Yet another Irish rebel not afforded a proper mention in our history books....

A child born at Ballaghadereen , County Mayo, in 1840, grew up to be one of the most determined Irish rebels of his generation ; he was what would be known today as a 'public relations consultant', but did not use his 'people' skills for personal gain - he used his gift in the service of the Irish struggle , which he had devoted himself to.
By 1863, at just 23 years young, Edward Duffy was full-time Organiser for the Fenians in Connaught. In August 1865 , the British launched an offensive against the Fenians and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) - through the use of informers , the British were aware that at least 85,000 rebels were prepared to fight in Ireland under the command of James Stephens, the Fenian leader, who was in contact with supporters in America for arms and equipment for that body of men; trained soldiers in America had also offered their service to the Irish cause.
(Periodicals of the time also mentioned the hundreds of ex-Union and Confederate army men that were in Ireland- a show of strength which worried the British). The IRB's newspaper, 'The Irish People' , was closed down in September 1865 by the British , and Edward Duffy and James Stephens went on the run , but were arrested on 11th November 1865 at Fairfield House in Sandymount, Dublin - both men were locked up in Richmond Jail; but not for long ..... (MORE LATER)>


"My thoughts were of my home and family , my wife and son. I tried to visualise the fading faces of my mother and father whom I have not seen for a long time , whom I fear I will not see again. Then came an old companion of mine: depression !
It tore at my heart and engulfed me with its unseen shroud of misery. The more I thought of home and family, the deeper I plunged into its darkest depths".
----'The writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 , and first published in 'Republican News' on 6th January 1979. (Will finish above paragraph tomorrow ...)


In 1854, a dispute arose between the U S Army and the Lakota Sioux over the theft of a single cow . The Lakota leader offered two cows to replace it , but the army lieutenant refused the offer, and demanded the surrender of the warrior who had stolen the cow -when his demand was refused , and without any warning, he ordered his soldiers to shoot the Sioux leader, which they did. The ensuing massacre of the soldiers led to 35 years of war !
(MORE LATER)>>

...after his death in 1820, it was disclosed that Leonard McNally had been an informer against the 'United Irishmen' and the IRB for twenty-six years ....

It also emerged that McNally, who had been passing information to the British since 1794, had used his position with the Irish rebels and the British to make even more money for himself ; He had actually charged the going rate to the rebels he defended in court while at the same time selling their defence details to the British !
This despicable and wretched individual died on the 13th February , 1820 . Roaring , I hope .....


"What is 1066, I think ? Obviously it is me, but I can think, speak, smell and touch . I have all my senses, therefore I am not a number , I am not 1066, I am human, I am not a number, I am not 1066 !. Who , or what, is a'Sir' ? It frightened me. It was evil. I sensed its hatred of me, its eagerness to dominate me, and its potential violent nature. Oh, what will become of me ? I remember I once had a family. Where are thay now ? Will I ever see or hear of them again ? " .

--- from 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981.


Des Richardson , one of the Fianna Fail back-room 'money men' , launched 'FORUM 2000' in February 1995 ; Bertie Ahern described it as an initiative which- " is a response to the particular requirements of the business sector. Small to medium-sized enterprises will find a voice, a role and a means of contributing to the development of policy in this forum. The interaction between the smaller enterprises and large corporations will contribute to comprehensive and imaginative policies " .
The 'FORUM 2000' intention was to collect £1000 per year from 1000 companies for three years (do the math yourself...).

---- other politicial parties carry out that type of 'fundraising' in a different manner (ie " go round the back door, there, chief , we'll get someone outaya now....").
But full marks to The Soldiers of Destiny - in-your-face , broad daylight and up-front with it : an all-new type of corruption !

....the informer Leonard McNally , a Dublin man, signed himself 'J W' in all dealings he had with his British paymasters , in a 'career' which lasted twenty-six years (!) until he died at 68 years of age , in 1820....

The last dirty deed he carried out on the 'United Irishmen'was to have them bury him as a patriot , as it was not known then that the man was an informer. He received fine oratory and all the trappings befitting a rebel leader.

It was only when McNally's son put in a claim to the British for the continuation of the £300 per annum 'Secret Service' pension, which his father had been in receipt of for the previous twenty-two years, that the facts about Leonard McNally became known : indeed, it was due to the fact that the then British Lord Lieutenant practically shouted from the rooftops that he had not known that the pension was authorised that it became such a public matter.
And then more 'dirt' came out about the informer McNally..... (MORE LATER)>>


" ....it is watching me. More noise directly outside my tomb , a rattle of metal against metal. A square form of light begins to materialise , revealing an entrance as a door swings open. A figure stands in the grey dim light of the doorway. It is a human figure , dressed in what appears to be some sort of black uniform. It stands scrutinising me in silence for several seconds, before letting out a terrifying yell that sends shivers through my body .
" I am Sir!". The words echo around my tomb. " I am Sir!" it bellows again. " I am Sir,you are 1066" . The door slams shut with a loud explosive boom , killing the dim light where the entrance had been. Still afraid to move, I stand in the total darkness " .
---- 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981.


Speaking at the so-called 'Forum for Peace and Reconciliation' in Dublin Castle on Friday February 10th , 1995, Ulster Unionist Party member Roy Garland stated that he had been a "leading Officer" in the TARA group, which he described as a "paramilitary group" which was "led by evangelical Christians" !
-- Lord save us , Roy - we believe ya .....

The British , no doubt wary of all their informers and having no respect for any of them anyway, refused to take McNally fully into their confidence ; he was aware that the United Irishmen knew there was an informer in their midst and were actively looking for said informer. McNally's nerve snapped and , in 1798, he asked his British paymasters for help ; they settled his nerves by offering him £300 a year for his 'service' , and he returned to his 'work' for them , within the top ranks of the rebel movement.
Between the years 1794 and 1820 , not suspected for one minute by his 'comrades' in the United Irishmen, McNally shopped people to the British , pointed out 'safe houses' , ruined missions and ensured that funds were 'discovered' by Dublin Castle. All his communications and dealings with the British were done under the initials 'JW' . (MORE LATER)>


"I can hear heavy booming noises echoing all around me like thunder.Somehow it reminds me of heavy doors closing. I check the four walls of my tomb;there appears to be some sort of a door in one of the walls. I can't understand my being here. What , I wonder, will become of me? I know I am a human being, although I'm naked and bearded . I can think and breath. Am I in hell or some sort of limbo ? I can hear heavy footsteps approaching. They stop quite near to me. There is someone or something nearby. I can hear it moving and breathing . It is watching me . "

----from 'The writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 - more tomorrow.....

From an article in 'Fortnight' magazine , issue 335 , January 1995 , page 5 (by Robin Wilson , Editor of same) -

"During 1994... Gerry Adams said the difference between himself and Michael Collins was that Mr. Collins had'nt got rid of partition" .

------- thats the type of bull that keeps the new members happy , Gerry - its now almost ten years since you made that statement: have those new members copped on yet ?

Also , at the Provisional Sinn Fein Ard Fheis of that same year when partition ended (ie 1994 !) , Joe Cahill took to the platform and declared that 'Tiocfaidh ar la' was redundant - " because our day HAS come " .
"our Day" was never about the establishment of a British parliament in Ireland , Joe, regardless of whether it functions or not !

Informers , double-agents , touts and 'Steak-Knife' ; not a new development , as I have recorded here before and, now, do so again -

A man born in Dublin in 1752 went on to become one of the most notorious Irishmen ever to involve himself in the struggle....

Leonard McNally moved to England while still a young man and studied to be a barrister;when he 'took silk' and registered himself as a practising barrister , his friend John Philpot Curran persuaded him to transfer his business to the Irish Bar, which he did. McNally made his name with the United Irishmen in his defence in court of William Jackson , Napper Tandy , Wolfe Tone and , later, Robert Emmet and many other Rebel leaders - however , he apparently got rattled when the British arrested the French Government representative, William Jackson, in April 1794, and approached the British 'authorities' in Dublin Castle and offered to pass on information to them in return for 'safe passage' from them for himself. They readily agreed . (MORE LATER)>>


" I must have died last night , because when I awoke this morning I was in hell. I don't really know how I got here. I don't think I've done anything to deserve being here. But I am here, and I am suffering terribly. I think I am in some sort of tomb. I can not see, as everywhere is in total darkness . I have no clothes on , except some sort of rag around my waist.The floor of my tomb is covered in a wet mushy substance , the source or nature of which I don't know. There is a revolting stench lingering in the darkness and the air is warm , heavy and humid. There is something soft and damp lying in the corner , which seems to be some sort of bedding to lie upon " .
-----From 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' ,April 1981 , and first published in 'Republican News' on July 1st, 1978 . (Will finish the rest of above paragraph tomorrow....).

In one of his many print rambles at the time ,John Junor used his then column in 'The Mail on Sunday' (see same,February 24th, 1991, page 19), which he titled 'Lock up the evil bomb-makers' , to call for the re-introduction of internment ; he finished the article by saying- " And if that shoddy third-rater Mr Charles Haughey splutters , as he will , in protest, tell him to get stuffed" .
"shoddy" ? - surely not ....

.....in April 1883, in Green Street Courthouse in Dublin, Judge O'Brien began to hear 'evidence' against thirteen men....

Five of the men - Joe Brady, Dan Curley , Michael Fagan , Thomas Caffrey and Tim Kelly - received the death sentence and the other eight men were sentenced to long periods of imprisonment. (Nineteen year-old Tim Kelly faced three 'trials' before eventually convicted, the jury at the previous'trials' having failed to agree).
Joe Brady , Michael Fagan , Thomas Caffrey , Dan Curley and young Tim Kelly were hanged in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin between May 14th and June 4th, 1883. One of the informers, James Carey, was shot dead on board the 'Melrose Castle' off Capetown, South Africa, on July 29th, 1883, by Donegal-man Patrick O Donnell ; he was caught and escorted back to Ireland , where he was executed on December 17th, 1883.
Compare the above , and the following paragraph, with the cringe-inducing pleadings of those that claim to be following the footsteps of men like 'the Invincibles' and Bobby Sands ; disgusting.

"....I'm left to pass the day like this, from 7.30 am to 8.30 pm . How I spend my day is determined by the weather. If it's reasonably warm, its possible to sit on the floor,stare at the white walls and pass a few hours day-dreaming. But otherwise,I must spend my day continuously pacing the cell to prevent the cold chilling through to my bones.
Even after my bedding is returned at 8.30 pm , hours will pass before the circulation returns to my feet and legs " .


From 'The Evening Press' newspaper, November 2nd, 1989, page 7 -
In an interview with the 'Ballyfermot People' local 'paper, (the late) Brian Lenihan described Maggie Thatcher as "too ideological" : that from a member of a party which hangs it's backbone up with its coat in the morning ...
Brian went on to describe his (then) good buddy , Charlie Haughey, as "a very flexible politician , much more subtle and intelligent a politician than Thatcher. Charlie is very much on the same line as many continental politicians.If he has any failing its that sometimes in politics you can be too subtle, too clever, too intelligent. That can happen " .
--- he certainly took you for a ride , Brian - now Bertie is taking your fellow Fianna Fail cronies for one !

....a reward of £1000 was offered by the British for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas F.Burke in Dublin's Phoenix Park on May 6th, 1882 , but the reward offer went unanswered ....

....then , in November 1882, six months after the British lost their men, Superintendent John Mallon of the 'G Division' of the Dublin Metropolitan Police,arrested a member of the Invincibles, Robert Farrell, and Mallon told him that they knew the identity of those that had carried-out the assassinations and advised Farrell to save himself - this was the same line that those previously arrested had been told .
Unfortunately , Robert Farrell fell for it ; within weeks, twenty-six men were arrested. The 'G' man, John Mallon, needed additional witnesses and evidence to build a substantial case against the men and reverted to form - three of the twenty-six men ( Michael Kavanagh , James Carey and his brother, Peter) turned informers . In April 1883 , in Green Street Courthouse in Dublin, Judge O'Brien began to hear 'evidence' against thirteen men ...... (MORE LATER)>>


" A stretch of tarmac surrounded by barbed wire and steel is the only view from my cell window. I'm told it's an exercise yard. I would'nt know. In my fourteen months in H-Block 5, I have'nt been allowed to walk in the fresh air . I'm on 'cellular confinement' today. That is the three days out of every fourteen when my only possessions, three blankets and a mattress, are removed , leaving a blanket and a chamber pot " .

---- from 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 , and first published in 'Republican News' on September 16th, 1978.(Will finish the remainder of the above paragraph tomorrow).



'The Sunday Press' , October 29th, 1989 -
- Charlie McCreevy stated : " I'm a born-again TD.The thing is not to think too much, to flow with the tide. Thinking is a handicap" (!).
You've made a comfortable living out of ignoring your handicap, Charlie ...

In November 1881 , a group was formed in Dublin with the objective of "removing all the principal tyrants from the country" ; they called themselves 'The Irish National Invincibles' and, within a few months, they were to make world headlines.....

'The Invincibles' consisted mainly of former Fenians and decided to announce their presence in a dramatic fashion - on May 6th, 1882, they assassinated two of Britains top officials in Ireland : Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish and Under Secretary Thomas F. Burke in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, just yards from the Viceroy Lodge.

The British offered a reward of £1000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible and put their top man in Dublin, Superintendent John Mallon of the 'G Division' of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, on the case. He arrested dozens of 'suspects' and repeatedly questioned those who were known to be in the Phoenix Park that night , but to no avail. (MORE LATER)>>


"Two hours. Time waits for no man.I'm exhausted. God,I'm tired. I wish I could lie down and go to sleep, and wake up out of this nightmare. They're watching me again.Keep walking. I'm sure they don't even feel guilty. Money consoles their conscience. That is their purpose in life, to gain as much of it as possible . They're mindless, merciless parasites .
Torture mongers. Yes, that's what they are . Some day their turn will come . They'll have to answer for everything !" .

----- from 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 , page 25. (First published in the old 'Republican News' on January 13th, 1979).
"Money consoles their conscience......" ~ enough to buy a holiday home in Donegal, perhaps......


In September 1989, speaking about his memoirs,John Stalker stated that he felt "a strongly hostile feeling at middle and senior levels of the (RUC) Special Branch....downright obstructiveness was unfortunately not rare... a kind of war had obviously been declared between the Branch and my team ". He spoke of "resentful RUC officers who were particularly skilled at promising much but actually delivering very little " .
Re the fact that his inquiry terms of reference were controlled by the then RUC Chief Constable, John Hermon , Stalker said- "What I objected to was having the man, whose force I was investigating, drawing up the parameters of those inquiries" .

-----Full marks, John ; but what did you expect ?

...the killing by Robert Emmet's men of the British Lord Chief Justice in Ireland, Lord kilwarden, and Kilwardens nephew, in Thomas Street in Dublin in 1803 ,put paid to the proposed rising ,and it was abandoned......

Robert Emmet ordered his followers to disband, and he went into hiding but was captured in August 1803 ; on September 19th , he was brought to 'trial' in Dublin's Green Street Courthouse and found guilty of treason - he was sentenced to be hanged. He delivered his famous 'Speech from the Dock' which has inspired generations of Irish rebels. The next day, September 20th 1803, Robert Emmet was hanged in Thomas Street in Dublin ; within weeks, twenty-one of his comrades were executed for their part in the Rising (including Thomas Russell, who was hanged outside Downpatrick Jail on October 21st, 1803).
The events outlined above took place two-hundred years ago,and form only a small, but not insignificant,part, in the history of Irish Risings against British rule in Ireland ; the final chapter has yet to be written, but will not be drafted in Stormont.....

" I fought a monster today and once more I defeated the monster's army. Although I did not escape,I survived to fight another day. It was hard:harder today than ever before, and it gets worse every day. You see I am trapped and all I can do is resist. I know some day I will defeat this monster, but I weary at times. I think and feel that it may kill me first " .
------ from 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' (page 31) : first published in the old 'Republican News' , October 7th, 1978.


'Magill' magazine, December 1997, page 28 -
Fra Browne , former Provo Councillor in County Louth, stated that Provisional Sinn Fein was teeming with "spin doctors" :
"These people kept telling me that the Movement had changed and that I needed to change.But I said that I had'nt changed and the Movement had'nt changed. It was only the people at the top who had changed" .
....that's what happens when you 'change your structures' .......

....after returning to Dublin in October 1802 , Robert Emmet made contact with , amongst others, Myles Byrne, Michael Dwyer, Jemmy Hope and Thomas Russell and , with their help, set up several arms depots in Dublin city ; Emmet then toured Ireland , seeking support for a rising .....

In May 1803 , Robert Emmet sensed an opportunity for a push against the British when war broke out between England and France ; it looked likely that the French would be in a position to invade England within a couple of months, and Emmet worked with an August 1803 uprising against the British in mind .
However , his hand was forced when one of his Dublin city arms-dumps exploded on July 16th, 1803, and badly injured one of his men, who was captured by the British; within days, Emmet's Rising had begun, but it was short-lived.

The killing by Emmet's men of the British Lord Chief Justice in Ireland, Lord Kilwarden, and Kilwardens nephew,in Thomas Street in Dublin, threw Robert Emmet's plans into confusion - his plan, which was well thought out and put together, was to place Dublin Castle under siege, take over the Pigeon House British fort and Islanbridge Barracks ; in doing so, the rebels in the rest of the country would rise up . Kilwardens death, and the British re-action to it, put paid to the proposed rising and it was abandoned ..... (MORE LATER)>>


'Fortnight' magazine, September 1991 , page 14 -
--- Archbishop Robin Eames said: " Here (in the Six Counties) we cannot allow it to go by default to say that it's a religious war, which blatantly it's not; it is a crisis situation in which the religious element coincides so much with these other issues as to make violence almost inevitable.There is a very definite religious element- there is a religious identity to this, but it is no more (than that).It is sociological, cultural, political, economic-it is a much wider question than that " .
....so the British are not the self-proclaimed 'peace-keepers' between the 'warring Irish' , as they like to portray themselves internationally .
- which is what Republicans have being saying all along...

.... in 1802, Robert Emmet met Napoleon to seek assistance for a Rising in Ireland ....

Emmet quickly became frustrated at what appeared to be Napoleon Bonaparte's posturing on the issue of an armed insurrection against the British in Ireland , and was left with the opinion that the French were more interested in making the British believe in the possibility of a French-organised armed campaign than an actual campaign itself . Robert Emmet then began to study military text books and experimented with rockets and explosives in an attempt to leave himself less dependant on the French.
He grew more disillusioned with the French in March 1802 , after they concluded the 'Peace of Amiens' with England in that month, and he returned to Dublin in October 1802. He made contact with, amongst others, Myles Byrne , Michael Dwyer , Jemmy Hope and Thomas Russell and , with their help, set up several arms depots in Dublin city, before touring the country to organise support for a rising. (MORE LATER)>>


In an article entitled 'Appeal to young people' ( AP/RN ,September 12th, 1991, page 14) ,one of the Provos' lesser-known suits, Larry O'Toole (Dublin North) declared - " If our structures (in Provisional Sinn Fein) do not suit their(young people) needs, we must change them accordingly " .

----- Right, so : you accept new members who don't like, say , 'policy x' - so you change it. Then , next month, you take in more new members who don't like the new version of 'policy x' , so you change it again . But that might upset the first batch of new members, so.....
....but what if a third batch of new members join, and their view of 'policy x' is different again ?
Rather than be just another 'catch-all' Leinster House party, Larry, would it not be better to stand by your principles ? To say to possible new members- ' This is what we stand for; take it or leave it' ?
Or has your party no principles? No bottom line? Don't stand for anything in particular ?
That would explain your comments .....

In the summer of 1798 , the 'United Irish Rising' collapsed ; one of its best known leaders, Thomas Addis Emmet, had a younger brother who was determined to follow through the push for Irish freedom - Robert Emmet .....

Within weeks of the 1798 Rising being crushed, Robert Emmet began preparations for another armed insurrection in Ireland , and made contact with the French Government to seek assistance ; the British were aware that Robert Emmet had made this move , and ordered his arrest . However, Emmet knew that the British Government were looking for him , and left Ireland for France, in 1801.

The exiled 'United Irishmen' in Paris took Emmet in, and the group were joined, in 1802, by Thomas Addis Emmet.An appointment was made for Robert Emmet to meet Napoleon , and arrangements were put in place wherby Napoleon's Ministers would assist Emmet in his endeavours . (MORE LATER)>>


....Pope John Paul stated , in November 1980, re the 'Third Secret of Fatima' , that it's contents will not be made public and that it - "should be sufficient for all Christians to know this much- if there is a message in which it is said that the oceans will flood entire sections of the earth , that from one moment to the other , millions of people will perish, there is no longer any point in really wanting to publish this secret message " .
A somewhat obfuscating reply, but the fact that the question was'nt dismissed out of hand must make you think twice .....

....Matt Fitzpatrick, an IRA prisoner in Monaghan County Hospital , was to be rescued from his hospital bed by the IRA .....

All arrangements were made by Dan Hogan , O/C of the Monaghan Brigade, and his staff, who also arranged for IRA units to block the roads used by the escape party after they had passed through.
Not long after 2am on March 30th, 1921, Dan Hogan and his team entered the hospital by a side-door which an employee had left open - telephone lines were cut by some of the IRA men and others overpowered a drowsy sentry in the corridor. The six British Army soldiers in the ground-floor room were disarmed and tied up but only after shots were exchanged ; this alerted the sentry in the ward with Fitzpatrick who opened fire through the door and only surrendered when the RIC 'patient' in the same room threw his revolver away.
Matt Fitzpatrick was lifted on to a stretcher and carried out to one of the waiting cars; other Volunteers gathered up the weapons and ammunition from the British Army and RIC guards . The rescue party then escaped along the pre-arranged route (towards Threemilehouse) while other Volunteers blocked the road behind them .
The whole operation, from entering the hospital to leaving it, took less than fifteen minutes, but it took the 'authorities' a lot longer to live it down.....


From 'An Phoblacht/Republican News' , June 6th, 1991, page 2 -
In the 'Opinion' column of above, the SDLP were lashed for being prepared "to sit down...at a negotiating table with representatives of the government which sanctioned the Coagh killings and Unionist politicians who gloated over them " .
The worm turns in the spinning grave ....the 'Adams Family' now shout "foul" because the Brits won't let them sit in a British parliament !

When on a visit to Fulda in Germany in November 1980 (as reported in the German magazine 'Stimme Des Glaubens') , Pope John Paul was asked why it was that the Third Secret of Fatima still remained unpublished ; he replied - " Because of the seriousness of its contents, in order not to encourage the worldwide power of communism to carry out certain coups, my predecessors in the Chair of Peter have diplomatically preferred to withhold its publication.On the other hand, it should be sufficient for all Christians to know this much - ...." (MORE LATER)>>

....the IRA O/C of the Wattlebridge Company, Matt Fitzpatrick, was badly injured in an IRA raid for arms and had been captured by the British ; he was under heavy guard in Monaghan County Hospital - the IRA decided to rescue him ....

IRA sympathisers in the hospital were asked to observe and monitor the level of security on Fitzpatrick , and it was quickly established that there was one British soldier in his ward and another on guard in the corridor . An armed RIC sergeant was placed as a 'patient' in the bed next to the prisoner, and six more British soldiers were housed in a ground-floor room.
The IRA were told that the guard was changed every 48 hours- it was decided to begin the rescue operation at 2am on the second morning of their shift, when they would be tired and slower to react. Also, transport was required; not only for the necessary escape, but also to carry Matt Fitzpatrick away on a stretcher, as he could not move under his own strength . (MORE LATER)>>


In reviewing Bernard Ingham's book 'Kill The Messenger' , in 'The Sunday Tribune' magazine , June 9th, 1991 (page 2) , Peter Prendergast (former press officer for a Fine Gael administration) stated - " In my experience, no more than about twenty per-cent of what a government is discussing at any time is known to the media. Over time, that might have grown to fifty per-cent. This means that fifty per-cent of what they do is never discovered at all " .
Until , perhaps , the thirty-year disclosure period comes around but , by then , the crooked politician is either dead or has been disgraced already in some other fashion (ie Charlie Haughey , Ray Burke,Michael Lowry etc). And still they continue to draw down their pensions and can make a comfortable living on the 'rubber chicken' circuit...
Meanwhile , we wait for the next batch to be named and 'shamed' .....

In early 1921 , IRA units in the Ulster area carried out many raids for arms on RIC and British Army barracks - in one of these operations , Matt Fitzpatrick, a Volunteer and,at the time, O/C of the Wattlebridge Company IRA, was badly injured and captured by the British....

Fitzpatrick was taken to Monaghan County Hospital under heavy guard and was to be moved to Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast when fit enough ; he was known to the British as a Republican operative and, as such, was marked by the Brits for execution as an example to the IRA .
The O/C of the Monaghan Brigade, Dan Hogan, knew that if Fitzpatrick was moved to the Belfast jail his fate was sealed : a meeting of the IRA Brigade Staff was called and it was agreed that Matt Fitzpatrick would be rescued from the hospital..... (MORE LATER)>>


Shortly before his death , Graham Greene said of religion - " I think its a mystery. It is a mystery which cannot be destroyed; even by the Church ! "
----- the same can be said of the Irish struggle for freedom - "....it cannot be destroyed; even by (so-called) Republicans ". The Provisionals are making a mockery of themselves and their attempts to surrender, without actually saying as much, tarnishes the people that went before them.
They should amalgamate with the SDLP and/or Fianna Fail , and do Republicanism a service.

.....a small group of Irish Republicans left the College of Surgeons during the 1916 Easter Week fighting , to set fire to shops around the Russell Hotel, which was occupied by British troops ; William P.Partridge was one of that group.....

...a young Na Fianna Eireann member, Fred Ryan, was shot dead and Margaret Skinnider was badly wounded on that operation . Putting his own life on the line, Partridge carried the wounded woman back to the College of Surgeons. After the surrender , Partridge was court-martialled, sentenced to fifteen years penal servitude and transferred to prison in England.
However, he was released from Dartmoor Prison in April 1917 , suffering from Brights disease, and he returned to his native Roscommon where he died on July 26th, 1917 , not having reached his 40th birthday .

A quiet unassuming gentleman from all accounts, William P.Partridge deserves his place in Irish history , more so than the 'suits' that, today, have attempted to steal the mantle of Irish Republicanism and prostitute it and themselves before the Brits and the Free Staters.
Thankfully , there are still many like William P.Partridge around , and involved, today .


In 1982 , America's CIA carried out a 'psychological profile' of Libya's Colonel Gadafy ; they found that he was "judged to suffer from a severe personality disturbance" and that he used excessive amounts of sleeping pills and other various 'uppers' .In a follow-up report some years later, the CIA reported that Gadafy wore make-up and high-heel shoes and carried a teddy-bear during a 1984 trip to spain !
Come on, lads - the "severe personality disturbance" part is perhaps believable , but you spoiled the whole report with the 'lipstick,high-heels and teddy-bear' thing .... (what would a psychological profile on Ian Paisley and his (sudden?) fixation on lips reveal?).

.....William P.Partridge , born in Ballaghadereen in County Roscommom during the 1880's , a friend and comrade to the Republican Movement and its leadership, joined the Irish Citizen Army on its formation in November 1913 ; on April 19th, 1916, James Connolly sent Partridge to Tralee in County Kerry to supervise the distribution of the (at least) 20,000 rifles that were to be landed on the Banna Strand , a consignment organised by Roger Casement.
However, Partridge learned on Good Friday that Casement was arrested and 'The Aud'(the ship carrying the rifles) had been scuttled by its crew after it had been intercepted by a British Navy ship . He returned to Dublin.

William P.Partridge was among the Irish Citizen Army contingent commanded by Michael Mallin and Countess Markievicz in St Stephens Green on Easter Monday and the College of Surgeons the following day. During the fighting of Easter Week , the British occupied the Russell Hotel in Harcourt Street and Partridge was among a small group of Republicans who left the near-by College of Surgeons to set fire to shops around the hotel ..... (MORE LATER)>>


The 'Sunday Life' 'newspaper' , June 23rd, 1991,page 12 -
" I would never repudiate the fact that I am an Irishman " - Ian 'Big Lips' Paisley !
The 'Dublin Tribune' newspaper, June 20th, 1991, page 10-
" The everlasting violence in Northern Ireland(sic) is fuelled by lack of job opportunities " - the late Jim Mitchell , Fine Gael.
The former does'nt know what to do about his Irishness , and the latter does'nt understand his Irishness.
Well pucker up , Ian , and understand this - the Brits will wash their hands of you and yours as soon as it suits them.....

A man born in Ballaghadereen in County Roscommon during the 1880's was well known in Republican circles at the time, but history has apparently left him behind......

During his short life, William P. Partridge was a politician , a soldier and a trade union activist : he moved to Dublin some time around 1910 and became involved in James Larkin's newly formed Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) . In the municipal elections of 1911 , he was elected to Dublin Corporation .
The 'Great Lock Out' , which began in August 1913, ensured that Partridge and Larkin were kept busy , and also brought James Connolly into contact with the Ballaghadereen man ; in October 1913, William P. Partridge was asked by the ITGWU to do a fund-raising tour of England and to enlist the support of workers in that country for the strike in Ireland.
When the Lock-Out ended in February 1914, James Larkin departed to America; Partridge worked with James Connolly in re-organising the Union and the two men also assisted in organising the 'Women Workers' Union' . (MORE LATER)>


A Derry man, Charles Thomson, was the Secretary of the 'Continental Congress' of America and , as such, helped to transcribe the final draft of the U S Declaration of Independence ; Thomson was the first person to read it, both in Congress and publicly . He also served as Chief Executive of the American Government , a position he held several times between 1776 and 1789, during illnesses of the Congess Presidents. Charles Thomson also designed the 'Great Seal' of the United States - like William P. Partridge , Irishman Charles Thomson has been overlooked in the history books .

.....the patrol of Black and Tans and RIC men fired on each other, as the RIC men were reluctant to shoot known Sinn Fein members as per instructions issued by the Tans....

The above incident was one of many which was outlined to the Court of Commission - over the following few months numerous accounts of atrocities committed by the RIC, Tans, Auxiliaries and the regular British Army in Ireland were read into the record. In early 1921 , the Court published its interim report which , as expected, put the Brits in the world spotlight and was a major embarrassment to them .
The Commission had set-out to get international media attention focused on British military activity in Ireland and was successful in that . Now , over 80 years later, media attention is fixed on the Six Counties as yet another treaty buckles under the weight of its own contradictions.....


The Dublin administration attempted only once to refer the situation in the Six Counties to the United Nations :
This was when the then Free State Minister for External Affairs, Patrick Hillery,in August 1969, on behalf of the Dublin Administration, sought a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the possibility of sending UN troops, or a joint Irish-British contingent, to the Six Counties to monitor the situation. Britain stated its belief that Article 2(7) of the UN Charter (non-intervention in domestic affairs of states) prohibited discussion of the North . Hillery replied by detailing the history of partition and declared that his administration did not "in any way concede(to the British) the right to exercise jurisdiction" in the North (as per then Articles Two and Three of the Free State Constitution).
However ,further consideration of the question was suspended, and that ended the UN 'role' in the North !
In 1998 , the fig-leaf of Articles Two and Three were done away with in the Stormont Treaty in a vain attempt to appease the Unionists and the British ; they grabbed the opportunity with both hands and continue to demand more......

.....the ex-RIC man,Daniel Crowley, told the Court of Commission that the RIC men on patrol with the Black and Tans were there to point out Sinn Fein members so as the Tans could shoot them , and then burn their houses.....

He told the Court of Commission of one incident in which the Black and Tans attempted to shoot members of the RIC patrol which was accompanying them - Crowley spoke of how, on the night of May 21st, 1920, an RIC/Tan patrol, which was heavily armed, raided the home of Maurice Walsh ,the Chairperson of the Clogheen (Tipperary) District Council (a local politician) . The tans had told the RIC members with them that it was their intention to kill Walsh and his family and burn their house ; the ex-RIC man , in his evidence, stated that himself and the other RIC men "reminded him(the man in charge of the Tans) that he was not in the (British) army now, and he said to me that when he left the training depot he was told that he could not be subjected to any discipline whatever if he shot any Sinn Feiners " .
Crowley went on to point out that the issue then developed into a verbal row between the Black and Tans and the RIC, then punches were thrown and, finally, the Tans fired their weapons at the RIC ( I have not been able to determine what injuries both sides caused to each other but, hopefully, they were all good shots !) . .... (MORE LATER)>>


.....it was only in 1989 that the then Stormont Education Minister, Brian Mahwinney, decided not to lower the status of the Irish language in the new curriculum - this still left the language on the fringes in English-medium primary schools and 'a low-status option' at secondary level......

In 1990, the Brits established the 'Ultach Trust' with a fanfare of media present but, five months later (and in a much quieter manner) they withdrew funding from Glor na nGael !
Also , it should be remembered that the 'Education Reform Order' of 1989 , which purported to give the Irish language equal status with French, German, Spanish and Italian as a choice in language studies in secondary schools , still left our first language as a 'lower status' one , said to be 'equivalent to classics' , when schools fulfil their timetabling obligations .
....like the Fianna Fail politician that ordered dozens of young trees to be planted in his ward just weeks before the election (in which he retained his seat) and then , within weeks of his victory, ordered that all the trees be dug up !
Give it to you in one hand........