Saturday, October 11, 2003

THE B-SPECIALS ; 1920-1970 .......


.......the loyalist (pro-British) paramilitary gang , the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) were attacking Nationalists and putting them out of their homes ; the loyalist political leader , James Craig , was concerned at the level of Republican resistance to British 'rule' and demanded that a " Special Constabulary " be established .......


At a meeting of the British Cabinet on 6th September , 1920 , James Craig got his wish ; a force of " well-disposed and loyal citizens " was to be established for operational purposes in the North-Eastern Counties only -- the Six County area . This new unit was to be known as the 'Ulster Special Constabulary' and was to be divided into three sub-units -- the A , B and C Specials ---

--- the A-Specials were a full-time unit , and were based in RIC barracks , thus allowing more 'police officers' free to leave their desks and assist their colleagues in cracking skulls in Nationalist areas ;

--- the B-Specials were a part-time but fully-armed unit , that were sent out on patrol duty , with or without the British Army or RIC ;

--- and the C-Specials , a reserve unit , for those eager to serve 'Queen and Country' on a "call-us-if-you-need-us" basis . (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

THE WAR OF BROTHERS.......


".......the new Free State Army realised too late that the enemy now was not England , but their old comrades who were carrying-on the fight against British occupation ......."


" Fighting for a cause they hated against the cause they loved , hunting and killing their old comrades and leaders , dying , not a few , for their country's enemy , execrated by the people they had betrayed --- what reward could the 'Empire' offer to atone for this ? Debauchery was the only refuge , the only stimulus to such work as they had to do .

Of the degradation that followed , one thing only need be said --- the unspeakable things done to prisoners in jails and camps and barracks and on lonely roadsides were not due to insane impulses of these drink-sodden , irresponsible men ; they were the fruits of a policy calculated , authorised and prompted by the government which they had to obey ......." (MORE LATER)



CHEMICALLY.......

[from 'AP/RN' , 30 th May , 1985 , page 4]

In Leinster House last week (ie third week in May , 1985) it was revealed that twenty-seven dangerous substances were being used by fifty-two manufacturing companies in the Free State ; forty of those companies were U S subsidiaries who were known to choose this State as a base for processing dangerous chemicals only because they were not allowed to set-up elsewhere !

Still --- the politicians would have made a few bob out of it . The people may have suffered (and probably still are) but sure ye can't have it every way !

And --- as Albert Reynolds , the ' passports-for-dog-food' boyo might have said -- " That's chemicals for ya " !



.......UNBALANCED --->

[from 'New Hibernia' magazine , March , 1985]

In his 'Personally Speaking' column , Dermot McEvoy stated ---

--- " I regard Fianna Fail not as a political party but as a criminal conspiracy against the people ."

HOWEVER-- in the same article , McEvoy admitted to being a Fine Gael supporter and a fan of Margaret Thatcher !

One out of three is usually not good enough for inclusion in this column , but what the hell -- I like the Fianna Fail one !

Friday, October 10, 2003

THE B-SPECIALS ; 1920 - 1970 .


Before the British partitioned Ireland (1921) , pogroms by loyalists in Belfast were carried out by the ' Ulster Volunteer Force ' (UVF) , a loyalist paramilitary outfit , with the British Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) looking on , but not intervening .

The loyalist political leader , James Craig , realised that the British hold on the island was slipping but was determined to protect his own patch , in the North-Eastern corner : he insisted that Westminster establish a ' Special Constabulary ' to assist the British Army and the RIC ....... (MORE LATER).


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .


THE WAR OF BROTHERS.

" The Terror failed . The 'Empire' resorted to a more subtle policy -- "Divide and Conquer" --- a motto as old as Rome . Believing , as they were told , that it was still the Republican Army , that the oath to the English king meant nothing , that England was the only enemy they would ever be called upon to fight , Irish Volunteers joined the Free State Army , and took the guns and the uniform and the pay .

When , without an hour's warning , they were given English artillery and ordered to make war upon their old comrades -- upon those who refused allegiance to the English king -- they were in a death-trap . To mutiny was to die . Their tragedy is more pitiful than the tragedy of the men they killed ....... " (MORE LATER).



SITTING.......

[from 'The Sunday Business Post' , 15th August , 1993 , page 13]

In a book entitled 'Provisional Irish Republicans - An Oral and Interpretive History' , by Robert W. White , Mitchel McLaughlin , Provo Sinn Fein Chairperson , stated --

-- " I would'nt say never even in respect to Westminster ."

And why should you , Mitchel ? Stormont , Leinster House -- ....might as well go for the hat-trick ; it's where your future lies .


.......AND NOT SITTING --->

[from 'The Evening Press' , 23rd April --( a Tuesday , I believe ) 1985]


<--- A political Councillor in Florence , Italy , Giovanni Pallanti (Christian Democrat) declined an invatation to attend or sit at a dinner in 'honour' of the so-called Prince and Princess of Wales yesterday (ie Monday , 22nd April , 1985).



Pallanti stated --- " I would have no appetite thinking of those Northern Irish who died in prison as a result of hunger-strikes ."

An Italian politician who refuses to sit with the Brits and a person who classes himself as an Irish Reoublican who can't wait to sit with them !

God help us .....

Thursday, October 09, 2003

MICHAEL SCANLON - POET AND FENIAN.......


.......the Fenian invasion of Canada (31st May , 1866) was cut short by the lack of reinforcements and the Rising in Ireland collapsed in March 1867 ; Michael Scanlon did not lose heart . He continued writing for Irish and American newspapers and was by now a senior Official in the American administration in Washington.......

Such was his job and the contacts it offered him with the business community in America that Michael Scanlon was able to convince business leaders to source material in countries other than England !

The dearth of information on Michael Scanlon means that it is hard to find a reliable source of notification of his death ; indeed , some of my (usually dependable) sources have his year of Birth as 1833 ! As far as I can tell , he died at around seventy-two years of age , in 1908 , in Chicago , America . I believe his membership of the ' Irish Republican Brotherhood' lasted for at least fifty years -- he joined same in 1858 (at twenty-two years young) and , by all accounts , "served the cause for over fifty years" before he died .

If you know better , please leave a message in the site 'Guestbook' for me .


[END]



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

"....... in 1921 , three friends -- Padraic Dalton , Padraic Breathnac and Diarmuid Lyons , were executed in a field in Gortaglanna by the Black and Tans......."


" On the road from Castleisland to Tralee there is a cross by the wayside : ' Remember Denis Broderick , who died in defence of Ireland , May 24th , 1921 .' There is a cross that has no name on it a little further on ; it is for Seumas Taylor; his brother's is on the roadside in Glencar .

There is one for Jack Galvin a few hundred yards to the left , and there is one bearing eight names and the date March 6 , 1923 . It stands , quite close to those three others , at Ballyseedy Cross . "


[END].


WESTMINSTER.......

[from 'The Sunday Tribune' , 8th March , 1998 , page 16]

Last week , a survey of political attitudes in the Six Counties , conducted by BBC/Coopers and Lybrand , showed that fifty-one per cent of Provisional Sinn Fein supporters and eighty-nine per cent of SDLP supporters are willing to accept a settlement falling short of Irish unity !

They would have got one-hundred per cent in favour if they had also asked the leaderships of both partys .......


.......WARNING --->


<--- On 3rd December , 1941 , Belfast Republican Liam Rice wrote ---

--- " The traitor , in a vain attempt to justify his treachery , always wantonly attacks the cause he has forsaken . "

The man must have had a crystal ball .......

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

MICHAEL SCANLON - POET AND FENIAN .......


.......an 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' Convention of over fifteen-hundred American and Irish Fenians was held in November 1863 in Chicago ; Michael Scanlon and Henry C. McCarthy were put in charge of same by the 'IRB' leadership . It was decided to wait until the end of the American Civil War before a campaign against the British would begin in Ireland .......


Charles J. Kickham , one of the Irish delegates to the Chicago Convention , returned to Ireland with the message -- ' The IRB will take action when the time is right .'

At the age of thirty , Michael Scanlon supported the Fenian Colonel John O' Neill in his invasion of Canada; the Canadian village of Fort Erie was attacked and seized by an eight-hundred strong force of Fenians on the night of 31 May , 1866 ; the British forces met the Fenians in battle in early June , 1866 , at Lime Ridge , with the Brits losing the fight . The promised reinforcements for the Fenians never materialised and Colonel John O' Neill retreated back to America .

The Fenians in Ireland were also forced to retreat when , in March 1867 , the Rising collapsed . However , Michael Scanlon did not lose heart -- he was a well-known contributor of verse , poems and articles to Irish and American newspapers , and was by now working as a senior Official within the American administration in Washington ...... (MORE LATER).


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.

THE TERROR.......

......the Republican defenders against the British and Free State enemy risked death in battle , and capture , torture and murder at their captor's hands .......


" Screams of agony heard from the prisons , dead bodies of young men found in ditches , are calculated to reduce the people to submission . That the contrary effect is produced is a lesson which 'empires' are slow to learn .

This is the explanation of the little rough wooden crosses , sometimes not bearing even a name , which mark forsaken spots on the Kerry roads . It is the explanation of the 'Sign of the Cross' which people make in passing places not marked yet with wood or stone . Hear , they will tell you , in Ballymacelligott , Maurice Reidy and John Leen were killed on Christmas night . That was in nineteen-twenty-one ; their murderers were the Black and Tans . In Ballybunion , young Scanlon was murdered , and Carmody in Ballylongford and Houlihan in Ballyduff .

There were Frank Hoffman of Tralee , and Bill McCarthy of Lixnaw and Joseph Taylor of Glencar . In a field in Gortaglanna there are three crosses bearing the names of Padraic Dalton , Padraic Breathnac and Diarmuid Lyons , three friends who were taken on the road and put to death there in 1921 by the Black and Tans." (MORE LATER).



POLITICAL.......

[from 'AP/RN' , 17th June , 1993 , page 5]

....... John McDonnell , Chairperson of the ' Britain and Ireland Human Rights Centre' stated ---

--- " Political violence in Northern Ireland (sic) is inextricably linked with Britains historic role in Ireland and its failure to complete the process of decolonisation ."

Telling it like it is ---1 .

.......PROXY --->

<--- In his book ' The Framework of Home Rule ' , Erskine Childers wrote that Unionist resistance to Irish Nationalism was inspired not by racialism or fear for the Protestant faith , but by " a deep-rooted hatred of democratic principles and practices . "

Telling it like it is ---2 .

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

MICHAEL SCANLON - POET AND FENIAN.......


.......joining the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' shortly after its formation in 1858 , at twenty-two years young , Michael Scanlon was soon appointed as Editor of the Fenian newspaper , 'The Irish Republic'.......


At twenty-seven years young (in 1863) , Michael Scanlon had been a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood for five years and was , for want of a better description , at 'middle management' level in the organisation ; he was trusted and respected by Irish Republicans in America and at home and , along with Henry C. McCarthy (IRB member) , was put in charge of organising the ' Chicago Convention' .

The 'Convention' was to be held in Chicago in November 1863 ; its function was to bring together Fenian delegates from all over America and Ireland and put a plan in place for a sustained armed campaign against the British in Ireland . More than 1500 delegates attended the event and large sums of money were collected by the IRB leadership ; however , it was decided to wait until the American Civil War had ended before action would be taken in Ireland ....... (MORE LATER).


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY ,by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

THE TERROR

" A war of conquest , such as England's war against Ireland , develops , inevitably , into a campaign of terrorism against the people . Resistance to foreign invasion and foreign rule will never be limited , in a high-spirited nation , to a paid and uniformed army ; young men will cast their bread upon the waters , go "on their keeping" and fight in hunger and cold ; old men and old women and young girls will be taking their share . Therefore , to break the spirit of the whole people by spreading panic terror amongst them , by making them suffer more than they can endure , must be the conqueror's aim .

The defenders who go out to ambush the armed forces of the oppressor , to wreck his military and governmental institutions and to impede his progress through the country , risk not only death in battle but capture , and torture and murder at their captor's hands ." (MORE LATER).


MEDDLING.......

[from 'AP/RN' , 19th September , 1996 , page 5]

....... " It should never be forgotten that the bottom line for the British Government is the protection of its own interests and the maintenance of the status quo by whatever means necessary-- including espionage , dirty tricks , psychological operations and disinformation ."---

--- Micheal MacDonncha , ex-'AP/RN' Editor , now Provo employee in Leinster House : That's all very well , Micheal , but even if the Brits did try something-- like , say , set-up a false 'parliament' and invite the enemy in , clean them up and dress them up , introduce them to other's on the 'rubber-chicken' circuit and help them to turn (so-called) "respectable" --- sure I ask ya , Micheal ; who'd fall for that ? Especially after you warning us and all .......


.......MEDALS --->

[from 'The Phoenix' magazine , 19th January , 1996 , page 8]

The former Editor of 'The Evening Herald' newspaper , Brian Quinn (who held that position between 1969 and 1977) recently (ie late 1995 ?) received the 'Jerusalem 3000' medal from the Israeli Government --- the only other Irish citizen to receive such an award was ex-Labour Party Chairperson , the late Jim Kemmy ! He got his medal for " acts of friendship to Israel " . The Editor of a right-wing Dublin newspaper and the Chairperson of a (so-called) left-wing political party : Israeli friends in odd places ......

Monday, October 06, 2003

MICHAEL SCANLON - POET AND FENIAN.......


....... in 1849 , when Michael Scanlon was thirteen years young , his family emigrated to America and settled in Chicago ......


When he was twenty-two years of age (in 1858) , well-aware of what was happening in his own country re British oppression , he celebrated St. Patricks Day with his family and other Irish friends ; some of the talk that day centred on a new Irish Republican organisation which was being formed that very day -- the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' .

Back home in Ireland , the 'IRB' was established (also on St. Patricks Day , 1858) by James Stephens and Thomas Clarke Luby ; in America , the leader of the new organisation was John O'Mahony . Joining the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood' almost immediately , Michael Scanlon made good contacts and was later appointed as Editor of the Fenian newspaper , ' The Irish Republic' . (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .


The Dingle Peninsula .......

.......ridged by cliffs and turrets of rock , watered valleys looked-down on by steep slopes that allow access by narrow passes ; the beauty of Dingle Peninsula .......


" Conor Mountain , Brandon Mountain , Cahir , Conree ..... Dingle Bay to the south , Brandon Bay and the mouth of the Shannon far off to the north , westward 'the ocean wide and wild' , and all Dingle's inlets and lochs and torrents and valleys are dominated by those royal hills ---

" The Kings of Kerry over the clans of Ciar
O'Connor rules that land by right ,
Chief of the plain of the fertile fields
From the strand to the Shannon of clear streams . "


It is Irish that the people speak in the tiny village ; it is Irish songs and music that you will hear . But they go barefoot , and many go hungry : you see their cattle seized for the rent by bailiffs , being driven along the road . You see little dark cabins built of rough stone where a dozen beautiful children have to live . You see the pitiful tokens of a conquered land . And because it is not conquered yet in spirit you come to stricken homes whose sons are slain . "


[END].


PLANTERS.......

[from 'The Evening Press' , 2nd May , -- a Thursday , if memory serves -- 1985 , page 9]

....... On the first weekend in May this year ( ie 1985) the Dutch celebrate their 1945 liberation from the Germans at the end of 'World War Two' . A Dutch Government brochure on the anniversary stated --

-- " We must never forget how things can go so far . On that day , we face the question how it is possible that people assume the right to invade and occupy other lands , to impose servitude and unleash terror . "

A question our nearest neighbour should ask itself .....



.......AND PLANTED --->

[from 'Hot Press' magazine , 30th June , 1993 , page 6]

<--- Last March (ie 1993) the Bishop of Salisbury said on 'Network Two' (Irish) television --

-- " The island of Ireland is a natural geographic unit . Britain has made a substantial contribution to divisions in Ireland , partly from strategic and political reasons . People had to be planted there who were regarded as loyal to the British state ."


"Substantial contribution" ? "Partly ...." ? Admit your guilt but then again..... .

The good Bishop failed to mention the 'West Brits' that London left "in charge" in this State ; those more loyal to their bank balance and Westminster (and Brussels) than they are to a true Irish Republic .

Sunday, October 05, 2003

MICHAEL SCANLON - POET AND FENIAN .


'THE BOLD FENIAN MEN' ; a well-known and still , to this day , hugely popular ballad in Ireland and anywhere else that Irish people gather for a night out . Other songs this man composed are 'The Fenian Men' and 'The Jackets Green' .

The above ballad's were penned by Michael Scanlon in the late 19th Century ; he was born in Castlemahon , in County Limerick , on 10th November , 1836 . In 1849 , when Michael Scanlon was thirteen years young , his family emigrated to America and settled in Chicago ....... (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .


THE DINGLE PENINSULA .

"Ireland Unconquered : ' Ireland her own from the sod to the sky' is here , you would think , coming to the Dingle Peninsula first . It is hard to imagine that any enemy could dare to invade or have strength to hold down that land . It stands out , ridged by precipitous cliffs , over the ocean that almost encircles it ; sentinel islands , impregnable turrets of rock , stand for beacon and watch-towers about its shores ; mountains shelter its green , watered valleys and rear up , a fortress-chain , over its coast .

The narrow passes and roads that terrace their steep slopes are overhung by Summits that might be battle-pens of Fionn Mac Cumhal , piled so high they are with boulders that a giant's throw would send down . " (MORE LATER).


FIGHTING.......

[from 'AP/RN', 6th June , 1985 , page 13]

In an interview with 'The New York Times' newspaper , Fianna Fail's Sean Lemass stated --

-- " We recognise that a military commitment will be an inevitable consequence of our joining the Common Market and ultimately we would be prepared to yield even the technical label of neutrality . We are prepared to go into this integrated Europe without any reservation as to how far this will take us in the field of foreign policy and defence ."

NOTE the "without any reservation" claim ; this before the issue was put to a vote of the electorate in the State . As Albert said , in a different context , - "That's democracy for ya ...."


.......TALK --->

[from same as above]

---> In 1970 , when he was Free State Minister for External Affairs , Paddy Hillery said --

-- " We would have to act closely in political as well as economic affairs and would have to participate in common action , even the defence of the new Europe . "

Obviously better career prospects on a European stage for the gombeens in Leinster House --- even if it is at the expense of the rest of us .

Saturday, October 04, 2003

1920 : CANON MAGNER , CORK , AND THE BLACK AND TANS .......


.......on 15th December , 1920 , two men and a youth were standing in Bandon Town , talking ; Canon Magner was one of the men . The Black and Tans came upon the group of three and gave the youth a beating , then shot him dead . When Canon Magner protested , the Tans asked him for his personal details . On hearing same , a Tan named Harte shot the priest dead .......


The motorist inched his way back to his car and drove off : he then reported the shootings to the British Officer in charge of the Bandon area . There were too many witnesses for the British to do nothing about it , so a 'trial' was held . The Tan who shot Canon Magner dead , Harte , was charged with murder -- he was found " guilty but insane . "

The whole episode turned even more Irish people against the Brits and left them like 'fish with no sea to swim in' ; even more isolated than they were before . Because of their own bullying and arrogant nature , the British had fallen foul of their own trap .


[END].


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

DERRY NA FEENA.......


"....... during the gun-fight between the Free Staters and the IRA , George Nagle was wounded in the leg ; he was lying outside Molly O'Brien's house , unarmed . The Free Staters rushed the house and kept the O'Brien's inside it .......


" Molly O'Brien heard shots fired outside and when at last she went out with the water George Nagle was dead , shot through the heart . She wanted to do all that was left to do -- to sprinkle holy water on the body , but it was not allowed (by the Staters). The soldiers took a cart from the shed and put the body in it and drove down along the shore of Acoose Lake . Young Conway O'Connor was wounded that morning also . He was a laughing , light-hearted boy , who never possessed a rifle yet .

He was wounded in the shoulder and became too weak to run ; he hid his revolver and surrendered then . The wound was slight , and his captors marched him for two miles along the shore of the lake . His comrades in the hills saw him pass with them out of sight . A little later people walking along the road met a cart driven by Free State soldiers ; in it were two dead bodies . It was driven to Kenmare . Where a pool of blood was found on the roadside on the northern shore of Acoose Lake , not far from the grove of firs , a little iron cross has been set :-

" Pray for the soul of W. Conway O'Connor , IRA , aged 20 years , 6th Battalion Kerry No. 2 Brigade . Killed 6th of April , 1923 . RIP."

There is a cross in memory of George Nagle on the hillside in Derry na Feena , on the far side of the lake ."


[END].



ABSTRUSE.......

[from 'AP/RN' , 30th September , 1993 , page 6 ('Editorial' column)]

....... " Since the partition of Ireland , successive Dublin governments have run away from the Northern problem and thus have been part of the problem . Now it must become part of the solution . Dublin must assume its national responsibility . "

The Leinster House (Dublin) administration claims jurisdiction over the 26-County State only ; since when has it had a "national responsibility" ?


.......ANIMALS --->

[from 'The Phoenix' magazine , 15th March , 1985]

On the 'Criminal Justice Bill' , Mary McAleese (yer wan from the Park) stated --

-- " I have never regarded the right to silence as a sacred cow anyway ."

Nor us you , Mary.......

Friday, October 03, 2003

1920 : CANON MAGNER , CORK , AND THE BLACK AND TANS .......

.......on 11th November , 1920 , Canon Magner had not tolled the Church bells in 'tribute' to'Poppy Day' as the Black and Tans had ordered him to do ; in Bandon Town , on 15th December , 1920 , he was to pay for his refusal .......


On that day(15th December 1920) , Canon Magner was walking in Bandon Town , Cork , with a young lad he knew when a car pulled up beside the pair of them . The driver knew the priest and the three of them stood talking on the side of the road . A truck (possibly a 'Crosley Tender') full with Black and Tans pulled up beside the two men and the boy , and a number of Tans approached them ; one of the Brits lashed out with a punch at the young lad and , before he could fall to the ground , the other Tans were kicking and punching him too.

Suddenly , without saying a word , one of the Black and Tans pulled out his revolver and shot the young lad dead . Canon Magner shouted his protest at the Tan that seemed to be in charge , a Brit named Harte ; the priest was asked for his name and address by Harte and , when Canon Magner gave his details , Harte pulled his gun and shot the priest dead .......(MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .


DERRY NA FEENA.......

.......the IRA Fenians of 1923 in the Derry na Feena area lived in the folds of the mountains , from where they would launch attacks onFree State troops in the vicinity .......


" They knew , all through March , that the Free State troops were not far away , and they slept little and watched well . But on the night of the fifth of April , 1923 , they slept , exhausted , all night . It was just in the grey of dawn , when the loch below had taken a pale glimmer , though the valley was dark still under the shadow of the black Reeks , that their sentry gave the alarm . They sprang out from the cabins where they were sleeping and dashed up the hillside . It was in the open they chose to fight . George Nagle had been ill and was being nursed in the cottage of the O'Briens . When he and the others woke , the cottage was already covered by a machine gun .

There was a family of young children in it ; it was impossible to fight there . Landers rushed down to the fence with a Lewis gun and opened fire on the attackers while his comrades made away . Just outside the house Nagle fell , shot in the leg . Tom Mannix tried to lift him but could not . Nagle told him to take his gun . The fighting passed up the hill then and Nagle was alone . He was calling "Molly ! Molly !" , and Molly O'Brien ran out to him and he asked for water . She ran back to get it but Free State soldiers rushed up and kept her inside the house ......." (MORE LATER).


AND IT's NO , NAY , NEVER .......

[from 'The Evening Press' , 1st December-- a Monday , I believe -- 1986 , page 4]

In an interview carried out on the Aran Islands (on 30th November) , the then Fianna Fail leader Charlie Haughey was asked if his party would form a coalition with the new Progressive Democrat party ; he replied ---

--- " There will be no agreement between Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats now , in the General Election , or afterwards . Turncoats once are turncoats always. "

You'd know all about " turncoats " , Charlie . Wonder how those words tasted to you later , C J ?


....... NO NEVER NO MORE --->


<--- Fianna Fail are in the news here lately , but not for the following reasons ---

--- Execution of Irish Republican prisoners , mass imprisonment and deaths on hunger-strike , more internment in the 1950's and 1960's , censorship introduced by them in the early 1970's , their extension of the 'Offences Against the State Act' and-- special congrats here -- their use for the first time of the 'Criminal Law(Jurisdiction) Act' , which allowed for the jailing of Irish Republican activists and escapee's .


Stroke the money , drink and drive , sell passports for 'dog-food' money , sell your re-zone vote to the highest bidder and so on and on .....

Political gangsters and mis-fits , political prostitutes and professional gombeens . History will wonder why we allowed it .......

Thursday, October 02, 2003

1920 : CANON MAGNER , CORK AND THE BLACK AND TANS.......


....... in early November , 1920 , the Black and Tans demanded that Canon Magner show"respect" on 'Poppy Day' and pay tribute to dead British soldiers ; the seventy-three year old priest was a well-known Irish Republican supporter .......


The Brits ordered Canon Magner to toll the church bells twice (to mark the second anniversary of the ending of the European War) at eleven A.M. , and warned him that he would be severely dealt with if he did not comply . The same demand , in writing , was nailed to the door of the Church by one of the Tans , on their way out of the building .

11th November , 1920-- 'Poppy Day' : and the Church bells remained silent . Canon Magner went about his business , and the Black and Tans went about their's ; days passed , with only the usual snide comments and remarks coming from the British forces to the priest and his parishoners . The days passed into weeks , with no retribution from the Tans over Canon Magner's refusal to toll the bells .

However... in Bandon Town one morning (15th December , 1920) ....... (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .....

DERRY NA FEENA


" Derry na Feena means "the Oak Wood of the Fenians." Here the Fenians of Cahirciveen , marching to Killarney , in February 1867 , got the countermanding order and dispersed , heavy at heart , leaving the fight for their children's children to carry on . There is no wood here now ; it is a grey , barren valley under the Macgillicuddy Reeks , with the height of Carrantuohill looming over it and a grey lake below - Loch Acoose , one of the most desolate lakes of Kerry , with its solitary grove of dark trees .

Derry na Feena was the fastness of a little company of the Fenians of 1923 . They lived among the folds of the mountains in the stony hollows , befriended through winter nights in the few scattered cabins above the lake , coming out when enemy inroads were threatened , to blow up bridges , set ambushes or barricade the mountain roads . (MORE LATER).



DIVIDE .......

[from'RTE Today/Tonight' programme, 11th April ,--a Thursday , if memory serves-- 1985]


During a discussion on divorce , Mary Harney (then withFianna Fail;now Free State Taniste and 'Progressive Democrat'leader) referred to what she called "Northern Ireland" (sic) as "the country closest to us" !

She corrected herself quickly , on that occasion at least , but the fact that she could think along those lines in the first place speaks volumes . The woman could and should spend a lifetime correcting herself .....


.......AND CONQUER -->

[from'The Evening Press' newspaper ,17th April -- a Wednesday , I believe-- 1985]

<-- When he was Free State Minister for 'Justice' , Fine Gael's Michael Noonan welcomed representatives of the 'Police Federation of Northern Ireland' (sic) to the Annual Conference of the 'Garda Representative Assocoiation' in Bundoran , County Donegal , held that year(1985).

Delegates to the Conference gave two standing ovations to the RUC men after they were formally welcomed by the then General Secretary , Jack Marrinan ; RUC Federation Chairperson Alan Wright , probably fighting back the tears , stated -- " We all belong to a family and that family is the police ."

Fine Gael's 'Justice' man , Mickey Noonan , no doubt by now bawling his little squinty eyes out , blubbered -- " We support them in their endeavours to bring law and order to a disturbed part of this Country ."

Don't ya mean "bringing law and order to the Country closest to us" , Mickey?

'One big happy family' indeed.....

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

1920 : CANON MAGNER , CORK , AND THE BLACK AND TANS .......

........new orders had been issued by British Prime Minister Lloyd George to the British forces in Ireland -- terrorise the Irish population . Ordinary workers were now being targetted by , amongst others , the Black and Tans.......


Non-combatants were now being hit financially , as their places of employment were put out of commission by the British , and physically , as the Black and Tans and 'ordinary' British soldiers turned on them viciously , as per the new instructions which they received from Westminster .

The idea was , apparently , to leave the population too scared to offer assistance (safe-houses , money , transport , information etc) to the IRA and thus isolate the rebels and pick them off -- 'fish with no sea to swim in.'. It might have worked , over time ,(although it's doubtful) but for one particularly bloody incident which had the complete opposite effect :

: An elderly priest in Dunmanway, in Cork , seventy-three year old Canon Magner , had no time for the British and was a vocal and well-known Republican supporter ; in early November , 1920 , the Black and Tans entered the Church and demanded that Canor Magner show "respect" on the up-coming 'Armistice('POPPY')Day' which , that year , fell on the 11th November ....... (MORE LATER).


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN.......

"....... Free State Lieutenant McCarthy voiced his concern to the remaining IRA prisoners about the Free State Murder-Gang from Dublin that were operating inKerry ; he supported the Free State Administration , he said , but was not an executioner for them -- he was going to resign his post .......

" The following is the Official IRA report , signed by the Officer Commanding , Kerry , Third Brigade and the Officer Commanding Operations , Kerry Brigade , with reference to the "ambush" mentioned in the Free State Portobello communique :

: " There was no ambush in the vicinity . All our troops had been removed from the vicinity of Cahirciveen and the workhouse . There was no barricade and no mine laid there by us . The five prisoners had been arrested more that a week previously ."

The fathers came asking for their sons' bodies , but they were refused . Father Sheehan of Dromod prevailed on the Free State military at last to give them up , and five coffins were sent out , nailed down . The people opened the coffins in the church . Two of the bodies were recognisable . There were bullet wounds , not in vital places ; the others could not be recognised . They were buried in one grave in Cahirciveen . The people set up a rough , wooden cross on the road-side to sanctify that black gap , but the Free State soldiers broke it .

It has been mended now and stands there unmolested . The cattle graze quietly in the field and grass is growing again on the road-side .

[END].


LIVING BEYOND OUR MEANS.......

[from 'The Sunday Times' , 28th April , 1985 , page 2]

Nearly twelve-thousand workers left the 'National Coal Board' in Britain during the Miners Strike of that time , according to the Chairperson of the Board at that time , Ian MacGregor (in a letter to Peter Bruinvel , then Tory MP for Leicester East).


If the Trade Union leadership was any good , would the workers not have seen it through ? And where is the Trade Union leadership in this State in relation to the issue of the double bin-tax ? Every worker in the State pays income-tax on his or her earnings , we pay more tax when we spend our money (VAT) , and we pay again if we can save a few bob(D.I.R.T) .

That tax is paid to go towards essential services , such as the collection of household rubbish , but now thepoliticians want to charge a separate amount for the collection of rubbish-bins , with no reduction in the income-tax levy ! The politicians and the Trade Union leadership should be ashamed of themselves-- both groups are non-productive spongers and leeches , living off the working class and the unemployed ; they're wealthy , fat and comfortable - but still they want more.

And the thing is-- the people they want it from simply have'nt got it to give ; but they don't care. It's either get it that way , or work for a living like the rest of us that can get work . And that's not gonna happen !

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

1920 : CANON MAGNER , CORK , AND THE BLACK AND TANS .......


.......in Ireland in the mid-1920's , the British were losing the war against the IRA ; the British Prime Minister , Lloyd George , issued new orders to his Commander-in-Chief in Ireland , Sir Neville Macready -- ' fight and terrorise the population , not just the rebels and their supporters ....' .......


Ireland at that time was heavily depended on agriculture ; the British , however , perhaps because they came from an industrialsed country and background , only threw the odd cursory glance at the Irish tradition of working the land : until now . British Commander-in-Chief Sir Neville Macready added a new string to the bow of the Black and Tans and other forces under his command -- that of saboteurs ; bread-mills were wrecked , farm co-op's burned , creameries put out of business .

Ordinary workers and other individuals who up to now had not been specifically targetted by the British found themselves on the front-line .......(MORE LATER).


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN.......

.......on Monday morning , 12th March , 1923 , five IRA prisoners were taken from their cells by the Free Staters " to be removed to Tralee " . That evening , a Free State Officer , Lieutenant McCarthy rushed into the IRA prisoner's cells and asked one of the prisoners , John Graham , what did he know of the removal of the five men that morning ? Graham told him that the men were being moved to a jail in Tralee .......


" Lieutenant McCarthy then said -- " They were murdered on the road this morning by the men who took them out . I myself am putting in my resignation this night . The fellows that killed them were some of the Dublin Guards , who were at the workhouse on Sunday evening . One of them was a Divisional Officer . The sergeant had no order to give the key of the room to anyone . Myself and Hegarty went to bed . The other fellows went to the guardroom and told the Sergeant to come down to the prisoners' room , and one of the guard refused to go . He then told him he would blow his brains out , and brought him down at the point of the revolver . He told the Sergeant he was taking him and his escort , and if he told a word of what happened on the way he would blow his brains out ."

McCarthy continued -- " He then took them down the road . There was no attempt to escape , as the prisoners were shot first and then put over a mine and blown up . It was a Free State mine , laid by themselves . I will get the statement put into the paper . There were six or eight in the lot that murdered them . It is a murder-gang that is going around trying to keep on the war . We ourselves will support the Free State Government and fight for it , but we will not fight for murder . We will do no more work until these fellows are properly dealt with . Our best friends in Cahirciveen will not speak to us since ." (MORE LATER).


FRIENDLY.......

[from'The Sunday Business Post' , 28th December , 1997 , page 7]

....... In an interview with Emily O'Reilly , Gerry Adams stated in relation to Bill Clinton --

-- " I've only spoken to him a few times but I know that he is engaged(re the Six Counties). I talk quite often to people who talk to him quite often , and they will tell you , quite freely , that he continually comes back to this issue . He now describes himself as an Irish-American ! "

WOW ! GER knows people that know people that etc etc .....

One 'statesman' to another , in a round-a-bout sort of way : don't forget ,GER , the Brits have been at that game for longer than you have .......


.......FIRE -->

[from'The Sunday Times' , 24th March , 1985]

<-- On Thursday , 21st March , 1985 , at dawn , the Israelis , under their then so-called 'Iron Fist' policy (ie shoot first , ask questions later) attacked two villages outside of Sidon and later claimed to have "killed twenty-one terrorists" . Amongst the dead were two journalists , one sound engineer , and one camerperson , from the American CBS Network .

Get the 'BIG LIE' out first ; policy then , policy now .

Monday, September 29, 2003

1920 : CANON MAGNER , CORK , AND THE BLACK AND TANS .


From around mid- 1920 , the English Black and Tans in Ireland were not only losing the war with the IRA , but were coming-round to realise that fact themselves -- as were their political masters in Westminster .

The then British Prime Minister , Lloyd George , secured the backing of his cabinet to " intensify efforts " in Ireland to crush the rebels ; the then Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in Ireland , Sir Neville Macready , was contacted and handed a new brief -- terrorise the population , not just the rebel army and its base of supporters ....... (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.


CAHIRCIVEEN.......

".......the five IRA prisoners were taken outside by their Free State captors ; it was Monday morning , 12th March , 1923 -- the prisoners were told they were "to be removed to Tralee" ......."


Three Free State Officers came in first , while it was still dark , and a guard , who was with them , called out the five names . " Be ready in half-an-hour " , they said . When they had gone , instead of packing his things , Michael Courtney knelt down and said a prayer . They were all ready when , half-an-hour later , the three Free State Officers came back . "Will we take our parcels ?" , Dan asked .

" The lorry will take them after you " , was the reply . "We'll need no parcels , Dan ," Mike Courtney said : " We're not going far ." He had his rosary beads in his hand . Eugene Dwyer , too, understood . He looked at his comrades and said : " 'Tis death , and we're going to meet it like men." "They can't do more than kill us ," Dan said then . As they went out of the door the guard said in a low , distressed voice : " God pity you , boys !"

The other IRA prisoners knew no more until the evening , when a Free State officer , Lieutenant McCarthy , came in to them in a very excited state . He called a prisoner named John Graham , and asked : " What was supposed to happen the prisoners when taken out ? " Graham answered: "Going to be removed to Tralee." .......(MORE LATER)........



KINKY SEX ON RTE.......

[from'AP/RN' , 1st April , 1993 , page 4]


The 'International Federation of Journalists' , representing three-hundred-thousand members in seventy countries , called RTE's Supreme Court appeal for continued permission to use Section 31 (which banned Irish Republican spokesmen and women from being heard on television and radio ) as "an outrage" . The main U. S. journalists union , the 'Newspaper Guide' , said it was " astonished " that RTE was looking for a "self-bondage" plea in relation to its free speech rights !

.....whatever about the "self-bondage" bit , RTE definately deserves a good whippin' .. !



.......AS WE SCREW OURSELVES --->

[from'AP/RN' , 6th April , 1995 , page 4]

The 1989 - 1992 Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat Free State administration approved the £2.8 billion (punts) 'soft loan' from the European Union to 'British Nuclear Fuels Limited' for developing the THORP nuclear facility at Windscale/Sellafield when they held the E.U. Presidency in 1990 . The then Free State Finance Minister , Albert Reynolds , signed the agreement . They are now of the opinion that the facility should be closed down for health and safety reasons !

Daft lot , are'nt they .....?

Sunday, September 28, 2003

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN : 1803 - 1849 .......


.......a sufferer from depression , James Clarence Mangan was perhaps not necessarily by choice , a loner-- he kept his troubles , real or imagined , in his head .......


He fell into the trap that snared so many others in that time (and still does today)-- alcohol ; drink and opium were his crutch , and weakened him to such an extent that he became a victim of the cholera epidemic of the time .

On 13th June , 1849 , he was found half-dead in a damp cellar in Bride Street , Dublin , and taken to the Meath Hospital ; on 20th June , 1849 , James Clarence Mangan died , aged only forty-six years .

His writings have secured him a place in Irish history and , although perhaps not as well known as others of his time , James Clarence Mangan played his part as best he could .

[END]


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.

CAHIRCIVEEN.......

".......on the 12th of March , 1923 , the families of IRA prisoners were contacted by Free Staters and informed that their sons had "died at daybreak in a mine explosion." But theIRA did not lay any mines in that area ......."


" The people thought vengeance would fall out of the skies-- they thought the prison walls would be struck down-- they thought help and justice would come to them out of Heaven or earth . But no help and no justice came .

Letters came to the mothers from the barracks , signed by the Free State Officers , expressing condolence for the deaths of their sons . They laughed and cried at that last touch of horror , and threw the letters into the fire . They went out and cursed the Officers in the streets . The man who owned the field on the Bahaghs Road said he could not graze his horses on it . They went mad with the smell of blood .

The other prisoners knew nothing of what had happened until that night . The five men taken at the wake had been called to some kind of 'Courtmartial' on the ninth , but no sentence was pronounced , and no more was thought of it . On Monday morning , the twelfth of March , 1923 , they were called out--" to be removed to Tralee ." (MORE LATER).



FORMER.......

[from'AP/RN' , 18th December , 1986 , page 16]

Speaking to 'The Irish Press' on 12th December , 1986 , retired Free State Army Commandant J. Lavery said -- " The root cause of all the trouble , the British presence , has now been legitimised by Dr. (Garret) Fitzgerald's 'Anglo-Irish Agreement' (The Hillsborough Treaty of 1985) . Every ill in the Six Counties stems from this presence and until this fact is grasped , no crumbs of British concessions will influence the situation . The correct Irish response to the British is : when you have the opportunity , grab them by the rifle barrel or any other appropriate extremity and hold on till it hurts ." !!

Make you wonder what the man was doing in the Free State Army in the first place .....


.......FRIENDS --->

[from same as above]


<--- Speaking to the 'Fitzwilliam Post' (a Dublin city-centre free newspaper) on his relationship with Margaret Thatcher (the then British Prime Minister) , Fine Gael leader and the then Free State 'Taoiseach' Garret Fitzgerald said --- " I would not describe it as a friendship , as we have never had the opportunity to become close enough for that ."

Sounds like Garret was willing , but Mags said " No ,No , No....." !

Saturday, September 27, 2003

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN : 1803 - 1849 .......


.......his parents pulled him from school in 1818 (when he was fifteen years young) as they needed him to get a job to help keep the family together ; he worked as a 'clerk' in a solicitors office , which allowed him time and space to persue his interests in poetry and politics - he had some of his articles published in Dublin periodical's .......


His published work in 'The Nation' newspaper concerned themselves with Irish poetry and short stories , and were signed as being from 'The man in the Cloak' , 'Vaccus' and 'Terrae Filius' . He was an Irish Republican at heart , and his writings could be found in the 'United Irishman' newspaper (edited byJohn Mitchel) , 'The Felon' (edited byThomas Devin Reilly) as well as Charles Gavan Duffy's'The Nation' newspaper .

James Clarence Mangan was a troubled man in his own mind ; a deep-thinker , he tended to keep to himself and , apart from his writing contacts , was not one for socialising : he apparently suffered from what we now know as 'depression' , and his 'mood swings' were no doubt exasperated by the fact that every day was a challenge for him , financially -- also , he had no-one to confide in , or lean on . (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.


CAHIRCIVEEN.......

".......Dan Shea's father called to Bahaghs Workhouse and enquired re the whereabouts of his son-- he had heard that the Free Staters had executed a number ofIRA prisoners ; the Free State sergeant told him" Yes , a prisoner named Shea was killed......" "


" He heard the sergeant trampling upstairs ; then, from the room above , wild singing and laughter broke out . Mr. Shea saw one of the Free State Officers at last ; a pale , foxy man - he was shaking . " Was it Mick Shea or Dan Shea was killed .... what sort of a coat had he on him ? " , the father asked . "He had a dark tweed on him and a fair hat." " It was Dan , so , and it was you killed him " , the father said . The Officer went in quickly and shut the door . A soldier came to Mrs. Riordan with a dispatch . " Sorry I am to have it to do , ma'am " , he said . It told her that her son had been killed at daybreak " in a mine explosion " .

The same message came that night to Mike Courtney's father in Spunkane ; to Dan Shea's in Island Boy ; to John Sugrue's in Ballinskelligs and to Eugene Dwyer's , in Reenieragh . It was the twelfth of March , 1923 . No mine had been laid by the Republicans near Cahirciveen . " (MORE LATER).


THE MORE THINGS CHANGE.......

[from'AP/RN', 4th November , 1993 , page 13]

Georges-Henri Beautnier , who chaired an April 1992 commission in London dealing with 'Human Rights in Northern Ireland' (sic) is on record stating that -- " Direct discrimination of the most invidious kind still occurs in Northern Ireland " (sic). He stated that the London Government had demonstrated a singular unwillingness to effect real change .


.....THE MORE THEY.....

[from same as above]

In their report entitled ' Fair Employment Legislation in Northern Ireland : A Cosmetic Exercise ' , the 'Clergy for Justice' organisation stated that discrimination is still being utilised-- " in order to weaken economically the Catholic minority and to induce emigration ".


.......STAY THE SAME --->



<--- " Loyalist killings are much more than just retaliation and revenge . The current murderous campaign against Catholics is the continuation of a long series of violent attacks on innocent and uninvolved Catholics , going back many years in our history . These attacks historically predated IRA activity . They run in parallel with , but often precede , IRA acts ."---

--- Cardinal Cahal Daly , 28th October , 1993 .

Friday, September 26, 2003

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN : 1803 - 1849 .......


.......known as a bright child in the school he went to on Lord Edward Street in Dublin (then known as'Saul's Court' , James Clarence Mangan was quick to learn the Irish language .......


Although barely in his teens , he did not need to be prompted to study other languages - he was well on his way to being fluent in German , Italian , French and Spanish when his parents had no choice but to remove him from school ; they were in dire needs and their fifteen-years young son , James , would have to bring in a wage if the family were to stay together .

He got a job in a solicitors office as a 'clerk/secretary/general gofar' and was able to use his time in work to study his own preferred papers - language , poetry and politics . He would sometimes translate poems and other writings from the German language and , indeed , from the Irish language , into English , and have them published , under the name 'Clarence' , in some of Dublin's periodicals . (MORE LATER).


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN.......

.......the people of Cahirciveen knew something had happened the night before , possibly near the Free State Army Barracks ; Nurse Sloan had been called for .......


" Nurse Sloan and Nurse O'Connor went up the road towards Bahaghs . They found clumps of earth and grass flung everywhere and gaps in the road ; cartridge cases were lying about . They picked up a chain of rosary beads -- it was soaked in blood . They came to the shambles then and saw what it would not be right to describe . They did all they could - it was not much - and went back with the awful story to Cahirciveen .

Mr. Shea heard , late in the morning , of the deaths of five prisoners and he knew from the first that Dan would be one . He went to Bahaghs Workhouse and knocked on the door . There was silence in the place like death . A Sergeant came at last and answered his question . " Yes , a prisoner named Shea was killed ." (MORE LATER).



THE TRUTH .......

[from'The Sunday Business Post' , 25th January , 1998 , page 11]

....... An economist in Dublin's Trinity College , Antoin Murphy , described the 'Celtic Tiger' as - " Predominantly a high-tech multinational tiger , nurtured in a special tax reserve by Celtic tax poachers ."

The 'Celtic Tiger' made the business and political class in this State even richer , at the expense of the rest of us . It should have been strangled at birth .



.......HURTS --->

<--- " Men will get into positions , men will hold power , and men who get into positions and hold power will desire to remain undisturbed and will not want to be removed ."

--- Liam Mellows , IRA leader , as quoted on 4th January , 1922 , in relation to the 'Treaty of Surrender' .

The man was right then , and is still right - bent business leaders , bent trade union bosses and bent politicians . They should ALL be dumped in a real tiger cage .......

Thursday, September 25, 2003

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN : 1803 - 1849.


' My Dark Rosaleen' ; a poem about the authors feelings for his country and its tradition of resistance in arms to those that would seek to rule it . The author , James Clarence Mangan , contributed written material on a regular basis to the Irish rebel newspaper 'The Nation' , and became friends with its Editor , Charles Gavan Duffy .

Born in Fishamble Street , in Dublin , in May 1803 , James Clarence Mangan did not have an easy life , or an easy death . He went to a school on Lord Edward Street (then known as'Saul's Court') and was known as a bright child ....... (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN .......


.......Mrs. Riordan , who had three sons in prison for Irish Republican activity , woke in a fit of terror one night ; she dreamed she had seen an angel , and that she had seen Free Statesoldiers pulling on a wire .......


" The shock of terror woke her ; rain was drizzling in through the window ; it was beginning to be light . Scream after scream broke from her ; she could not stop screaming , although she felt ashamed and thought the neighbours would think she had gone mad ......

In the morning the people of Cahirciveen had a thousand rumours : there were strange Free State Officers at the hotel ; they had come last night ; something had happened near the Free State barracks , up at the Workhouse -- 'Irregulars' (IRA) had laid a mine - but how could the 'Irregulars' do anything there? That road was controlled by the Free Staters , night and day .

Something had happened , anyway -- Nurse Sloan was called out ....... (MORE LATER).


BACKING.......

[from'AP/RN' , 2nd April , 1998 , page 7]

....... Speaking on Tuesday , 31st March , 1998 , Caoimhghin O Caolain (PSF) stated---

--- " Any new kind of Stormont or any arrangement which copperfastens partition would not be acceptable ."

EXCLUSIVE ! We print here the conversation between Caoimhghin and the Brits following the above quote :

: Brits -- " I say , Key-o-veen , what if we set up a new kind of Stormont for you and the rest of the Micks , and then .....

COC -- " No , no , Sir - sure I could'nt sell that to the bhoys , unless.....

Brits -- .......you could claim it as a stepping-stone just like the other Mick tried to sell the last deal ."

COC -- " SOLD ! "


.......OUT --->

[from'AP/RN' , 11th September , 1997 , page 5]

<--- " Decommissioning on our part would be tantamount to surrender ." ---

--- Provisional IRA statement .

Requires no comment from me .

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

JAMES 'Skin-the-goat' FITZHARRIS - INVINCIBLE.....


.....Fitzharris was fifty years of age when he was sent to Portlaoise Prison ; he was sixty-five when he got out , and things had changed -- the Republican Movement had forgotten him ......


He had no job and no-where to live ; he knew no-one and no-one wanted to know him . His choice now was to live on the street or sign himself into the workhouse -- he chose the latter , and survived for the next twelve years as a pauper - between the gutter and the workhouse . He died in 1910 ( on 7th September ) aged seventy-seven . He was jobless , homeless and friendless when he died , alone , in the South Dublin Union Workhouse in James Street , Dublin .

James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris was twenty-five years young when he joined the Movement in 1858 and stayed true to his Republican principles for fifty-two years , until he died . He had a hard life , in hard times , but he came through it and never recanted his actions or his beliefs . A rebel never would ......

[END].



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .


CAHIRCIVEEN......


......twenty-five years young Dan Shea, anIRA Volunteer, was on his way to Correvoola : it was 1923 , a dangerous time for Irish Republicans......


" About two-hundred-and-fifty Free State soldiers were out that day from Waterville , searching the hills . It must be that someone gave them information on the road . A party of military burst into the wake-house and arrested four lads . Mike Courtney was taken , and John Sugrue and Willie Riordan and Eugene Dwyer . A friend of Dan's sat on his knee and covered him so that he was not seen , but the soldiers met somebody on the road who told them he was there . They went back , then , and arrested Dan .

The prisoners were taken to the Bahaghs Workhouse , near Cahirciveen. They were there still , a few days later , when the news came of the fight on Garrane . Mrs. Riordan had three sons in prison - Pete in Tralee , Pat in the Curragh Camp , and Willie , now in the Workhouse at Bahaghs . So many prisoners had been shot , she used to be anxious about Pat and Pete, but she thought Willie was safe enough . He was only eighteen years old .

One night , a couple of weeks after his arrest , she woke in a fit of terror ; she had dreamed something that made her shake from head to foot : she had been looking through a stained-glass window and saw the figure of an angel ; then she had seen Free State soldiers pulling a wire ....... (MORE LATER).


POLITICS .......

[from 'Ireland on Sunday',3rd May ,1998 , page 15]

....... In an interview , Sean(son of Charlie) Haughey stated --

-- " I do find it a little bit frustrating that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael people will come up to you and tell you its awful what they are doing to your father , and then go into the (Leinster House) Chamber and say something completely different . That can be difficult to understand ."

SUCH INNOCENCE ! Who would have believed that someone from that family , and with connections to that party , could be so naive ? Thanks for sharing that with us , Sean --- you have opened my eyes ! Nice guy's like you deserve my vote .....


.......AND PAY-PACKETS --->

[from'The Sunday Tribune' , 4th May , 1997 , page 3]

<--- Free State President Mary Robinson was paid £2298 punts a week ! (That would be Euro 2917 aweek,every week.)

Yeah , well .... with money like that floating around , maybe Sean Haughey should'nt be so 'innocent' .

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

JAMES 'Skin-the-Goat' FITZHARRIS - INVINCIBLE.....


......the second jarvey (cab-driver) , Michael Kavanagh, also turned informer and gave information to the British which resulted in the arrest of James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris.....


When he was first arrested , the British offered Fitzharris a deal if he , too , would turn informer , but he refused . His 'trial' actually ended with him being acquitted by the jury but the Judge then halted proceedings and ordered that he be re-arrested ; he was then charged with being an 'accomplice' in the deed , found guilty , and sentenced to life . It should be remembered that during both of his 'trials' , 'Skin-the-Goat' made a mockery of the proceedings and refused to recognise the so-called "authority" of the British to carry-out such functions in Ireland .

James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris was fifty years of age when he began his life sentence - he was sixty-five when he got out of (Portlaoise) Prison , and things had changed ; his comrades were either dead or had moved away and , to the eternal shame of the Republican Movement , it turned its back on the man .......(MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .....

CAHIRCIVEEN.


" The Shea's farmhouse stands quite alone in an untravelled valley . Dan would often come down from the hills to rest there and get a meal . Noreen , his little sister , was startled out of sleep in the early morning to see a tall man standing by her bed , covering her with his gun . "Hands up!" he shouted , "have you any diehards here ?" Noreen laughed , and went to sleep again - it was only Dan at his tricks . He and some of his comrades had come down for breakfast . It was early March (1923) and the nights were cold in the hills . Mike Courtney came in later to ask would they come to the wake at Correvoola , a quiet place in the hills . It would be safe enough , the boys thought , and they went . Dan's mother looked after him from the door . He was laughing : he never put on the rifle-strap but he laughed .

He was only twenty and those were dangerous times : the thought of death in battle , for Ireland, was , maybe , sweet to Dan , but Mrs. Shea prayed that her son might live . About two-hundred-and-fifty Free State soldiers were out that day from Waterville searching the hills ......" (MORE LATER)


AND HERE's TO YOU .......


Speaking on the 'Radio Ulster' TALKBACK programme on 28th May , 1997 , Provo Councillor Alex Maskey stated that Provisional Sinn Fein Councillors would not rule out performing the 'royalist' duties of Lord Mayor of Belfast if they were elected to the post. These duties were said to include toasting the British Queen at 'Official' dinners ; attending 'Remembrance Day' ceremonies and greeting members of the British 'Royal' family visiting Belfast !.

A 'Sterling' job , lads ....



......MRS. ROBINSON --->

[from 'The Sunday Business Post' newspaper , 31st August , 1997 , page 1].


Dunno where she is now , or what she's up to ( could still be in the job , for all I care ) but Mary Robinson (who had a handy little nixer going for herself in the Free State Presidential Palace) is on a pension of Euro 1480 , a week , every week , for the rest of her life! . And no , don't be worrying about the welfare of MR. Mary Robinson and the two young 'uns because , when Mary pops her clogs ( or steps out of her Dr. Martins or whatever the fashion is now for women !) , then the hubbie gets the pension . FOR LIFE!. Euro 1480 , a week , every week .

Keep voting out there , folks : there's lifestyles to be maintained ......

Monday, September 22, 2003

JAMES 'Skin-the-Goat' FITZHARRIS - INVINCIBLE......


.....on 6th May , 1882 , two carriage-loads of armed Invincibles left Mulbeths Bar (12 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin) and headed for the Phoenix Park : they assassinated Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke , two top British Government Officials ......


The killings were condemned by both the Establishment and the Churches , but months went by and no arrests were made . Then , in one day , twenty-six men (all members of the 'Invincibles')
were arrested and charged with the 'Phoenix Park murders' -- the men soon realised that this was no 'desperate face-saving' expedition by the British ; one of the top members of the 'Invincibles' , James Carey , had turned informer and his brother , Peter , also told the British all he knew about the group .

The other jarvey (cab-driver) Michael Kavanagh , also agreed to inform on the 'Invincibles' . Between May and December 1883 , fourteen 'Invincibles' passed through Green Street Courthouse -- eight received life sentences and six were put to death . One of those sentenced to life was James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris , who was arrested on the evidence given by the other driver , Michael Kavanagh . (MORE LATER).



THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.

WEST KERRY - PATRICK LYNCH of Moyrisk.....

.....crying over the body of her dead husband Patrick Lynch , she was threatened with being shot herself if she did'nt back off .....


" The Free Staters carried the body of Patrick Lynch in to the house and flung him down on the floor . The baby went to him and began shaking him , calling to Dada to wake up - "and she walking in his blood" . One of the young soldiers began to cry , but others were jeering the whole time . Mrs Lynch wanted them to call the neighbours - to go for a priest , but they would do nothing . " A priest for a dead man ?" , one of them said . " What is the man's name ?" , a soldier whispered to her.

" You came out to kill a man " , she said , " and you not knowing his name ?" " I was told nothing " he replied sullenly ; " I had to come. " She turned to them then , quietly : " Tis a hard thing to say , for myself and the child ," she said , " but I'd rather see him dead on the floor before me than be the man that fired that shot ."

There was a face among them that she recognised ; the man had been Patrick's Lieutenant after 1916 . He did not speak a word the whole time .


[END]


"COME IN LUDKA - YOUR DINNERS POURED OUT ....." ......

[from 'The Sunday Business Post', 18th January , 1998 , page 5].

...... When she was Free State Minister for 'Justice' , Nora Owen (Fine Gael) granted citizenship to a Ludka Kozeny , on 21st March , 1997 . She had done the same for Kozeny's husband , Viktor , in 1995 .

This was not Viktor's first time to be mentioned in the media ; he was already famous in the Czech Republic as a 'go-getter' , a successful 'can-do' business-man , who had persuaded eight-and-a-half million people to 'invest' in his 'Harvard Group Investment Fund' , promising them a ten-fold return on their money within " a year and a day " . But the "Fund" , such as it was , failed , and Viktor legged it ! He later surfaced in London's Mayfair area , where he made the headlines again - by spending £13,000 punts (Euro 16,506 , and God knows how many Czech'whatyamaycallsit' that is !) on dinner for three people at 'LA GAVROCHE' restaurant !

Incidentally , when I knew it , 'LE GAV (which was what we called it) was owned by my old buddies , the Roux brothers . Certainly won't be dining there again ......