ON THIS DATE (28TH FEBRUARY) 224 YEARS AGO : "ON THE BRIDGE OF TOOME TODAY..."
'O see the fleet-foot host of men, who march with faces drawn,
From farmstead and from fishers' cot, along the banks of Ban;
They come with vengeance in their eyes. Too late! Too late are they,
For young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today...' (From here.)
'Upon Friday last, a most awful procession took place here, namely the execution of Roger McCorley who was lately convicted at a court-martial, to the place of execution, Toome Bridge, the unfortunate man having been born in that neighbourhood.
As a warning to others, it is proper to observe that the whole of his life was devoted to disorderly proceedings of every kind, for many years past, scarcely a Quarter-sessions occurred but what the name of Roger McCorley appeared in a variety of criminal cases.
His body was given up to dissection* and afterwards buried under the gallows...thus of late we have got rid of six of those nefarious wretches who have kept this neighbourhood in the greatest misery for some time past...'
- from the 'Belfast Newsletter' newspaper, 4th March 1800 (*..a 'politically correct' way of attempting to describe what had actually happened - Roddy McCorley's body was removed from the scaffold and, in front of the hundreds of on-lookers, was disembowelled.
The various parts were swept up and disposed of in a hole under the scaffold, at the rise of the bridge, where those going from Antrim to Derry and back again would be forever minded that such was the fate of those "nefarious wretches" who dared stand up to Westminster.
Those body parts lay there for fifty-two years).
However, the British exposed their own 'nefariousness' by presenting McCorley as a common criminal, a 'felon', yet prosecuting him at a military court martial rather than through the 'assizes' criminal system, which was where those they considered to be 'common criminals' were given 'justice'.
Anyway - that same 'newspaper' ('The Belfast Newsletter') had, one month earlier, published a 'letter to the editor' (signed as being from 'A Christian') in which Roddy McCorley was mentioned as being one of "..a knot of ruffians, who so lately infested the neighbourhood of Ballymena..(guilty of)..murders of the deepest dye, robberies and burglaries of the most calamitous kind.."
No change there, then, from those pro-British elements in this country - destroy the character first to make it easier to 'destroy' the person.
A depiction of the murder of Roddy McCorley, 28th February, 1800 - 224 years ago on this date.
Roddy McCorley was an Irish republican activist who was active in 1798 (considered to be "a common rebel", not a leadership figure, and is known to have continued on the fight afterwards until he was captured), a part he would have played even if he had not witnessed his father being put to death by the British for allegedly stealing sheep - the man was one of many hungry Irish 'peasants' murdered by Westminster as an 'example to other Irish troublemakers' : this 'sheepstealer' was a miller by trade, and was proud of his membership of 'The Defenders' - after he was 'given justice' by the British, his wife (a Protestant woman, from the McErlean family) and children were evicted from their hovel.
Roddy McCorley was unfortunate enough to be 'arrested', as he attempted to flee the country, in what the 'authorities' called "a clampdown on a notorious band of outlaws" which, they claimed, was led by Thomas Archer, from Ballymena in Antrim, who had left the notorious 'Antrim Militia', a proper 'band of outlaws' which had been assembled by Westminster in 1793 to 'put down' any inkling of rebellion by the Irish or, as the British put it - "the horrible and unnatural rebellion" (!)
Fifty-two years after he was 'dissected' by the British, his nephew Hugh McCorley found himself in charge of a construction crew who were working on a new bridge across the River Bann, in roughly the same location where the 'common criminal' was put to death in 1800 - he recovered the remains and gave them a proper burial in the graveyard at Duneane Parish, in County Antrim, but left the grave unmarked ; no doubt because he was aware of just what the ghouls in Westminster were capable of.
'The aged persons were telling the tales of bygone feuds and their consequences, and of chiefs who fell victims to their own folly. They were telling of the valiant youths hanged at Toome in those days, and pointed to the very trees on which they had atoned for their rebellious crimes. The young, with the interest peculiar to their years, were listening attentively, and gazed with awe as the stones were removed and the bones presented to view, of him who has been the subject of song, which has kept fresh in his country's memory the events of his short life and his sad end, having been cut down in maturity and vigour of life, before the eyes of those nearest related to him in this world...'
And so it continues to this day - the lives and times of those who stood here before us being relayed to those who will stand here after us.
'SINN FÉIN NOTES...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
The most urgent need at the moment is to ensure that sufficient funds will be available for the nomination of all 12 candidates and the expenses entailed by publicity during the campaign.
The Committee urges all Cumann to make an all-out effort to organise committees in every parish throughout the country so that the Ulster people will know when the election takes place that the whole nation is with them in their demand for freedom.
These committees should consider ways and means of raising money most suitable to their particular district and need not be confined to members of Sinn Féin.
Local Government Elections :
Sinn Féin candidates will be nominated for Cork City Corporation, County Council and Urban Councils. Arrangements are being made to hold conventions to select candidates...
(MORE LATER.)
A sad, lonely entry, recorded here for the (internet) record(/'tag') :
On the 28th February, 1919, a pensioner, Thomas Meehan, died after being struck by a British Army vehicle in Dublin.
We were unable to find out more about the poor man.
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On the 28th February, 1919, a 20-year-old (Canadian) 'Royal' Air Force pilot ('54th Squadron'), Llyod Lyon, lost his life in Dublin Bay, when his plane fell 9,000 feet.
Three airplanes had left Chester, in England, to fly to Baldonnell, in County Dublin but, as they neared their target, Mr Lyon's airplane developed engine trouble and he was forced to land in Dublin Bay, where the plane sank.
It is known that the pilot survived the crash, but drowned afterwards.
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SO, FAREWELL THEN, CELTIC TIGER....
It had to happen, sooner or later.
Most of the pundits and economists were too busy singing the Celtic Tiger's praises to notice, but a few critical observers worried all along about the weaknesses of a boom economy that depended so much on a few companies from one place - the United States.
By Denis O'Hearn.
From 'Magill' Annual 2002.
When economic growth continued, the name 'Celtic Tiger' stuck.
It came to signify a highly successful economic model that other developing countries might want to emulate.
Yet the usual explanations of Irish economic growth are debatable - most economists say that growth came from restraints on public spending, social partnership agreements that assured wage restraint and flexible labour (a nice term for weak trade unions and no job security), two decades of educating more engineers than we needed, and a generally stable macroeconomic environment.
EU economists use Ireland to support their orthodox economic mantra : if a country maximises the openness of its trade, gets the macroeconomics right and encourages labour flexibility, it will achieve rapid economic growth.
They prescribe the same neoliberal medicine for the 'convergence countries' (Spain, Portugal,Greece) and the 'accession countries' (Poland, Hungary, etc).
The IMF has used Ireland in pretty much the same way as an example for countries of the global South...
(MORE LATER.)
The 1920's in Ireland didn't only see the armed battles continue between Irish republicans and British forces in the country, but ensured that the 'pen and paper' battle between British 'Civil Servants' and Irish republican administration staff intensified, and sometimes armed British soldiers were used as scab labour to replace workers who were on strike.
This example is from 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper of the 14th July, 1919 -
'FARM-LABOURERS OUT.
Haymaking and Work at a Standstill in Kildare and Meath.
Owing to a dispute between farmers and labourers of Kildare and Meath, about 2,000 of the later are now on strike. Work on the land is accordingly at a stand-still.
The seriousness of the position will be realised now that thousands of acres of hay are in danger of being lost. Women workers, out of sympathy with the men, decline to assist farmers at this work, offers of 2s. an hour providing unavailing. On a farm in the vicinity of the Curragh Camp on Saturday military officers were seen haymaking.
A load of grains going from Hazelhatch station to a farmhouse was upset on the road by strikers. Pickets from the Transport Union, to which the men belong, are active in the various districts.
Within a radius of 5 miles of Celbridge practically all farm labourers are out. In a few cases employers granted the demands made by the Union. There is presently no prospect of a settlement of the matters in dispute...'
On the 28th February, 1920, labourers at Naas Urban District Council (UDC) went on strike for better pay and working conditions, as did the workers at Naas Waterworks and, once again, British Army scabs were called in - 'Royal Engineers' from the Curragh Camp took over the jobs in the Waterworks.
In March 1920, the members of Naas UDC issued a strong condemnation of the murder of Lord Mayor McCurtain in Cork "who was foully done to death because of his life's work and continuous sacrifices on behalf of his country's independence..."
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On the 28th February, 1920, as a group of five armed British Army soldiers were making their way to their barracks in Rushbrooke, 'Queenstown' (Cobh) in County Cork, near the Bunker Hill area, they were approached by another group of men - IRA Volunteers.
The five soldiers were relieved of their weaponry but, after they handed them over, one of them - a 20-year-old Private, William Henry Newman (Number 123987, a member of the 'Sherwood Foresters'), from Nottingham, in England tried to run away and was shot by an IRA man, and seriously wounded.
Private Newman died the next day, at 5.35am, from his wound.
Mr Newman had enlisted in the British Army on the 8th August, 1918, and was 'mobilised' on the 24th of that month, 'serving', at first, with the 51st ('Young Soldier') Battalion Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment.
He was sent out to France on the 10th March 1919, left Germany on the 28th August 1919 and arrived in Ireland on the 2nd September 1919. His four colleagues were released, unharmed, on that faithful day, as it was only their weapons that the IRA wanted.
The coroner’s inquest did not return a verdict of 'murder'.
==========================
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.)
ROBERT EMMET AND THE IRELAND OF TODAY...
"It is not that we are apostles of hate.
Who like us has carried Christ's word of charity about the earth?
But the Christ that said, "My peace I leave you, My peace I give you," is the same Christ that said, "I bring not peace, but a sword.”
There can be no peace between the right and wrong, between the truth and falsehood, between justice and oppression, between freedom and tyranny. Between them it is eternal war until the wrong is righted, until the true thing is established, until justice is accomplished, until freedom is won.
So when England talks of peace we know our answer : "Peace with you? Peace while your one hand is at our throat and your other hand is in our pocket?
Peace with a footpad? Peace with a pickpocket? Peace with the leech that is sucking our body dry of blood?
Peace with the many-armed monster whose tentacles envelop us while its system emits an inky fluid that shrouds its work of murder from the eyes of men?
The time has not yet come to talk of peace..."
(MORE LATER.)
In late February, 1921, Cork Number 1 Brigade of the IRA give orders to the two City battalions to shoot any British soldiers found out of barracks in Cork City, without regard for whether the enemy soldiers were armed or unarmed or in uniform or in civilian clothes.
On the evening of the 28th February, the orders were carried out ; between around 7pm and midnight, six enemy combatants were shot dead.
Private John Beattie of the Hampshire Regiment of the British Army was shot around 7pm on the Infirmary Rd, Private Thomas Wise of the 'Royal Army Service Corps' (RASC) was shot a little earlier near Grand Parade, Bandsman Albert Whitear and Signaller George Bowden were shot at the corner of Leycester's Lane and Glanmire Road (Bowden died immediately and Whitear died the following day) William Gill of the Hampshire Regiment was killed on Patrick's Street and another soldier injured, also around 7pm.
At about 8.15pm, Corporal Leonard Hodnett of the 'RASC' was shot on the Ballyvolane Road.
All Volunteers involved returned safely to base.
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On the 28th February, 1921, IRA Volunteers from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd West Cork Brigade (led by Battalion Commandant Jim Hurley) ambushed six RIC members near their barracks in Rosscarbery, in County Cork.
One RIC member - Alfred VG Brock (aged 31) from London - was shot in the stomach and died the following morning.
Mr Brock had seven months 'service' with the RIC, and originally worked as a labourer before joining the British Army, which he left for a 'career' with the RIC.
He 'made a name for himself' at what became known as 'The Battle at Burgatia House' where he was particularly 'gung-ho' about carrying out the 'queens writ' in this country and, apparently, some people didn't like the name he had 'made...'.
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On the 28th February, 1921, an IRA Volunteer in the Second Battalion area of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Northern Division (Glencolmcille and Kilcar region of Donegal), Mícheál O h-Ighne/Mícheál Ó hÉanaigh (Michael Heaney) was at home when he spotted a gang of British Black and Tans/Auxiliaries in his yard, about to raid his house.
He knew he was a wanted man and the raiders were coming to kill him, so he escaped from the house, heading for the cover of some sheds beside his home but was shot in the back and killed.
The 'County Inspector' later claimed that Mícheál O h-Ighne was shot when he pointed a shotgun at the RIC, while other reports state that he was shot by 'a soldier from the British Army's 'Rifle Brigade' who said that he seen him leaving an outhouse with two guns...'
This brave man is buried in the local Church Graveyard in Glencolmcille, and is the first IRA Volunteer listed on the Donegal 'Republican Roll of Honour'.
Rest In Peace, Volunteer Ó hÉanaigh.
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On the 28th February, 1921, the body of a man was found dead in a lane at Balreask on the outskirts of Navan, in County Meath.
He had been shot a number of times by men from the 2nd Meath Brigade, IRA. His name is unknown ('Michael O'Brien'?), but he is thought to have been from Scotland -
'As he finished, he dropped dead and fell on his back. I turned him over and took my handkerchief off his wrists. We left the scene, leaving him where he lay...the stranger was found next day. The RIC called on McLoughlin at his place of business and questioned him. He later attended the inquest and identified the body as that of the man who called the previous day and inquired about the IRA. The stranger spoke with a Scottish accent..' (...from here.)
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On the 28th February, 1921, Lieutenant Victor Bickersteth Murray, from Newcastle, in England (pictured), of the British Army's 'Cameron Highlanders', committed suicide on Spike Island, in County Cork.
His own people described him as "a 24-year-old veteran of the Great War" who, at the time that he shot himself in the chest, "was temporarily of an unsound mind..".
In 1921, Spike Island was the largest military prison operated by the British in Ireland (approximately 300 Irish republican prisoners and 900 internees were imprisoned there) and Mr Murray, an armed British military operative "of unsound mind" should not have been placed anywhere near other people. He should have been at home, under care.
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IRA Volunteer Richard Boyce was shot dead by a mixed party of British Army soldiers and RIC members for allegedly failing to halt when told to do so at Bawnmore, Ardpatrick, Co. Limerick, on the 28th February, 1921.
Volunteer Boyce was born at Bawnmore, Limerick, in 1894, and was educated at Broadford National School.
He joined the Volunteers in 1917 and served with 'B Company', and was an active Volunteer until he was shot down by Crown Forces.
'Always Ready To Serve The Cause Of Irish Freedom'.
Rest In Peace, Volunteer Boyce.
==========================
"In accordance with the terms of the Treaty approved by the majority of the Dáil, a meeting of representatives elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland was convened to formally endorse the Treaty and set up the Provisional Government. That Government was duly established.
Dublin Castle has been handed over to it, and the evacuation of the country* by the British forces was begun and is still in progress. It was intended to ascertain the will** of the Irish electorate at the earliest moment, and if this will sustained the Treaty to proceed with the drafting of an Irish *** Constitution.
The leaders of the minority party in the Dáil, however, contended that more time was needed for the electorate to form a correct judgment, and that the Constitution should be published before the election. An agreement to this effect was signed, and in conformity with it I went to London **** with the Minister for Home Affairs and secured that no election will be held during the three months' period agreed upon.
Since the last meeting the Cabinet decided it was advisable to discontinue the Belfast Boycott, with a view to instituting an era of good will with our dissident ***** fellow-countrymen in the North-East.
The object is not yet achieved, but we are hopeful that it will be. The Dáil Departments will function as hitherto until the election. The Provisional Government Departments have been actively functioning in harmony with them, and in the interests of peace and good order will continue to do so..."
- Mr Arthur Griffith (pictured), speaking in the Leinster House institution on the 28th February, 1922.
* - "the country" wasn't evacuated by British forces then, and they are still here today. In 1922, they were evacuating the Free State, not "the country".
** - not "the will" of the people, but the fear of the people : "immediate and terrible war...".
*** - "Irish Constitution" ? No, not unless the whole of Ireland had input into it. What Mr Griffith referenced was a Free State Constitution.
**** - London : the Free State's 'Mother Parliament', where issues effecting Irish politics had to be discussed and approved first.
***** - "dissident" meant the same then as it does today - Irish republicans who continue to campaign for a Free Ireland, not just a 'Free State' within Ireland.
(That speech was delivered to the 'Fourth Session of the Second Dáil' (Day One), 28th February 1922 - more here.)
Meanwhile, as Mr Griffith was unpacking his bags after his sojourn to London, a patrol of British 'Ulster Special Constabulary' members was attacked by Irish "dissidents" in York Street in Belfast (on the 28th February 1922) – there were no fatalities.
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Thanks for the visit, and for reading.
Sharon and the team.
We're dottin' the 't's' and a-crossin' the 'i's' or whatever on a 15-part post that we're getting ready for Wednesday, 28th February 2024, with one piece highlighting how the newly-minted (!) Staters had to have their proposed script approved by Westminster before they could talk about it to Irish republicans!
And we'll also have a few more words to say about the following -
The British savagely executed this Irishman and labeled him as "a common criminal" but had already exposed themselves as propagandists in doing so by the manner in which they prosecuted him...
From the 1900's - this young man, an RAF pilot, was 'flying high' over Dublin, nearing his destination, when his aircraft developed a problem and he was forced to crash land. He wasn't killed in the crash, but...
1920's in Ireland - these armed British Army soldiers didn't sign up to open, close, adjust and repair 'giant taps' or to maintain crops in the Irish countryside, and probably never seen themselves as union scabs either, but that's what they became...
In 1921, this RIC man, from England, 'made a name for himself' in one particular engagement with the IRA in Cork, and liked to 'trade' on it until, while out with his colleagues one day, his 'credit' ran out...
So don't forget us on Wednesday, 28th February 2024 - see y'all back here then!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading.
Sharon and the team.
On the 21st February, 1919, two-hundred-and-twenty workers went on strike at Fulton's Woolen Mill in Caledon, County Tyrone.
The strike was led by Irish republican activist Peadar O'Donnell and, even though the majority of the workers were unionist, they agreed that unity on the floor of the workplace was needed if they were to improve their pay and conditions.
The striking workers had joined the 'Irish Transport and General Workers Union' and held their ground for the first few weeks but, slowly, the comradeship splintered to the point that, after about one month, at least ninty of them had reluctantly returned to work, leaving about 130 still on the picket lines.
The Mill's management then hired scab workers from the 'Carsonite Ulster Workers Union' and divided the remaining strikers by offering loyalists on the picket their jobs back.
The strike collapsed in July 1919.
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'SINN FÉIN NOTES...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
Sinn Féin statement re IMRA :
"At a meeting of the National Executive of the 'Irish Monetary Reform Association' held on March 20th, 1955, Mr Liam Bolton, Vice-Chairman (sic),presiding, the following resolution was proposed by Liam Bolton and passed -
'1. That the National Executive of IMRA is prepared to accept the Constitution of Sinn Féin as issued to the Irish people.
2. We consider that on the financial issue the social and economic programme of Sinn Féin is not sufficiently specific, but we are prepared as individual members of Sinn Féin through our Cumann to work for full monetary control."
Northern Elections :
The Joint Election Committee met at Headquarters on Sunday, 6th March last, and the business of this Committee is to co-ordinate all the activities of the organisation in the election campaign...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 20th January, 1920, a British-proxy semi-political/military grouping, the 'Dublin Metropolitan Police', raided Number 4, Oakley Road, in Ranelagh, Dublin ('Cullenswood House'), where the then IRA Chief of Staff, Richard Mulcahy (pictured, a republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free State-poacher) lived.
The raid was led by DMP Deputy Inspector William Charles Forbes Redmond (who was assassinated by the IRA just over one year later, on the 21st January 1921 ; he was the DMP 'Assistant Commissioner' at the time), believed to be acting on information from a British spy in the IRA, a man named John Charles Byrne (38), from Romford, in Essex, England.
Mr Byrne 'traded' under a fictitious name, 'John Jameson', and was shot dead by the IRA on the 7th March, 1920, on the Ballymun Road in Dublin.
Richard Mulcahy was in the house on that day in January 1920, with Mr Michael Collins, and both would have been caught had it not been for a spy of their own ; a DMP Detective, a Mr James McNamara, heard about the raid as it was being organised and tipped-off one of his IRA contacts, a Mr Tomas Cullen who, along with IRA man Frank Thornton, rushed to Number 4 and got their men off the premises with minutes to spare.
On the 21st February that year (1920), the DMP raided the house again.
Richard Mulcahy was there, but managed to escape (dressed in his pyjamas!) but the raiders got their hands on IRA documents which, they claimed, contained "complete addresses of 3,000 members of the Dublin Brigade IRA."
But, whether or not they had those details, it didn't prevent the Dublin IRA from defending itself and its people against the British forces in Dublin, and Ireland.
==========================
SO, FAREWELL THEN, CELTIC TIGER....
It had to happen, sooner or later.
Most of the pundits and economists were too busy singing the Celtic Tiger's praises to notice, but a few critical observers worried all along about the weaknesses of a boom economy that depended so much on a few companies from one place - the United States.
By Denis O'Hearn.
From 'Magill' Annual 2002.
It is time to reassess the Celtic Tiger.
Two crucial questions bear examination ; the first is whether a Celtic Tiger could have ever been sustainable, and the second - and far more important question - is what are the social consequences of Irish growth or stagnation?
At the end of the 1980's the future of the southern Irish economy did not look good ; the economy was stagnant, unemployment was higher than anywhere in the European Union except possibly Spain, and the State was one of the most indebted in the world.
Socially, things appeared to be going from bad to worse as the State compounded economic miseries with an austerity programme that shut down or cut back many facilities for the poorest sections of the population.
By 1994, however, the economic growth rate rose to six per cent.
It was so high by EU standards that an article in Morgan Stanley's 'Euroletter' asked whether Ireland was now a Celtic Tiger, after the high-growth tiger economies of East Asia...
(MORE LATER.)
On the 21st February, 1921, a six-person RIC foot patrol was making its way, in single file, through the town of Maynooth, in County Kildare, at about 10pm, when they came under fire from an IRA Unit.
RIC 'Sergeant' Joseph Hughes (34), from Rathaspick, Wolfhill, near Ballylinan, in County Laois, fell to the ground, wounded, as his fellow gunmen ran for cover, firing as they went. The gun battle lasted for about ten minutes, after which the IRA withdrew from the scene.
The IRA Volunteers, from the Kilcock and Leixlip Companies, used shotguns, rifles and revolvers in the attack, hoping to replenish their stock with RIC weapons which, unfortunately, didn't happen this time.
RIC member Hughes worked as a miner as a 15-years-young youth, and then got a job as a postman, but joined the RIC in 1909, at about 23 years of age ; the bullet wound that he received that night killed him - the round hit him in the right jaw and exited at the back of his head.
That IRA operation had been planned by Paddy Mullaney, a national schoolteacher from Leixlip, in County Kildare, who had been appointed Officer Commanding of the 1st Kildare Battalion IRA in November 1920.
The inquest into the shooting found that RIC member Hughes had been killed "by armed rebels".
==========================
On the 21st February, 1921, 'The Freeman's Journal' newspaper announced that British forces in the area had released a 'proclamation' (signed by a Colonel-Commandant PCB Skinner) stating that fairs and markets in the districts of Bagnalstown, Carlow and Castledermot would not be going ahead due to the IRA attacks on roads and bridges in those areas.
The reason for such 'proclamations' was two-fold : to limit themselves as targets on 'Fair Days' and to try and turn the people against the IRA as 'instigators of the trouble caused'.
But, as a tactic, it failed, as the Movement went from strength to strength.
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On the 21st February, 1921, The IRA carried out an ambush on members of the Devonshire Regiment in Friary Street in Kilkenny City.
But the operation wasn't a success : IRA Volunteers Thomas Hennessy was shot dead and Michael Dermody died of his wounds on the 4th March (having been shot by Private Harley Turner and Lance Corporal Ernst Higgins, respectively), and a civilian, Tom Dollard, was shot dead by a British Army soldier, who claimed he thought Mr Dollard was an IRA man.
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On the 21st February, 1921, 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (pictured) delivered a speech in the British 'House of Commons' during which he stated that elections to the (British spawned) Dublin and Belfast political administrations would be held within two months, and also declared that "the 'Government of Ireland Act' (which partitioned Ireland) provides for the political unity of Ireland..." (!).
Mr Greenwood's colleagues, who disagreed with any type of 'United Ireland' sentiment from anyone, soon made their 'esteemed friend' aware of what they thought of his utterances : eight Conservative British Government Coalition MP's 'crossed the floor' (ie refused to support the 'Government of Ireland Act'), seven Liberal British Government MP's voted against their own administration, and eighty-eight of them showed their annoyance by abstaining from voting.
Poor Hamar was hammered!
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A shop owner in Rosslea, in County Fermanagh, a Mr George Lester, was well known locally as a 'bully boy', a loud mouth, and carried that attitude with him as he put on his 'Ulster Special Constabulary' ('USC') uniform to 'safeguard the Union' ; he was known to actually issue threats to Catholic children and adults, using his 'USC' membership and uniform as a 'shield'.
His constant attempted terrorising of local Catholic children and adults brought him to the attention of the local IRA Unit who, in a letter to him, advised him to calm down, but it didn't work - he continued treating the same demographic in the same manner.
On the 21st February, 1921, as he was opening up his shop for business, the IRA shot him, only wounding him - a warning to stop his bullying behaviour.
It was because of his hatred for Catholics that he was popular with his 'USC' colleagues and a gang of them assembled that same evening to 'avenge' the shooting of their friend ; the 'Specials' and their UVF colleagues drove into the village of Roslea, attacked and looted the priest's house, and burned down at least ten houses in which Catholics lived.
During their attack on the village, a 'USC' member, Samuel Finnegan, used the butt of his rifle to break open a house door but the weapon discharged, killing him instantly.
A few weeks later, in a single night, the IRA targeted about 16 houses where 'Specials' lived and killed three of them.
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In February, 1921, acting on information supplied to them, the British Crown Forces dismantled an IRA arms dump in Cork and removed the weapons that were stored in it.
An investigation by the IRA concluded that a Mr John Sheehan, from Kanturk, in County Cork, had given the location of the arms dump to the British and further inquiries revealed that he had briefed his mother not to open the door as it could be "the Sinn Feiners come for me...".
On the night of the 21st February 1921/early morning of the 22nd, the IRA took him in for questioning and he was shot dead by them in early March. His body was discovered on the 21st March (1921) with a notice beside it - "Spies, Traitors, Informers ; associate with the Military, Police and Black and Tans in Kanturk, you will be listed. Beware. IRA".
The IRA issued a statement saying - "During March 1921 a spy was found guilty of giving information to the enemy and was executed by members of the Kanturk Battalion".
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On the 21st February, 1921, The 'Judge Advocate General' of the British Army, a Mr Felix Cassel, wrote to the British Secretary of State for War*, a Mr Laming Worthington-Evans, voicing concern about the death sentence that was pronounced on an Irish rebel, Seán Allen (pictured), the previous month (January 1921).
Seán, from Bank Place in Tipperary, was a member of the Tipperary No.3 Brigade IRA and was convicted of possession of a revolver on the 19th January, 1921. Five of his comrades (Timothy McCarthy, Thomas O'Brien, Daniel O'Callaghan, John Lyons and Patrick O'Mahony), who were captured after the Dripsey ambush, were also sentenced to death by the British.
The 'Execute' ruling had been referred to the British 'High Court' to determine its legality, but that 'court' washed its hands of any responsibility in declaring that it had "...no power to interfere with the findings of a military court while war* was being waged..".
On the 28th February, 1921, all six Irish rebels were executed in the 'Military Detention Barracks' in Cork City by the British.
The IRA instructed its Volunteers to shoot any British Army soldiers that they came across in Cork, and twelve British Army men (some in plain clothes) were shot, of whom six died from their wounds.
(* - when it suited Westminster, it was a "war" it was fighting against the IRA, and when it suited them, it wasn't : it was 'a skirmish against terrorists...')
==========================
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.)
'WHY WE WANT RECRUITS'.
(Padraic H. Pearse, May 1915.)
"We do not anticipate such a moment in the very near future, but we live at a time when it may come swiftly and terribly.
What if Conscription be forced upon Ireland?
What if a Unionist or a Coalition British Ministry repudiate the Home Rule Act?
What if it be determined to dismember Ireland?
What if it be attempted to disarm Ireland?
The future is big with these and other possibilities.
And these are among the reasons why we want recruits."
ROBERT EMMET AND THE IRELAND OF TODAY.
(Padraic H. Pearse ; an address delivered at the Emmet Commemoration in the Aeolian Hall, New York, March 9th, 1914.)
"We who speak here to-night are the voice of one of the ancient indestructible things of the world. We are the voice of an idea which is older than any empire and will outlast every empire.
We and ours, the inheritors of that idea, have been at age-long war with one of the most powerful empires that have ever been built up upon the earth ; and that empire will pass before we pass. We are older than England and we are stronger than England. In every generation we have renewed the struggle, and so it shall be unto the end.
When England thinks she has trampled out our battle in blood, some brave man rises and rallies us again ; when England thinks she has purchased us with a bribe, some good man redeems us by a sacrifice.
Wherever England goes on her mission of empire we meet her and we strike at her : yesterday it was on the South African veldt, today it is in the Senate House at Washington, tomorrow it may be in the streets of Dublin.
We pursue her like a sleuth-hound ; we lie in wait for her and come upon her like a thief in the night : and some day we will overwhelm her with the wrath of God..."
(MORE LATER.)
The 1922 Ard Fheis of the Sinn Féin organisation was a somewhat testy affair, understandably, as some of the roughly 2,500 delegates present had already decided to accept the 'Treaty of Surrender' and were about to side with the British in fighting against the IRA and Irish Republicanism.
In the hope of remaining civil to each other at the Ard Fheis, both sides present agreed to abide by three rules -
'1. That no election would be held in next three months.
2. That that the Dáil (elected as a 32-County body) would continue to function as before the Treaty.
3. That a new Constitution would be put to the people at same time as they would be asked to vote on the Treaty.'
One of the pro-Treaty delegates, a Mr Denis McCullough, spoke about "their people in the North (who) were being murdered day by day" which, if anything, the Treaty he supported was going to prolong!
There were about 300 delegates present from Ulster, and they implored the Ard Fheis to "maintain unity", with the majority of those present assuming that the new Constitution would be republican in character (which it wasn't), if not in spirit (which, again, it wasn't).
In relation to 'Number 1', above, the author Diarmaid Ferriter was later to wisely opine that "...three months was a long time to allow events to drift.."
And, unfortunately, things have "drifted" ever since, for all, except traditional Irish republicans.
(More about the 1922 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis can be read here.)
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On the 21st February, 1922, the 'Irish Labour Party' held a conference at which it's secretary, Tom Johnson (pictured) welcomed the 'Treaty of Surrender' but condemned the pro and anti-Treaty sides in Sinn Féin, which is not really surprising as what passes for a 'Labour Party' here has not only never been a republican organisation but has, and is, a pro-State, pro-capitalism, anti-republican collection of individuals wanting to feather their own nests.
Well-suited for 'careers' in Leinster House, in other words.
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In late January 1922, the Free Staters began to change Irish society to suit their new 'respectable' image and, among other dispositions, the IRA Police were disbanded and a new (26 County) 'Civic Guard' was established.
The first commissioner of the new 'police force' was Michael Staines, from County Mayo, the first recruit was Patrick Joseph Kerrigan, also from Mayo, and the first serving member was Patrick McAvinia, from County Cavan. We've no idea on whose shoulders the first republican head they cracked rested.
And it has been all down hill since then...
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On the 21st February, 1922, the British Army barracks in Ennis, County Clare, was vacated by the foreign soldiers, as was the RIC Barracks in Ennis (on the 25th February), and both buildings were taken over by the IRA.
The vacated 'Ordnance Survey Building' in Ennis was abandoned by British civil servants and Free Staters, under the command of Michael Brennan (a republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free Stater) took it over.
In July that year (1922), the IRA were forced by the Staters to abandon both buildings, but torched them on exiting and, with both buildings no longer serviceable, the Staters had to rough-up a headquarters for themselves in the Corofin Workhouse (pictured)!
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On the 21st February, 1922, the IRA raided the house of former British Army officer, Leslie Huddlestone, at the Cairn, Ramelton, in County Donegal, looking for arms and ammunition.
2nd Lieutenant Joseph Duffy (from Milford, in County Donegal), D Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Northern Division of the IRA was in charge of the operation and, while attempting to gain entry to the house, the hall door was opened from the inside and one shot was fired - the bullet hit Lieutenant Duffy in the heart, killing him instantly.
The IRA later released a statement confirming that 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Duffy "...was engaged in an official raid for arms when he was shot and killed.."
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On the 21st February, 1922, British Army General Nevil Macready wrote a letter to 'Sir' Laming Worthington-Evans (pictured), the British Secretary of State for War, in which 'the Irish situation' was mentioned.
Mr Macready stated to Mr Worthington-Evans that it was his belief that "...it is quite possible that (Michael) Collins and company will have to fight for their lives, not only with the ballot boxes, but also with automatics and rifles.."
And sure no doubt he would have supplied Collins' Crew with more weapons with which to do so again...
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ON THIS DATE (21ST FEBRUARY) 48 YEARS AGO : IRISH REPUBLICAN 'BURIED' BY FREE STATERS UNDER SIX FEET OF CONCRETE.
'Exhumed in glory a November moon was drifting
And freedom's light aglow
When some IRA had gathered in a graveyard in Mayo.
Those brave Irish Freedom fighters
Who came together in the West
Had come to fill the promise to lay Frank Stagg at rest.'
'Frank Stagg was the seventh child in a family of thirteen children, born at Hollymount near Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, in 1942. Stagg was educated to primary level at Newbrooke Primary School and at CBS Ballinrobe to secondary level. After finishing his education, he worked as an assistant gamekeeper with his uncle prior to emigrating from Ireland to England in search of work. In England, Frank was employed as a bus conductor and later qualified as a bus driver. In 1970 he married Bridie Armstrong from Carnicon, Co Mayo.
He joined Sinn Féin in Luton in 1972 and shortly afterwards joined the IRA. Frank remained in touch with home and spent his annual holidays in Hollymount up to the year of his arrest and imprisonment in 1973.
In the words of his mother, "he never forgot he was Irish..." ' (From here.)
Frank Stagg had begun his fourth (and final) hunger strike in late 1975 - having been convicted under the notorious 'British Conspiracy Laws' - as it was the only 'weapon' he had at his disposal with which to impress on his British captors his desire to be repatriated to Ireland.
He died, blind and weighing just four stone, in Wakefield Prison on 12th February 1976, after 62 days on hunger strike.
His remains were hijacked by suited, uniformed and armed members of the State, acting under orders from FS Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and his 'Justice' Minister, Paddy Cooney - the airplane carrying his coffin was diverted from Dublin to Shannon and, when it landed, the Special Branch surrounded it and forcibly removed the coffin and buried it, supported by an armed escort, under six feet of concrete in Leigue Cemetery in Ballina, County Mayo, in a grave purchased by the Free Staters and which was located about 70 meters from the Republican Plot in that cemetery ; on that day - Saturday, 21st February, 1976, 48 years ago on this date - the Requiem Mass was boycotted by almost all his relatives.
We're putting the finishing touches to a 20-part post for Wednesday, 21st February 2024, in which we'll be mentioning loads of interesting stuff (!), including the following...
From 1922 - two high-ranking British politicians holding a discussion in which 'the Irish problem' is mentioned : one of them voices fear for Michael Collins and his administration in the Free State, declaring that "the ballot box" may not be enough to defeat the Irish rebels...
This Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in the 1920's proved, as expected, to be a somewhat lively affair, so 'rules of engagement' were agreed by the two different sides present. No blood was actually spilt, but it was a 'loud' meeting...
Westminster remains adamant to this day that there never was a "war situation" in Ireland in relation to their military and political 'presence' (!) here- rather it was, according to themselves, a "peace-keeping" exercise/mission against "terrorists". But this 1921 letter between their 'War Cabinet' declares otherwise...
A house raid in Dublin by pro-British forces in 1920 which was set-up by a British spy within the IRA and foiled by an IRA spy in the British camp...!
...so don't have us doing all this work and putting the effort in, and then not botherin' yer barney to check back with us. 'Cause if ya don't show up here on Wednesday, 21st February 2024, we'll send the boys around, righ'...?!!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading : see yis all on the 21st (...or else..)!
Sharon and the team.
