IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... declared an " illegal assembly " by Westminster in September 1919 , the all-Ireland Dail Eireann went 'underground' and continued to function .......
'Land Banks' were established , which lent money to 'tenant' farmers to assist them in buying their farms , and 'Land Courts' were set-up to deal with disputes . Also , 'Arbitration Courts' (also known as 'Peoples Courts') , which came to be known as 'Sinn Fein Courts' , were flourishing - it was estimated that as many as 900 Irish Republican Courts were by then in operation .
These Irish Republican Courts were used by the ordinary people who had by now stopped going to the RIC or to British 'Courts' . A British 'landlord' wrote of his attendance at one such 'Sinn Fein Court' , where a dispute between two men on 'his' estate had been referred for resolution -
- " Here is one instance of many . A man stole a lot of harness belonging to a small farmer in the neighbourhood . The Sinn Fein Court tried him , convicted him and sentenced him to restore the harness , carrying it all himself , and making him take off his shoes and stockings and perform the task walking over a very rough and stony road for five miles . "
The all-Ireland Dail Eireann , although forced by the British to operate 'in the shadows' , was going from strength to strength ; Westminster was aware of that fact .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(6 of 18).
" On July 13th , 1981 , we were shocked and dismayed to hear that Martin Hurson had been violently ill and had died unexpectedly and prematurely . The next significant development was the British government-sponsored intervention of the 'International Red Cross' (IRC) , which tried to initiate direct dialogue between the Brits and ourselves - the Brits rejected this and suggested mediation based on their July 8th statement , which was aimed at defeating us and unproductive , and we rejected this as futile .
We pointed out to the IRC that , as the Brits were not interested in an honourable settlement , their interest in the IRC must logically be to use them ; a Red Cross delegate asked for a further break-down of our July 4th statement and was initially refused . However , after discussion , we complied and issued the August 6th statement and asked the British government , the Dublin government , the SDLP and the Catholic Church to respond to our statement .
Soon Kieran Doherty , Kevin Lynch and Thomas McElwee were to be murdered by Britain ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(9 of 13).
When the case came before District Justice mcMenamin again in Donegal town on January 14th , 1987 , he again heard Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby question the validity of the Section 30 extension ; but Judge McMenamin dismissed the arguments and granted the extradition order . An appeal was immediately lodged in the High Court .
McIntyre's case was becoming something of a cause celebre ; on March 10th , 1987 , when the Dail (sic) met to elect a Taoiseach , Independent Donegal TD (sic) , Neil Blaney , demanded that the extradition arrangements between Britain and Ireland " ... be repealed so that in the interim a young county man of mine , by name McIntyre ...be not extradited ."
But when the case came before Mr Justice Gannon in the High Court last month (ie May 1987), Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby had further 'ammunition' - as well as the ruling in the McShane , McPhilips , Eccles (Drumree) case which included this phrase in relation to the person issuing extension orders ... "... is bona fide suspected by him of being involved in the offence for which he was arrested ... " , Gageby had the additional support of a Supreme Court ruling of April 3rd last .......
(MORE LATER).
('1169...' Comment - We would like to congratulate Republican Sinn Fein on its 100th Ard Fheis this weekend , Saturday 13th November and Sunday 14th November . It has been a long and hard road for RSF , but that's as it has always been ...)
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... at the first meeting of the 32-County Dail Eireann , in Dublin's Mansion House , on 21st January 1919 , Cathal Brugha was elected as ' Acting President ' in place of Eamonn de Valera , who was at that time still in a British jail ...
It should be noted that Eamonn de Valera had contested a seat in the 14th December 1918 General Election for the Falls constituency of Belfast but lost to local 'United Irish League' leader , Joe Devlin , by 8,488 votes to 3,245 .
However - in January 1919 , the First Dail met ; in September 1919 , the British declared Dail Eireann to be an " ...illegal assembly .." , and it was forced to go 'underground' . But 'underground' or not , it still functioned : Michael Collins and Harry Boland made plans to rescue de Valera from Lincoln Jail in England and , on 3rd February 1919 , after four cakes , each containing a key (!) had been sent into him , he escaped .
In April 1919 , Eamonn de Valera was elected by the Dail as 'Head of the Irish Government' ; finance was raised by selling 'Republican Bonds' and the Minister for Finance , Michael Collins , raised £358,000 in this manner .
A daily (or almost so !) 'News Bulletin' was published , meetings were held regularly , including a large gathering in Cork (in January 1920) organised by the 'Dail Commission on Irish Industrial Resources' which was attended by farmers , business people , shop-owners etc. and various experts in the 'produce market' .
The population were willing to show their support for the "...illegal.." all-Ireland Dail Eireann .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(5 of 18).
" On July 4th , 1981 , the 'Irish Commission for Justice and Peace' (ICJP) entered the H-Blocks and put proposals to the hunger-strikers ; they put the same proposals to Brendan McFarlane the next day .
On July 8th , 1981 , Joe McDonnell died and the British Government issued their policy statement . We released a statement rejecting the British Government's statement and ambiguous proposals as even less than what we were originally led to believe was offered via the ICJP .
We also rejected the ICJP's proposals which totally evaded the crux of the issue and we expressed our belief that the British Government had used the ICJP to foster the impression that a settlement was imminent . Westminster's renegal on their own commitment to the ICJP compounded our belief that the ICJP were being used .
Later , the ICJP itself dismissed the British Government's proposals as not a genuine attempt at a settlement ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(8 of 13).
Chief Superintendent Patrick Murphy left the witness box ; defence counsel Patrick Gageby did'nt even attempt to smile ; but he did believe that 'the door had been left ajar' ...
Early last year Patrick Gageby and Anne Rowland had unsuccessfully appealed the three convictions of County Louth men in the Drumree Post Office murder trial - Garda Frank Hand had been killed in an armed robbery .
In the Court of Criminal Appeal , however , Gageby had spotted one sentence and quietly filed it away . He now suggested that Chief Superintendent Murphy had not informed the court of his state of mind when signing the extension order ; it had not been proven that the garda officer had the requisite mental element to justify the detention .
State Solicitor Ciaran McLoughlin was quickly on his feet trying to answer the point ; District Justice McMenamin adjourned the hearing to consider this and other legal matters raised .......
(MORE LATER).
....... at the first meeting of the 32-County Dail Eireann , in Dublin's Mansion House , on 21st January 1919 , Cathal Brugha was elected as ' Acting President ' in place of Eamonn de Valera , who was at that time still in a British jail ...
It should be noted that Eamonn de Valera had contested a seat in the 14th December 1918 General Election for the Falls constituency of Belfast but lost to local 'United Irish League' leader , Joe Devlin , by 8,488 votes to 3,245 .
However - in January 1919 , the First Dail met ; in September 1919 , the British declared Dail Eireann to be an " ...illegal assembly .." , and it was forced to go 'underground' . But 'underground' or not , it still functioned : Michael Collins and Harry Boland made plans to rescue de Valera from Lincoln Jail in England and , on 3rd February 1919 , after four cakes , each containing a key (!) had been sent into him , he escaped .
In April 1919 , Eamonn de Valera was elected by the Dail as 'Head of the Irish Government' ; finance was raised by selling 'Republican Bonds' and the Minister for Finance , Michael Collins , raised £358,000 in this manner .
A daily (or almost so !) 'News Bulletin' was published , meetings were held regularly , including a large gathering in Cork (in January 1920) organised by the 'Dail Commission on Irish Industrial Resources' which was attended by farmers , business people , shop-owners etc. and various experts in the 'produce market' .
The population were willing to show their support for the "...illegal.." all-Ireland Dail Eireann .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(5 of 18).
" On July 4th , 1981 , the 'Irish Commission for Justice and Peace' (ICJP) entered the H-Blocks and put proposals to the hunger-strikers ; they put the same proposals to Brendan McFarlane the next day .
On July 8th , 1981 , Joe McDonnell died and the British Government issued their policy statement . We released a statement rejecting the British Government's statement and ambiguous proposals as even less than what we were originally led to believe was offered via the ICJP .
We also rejected the ICJP's proposals which totally evaded the crux of the issue and we expressed our belief that the British Government had used the ICJP to foster the impression that a settlement was imminent . Westminster's renegal on their own commitment to the ICJP compounded our belief that the ICJP were being used .
Later , the ICJP itself dismissed the British Government's proposals as not a genuine attempt at a settlement ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(8 of 13).
Chief Superintendent Patrick Murphy left the witness box ; defence counsel Patrick Gageby did'nt even attempt to smile ; but he did believe that 'the door had been left ajar' ...
Early last year Patrick Gageby and Anne Rowland had unsuccessfully appealed the three convictions of County Louth men in the Drumree Post Office murder trial - Garda Frank Hand had been killed in an armed robbery .
In the Court of Criminal Appeal , however , Gageby had spotted one sentence and quietly filed it away . He now suggested that Chief Superintendent Murphy had not informed the court of his state of mind when signing the extension order ; it had not been proven that the garda officer had the requisite mental element to justify the detention .
State Solicitor Ciaran McLoughlin was quickly on his feet trying to answer the point ; District Justice McMenamin adjourned the hearing to consider this and other legal matters raised .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... after the 1918 Election , Sinn Fein MP's refused to take their seats in Westminster (or any financial gain from same) ...
Instead , they convened the first meeting of Dail Eireann (a 32-County body) in Dublin's Mansion House on 21st January 1919 ; all those elected in Ireland were invited to attend same but the Unionist MP's refused , as did those elected under the banner of a so-called 'United Irish League' (UIL) - the parliamentary nationalists ( ie John Redmond's men ) .
In the Mansion House that day , 37 of the 73 Sinn Fein TD's (referred to as 'MP's' in Westminster) made a 'Declaration of Independence' (Note : the remaining 36 Sinn Fein TD's were still in British jails) -
- " We , the elected representatives of the ancient Irish people in National Parliament assembled , do , in the name of the Irish nation , ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this declaration effective by every means at our command...
We ordain that the elected representatives of the Irish people alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland and that the Irish Parliament is the only parliament to which that people will give its allegiance . We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English garrison ..."
Cathal Brugha was elected as 'Acting President' in place of Eamonn de Valera who was still in a British prison .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(4 of 18).
" On June 11th , 1981 , nine Irish Republican prisoners stood in the Southern general election ; of these , Paddy Agnew topped the poll in Louth , and Kieran Doherty was elected for the Cavan/Monaghan constituency . In the other seven areas the prisoners polled exceedingly well considering the lack of organisation and the short period of time there was to organise the election campaign .
The ordinary people of the South cast their votes in thousands : in Cavan/Monaghan , Kieran Doherty polled first preference 9,121 (15 per cent) ; Paddy Agnew , Louth , 8,368 (18 per cent) ; Joe McDonnell , Sligo/Leitrim , 5,634 ; Martin Hurson , Longford/Westmeath , 4,573 (10 per cent) ; Sean McKenna , Kerry North , 3,860 ; Kevin Lynch , Waterford , 3,337 ; Tony O'Hara , Dublin West , 3,034 ; Mairead Farrell , Cork North Central , 2,751 , and Tom McAllister , Clare , 2,120 .
On July 4th , 1981 , we issued a major policy statement outlining our five demands , and emphasising the fact that we wanted our five demands to be available for all prisoners (rejecting an assertion to the contrary , made by the British , which we regarded as nonsense and a red herring to justify the barbarity of the British government ) .
This statement was almost universally accepted as 'remarkably conciliatory' . "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(7 of 13).
About one hundred Sinn Fein protestors shouted abuse outside the court as Patrick McIntyre was escorted from a prison vehicle ; in the melee , nobody noticed three plainclothes detectives sliding another man past - RUC member Robert Herron . He was needed to identify Patrick McIntyre .
As he rose to speak , Sinn Fein members immediately headed for the exits but gardai told them the doors would have to be kept closed . Then , his identity unknown to those outside , the RUC man was discreetly and safely brought past the crowds before the hearing ended . Chief Superintendent Patrick Murphy was in the witness box - a stranger to the area , he had been transferred from Limerick to Letterkenny , in Donegal , on promotion the previous October .
Murphy gave evidence of signing the Section 30 Extension Order for a second 24 hour period . State Solicitor Ciaran McLoughlin asked him nothing further . District Justice McMenamin had no questions , and Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby kept quiet .......
(MORE LATER).
....... after the 1918 Election , Sinn Fein MP's refused to take their seats in Westminster (or any financial gain from same) ...
Instead , they convened the first meeting of Dail Eireann (a 32-County body) in Dublin's Mansion House on 21st January 1919 ; all those elected in Ireland were invited to attend same but the Unionist MP's refused , as did those elected under the banner of a so-called 'United Irish League' (UIL) - the parliamentary nationalists ( ie John Redmond's men ) .
In the Mansion House that day , 37 of the 73 Sinn Fein TD's (referred to as 'MP's' in Westminster) made a 'Declaration of Independence' (Note : the remaining 36 Sinn Fein TD's were still in British jails) -
- " We , the elected representatives of the ancient Irish people in National Parliament assembled , do , in the name of the Irish nation , ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this declaration effective by every means at our command...
We ordain that the elected representatives of the Irish people alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland and that the Irish Parliament is the only parliament to which that people will give its allegiance . We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English garrison ..."
Cathal Brugha was elected as 'Acting President' in place of Eamonn de Valera who was still in a British prison .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(4 of 18).
" On June 11th , 1981 , nine Irish Republican prisoners stood in the Southern general election ; of these , Paddy Agnew topped the poll in Louth , and Kieran Doherty was elected for the Cavan/Monaghan constituency . In the other seven areas the prisoners polled exceedingly well considering the lack of organisation and the short period of time there was to organise the election campaign .
The ordinary people of the South cast their votes in thousands : in Cavan/Monaghan , Kieran Doherty polled first preference 9,121 (15 per cent) ; Paddy Agnew , Louth , 8,368 (18 per cent) ; Joe McDonnell , Sligo/Leitrim , 5,634 ; Martin Hurson , Longford/Westmeath , 4,573 (10 per cent) ; Sean McKenna , Kerry North , 3,860 ; Kevin Lynch , Waterford , 3,337 ; Tony O'Hara , Dublin West , 3,034 ; Mairead Farrell , Cork North Central , 2,751 , and Tom McAllister , Clare , 2,120 .
On July 4th , 1981 , we issued a major policy statement outlining our five demands , and emphasising the fact that we wanted our five demands to be available for all prisoners (rejecting an assertion to the contrary , made by the British , which we regarded as nonsense and a red herring to justify the barbarity of the British government ) .
This statement was almost universally accepted as 'remarkably conciliatory' . "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(7 of 13).
About one hundred Sinn Fein protestors shouted abuse outside the court as Patrick McIntyre was escorted from a prison vehicle ; in the melee , nobody noticed three plainclothes detectives sliding another man past - RUC member Robert Herron . He was needed to identify Patrick McIntyre .
As he rose to speak , Sinn Fein members immediately headed for the exits but gardai told them the doors would have to be kept closed . Then , his identity unknown to those outside , the RUC man was discreetly and safely brought past the crowds before the hearing ended . Chief Superintendent Patrick Murphy was in the witness box - a stranger to the area , he had been transferred from Limerick to Letterkenny , in Donegal , on promotion the previous October .
Murphy gave evidence of signing the Section 30 Extension Order for a second 24 hour period . State Solicitor Ciaran McLoughlin asked him nothing further . District Justice McMenamin had no questions , and Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby kept quiet .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, November 08, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... despite trying to 'fix' the outcome of the 1918 Election , the British lost badly after same in Ireland ...
After that election , the 'Unionist Party' held 26 seats (+8) , the 'Home Rulers' (IPP/INP) held 6 seats (-62) , no 'Independent' candidates were re-elected , and the then Sinn Fein Party held 73 seats (+66).
It should be noted that Sinn Fein made its position clear before and during the 1918 Election campaign - of boycotting Westminster and establishing an independent parliament for Ireland . In the 9 Counties of Ulster , the Unionists won 22 of the 37 constituencies , with a total vote of 265,111 compared to a total vote of 177,557 anti-Unionist votes .
If those figures are broke down to the now British-occupied Six Counties of Antrim , Armagh , Derry , Down , Fermanagh and Tyrone , it can be seen that the pro-Unionist vote won the day with a majority of just over two-to-one : 255,819 to 116,888.
However ; the newly-elected Sinn Fein 'MP's' refused to go to Westminster (and did not pocket their wages or expenses ...) , as per their election manifesto - the British were uneasy with these developments .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(3 of 18).
" The 'European Commission on Human Rights' (ECHR) delegation came to Long Kesh and Bobby Sands said he would meet them providing Brendan McFarlane , O/C of the prisoners , Mr. Gerry Adams , and Mr. Danny Morrison were present . This reasonable proviso was refused and the ECHR left Long Kesh . Bobby Sands released a statement that night attacking Charles Haughey for un-scrupulously exploiting his family's anxiety to cover his own inactivity .
On May 5th , 1981 , Bobby Sands died on hunger-strike , murdered by British callousness and vindictiveness . Frank Hughes , Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara were soon to follow Bobby to the grave .
And still the British Government remained steadfastly and inhumanly inflexible ..."
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(6 of 13).
The legal defence was prepared in the tiny rooms over a swop-shop along Ormond Quay , near the Four Courts , in Dublin , where solicitor Anne Rowland , a native of Ballina , County Mayo , set up her own firm five years ago . Her penchant is for the cut and thrust of criminal cases .
On accepting the McIntyre brief , she immediately sought out barrister Patrick Gageby - they had worked together before ; Evelyn Glenhomes and Gerard Tuite were among those they had represented . Rowland and Gageby immediately agreed that their defence case would focus on the circumstances of McIntyre's arrest and detention .
They were told that an extradition application would come before District Justice Liam McMenamin at Ballyshannon District Court on January 7th last . Before leaving for County Donegal , Rowland put the state on notice that she would require in court the garda who performed the Section 30 arrest and the Garda Officer who signed the order extending Patrick McIntyre's detention for a second 24 hour period .......
(MORE LATER).
....... despite trying to 'fix' the outcome of the 1918 Election , the British lost badly after same in Ireland ...
After that election , the 'Unionist Party' held 26 seats (+8) , the 'Home Rulers' (IPP/INP) held 6 seats (-62) , no 'Independent' candidates were re-elected , and the then Sinn Fein Party held 73 seats (+66).
It should be noted that Sinn Fein made its position clear before and during the 1918 Election campaign - of boycotting Westminster and establishing an independent parliament for Ireland . In the 9 Counties of Ulster , the Unionists won 22 of the 37 constituencies , with a total vote of 265,111 compared to a total vote of 177,557 anti-Unionist votes .
If those figures are broke down to the now British-occupied Six Counties of Antrim , Armagh , Derry , Down , Fermanagh and Tyrone , it can be seen that the pro-Unionist vote won the day with a majority of just over two-to-one : 255,819 to 116,888.
However ; the newly-elected Sinn Fein 'MP's' refused to go to Westminster (and did not pocket their wages or expenses ...) , as per their election manifesto - the British were uneasy with these developments .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(3 of 18).
" The 'European Commission on Human Rights' (ECHR) delegation came to Long Kesh and Bobby Sands said he would meet them providing Brendan McFarlane , O/C of the prisoners , Mr. Gerry Adams , and Mr. Danny Morrison were present . This reasonable proviso was refused and the ECHR left Long Kesh . Bobby Sands released a statement that night attacking Charles Haughey for un-scrupulously exploiting his family's anxiety to cover his own inactivity .
On May 5th , 1981 , Bobby Sands died on hunger-strike , murdered by British callousness and vindictiveness . Frank Hughes , Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara were soon to follow Bobby to the grave .
And still the British Government remained steadfastly and inhumanly inflexible ..."
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(6 of 13).
The legal defence was prepared in the tiny rooms over a swop-shop along Ormond Quay , near the Four Courts , in Dublin , where solicitor Anne Rowland , a native of Ballina , County Mayo , set up her own firm five years ago . Her penchant is for the cut and thrust of criminal cases .
On accepting the McIntyre brief , she immediately sought out barrister Patrick Gageby - they had worked together before ; Evelyn Glenhomes and Gerard Tuite were among those they had represented . Rowland and Gageby immediately agreed that their defence case would focus on the circumstances of McIntyre's arrest and detention .
They were told that an extradition application would come before District Justice Liam McMenamin at Ballyshannon District Court on January 7th last . Before leaving for County Donegal , Rowland put the state on notice that she would require in court the garda who performed the Section 30 arrest and the Garda Officer who signed the order extending Patrick McIntyre's detention for a second 24 hour period .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, November 05, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... in the 1918 General Election in Ireland , Nationalist/Republican candidates won almost three-quarters of all the Irish seats in Westminster .......
Many of those elected were still in British prisons after the 'German Plot' arrests earlier that same year (ie May 1918) . John Redmond's 'Irish Parliamentary Party' won only six seats , despite the 'backhanded' assistance given to that Party by the then British Prime Minister , Lloyd George -
- he had instructed the British Army 'Election Censors' to cut sections out of the Sinn Fein Election Manifesto , seized their leaflets and posters , 'arrested' Sinn Fein speakers and declared that the 47 imprisoned Sinn Fein candidates , including the Party leader , Eamon de Valera , should remain behind British prison bars . Before the 1918 General Election , Ireland was 'represented' in the Westminster 'House of Commons' by 103 members ,
comprising 68 'Home Rulers' (Irish Parliamentary Party , also referred to as 'The Irish Nationalist Party') , 18 members of the 'Unionist Party' (as the name suggests , in favour of the 'Union' between Ireland and England) , 10 'Independent' members and 7 Sinn Fein members .
After the 1918 Election , the political scene in Ireland was transformed .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(2 of 18).
" On March 1st , 1981 , Bobby Sands embarked on hunger-strike ; on April 9th , 1981 , 30,492 people in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency elected him as their MP and by doing so they recognised him as a political prisoner and demanded that the British Government respect the mandate given by them and by the entire nationalist community on the streets by implementing the five demands -
1 No prison uniform .
2 No prison work .
3 Free association .
4 Full remission .
5 Visits , parcels and recreational/educational facilities .
The British Government , caught in the hypocrisy of their own " democracy jargon " , ignored the people's wishes and mandate . On April 23rd , 1981 , Charles Haughey , the Dublin premier , met relatives of Bobby Sands and by playing on their distress convinced them that the intervention of the ECHR ('European Commission on Human Rights') could , and would , solve the issue .
Bobby Sands' sister , Marcella , acted on Charlie Haughey's advice and signed an intervention document . The ECHR delegation came to Long Kesh and Bobby Sands said he would meet them ......."
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(5 of 13).
Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of 6th January 1987 , Aiden Murray and other armed Detectives raided a house in Cashlings , West Donegal ; inside , they roused a young man from his sleep - he was wearing pants only and , when asked his name , he hesitated before telling them he was 'Colm McGuire' .
He requested to see a doctor and solicitor and refused to answer any further questions . Detective Aiden Murray promptly arrested 'McGuire' on suspicion of being a member of the IRA . The Gardai were back at base in Ballyshannon with their prisoner soon after nine o' clock ; they still had no official identity for him and , in accordance with his wishes , a local solicitor was sent for .
A Solicitor , John Murray , arrived and after consulting with the man in the cell , told gardai during a casual conversation that the prisoner was Patrick McIntyre of Ard O'Donnell , Letterkenny . The gardai say that minutes afterwards they received information which possibly linked McIntyre to a robbery in Ballyshannon immediately before Christmas and that they began questioning him about this crime .
By mid-morning the word was out in Donegal : Paddy McIntyre had been collared and the prospect of extradition loomed . By that afternoon , a Belfast solicitor , Pat Finucane , was contacting a colleague in Dublin .......
(MORE LATER).
....... in the 1918 General Election in Ireland , Nationalist/Republican candidates won almost three-quarters of all the Irish seats in Westminster .......
Many of those elected were still in British prisons after the 'German Plot' arrests earlier that same year (ie May 1918) . John Redmond's 'Irish Parliamentary Party' won only six seats , despite the 'backhanded' assistance given to that Party by the then British Prime Minister , Lloyd George -
- he had instructed the British Army 'Election Censors' to cut sections out of the Sinn Fein Election Manifesto , seized their leaflets and posters , 'arrested' Sinn Fein speakers and declared that the 47 imprisoned Sinn Fein candidates , including the Party leader , Eamon de Valera , should remain behind British prison bars . Before the 1918 General Election , Ireland was 'represented' in the Westminster 'House of Commons' by 103 members ,
comprising 68 'Home Rulers' (Irish Parliamentary Party , also referred to as 'The Irish Nationalist Party') , 18 members of the 'Unionist Party' (as the name suggests , in favour of the 'Union' between Ireland and England) , 10 'Independent' members and 7 Sinn Fein members .
After the 1918 Election , the political scene in Ireland was transformed .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(2 of 18).
" On March 1st , 1981 , Bobby Sands embarked on hunger-strike ; on April 9th , 1981 , 30,492 people in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency elected him as their MP and by doing so they recognised him as a political prisoner and demanded that the British Government respect the mandate given by them and by the entire nationalist community on the streets by implementing the five demands -
1 No prison uniform .
2 No prison work .
3 Free association .
4 Full remission .
5 Visits , parcels and recreational/educational facilities .
The British Government , caught in the hypocrisy of their own " democracy jargon " , ignored the people's wishes and mandate . On April 23rd , 1981 , Charles Haughey , the Dublin premier , met relatives of Bobby Sands and by playing on their distress convinced them that the intervention of the ECHR ('European Commission on Human Rights') could , and would , solve the issue .
Bobby Sands' sister , Marcella , acted on Charlie Haughey's advice and signed an intervention document . The ECHR delegation came to Long Kesh and Bobby Sands said he would meet them ......."
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(5 of 13).
Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of 6th January 1987 , Aiden Murray and other armed Detectives raided a house in Cashlings , West Donegal ; inside , they roused a young man from his sleep - he was wearing pants only and , when asked his name , he hesitated before telling them he was 'Colm McGuire' .
He requested to see a doctor and solicitor and refused to answer any further questions . Detective Aiden Murray promptly arrested 'McGuire' on suspicion of being a member of the IRA . The Gardai were back at base in Ballyshannon with their prisoner soon after nine o' clock ; they still had no official identity for him and , in accordance with his wishes , a local solicitor was sent for .
A Solicitor , John Murray , arrived and after consulting with the man in the cell , told gardai during a casual conversation that the prisoner was Patrick McIntyre of Ard O'Donnell , Letterkenny . The gardai say that minutes afterwards they received information which possibly linked McIntyre to a robbery in Ballyshannon immediately before Christmas and that they began questioning him about this crime .
By mid-morning the word was out in Donegal : Paddy McIntyre had been collared and the prospect of extradition loomed . By that afternoon , a Belfast solicitor , Pat Finucane , was contacting a colleague in Dublin .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, November 04, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... in September 1914 , the 'Irish Volunteers' split - the majority (about 160,000 men) agreed with their leader John Redmond that they should assist the Brits in the war with Germany , while about 12,000 men dis-agreed and left with Eoin MacNeill and other figures in the leadership .......
The British had their hands full with 'World War One' and , in an unusually astute decision , decided to turn a blind eye to the marches and parades being carried out by those that had left with Eoin MacNeill , a group now known as the 'Irish Volunteers / Sinn Fein Volunteers' ; as the then British Chief Secretary for Ireland , Augustine Birrell , put it -
- " To proclaim the Irish Volunteers as an illegal body and put them down by force wherever they appear would , in my opinion , be a reckless and foolish act and would promote disloyalty to a prodigious extent . " Damned if they do (because the population would resent them even more for doing so) and damned if they did'nt (as it gave the Rebels 'breathing space') . Even when the Brits are playing it 'smart' , they are'nt !
But Westminster did attempt to use the talk , the threat and the issue of conscription to their own advantage - they claimed that was the reason why the 1918 General Election returned the results it did ie 'Conscription Act' introduced in April 1918 , General Election held in December 1918 . That 1918 Election was the first 'General Election' in the 'United Kingdom' since 1910 , and new 'elements' had been added - the electoral register , for instance , was three times larger than it had been in 1910 , and included , for the first time , women over thirty and all men over twenty-one .
The Sinn Fein victory was overwhelming ; nearly three-quarters of all the Irish seats (in Westminster) were now in Nationalist / Republican hands .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(1 of 18).
" We , the protesting Republican prisoners in the H-Blocks , being faced with the reality of sustained family intervention , are forced by this circumstance , over which we have little control at the moment , to end the hunger-strike .
After four years of continual protest , and after the failure of the Cardinal O'Fiaich / Humphrey Atkins talks , and having exhausted all other means of protest to bring about a settlement , we embarked on hunger-strike on October 27th , 1980 .
That hunger-strike ended on December 18th , 1980 , when the British Government intimated to the hunger-strikers that they would implement a workable and just solution which was forwarded to the hunger-strikers on 18th December 1980 .
In the course of the immediate post - hunger-strike period it became increasingly clear that the British Government had reneged on their commitment to implement that solution and so we were back in a pre- hunger-strike predicament and thus forced to go back on hunger-strike ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(4 of 13).
Re-captured within two days after the September 1983 jail-break , Patrick McIntyre had to wait three years and three months to get a second chance ; with less than six months of his original sentence left , he was due three days ' rehabilitation parole ' as Christmas 1986 approached . The prison authorities opposed his release because the trial of the Maze escapers was pending , but McIntyre defeated their objections before the courts .
The Provisionals approved his absconding - they believed the recently introduced ' rehabilitation ' gimmick was geared to cause divisions in their structures within the prisons . By December 20th , 1986 , the RUC were looking for him but he was over the border , in Donegal , getting his hair timted !
On the twisty main road between Killybegs and Kilcar , in West Donegal , there is a white flat-roofed dwelling in the townland of Cashlings ; some Gardai consider it ' a safe house ' . Raymond 'The Rooster' McLaughlin , a well-known IRA activist , was suspected of stopping off there not long before he drowned , accidentally , in a pool , in County Clare , in 1985 . Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of 6th January 1987 , Aiden Murray and other armed Detectives raided the house .......
(MORE LATER).
....... in September 1914 , the 'Irish Volunteers' split - the majority (about 160,000 men) agreed with their leader John Redmond that they should assist the Brits in the war with Germany , while about 12,000 men dis-agreed and left with Eoin MacNeill and other figures in the leadership .......
The British had their hands full with 'World War One' and , in an unusually astute decision , decided to turn a blind eye to the marches and parades being carried out by those that had left with Eoin MacNeill , a group now known as the 'Irish Volunteers / Sinn Fein Volunteers' ; as the then British Chief Secretary for Ireland , Augustine Birrell , put it -
- " To proclaim the Irish Volunteers as an illegal body and put them down by force wherever they appear would , in my opinion , be a reckless and foolish act and would promote disloyalty to a prodigious extent . " Damned if they do (because the population would resent them even more for doing so) and damned if they did'nt (as it gave the Rebels 'breathing space') . Even when the Brits are playing it 'smart' , they are'nt !
But Westminster did attempt to use the talk , the threat and the issue of conscription to their own advantage - they claimed that was the reason why the 1918 General Election returned the results it did ie 'Conscription Act' introduced in April 1918 , General Election held in December 1918 . That 1918 Election was the first 'General Election' in the 'United Kingdom' since 1910 , and new 'elements' had been added - the electoral register , for instance , was three times larger than it had been in 1910 , and included , for the first time , women over thirty and all men over twenty-one .
The Sinn Fein victory was overwhelming ; nearly three-quarters of all the Irish seats (in Westminster) were now in Nationalist / Republican hands .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(1 of 18).
" We , the protesting Republican prisoners in the H-Blocks , being faced with the reality of sustained family intervention , are forced by this circumstance , over which we have little control at the moment , to end the hunger-strike .
After four years of continual protest , and after the failure of the Cardinal O'Fiaich / Humphrey Atkins talks , and having exhausted all other means of protest to bring about a settlement , we embarked on hunger-strike on October 27th , 1980 .
That hunger-strike ended on December 18th , 1980 , when the British Government intimated to the hunger-strikers that they would implement a workable and just solution which was forwarded to the hunger-strikers on 18th December 1980 .
In the course of the immediate post - hunger-strike period it became increasingly clear that the British Government had reneged on their commitment to implement that solution and so we were back in a pre- hunger-strike predicament and thus forced to go back on hunger-strike ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(4 of 13).
Re-captured within two days after the September 1983 jail-break , Patrick McIntyre had to wait three years and three months to get a second chance ; with less than six months of his original sentence left , he was due three days ' rehabilitation parole ' as Christmas 1986 approached . The prison authorities opposed his release because the trial of the Maze escapers was pending , but McIntyre defeated their objections before the courts .
The Provisionals approved his absconding - they believed the recently introduced ' rehabilitation ' gimmick was geared to cause divisions in their structures within the prisons . By December 20th , 1986 , the RUC were looking for him but he was over the border , in Donegal , getting his hair timted !
On the twisty main road between Killybegs and Kilcar , in West Donegal , there is a white flat-roofed dwelling in the townland of Cashlings ; some Gardai consider it ' a safe house ' . Raymond 'The Rooster' McLaughlin , a well-known IRA activist , was suspected of stopping off there not long before he drowned , accidentally , in a pool , in County Clare , in 1985 . Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of 6th January 1987 , Aiden Murray and other armed Detectives raided the house .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... some of those within the 'Irish Volunteers' did not agree with the pro-British 'call-to-arms' statement of its leader , John Redmond ; Eoin MacNeill , who was in a leadership position in that organisation , was one of them .......
However , in 1916 (two years after John Redmond's 'call-to-arms' to assist the British war effort) , Eoin MacNeill did something just as bad himself - he was then a Professor of Early Irish History and co-founder (with Douglas Hyde) of the 'Gaelic League' (in 1893) . MacNeill issued the " Manoeuvres Cancelled " order , regarding the 1916 Rising , which was published in 'The Sunday Independent' newspaper the day before the Rising .
MacNeill believed that the Brits were about to make a move against the 'Irish Volunteers' and this apparently swayed him into supporting an Easter 1916 Rising , but he was , for the most part , reluctant to follow that path . On hearing that the weapons on board 'The Aud' would not now be available to the Irish Rebels , and that Roger Casement had been 'arrested' by the British , he reverted to his anti-Rising position . His "..Cancelled .." Order caused great confusion within the ranks of the Rebels and , although Padraig Pearse , James Connolly and other Rebel leaders immediately issued an Order that the 'manoeuvres' which had been 'cancelled' would now go ahead twenty-four hours later (ie at 12 noon on Easter Monday) , the damage had been done - less than one-thousand armed men turned out on the day .
However - end of that particular 'tangent' ! : as a result of John Redmond's pro-Brit 'call-to-arms' (in September 1914) , the 'Irish Volunteers' split - about 160,000 men stayed with Redmond , calling themselves the 'National Volunteers' , and at least 12,000 men , who dis-agreed with the 'lets-help-the-Brits' plan , left with Eoin MacNeill and other leaders , keeping the original name of the 'Irish Volunteers' : it was this (smaller) organisation which soon became known as the 'Sinn Fein Volunteers' , a 'loose term' used at the time to describe anyone , or group , who refused to help in the British war effort .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
Some details about the Author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain -
The people successfully resisted the efforts to impose a foreign tongue on themselves and their children , and they countered the proselytising attempts by ardently and intensively preserving the Irish language , music , songs , games and pastimes . Micheal O'Suilleabhain is of his people - bone and tissue . Brought up in their tradition , he was a member of the Volunteers at the age of thirteen and had just reached his fourteenth birthday when the men and women of 1916 wrote the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Ireland and of the entire British 'Empire' .
During the years that immediately followed the Easter Rising he and his comrades were destined to fight a guerilla war on their native mountainsides , that was to become an important part of the pattern of the nation-wide fight for freedom . Through mountain passes and along the beds of creeks , Micheal O'Suilleabhain takes us to attack an armed 'police' patrol or to plan a large-scale engagement against the elite of Britain's specially recruited fighting forces in Ireland - the infamous Auxiliaries , all ex-commissioned Offices and , to a man , much decorated veterans of 'World War One' .
The rank smell of cordite and the smoke and dust of battle on rock-bordered roads are in this book . But in it , too, is heard the beating of the hearts of the mountainy men ; through it rings the gay laughter of its comely young women and the warm affection of parents , sons and daughters , in the mountain homes of Muskerry .
It was inevitable that Micheal O'Suilleabhain and his people should rally to the armed struggle for freedom with an all-embracing dedication . They comprehended , perhaps better than most areas in the country , the fundamental causes that led to 1916 and to the War of Independence . And from the ranks of their fighting men has come a chronicler of competence and talent to tell their story as few others could have told it .
[END of 'WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN ... - Some details about the Author'].
(Tomorrow - from November 1981 : 'Why we ended the Hunger-Strike').
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(3 of 13).
After 14 months on remand in the North , Patrick McIntyre came before a judge ; he was in deep trouble , as he had signed a statement admitting involvement in the attempted 'murder' of a UDR member ('Ulster[sic] Defence Regiment' - a pro-British militia) near Castlederg in County Tyrone , in late 1977 . McIntyre refused to recognise the court , was convicted and given a fifteen year jail sentence ; Jim Clarke was also jailed for the Castlederg attack - he got eighteen years .
The first part of their detention was spent in Crumlin Road Prison - Patrick McIntyre says he was locked-up for twenty-three hours each day . A different source says " ...conditions in the Crum were relatively calm because , soon after , Republicans in Long Kesh were breaking every stick of furniture in their cells . " Patrick McIntyre amd Jim Clarke were transferred to the Kesh at a time when the campaign for retention of political status was intensifying ; they took part in the Blanket Protest and were still there during the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
The two men were together , too, among the 38 inmates who escaped from the prison in September 1983 ; sticks and screwdrivers and handguns were used and a Prison Officer , James Ferris , was killed during the break-out . Patrick McIntyre managed to stay loose for two days ; cameramen were alerted to film him and another escaper , Joe Corey , being recaptured near Castlewellan , County Down . He would have to wait three years and three months before he got a second chance to escape .......
(MORE LATER).
(Readers please note - we will publish critical comments in the 'Guestbook' , providing same contains no foul language . Go raibh maith agat , agus slan go foill - Sharon . ).
....... some of those within the 'Irish Volunteers' did not agree with the pro-British 'call-to-arms' statement of its leader , John Redmond ; Eoin MacNeill , who was in a leadership position in that organisation , was one of them .......
However , in 1916 (two years after John Redmond's 'call-to-arms' to assist the British war effort) , Eoin MacNeill did something just as bad himself - he was then a Professor of Early Irish History and co-founder (with Douglas Hyde) of the 'Gaelic League' (in 1893) . MacNeill issued the " Manoeuvres Cancelled " order , regarding the 1916 Rising , which was published in 'The Sunday Independent' newspaper the day before the Rising .
MacNeill believed that the Brits were about to make a move against the 'Irish Volunteers' and this apparently swayed him into supporting an Easter 1916 Rising , but he was , for the most part , reluctant to follow that path . On hearing that the weapons on board 'The Aud' would not now be available to the Irish Rebels , and that Roger Casement had been 'arrested' by the British , he reverted to his anti-Rising position . His "..Cancelled .." Order caused great confusion within the ranks of the Rebels and , although Padraig Pearse , James Connolly and other Rebel leaders immediately issued an Order that the 'manoeuvres' which had been 'cancelled' would now go ahead twenty-four hours later (ie at 12 noon on Easter Monday) , the damage had been done - less than one-thousand armed men turned out on the day .
However - end of that particular 'tangent' ! : as a result of John Redmond's pro-Brit 'call-to-arms' (in September 1914) , the 'Irish Volunteers' split - about 160,000 men stayed with Redmond , calling themselves the 'National Volunteers' , and at least 12,000 men , who dis-agreed with the 'lets-help-the-Brits' plan , left with Eoin MacNeill and other leaders , keeping the original name of the 'Irish Volunteers' : it was this (smaller) organisation which soon became known as the 'Sinn Fein Volunteers' , a 'loose term' used at the time to describe anyone , or group , who refused to help in the British war effort .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
Some details about the Author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain -
The people successfully resisted the efforts to impose a foreign tongue on themselves and their children , and they countered the proselytising attempts by ardently and intensively preserving the Irish language , music , songs , games and pastimes . Micheal O'Suilleabhain is of his people - bone and tissue . Brought up in their tradition , he was a member of the Volunteers at the age of thirteen and had just reached his fourteenth birthday when the men and women of 1916 wrote the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Ireland and of the entire British 'Empire' .
During the years that immediately followed the Easter Rising he and his comrades were destined to fight a guerilla war on their native mountainsides , that was to become an important part of the pattern of the nation-wide fight for freedom . Through mountain passes and along the beds of creeks , Micheal O'Suilleabhain takes us to attack an armed 'police' patrol or to plan a large-scale engagement against the elite of Britain's specially recruited fighting forces in Ireland - the infamous Auxiliaries , all ex-commissioned Offices and , to a man , much decorated veterans of 'World War One' .
The rank smell of cordite and the smoke and dust of battle on rock-bordered roads are in this book . But in it , too, is heard the beating of the hearts of the mountainy men ; through it rings the gay laughter of its comely young women and the warm affection of parents , sons and daughters , in the mountain homes of Muskerry .
It was inevitable that Micheal O'Suilleabhain and his people should rally to the armed struggle for freedom with an all-embracing dedication . They comprehended , perhaps better than most areas in the country , the fundamental causes that led to 1916 and to the War of Independence . And from the ranks of their fighting men has come a chronicler of competence and talent to tell their story as few others could have told it .
[END of 'WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN ... - Some details about the Author'].
(Tomorrow - from November 1981 : 'Why we ended the Hunger-Strike').
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(3 of 13).
After 14 months on remand in the North , Patrick McIntyre came before a judge ; he was in deep trouble , as he had signed a statement admitting involvement in the attempted 'murder' of a UDR member ('Ulster[sic] Defence Regiment' - a pro-British militia) near Castlederg in County Tyrone , in late 1977 . McIntyre refused to recognise the court , was convicted and given a fifteen year jail sentence ; Jim Clarke was also jailed for the Castlederg attack - he got eighteen years .
The first part of their detention was spent in Crumlin Road Prison - Patrick McIntyre says he was locked-up for twenty-three hours each day . A different source says " ...conditions in the Crum were relatively calm because , soon after , Republicans in Long Kesh were breaking every stick of furniture in their cells . " Patrick McIntyre amd Jim Clarke were transferred to the Kesh at a time when the campaign for retention of political status was intensifying ; they took part in the Blanket Protest and were still there during the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
The two men were together , too, among the 38 inmates who escaped from the prison in September 1983 ; sticks and screwdrivers and handguns were used and a Prison Officer , James Ferris , was killed during the break-out . Patrick McIntyre managed to stay loose for two days ; cameramen were alerted to film him and another escaper , Joe Corey , being recaptured near Castlewellan , County Down . He would have to wait three years and three months before he got a second chance to escape .......
(MORE LATER).
(Readers please note - we will publish critical comments in the 'Guestbook' , providing same contains no foul language . Go raibh maith agat , agus slan go foill - Sharon . ).
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... as the leader of the 'Irish Volunteers' , John Redmond called on Irishmen to join the British Army and help in the war against Germany ....
On 20th September , 1914 , John Redmond stated - " It would be a disgrace forever to our country , and a reproach to her manhood , and a denial of the lessons of her history , if young Ireland confined her efforts to remain at home to defend the shores of Ireland from an unlikely invasion , and shrank from the duty of proving on the field of battle that gallantry and courage which has distinguished our race all through its history . " ('1169 ...' comment - what a warped sense of history and a misguided view of 'gallantry' and 'courage' that man had !)
Others , obviously , did not agree with Redmond - amongst them was James Connolly , the Irish Trade Union leader , who was also in command of the Irish Citizen Army , who answered Redmond's call thus -
' Full steam ahead , John Redmond said ,
that everything was well , chum ;
Home Rule will come when we are dead ,
and buried out in Belgium . '
Also , some of John Redmond's own men dis-agreed with his pro-British 'call-to-arms' ; Eoin MacNeill , who was then in a leadership position within the 'Irish Volunteers' , was of the opinion that the 'Irish Volunteers' should only use force against the British if Westminster first moved against them ; a bit 'watery' , definately , but he was , however , against fighting with the British .
Eoin MacNeill was to come to prominence again , two years later , in 1916 ; in a move which outraged Irish Republicans ...
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
Some details about the Author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain .
The Planters who drove our people from the good lands followed them into the rocky mountain valleys and formed the hard-won little holdings into 'estates' on which 'rents' were levied for the benefit of 'landlords' who lived abroad .
Even the bodies of the mountainy men and women were commandeered at the whim of the 'masters' . The wild birds of the air and all the ground game were decreed the 'property' of the 'overlords' ; a native Irishman whose greyhound chased a hare or who took a shot at grouse or snipe ran the risk of being shot by a 'gamekeeper' .
The constant struggle against the twin forces of nature and an alien 'law' , both formidable and unrelenting , failed , however , to break the spirit of the people . It destroyed neither their capacity for simple social enjoyment nor their determination to throw off the yoke of serfdom ; rather did the long years of endurance foster in them a strong tradition of resistance to oppression .......
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(2 of 13).
Two of the seven men detained were from Letterkenny in County Donegal ; Patrick McIntyre of Ard O'Donnell and his pal , Jim Clarke . Patrick McIntyre is the fifth of a family of nine , who did his 'Leaving Certificate' (school examination) in 1976 and , after taking a six months AnCo (state work-training ) course , started working on a building site in Letterkenny . John McIntyre , his father , is the Editor of the 'Donegal People's Press' newspaper ; he is a large man with a passion for ice-cream and the card-game 'bridge' , who has managed to go through life without making a single enemy .
As a youth , Patrick McIntyre was , as friends describe him , a 'withdrawn kind of a lad' . His involvement with the IRA was to surprise the entire family . But he had been impressed by the 1916 plaque in Saint Eunan's College , by the sight of Derry refugees taking shelter in Letterkenny , of the (Free State) Army on stand-by near the border , by emotive speeches by politicians and by the 'Arms Trial' .
He mixed with Official Sinn Fein members in the early 1970's : they held meetings in a room over a pub in Letterkenny where local issues were discussed . But he always stayed clear of public displays - and not a word was said at home .......
(MORE LATER).
....... as the leader of the 'Irish Volunteers' , John Redmond called on Irishmen to join the British Army and help in the war against Germany ....
On 20th September , 1914 , John Redmond stated - " It would be a disgrace forever to our country , and a reproach to her manhood , and a denial of the lessons of her history , if young Ireland confined her efforts to remain at home to defend the shores of Ireland from an unlikely invasion , and shrank from the duty of proving on the field of battle that gallantry and courage which has distinguished our race all through its history . " ('1169 ...' comment - what a warped sense of history and a misguided view of 'gallantry' and 'courage' that man had !)
Others , obviously , did not agree with Redmond - amongst them was James Connolly , the Irish Trade Union leader , who was also in command of the Irish Citizen Army , who answered Redmond's call thus -
' Full steam ahead , John Redmond said ,
that everything was well , chum ;
Home Rule will come when we are dead ,
and buried out in Belgium . '
Also , some of John Redmond's own men dis-agreed with his pro-British 'call-to-arms' ; Eoin MacNeill , who was then in a leadership position within the 'Irish Volunteers' , was of the opinion that the 'Irish Volunteers' should only use force against the British if Westminster first moved against them ; a bit 'watery' , definately , but he was , however , against fighting with the British .
Eoin MacNeill was to come to prominence again , two years later , in 1916 ; in a move which outraged Irish Republicans ...
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
Some details about the Author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain .
The Planters who drove our people from the good lands followed them into the rocky mountain valleys and formed the hard-won little holdings into 'estates' on which 'rents' were levied for the benefit of 'landlords' who lived abroad .
Even the bodies of the mountainy men and women were commandeered at the whim of the 'masters' . The wild birds of the air and all the ground game were decreed the 'property' of the 'overlords' ; a native Irishman whose greyhound chased a hare or who took a shot at grouse or snipe ran the risk of being shot by a 'gamekeeper' .
The constant struggle against the twin forces of nature and an alien 'law' , both formidable and unrelenting , failed , however , to break the spirit of the people . It destroyed neither their capacity for simple social enjoyment nor their determination to throw off the yoke of serfdom ; rather did the long years of endurance foster in them a strong tradition of resistance to oppression .......
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(2 of 13).
Two of the seven men detained were from Letterkenny in County Donegal ; Patrick McIntyre of Ard O'Donnell and his pal , Jim Clarke . Patrick McIntyre is the fifth of a family of nine , who did his 'Leaving Certificate' (school examination) in 1976 and , after taking a six months AnCo (state work-training ) course , started working on a building site in Letterkenny . John McIntyre , his father , is the Editor of the 'Donegal People's Press' newspaper ; he is a large man with a passion for ice-cream and the card-game 'bridge' , who has managed to go through life without making a single enemy .
As a youth , Patrick McIntyre was , as friends describe him , a 'withdrawn kind of a lad' . His involvement with the IRA was to surprise the entire family . But he had been impressed by the 1916 plaque in Saint Eunan's College , by the sight of Derry refugees taking shelter in Letterkenny , of the (Free State) Army on stand-by near the border , by emotive speeches by politicians and by the 'Arms Trial' .
He mixed with Official Sinn Fein members in the early 1970's : they held meetings in a room over a pub in Letterkenny where local issues were discussed . But he always stayed clear of public displays - and not a word was said at home .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, November 01, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... in 1941 , the Brits were considering the 'introduction' of conscription in the Six Occupied Counties of Ireland . The (pro-British) U.S. Ambassador in the Free State , a Mr. David Gray , knew it would be a mistake ; in a letter to his 'boss' , the American Secretary of State , he wrote (on 24th May 1941).......
".... Eighty thousand Irish Volunteers in the British Army will be disaffected , there will be no material number of Nationalist conscripts , a government, a popular majority and an army inclined to be friendly to Great Britain rather than to the Axis will become definitely hostile , possibly giving active aid to Germany and most important of all the pro-British opposition will be helpless and the opportunity for dividing the country on the question of the ports will be lost for the duration .
The effect on Irish-American opinion at this juncture is not for me to estimate . This is a grave situation . " Shortly afterwards , Churchill wrote -
- " .... the (British) Cabinet is inclined to the view it would be more trouble than it's worth to go through with conscription . No immediate decision will be taken and in the meantime the less made of the affair the better . " It took , as usual , the threat of force , or force itself , before the British realised that there would be a re-action to their action . And it still does today .
However - 'tangents' as always ! : back to the earlier part of the 20th Century in Ireland - the 'Irish Volunteers' , under the leadership of John Redmond , called for Irishmen to join the British Army and help in the war against Germany .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
Some details about the Author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain -
Against a striking backdrop of mountain , rock , river and lake , Micheal O'Suilleabhain sets the story that he has to tell . There is in his tale an interlacing thread of high drama that is neither intentional nor contrived . It comes with an articulate voice and forcible impact out of the land and the people about whom he writes .
His people live in three parishes that cover almost eighty square miles ; in this area , the small sloping fields that now grow crops and help to support livestock were won from the stony ground by hard unremitting physical labour . The quality of the soil is not good and all the fields have been reclaimed from the rock , the marsh , the bog , the heather and the brake .
The work of reclamation was done , with the worst of tools , by men and women who were driven , long ago, from the fertile inland by successive plantations . But their labours were rewarded only by further confiscations by the Planters .......
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(1 of 13).
On Easter Sunday morning of 1978 , seven raw County Donegal Provo recruits crossed the border to Derry City ; they had been chosen to form the Colour Party for the Easter Commemoration ceremony that afternoon , leading the Easter Parade through the Creggan and Bogside where Daithi O Conaill delivered the oration .
The 'show' over , the Colour Party members went into the Rossville Street flats , stripped off their paramilitary clothes and dark glasses and got into casual clothes . The back road from Creggan to the border had been checked and cleared , they were assured .
Some of the seven men wanted to go for a few pints and then take the bus home . Under protest , they all piled into the one car and were driven off . The joint British Army/RUC patrol which intercepted them minutes later already had photographs of all seven men taken from a helicopter during the Easter Parade .
IRA membership would be easy to prove .......
(MORE LATER).
....... in 1941 , the Brits were considering the 'introduction' of conscription in the Six Occupied Counties of Ireland . The (pro-British) U.S. Ambassador in the Free State , a Mr. David Gray , knew it would be a mistake ; in a letter to his 'boss' , the American Secretary of State , he wrote (on 24th May 1941).......
".... Eighty thousand Irish Volunteers in the British Army will be disaffected , there will be no material number of Nationalist conscripts , a government, a popular majority and an army inclined to be friendly to Great Britain rather than to the Axis will become definitely hostile , possibly giving active aid to Germany and most important of all the pro-British opposition will be helpless and the opportunity for dividing the country on the question of the ports will be lost for the duration .
The effect on Irish-American opinion at this juncture is not for me to estimate . This is a grave situation . " Shortly afterwards , Churchill wrote -
- " .... the (British) Cabinet is inclined to the view it would be more trouble than it's worth to go through with conscription . No immediate decision will be taken and in the meantime the less made of the affair the better . " It took , as usual , the threat of force , or force itself , before the British realised that there would be a re-action to their action . And it still does today .
However - 'tangents' as always ! : back to the earlier part of the 20th Century in Ireland - the 'Irish Volunteers' , under the leadership of John Redmond , called for Irishmen to join the British Army and help in the war against Germany .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
Some details about the Author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain -
Against a striking backdrop of mountain , rock , river and lake , Micheal O'Suilleabhain sets the story that he has to tell . There is in his tale an interlacing thread of high drama that is neither intentional nor contrived . It comes with an articulate voice and forcible impact out of the land and the people about whom he writes .
His people live in three parishes that cover almost eighty square miles ; in this area , the small sloping fields that now grow crops and help to support livestock were won from the stony ground by hard unremitting physical labour . The quality of the soil is not good and all the fields have been reclaimed from the rock , the marsh , the bog , the heather and the brake .
The work of reclamation was done , with the worst of tools , by men and women who were driven , long ago, from the fertile inland by successive plantations . But their labours were rewarded only by further confiscations by the Planters .......
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(1 of 13).
On Easter Sunday morning of 1978 , seven raw County Donegal Provo recruits crossed the border to Derry City ; they had been chosen to form the Colour Party for the Easter Commemoration ceremony that afternoon , leading the Easter Parade through the Creggan and Bogside where Daithi O Conaill delivered the oration .
The 'show' over , the Colour Party members went into the Rossville Street flats , stripped off their paramilitary clothes and dark glasses and got into casual clothes . The back road from Creggan to the border had been checked and cleared , they were assured .
Some of the seven men wanted to go for a few pints and then take the bus home . Under protest , they all piled into the one car and were driven off . The joint British Army/RUC patrol which intercepted them minutes later already had photographs of all seven men taken from a helicopter during the Easter Parade .
IRA membership would be easy to prove .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, October 29, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... Ireland , 1940's - the island had been partitioned by the Brits , and Westminster was looking at the Six County area and thinking , again , of conscription ; the pro-British U. S. Ambassador to the Free State , a Mr. David Gray , contacted his 'boss' , the American Secretary of State , on 24th May 1941 , regarding the political situation on the island .......
In his message , Mr. Gray stated - " Opposition leaders yesterday informed me that conscription without a conscientious objectors escape clause for minority Catholic nationalists will constitute a major irretrievable and probably fatal political blunder at this time and play directly into de Valera's hands with grave possibilities for American interests . They [the opposition leaders] predict draft riots , the escape of draft dodgers to Southern Ireland who will be acclaimed as hero martyrs by three-quarters of the population and the fomenting of trouble by Republicans and Fifth Columnists .
The clearest headed leader predicts that de Valera will seize the opportunity to escape from economic and political realities by proclaiming himself the leader of the oppressed minority and with the blessings of the Cardinal will rouse anti-British feeling and call a Holy War . I think it a very likely prediction . All classes of opinion here unite in condemning the move as calamitous . It appears to be a repetition of the same fatal blunder made during the last war .
The weak and failing Ulster [sic] Government is probably seeking to sustain itself by provoking a crisis . Unless Great Britain is prepared from a military point of view to seize the whole country it appears to be madness . So little can be gained and so much lost ... "
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... Aileach , ancient fortress of the O'Neills , is over two thousand years old ; one of its Chieftains was baptised by Saint Patrick ....... "
" Out of Aileach came the High Kings from whom were descended Hugh , and Shane the Proud and Eoin Rua . They , with their neighbours the O'Donnells of Tir Conaill , will be ever remembered for the prolonged fight they made . Aubrey de Vere says of them - " Lo ! these are they that year by year , rolled back the tide of England's war . "
And finally , when Red Hugh O'Donnell had been poisoned and Hugh O'Neill forced to exile in his old age :
: " He sits abstracted by the board ,
Old scenes are pictured in his brain ;
Blackwater , Armagh , the Yellow Ford ,
He fights and wins them o'er again .
Again he sees fierce Bagenal fall ,
sees craven Essex basely yield ;
Meets armoured Seagrave , gaunt and tall ,
And leaves him lifeless on the field . "
There is a legend that , in a cave under the Hill of Aileach , a group of Knights of the Gael stand by their steeds ; all are asleep , but only wait the word of Sile Ni Ghardha [Ireland] to spring into action for the ultimate freedom of their country . Our gifted and patriotic poetess , Ethna Carbery , describes Aileach and the sleeping warriors . I believe , with her , that the men of today are as good as the men of the past .
" Oh , Sile Ni Ghardha , why rouse the stony dead ?
since at your call a living host will circle you instead ,
Long is our hunger for your voice , the hour is drawing near -
Oh , Dark Rose of our Passion ; call , and our hearts shall hear ! " "
[END of 'AISLINGI ' ; END of the book - 'Where Mountainy Men Have Sown'].
(Next - A few details about the author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain.)
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
[6 of 6].
" We will not allow ourselves to be tortured to death in this modern day stalag which has nothing to offer but a modern day holocaust and remembering Germany after the war , it cannot be said - 'We did'nt know...' "
Republican POW's ,
H-Block 3, 4 and 5 ,
Long Kesh .
(PS : A Chara , have had to rush this . Can you issue it as a statement . This is the seriousness of the situation here . It's very , very bad . But we shall not be broken . Venceremous , Marcella ).
[END of ' Communication from BOBBY SANDS.....'].
(Next - 'One that got away' ; 1978 - Donegal IRA men , the RUC , the Gardai and the Free State High Court : from 'Magill' magazine , June 1987 .)
....... Ireland , 1940's - the island had been partitioned by the Brits , and Westminster was looking at the Six County area and thinking , again , of conscription ; the pro-British U. S. Ambassador to the Free State , a Mr. David Gray , contacted his 'boss' , the American Secretary of State , on 24th May 1941 , regarding the political situation on the island .......
In his message , Mr. Gray stated - " Opposition leaders yesterday informed me that conscription without a conscientious objectors escape clause for minority Catholic nationalists will constitute a major irretrievable and probably fatal political blunder at this time and play directly into de Valera's hands with grave possibilities for American interests . They [the opposition leaders] predict draft riots , the escape of draft dodgers to Southern Ireland who will be acclaimed as hero martyrs by three-quarters of the population and the fomenting of trouble by Republicans and Fifth Columnists .
The clearest headed leader predicts that de Valera will seize the opportunity to escape from economic and political realities by proclaiming himself the leader of the oppressed minority and with the blessings of the Cardinal will rouse anti-British feeling and call a Holy War . I think it a very likely prediction . All classes of opinion here unite in condemning the move as calamitous . It appears to be a repetition of the same fatal blunder made during the last war .
The weak and failing Ulster [sic] Government is probably seeking to sustain itself by provoking a crisis . Unless Great Britain is prepared from a military point of view to seize the whole country it appears to be madness . So little can be gained and so much lost ... "
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... Aileach , ancient fortress of the O'Neills , is over two thousand years old ; one of its Chieftains was baptised by Saint Patrick ....... "
" Out of Aileach came the High Kings from whom were descended Hugh , and Shane the Proud and Eoin Rua . They , with their neighbours the O'Donnells of Tir Conaill , will be ever remembered for the prolonged fight they made . Aubrey de Vere says of them - " Lo ! these are they that year by year , rolled back the tide of England's war . "
And finally , when Red Hugh O'Donnell had been poisoned and Hugh O'Neill forced to exile in his old age :
: " He sits abstracted by the board ,
Old scenes are pictured in his brain ;
Blackwater , Armagh , the Yellow Ford ,
He fights and wins them o'er again .
Again he sees fierce Bagenal fall ,
sees craven Essex basely yield ;
Meets armoured Seagrave , gaunt and tall ,
And leaves him lifeless on the field . "
There is a legend that , in a cave under the Hill of Aileach , a group of Knights of the Gael stand by their steeds ; all are asleep , but only wait the word of Sile Ni Ghardha [Ireland] to spring into action for the ultimate freedom of their country . Our gifted and patriotic poetess , Ethna Carbery , describes Aileach and the sleeping warriors . I believe , with her , that the men of today are as good as the men of the past .
" Oh , Sile Ni Ghardha , why rouse the stony dead ?
since at your call a living host will circle you instead ,
Long is our hunger for your voice , the hour is drawing near -
Oh , Dark Rose of our Passion ; call , and our hearts shall hear ! " "
[END of 'AISLINGI ' ; END of the book - 'Where Mountainy Men Have Sown'].
(Next - A few details about the author , Micheal O'Suilleabhain.)
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
[6 of 6].
" We will not allow ourselves to be tortured to death in this modern day stalag which has nothing to offer but a modern day holocaust and remembering Germany after the war , it cannot be said - 'We did'nt know...' "
Republican POW's ,
H-Block 3, 4 and 5 ,
Long Kesh .
(PS : A Chara , have had to rush this . Can you issue it as a statement . This is the seriousness of the situation here . It's very , very bad . But we shall not be broken . Venceremous , Marcella ).
[END of ' Communication from BOBBY SANDS.....'].
(Next - 'One that got away' ; 1978 - Donegal IRA men , the RUC , the Gardai and the Free State High Court : from 'Magill' magazine , June 1987 .)
Thursday, October 28, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... the Brits tried to introduce conscription in Ireland in 1918 ; it went bad for them , but they did'nt learn from it : in 1941 , they looked at the Six partitioned North-Eastern Counties of Ireland -and considered conscription again ! At a meeting in January 1941 between the US Ambassador to the 26-County State , a Mr. David Gray , and Eamon de Valera , strong words were spoken .......
Mr. Gray stated that de Valera "...had capitalised on hatred of Great Britain for political reasons and so must take some responsibility for the existing popular state of mind ..." , by which he meant the Free State policy of (so-called) 'neutrality' and the then impending strong possibility of conscription by Westminster in the Six Occupied Counties , which de Valera and his State Administration were opposed to .
David Gray said afterwards - " He ( de Valera ) began to talk about his rights . I told him that the only right that he and myself enjoyed was to believe in our religion , and be burned for it if need be . Every other right depended upon force to maintain it , and he was steering a very dangerous course if he thought otherwise ... " ('1169...' comment - that is a truism that the Free Staters and their latest 'new friends' , the Provisional Sinn Fein political party , amongst others , would do well to remember ) .
Although pro-British in his mindset , Mr. Gray recognised the reality of the then existing political situation on the island of Ireland - on 24th May , 1941 , he sent a wire-cable (ie - like a 'text message' , for our younger readers !) to the American Secretary of State ...
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... all places steeped in history - Slaine , connected with our Saint Patrick , and Sliabh Mis , where the herdsmen gathered ......."
" We pass over time and space to visit the mighty Brian at Kincora ; he is mighty because by his energy and tenacity he succeeded in uniting the warring factions of his country-men , and with one strong blow drove from Ireland a powerful invader . The death of Brian and the almost entire destruction of his race on the day of victory at Clontarf was a calamity not fully appreciated at that time . For , when the next invader came , a weak-kneed monarch occupied the throne of Ireland .
To encompass within a small space even the names of all the historic places of Ireland would be difficult ; to enumerate the battles , large and small , which, during the past ten centuries , have been fought on the sod of Ireland would take a long time . To assess the amount of suffering endured by the people of Ireland during one day of foreign rule would be impossible .
I will mention only one more famous place - Aileach : ancient fortress of the O'Neills ; its age is over two thousand years ... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(5 of 6).
" We have now reached the stage where we have not a single thing left to lose except the loss of life among us and we know that even this is imminent . We are not prepared to sit back and be battered to pulp , to be literally torn apart , to have our naked bodies scalded and scarred .
In our naked state we are easy prey and very vulnerable to attack . We have little to fight back with . We can suffer no more than is being inflicted upon us now . If necessary we shall fight to the death ... "
(MORE LATER).
....... the Brits tried to introduce conscription in Ireland in 1918 ; it went bad for them , but they did'nt learn from it : in 1941 , they looked at the Six partitioned North-Eastern Counties of Ireland -and considered conscription again ! At a meeting in January 1941 between the US Ambassador to the 26-County State , a Mr. David Gray , and Eamon de Valera , strong words were spoken .......
Mr. Gray stated that de Valera "...had capitalised on hatred of Great Britain for political reasons and so must take some responsibility for the existing popular state of mind ..." , by which he meant the Free State policy of (so-called) 'neutrality' and the then impending strong possibility of conscription by Westminster in the Six Occupied Counties , which de Valera and his State Administration were opposed to .
David Gray said afterwards - " He ( de Valera ) began to talk about his rights . I told him that the only right that he and myself enjoyed was to believe in our religion , and be burned for it if need be . Every other right depended upon force to maintain it , and he was steering a very dangerous course if he thought otherwise ... " ('1169...' comment - that is a truism that the Free Staters and their latest 'new friends' , the Provisional Sinn Fein political party , amongst others , would do well to remember ) .
Although pro-British in his mindset , Mr. Gray recognised the reality of the then existing political situation on the island of Ireland - on 24th May , 1941 , he sent a wire-cable (ie - like a 'text message' , for our younger readers !) to the American Secretary of State ...
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... all places steeped in history - Slaine , connected with our Saint Patrick , and Sliabh Mis , where the herdsmen gathered ......."
" We pass over time and space to visit the mighty Brian at Kincora ; he is mighty because by his energy and tenacity he succeeded in uniting the warring factions of his country-men , and with one strong blow drove from Ireland a powerful invader . The death of Brian and the almost entire destruction of his race on the day of victory at Clontarf was a calamity not fully appreciated at that time . For , when the next invader came , a weak-kneed monarch occupied the throne of Ireland .
To encompass within a small space even the names of all the historic places of Ireland would be difficult ; to enumerate the battles , large and small , which, during the past ten centuries , have been fought on the sod of Ireland would take a long time . To assess the amount of suffering endured by the people of Ireland during one day of foreign rule would be impossible .
I will mention only one more famous place - Aileach : ancient fortress of the O'Neills ; its age is over two thousand years ... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(5 of 6).
" We have now reached the stage where we have not a single thing left to lose except the loss of life among us and we know that even this is imminent . We are not prepared to sit back and be battered to pulp , to be literally torn apart , to have our naked bodies scalded and scarred .
In our naked state we are easy prey and very vulnerable to attack . We have little to fight back with . We can suffer no more than is being inflicted upon us now . If necessary we shall fight to the death ... "
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... the 16th April 1918 'Conscription Act' in Ireland (the 'Military Services Bill') was opposed by the majority in Ireland - even a previous 'recruitment officer' for the British , a Cardinal Logue , objected to it .......
This member of the Catholic Hierarchy , Cardinal Logue , had allowed his name to be added to the list of those which were published on British Army recruiting posters which urged Irishmen to join the British Army but , following the passing in Westminster of the British 'Military Services Bill' , the Catholic Church Hierarchy announced at each Sunday Mass that anti-conscription pledges were available to be signed outside the Church Gates following the Mass !
But , as usual , the Brits did'nt learn from the experience in 1918 - in 1941 , conscription was again being discussed in Westminster ; this time for the partitioned Six North-Eastern Counties of Ireland . It is recorded that , at a meeting between the then ' American Ambassador to Ireland' (sic- the Free State) , a Mr. David Gray , who was said to be friendly with the British Ambassador to America , 'Lord' Halifax , and Eamonn de Valera , which took place in January 1941 , Gray rounded on de Valera " ...for capitalising on hatred of Great Britain ..." .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... Tara and Clonmacnois are known the world over as being associated with Irish Kings and as places of learning . There are other places , perhaps less well known but just as important ......."
" Rath Cruachan of Daihi , Maebh , the Kings of Connaught , and the Tuatha de Danaan Queens who gave their names to Ireland - Eire , Fodhla and Banba - are all buried there , not forgetting Conn of the Hundred Battles . Sheep and bullocks graze on this once mighty and populous plain . Cnoc Almhain , hosting-place of the Fianna , and Eamhain Macha , headquarters of the Red Branch Knights , recall Fionn and Oisin and Oscar and Cuchulainn , Ireland's greatest warriors of the past .
Uisneach , one of our most storied hills , where the ancient divisions of Ireland met ; once a great city crowned it . Here was lighted the first fire to the pagan gods in Ireland . Here fell Lugaidh Lamhfada , one of Ireland's greatest Kings and here , Saint Brigid founded a convent . Tleachta and Tailteann , old pagan meeting-places famous for druidical sacrifices and the great fair .
Nearby Slaine where Saint Patrick lighted the fire that quenched the fire of Tleachta and all other pagan fires . From Slaine our thoughts fly to Sliabh Mis where a youth tended his earthly master's herds ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(4 of 6).
" The media has reported the barbarities taking place in these hell blocks ; for anyone to say they don't know what is taking place here is an untruth . Many people have sought , to their everlasting shame , to remain silent . We have also listened to many people speak of the atrocious conditions and torture here and we have heard of many seeking solutions , making proposals and investigations .
There has been too much talk and too much talk of talk but no ease in the torture of 345 naked men in these H-Blocks . The torture has multiplied while we have suffered and bled .
While people have remained silent or talked in circles , we have now reached a stage ......."
(MORE LATER).
....... the 16th April 1918 'Conscription Act' in Ireland (the 'Military Services Bill') was opposed by the majority in Ireland - even a previous 'recruitment officer' for the British , a Cardinal Logue , objected to it .......
This member of the Catholic Hierarchy , Cardinal Logue , had allowed his name to be added to the list of those which were published on British Army recruiting posters which urged Irishmen to join the British Army but , following the passing in Westminster of the British 'Military Services Bill' , the Catholic Church Hierarchy announced at each Sunday Mass that anti-conscription pledges were available to be signed outside the Church Gates following the Mass !
But , as usual , the Brits did'nt learn from the experience in 1918 - in 1941 , conscription was again being discussed in Westminster ; this time for the partitioned Six North-Eastern Counties of Ireland . It is recorded that , at a meeting between the then ' American Ambassador to Ireland' (sic- the Free State) , a Mr. David Gray , who was said to be friendly with the British Ambassador to America , 'Lord' Halifax , and Eamonn de Valera , which took place in January 1941 , Gray rounded on de Valera " ...for capitalising on hatred of Great Britain ..." .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... Tara and Clonmacnois are known the world over as being associated with Irish Kings and as places of learning . There are other places , perhaps less well known but just as important ......."
" Rath Cruachan of Daihi , Maebh , the Kings of Connaught , and the Tuatha de Danaan Queens who gave their names to Ireland - Eire , Fodhla and Banba - are all buried there , not forgetting Conn of the Hundred Battles . Sheep and bullocks graze on this once mighty and populous plain . Cnoc Almhain , hosting-place of the Fianna , and Eamhain Macha , headquarters of the Red Branch Knights , recall Fionn and Oisin and Oscar and Cuchulainn , Ireland's greatest warriors of the past .
Uisneach , one of our most storied hills , where the ancient divisions of Ireland met ; once a great city crowned it . Here was lighted the first fire to the pagan gods in Ireland . Here fell Lugaidh Lamhfada , one of Ireland's greatest Kings and here , Saint Brigid founded a convent . Tleachta and Tailteann , old pagan meeting-places famous for druidical sacrifices and the great fair .
Nearby Slaine where Saint Patrick lighted the fire that quenched the fire of Tleachta and all other pagan fires . From Slaine our thoughts fly to Sliabh Mis where a youth tended his earthly master's herds ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(4 of 6).
" The media has reported the barbarities taking place in these hell blocks ; for anyone to say they don't know what is taking place here is an untruth . Many people have sought , to their everlasting shame , to remain silent . We have also listened to many people speak of the atrocious conditions and torture here and we have heard of many seeking solutions , making proposals and investigations .
There has been too much talk and too much talk of talk but no ease in the torture of 345 naked men in these H-Blocks . The torture has multiplied while we have suffered and bled .
While people have remained silent or talked in circles , we have now reached a stage ......."
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
.......7th May , 1918 - 73 people , comprising the leadership of the then Sinn Fein organisation , were 'arrested' by the British , in what Westminster promoted as the 'German Plot' arrests . But the Irish Republican leadership had been told that that would happen .......
The Sinn Fein leadership was aware of the impending 7th May 1918 'arrests' but did not leave their usual haunts for 'safe houses' (except for Michael Collins , who decided that his time would be better spent 'outside' , stirring things up over the 'arrests' , rather than 'inside') - they (correctly) assumed that the Irish people would be incensed by the British action , thus helping the Rebel cause .
Then , as mentioned previously , on 3rd July 1918 , Sinn Fein , the Irish Volunteers and the Gaelic League were 'outlawed' by Westminster . A good indicator of anti-conscription feeling in Ireland can be gauged by the actions of that most anti-Republican institution , the Catholic Church Hierarchy , and a certain Cardinal Logue in particular : this man had previously joined forces with the British to assist them in their recruitment campaign in Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... when we think of the past , we think of places like Tara and Clonmacnois , the two most famous in Ireland ... "
" Tara , seat of the Kings of Ireland , was old when Christ was born ; it was abandoned in the second half of the sixth century but , because of its ancient glories , is still an inspiration . One hundred and fifty-three Irish Kings had reigned there before A.D. 563 . Its traces alone , without the written word , give ample testimony of its former greatness ; four hundred pikemen of 1798 lie buried there - their dust further sanctifies the soil of Tara .
Clonmacnois , founded by Saint Ciaran on 23rd January A.D. 544 , quickly became a seat of piety and learning and a city grew up around it . Students from every country in Europe attended its schools ; now it is a vast graveyard where rest the greatest and noblest of the land . T. W. Rolleston writes of it -
- " In a quiet watered land , a land of roses ,
Stands Saint Ciaran's city fair ;
And the warriors of Erin , in their famous generations ,
Slumber there . "
Other old places , Pagan and Christian , next in renown to Tara and Clonmacnois , pass in review before us ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(3 of 6).
" Within the past nine months we have seen outbreaks of jaundice , ringworm , dermatitis , disentry and severe diarrihoea - as well as dozens of minor and serious rashes . Never have the medical staff here blinked an eye or even handed out a painkiller to a sick man . We have suffered until men have collapsed and had to be taken out to hospital .
Our resistance to the daily brutalities has been token , in that, when the screws come to drag us out to be forcibly bathed or subjected to a degrading body search , we have sat on the floor of the cell and refused to move ......."
(MORE LATER).
(...and its great to be back ! Our 'Junior' enjoyed his time with the girlfriend , while the rest of us here at '1169...' had a break in County Waterford - it rained [all day !] Friday , on our way down , 'monsooned' with more rain on Saturday and Sunday ... but the sun finally broke through on the Monday , as we were heading home to Dublin ! Ah , sure , we still have our health ...).
.......7th May , 1918 - 73 people , comprising the leadership of the then Sinn Fein organisation , were 'arrested' by the British , in what Westminster promoted as the 'German Plot' arrests . But the Irish Republican leadership had been told that that would happen .......
The Sinn Fein leadership was aware of the impending 7th May 1918 'arrests' but did not leave their usual haunts for 'safe houses' (except for Michael Collins , who decided that his time would be better spent 'outside' , stirring things up over the 'arrests' , rather than 'inside') - they (correctly) assumed that the Irish people would be incensed by the British action , thus helping the Rebel cause .
Then , as mentioned previously , on 3rd July 1918 , Sinn Fein , the Irish Volunteers and the Gaelic League were 'outlawed' by Westminster . A good indicator of anti-conscription feeling in Ireland can be gauged by the actions of that most anti-Republican institution , the Catholic Church Hierarchy , and a certain Cardinal Logue in particular : this man had previously joined forces with the British to assist them in their recruitment campaign in Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" ....... when we think of the past , we think of places like Tara and Clonmacnois , the two most famous in Ireland ... "
" Tara , seat of the Kings of Ireland , was old when Christ was born ; it was abandoned in the second half of the sixth century but , because of its ancient glories , is still an inspiration . One hundred and fifty-three Irish Kings had reigned there before A.D. 563 . Its traces alone , without the written word , give ample testimony of its former greatness ; four hundred pikemen of 1798 lie buried there - their dust further sanctifies the soil of Tara .
Clonmacnois , founded by Saint Ciaran on 23rd January A.D. 544 , quickly became a seat of piety and learning and a city grew up around it . Students from every country in Europe attended its schools ; now it is a vast graveyard where rest the greatest and noblest of the land . T. W. Rolleston writes of it -
- " In a quiet watered land , a land of roses ,
Stands Saint Ciaran's city fair ;
And the warriors of Erin , in their famous generations ,
Slumber there . "
Other old places , Pagan and Christian , next in renown to Tara and Clonmacnois , pass in review before us ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(3 of 6).
" Within the past nine months we have seen outbreaks of jaundice , ringworm , dermatitis , disentry and severe diarrihoea - as well as dozens of minor and serious rashes . Never have the medical staff here blinked an eye or even handed out a painkiller to a sick man . We have suffered until men have collapsed and had to be taken out to hospital .
Our resistance to the daily brutalities has been token , in that, when the screws come to drag us out to be forcibly bathed or subjected to a degrading body search , we have sat on the floor of the cell and refused to move ......."
(MORE LATER).
(...and its great to be back ! Our 'Junior' enjoyed his time with the girlfriend , while the rest of us here at '1169...' had a break in County Waterford - it rained [all day !] Friday , on our way down , 'monsooned' with more rain on Saturday and Sunday ... but the sun finally broke through on the Monday , as we were heading home to Dublin ! Ah , sure , we still have our health ...).
Friday, October 22, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
.......the British 'Military Services Bill' (the 'Conscription Act') was 'introduced' to Ireland by Westminster in 1918 ; the then leader of the Irish Volunteers , John Dillon , warned the Brits that it would cause further trouble for them in Ireland .....
Two days after Conscription was 'introduced' into Ireland (16th April 1918) , a meeting was held in the Mansion House , in Dublin (on 18th April) , at which representatives of all political opinion (and none) turned up . A statement was issued to the media following that meeting -
- " Denying the right of the British Government to enforce compulsory service in this country , we pledge ourselves solemnly to one another to resist conscription by the most effective means at our disposal . " The 'natives' were stirring ... and 19 days later , the Brits struck back : on the night of 7th May , 1918 , the British 'Lord Lieutenant of Ireland' , Field Marshal 'Lord' French , sent out his armed thugs and 'arrested' the leadership of the then Sinn Fein organisation - 73 people in all .
This 'round-up' by the Brits became known as the 'German Plot' arrests . However - those 'arrests' backfired on Westminster ; Sinn Fein had been 'tipped-off' in advance about them .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" Padraig Pearse , Roger Casement , Jim Daly - all knew the 'Aisling' , and all had their spirits raised by it . As did James Fintan Lalor , who made the following resolution ....... "
" That of natural right , on the grant of God , the soil of Ireland belongs to the people of Ireland , who therefore have a clear vested right of property in the soil to the extent of full , comfortable , and secure subsistence therefrom , which never could or can be parted with , pass or perish .
And which no power on earth , nor any length of adverse possession can take away , annul , bar , or diminish . That the people of Ireland have for ages been deprived of their natural right to property in their own soil , that their right has been in practical effect , utterly defeated and diverted , and that it now requires to be asserted , enforced and established . "
The all-encircling ocean is the boundary of their heritage . Let the thoughts wander like fleeting cloud-shadows over the land ; they will pause , here and there , above the dust of our illustrious forefathers , and over that of the great men and women of our own time . All are now part of the spirit-world of the Gael , an invisible but potent force . When we think of the past , we think of places like Tara and Clonmacnois ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(2 of 6).
" At present , and with the coming of Christmas , the prison administration here have set about and are carrying out an escalated and massive torture offensive aimed directly at breaking the blanket protest . Within the past week here the prison administration have claimed that an epidemic of head lice has broken out in H-Block 3 , and using this as an excuse - with the backing of their own medical cronies - they have dragged blanket men from their cells , beat them senseless , threw them into baths of disenfectant , forcibly scrubbed them , cut their hair and shaved their beards off with a razor .
This is simply another blatant brutal attempt to brutalise us into submission ....... "
(MORE LATER).
(Please note - the 'Long Weekend' starts today , Friday , 22nd October - the coming Monday is a Bank Holiday here in the 26 Counties ie the whole State practically shuts down ! Our 'Junior' is off with his 'moth' , so we may or may not be here on the Monday . If not , Tuesday will be business as usual -Sharon ).
.......the British 'Military Services Bill' (the 'Conscription Act') was 'introduced' to Ireland by Westminster in 1918 ; the then leader of the Irish Volunteers , John Dillon , warned the Brits that it would cause further trouble for them in Ireland .....
Two days after Conscription was 'introduced' into Ireland (16th April 1918) , a meeting was held in the Mansion House , in Dublin (on 18th April) , at which representatives of all political opinion (and none) turned up . A statement was issued to the media following that meeting -
- " Denying the right of the British Government to enforce compulsory service in this country , we pledge ourselves solemnly to one another to resist conscription by the most effective means at our disposal . " The 'natives' were stirring ... and 19 days later , the Brits struck back : on the night of 7th May , 1918 , the British 'Lord Lieutenant of Ireland' , Field Marshal 'Lord' French , sent out his armed thugs and 'arrested' the leadership of the then Sinn Fein organisation - 73 people in all .
This 'round-up' by the Brits became known as the 'German Plot' arrests . However - those 'arrests' backfired on Westminster ; Sinn Fein had been 'tipped-off' in advance about them .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" Padraig Pearse , Roger Casement , Jim Daly - all knew the 'Aisling' , and all had their spirits raised by it . As did James Fintan Lalor , who made the following resolution ....... "
" That of natural right , on the grant of God , the soil of Ireland belongs to the people of Ireland , who therefore have a clear vested right of property in the soil to the extent of full , comfortable , and secure subsistence therefrom , which never could or can be parted with , pass or perish .
And which no power on earth , nor any length of adverse possession can take away , annul , bar , or diminish . That the people of Ireland have for ages been deprived of their natural right to property in their own soil , that their right has been in practical effect , utterly defeated and diverted , and that it now requires to be asserted , enforced and established . "
The all-encircling ocean is the boundary of their heritage . Let the thoughts wander like fleeting cloud-shadows over the land ; they will pause , here and there , above the dust of our illustrious forefathers , and over that of the great men and women of our own time . All are now part of the spirit-world of the Gael , an invisible but potent force . When we think of the past , we think of places like Tara and Clonmacnois ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .......
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(2 of 6).
" At present , and with the coming of Christmas , the prison administration here have set about and are carrying out an escalated and massive torture offensive aimed directly at breaking the blanket protest . Within the past week here the prison administration have claimed that an epidemic of head lice has broken out in H-Block 3 , and using this as an excuse - with the backing of their own medical cronies - they have dragged blanket men from their cells , beat them senseless , threw them into baths of disenfectant , forcibly scrubbed them , cut their hair and shaved their beards off with a razor .
This is simply another blatant brutal attempt to brutalise us into submission ....... "
(MORE LATER).
(Please note - the 'Long Weekend' starts today , Friday , 22nd October - the coming Monday is a Bank Holiday here in the 26 Counties ie the whole State practically shuts down ! Our 'Junior' is off with his 'moth' , so we may or may not be here on the Monday . If not , Tuesday will be business as usual -Sharon ).
Thursday, October 21, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... 1918 ; Sinn Fein declared by the Brits to be "...an illegal organisation ...." , as was the Irish Volunteers and the Gaelic League . 'The Great War' ('WW1') was going badly for Westminster , and conscription was made law in England in 1916 - now the Brits were looking towards Ireland ...
Since the outbreak of 'The Great War' in August 1914 , tens-of-thousands of Irishmen had fought , and were fighting , side-by-side as volunteers in the British Army , having answered the call by British 'Lord' Kitchener to help defeat "...the dastardly Hun ..to protect small nations ....." . But the 'Conscription Act' worked against the British - even the then leader of the Irish Volunteers , John Dillon , was against it .
It should be noted that that same organisation (Irish Volunteers) , then under the leadership of John Redmond , had , in 1914 , backed the British war machine , which led to a split in the Irish Volunteers . However - John Dillon stated , in the British 'House of Commons' , as he was leading his members in a walk-out from that institution in protest over the Conscription Act - " All Ireland will rise against you ."
He was to be proved right .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
"....... those with the 'Vision' were not 'contented serfs' , happy with their lot as long as their bank account eased their conscience . But the Ireland which Padraig Pearse envisaged was not yet established ....... "
" Padraig Pearse wanted an Ireland " ...not Gaelic merely but free as well ; not free merely but Gaelic as well . " Some progress has been made , but there is yet much to be done . What has been achieved was the result of great sacrifice and hard work by good Irishmen and women ; the ranting of politicians had no part in it , and it is not to be expected ever will have in future progress . It is Irish men and women , educated to the true meaning of freedom , who will one day achieve it .
The 'Aisling' of the Ireland of the future , as seen by the greatest as well as the most humble among her lovers was simply a picture of the people , happy , prosperous and Gaelic-speaking , back on the good land from which they had been driven to make room for the bullock and the sheep . This condition once achieved , the prosperity of the towns and cities was assured . The old virtures , culture and pride of race would soon return ; the politicians say that such a movement was begun soon after the Treaty of 1921 : its progress is not perceptible . The people are still in the waste places where they were driven to die , while the bullock and the sheep live on the fat of the land .
Our people must go up again to the mountain and look out over their splendid heritage and into the mighty past ; there they will see an 'Aisling' that will raise their hearts and cause them to make certain resolutions . Some of these will be the resolutions of James Fintan Lalor ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(1 of 6).
This communication was written by Bobby Sands in early December 1978 . At that time he was the PRO of the protesting Republican prisoners . This 'comm's' contents say more of the conditions which the prisoners were subjected to in the H-Blocks than any external publicist of the H-Block protest ever could and is an explanation in itself of the conditions and the political commitment of the prisoners which eventually forced them to use the hunger-strike weapon as their last alternative means of protest having exhausted every other method .
" In the past 27 months , we republican prisoners of war on the blanket protest for political status , in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh , have been subjected to continual and extreme torture to break our resistence and protest . We have faced untold and constant brutalities , indignities and torture from the prison administration ...whose daily aim is to break our resistence ...
Not a single day passes in these hell blocks without several blanket men being beaten unconscious . We are hosed down , forcibly bathed until the skin is scrubbed from our backs . We are constantly moved from wing to wing and made run , naked , a gauntlet of merciless screws . We are spread eagled across a table to have intimate parts of our bodies probed and examined . Young lads , some barely 17 and 18 years of age , are punched senseless .
Such injuries as a broken nose , split head and multiple bruising are common place ... "
(MORE LATER).
....... 1918 ; Sinn Fein declared by the Brits to be "...an illegal organisation ...." , as was the Irish Volunteers and the Gaelic League . 'The Great War' ('WW1') was going badly for Westminster , and conscription was made law in England in 1916 - now the Brits were looking towards Ireland ...
Since the outbreak of 'The Great War' in August 1914 , tens-of-thousands of Irishmen had fought , and were fighting , side-by-side as volunteers in the British Army , having answered the call by British 'Lord' Kitchener to help defeat "...the dastardly Hun ..to protect small nations ....." . But the 'Conscription Act' worked against the British - even the then leader of the Irish Volunteers , John Dillon , was against it .
It should be noted that that same organisation (Irish Volunteers) , then under the leadership of John Redmond , had , in 1914 , backed the British war machine , which led to a split in the Irish Volunteers . However - John Dillon stated , in the British 'House of Commons' , as he was leading his members in a walk-out from that institution in protest over the Conscription Act - " All Ireland will rise against you ."
He was to be proved right .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
"....... those with the 'Vision' were not 'contented serfs' , happy with their lot as long as their bank account eased their conscience . But the Ireland which Padraig Pearse envisaged was not yet established ....... "
" Padraig Pearse wanted an Ireland " ...not Gaelic merely but free as well ; not free merely but Gaelic as well . " Some progress has been made , but there is yet much to be done . What has been achieved was the result of great sacrifice and hard work by good Irishmen and women ; the ranting of politicians had no part in it , and it is not to be expected ever will have in future progress . It is Irish men and women , educated to the true meaning of freedom , who will one day achieve it .
The 'Aisling' of the Ireland of the future , as seen by the greatest as well as the most humble among her lovers was simply a picture of the people , happy , prosperous and Gaelic-speaking , back on the good land from which they had been driven to make room for the bullock and the sheep . This condition once achieved , the prosperity of the towns and cities was assured . The old virtures , culture and pride of race would soon return ; the politicians say that such a movement was begun soon after the Treaty of 1921 : its progress is not perceptible . The people are still in the waste places where they were driven to die , while the bullock and the sheep live on the fat of the land .
Our people must go up again to the mountain and look out over their splendid heritage and into the mighty past ; there they will see an 'Aisling' that will raise their hearts and cause them to make certain resolutions . Some of these will be the resolutions of James Fintan Lalor ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .
As published in 'IRIS' magazine , November 1981 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(1 of 6).
This communication was written by Bobby Sands in early December 1978 . At that time he was the PRO of the protesting Republican prisoners . This 'comm's' contents say more of the conditions which the prisoners were subjected to in the H-Blocks than any external publicist of the H-Block protest ever could and is an explanation in itself of the conditions and the political commitment of the prisoners which eventually forced them to use the hunger-strike weapon as their last alternative means of protest having exhausted every other method .
" In the past 27 months , we republican prisoners of war on the blanket protest for political status , in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh , have been subjected to continual and extreme torture to break our resistence and protest . We have faced untold and constant brutalities , indignities and torture from the prison administration ...whose daily aim is to break our resistence ...
Not a single day passes in these hell blocks without several blanket men being beaten unconscious . We are hosed down , forcibly bathed until the skin is scrubbed from our backs . We are constantly moved from wing to wing and made run , naked , a gauntlet of merciless screws . We are spread eagled across a table to have intimate parts of our bodies probed and examined . Young lads , some barely 17 and 18 years of age , are punched senseless .
Such injuries as a broken nose , split head and multiple bruising are common place ... "
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .
13 months after the landslide 1918 General Election results for the then 13-years-young Sinn Fein party , the British and pro-British elements in the country were still 'sore' about the outcome ; it was in that same year (1918) that the 'Military Services Bill' (Conscription) was 'introduced' in Ireland by Westminster (on April 16th) .
The Sinn Fein organisation was declared by the British to be " illegal " , as was the 'Irish Volunteers' and the 'Gaelic League' (all 'outlawed' on the 3rd July , 1918) . Conscription had been law in what Westminster referred to as "the United Kingdom" since 1916 , but 'The Great War' was going badly for the Brits and they needed more 'front-line fodder' ...
... so they looked to Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" 'Roisin Dubh' ; 'the Old Woman' ; the 'Aislingi' : Visions . Of an Ireland free from outside interference . Padraig Pearse had that 'Vision' , as did Tom Clarke . So , too , did Roger Casement and Jim Daly ....... "
" Roger Casement , who returned a 'Knights Insignia' , and Jim Daly of the Connaught Rangers who removed his tunic so that the bullets of the British firing-party might not pierce his body through a British uniform had that same 'Vision' . It thrills one to think that such men belong to Ireland ; their bodies were destroyed in foreign lands but their indestructible spirit came home to live for ever in the hearts of their race .
There still live among us some of those who described Padraig Pearse and his comrades as " visionaries , " " dreamers ," " rainbow-chasers , " etc ; that type deserve no credit for their descriptive efforts , though they were literally correct . They forget that the vision precedes the reality - their own vision was one which was very remote from the Aisling ; it was that of an ever-increasing bank account , to be added to regardless of the humiliating slavery which bound their country , and their people . " Stability " was one of their favourite catchwords - to gather-up the goods of the world and live the lives of contented serfs , to fawn on their oppressors and to decry the actions of those who would break their chains , was its meaning for them . They called Padraig Pearse " ...a fool ....." , but he had anticipated them -
- " A fool that in all his day hath done never a prudent thing ,
Never had counted the cost , nor reckoned if another reaped
the fruit of his mighty sowing , content to scatter the seed . "
The Ireland which Padraig Pearse envisaged has not yet been realised ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
[5 of 5] .
" There is room for republicans to examine if the struggle for independence can be improved by an intervention in the electoral process in order to show clearly that people support radical republicanism and resistance to the British presence more than they support any other (sic) collaborationist tendency .
There is fundamentally a need for Irish Republicans to bring about conditions whereby the Irish people may seize political and economic control of their own destinies ; whether this can be assisted by an intervention in the electoral process should be the basis for discussion within republican circles . What should not be the basis for discussion is whether this intervention means a run-down of the armed struggle : it patently does not . ('1169...' comment - should the Provos re-commence their armed struggle , it will only be to secure a better deal in Stormont for themselves , and/or to ensure that no other armed organisation will challenge the British militarily in the occupied Six Counties . Such is the 'price' of Provo acceptance by the 'Establishment'.)
We must fight on many fronts and the armed struggle has been historically and contemporarily shown to be the most important . It must be coupled , of course , with political and economic resistance . "
[END of ' THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .)
13 months after the landslide 1918 General Election results for the then 13-years-young Sinn Fein party , the British and pro-British elements in the country were still 'sore' about the outcome ; it was in that same year (1918) that the 'Military Services Bill' (Conscription) was 'introduced' in Ireland by Westminster (on April 16th) .
The Sinn Fein organisation was declared by the British to be " illegal " , as was the 'Irish Volunteers' and the 'Gaelic League' (all 'outlawed' on the 3rd July , 1918) . Conscription had been law in what Westminster referred to as "the United Kingdom" since 1916 , but 'The Great War' was going badly for the Brits and they needed more 'front-line fodder' ...
... so they looked to Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" 'Roisin Dubh' ; 'the Old Woman' ; the 'Aislingi' : Visions . Of an Ireland free from outside interference . Padraig Pearse had that 'Vision' , as did Tom Clarke . So , too , did Roger Casement and Jim Daly ....... "
" Roger Casement , who returned a 'Knights Insignia' , and Jim Daly of the Connaught Rangers who removed his tunic so that the bullets of the British firing-party might not pierce his body through a British uniform had that same 'Vision' . It thrills one to think that such men belong to Ireland ; their bodies were destroyed in foreign lands but their indestructible spirit came home to live for ever in the hearts of their race .
There still live among us some of those who described Padraig Pearse and his comrades as " visionaries , " " dreamers ," " rainbow-chasers , " etc ; that type deserve no credit for their descriptive efforts , though they were literally correct . They forget that the vision precedes the reality - their own vision was one which was very remote from the Aisling ; it was that of an ever-increasing bank account , to be added to regardless of the humiliating slavery which bound their country , and their people . " Stability " was one of their favourite catchwords - to gather-up the goods of the world and live the lives of contented serfs , to fawn on their oppressors and to decry the actions of those who would break their chains , was its meaning for them . They called Padraig Pearse " ...a fool ....." , but he had anticipated them -
- " A fool that in all his day hath done never a prudent thing ,
Never had counted the cost , nor reckoned if another reaped
the fruit of his mighty sowing , content to scatter the seed . "
The Ireland which Padraig Pearse envisaged has not yet been realised ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
[5 of 5] .
" There is room for republicans to examine if the struggle for independence can be improved by an intervention in the electoral process in order to show clearly that people support radical republicanism and resistance to the British presence more than they support any other (sic) collaborationist tendency .
There is fundamentally a need for Irish Republicans to bring about conditions whereby the Irish people may seize political and economic control of their own destinies ; whether this can be assisted by an intervention in the electoral process should be the basis for discussion within republican circles . What should not be the basis for discussion is whether this intervention means a run-down of the armed struggle : it patently does not . ('1169...' comment - should the Provos re-commence their armed struggle , it will only be to secure a better deal in Stormont for themselves , and/or to ensure that no other armed organisation will challenge the British militarily in the occupied Six Counties . Such is the 'price' of Provo acceptance by the 'Establishment'.)
We must fight on many fronts and the armed struggle has been historically and contemporarily shown to be the most important . It must be coupled , of course , with political and economic resistance . "
[END of ' THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' Communication from BOBBY SANDS , Long Kesh H-Blocks , early December 1978 .)
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......
....... the British were quick to dismiss the failed 'Young Ireland' Rising of 1848 as "...a farce .." ; but , while the Brits were sniggering at the failure , the Irish were learning from it ...
The British derisively described that attempted Rising as "...the battle of the Widow MacCormicks cabbage garden .." ; the fact that armed British military personnel practically kidnapped five Irish children that day , and held them hostage to save their own skins , was not talked about . Incidentally , ten years after the Brits 'distinguished' themselves that day , 29th July , 1848 , in Ballingarry , County Tipperary , Irish Rebel veterans from that campaign , who had re-grouped , set-up the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) (ie in 1858) .
James Stephens had organised the IRB in a 'cell' system (which he learned while 'on the run' in France after the 1848 Rising) and John O'Mahony used his enforced 'stay' in America , again after the 1848 action , to obtain material resources and support from the Irish community there to have another go at the Brits . With 'thanks' to the British themselves , it can be seen that the 1848 Young Ireland Rising led to the establishment of the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1858 .
But the British would prefer that no link be made , that each Rising , each Rebellion , be dismissed as "...a farce .." , as the actions of an unrepresentative few 'malcontents' . That is , after all , how the 'Empire' was built and maintained ; and , for our part , this 'weblog' has no hesitation at all in cheering on those 'malcontents' !
[END of ' JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' Ireland , January 15th 1920 - Elections'.)
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" .......in 1907 , at 49 years young , Irish Rebel Tom Clarke returned to Ireland and opened a newspaper shop in Parnell Street , in Dublin . Padraig Pearse was amongst those who were frequent visitors ..... "
" They sought the help of the man who had for so long been tested in the crucible of suffering and had been found unbreakable ; nor did he fail them . In 1916 , they repaid him by insisting that his should be the first signature to the Proclamation of the Republic ; it was the greatest day of Tom Clarke's life , though well he knew it meant for him the end . He was shot on 3rd May 1916 , at 58 years of age . Of those only eighteen had been spent in Ireland .
A man is judged by the life he has led ; I know of no more splendid figure than Tom Clarke ; the onset of the years chills the blood of most men - add to this the incredible physical and mental torture which he had endured for almost sixteen of those years . Most of the remainder were years of hardship and disillusionment . His father's influence and his early environment militated against his faith yet , like Padraig Pearse , he turned his back on 'the beautiful vision of the world' , and set his face to the road before him , the road indicated by 'the Old Woman...'
It would be easy to give many more examples from amongst the elite of the followers of Roisin Dubh , as 'the Old Woman' is sometimes called , but space would not allow it . Our own time produced many heroic men and women of a standard that could not be excelled ; some of the greatest came from the least-expected direction - the British service . I will mention only two : Roger Casement and Jim Daly ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
(4 of 5).
" For those who would be concerned that such an intervention in the West Belfast election is a new tendency , or departure , they can be assured that the military struggle will go on with all the energy at our disposal and , in fact , victory would actually be hastened with the development of a complementary radical political offensive . ('1169...' comment - the Provo military struggle , against the British , at least , is over , and their "radical political offensive" now involves sitting in Stormont and Leinster House - the more things change etc .)
Our attitude to constitutional politics is quite simple and clear cut - there is no such thing as constitutional politics in this country ; the last legitimate constitutional forum in Ireland , Dail Eireann , was proclaimed "illegal" and subverted by the British and the Free Staters . Outside of a thirty-two county sovereign , independent , democracy the IRA will have no involvement in what is loosely called 'constitutional politics ' . " ('1169...' comment - "...no involvement ...in constitutional politics ..." Stormont ? Leinster House ? )
(MORE LATER).
....... the British were quick to dismiss the failed 'Young Ireland' Rising of 1848 as "...a farce .." ; but , while the Brits were sniggering at the failure , the Irish were learning from it ...
The British derisively described that attempted Rising as "...the battle of the Widow MacCormicks cabbage garden .." ; the fact that armed British military personnel practically kidnapped five Irish children that day , and held them hostage to save their own skins , was not talked about . Incidentally , ten years after the Brits 'distinguished' themselves that day , 29th July , 1848 , in Ballingarry , County Tipperary , Irish Rebel veterans from that campaign , who had re-grouped , set-up the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) (ie in 1858) .
James Stephens had organised the IRB in a 'cell' system (which he learned while 'on the run' in France after the 1848 Rising) and John O'Mahony used his enforced 'stay' in America , again after the 1848 action , to obtain material resources and support from the Irish community there to have another go at the Brits . With 'thanks' to the British themselves , it can be seen that the 1848 Young Ireland Rising led to the establishment of the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1858 .
But the British would prefer that no link be made , that each Rising , each Rebellion , be dismissed as "...a farce .." , as the actions of an unrepresentative few 'malcontents' . That is , after all , how the 'Empire' was built and maintained ; and , for our part , this 'weblog' has no hesitation at all in cheering on those 'malcontents' !
[END of ' JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' Ireland , January 15th 1920 - Elections'.)
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
" .......in 1907 , at 49 years young , Irish Rebel Tom Clarke returned to Ireland and opened a newspaper shop in Parnell Street , in Dublin . Padraig Pearse was amongst those who were frequent visitors ..... "
" They sought the help of the man who had for so long been tested in the crucible of suffering and had been found unbreakable ; nor did he fail them . In 1916 , they repaid him by insisting that his should be the first signature to the Proclamation of the Republic ; it was the greatest day of Tom Clarke's life , though well he knew it meant for him the end . He was shot on 3rd May 1916 , at 58 years of age . Of those only eighteen had been spent in Ireland .
A man is judged by the life he has led ; I know of no more splendid figure than Tom Clarke ; the onset of the years chills the blood of most men - add to this the incredible physical and mental torture which he had endured for almost sixteen of those years . Most of the remainder were years of hardship and disillusionment . His father's influence and his early environment militated against his faith yet , like Padraig Pearse , he turned his back on 'the beautiful vision of the world' , and set his face to the road before him , the road indicated by 'the Old Woman...'
It would be easy to give many more examples from amongst the elite of the followers of Roisin Dubh , as 'the Old Woman' is sometimes called , but space would not allow it . Our own time produced many heroic men and women of a standard that could not be excelled ; some of the greatest came from the least-expected direction - the British service . I will mention only two : Roger Casement and Jim Daly ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
(4 of 5).
" For those who would be concerned that such an intervention in the West Belfast election is a new tendency , or departure , they can be assured that the military struggle will go on with all the energy at our disposal and , in fact , victory would actually be hastened with the development of a complementary radical political offensive . ('1169...' comment - the Provo military struggle , against the British , at least , is over , and their "radical political offensive" now involves sitting in Stormont and Leinster House - the more things change etc .)
Our attitude to constitutional politics is quite simple and clear cut - there is no such thing as constitutional politics in this country ; the last legitimate constitutional forum in Ireland , Dail Eireann , was proclaimed "illegal" and subverted by the British and the Free Staters . Outside of a thirty-two county sovereign , independent , democracy the IRA will have no involvement in what is loosely called 'constitutional politics ' . " ('1169...' comment - "...no involvement ...in constitutional politics ..." Stormont ? Leinster House ? )
(MORE LATER).
Monday, October 18, 2004
JULY 29th , 1848 : RIC , Firearms , Pikes - and Five Children .......
....... one of those who escaped from the battle at the Widow McCormicks house at Ballingarry , County Tipperary , on July 29th , 1848 , James Stephens , had made his way to Paris , France , but eventually returned to Ireland . In Dublin , on Saint Patricks Day (17th March) in 1858 , he helped to found the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood ' (IRB).......
James Stephens had learned of a better way in which to organise a secret society - his 'stay' in France had been spent studying the structures of anti-government organisations there , and the IRB (Ireland) and the Fenian Brotherhood (America) were established to consist of 'closed circles' , in which only one member was allowed to know only one other member of any other 'circle' , and all 'business' was to be conducted in public venues ie bars , restaurants , sporting events etc , instead of holding same , as had been done , in a room in an hotel or in a members house .
The new system worked - only months after its inception (ie towards the end of 1858) a young man named Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa , who worked for the Irish Republican Brotherhood , was caught in Cork with three or four other men , whom the RIC alleged were acting suspicious ; it was actually a 'swearing-in' ceremony which the RIC had discovered but , due to their lack of information (their informers knew nothing about it) the RIC let the men go , believing , as they were told by O'Donovan Rossa , that the group were discussing the possible establishment of a political grouping , to be called ' The Phoenix Society' !
However - the failed 'Young Ireland' Rising of 1848 , which began on July 29th that year , was dismissed by the British as " ...a farce.." - but it was that which came from the attempted Rising that was to prove the British wrong in that description .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
"....... arriving in London on Active Service for the Irish Republican Brotherhood , Isle-of-Wight -born Tom Clarke , in his mid-twenties , was arrested by the British and sentenced to penal servitude for life ......."
" For 15 years and nine months , in the prisons of Chatham and Portland , Tom Clarke endured imprisonment without flinching ; 15 years and nine months of an incessant attempt , by the British , to deprive him of his life or reason . This torture did not cease with daylight and recommence on the following day ; it was maintained during the hours of darkness when even the vilest criminal was entitled to sleep and rest . But Tom Clarke and his comrades got neither sleep nor rest .
Cunning devices for producing continuous disturbing sounds were erected over their cells - these are described in his book 'Glimpses of an Irish Felon's Prison Life' . The relentless brutality at length drove two of his comrades , Whitehead and Gallagher , hopelessly insane . With John Daly , they were released in 1896 ; Daly had been arrested a year after Tom Clarke , and had hitherto shared the same prisons with him ; though kept apart , they had managed to communicate with each other now and again . The release of his friend was a sore loss to Tom Clarke who , for a further two years , had to endure alone an even more intensified form of torture .
Released in 1898 , he spent a short time in Limerick with his friend John Daly before returning to America where , in 1901 , he married Kathleen Daly , John Daly's daughter . With Devoy , he founded the 'Gaelic American' newspaper and , as its Assistant Editor , worked in New York until 1907 . Then he returned to Ireland and opened a newspaper shop at Parnell Street , Dublin .
It quickly became the meeting-place for Padraig Pearse and all that valiant company of a new generation who had also seen the Aisling ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
(3 of 5).
" Irish Republicans have periodically contested elections in both six and twenty-six county states ; in 1917 , 1918 and 1919 , before partition , and from then until the 1950's and in 1964 , republicans contested elections on an abstentionist ticket . There is no reason now , where practical , as it appears in West Belfast , that republicans should not oppose nationalist collaboration .
If Sinn Fein contests this election the IRA will obviously whole-heartedly support their decision . Sinn Fein spokespersons and prisoners' supporters have demanded Gerry Fitt's resignation over the hunger-strike when it was obvious that Fitt was totally out of step with those whom he purported to represent .
There is an obvious need to give the people of West Belfast the opportunity of showing whether they support the politics of Gerry Fitt , the benign unionism of the SDLP or a republican candidate ..."
(MORE LATER).
....... one of those who escaped from the battle at the Widow McCormicks house at Ballingarry , County Tipperary , on July 29th , 1848 , James Stephens , had made his way to Paris , France , but eventually returned to Ireland . In Dublin , on Saint Patricks Day (17th March) in 1858 , he helped to found the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood ' (IRB).......
James Stephens had learned of a better way in which to organise a secret society - his 'stay' in France had been spent studying the structures of anti-government organisations there , and the IRB (Ireland) and the Fenian Brotherhood (America) were established to consist of 'closed circles' , in which only one member was allowed to know only one other member of any other 'circle' , and all 'business' was to be conducted in public venues ie bars , restaurants , sporting events etc , instead of holding same , as had been done , in a room in an hotel or in a members house .
The new system worked - only months after its inception (ie towards the end of 1858) a young man named Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa , who worked for the Irish Republican Brotherhood , was caught in Cork with three or four other men , whom the RIC alleged were acting suspicious ; it was actually a 'swearing-in' ceremony which the RIC had discovered but , due to their lack of information (their informers knew nothing about it) the RIC let the men go , believing , as they were told by O'Donovan Rossa , that the group were discussing the possible establishment of a political grouping , to be called ' The Phoenix Society' !
However - the failed 'Young Ireland' Rising of 1848 , which began on July 29th that year , was dismissed by the British as " ...a farce.." - but it was that which came from the attempted Rising that was to prove the British wrong in that description .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
AISLINGI .......
"....... arriving in London on Active Service for the Irish Republican Brotherhood , Isle-of-Wight -born Tom Clarke , in his mid-twenties , was arrested by the British and sentenced to penal servitude for life ......."
" For 15 years and nine months , in the prisons of Chatham and Portland , Tom Clarke endured imprisonment without flinching ; 15 years and nine months of an incessant attempt , by the British , to deprive him of his life or reason . This torture did not cease with daylight and recommence on the following day ; it was maintained during the hours of darkness when even the vilest criminal was entitled to sleep and rest . But Tom Clarke and his comrades got neither sleep nor rest .
Cunning devices for producing continuous disturbing sounds were erected over their cells - these are described in his book 'Glimpses of an Irish Felon's Prison Life' . The relentless brutality at length drove two of his comrades , Whitehead and Gallagher , hopelessly insane . With John Daly , they were released in 1896 ; Daly had been arrested a year after Tom Clarke , and had hitherto shared the same prisons with him ; though kept apart , they had managed to communicate with each other now and again . The release of his friend was a sore loss to Tom Clarke who , for a further two years , had to endure alone an even more intensified form of torture .
Released in 1898 , he spent a short time in Limerick with his friend John Daly before returning to America where , in 1901 , he married Kathleen Daly , John Daly's daughter . With Devoy , he founded the 'Gaelic American' newspaper and , as its Assistant Editor , worked in New York until 1907 . Then he returned to Ireland and opened a newspaper shop at Parnell Street , Dublin .
It quickly became the meeting-place for Padraig Pearse and all that valiant company of a new generation who had also seen the Aisling ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA ATTITUDE TO ELECTIONS .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , September 5th , 1981 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
(3 of 5).
" Irish Republicans have periodically contested elections in both six and twenty-six county states ; in 1917 , 1918 and 1919 , before partition , and from then until the 1950's and in 1964 , republicans contested elections on an abstentionist ticket . There is no reason now , where practical , as it appears in West Belfast , that republicans should not oppose nationalist collaboration .
If Sinn Fein contests this election the IRA will obviously whole-heartedly support their decision . Sinn Fein spokespersons and prisoners' supporters have demanded Gerry Fitt's resignation over the hunger-strike when it was obvious that Fitt was totally out of step with those whom he purported to represent .
There is an obvious need to give the people of West Belfast the opportunity of showing whether they support the politics of Gerry Fitt , the benign unionism of the SDLP or a republican candidate ..."
(MORE LATER).
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