ON THIS DATE (5TH MAY) 40 YEARS AGO : BOBBY SANDS DIES ON HUNGER STRIKE IN LONG KESH PRISON.
The 1981 hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during this on-going struggle by Irish republican prisoners ; a 'blanket protest' began in 1976 when the British government withdrew 'Special Category Status' for political prisoners and, in 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to 'slop out', the protest escalated into the 'dirty protest', where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement.
In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days then, on Sunday, 1st March 1981, (P)IRA POW Bobby Sands began his hunger strike.
He received widespread media attention for his protest and more so when, on the 9th April 1981, he was elected as an abstentionist member in a Leinster House (Free State 'parliament') election, after being nominated to contest the seat by Dáithí Ó Conaill, the then vice president of the then Sinn Féin organisation.
Bobby Sands was, as far as Irish republicans are concerned, a 'Teachta Dála' (TD) who was elected to take a seat in a 32-county Irish parliament, unlike the Free State representatives who sit in an institution in Kildare Street in Dublin today and claim to be 'TD's in an Irish parliament' and, indeed, Bobby's motives and those of Dáithí and the other then Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle members who nominated him to contest the election were pure, unlike the motives of the self-serving time-keepers who sit in that Kildare Street premises today : the motives of the former involved a principled unwillingness to allow themselves and the struggle they were part of to be criminalised and to highlight to the world that they were fighting a political struggle against Westminster and its allies in this country.
Bobby Sands was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for his alleged part in a fire-bombing campaign which, as part of an economic war against the British presence in Ireland, targeted business premises (in this instance, the Balmoral Furniture Company) with the intention of making it financially unviable for Britain to maintain its grip on that part of Ireland, a fact which present-day Provisional Sinn Féin and other Leinster House members seek to ignore or gloss over when referencing the so-called 'ineffectual/grubby deeds' of those who continue that struggle today.
On the 9th April, 1981, Bobby Sands was elected by 30,492 of those that voted in the Fermanagh/South Tyrone district, prompting, years later, this thesis from a republican leader : "Contrary to allegations made in the news media, there was not a straight line from the election of Bobby Sands in 1981 to the Stormont Agreement of 1998. Rather was the line from March, April and May 1981 to the same months in 1998 disfigured and distorted by an internal power-struggle for the leadership of Sinn Féin accompanied and followed by deceit and artifice as the ideals of Bobby Sands were steadily perverted and a section of the then powerful revolutionary Republican Movement turned into a constitutional party.." (from here). Bobby Sands, 9th March 1954 – 5th May 1981. RIP.
'CORK MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, June, 1955.
It will be emphasised that the restoration of our language and culture is an important part of our programme ('1169' comment - "our ancient history and culture..").
Voluntary workers and funds are urgently needed and any help, no mater how small, will be appreciated. Anybody willing to help can report to Election Headquarters, Thomas Ashe Memorial Hall, or ring Cork 24700 or Cork 23661.
(END of 'Cork Municipal Elections' ; NEXT - 'Wolfe Tone Commemoration', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (5TH MAY) 142 YEARS AGO : 'FATHER OF HOME RULE' DIES IN DUBLIN.
'ISAAC BUTT (1813-1879) POLITICIAN, BARRISTER AND PHILOSOPHER (pictured).
Isaac Butt was born in Glenfin, Donegal, on the 6th September 1813. His father, The Reverend Robert Butt, became Rector of St. Mary's Church of Ireland, Stranorlar in 1814 so Isaac spent his childhood years in Stranorlar. His mother's maiden name was Berkeley Cox and she claimed descendency from the O'Donnells. When Isaac was aged twelve he went as a boarder to the Royal School Raphoe and at the age of fifteen entered Trinity College Dublin.
He trained as a barrister and became a member of both the Irish Bar and the English Bar. He was a conservative lawyer but after the famine ('1169' comment - it was an attempted genocide) in the 1840s became increasingly liberal. In 1852 he became Tory MP at Westminster representing Youghal, Co. Cork and in 1869 he founded a 'Tenant League' to renew the demand for tenant rights. He was a noted orator who spoke fervently for justice, tolerance, compassion and freedom. He always defended the poor and the oppressed.
He started the Home Rule Movement in 1870 and in 1871 was elected MP for Limerick, running on a Home Rule ticket. He founded a political party called 'The Home Rule Party' in 1873. By the mid 1870s Butt's health was failing and he was losing control of his party to a section of its members who wished to adopt a much more aggressive approach than he was willing to accept. In 1879 he suffered a stroke from which he failed to recover and died on the 5th May (1879) - 142 years ago on this date - in Clonskeagh, Dublin.
He was replaced by William Shaw who was succeeded by Charles Stewart Parnell in 1880. Isaac Butt became known as "The Father of Home Rule in Ireland". At his express wish he is buried in a corner of Stranorlar Church of Ireland cemetery, beneath a tree where he used to sit and dream as a boy.' (from here.)
On the 18th November, 1873, a three-day conference was convened in Dublin to discuss the issue of 'home rule' for Ireland. The conference had been organised, in the main, by Isaac Butt's then 3-year-old 'Home Government Association', and was attended by various individuals and small localised groups who shared an interest in that subject.
Isaac Butt was a well-known Dublin barrister who was apparently viewed with some suspicion by 'his own type' - Protestants - as he was a pillar of the Tory society in Ireland before recognising the ills of that creed and converting, politically, to the 'other side of the house' - Irish nationalism, a 'half way house', if even that - then and now - between British imperialism and Irish republicanism ie Isaac Butt and those like him made it clear that they were simply agitating for an improved position for Ireland within the 'British empire', as opposed to Irish republicans who were demanding then, and now, a British military and political withdrawal from Ireland.
Over that three-day period the gathering agreed to establish a new organisation, to be known as 'The Home Rule League',and the minutes from the conference make for interesting reading as they highlight/expose the request for the political 'half way house', mentioned above - 'At twelve o'clock, on the motion of George Bryan, M.R, seconded by Hon. Charles Ffrench, M.P., the Chair was taken by William Shaw, M.R.
On the motion of the Rev. P. Lavelle, seconded by Laurence Waldron, D.L., the following gentlemen were appointed Honorary Secretaries : — John O.Blunden, Philip Callan M.P, W.J.O'Neill Daunt, ER King Harman and Alfred Webb. ER King Harman read the requisition convening the Conference, as follows : —
We, the undersigned feel bound to declare our conviction that it is necessary to the peace and prosperity of Ireland, and would be conducive to the strength and stability of the United Kingdom, that the right of domestic legislation on all Irish affairs should be restored to our country and that it is desirable that Irishmen should unite to obtain that restoration upon the following principles : To obtain for our countiy the right and privilege of managing our own affairs, by a Parliament assembled in Ireland, composed of her Majesty the Sovereign, and the Lords and Commons of Ireland.
To secure for that Parliament, under a Federal arrangement, the right of legislating for, and regulating all matters relating to the internal affairs of Ireland, and control over Irish resources and revenues, subject to the obligation of contributing our just proportion of the Imperial expenditure. To leave to an Imperial Parliament the power of dealing with all questions affecting the Imperial Crown and Government, legislation regarding the Colonies and other dependencies of the Crown, the relations of the United Empire with Foreign States, and all matters appertaining to the defence and the stability of the Empire at large...' (from here.)
The militant 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' (IRB) was watching those developments with interest and it was decided that Patrick Egan and three other members of the IRB Supreme Council - John O'Connor Power, Joseph Biggar and John Barry - would join the 'Home Rule League' with the intention of 'steering' that group in the direction of the IRB. Other members of the IRB were encouraged to join the 'League' as well, and a time-scale was set in which to completely infiltrate the 'League' - three years.
However, that decision to infiltrate Isaac Butt's organisation was to backfire on the Irish Republican Brotherhood : the 'three-year' period of infiltration ended in 1876 and in August 1877 the IRB Supreme Council held a meeting at which a resolution condemning the over-involvement in politics (ie political motions etc rather than military action) of IRB members was discussed ; after heated arguments, the resolution was agreed and passed by the IRB Council, but not everyone accepted that decision and Patrick Egan, John O'Connor Power, Joseph Biggar and John Barry refused to accept the decision and all four men resigned from the IRB.
Charles Stewart Parnell was elected as leader of the 'Home Rule League' in 1880 and it became a more organised body - two years later, Parnell renamed it the 'Irish Parliamentary Party' and the rest, as they say, is history.
Parnell's predecessor, bar one, Isaac Butt, died in Dublin on this date, 5th May, 142 years ago.
NO RIGHT OF APPEAL...
Why the media consensus on a broad range of issues is increasingly disturbing. By John Drennan.
From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.
The reaction of the people of Ireland against the media consensus was heartening, no matter what your views might be on the merits or otherwise of European integration.
It showed that we do not, after all, live in a society where the views of a nation are sculpted by self-appointed political arbiters. We just live in a society where the self-appointed arbiters believe the myth, and everyone else generally takes little notice. The 'No To Nice' campaign taught us all a few lessons in listening to the people on the ground. Quite simply, they were on message with the only person who really counts - 'Joe Public'.
'Nice' was followed by the continued outworking of the ILDA/ASTI (trade union)
war. Oddly enough, no sooner had the ATGWU accepted ILDA into its capacious folds than its General Secretary and some of his staff were suspended by their mother union for such horrors as the cooking of fish in a canteen and the possession by one of them of a mug which showed a half-naked woman when something hot was poured into it. This wasn't a harassment case - this was high farce.
But the finest hour of the craven journalistic cabal was yet to come ; as bodies still burned in the tinder of the World Trade Centre, the RTE/Irish Times/Last Word-collective was on the job immediately as we were warned that we should be wary of the US embrace... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (5TH MAY) 105 YEARS AGO : JOHN MACBRIDE EXECUTED BY THE BRITISH.
John MacBride (pictured, sometimes written as 'John McBride', Seán Mac Giolla Bhríde) was born on the 7th May, 1868, in Westport, County Mayo. He was a leading figure in the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' in that county but, at 28 years of age, he left Ireland for South Africa, where he organised an Irish Transvaal Brigade to fight with the Boers.
After the war, he moved to Paris and married Maude Gonne, but they went their separate ways in 1906, and he returned to Ireland, where he resumed his contact with the IRB. He wasn't involved with the planning of the 1916 Easter Rising, but played his part as Adjutant to Thomas MacDonagh in Jacob's Factory. The British put him to death on the 5th May, 1916.
Sixteen Irish republicans, including the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, were executed by the British, after the Rising, while hundreds were imprisoned and interned in England and Wales. Within two days of the ending of the Rising, 'court martials' were convened by the British at Arbour Hill and Richmond Barracks - one of the first to face 'court-martial' was Padraig Pearse, the President of the newly-proclaimed Irish Republic (32-Counties, NOT a 26-County State) and commander-in-chief of the Republican Army.
On May 2nd, 1916, he was sentenced to death and despite a plea that his life be forfeit and that those of his comrades be spared, his request was rejected. During the following ten days, 15 republicans were 'court-martialled', sentenced to death and executed. On the morning of May 3rd, 1916, Pearse and Thomas J Clarke, the veteran Fenian and first signatory of the Proclamation, and Thomas MacDonagh, commander of the 2nd Battalion at Jacob's factory, were executed by firing squad in the yard of Kilmainham Jail.
The following day, four more executions took place - Joseph Plunkett (GPO Garrison), Edward Daly (commander of the Four Courts Garrison), Willie Pearse (GPO) and Michael O'Hanrahan (second-in-command at Jacobs factory). Major John MacBride, a veteran of the Boer War in South Africa, who fought at Jacobs factory, was the only execution carried out on May 5th, 1916 ; 105 years ago on this date.
'COMMENTS...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
Watch Your Imagination : "Fianna Fáil is going to capture the imagination of the people as it did in the earlier stages of the great national (sic) reconstruction drive", said Mr Erskine Childers, in Dublin, recently. It seems as if the truth is out at last that Fianna Fáil worked on the people's imagination for almost 20 years and, not content with that innings, the Party is planning another 'Operation Imagination'. Fool me once...
Westminster Elections :
A 'Newsweek' report states that Conservative Party strategists, who had been planning towards Autumn elections this year, now confide that unless the Far East situations clears up, elections will be put off until the Spring of 1956. Sinn Féin will contest all 12 seats in the Six Counties area and among the Sinn Féin nominations are a number of the republican prisoners at present under sentence in Belfast and English jails.
(END of 'Comments' ; NEXT - 'With The IRA In The Fight For Freedom', from the same source.)
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (28TH APRIL) 105 YEARS AGO : THE 'BATTLE OF ASHBOURNE'.
"You cannot put a rope around the neck of an idea...you cannot confine it in the strongest prison cell that your slaves could ever build.." - the words of Séan O'Casey, in relation to the murder of Thomas Ashe (pictured).
'Ashbourne in County Meath was the venue for one of the few military actions of the Rising to take place outside Dublin. It was also the most successful. Members of the 5th Battalion of the Dublin Volunteers had assembled near Swords on Easter Monday under the leadership of Thomas Ashe. In order to distract potential military reinforcements from Dublin City, over the next few days they proceeded to attack a number of RIC barracks in north County Dublin. They also attempted to disrupt the rails links into Dublin from the north and west of the country.
On Friday 28 April 1916 (105 years ago on this date) Ashe and his men set out for Batterstown, where they hoped to disrupt the Midlands Great Western rail line into Dublin. En route they passed through Ashbourne, where they attacked another RIC barracks. After 30 minutes the barracks surrendered, but the Volunteers were forced to continue fighting as a large detachment of RIC constables that had arrived in Ashbourne by car. The ensuing gun battle lasted over five hours, and was a rare and notable example of the use of guerilla tactics in the Easter Rising...' (from here.)
Thomas Ashe founded the Volunteers in Lusk and established a firm foundation of practical and theoretical military training. He provided charismatic leadership first as Adjutant and then as O/C (Officer Commanding) the 5th Battalion of the Dublin Brigade. He inspired fierce loyalty and encouraged personal initiative in his junior officers and was therefore able to confidently delegate command to Charlie Weston, Joseph Lawless, Edward Rooney and others during the Rising.
Most significantly, he took advantage of the arrival of Richard Mulcahy (pictured) at Finglas Glen on the Tuesday of the Rising and appointed him second in command. The two men knew one another through the IRB and Gaelic League and Ashe recognised Mulcahy’s tactical abilities. As a result Ashe allowed himself to be persuaded by Mulcahy not to withdraw following the unexpected arrival of the motorised force at the Rath crossroads. At Ashbourne on the 28th of April, 1916, Ashe also demonstrated great personal courage, first exposing himself to fire while calling on the RIC in the fortified barracks to surrender and then actively leading his Volunteers against the RIC during the Battle.
Four days previous to the 'Battle of Ashbourne' (on the 24th April, Easter Monday) Commandant Ashe had received orders from James Connolly to send forty members of his 5th Fingal Battalion to the General Post Office, in Dublin, to help fortify it, and he was instructed to raid nearby barracks, thereby, hopefully, locking down British forces and relieving pressure on those fighting in the city. He sent twenty men to the rebels headquarters at the GPO and kept the remainder of the fighters - about sixty in all - for the barracks attacks. It would prove to be a wise decision by the school teacher from Lusk.
Ashe and his men seized the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks and the Post Office in Swords, then turned their sights on Ashbourne and planned to attack the RIC barracks there. That day, Ashe was joined by Richard Mulcahy, who had only recently been appointed to the rank of First Lieutenant. He was in the area following his own orders and happened to meet the Fingal Commandant by chance. Ashe immediately made Mulcahy his second-in-command.
Before launching their assault, they had made sure to cut telephone wires, and even sawed down telephone poles, to block off communications with the surrounding area. He then sent his older volunteers home, reducing his ranks to about 45 men. The attack at Ashbourne would prove to be tougher than they had expected ; usually, the barracks was manned by an RIC sergeant and four others, but it had been reinforced due to the fighting in the capital and, instead of five RIC for the IRA to contend with, there were now 10 British 'policemen', led by a District Inspector McCormack. They were well armed and well prepared.
The IRA disarmed two RIC men who were setting up a barricade outside the barracks and then called on the remaining enemy forces to surrender, but those inside the structure took aim and started shooting at the IRA men. A homemade hand grenade was lobbed at the barracks and, soon after, those inside flew the white flag but, just as the RIC men were about to emerge, the IRA were alerted to the imminent arrival of a large RIC convoy, under County Inspector Alexander Gray, on its way to put the down the rising. With the prospect of rescue from the convoy, the besieged RIC men rushed back inside and resumed the fight.
Seventeen cars carrying approximately 60 RIC men from Slane were, at that moment, speeding towards the scene. Ashe and his men were in a race against time, and had to rush towards the road to stop the convoy reaching the crossroad at Rath Cross, where the RIC could then spread out. It was at this point that second-in-command Richard Mulcahy came into his own. The narrow Dublin to Slane road, with its tall, close hedges – about seven-feet-high – on either side, provided perfect terrain for the rebels and Mulcahy had his men positioned on both sides of the road as the convoy approached at a few minutes past noon.
About 15 yards from the cross roads was the spot chosed to launch a devastating attack on the Crown Forces, and the RIC took heavy fire from all directions. The first to be hit was RIC County Inspector Gray, in the lead car. A newspaper report at the time stated that '..County Inspector Gray received a wound to the head and Sergeant Shanaher, of Navan, who was with him in the car, was shot through the heart. The Sergeant fell into a channel of water near the cross, and presented a gruesome spectacle when the battle ended. He was thrown into the channel in a sitting position and was found dead, still wearing his helmet..'
The rest of the convoy then jumped from their vehicles, seeking cover behind the wheels or beneath the cars themselves. Others leapt into a ditch and started firing on their attackers from there. The fighting was fierce ; a civilian car that blundered into the ambush was also fired on, resulting in the deaths of two of the occupants. For five hours lead flew in all directions, but the IRA were getting the upper hand. RIC District Inspector Harry Smyth managed to kill one Volunteer with his pistol only to be shot dead himself a moment later, his brains spattered across the ditch into which he fell.
With the loss of their leader, the remaining RIC men signaled their surrender. At the end of the carnage, eight policemen lay dead in ditches and along the road, and up to 18 were wounded. The IRA suffered two dead – John Crennigan and Thomas Rafferty – and five wounded, and the besieged RIC forces in Ashbourne barracks soon gave up the fight when they were informed that the rescue party had been defeated. Ashe and Mulcahy had the injured, including the RIC, ferried to the Meath Infirmary, in Navan.
Politically, Thomas Ashe was a member of the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' (IRB) and he established IRB circles in Dublin and Kerry and eventually became President of the IRB Supreme Council in 1917. While he was actively and intellectually nationalist he was also inspired by contemporary socialism ; he rejected conservative Home Rule politicians and as part of that rejection he espoused the Labour policies of James Larkin. Writing in a letter to his brother, Gregory, he said -
"We are all here on Larkin's side. He'll beat hell out of the snobbish, mean, seoinín employers yet, and more power to him"
He supported the unionisation of north Dublin farm labourers and his activities brought him into conflict with landowners such as Thomas Kettle in 1912. During the infamous lockout in 1913 he was a frequent visitor to Liberty Hall and become a friend of James Connolly. Long prior to its publication in 1916, Thomas Ashe was a practitioner of Connolly’s dictum that "the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour".
In 1914 Ashe travelled to the United States where he raised a substantial sum of money for both the Gaelic League and the newly formed Irish Volunteers of which he was an early member.
Thomas Ashe died on the 25th September, 1917, after being force fed by his British jailers. He was the first Irish republican to die as a result of a hunger-strike and, between that year and 1981, twenty-one other Irish republicans died on hunger-strike.
The jury at the inquest into his death found "..that the deceased, Thomas Ashe, according to the medical evidence of Professor McWeeney, Sir Arthur Chance, and Sir Thomas Myles, died from heart failure and congestion of the lungs on the 25th September, 1917 and that his death was caused by the punishment of taking away from the cell bed, bedding and boots and allowing him to be on the cold floor for 50 hours, and then subjecting him to forcible feeding in his weak condition after hunger-striking for five or six days.."
Michael Collins organised the funeral (pictured) and transformed it into a national demonstration against British misrule in Ireland ; armed 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' Volunteers in full uniform flanked the coffin, followed by 9,000 other IRB Volunteers, and approximately 30,000 people lined the streets. A volley of shots was fired over Ashe's grave, following which Michael Collins stated - "Nothing more remains to be said. That volley which we have just heard is the only speech which it is proper to make over the grave of a dead Fenian."
The London-based 'Daily Express' newspaper perhaps summed it up best when it stated, re the funeral of Thomas Ashe, that what had happened had made '100,000 Sinn Féiners out of 100,000 constitutional nationalists.' The level of support shown gave a boost to Irish republicans, and this was noted by the 'establishment' in Westminster - 'The Daily Mail' newspaper claimed that, a month earlier, Sinn Féin, despite its electoral successes, had been a waning force. That newspaper said - '..it had no practical programme, for the programme of going further than anyone else cannot be so described. It was not making headway. But Sinn Féin today is pretty nearly another name for the vast bulk of youth in Ireland...'
And, thankfully, there are many like Thomas Ashe in that 'vast bulk of youth in Ireland' today.
'CORK MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, June, 1955.
An Election Committee has been formed and it is intended to contest the elections vigorously and ensure that the voice of Irish republicanism will be heard in local administration.
A special appeal is directed to former members of the Republican Movement to come forward and support the candidature of the Sinn Féin candidates. In the past year, there has been a revival of republican thought and to translate this into action and to cement our gains it is believed that very republican has a right and a duty to assist in the task of electing all our candidates.
It is intended to urge the people to study the Sinn Féin 'Social and Economic Programme' and their plan for national unity and independence. We will put forward our views on housing, rents, emigration, unemplyment and cost of living, and hope to convince the people that party politicians are too concerned with petty issues to face up to the real national problems... (MORE LATER.)
AN EASTER RISING TIMELINE : ON THIS DATE, 28TH APRIL, IN 1916...
'07.55hrs - Sackville Street being blown to pieces. The centre of Dublin is unrecognisable this morning. Rubble is strewn everywhere. Burnt-out cars, trams, dead horses, human bodies, all matter of carnage fills the capital’s streets. British 18-pounders are booming once again. The rebel HQ is completely surrounded.
09.05hrs - As soon as the sun rose this morning the machine guns and sniper rifles returned to work. Throughout the night, armoured cars have been scouting around Jacob’s factory’s positions. With the sound of heavy fighting and artillery, and word coming down from the factory’s towers of huge fires on the north side of the city, the men of Jacob’s garrison must fear that it will not be long before their own position is assaulted by the enemy.
10.12hrs - South Staffordshires are on the march. Huge numbers of troops from the regiment have crossed the Liffey at Butt Bridge, before marching on to Gardiner Street, and making their way towards Bolton Street. The college there is thronged with hungry and increasingly desperate refugees from the growing chaos...' (from here.)
After the British have completely left Ireland, politically and militarily, and the definite timeline from 1916 to that date is written, those reading it will then realise that the only part played in that scenario by the Stormont and Leinster House institutions was in delaying that achievement. Irish republicans realise that now, and have always done so.
NO RIGHT OF APPEAL...
Why the media consensus on a broad range of issues is increasingly disturbing.
By John Drennan.
From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.
Silence was also to the fore in terms of the next issue our media monolith turned its attention to and, of course, everyone supported the 'Nice Referendum' ('1169' comment - no, not "everyone" supported the 'vote yes' position). More European integration was just the sort of lad to put a bit of manners on the likes of Charlie McCreevy who, earlier that year, had been castigated for daring to suggest to Mr Romano Prodi that we would run our country (sic) the way we wanted to, thank you very much.
Besides, given that the opposition to 'Nice' consisted of a lot of pro-life types like Dana, perhaps it was best to not give those sorts too much publicity. The government took its eye off the ball and believed the media consensus and, by the time they realised how relevant this was to the real views of ordinary people, it was time for panic stations and the kind of bombastic propaganda that was not just useless, but insulting to the vast majority of intelligent voters.
Bertie Ahern breathlessly claimed that the 'No To Nice' side were getting thousands of pounds from right-wing US fundamentalists, foreign communists and the rest. The media helped him out by running far too big on a non-story ; the intelligent voters thought that a Fianna Fáil politician casting aspersions on funding sources was a bit rich and reeked of election week panic. The were right... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (28TH APRIL) 100 YEARS AGO : CORK VOLUNTEERS EXECUTED BY THE BRITISH AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES DEALING IN CORK IN 1916.
Pictured - IRA Cork Volunteers, 1921.
'...on April 28 (1921), Volunteer Maurice Moore (aged 26) of Cobh, Co Cork and Lieutenant Patrick Sullivan (aged 24), also of Cobh, were both shot, following their capture during the Fourth Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade flying column disaster at Clonmult. On the same day, Volunteers Thomas Mulcahy (aged 25) and Patrick Ronayne (aged 26), both of Burnfort, Mallow, Co Cork, died by firing squad. Members of the 5th Battalion, Cork No. 2 Brigade, they were captured at the miscarried Mourne Abbey Ambush...' (from here.)
Honourable Irish men without a doubt, and we have no doubt that they, at least, were not, at that time, caught between an enemy and a leadership at local level who were not as honourable, as was the case in 1916 :
'..Captain Dickie, General Officer Commanding (of the British military) , invited the leaders of the Irish Volunteers in Cork on 28th April (1916) to meet him at the house of the Bishop of Cork, and that they refused ; that on the following morning he visited the Volunteer Hall himself, and held a conference with the Volunteer leaders which also proved abortive ; and that a further conference was held on 30th April at the Lord Mayor's house, at which the Bishop, the Lord Mayor, the General Officer Commanding, and the two leaders of the Volunteers were present, at which it was agreed that the Volunteers should hand over their rifles either to the Bishop or to the Lord Mayor, and that the (British) military were not even to know the number of rifles handed in, the rifles to be returned to the Volunteers as soon as the Dublin disturbances were over ; whether he is aware that, in conformity with that agreement, the rifles were on 1st May handed over to the Lord Mayor's custody, and passports were delivered to the Volunteer leaders to go through the county of Cork to advise the County Corps to abide by the agreement, with the result that no disturbance took place throughout the county ; but that, notwithstanding that agreement, the (British) military authorities on the following day arrested all the leaders, men and women, of the Cork City Volunteers, and lodged them in Cork gaol and, under threat of arresting the Lord Mayor, compelled him to surrender the rifles entrusted to him..
..if the Irish Volunteers handed in their arms to the Bishop (Daniel Coholan) and the Lord Mayor (Thomas Butterfield) before midnight on April 30th and assisted the (British) authorities to maintain order, the (British) General Officer Commanding was prepared to ensure no prosecution for offences other than acts of overt rebellion or traitorous correspondence with the enemy (by which is meant the Irish Volunteers)....at their own request, leaders of the Cork City Volunteers were permitted, on the 29th April, to visit country districts to endeavour to prevent disturbances by country branches of their organisation...' (from 'HANSARD, May 1916, 'DISTURBANCES IN IRELAND'.)
Shameful behind-the-scenes machinations, a criminal act, in our opinion that, during Easter Week in 1916, in Cork, an agreement was reached between representatives of the British occupation forces and the Cork leadership (as opposed to the rank-and-file Volunteers) of the Irish Volunteers "that the Volunteers should hand over their rifles", that the local Irish Volunteers should, in effect, become a British Army militia and "assist the (British) authorities (sic) to maintain order" and that Cork Volunteers be "permitted (!) to visit country districts to endeavour to prevent disturbances by country branches of their organisation..".
Absolutely disgusting and despicable behaviour by the Irish Volunteer leadership in Cork, in 1916. Actions of that sort, whether during Easter Week in 1916 or at any other period in our history - to be even willing to discuss such issues with the British - are unforgivable, but no shame attaches to the 'rank-and-file', the hundreds of brave Irish men and women from Cork who truly and honestly took the battle to the British and, thankfully, continue to do so to this day.
Interesting reading material on the above can be found here, here, here and here.
'Put not your trust in Princes' remains good advice ; even 'in-house', you have to watch what people do rather than what they say. We have always done that at this blog and doing so has served us well, to the point that we are proud of the people that we work alongside with in our joint efforts to secure a proper peace in this country.
ON THIS DATE (28TH APRIL) 158 YEARS AGO : LETTER FROM THE BRIGADIER-GENERAL TO THE MAJOR.
'Does the world even have heroes like Ireland's Thomas Francis Meagher anymore? After fighting for Irish independence ("I know of no country that has won its independence by accident") ,then condemned to death, pardoned and exiled, Thomas Francis Meagher escaped to America,where he became a leader of the Irish community and commanded the Irish Brigade during the Civil War. General Meagher’s men fought valiantly at some of the most famous battles of the Civil War,including Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. After the war, Meagher served as Acting Governor of the Montana Territory. In 1867, Meagher disappeared on the Missouri River ; his body was never found...' (from the poster, pictured, sourced here.)
It was in relation to the 'Chancellorsville Campaign' that Brigadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher, on the 28th April 1863 - 158 years ago on this date - wrote the following letter to his commanding officer :
'Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher, U. S. Army, commanding Second Brigade.
The Chancellorsville Campaign :
BANKS’ FORD, NEAR FALMOUTH, VA.
April 28, 1863––1.30 p.m.
Maj. JOHN HANCOCK,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Hancock’s Division.
MAJOR: I have the honour to inform the major-general commanding the division that, in accordance with instructions received from him, I proceeded to this ford on yesterday forenoon, to relieve Colonel Kelly and take command of the brigade.
On arriving at the ford (where I found the Sixty-third encamped), I learned that Colonel Kelly had, an hour previous, proceeded to the United States Ford, at which place, I was advised by the major general, two regiments of the brigade were to be stationed. Accordingly, I set out at once to the United States Ford, taking the corduroy road leading up from Banks’ Ford to the Warrenton pike, being ignorant of the River road, not having either a map or guide to direct me. I proceeded along the Warrenton pike until I reached Hartwood Church, when I took the road leading to the United States Ford, at which I arrived some time about 5 p.m., and found everything perfectly quiet, and the Sixty-ninth and One hundred and sixteenth posted there in the best order.
Colonel Kelly had left something more than an hour before, to return to Banks’ Ford. I concluded, therefore, on remaining at the United States Ford until this morning, it being too late for me to return to the lower one by the only route (that of the Warrenton pike) with which I was acquainted.
This morning, a little before 9 o’clock, the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteers came in, having remained over night at Hartwood Church. As I was on the point of leaving for Batiks’ Ford, orders arrived for the regiments of the brigade stationed at the United States Ford to proceed to the former one. These orders were immediately put into execution, General Carroll’s brigade, which reached the ground about the same time as the orders did, more than supplying their place.
The Sixty-ninth, One hundred and sixteenth, and Twenty-eighth are expected very soon. I have relieved Colonel Kelly from the command, and have received from him all the instructions communicated to him as guidance for the command.
I have the honour to be, very respectfully, yours,
THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.'
"Abhor the sword - stigmatize the sword? No, for in the passes of the Tyrol it cut to pieces the banner of the Bavarian, and, through those cragged passes, struck a path to fame for the peasant insurrections of Innsbruck! Abhor the sword - stigmatize the sword? No, for at its blow a giant nation started from the waters of the Atlantic, and by its redeeming magic, and in the quiverings of its crimsoned light, the crippled colony sprang into the attitude of a proud Republic - prosperous, limitless, and invincible! Abhor the sword - stigmatize the sword? No, for it swept the Dutch marauders out of the fine old towns of Belgium - scourged them back to their own phlegmatic swamps - and knocked their flag and sceptre, their laws and bayonets, into the sluggish water of the Scheldt.." - Thomas Francis Meagher.
Thomas Francis Meagher was born in Waterford City (near the Commins/Granville Hotel) on August 3rd, 1823, into a financially-comfortable family ; his father was a wealthy merchant who, having made his money, entered politics, a route which the young Thomas was to follow. At 20 years young, he decided to challenge British misrule in Ireland and, at 23 years of age (in 1846), he became one of the leaders of the 'Young Ireland' Movement. He was only 25 years of age when he sat down with the Government of the Second French Republic to seek support for an uprising in Ireland. At 29 years of age, he wrote what is perhaps his best known work - 'Speeches on the Legislative Independence of Ireland', of which six editions were published.
He unveiled an Irish flag, which was based on the French Tricolour, in his native city, Waterford, on the 7th March 1848, outside the Wolfe Tone Confederate Club. The French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alphonse de Lamartine, and a group of French women who supported the Irish cause, gave Meagher the new 'Flag of Ireland', a tricolour of green, white and orange - the difference between the 1848 flag and the present flag is that the orange was placed next to the staff and the red hand of Ulster adorned the white field on the original.
On the 15th April that same year, on Abbey Street, in Dublin, he presented the flag to Irish citizens on behalf of himself and the 'Young Ireland' movement, with the following words : "I trust that the old country will not refuse this symbol of a new life from one of her youngest children. I need not explain its meaning. The quick and passionate intellect of the generation now springing into arms will catch it at a glance. The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the 'orange' and the 'green' and I trust that beneath its folds, the hands of the Irish protestant and the Irish catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood.."
The 'trial' of Thomas Francis Meagher and other Irish patriots.
He was 'arrested' by the British for his part in the 1848 Rising, accused of 'high treason' and sentenced to death ("to be hanged, drawn and disemboweled..") but, while he was awaiting execution in Richmond Jail, this was changed by 'Royal Command' to transportation for life. Before he was deported, he spoke in Slievenamon, Tipperary, to a crowd estimated at 50,000 strong, about the country and the flag he was leaving behind - "Daniel O'Connell preached a cause that we are bound to see out. He used to say 'I may not see what I have laboured for, I am an old man, my arm is withered, no epitaph of victory may mark my grave, but I see a young generation with redder blood in their veins, and they will do the work.' Therefore it is that I ambition to decorate these hills with the flag of my country.."
In July 1849, at only 26 years of age, he was transported from Dun Laoghaire on the S.S.Swift to Tasmania, where he was considered, and rightly so, to be a political prisoner (a 'Ticket of Leave' inmate) which meant he could build his own 'cell' on a designated piece of land that he could farm provided he donated an agreed number of hours each week for State use. In early 1852, Thomas Francis Meagher escaped and made his way to New Haven, in Connecticut, America, and travelled from there to a hero's welcome in New York.
This fine orator, newspaper writer, lawyer, revolutionary, Irish POW, soldier in the American civil war and acting Governor of Montana died, in mysterious circumstances - he drowned after 'falling off' a Missouri River steamboat - on the 1st of July 1867 at 44 years of age.
Once, when asked about his 'crimes', he replied - "Judged by the law of England, I know this 'crime' entails upon me the penalty of death ; but the history of Ireland explains that 'crime' and justifies it."
This brave man dedicated twenty-four of his forty-four years on this earth to challenging British misrule in Ireland and, while it can be said without doubt that Thomas Francis Meagher did his best, a 'crime' does remain to be resolved.
'COMMENTS...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
Something Drastic ;
The unemployment figures for Ireland soared to 110,361 by mid-February, as economic chaos under the joint direction of Stormont and Leinster House showed its bitter fruit with so many workless.
The figure would be several times larger but for the steady drain of emigration, officially estimated in the region of 35,000 for each year. Even Unionist circles admit defeat and fear the impact on the political scene "...unless something drastic is done, the Six Counties will become a distressed area.." - so said Mr Norman Porter ('Independent Unionist'), in a warning to Stormont last month.
"Something drastic"? Let's replace the bungling of Stormont and Leinster House by introducing Sinn Féin's policy.
ON THIS DATE (28TH APRIL) 105 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF 'THE O RAHILLY'.
"Written after I was shot -
Darling Nancy
I was shot leading a rush up Moore Street
took refuge in a doorway.
While I was there I heard the men pointing out where I was + I made a bolt for the lane I am in now.
I got more one bullet I think
Tons + tons of love dearie to you + to the boys + to Nell + Anna.
It was a good fight anyhow.
Please deliver this to Nannie O'Rahilly, 40 Herbert Park, Dublin.
Good bye darling.."
Joseph O'Rahilly ('The O'Rahilly', pictured, and the author of the above letter) was born in Ballylongford, in County Kerry, on the 22nd April, 1875. He had a busy, well-travelled and interesting life and took part in the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, during which he was killed in the fighting ;
'The O’Rahilly has been killed. He had agreed to lead a diversionary charge, along with 12 other men, against a British barricade at the junction of Henry Street and Moore Street. He is shot, and drags himself to the back of Kelly’s shop, 25 Moore Street. He writes a last letter to his wife before dying of his wounds...' (from here.)
"Friday April 28th 1916. The General Post Office in Dublin, occupied on the Monday as the headquarters of republican insurrection, was burning fiercely. The insurgents inside had decided they had to make their escape across Henry Street to the network of small houses and shops on Moore Street.
A small party of twenty armed men dashed across the open street to establish a toehold there and to clear out a British barricade. At their head was a distinguished looking gentleman in green uniform, complete with Victorian moustache and sword.
The charging party was hit by volleys of British bullets from the barricades on both sides. Four Volunteers were killed outright. Their leader, the moustached gentleman, fell wounded in the face. He managed to drag himself out of the line of fire to Sackville Lane, where he lay, bleeding, grievously injured. His name was Michael O'Rahilly..." (from here.)
More information re 'The O'Rahilly' himself -
'His interest in Irish history led him slowly and inexorably towards nationalism. The first indication of nationalism is in a letters controversy in 1899 in the European edition of the New York Herald, following celebrations of Queen Victoria's 80th birthday. Rahilly criticised the celebrations, pointing out the miseries her reign had inflicted on Ireland. Some of his criticism was censored by the paper as too offensive..' - can be read here, and his family history can be read here, including a local [Clondalkin] connection -
'Aodogán and Marion (O'Rahilly) lived Moreen, Clondalkin, Co.Dublin (junction of Belgard Rd and Naas Rd, opposite Newlands golf course, townland of Mooreenaruggan). They spelt house "Moreen", but it is now spelt "Mooreen". The house was built 1936. Aodogán listed as living there by [Thom's, 1938].
The house website says: "In 1932, in America" [Aodogán and Marion] "purchased plans for use in building their new home, Mooreen House. The design was already famous and had been awarded the title House of the Year, and a full-scale replica was constructed in Macy's New York Department Store..."'. But read it quickly, in case it, too, vanishes -
'Dublin City Council is investigating the circumstances surrounding the demolition of the former home of a 1916 Rising leader in Ballsbridge this morning (Tuesday, 29th September 2020). The property at 40 Herbert Park, which once belonged to The O’Rahilly, was bulldozed by a company developing the site at around 6.30am this morning. The site and two adjoining addresses at 36 and 38 Herbert Park are set to be developed into 105 apartments and the extension of an aparthotel by Derryroe Limited, a company owned by the Kennedy and McSharry families...' (from here.)
Another State-inspired atrocity against our history, in the vein of, and for the same motive (€€€) as Hume Street, Wood Quay and Archers Garage. A corrupt State desecrating a part of its own history which it is ashamed of. Shame on the political system and those that operate same for paying lip-service to our historic past while counting the contents of their brown envelopes at the same time.
'SING of The O'Rahilly,
Do not deny his right;
Sing a "The" before his name;
Allow that he, despite
All those learned historians,
Established it for good;
He wrote out that word himself,
He christened himself with blood.
How goes the weather?
Sing of The O'Rahilly
That had such little sense
He told Pearse and Connolly
He'd gone to great expense
Keeping all the Kerry men
Out of that crazy fight;
That he might be there himself
Had travelled half the night.
How goes the weather? (By William Butler Yeats.)
'The O'Rahilly's' grandson, Ronan, 79 years of age, died on Monday, 20th April, 2020. The poor man was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013 and had been resident in a nursing home in Carlingford in County Louth for the last years of his life. "How goes the weather", Ronan?
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
(MORE LATER.)
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
TO BE POSTED HERE ON WEDNESDAY 28TH APRIL 2021 : POLITICAL AND MILITARY MANOEUVRINGS BETWEEN THE 'IRISH VOLUNTEER' LEADERSHIP AND THE BRITISH ARMY DURING EASTER WEEK 1916.
In answer to some queries we have had in relation to this issue, we are talking about the 'Irish Volunteer' organisation, not John Redmond's '(Irish) National Volunteers' which, by 1917, were 'practically dead/non-existent', as the British described them ; that organisation in fact imploded that same year, although it was to all intent and purposes badly limping along from the summer of 1914, when the 'First World War' started : its leaders, John Redmond and William O'Brien, had called on their followers to enlist in the British military forces, a call which disgusted the republicans within that organisation.
Indeed, the 'Inspector-General of the National Volunteers' spoke openly about how the British military were not inclined to suppress them and voiced his disappointment that the British 'authorities' would not 'permit' the 'National Volunteers' to drill, train and practice. Who asks their enemy if it's ok that they 'skill-up', unless, of course, you know it's not your enemy that your making that request to?
The 'deal' done in one county between the leadership of the 'Irish Volunteers' and the British political and military leadership, in Easter Week, 1916, is the issue we'll be covering here, and we expect that our readers will be as sickened by the very notion that any 'deal' of that type should even be sought, never mind accepted, by the 'IV' local leadership.
And, to cap it all, the arrangement made and agreed to was reneged on by the British!
Thanks for reading ; we'll be explaining all on Wednesday, 28th April 2021. Hope you can check back with us then.
Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (21ST APRIL) 146 YEARS AGO : IRISH HOME-RULER ELECTED TO WESTMINSTER.
Charles Stewart Parnell (pictured) was born on the 27th June, 1846, in Avondale, in County Wicklow, and became associated with the 'Irish Home Rule' organisation. He proved to be a thorn in the side of British injustice to the extent that he was once described in British political circles as "...combining in his person all the unlovable qualities of an Irish member with the absolute absence of their attractiveness...something really must be done about him...he is always at a white heat or rage and makes with savage earnestness fancifully ridiculous statements.."
On the 21st April, 1875 - 146 years ago on this date - the then 29-year-old C.S. Parnell was first elected to the British Parliament as MP for County Meath ; he kept his seat for that constituency for five years, and then moved to represent County Cork. He was generally 'well got' in political circles but was also looked at in a somewhat wary fashion by some of his own people as he was a Protestant 'Landlord' who 'owned' about 5,000 acres of land in County Wicklow and his parents were friends of and, indeed, in some cases, related to, the local Protestant 'gentry'.
He supported the 'Boycott' campaign and, in one of his many speeches, stated - "Now what are you to do with a tenant who bids for a farm from which his neighbour has been evicted? Now I think I heard somebody say 'Shoot him!', but I wish to point out a very much better way, a more Christian and more charitable way...when a man takes a farm from which another had been evicted you must shun him on the roadside when you meet him, you must shun him in the streets of the town, you must shun him in the shop, you must shun him in the fairgreen and in the marketplace, and even in the place of worship, by leaving him alone, by putting him in a moral Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of his country as if he were the leper of old, you must show your detestation of the crime he has committed..".
However, in his early 40's, he was brought down by a 'crime' he himself committed - he took-up with a married woman, Katherine O'Shea (whom he subsequently married, in a registry office, as their church had refused to participate) ; divorce proceedings were heard over two days in 1890, Parnell was not represented and Katherine did not contest the evidence. Indeed, her husband, Captain William O'Shea, was by all accounts a waster, a gambler, a drinker, and a figure of £20,000 was mentioned by him in regards to making the whole sorry mess disappear.
But the damage was done : Parnell's political career was all but over and, at only 45 years of age, he died in Katherine's arms, in Hove, in England, from pneumonia, on the 6th of October, 1891.
'CORK MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, June, 1955.
At a meeting of Comhairle Ceanntair Corcaighe the following candidates who had been selected by Sinn Féin Conventions in the different areas were ratified ;
Cork Corporation - Liam Early and Seán O Murchú.Cork County Council - Owen Harold.Mallow UDC - Owen Harold.Skibbereen UDC - William O'Brien, Seán MacSwiney and CC O'Sullivan.Passage Town Commissioners - J. O'Regan.
Liam Early is a member of the Ard Comhairle of Sinn Féin, and Seán O'Murchú is Secretary of the 'Irish Engineering and Electrical Trade Union' and Secretary of the Cork Council of Irish Unions.
Owen Harold, a veteran of the Republican Movement, is Chairman (sic) of Mallow Urban District Council, and J. O'Regan is an outgoing member of Passage West Town Commissioners. The candidates for Skibbereen were instrumental in the formation of the O'Donovan Rossa Cumann of Sinn Féin and have brought about a wonderful revival of republican spirit in that town of the Phoenix Clubs... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST APRIL) 105 YEARS AGO : THE AUD, CON KEATING, CHARLIE MONAHAN AND DONAL SHEEHAN.
The Aud (pictured) set sail from the Baltic port of Lubeck on the 9th of April, 1916, carrying 20,000 German rifles, one-million rounds of ammunition, ten machine guns and some explosives, for use by Irish republican forces in the Easter Rising.
The British were waiting for a German gun-running ship and, on Friday, 21st April 1916, they boarded the Aud in Tralee Bay but Captain Karl Spindler managed to convince the British raiders that they were actually on board a Norwegian ship, which, he told them, was anchored for repairs.
Nevertheless, the British insisted that one of their warships should 'accompany' the Aud to Cobh (then known as 'Queenstown') Harbour and, as they approached their destination, on Saturday, 22nd April, Spindler and his men scuttled their own ship, were 'arrested' by the British as POW's and, within days, were transferred to prison of war camps in England.
Roger Casement, who was following behind the Aud in a submarine, landed safely, but was later captured in Kerry and transported to London where he was charged with 'high treason' ; he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, and the sentence was carried out in Pentonville Prison, London, on the 3rd August, 1916.
Irish republicans, meanwhile, had made arrangements to transport the German equipment to Cahirciveen, in County Kerry ; three republican Volunteers - Con Keating, from Kerry, Charlie Monahan, Belfast, and Limerick-born Donal Sheehan were sent from the Dublin Command to liaise with Roger Casement and Karl Spinder but, on Good Friday, the 21st April, 1916 - 105 years ago on this date - on their way there, all three men (the first casualties of the 1916 Easter Rising) drowned when their car plunged off the pier at Ballykissane.
'Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild...'
NO RIGHT OF APPEAL...
Why the media consensus on a broad range of issues is increasingly disturbing. By John Drennan.
From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.
We were soon back in business ; some mildly critical articles about the Flood Tribunal inspired Halloween-style levels of horror in Mr Dunphy, who surrounded himself with consoling cliques of 'Tribunalistas' who informed a remarkably calm nation that dark forces were stalking the land, conspiring to collapse Justice Flood's incubus. Happily, the absence of any response meant the 'debate' soon fizzled out and the media consensus returned to its normal uncritical adulation.
This was followed by another brief diversion as the discovery of some minor documentation on the Arms Trial saw the media again uniting to inform Dessie O'Malley that he had "serious questions to answer". The same journalists were equally unified in their pragmatic silence when it was revealed that O'Malley didn't have any "serious questions to answer" after all *. It's called 'vindication', but it happens awfully quietly here.
Indeed in most instances the silence was more eloquent that the clamour. The unity over the travails of the haemophiliacs was particularly touching ; bad news - bad for the advertising figures, that is - so it's best to get that sort of stuff off the front page. Similarly, when it came to the murder of Marty O'Hagan...well, he was only a tabloid hack, and what more do you expect up there in the badlands...? ('1169' comment * : Des O'Malley, and his colleagues in Leinster House, all have 'serious questions to answer', as they preside over a corrupt political system, operated from that institution, which financially benefits them at the expense of State citizens.) (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST APRIL) 98 YEARS AGO : IRA CAPTAIN ABDUCTED AND KILLED IN DUBLIN.
20th April, 1923 : Frank Aiken is elected IRA Chief of Staff.
22nd April, 1923 : Free State troops surround Frank Aiken, Paidrag Quinn and Seán Quinn, the leaders of the Anti-Treaty forces in the Dundalk area, in a safe house in Castlebellingham. A firefight breaks out in which the two Quinns are wounded - Seán mortally - and subsequently captured. In the confusion, Frank Aiken manages to slip away...
Between the IRA election of Frank Aiken and the Castlebellingham incident (ie on the 21st April 1923 - 98 years ago on this date) 28-year-old IRA Captain Martin Hogan (pictured), from Dromineer in County Tipperary, was abducted from a Dublin street by the Staters, and shot to death. He was the fourth eldest son of Mr. Seamus Hogan, and was a member of the 1st. Tipperary Brigade, IRA. Seeking employment, he moved to Dublin and while there he joined the 1st Battalion of the Dublin City Brigade IRA.
He was out with his girlfriend in Dublin City Centre, at Eccles Place, Dorset Street, when they were surrounded by a group of about ten men from CID Headquarters, Oriel House. They bundled Captain Hogan away, leaving his girlfriend in a distraught state on the side of the road. When she regained her composure, she went looking for him, thinking that he had been kept in for an 'overnight stay' in a prison. The prison governor suggested she make her way to Oriel House and make inquiries there, which she did, only to be sneeringly told to "try the morgue".
His broken body was found the following morning, in an overgrown ditch on Grace Park Road in Drumcondra, Dublin ; he had been tortured before being shot, eleven times. No one was ever held responsible for his death. He is buried in the family grave in Killodiernan Graveyard, Puckane, County Tipperary.
(There are conflicting reports on where exactly Captain Mártan Ó hÓgáin was done to death by Free Staters : some reports have it that he was killed in action in Poulacapple, Tipperary, whilst others state that he was killed on the Gracepark Road in Whitehall, Dublin. It was common practice then for the Staters to 'lift' republicans off the street, torture and interrogate them before killing them and dumping their bodies in an area hundreds of miles away from where they were born and/or from the scene of the crime.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST APRIL) 27 YEARS AGO : PAUL HILL ('GUILDFORD FOUR') WINS HIS APPEAL.
On the 21st April, 1994 - 27 years ago on this date - Paul Hill (pictured) won his appeal against a conviction for an IRA shooting in the Occupied Six Counties.
'The story began in late 1974, following IRA bombs at pubs in Guildford in Surrey and Woolwich in London, which killed seven people and injured a hundred more. The British police picked-up two young Belfastmen, Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill, and interrogated them ; Conlon is said to have confessed to bombings, adding that Annie Maguire, his aunt, showed him and others how to make bombs in the kitchen of her London home. Paul Hill is said to have confirmed this.
The police raided the Maguire house, arrested the occupants and searched the place : nothing was found in the search and none of the people would admit to knowing anything about bombs. But forensic tests on the fingernails of six of the people, and on a pair of kitchen gloves used by Annie Maguire, were said to have yielded traces of nitroglycerine. On this 'evidence', the seven defendants were found guilty of handling explosives.
Patrick and Annie Maguire were sentenced to fourteen years, the judge remarking that he wished he could jail them for life. Annie's brother, Seán Smyth, also got fourteen years. Annie's sixteen year old son Vincent got five years, and her thirteen year old son Patrick got four years. Her brother-in-law, Guiseppe Conlon, and a family friend, Patrick O'Neill, both got twelve years. Closer examination of the facts surrounding the Guildford and Woolwich bombings raised enough doubts to lead even Sir John Biggs-Davidson, a 'Pillar of the Establishment' who does not lightly criticise the courts, to conclude that a miscarraige of justice took place.
Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill, who allegedly confessed to the Guildford and Woolwich bombings and implicated Conlon's Auntie Annie, were later jailed for sentences which stand in the 'Guinness Book Of Records' as the longest ever handed down in Britain - natural life and thirty-five years, respectively.
Yet doubt was cast on this conviction too when, in January 1977, four admitted IRA men - on trial for other bombings and killings - said they had bombed Guildford and Woolwich too. This was clearly un-welcome news to the authorities, for when the IRA men were tried they were simply not charged with the Guildford and Woolwich killings...' (The above is a shortened and edited version of a piece we posted here in 2005, and gives an indication of how British 'justice' impacted on Paul Hill, among many others. More about the 'Guildford Four' can be read here.)
It was while he was being questioned about the Guildford bombing that Paul Hill 'confessed' to the 1974 killing of Brian Shaw, a British Army soldier. The conviction stood for five years after he was released for the Guildford bombing, only for it to be quashed ("...unsafe and unsatisfactory..") by 'Sir' Brian Hutton, the then Six County 'Lord Chief Justice', on the 21st of April, 1994 - 27 years ago on this date.
"Upon my release I took some comfort from the thought that at least my misfortune would lessen the possibility of it happening to others. Alas it would appear that nothing has been gleaned from the many miscarriages of justice, especially those with political overtones. We now live in an age in which you can disappear into a black hole, be held without charge indefinitely and subject to torture, whilst Ivy League educated politicians play verbal gymnastics with the meaning of the word..." - Paul Hill. And how right he is.
'COMMENTS...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, March, 1955.
Prisoners' Support ;
A unanimous decision of the GAA Convention sent a motion to Congress asking that the proceeds of the Railway Cup Finals on Saint Patrick's Day be devoted to the Irish Republican Army Prisoners' Dependents' Fund.
Pocket-Money for the Governor ;
"The financial position of the Six-County Governor has been steadily growing worse and he is now badly out of pocket", Major Lloyd George (the son of the man who created partition) told the British House of Commons recently, so the House stepped-up Wakehurst's pocket-money to £14,000 per annum. How much of it is danger money?
Churchill Cumann ;
No! It's not the name of a Conservative Club in London - it's the official title of a Fianna Fáil Cumann in Kerry. No wise-cracks allowed, but a recent notice in 'The Kerryman' newspaper was headed - 'Fianna Fáil (The Republican Party), Churchill Cumann.' Actually, Churchill is the name of a locality in Kerry! (MORE LATER.)
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
We hope you'll check-in with us on Wednesday, 28th April 2021, when we'll be detailing the disgraceful events in a certain Irish county in Easter Week in 1916, when the local leadership of the 'Irish Volunteers' handed their members weapons over to the British military in the area in an attempt - 'successful', as it turned out - to 'keep the peace' in that county. Those 'Irish Volunteer' leaders were granted 'passports' by the British to travel throughout that county, and further afield, to call on other 'Irish Volunteer' branches not to take any military action during the Rising. Unbelievable, but it happened ; a very disturbing incident in our history.
See you on the 28th April 2021.
FOR SHAME : POLITICAL MACHINATIONS DURING EASTER WEEK 1916.
We are currently working on a blog post detailing unbelievable political and military machinations between the leadership of the Irish Volunteers in a certain Irish county and the British military command in that county during Easter Week in 1916.
We have been, among other places, to the 'Hansard Archives' and back and, while we did get what we were looking for, we needed showers afterwards ; we discovered shameful behind-the-scenes machinations, criminal acts, in our opinion that, during Easter Week in 1916, in one county in Ireland, took place, to the everlasting shame of those who voluntarily plotted those endeavours.
An agreement was reached between representatives of the British occupation forces and the 'Irish Volunteer' leadership (as opposed to the rank-and-file Volunteers) that rifles should be handed over to representatives of the British military, that the local 'Irish Volunteers' should, in effect, become a British Army militia and assist the British military "to maintain order" and that 'Irish Volunteers' from that county would be "permitted", by the British, to travel throughout the country to prevent "disturbances" by 'Irish Volunteer' organisations that they encountered.
This was absolutely disgusting and despicable behaviour by the 'Irish Volunteer' leadership in that county, in 1916. Actions of that sort, whether during Easter Week in 1916 or at any other period in our history - to be even willing to discuss such issues with the British - are unforgivable, but no shame attaches to the 'rank-and-file', the hundreds of brave Irish men and women from there, and other counties in Ireland, who truly and honestly took the battle to Westminster in 1916 and, thankfully, who continue to do so to this day.
We will be posting about the above sleeveen acts on Wednesday 28th April 2021, as we are still piecing the parts together.
Between this and then - on Wednesday 21st April 2021 - we'll be writing about, among other pieces, an Irish politician who brought his own career to an end by an 'outside relationship', a piece on the first three casualties of the 1916 Rising, an IRA Captain who was abducted by the Staters and shot multiple times, and a man who was being questioned about a bombing and, during the questioning, was charged with another offence. Hope you check back with us on both those dates!
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
