pauline Kane (pictured) both 21 years of age, died together on the Causeway Road in Newcastle, in County Down.
Alphonsus was from the nearby town of Annalong, and Pauline was from Castlewellan, in that same county.
As we stated, above, the British will have to move out of Ireland, politically and militarily, before other people of the same high calibre as Alphonsus and Pauline can 'move on'.
ON THIS DATE (21ST JULY) 223 YEARS AGO : FARMER AND PRIEST DONE TO DEATH BY THE BRITISH.
Two Irish rebels (one Catholic, one Protestant, not that it matters) were hanged side-by-side at Blundell Hill, Edenderry, for their parts in the 1798 Rising : Anthony Perry has been described as 'a Protestant gentleman of independent fortune, liberal education, and benevolent mind..', and Fr. Mogue ('Moses') Kearns is said to have been a deep-thinking man who hailed from 'an ordained stock of Catholic farmers'.
They had placed themselves to the forefront of the Rising in Wexford in that year and Anthony Perry was known to have been captured previously by the British, and tortured by them ('pitch-capped', among other injuries), to the extent that he was fearless in battle and purposely goaded enemy soldiers to take him on.
Both men somehow survived the Rising but were captured by British forces at Clonbolloge, in County Offaly, on the 18th July 1798, and taken to Edenderry, in that same county.
They were hanged together on the 21st July, 1798 - 223 years ago on this date - and the British disposed of both bodies in the one grave, in Monasteroris Cemetery, just outside of Edenderry.
'Poor Wexford stripped naked, hung high on a cross,
With her heart pierced by traitors and slaves,
Glory-o, glory-o, to her brave sons who died,
For the cause of long down-trodden men...' (from here.)
'WHAT IS TO BE DONE? THE STRUGGLE IN THE 26 COUNTIES...'
The following article was solicited by 'IRIS' from a political observer in the 26 Counties. The article - whose author, John Ward, is not a member of the Republican Movement - is aimed at provoking discussion within (P)Sinn Féin. From 'IRIS' magazine, October 1987.
('1169' comment - please note that 'IRIS' magazine had, at that time, recently morphed from a republican-minded publication into a Trot-type mouthpiece for a Leinster House-registered political party.)
The working-class swing to Fianna Fáil in order to oust Garret Fitzgeral should be a passing phenomenon ; the populist shamsters of Fianna Fáil have now shown what side they are on with a vengeance and are out-Thatchering Thatcher and out-brutalising Bruton with their near genocidal onslaught on the working class.
Next time out a lot more working-class voters will know better than to put their trust in Charlie Haughey, and they will hardly turn for relief to Alan Dukes and his Blueshirts or Des O'Malley's privateering dole snatchers*. The conditions are there for at least a modest swing to the left at the next outing, but will that swing benefit (P)Sinn Féin? On the basis of the last election, it does not look very likely. It seems more likely to go the the 'Workers Party', who narrowly missed getting a couple more seats, or even to the clapped-out coalition fodder of the 'Labour Party'.
The 'Labour' crowd, now that they have been spurned by Fine Gael, will dress themselves up in fake left policies again and try to pretend that they were never part of the coalition government that started this onslaught on the poor, and even workers who refuse to be conned by either MacGiolla, de Rossa or Spring, are as likely to stay at home as to come out and vote for (P) Sinn Féin. But why...?
(*'1169' comment - Council, Corporation and State [Leinster House] elections will always be contested by a variety of political parties and the electorate will always have a so-called 'choice' of which particular brand of 'new/different oil' they now want to try in the seized engine that this political system is. But, regardless, that 'engine' still won't work.)
(MORE LATER.)
'MÓR MÓ NÁIR...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
The foreign press, films, games, dancing etc, and the whole shadow of a foreign power are leaving their mark. When we have released the political grip on us we shall be left crushed and broken, and - Mothers of Ireland - it is then that we shall need the greatest men and women of pride and spirit and justice to carry out the tremendous task of building up our economy, and trade and restoring the language and culture that are quickly being so surely sapped out of us.
Please God, that tremendous task will need to be taken on by the children of today. So let their first stories be of Ireland and its splendid heroes, and let their first song be the melodies of the Gael, so that they will be in a position to reject the damaging foreign customs and pastimes because they have something purer and more beautiful to take their place.
One day I was discussing singing, with a girl, who had herslf a very sweet singing voice. We talked about parties and singing at parties...
(MORE LATER.)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading,
Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (14TH JULY) 223 YEARS AGO : SHEARES BROTHERS MURDERED BY THE CROWN.
"Adieu, Julia, my light is out. The approach of darkness is like that of death, since both alike require I should say farewell forever. Oh! my dear family, farewell forever..."- from a letter written by John Sheares to his sister shortly before his execution.
'On July 14th, 1798, brothers John and Henry Sheares (pictured), who were both lawyers and United Irishmen, were hung, drawn and quartered in Dublin.
Sons of a wealthy banker and member of the Irish Parliament from County Cork, Henry was briefly an officer in the '51st Regiment of Foot' following his schooling, but did not find army life to his liking and resigned his commission. Both brothers became successful lawyers and could have lived out their lives in comfort, but they visited France together in 1792 and there acquired their revolutionary republican principles. On the boat home from France they met Daniel O'Connell, who may have also been inspired by the revolution in France, but was repulsed by the violence that had gone on there and did not join the United Irishmen.
They joined the United Irishmen on their return to Dublin and John began to write articles for 'The Press', a nationalist paper, and help organize the group in Cork. When most of the leaders of the United Irishmen were arrested in the spring of 1798, John became the defacto leader for a short time. The brothers were betrayed by an informer, Captain Warnesford Armstrong, and were arrested on May 21st. Found guilty of treason, they were publicly hung (drawn, and quartered) outside Newgate Prison in Dublin. Both are buried at Dublin's St. Michan's Church...' (From here.)
The informer Armstrong was a particularly odious character - a 'rat' of a man - who struck up a 'friendship' with the Sheares children, who looked forward to visits from him, at their house in Baggot Street, in Dublin.
He was a Captain in the 'King's County Militia' and was tasked with ingratiating himself with the Sheares Brothers as the 'authorities' were aware of their republican activities. Indeed, at least two other informers - Conway and Collins - were also 'on the case', but it was Armstrong who 'succeeded', to the point that John Sheares himself instructed Armstrong to be on his guard, as other 'United Irishmen' were convinced that Armstrong was a spy and were planning to execute him!
In a 'trial' which lasted all of seventeen minutes - in which Armstrong happily took to the dock and testified against the brothers - they were found 'guilty of high treason'. The informer Armstrong was granted the 'Freedom of the City' by the British and was placed in command of a British militia group in County Wicklow, where he delighted in shooting suspected rebels on sight, even those who had been 'pardoned for assisting the Crown'. As we said - a particularly odious character.
In a speech from the dock, John Sheares, who had been presented as some sort of a bloodthirsty individual, stated -
"The accusation of which I speak, while I linger here yet a minute, is that of holding out to the people of Ireland a direction to give no quarter to the troops fighting for its defence.
My lords, let me say thus, that if there be any acquaintances in this crowded court - I do not say my intimate friends, but acquaintances - who do not know what I say is truth, I shall be reputed the wretch which I am not ; I say, if any acquaintance of mine can believe that I could utter a recommendation of giving no quarter to a yielding and unoffending foe, it is not the death which I am about to suffer that I deserve.
No punishment could be adequate to such a crime. My lords, I can not only acquit my soul of such an intention, but I declare, in the presence of that God before whom I must shortly appear, that the favorite doctrine of my heart was that no human being should suffer death, but when absolute necessity required it.."
John and Henry Sheares were hanged, drawn and quartered, 223 years ago on this date.
She said, "Ten times they fought for me,
ten times they with might and main
Ten times I saw them beaten down,
Ten times they rose, and fought again.
She said, "I stayed alone at home,
A dreary woman, grey and cold
I never asked them how they fared,
Yet still they loved me as of old..." (From the poem 'After Aughrim', by Emily Lawless.)
'O'DONOVAN ROSSA'.
By Margaret Buckley.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, July, 1954.
The passage of time is, I suppose, responsible for the curious omission in accounts of his life, of the fact that O'Donovan Rossa actually lived and worked in Cork City, between the years 1904 to 1906.
The 'Cork Celtic Literary Society' of that period whose membership included Terence McSwiney, Thomás McCurtain, Liam de Roiste (Secretary), Diarmuid Fawsitt, Fred Cronin and others, and all had kept up a close correspondence with the exiled patriot, and he had repeatedly expressed his ardent desire to return and live again in Ireland.
Those young men bent themselves to the task of furthering his ambition, and with the influence of the then Lord Major of Cork - Alderman Richard Cronin, a brother Fenian of Rossa's - succeeded in securing for him a post with Cork County Council. Rossa, his wife and their two daughters were welcomed at Queenstown (Cobh) by his comrades...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (14TH JULY) IN...
..1921 : two thorns in the side of Irish freedom, Éamon de Valera and Lloyd George, met each other for the first time on this date in 1921. Within a week of sizing each other up, the British offered de Valera dominion statue within the 'Empire', but not for the whole of Ireland - the 'deal' was for only twenty-six of our thirty-two counties and was rejected.
The British then offered fresh discussions, based on the issues surrounding "how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations..", and talks in connection with that 'offer' began but de Valera sensed that it was not going to work out to Irish advantage and sent five plenipotentiaries to London to discuss the issue, instead of travelling there himself.
And so it was that Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Robert Barton, Eamonn Duggan and George Gavan Duffy accepted partition, dominion status within the "community of nations known as the British Empire" (a status "the same as that of the Dominion of Canada") and lost several ports, as well as - whether they knew it then or not - becoming the leadership of an anti-republican military and political grouping in the new 26-County State.
This was actually just another rung on the ladder of what polite/mis-guided political commentators in this State and elsewhere call 'the Troubles' ; our (political and military) 'troubles' didn't start then, or in the 1960's - they can be traced back to the 12th Century and in each of those centuries a dev, Griffith, Collins etc grouping can be found which 'struck a deal' with Westminster, the price of which we are still paying.
...1572 : on the 14th of July that year, a 'Sir' Nick White was appointed as the 'Master of the Rolls' in Ireland. He mixed with and was known to the political elite of the time who, apparently, always politely held him at arms length ; he wasn't really considered by them to be 'one of us' as he was born in Waterford, in Ireland, and was inclined to give a fair(ish) hearing in relation to legal matters arising from the 'connection' between Ireland and England ; meaning that he didn't always come down hard enough on the 'uppity Irish' if, in his opinion, there was a case to be made for 'fair play' in any dispute which he worked on.
The political circles in which he moved were suspicious of him because of that and, when one of his cases involved working with 'Sir' John Perrot, his detractors decided to move against him. Perrot was an earlier version of Oliver Cromwell when it came to an 'Irish solution' ie a 'kill-them-all-and-let-God-sort-them-out'-type of marauder but, despite his best efforts, he failed, and the Irish survived and continued to be uppity.
However, in between his failures with subjugating the Irish he became a rich(er) man, making enemies out of those who were jealous of his financial successes.
His enemies, who were well got in political and military circles, hinted at a connection between his wealth and his failures to further conqueor the Irish (ie Irish land given/handed over to him, bribes and/or back-handers) and a charge of treason was brought against him, and Nick White was brought down, too, because of his association with Perrot ; two 'witnesses', a Dennis O'Roghan and a Henry Bird, gave 'evidence' that the two men, White and Perrot, had acted in a treasonous manner and both of them were locked-up in the Tower of London, where both of them died in 1592.
And the moral of the story : Britain has no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Those that she builds up today can be tore down tomorrow. There are, unfortunately, no shortage of White's and Perrot's in every country who believe otherwise...
'WHAT IS TO BE DONE? THE STRUGGLE IN THE 26 COUNTIES...'
The following article was solicited by 'IRIS' from a political observer in the 26 Counties. The article - whose author, John Ward, is not a member of the Republican Movement - is aimed at provoking discussion within (P)Sinn Féin. From 'IRIS' magazine, October 1987.
('1169' comment - please note that 'IRIS' magazine had, at that time, recently morphed from a republican-minded publication into a Trot-type mouthpiece for a Leinster House-registered political party.)
There were two main reasons for (P) Sinn Féin's poor showing in the recent election, one short-term and therefore no great cause for concern, the other longer term and more serious.
Last February, working-class voters were mainly concerned to get rid of the Coalition parties with their record of savage cuts in public services. They swung to Fianna Fail, though with no great enthusiasm, as the only party that could oust Garret Fitzgerald. And, of course, Fianna Fail, opportunist as ever, had plastered the place with posters saying -'Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped'.
By that sort of reckoning, (P) Sinn Féin did not count ; they certainly were not going to form a new government, they were not even likely to influence the formation of one and, indeed, if they took voters from Fianna Fail they might even make things easier for Fine Gael and the PD's. They just were not regarded as being in the senior league at all, and that helps to explain why, in a number of Dublin constituencies, the (P) Sinn Féin vote was actually down a bit on the 1985 local elections and the overall percentage poll was under half the figure for the last EEC elections.
Those polls were not going to decide the next government so the people felt they could afford to indulge in a bit of protesting voting... (MORE LATER.)
'MÓR MÓ NÁIR...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
We simply must do our part. It may not be a spectacular part, it is not the role of the true Irish girl to be spectacular, but it is nevertheless a vital part.
None is more important than the mother. Many of the greatest men in every country and of every age, have attributed to their mothers their source of inspiration and help. It is the mother's right and privilege to teach her children their first prayers, give them their first love, tell them their first stories and sing for them their first songs. The children depend on the mother for the first conception of a sense of values which will help them to live fully till the very end.
Irish children depend on her to give them a sense of pride in themselves, the custodian of the faith given to them through St Patrick, and of the tradition and beauty and culture of a race, once renowned for its sanctity and scholarship. And Irish mothers have a difficult task, because the foreign influence is so overwhelming and so penetrating... (MORE LATER.)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading,
Sharon.
