ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 106 YEARS AGO : SINN FÉIN ADOPTS A REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION.
"The Constitution of this new movement which you have adopted is one which it may be well to lay stress on. It says that this organisation of Sinn Féin aims at securing international recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish Republic.
That is what I stand for, what I stood for in East Clare and it is because I stand for that that I was elected here. I said in East Clare when I was elected that I regarded that election as a monument to the dead. I regard my election here as a monument to the brave dead, and I believe that this is proof that they were right, that what they fought for — the complete and absolute freedom and separation from England — was the pious wish of every Irish heart..."
- part of a speech delivered by Éamon de Valera to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in the Mansion House, in Dublin, on the 25th/26th October, 1917.
A report on that Ard Fheis, by Fr. Patrick Gaynor, can be read here.
That Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Chaired by Arthur Griffith, was of particular interest and importance to Mr. Griffith, as it signalled a move away from his 'Dual Monarchy' policy in favour of republican principles ; in short, Arthur Griffith insisted that Ireland should come into its own, alongside Britain, with the two entities (for want of a better description!) forming a 'dual monarchy' ie a 'shared monarch', but with two 'separate' political administrations, according to Mr. Griffith which, he believed, would be more palatable to Westminster (but which proved to be less palatable to Irish republicans who insisted - and still do - on a clean break from the British).
Some of the more than 2,000 delegates present, perturbed by the objections to the so-called 'republican slant' of the proceedings, began a walk-out from the Ard Fheis but eventually the issue was somewhat settled there and then, in-house, and the proceedings continued.
Incidentally, at that time, there were 3,300 Sinn Féin Clubs (Cumainn), over 250,000 members and the organisation was financially healthy, with about £1,200 in its kitty.
However, between the jigs and the reels (!), one of the motions passed at that Ard Fheis, on the 25th October 1917 - 106 years ago on this date - read :
'1 -
The name of this organisation shall be Sinn Féin.
2 -
Sinn Féin aims at securing the international recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish Republic. Having achieved that status the Irish people may by referendum freely choose their own form of Government.
3 -
This object shall be attained through the Sinn Féin Organisation.
4 -
WHEREAS no law made without the authority and consent of the Irish people is or ever can be binding on their conscience, therefore in accordance with the Resolution of Sinn Féin adopted in Convention, 1905, a Constituent Assembly shall be convoked, comprising persons chosen by the Irish Constituencies as the supreme national authority to speak and act in the name of the Irish people and to devise and formulate measures for the welfare of the whole people of Ireland.
Such as :
The introduction of a Protective System for Irish industries and Commerce by combined action of the Irish County Councils, Urban Councils, Rural Councils, Poor Law Boards, Harbour Boards, and other bodies directly responsible to the Irish people.
The establishment and maintenance under the direction of a National Assembly or other authority approved by the people of Ireland of an Irish Consular Service for the advancement of Irish Commerce and Irish interests generally.
The re-establishment of an Irish Mercantile Marine to facilitate direct trading between Ireland and the countries of Continental Europe, America, Africa, and the Far East.
The industrial survey of Ireland and the development of its mineral resources under the auspices of a National Assembly or other national authority approved by the people of Ireland.
The establishment of a National Stock Exchange.
The creation of a National Civil Service, embracing all the employee of the County Councils, Rural Councils, Poor law Boards, Harbour Boards, and other bodies responsible to the Irish people, by the institution of a common national qualifying examination and a local competitive examination (the latter at the discretion of the local bodies).
The establishment of Sinn Féin Courts of Arbitration for the speedy and satisfactory adjustment of disputes.
The development of transit by rail road and water, of waste lands for the national benefit by a national authority approved by the people of Ireland.
The development of the Irish Sea Fisheries by National Assembly or other National authority approved by the people of Ireland.
The reform of education, to render its basis national and industrial by the compulsory teaching of the Irish language, Irish history and Irish agricultural and manufacturing potentialities in the primary system, and, in addition, to elevate to a position of dominance in the University system Irish agriculture and economics.
The abolition of the Poor Law System and substitution in its stead of adequate outdoor relief to the aged and infirm, and the employment of the able-bodied in the reclamation of waste lands, afforestation and other national and reproductive works.
A special meeting of the Executive may be summoned on three days' notice by the President on requisition presented to him signed by six members of the Executive specifying the object for which the meeting is called.
In case of an urgent emergency the President shall call all members of the Executive to an urgency meeting, and may take action in the name of the Executive in case he secures the approval of an absolute minority of the entire Executive. The action taken is to be reported for confirmation at next ordinary meeting of the Executive.
That where Irish resources are being developed, or where industries exist, Sinn Féiners should make it their business to secure that workers are paid a living wage.
That the equality of men and women in this Organisation be emphasised in all speeches and leaflets.'
The above political motion was way ahead of its time, and still serves as a demonstration of the forward thinking, fairness and 'street-level' democratic values that traditional Irish republicans have for the Irish people, and Ireland itself, unlike the sleeveen time-servers in Leinster House.
'FIRST THINGS FIRST.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
The flare of publicity given to the interview by Mr. John Aloysius Costello with 'The Yorkshire Post' newspaper and the subsequent statements and counter-statements by himself, Mr, de Valera and various members of the Stormont junta have given a brief temporary revival to the politicians standby - the 'partition problem'.
But the editorial statement by 'The Yorkshire Post' is very candid on the matter. It states -
'...nor could we contemplate an arrangement which would deprive us in time of war of the use of the Ulster ports..'
That is the authentic voice of England ; it is saying in 1955 what Lloyd George said in 1920 -"Ulster, whether she wills it or not, must not be allowed merge with the rest of Ireland."
England feels that her imperial defence system requires that a grip be kept on the Irish side of the North Channel and irrespective of the wishes of the people concerned, she is determined to maintain that grip...(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 41 YEARS AGO : BRITISH HANDLERS FINALISED THEIR PLANS TO ALLOW THEIR IRA INFORMER TO BREAK HIS 20-MONTH PERIOD OF INCOMMUNICADO HIDING.
One of the many so-called 'Irish republicans' that turned 'supergrass' on their one-time 'comrades' who were allegedly involved in militant republicanism was Tyrone man Patrick McGurk, who attempted to implicate nine men as being members of 'proscribed organisations'.
On the 20th of September, 1982, the RUC, apparently doubtful that he would go through with his 'evidence' if produced in court, instead invoked the obsolete 'Bill of Indictment' to by-pass the preliminary enquiry stage of the case against the nine accused. This meant that, until his return to Dungannon on the following day (Wednesday 26th October 1982) McGurk had been held incommunicado, without access to family or friends, throughout the 20-month period that the British kept him in a 'safe house', for his own protection.
It wasn't only in the republican community that the use by the British of so-called 'supergrasses' was questioned, as this exchange in Leinster House highlights :
"I will take the case of Mr. X as a clear example of the injustice of trial by supergrass, of which the British Government approve. I hope the Minister and the Government will take a serious interest in the whole affair and request the British Government to take the necessary action immediately to resolve these injustices.
Mr. X was 24 years of age in February 1982. He had no history of involvement in guerrilla activities whatsoever. In 1979 he married his wife Kathleen and they have two children, a boy and a girl. His daughter was six months old when he was arrested at 4.30 a.m. and brought to Gough Barracks in Armagh.
On Tuesday, 9th February 1982 an RUC man came to the room in the barracks and asked the interrogators "Who is this?" One of them answered "Mr. X." The RUC man turned back towards the other room and repeated the name, whereupon a man, unknown to Mr. X, appeared at the doorway. The interrogators asked the newcomer "Do you know this man?" The man at the door nodded. They asked "Have you made any statements against him?" Again the man nodded. They asked "Are you prepared to give evidence against this man?" Again the man nodded. The newcomer was then led away.
That man was Patrick McGurk (pictured), supergrass, newly recruited.
Mr. X was not the first victim of the new tactics. Mr. X was charged with possession of land mines at Ballygawley Road near Dungannon between 1st January and 31st December 1978. He was also charged with an arson attack on the Ulsterbus depot in Dungannon in May 1978. Mr. X made no statement while in custody and the only evidence against him were alleged statements made by McGurk. He was transferred to Crumlin Road prison in Belfast in custody for the next 21 months.
There is no precise location for the alleged incidents. Ballygawley Road is at least ten miles long. There was no precise date given for the alleged incidents. There were no explosions and no casualties. There was never any evidence of a bomb. Such a charge that cannot be pinned down make an alibi impossible. On 21st April 1982 Mr. X was brought up for bail. Under the Emergency Provisions Act, 1978, the conditions of bail are such that, instead of the prosecution having to prove that the prisoner would be a danger to society if released, the defence has to prove that he or she would not.
As this is extremely difficult, very few prisoners are granted bail and it was not surprising that Mr. X was refused. He was returned to Crumlin Road prison and was remanded in custody again.
The next development was in September 1982, five months after the bail refusal, when the preliminary inquiry should have taken place. This is when the accused are faced by the accusers who have to give evidence against them in an open court, so that the court can decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence to merit a continuation of the proceedings. The surprise was that there was to be no preliminary inquiry as Lord Chief Justice Lowry had granted a bill of indictment to the Director of Public Prosecutions the night before. This dispensed with the preliminary inquiry. Mr. X and others who stood in the courtroom that morning were returned to Crumlin Road prison and so rests the future of Mr. X. This is one of the many examples of the injustice of the supergrass trial system in Northern Ireland (sic) of which the British Government approve..." (From here.)
Incidentally, one of those named by McGurk was Patrick Joseph Kelly, who was arrested by the British in February 1982 but released in October 1983 due to lack of evidence after a trial that lasted fifteen minutes.
Today, British 'supergrasses' in Ireland are dressed in suits, given jobs, a salary, expenses, office staff and a position and title with which to implement British rule in their own country and are cheered-on in doing so by the same political establishment they once fought against.
And they relish their 'success' in doing so.
(The 'Supergrass' system is still in operation in Ireland [examples here and here] and will no doubt remain in the 'weapons arsenal' of both Westminster and Leinster House, to be used against Irish republican activists. The only way to bring that corrupt system to an end is to remove the British political and military presence from Ireland.)
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
Born into such instability, children are at risk of emotional deprivation and ultimately of growing up with distorted views of parenthood, which they will take with them into adulthood.
A complicating factor is our increasing mobility, which has also distanced children from the modifying influence of grandparents and cousins. The family in modern Ireland is therefore increasingly likely to be cohabiting, unstable and inward-looking as it is devoid of the steadying hand of the extended family.
Meanwhile, the push to encourage women into the workplace continues, even if it is against the will of some.
In 1999, the Minister for Finance added his weight to this by penalising, through individualisation of the tax system, those families in which one parent stayed at home. This resulted in something of a minor revolt and the minister was forced to delay his plans, although they are proceeding apace again.
The publication of a recent EU report finding that Ireland has the lowest proportion of women in the workforce of any EU country (sic) was recently a cause of political concern rather than national (sic) pride...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 103 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF TWO IRISH HUNGER-STRIKERS.
Joseph Murphy (left of pic) and Terence MacSwiney : both men died on hunger-strike on this date - 25th October - in 1920, 103 years ago.
In his book 'History of the Irish Working Class', Peter Beresford Ellis wrote : "On October 25th, 1920, Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney - poet, dramatist and scholar, died on the 74th day of a hunger-strike while in Brixton Prison, London. A young Vietnamese dishwasher in the Carlton Hotel in London broke down and cried when he heard the news - "A Nation which has such citizens will never surrender". His name was Nguyen Ai Quoc who, in 1941, adopted the name Ho Chi Minh and took the lessons of the Irish anti-imperialist fight to his own country..."
Terence MacSwiney, his wife Muriel and their daughter, Máire, photographed in 1919.
He was the Commandant of the 1st Cork Brigade of the IRA and was elected as the Lord Mayor of Cork. He died after 74 days on hunger strike in Brixton Prison, England, on the 25th October, 1920, and his body lay in Southwark Cathedral in London where tens of thousands of people paid their respects.
'Joe Murphy (pictured) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in the USA. He had 14 siblings, with only 5 surviving (and) was one of 3 children born in America, but he did not have American citizenship.
The Murphy family returned to their native Cork and settled in Pouladuff Road, in the suburbs...he joined H Company, 2nd Battalion of the Cork No.1 Brigade of the IRA in Cork city (and) would eventually rise to the rank of Commandant..but would be expelled from the IRA for "bringing the army into disrepute", although it's not clear what the exact reason for this was. Joe would later be arrested by the British for possession of a bomb to be used in an attack on British forces (but) it is likely these were trumped-up charges by the British even though Murphy was not a member of the IRA at this time...' (from here.)
Two gallant Corkmen who perished on hunger strike on October 25th 1920 - 103 years ago on this date.
(A special mention here, and a heartfelt 'Fáilte!', to our readers in Lynn, in Massachusetts, who we know are 'tuned-in' : we appreciate you taking the time to do so, and we hope you'll keep in touch. Go raibh maith agat!)
BEIR BUA...
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
Tá traidisiún láidir is uaibhreach againn go bhfuil iontach cruinn agus spreagúil sa leabhrán seo.
Cuireann sé síos ár scéal, scéal spairn na hÉireann ar son saoirse, agus tá muid ábalta a lán fulaingt is crógacht a fheicáll sna spairin sin ó míle ocht gcéad nócha a hocht go dtí an lá seo.
Is leabhrán é seo go bhfuil leis an croí agus tnúth na saoirse ; leis an t-anam agus ár gcreid ndobhriste, agus leis an cheann is an obair déanta a bheith.
It was just a simple working class and fairly insignificant revolutionary who once declared that "...actions, not words, count most in life, especially in the life of a revolutionary organisation...."
(MORE LATER.)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading!
Sharon and the team.
About five years after he swore allegiance, again, to the Irish Republic, this man - not for the first time in the course of this on-going struggle - didn't only turn his back on that struggle but carved out a political career for himself among other ex-republicans...
In 1955, Westminster again let its mask slip in regards to why it viewed Ireland as a necessity to ensure its own political and military wellbeing...
This attempted British stitch-up was so blatant that its obviousness was raised by Free State reps in Leinster House in the early 1980's, and strong questions were asked. But to no avail...
In the late 1990's in this State, the question/situation of "women in the workplace" was still a hot topic, especially when State-supported finances for those women was brought into the equation...
It is over 100 years since these particular British-enforced atrocities took place, but then, as now, they still offend Irish principles...
From 1998 - "Tá traidisiún láidir is uaibhreach againn go bhfuil iontach cruinn agus spreagúil sa leabhrán seo..."
We'll be puttin' a tail to those tops (!) on Wednesday, 25th October 2023 : give us a shout then, and see wha' ya think of our efforts!
Thanks for reading - see yis on the 25th, hopefully!
Sharon and the team.
ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 232 YEARS AGO - 'REFORM DEMANDED FOR ALL'.
On the 18th October 1791 - 232 years ago on this date - a group of socially-minded Protestants, Anglicans and Presbyterians held their first public meeting in Belfast and formed themselves as 'The Belfast Society of United Irishmen' (the organisation became a secret society three years later), electing Sam McTier as 'President' ; he was married to Martha, who was a sister of William Drennan.
The aims and objectives of the Society were revolutionary for the times that were in it, and brought the organisation to the attention of the less 'socially-minded' political (and military) members of the British ruling-class in Dublin, which was then (and, indeed, now!) England's political power-base in Ireland -
'That the weight of English influence in the government of this country is so great, as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our commerce...the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed, is by a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament... no reform is just which does not include every Irishman (sic) of every religious persuasion...'
The Belfast Society also adopted the 'Charter' of 'The United Irishmen' as a whole, and in so doing they drew further attention on themselves from their political enemies, at home and abroad -
'In the present era of reform, when unjust governments are falling in every quarter of Europe, when religious persecution is compelled to abjure her tyranny over conscience, when the rights of men are ascertained in theory, and theory substantiated by practice, when antiquity can no longer defend absurd and oppressive forms, against the common sense and common interests of mankind, when all governments are acknowledged to originate from the people, and to be so far only obligatory, as they protect their rights and promote their welfare, we think it our duty, as Irishmen, to come forward, and state what we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we know to be its effectual remedy.'
'We have no national government, we are ruled by Englishmen, and the servants of Englishmen, whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption, and whose strength is the weakness of Ireland; and these men have the whole of the power and patronage of the country, as means to seduce and subdue the honesty of her representatives in the legislature.
Such an extrinsic power, acting with uniform force, in a direction too frequently opposite to the true line of our obvious interest, can be resisted with effect solely by unanimity, decision, and spirit in the people, qualities which may be exerted most legally, constitutionally, efficaciously, by the great measure, essential to the prosperity and freedom of Ireland, an equal representation of all the people in parliament. Impressed with these sentiments...we do pledge ourselves to our country, and mutually to each other...'
And with those words, the assembled Irishmen - Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, William Sinclair, Henry Joy McCracken, Samuel Neilson, Henry Haslett, Gilbert McIlveen, William and Robert Simms, Thomas McCabe, Thomas Pearce and Samuel McTier, among others - ensured the continuity of the on-going struggle against the British military and political presence in Ireland.
'KEOGHBOYS OF THE 1950's...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
William Keogh was appointed to office in Ireland.
John Sadlier and the other virtuous 'Tenant Righters' accepted offices in the new British ministry in Ireland, all bought by the plums of office.
William Keogh, the new 'Irish Solicitor General', was afterwards made a judge and became noted for his fondness for passing death sentences, and John Sadlier was made one of the 'Lords of the Treasury', lost his head and other people's money and then drank prussic acid.
Another of them, O'Flagherty, also got a 'good post' ; he had the same appititude as Sadlier and Keogh, but he later fled from Ireland.
(END of 'Keoghboys Of The 1950's' ; NEXT - 'First Things First', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 142 YEARS AGO : IMPRISONED IRISHMEN ISSUE A 'NO RENT' MANIFESTO.
'Fellow-countrymen! - The hour to try your souls and to redeem your pledges has arrived. The executive of the National Land League forced to abandon the policy of testing the land act, feels bound to advise the tenant-farmers of Ireland from this day forth to pay no rents under any circumstances to their landlords until the government relinquishes the existing system of terrorism and restores the constitutional rights of the people. Do not be daunted by the removal of your leaders...do not be wheedled into compromise of any sort by the threat of eviction.
If you only act together in the spirit to which, within the last two years, you have countless times solemnly pledged your vows, they can no more evict a whole nation than they can imprison them. Our exiled brothers in America may be relied upon to contribute, if necessary, as many millions of money as they have contributed thousands to starve out landlordism and bring English tyranny to its knees.
No power on earth except faintheartedness on your own part can defeat you. Landlordism is already staggering under the blows which you have dealt it amid the applause of the world...one more heroic effort to destroy landlordism at the very source and fount of its existence, and the system which was and is the curse of your race and of your existence will have disappeared forever...
No power of legalized violence can extort one penny from your purses against your will. If you are evicted, you shall not suffer ; the landlord who evicts will be a ruined pauper, and the government which supports him with its bayonets will learn in a single winter how powerless is armed force against the will of a united, determined, and self-reliant nation.
Signed CHARLES S. PARNELL, President, Kilmainham Jail
MICHAEL DAVITT, Hon. Sec. Portland Prison ;
THOMAS BRENNAN, Hon Sec. Kilmainham Jail
JOHN DILLON, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Jail;
THOMAS SEXTON, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Jail;
PATRICK EGAN, Treasurer Paris, 1881.'
The above is the wording of a 'NO RENT!' manifesto issued, from prison - on the 18th October 1881, 142 years ago on this date - by the incarcerated leadership of the 'Irish National Land League', calling on small tenant farmers in Ireland to withhold rents 'owed' to their British 'landlords' until such time as the latter agreed to the demand of the 'Land League' for the 'Three F's' - fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale.
The scale of unrest fostered by British greed can be judged by this article, from 'The Illustrated London News' of the 21st May, 1881 -
'Our Special Artist in the disturbed agricultural districts of the west of Ireland contributes another sketch of the perils that frequently beset a process-server when employed in the legal execution of his duty.
Some remarks on this subject were made last week, having reference to the instance of a landlord near Claremorris, Mr. Walter Burke*, who, finding that none of the ordinary process-servers in the country would venture to go round and deliver writs of ejectment to his defaulting tenants, has resolved to do it himself ; galloping quickly, with his trusty servant, from one farmhouse to another ; entering armed with a loaded revolver, not as a menace to others, but for his own needful protection**, and after showing the legal instrument, of which he leaves a copy, riding off as fast as he came...'('1169' comment - *he paid the price for his bully-boy tactics the following year, in Claremorris...**he wouldn't have needed such "protection" had he been a decent human being in the first place.)
The alphabet of the 'Children's Land League' :
'A is the army that covers the ground ;
B is the buckshot we're getting all round ;
C is the crowbar of cruellest fame ;
D is our Davitt, a right glorious name ;
E is the English who've robbed us of bread ;
F is the famine they've left us instead ;
G is for Gladstone, whose life is a lie ;
H is the harvest we'll hold or we'll die ;
I is the inspector, who when drunk is bold ;
J is the jarvey, who'll not drive him for gold ;
K is Kilmainham, where our true men abide ;
L is the Land League, our hope and our pride ;
M is the Magistrate, who makes black of our white ;
N is no rent, which will make our wrongs right ;
O is Old Ireland, that yet shall be freed ;
P is the Peelers, who sold her for greed ;
Q is the Queen, whose use is not known ;
R is the Rifles, who keep up her throne ;
S is the sheriff, with woe in his train ;
T is the toil that others may gain ;
U is the Union that works bitter harm ;
V is the villain that grabs up the farm ;
W is the warrant for death or for chains ;
X is the ’Express', all lies and no brains ;
Y is 'Young Ireland' spreading the light ;
Z is the zeal that will win the great fight.'
And this is the continuity of that "great fight".
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
The Irish have always had strong family bonds and a powerful extended family network, a feature that we shared with many of our European neighbours.
Time was, children were born into a family of two married parents, when problems were resolved within the family and childcare for those working outside the home was provided by family or neighbours.
Of course, this family could also be stifling and controlling, and the judgements meted out to those unfortunate enough to have children outside of marriage were harsh and punitive.
The change has been remarkable, with the numbers of children born outside marriage now above 30 per cent. One of the problems that flows from this is the serial father who has no emotional ties to the child, a situation which, according to RE Rowthorn, Professor of Economics at Cambridge, places it at the greatest risk of abuse, both physical and emotional.
In addition, cohabiting relationships are often unstable, with about 50 per cent splitting within ten years...
(MORE LATER.)
BEIR BUA.
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
The great Fenian revolutionary, O'Donovan Rossa, once said -
"It is in the dark days of a nation's distress that the truest of her sons cling closest to her, and those who are ashamed to associate their names with her fallen fortunes or who, by dangers of difficulties, are scared away from giving their assistance, are not the men fitted to raise her to a position of national independence."
Down the years the truth and sincerity of those words ring clear and inspire hope in a freedom struggle characterised as much by endurance as by action.
In giving the Republican Movement 'Beir Bua', the authors have provided not merely a manual for activism but a bible of endurance.
Its pages, like the words of Rossa, will instill Irish republicans with confidence and discipline, it will direct our energies and it will deliver our Republic, but especially in these treacherous times, it will guarantee our survival and bolster our resistance to the oppression which surrounds us daily on all sides... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 103 YEARS AGO - BRITISH 'HAMAR' PUTS FINISHING TOUCHES TO HIS 'LAW AND ORDER' SPEECH.
British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (pictured, left, and short video here showing 'the Hamar' rewarding his troops in this country for the destruction they wrought while maintaining 'law and order') promised to put an end to republican "outrages" but that was just another outrageous false promise by the British!
In May 1920 the British Foreign Secretary, 'Lord' Curzon, proposed vigorous 'Indian measures' to suppress the rebellion in Ireland and he and other British imperialist 'gentlemen' formulated a policy with that objective in mind. On the 9th August 1920, the British 'Lords Commissioners' announced that 'Royal Assent' had been granted for the following 14 items -
1. Overseas Trade (Credit and Insurance) Act, 1920.
2. Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920.
3. Restoration of Order in Ireland Act, 1920.*
4. Aberdeen Corporation Order Confirmation Act, 1920.
5. Pilotage Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act, 1920.
6. Local Government Board (Ireland) Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act, 1920.
7. Ministry of Health Provisional Order Confirmation (Chesterfield Extension) Act, 1920.
8. Mid-Glamorgan Water Act, 1920.
9. Wallasey Corporation Act, 1920.
10. Life Association of Scotland Act, 1920.
11. Uxbridge and Wycombe District Gas Act, 1920.
12. Exmouth Urban District Council Act, 1920.
13. North British and Mercantile Insurance Company's Act, 1920.
14. Lever Brothers, Limited (Wharves and Railway) Act, 1920.
On the 18th October 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (who later threatened to resign his position if Westminster agreed to a ceasefire with Irish republicans before they had surrendered their weapons!) made final changes to the report on his 'law and order' campaign in Ireland, which he made public the next day -
"The outrages against the police and military forces since the 1st January last, which I regret to say include the loss of no less than 118 lives, are as follows: police killed -100, military killed -18, police wounded -160, military wounded -66. There have been 667 attacks on police barracks, resulting in most cases in their complete destruction. There has been an organised attempt to boycott and intimidate the police, their wives and relations.
The hon. Member will realise that I cannot publish the steps that are being taken to cope with the campaign of murder, outrage and intimidation, but I can assure him that the means available to the Government for protecting all servants of the Crown in the discharge of their duties, and for bringing to justice those who commit or connive at outrages, are steadily improving. The Royal Irish Constabulary is rapidly increasing in numbers owing mainly to the flow of recruits from ex-officers and ex-service men who served in the Army or Navy during the War.
The effective strength of the Force is now higher than it has been for the last 15 years. In the last three weeks alone there have been 194 trials by Court Martial under the 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920', and 159 convictions. The Forces of the Crown are now effectively grappling with the organised, paid and brutal campaign of murder in Ireland.."
(*The 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act' was a 'legal' item through which the British could authorise, in Ireland, 'the issue of Regulations under the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, for effecting the restoration and maintenance of order in Ireland where it appears to His Majesty in Council that, owing to the existence of a state of disorder, the ordinary law is inadequate for the prevention and punishment of crime, or the maintenance of order..')
The British claimed that the 'legal' changes had been rendered necessary by the abnormal conditions which at that time prevailed in certain parts of Ireland, where 'an organised campaign of violence and intimidation has resulted in the partial breakdown of the machinery of the ordinary law and in the non-performance by public bodies and officials of their statuary obligations...in particular it has been found that criminals (sic) are protected from arrest, that trial by jury cannot be obtained because of the intimidation of witnesses and jurors, and the local authorities and their officers stand in fear of injury to their persons or property if they carry out their statuary duties...'
The 'Order in Council' provided, among other things, for the putting into operation of many of the existing 'Defence of the Realm Regulations' for the purpose of 'the restoration or maintenance of order, for the trial of crimes by Courts Martial or by specially constituted Civil Courts, and for the investment of those Courts with the necessary powers'.
Also, it was now to be allowed for 'financial punishments' to be implemented - the withholding from local authorities who refuse to discharge the obligations imposed upon them by Statute, financial grants which otherwise would be payable to them from public funds and for the application of the grants so withheld to the discharge of the obligations which the local authority has failed to fulfill, for the holding of sittings of courts elsewhere than in ordinary courthouses, where these courthouses have been destroyed or otherwise made unavailable and 'although the Regulations are not, in terms, restricted to any particular part or parts of Ireland, it is the Government's intention that they shall not be applied in substitution for the provisions of the ordinary law in places where the judicial and administrative machinery of the ordinary law are available, and are not obstructed in their operations by the methods of violence and intimidation above mentioned...for instance, under the Regulations an ordinary crime can only be tried by a Courts Martial or by a specially constituted Civil Court, if the case is referred to the Competent Naval or Military Authority. Instructions will be issued by the Irish Executive to ensure that such cases will not be referred to the Competent Naval or Military Authority except where the prevalence of actual threatened violence or intimidation has produced conditions rendering it impracticable for them to be dealt with by due process of ordinary law...'
GETTING READY...
..FOR A NINE-PARTER ON THE 18TH!
The British presence in Ireland gets its strength from the weakness of the Irish, by seducing, subduing and/or executing those they deem to be strong enough to stand up to them : a lesson from over 230 years ago...
19th Century Ireland - three political 'snakes-in-the-grass' held their venom until they had their victims where they wanted them - at the ballot box, deaf to the 'hiss'...
This 19th Century Irish alphabet became a battle-cry for the dispossessed and the down-trodden, and acted as a rallying point for those opposed to the many State agents who came hammering at their door...
In Ireland, family bonds and a powerful extended family network held the people together but the 'Establishment' viewed such attributes as a challenge to them and endeavoured to 'break the connection'. And they are still doing so...
From 1998 - a published Irish republican work that is not merely a manual for activism but a bible of endurance, which still stands as true today as it did then...
Westminster labeled Irish resistance as acts of murder, outrage and intimidation against the "law and order" of the land and then continued on arming murderers to cause outrage in Ireland with 'lawful' acts of intimidation against the population...
These ex-Irish rebels took the soup as they were counting their thirty pieces of profit and then sought to 'officially honour' the men and women that they had deserted in their rush to get to the soup cauldron and the banker...
In the 1920's in Ireland, this RIC man knew that his actions, and the command structures that he answered to, were in the wrong but, unlike his militia comrades who felt the same way, he just didn't determine to do 'less wrong' - he vowed to 'do right'. And he did...
...and a few words about our recent 'staycation'. But not too many, now, as any details we give may yet be used as evidence against us...!
Thanks for droppin' in, and for reading ; and, with a nine-parter comin' at ya on Wednesday, 18th October 2023, yer gonna have a quare bit of reading to do then. Give us a shout on the 18th...!
Sharon and the team.
ON THIS DATE (27TH SEPTEMBER) 65 YEARS AGO : TWO IRISH REPUBLICAN LEADERS ESCAPE FROM FREE STATE CUSTODY.
On Saturday, 27th September 1958, the Irish republican POW's in the Curragh Internment Camp in County Kildare (of which there were about 150) had put together two football teams and had organised a football match between both sides.
That activity was a distraction for the prisoners and, more importantly, for the Free State Army guards and the other prison staff members, but two of the POW's were not involved in that distraction - they were taking advantgage of it instead!
Dáithí Ó Conaill and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh were lying under a roughly-made grass 'mat' at a less-noticeable section of the metal fence that kept them interned and were using a wire cutters to remove a section of it, which they did, successfully freeing themselves from State custody.
The two men were not only republican comrades and activists, but were to become related through Dáithí's marriage, in 1964, to a fine Donegal Lady, Deirdre Caffrey, who was Ruairí's maternal first cousin (and Deirdre was also sister-in-law to another strong Irish republican, Kevin Mallon).
The successful escape attempt had been authorised by the leadership of the Movement (including Tomás Óg MacCurtain, O/C of the IRA Internees) and meant that Ruairí, who was at the time a Sinn Féin TD (while incarcerated he was elected as a Sinn Féin TD, on an abstentionist ticket, obviously, for Longford–Westmeath in the 1957 State general election), was the first such republican TD to be 'on the run' since the 1920's and, the following month (October 1958) he was appointed as Chief of Staff of the IRA by the leadership (a position he held until May 1959).
That escape (27th September 1958 - 65 years ago on this date) was the second such escape from the Curragh Internment Camp (pictured) that year.
In May, three POW's had got out through a window in the Curragh Military Hospital where they had been patients. Two of them – one from Armagh, the other from Portarlington – were recaptured near Kilcullen in County Meath and the third man, from Dublin, evaded capture for ten days until he was found at house in Gormanstown, in County Meath and, in the first week in December (1958) fourteen Irish republican internees escaped from the internment camp.
That Free State prison was closed on the 11th March 1959, as the Staters in Leinster House were comfortable within themselves that they had consolidated their position in the State.
And they still believe that to be the case...
'KEOGHBOYS OF THE 1950's...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
The policy of 'The Irish Tenant League' was to form a political party pledged to independent opposition in parliament and it was based on a 'Union of Creeds'.
'The Restoration of the Hierarchy Act' and 'The Ecclesiastical Titles Act' started a controversy that threatened 'the Union' ; in Ireland, an ultra-catholic party was formed - 'The Catholic Defence Association' (aka 'Irish Brigade'/Pope's Brass Band').
The chief figures were William Keogh, a lawyer from Athlone, and John Sadlier, a hawker from Tipperary (...more about those two shysters here).
Nominally 'Tenant Righters', those two men caused ill-feeling inside the party, because they were so ferociously catholic. In the Westminster General Election of September, 1852, forty 'Tenant Right' members were returned, including William Keogh, John Sadlier, his brother, nephew and two cousins.
All took a solemn pledge that they would stand together in independent opposition and oppose every ministry that refused to introduce a 'Tenant Right Bill' but, when Lord Aberdeen's ministry was formed, he refused to adopt such a Bill... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (27TH SEPTEMBER) 101 YEARS AGO : MORE REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION IMPOSED.
Irish Free State soldiers, left, were given ever more of a free reign to impose the dictat of their paymasters in Leinster House in 1922, with the passing of the gloriously misnamed 'Public Safety Act'.
On the 9th June 1927 a general election was called in the Free State and Fianna Fail won 44 seats to Cosgrave's 47 : de Valera's policy was not to enter the Free State parliament until the Oath of Allegiance to the British monarch was removed but, in that same month, Kevin O' Higgins was assassinated and the Free State government passed a law which would force future Leinster House candidates to swear on their nomination that they would take the Oath of Allegiance.
In August 1927, de Valera led the Fianna Fail elected representatives, many of them with revolvers in their pockets, into Leinster House and signed the Oath of Allegiance document. A second general election was held in September 1927 and Fianna Fail increased its vote, winning 57 seats.
In short, Free Staters were once again in power in the Free State (!) but Irish republicans continued to fight back - on the 21st September 1927, six Free State soldiers were killed in a gun battle with the IRA near Ballina in Mayo and, on that same day, the Free State barracks in Drumshambo in Leitrim was attacked and taken by republicans, during which one Stater was killed.
On the 22nd September a FS soldier was killed and several others and three civilians injured in a gun and grenade attack by the IRA on enemy troops on Eden Quay in Dublin and, on the day that the 'Public Safety Act' was being voted on in Leinster House, several hundred IRA Volunteers attacked the town of Killorglin, in Kerry, and were only denied their victory, after 24 hours of fighting, when more Free State troops arrived in force, from Tralee.
The 'Public Safety Act' had been passed in the Free State assembly by 41 votes to 18 on this date, 27th September (1922), 101 years ago, allowing for the State to execute those captured bearing arms against it and permitting State agents 'to punish anyone aiding and abetting attacks on the National (sic) Forces', and/or anyone having possession of arms or explosives 'without the proper authority' or anyone 'disobeying an Army General Order'.
'Section 5' of the Act declared that "..every person who is a member of an unlawful association at any time after it has become by virtue of this Act an unlawful association shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof to suffer penal servitude for any term not less than three years and not exceeding five years or imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years..." .
'Section 28' stated that "..any person found guilty by a special court of the offence under the Firearms Act, 1925 (No. 17 of 1925) of having possession of or using or carrying a firearm without holding a firearm certificate therefor, shall if the offence was committed while this Part of this Act is in force be liable to suffer death or penal servitude for life, or any term of years not less than three years, or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years, and shall be sentenced by such court accordingly.."
That 'Act' represented politically and morally corrupt legislation and was enacted by the then, and now, politically and morally corrupt political assembly in Leinster House.
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
The worst culprits are the new estates that have been built around developing industries or the trendy apartment blocks designed to improve our inner cities.
Many of the inhabitants are mobile young people who see these houses not as homes but as temporary receptacles. Add to this the emptiness that comes from the absence of people during the day as couples go out to work, and the lack of amenities such as shops, bars or post-offices, and they become bleak places indeed. In such an environment, it is possible to be sick for days and have no callers - or to die and lie decaying without being missed.
If our sense of community is under pressure, so too is the traditional family. This is showing itself not so much in the divorce courts yet as in other more nebulous ways.
A recently published international study on depression in the community (in which I was one of the investigators) showed that one of the significant factors associated with the high rate of this condition in urban Ireland is the absence of supports, whilst the very low rate in Spain was equally linked to the protective role that strong ties, especially to the family, can have in ameliorating our stress... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (27TH SEPTEMBER) 374 YEARS AGO : A WAR CRIMINAL AND "THE REDUCING OF CARLINGFORD".
Pictured - some of Oliver Cromwell's Irish victims, sold as slaves and 'sex workers' to the highest bidder.
On the 29th April, 1599, a baby boy, Oliver Cromwell, who had been born on the 25th, was christened in Saint John the Baptish church in Huntingdon, England.
Decades later, when someone was trawling through the birth records for that period, they came across an unofficial addendum to that particular entry : it read - "England's plague for five years.." Cromwell should need no introduction to readers of this blog, but some readers may not be aware of the significance of a particular date in this month - the 3rd September - in that creature's life : on that date in 1649, Cromwell began his nine-day siege of Drogheda after which thousands of its inhabitants were butchered, the infamous 'Death March' he forced on his enemy after the battle of Dunbar on the 3rd September 1650 and, one year later on that same date - the 3rd September - he wallowed in more blood and guts, this time in his own country, at the battle of Worcester.
And, somewhere in between wrecking havoc and stealing and selling Irish children, he found the time - on the 27th September in 1649, 374 years ago on this date - to write to his political bosses in London :
'FOR THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM LENTHALL, ESQUIRE, SPEAKER OF THE PARLIAMENT OF ENGLAND :
Dublin, 27th September 1649.
Mr. Speaker - I had not received any account from Colonel Venables - whom I sent from Tredah to endeavour the reducing of Carlingford, and so to march Northward towards a conjunction with Sir Charles Coote - until the last night.
After he came to Carlingford, having summoned the place, both the three Castles and the Fort commanding the Harbour were rendered to him. Wherein were about Forty Barrels of Powder, Seven Pieces of Cannon ; about a Thousand Muskets, and Five-hundred Pikes wanting twenty. In the entrance into the Harbour, Captain Fern, aboard your man-of-war, had some danger ; being much shot at from the Sea Fort, a bullet shooting through his main-mast. The Captain's entrance into that Harbour was a considerable adventure, and a good service ; as also was that of Captain Brandly, who, with Forty seamen, stormed a very strong Tenalia at Treda, and helped to take it ; for which he deserves an owning by you.
Venables marched from Carlingford, with a party of Horse and Dragoons, to the Newry ; leaving the place, and it was yielded before his Foot came up to him. Some other informations I have received from him, which promise well towards your Northern Interest ; which, if well prosecuted, will, I trust God, render you a good account of those parts. I have sent those things to be presented to the Council of State for their consideration. I pray God, as these mercies flow in upon you, He will give you an heart to improve them to His glory alone ; because He alone is the author of them, and of all the goodness, patience and long-suffering extending towards you. Your army has marched ; and, I believe, this night lieth at Arklow, in the County of Wicklow, by the Sea-side, between thirty and forty miles from this place. I am this day, by God’s blessing, going towards it. I crave your pardon for this trouble; and rest, your most humble servant, OLIVER CROMWELL.
P.S. I desire the Supplies moved for may be hastened. I am verily persuaded, though the burden be great, yet it is for your service. If the Garrisons we take swallow-up your men, how shall we be able to keep the field? Who knows but the Lord may pity England's sufferings, and make a short work of this? It is in His hand to do it, and therein only your servants rejoice. I humbly present the condition of Captain George Jenkin's Widow. He died presently after Tredah Storm. His Widow is in great want.
The following Officers and Soldiers were slain at the storming of Tredah: Sir Arthur Ashton, Governor; Sir Edmund Varney, Lieutenant-Colonel to Ormond’s Regiment; Colonel Fleming, Lieutenant-Colonel Finglass, Major Fitzgerald, with eight Captains, eight Lieutenants, and eight Cornets, all of Horse; Colonels Warren, Wall, and Byrn, of Foot, with their Lieutenants, Majors, etc; the Lord Taaff’s Brother, an Augustine Friar; forty-four Captains, and all their Lieutenants, Ensigns, etc; 220 Reformadoes and Troopers; 2,500 Foot-soldiers, besides the Staff-Officers, Surgeons, etc.'
This misfit had another meeting with his lucky date - 3rd September - in 1658, when he was collected from this Earth by his maker.
A pity he was spawned at all.
'IN ANSWER TO CHURCH AND STATE AND IN DEFENCE OF IRISH REPUBLICANISM...'
Address to the Annual General Meeting of Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive) in Cootehill, County Cavan, on Sunday, November 22nd, 1987, by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Uachtarán, Sinn Féin Poblachtach.
Comhaírle Uladh AGM, November 22nd, 1987.
But this country of ours can never be put to right until Britain withdraws her armed forces and administration from Ireland and recognises the right of the Irish people acting as a unit to determine their own future. Such is the recognised right of all peoples and the Irish have fought for it longer than most.
Irish republicanism has a high and honourable tradition. For close on two centuries it has called forth unstinting and unselfish service for the freedom of Ireland and the complete social, economic and cultural emancipation of the Irish people.
It still represents the only realistic alternative to the present colonial and neo-colonial morass which engulfs the Irish people.
It seeks to put the people, individually and collectively, in control of their own affairs in their own country. Republican Sinn Féin is confident that such an ideal will yet triumph. (END of 'In Answer To Church And State And In Defence Of Irish Republicanism' : NEXT - 'Beir Bua', from 1998.)
Our families are taking a winter break in a few days time and heading off for a multi-trip 10-day-or-so 'staycation' ('staycaution', more like it..!) and meself and the Girl Gang are doing the same ; altogether, including the children and grandchildren and the '1169' team and the Girls, there'll be twenty-eight of us, in a large, colourful and noisey convoy and, I'm told, we'll be decimatin......visiting (!) Waterford first, then heading to Galway, with a stop or two in between.
Scheduled stops, that is, but sure it's a long road that has no turnin', and we might happen across a little lay-by or two on the way!
Anyway. What has this got to do with you? Feck all, really, 'cepting for the fact that if the '1169' team are there (wherever "there" turns out to be!), we can't be here!
We don't expect to be back in Dublin (...most of them/us [that's my trans moment over..], hopefully!) until maybe between the tenth and twelfth of October, so we probably won't be in a position to post anything on the blog until at least Wednesday 18th October 2023.
I'll maybe still be a-rantin'-and-a-ravin' on Facebook and 'X', so ya could catch me there!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading : hope to see ye all on the 18th October 2023!
Sharon and the team.
The 'score' from this particular sporting occasion was 2 - 0, and it's an 'outing' that is still being talked about in Irish republican circles...!
In the mid-19th Century in Ireland, these two sniveling con-men managed to financially secure themselves, and their family members, at the expense of honest people who took them at their word...
Westminster demanded that an 'Oath of Allegiance' to their 'monarch' be agreed to by Irish republicans, who - rightly - wouldn't do so. But then a crack in the Movement developed, and those who were once dependable activists fell through it...
New families, but family support not to hand ; green-field sites, usually miles from any infrastructural support networks. Living beside strangers with the same concerns. Expensive 'pressure cookers'...
An English madman in Ireland, armed and supported by Westminster, left his mark in blood but someone marked his true presence in ink...
We'll be giving a bit more detail re the above snippets on Wednesday, 27th September 2023, so if you're over this side of the interweb on the 27th, do check in on us, won't ya...!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading : hope to see ye all on the 27th!
Sharon and the team.
