REPUBLICAN LAW AND ORDER ; THE COURT SYSTEM 1920-1922.......



.....the Irish Republican Police , the Republican Law Courts and Legal System and the [also British-outlawed] Republican Administration were all operating successfully ; the IRA was winning the war on the military front . The British responded by recruiting mercenaries in England for use in Ireland ; the Black and Tans and The Auxiliaries .......


The 'Tan's ' consisted of unemployed (and unemployable) ex-British servicemen and convicts , who were given guns and a 'uniform' of a 'Khaki' outfit with a black RIC-type cap and belt , while the brutal and equally undisciplined actions of the other gang of rabble , the Auxiliaries , actually led to its Commanding Officer in Ireland , a Brigadier F. P. Crozier , resigning in protest at their conduct in this country !

Both groups of thugs were in Ireland between 1920 and 1922 ; more than seven-thousand Black and Tans and approximately one-thousand-five-hundred Auxiliaries . The Republican Police faced a new enemy - gun-battles were now more common between the IRA and the Tans....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......


".......my uncle explained to the lecturer from IRA Brigade H Q that we were aware of lead coffins in the local churchyard and were prepared to use same in our war effort ....... "


" "But," my uncle added , " it is neither fear of ghosts nor fairies , or superstition , which keeps us away , but respect for the dead ." The lecturer made no further comment . He walked to the door and , opening it , looked out at the night . " It is a fine night with a full moon ," he said . He turned back to the room and , looking straight at my uncle , said , meaningly , - " There is no time like the present . "

It was a challenge to Dan, who got to his feet , and said : " It is indeed the witching hour . Get a few tools , lads , a spade or two and a shovel . I suppose we would want a bar or a pick also , and yes , bedammed , a sledge . " Most of the tools were found in the car-house underneath the meeting room . Soon seven of us were on our way to the churchyard at the other end of the village . The rest of the Company had been sent home , but, before going , had nearly all volunteered to stay and help .

As it was so late there were no lights in the houses as we passed through the village . The moon shone with full brilliance . We passed silently through the small side gate of the graveyard , and were soon among the shadows cast by the rugged elms ......." (MORE LATER).




AMERICA , ARROGANCE AND ALLENDE ---->

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 24th August , 1986 , page 11]


<---- " I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people . "

--- the chilling words of Henry Kissinger , in relation to Chile , and Salvador Allende in particular .

In 1964 , four million dollars was a huge amount of money ; that was the year , and that was the amount , that the CIA spent in securing the election of the 'Christian Democrats' in Chile . However , six years later , it looked like a change of leadership was on the way -- the socialist , Salvador Allende was ahead in the polls , prompting the above-mentioned quote from Henry Kissinger .

American interests in Chile were worried , as was the CIA ; two US multi-national firms , I T T and Anaconda Copper offered the CIA $1,500,000 to stop Allende - the CIA told them to start an " anti-Allende " campaign themselves with that money , as the Agency had its own 'war-chest' .

However , US money and propaganda against him or not , on 4th September 1970 , Salvador Allende won the election ; his victory was to be verified by the Chilean Congress on 24th October 1970 - the CIA upped their campaign . They tried to bribe the Chilean Congress with $250,000 , but failed ; they knew that the head of the Chilean Armed Forces , a General Rene Schneider , would not support " unconstitutional " means to remove Salvador Allende from the scene , so the CIA supplied the guns , which were sent to Chile in a diplomatic bag - and Schneider himself was removed from the scene !

Three years later , and after spending $8 million dollars , the CIA were successful - Allende and thousands of his supporters were tortured and killed and a (U S friendly) military junta was installed in Chile . Salvador Allende is gone but , to this writers mind , U S arrogance is alive and well . It's too late now for George Bush Junior , but perhaps future Office holders will take heed of the words of American poet , Maya Angelou --


" History , despite its wrenching pain
Cannot be unlived ,
But , if faced with courage
need not be lived again . "

NOTE -

The lay-out of this site has been changed - ie the introduction , links , guestbook , stat-counters etc have been placed at the bottom of the site by person(s) unknown to the site administrator and operating elsewhere . Copy (text/graphic) may be published on this site in the near future from the above-mentioned source . I am attempting to remedy the situation before that happens . Watch this space.......

---

REPUBLICAN LAW AND ORDER ; THE COURT SYSTEM 1920-1922.......



.......depending on the severity of the crime , the Republican Police would exile the offender on a small , uninhabited island to serve their sentence .......



Not all offenders were banished for a few months to 'rough-it' on a deserted lump of clay in the Atlantic Ocean ; depending on the circumstances , the offender could be instructed to return the stolen money or items plus ordered to pay the victim back twice the value of said items .

Another method employed was to physically remove the perpetrator from the county where the crime took place , under instruction that he/she not return or , again depending on the situation , the offender might only be tasked to repair the property damage caused by his/her action . The Republican Administration had secured the allegiance of practically all the local councils since the elections (1918 and 1920) and the law courts , legal system and police force operated by the Irish Republican Administration had now virtually supplanted those of the Crown ; the IRA was also winning its guerrilla war .

The British Government opened the floodgates ; mercenaries were recruited in England for two groups to be dispatched to Ireland to " return control " to Westminster - the 'Black and Tans' and The Auxiliaries....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......



".......the IRA Brigade HQ lecturer was told by my uncle that our Company had an abundance of lead ; he wanted to know more , so my uncle told him that it was being kept in safe-keeping by " the rude forefathers of the hamlet ......." "


" We laughed . We knew my uncle was planning to strip the lead from the roofs of the 'Big Houses' in our district . " I don't see the joke , " said the lecturer . " Well , I'll tell you , " said my uncle . " Over in the churchyard is a tomb with lead coffins in it . That is the reserve I was referring to . " " I see , " said our lecturer , and paused for a while . He spoke again - " I think you ought to get that lead , " he said .

" I would not think so at all , " said my uncle , and added - " We do not want it at present , and very likely may never want it . In the meantime , it is safer where it is . Where could you get a safer hiding place for anything ? Besides , we have no ambition to emulate Jerry Cruncher , the body-snatcher in the 'Tale of Two Cities' , until it is absolutely necessary . " " I always heard , " said the lecturer , " that country people were very superstitious , and afraid of ghosts and fairies . " My uncle laughed .

" There are not many in this room , " he said , " who would baulk at going at midnight to the churchyard , and even at visiting the 'Old Captain' . " The 'Old Captain' was one of those of the landlord class who rested in the vault . Indeed , it was known as " the Captain's Tomb ." (MORE LATER).




NOT RONNIE , NANCY , OR THE ASTROLOGER : part three of three .......

[from ' MAGILL ' magazine , May 1989 , page 37]

GUESS WHO.......?

(Answer at bottom of column ...)


" And you know , you look at the amount of people recommitting crimes with a gun - I looked up the gun registration , which I oppose . I went down - I told you or you heard me say this ; bet I had the guy doing up a file today . "

--- Clarifying his position on gun control during the 1988 Presidential Campaign .



" ...make sure that anybody who has a job wants a job . "

--- Announcing the top goal of his Presidency .



" I kind of think I'm a scintillating kind of a fellow . I think I'm a charismatic son of a gun . "

--- Speaking to reporters in May 1988 .



" Yeah , I think there's some social changes going on ...AID , for example , uh , is a , is a , uh , disease for , disease of poverty in a sense . It's where the hopelessness is . It's bigger than that of course . "

--- In answer to the question of why people use drugs .


And the spokesperson -? None other than George Bush (Senior)!

And if he did indeed " have sex " with Ronnie Reagan , then he has definately caught something - and I don't think its "AID" .......!!

---

REPUBLICAN LAW AND ORDER ; THE COURT SYSTEM 1920-1922.......


.......the Republican Police provided security for the Republican Courts , as well as more mundane matters - pub opening and closing times , house-robberies , street patrols etc . They were accepted by the vast majority of the population .......


At that time (ie 1920) the writ of the newly-established Republican Police Force encompassed twenty-one of the thirty-two counties on the island , and newspaper reports stated that more than eighty arrests , by the Republican Police , had taken place during the months of May and June that year .

However , due to the presence of the British forces of occupation , the Republican Police had no jails or prisons in which to confine offenders ; also , the British Police (RIC) were continually attempting to shoot or arrest members of the Republican Police and release those arrested by same back into the community which they had offended against .

A partial solution was found in that some of those convicted of crimes against the community were exiled to small , unpopulated and , in today's terms , 'non-user friendly' islands off the West Coast of Ireland .......! (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......


".......the lecturer from IRA Brigade HQ advised us to acquire as much lead as we could to make our own bullets . We knew what my uncle was thinking - the roofs of the 'Big Houses' in our district would soon be made fit into the barrel of a gun ......."


" The lecturer continued , with the emphasis on the lead . At last my uncle again interrupted to remark that we had an abundance of lead , that with us it was a redundant commodity , while every other material was in short supply . The lecturer retaliated by saying : " You could not have enough lead . "

Here my uncle smiled , as his great sense of humour asserted itself . " We have plenty of it , " he repeated , and after a pause he added in an undertone - " We have a reserve supply as well . " The lecturer heard all and eagerly asked - " A reserve supply ; where is it ? " Here we craned our necks to study more carefully the expressions on both men's faces . We guessed my uncle had something in mind which would make us laugh at any rate . He feigned reluctance to answer , then , at length , said : " Ah well , it is in safe keeping . "

Then came the query - " In safe keeping ! What kind of people are minding it ? " " Oh , quite inoffensive people , " answered my uncle . " Who are they ? , " asked the lecturer . " The rude forefathers of the hamlet , " was the reply . A roar of laughter followed . Most of the Volunteers knew or guessed what he meant . Gray's 'Elegy' some had read in their schoolbooks , while others had heard my uncle recite it ....... " (MORE LATER).



NOT RONNIE , NANCY , OR THE ASTROLOGER : part two of three .......

[from ' MAGILL ' magazine , May 1989 , page 37]

GUESS WHO.......?

(Answer after Part 3 ...)



" For seven and a half years I have worked alongside him (Ronald Reagan) and I am proud to be his partner . We have had triumphs , we have made our mistakes , we have had sex...."

--- Describing his relationship with the then President during a U S Republican rally in May 1988 .



" I'd like to see us open up the Alaska refuge and this is important , because it was said once , remember when they built the pipeline , 'don't build the pipeline , you get rid of the caribou ' . The caribou love it . They rub up against it . There are more caribou in Alaska than you can shake a stick at ! "

--- Discussing the Alaska pipeline at a GOP dinner in New Hampshire in February 1988 .



" I was shot down and I was floating around in a little yellow raft setting a record for paddling . I thought of my family , my mom and dad and the strength I got from them . I thought of my faith , the separation of church and state . "

--- Relating his experiences and thoughts as a fighter pilot in ' World War Two' when he was shot down over Japanese waters - during a speech in Iowa in December 1987 .



" You judge on the record . How does it look in a programme he called 'phony' or one of those marvellous Boston adjectives up there about Angola ? "

--- Attacking his opponent , Dukakis , during the first Presidential Debate , 25th September , 1988 .


(Answer after part 3....)

---

REPUBLICAN LAW AND ORDER ; THE COURT SYSTEM 1920-1922.......


.......the Irish Rebels had established their own Court system and Police Force ; the imposed British system and the RIC were under constant attack from the IRA .......


House-robberies , muggings , fights , land disputes etc - the RIC ignored the criminals ; in any event , the population were reluctant to involve the RIC in such issues as , for the most part , they recognised the 'police' as another arm of British oppression .

The Republican Police wore no uniform and received no wage ; they were IRA Volunteers and were motivated not by money , pension or career , but by a sense of duty . The British Administration were aware of the inherent 'danger' , as they viewed it , of such a system taking root , in that it would further undermine their 'authority' throughout the island .

And it did -- as well as policing the streets , the Republican Police provided security at each sitting of the Republican Courts and were an integral part of the Republican justice system - ensuring that , for example , respectable hours were kept for pub opening and closing times ( to the extent that illicit stills were closed down !) , burglars and thieves were located and arrested , and street-drunkenness , rows and riots were curtailed .

Their influence was by now well established and they were accepted by the majority of the population ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......


".......a Company meeting was held in Den Buckley's barn loft , at which an Organiser from Brigade H Q was present ......."


" Our lecturer dwelt at length on the importance of acquiring arms . This irritated my uncle who was patient only up to a certain point . He interrupted to state that damn well we all realised that , and that having tried all sources , we had come to the conclusion that the only way to get them was to take them from the enemy .

Permission to take them was all we wanted . The lecturer explained that he himself had no say in the granting of such permission . In the meantime , every effort should be made to augment our supplies of shotgun ammunition . Cartridges should be loaded with slugs , and , of course, to make slugs , lead was necessary . Lead should be acquired by any and every means . Here there were hardly suppressed smiles as the lecturer's eyes ranged along the class .

The ways and means for providing lead in our district were indeed varied , and unscrupulous if judged by peacetime standards . Peace reigned in the land , according to our oppressors , or ought to reign , according to the supporters of our oppressors . These partisans we made pay a heavy toll ; unwillingly , they supplied us with lead , even from the roof valley-gutters of their unoccupied mansions ......." (MORE LATER).



NOT RONNIE , NANCY , OR THE ASTROLOGER : part one of three .......

[from ' MAGILL ' magazine , May 1989 , page 37]

GUESS WHO.......?

(Answer after Part 3 ...)



" Boy , they were big on crematoriums , were'nt they ? "

--- Comment during his tour of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz on 28th September , 1987 .


" Comme ci , comme ca...."

--- Said while he was talking to a nine-years-young Hispanic student at a Harlem school .


" When I'm the Education President , you'll be able to send your college to children . "

--- His promise during the 1988 Presidential campaign .



" It's no exaggeration to say , the undecideds could go one way or another . "

--- Again , during the 1988 campaign .



" Tell me , General - how dead is the Dead Sea ? "

--- His question to a Jordanian Army General .


Part 2 tomorrow .......

---

REPUBLICAN LAW AND ORDER ; THE COURT SYSTEM 1920-1922.......



....... Ireland 1919 - with the British occupation of Ireland came Britsh 'law and order' . Irish Republicans had won a major victory in the 1918 elections and had established a Republican Administration - now was the time to implement an Irish legal system .......


By the middle of 1920 , the 'Republican Courts' were up and running - if the issue could not be resolved at a local level in the Parish Court it was moved for re-hearing at the District Court ; a High Court and Supreme Court were also operational . Around the same time (ie between April and June 1920) the Ministry for Home Affairs established the means by which the decree of the Republican Courts could be enforced - a Republican Police Force .

The members of the British Police Force in Ireland , the 'Royal Irish Constabulary' (RIC) were under daily attack from the IRA at the time , and had concentrated their efforts , literally , into just staying alive - they no longer had the time or interest to deal with 'street-crime' ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......


".......we had only two .38 revolvers with which to arm our Company . One day , I met my uncle on the road and went over to him - he presented me with a .45 police revolver , which was worth more to me than all the riches of the world ......."


" It seems he had helped a neighbour in some way , and this man , whom we all knew but never suspected of keeping a gun , went home without a word and returned with this fine weapon . He well knew what would most please my uncle .

One fine evening in early summer , the Company was assembled by special notice . The time was late , about half-past nine , and the place of assembly was Den Buckley's barn loft , in the village . Two oil-gas lamps gave us light . Presently our Captain entered , accompanied by a stranger . The newcomer was evidently a city man . My brother called us to attention and introduced him .

He was an Organiser from Brigade H Q . First he spoke in Irish , then continued in English . Having dealt generally with routine work , drilling etc , he concentrated on armaments . When the address assumed the character of a lecture , my brother directed us to fall out and be seated . We made ourselves comfortable on bags of grain along the wall , and some, seating themselves on the floor , reclined luxuriously against the sides of the bags . Thus fortified , we listened......." (MORE LATER).



NANCY , THE VENTRILOQUIST , AND THE DUMMY ---->

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 15th May , 1988 , page 8]


<---- At a press conference in 1984 , Charles Bierbauer of CNN asked President Ronald Reagan how he was going to get the Russians back to the negotiating table at Geneva .

Ronnie was standing behind the speakers lectern , with Nancy by his side . The hall was packed when Bierbauer asked the question ; Ronnie looked at the CNN man , but said nothing . Ten seconds passed - Ronnie said nothing ; everyone feeling uncomfortable by now .

Still silence from Mr. President . Then Nancy tilted her head down , as if looking at her shoes ; then a murmer - " Doing everything we can " , she whispered , but loud enough for Ronnie to hear and , unfortunately for her , loud enough for the microphones on the lectern to broadcast her whisper to the wall-speakers !

The man himself , apparently , failed to grasp the fact that the game was up : he smiled at the CNN man and the other journalists and leaned into the microphones and said , loudly - " Doing everything we can ! "

And all without having to make a 'phone-call .......

---

REPUBLICAN LAW AND ORDER ; THE COURT SYSTEM 1920-1922.



In mid-1919 in Ireland , Arthur Griffith was the Head of the Ministry for Home Affairs in the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann and had established a 'Courts System' to settle disputes on the island .

Not to have set-up such a system was unthinkable , as the British system of 'justice' and their courts apparatus was still in operation in the country and could not be availed of , or recommended for use , by the Republican Administration as the British claim of jurisdiction in Ireland was itself being challenged by those same Irish Republicans .

Within twelve months , the Republican Courts , as they became known , were up and running ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......


".......we had no option except to make our own munitions , which we 'field-tested' beside my uncle's house- he watched proceedings with interest......."


" " Well , Dan , what do you think of them ? ", someone asked . " Well bedammed , they may have some moral effect , " he answered .

Another waste of time and energy was the manufacture of the shotgun bayonet . We got a pattern , complete with clip , and were directed to make some dozens . We made them . They never did any harm to the enemy , but they nearly killed some of us who were engaged in their manufacture . Some day soon , they will be found at the bottom of a bog-hole and will be classified by archaeologists as Spears , Early Iron , Offset Socket .......

At this time , we had not a single service rifle in our Company . Neither had we pistols nor revolvers . One evening , my brother , Pat , returning from Cork city , brought with him two new .38 revolvers . Unanimously , one was presented to my uncle , while my brother , now our Company Captain , got the other . My uncle must have correctly interpreted my thoughts , as I examined his revolver , for he directed me to erect a target , and we had a few shots .

A short time afterwards I met him on the road . He put his hand in his coat pocket and drew forth a .45 police revolver which he handed to me . If , instead , he had handed me the riches of the world , they would not have been more welcome ........" (MORE LATER).



HONESTY IS .......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' , 20th July , 1997 , page 16]


The then Archbishop of Dublin , Richard Whately , wrote the phase - " Honesty is the best policy , but he who is governed by this maxim is not an honest man . "

Where , then , one wonders, would that leave Clive of India who , when summoned to present himself before a British 'House of Commons' committee in 1772 , accused of pillage , responded --

-- " When I consider the opportunities that were open to me , Sir , I stand astonished at my own moderation . " !!



.......NOT ENOUGH ---->

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' , 13th july , 1997 , page 8]


<---- Margaret Griffin , once Governor of Georgia(USA), stated-- " The only thing tainted about money is t'aint mine and t'aint enough ! "


Or , as Oscar Wilde put it -- " There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich , and that is the poor . The poor can think of nothing else . That is the misery of being poor . "

---

A REBEL PRIEST - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 .......


.......on 7th June , 1798 , Fr. James O'Coigly was removed from his cell in Maidstone Jail in Kent , England , and taken to Pennenden Heath to be executed .......



.......he was placed on the gallows and gave his last speech , which was a firm confirmation of his Irish Republican ideals which contained no apology ; there was no attempt to bargain the information he held , for his life . The British hung him and then beheaded him , and callously burnt his remains at the foot of the gallows .


Through misty eyes I see my land
and hunger for her future grand ,
What greater hunger can there be
I hunger still, to see her free .


Fr. James O'Coigly , and hundreds more men and women like him , are not spoke about today , save in some Irish Republican circles ; you would be hard-pressed to find a reference or , indeed , even a mention of their names , in history books .

They are the forgotten heroes and warriors of their time , and ours . But not everyone will forget them.......


[END].



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .......


".......we had to fashion our own weapons - tins were used , as were pig troughs......."


" .......cast iron pots , with any suggestion of a crack , were helped by the hammer to their final dissolution . A like fate overtook the ancient kettle .

This was our method of grenade making : A layer of viscous concrete was first poured into a tin . Then followed a judicious arrangement of scrap . Another layer of concrete , then more scrap , and so on . A wooden core , to provide space for the explosive , and the tin was put aside to set . When required , the explosive was inserted with its detonator and a suitable length of fuse .

Having made a large number of these things , we were anxious to test them . The testing ground was a field next to my uncle's house - we arranged targets standing around , to intercept the shrapnel . From the fence we threw our grenades , and then stooped in its shelter . After each explosion we inspected the targets . We tried all our types of grenade and bombs . My uncle had been a keen observer at the tests ......." (MORE LATER).



GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER.......

[from ' SAOIRSE ' , February 1988 , page 1]


....... Tomas MacCurtain , Lord Mayor of Cork , was murdered in his own home by British agents on the 20th March , 1920 ; on the 18th April 1920 , the Inquest Jury returned the following verdict ---


--- " We find.....that the murder was organised and carried out by the British Government and we return a verdict of wilful murder against David Lloyd George , Prime Minister of England ; Lord French , Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ; Ian MacPherson , late Chief Secretary of Ireland ; Acting Inspector General Smith of the RIC ; Divisional Inspector Clayton of the RIC ; District Inspector Swanzy and some unknown members of the RIC . "

That Jury verdict was never , as far as I am aware , officially overturned or , unfortunately , enforced in full .* However , it remains a matter of record that a properly constituted Irish Jury found a British Prime Minister guilty of " wilful murder " -- 'statute of limitations' or no , that verdict still stands.......


(* - RIC Inspector Swanzy was immediately transferred to an RIC Barracks in County Antrim for his own safety - on Sunday , 22nd August , 1920 , he was shot dead in Lisburn , County Antrim .).

---

A REBEL PRIEST - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 .......


....... Fr. James O'Coigly was in Maidstone Jail in Kent , England , awaiting execution . He asked his jailers to send in a priest to hear his last confession - the Brits tried to use this request to their own advantage .......


His jailers sent in a ' Castle-Catholic' priest , loyal to the British Crown , and instructed him to refuse the last sacraments to Fr. O'Coigly unless the Rebel priest would give details concerning the United Irishmen organisation in Ireland ; the visiting priest went away empty-handed , with no sacraments dispensed .

Pennenden Heath , about a ten-minute walk from Maidstone Jail in Kent , was the designated place of execution ; on 7th June , 1798 , two-hundred British soldiers assembled outside Maidstone Jail , and Fr. James O'Coigly was brought out and placed in a horse-drawn cart . The procession headed-off towards the Heath and , once there , the priest was placed on the gallows ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1917-- A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION .


" The efforts to obtain armaments of any kind at this period were truly remarkable . Money to buy them could be obtained somehow , but there was no market which sold them . Very small quantities , and small material only , could be smuggled in from abroad . The arms in the hands of the enemy provided the only source of supply . Our own authorities prohibited us and kept prohibiting us from trying to capture these .

This prohibition would last for a long time yet . We were therefore invited to make our own war material . We already knew how to make slugs , or buckshot , for shotgun cartridges . We possessed , or made , small machines for loading and capping cartridges . We could even make the powder for them . But the bombs and grenades which we were directed to make proved to be entirely a waste of time . We set to work to make them in all shapes and sizes .

From then on a housewife had no worry about the disposal of empty treacle tins - they disappeared . Neither had the farmer any broken or unsightly pig troughs to encumber his haggard ......." (MORE LATER).



FEET TO THE FIRE , ARSE TO THE WALL .......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' , newspaper , 24th August , 1986 , page 11]


" I think its time we held Sukarno's feet to the fire . "

--- the words of CIA Deputy Director of Operations (in 1957) , a Mr. Frank Wisner . 'Frankie the Feet' was talking about President Sukarno of Indonesia whom the CIA viewed as " too soft on communism . "

Sukarno had a weakness which the CIA exploited to discredit him - he was sex mad ! When he was in Egypt in 1958 , he 'phoned President Nasser from the telephone in his hotel room (which the CIA had bugged) and told Nasser - " I have three gorgeous Pan American stewardesses here with me and they'd like to have a party ! " Nasser said no , and hung up .

But the CIA did'nt hang up - they made a porno movie using a Sukarno 'double' doing the business with a supposed Soviet female blonde spy ; the movie was made in Los Angeles , and the CIA gave it a title - 'Happy Days' ! CIA Agents approched Sukarno with a few copies of 'his' video and a suitcase stuffed with cash , and suggested that he might want to move away from supporting " his lefty buddies ......."

Sukarno took the cash , the videos , and the advice - and the CIA left him alone !


Sex , lies and videotape - sure ya could nearly make a movie outta that .......

---

A REBEL PRIEST - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 .......


.......having arrested Fr. James O'Coigly and his four comrades , the British found a letter on the priest for the new French Administration - it was from ' The United Britons' , a Jacobin Society in England , and it called for French help to overthrow the English Parliament . All concerned were charged with " High Treason ".......


On 21st May 1798 , a 'trial' was held at Maidstone , Kent , in England , with all eyes fixed firmly on the 'ring-leader' , Fr. James O'Coigly , who apparently refused to even recognise the 'court' , never mind enter a defence against the charge . His four United Irishmen colleagues (including Arthur O'Connor , a leader of the Rebels in Leinster) defended their case as best they could and , to the surprise of all , were acquitted - the British had presumably concentrated their efforts on securing a conviction against what they perceived as their biggest threat - Fr. James O'Coigly .

During his seventeen days in prison , waiting for execution , Fr. O'Coigly requested , and received , permission for a Catholic Priest to visit him in his cell to hear his last confession ; however , the Brits even tried to use this 'act of compassion' to their own advantage .......(MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......the play 'Handy Andy' did not take to the stage that evening - indeed , the players had to be escorted by the RIC back to their hotel , as the crowd were hostile to them ......."


" The four of us repaired to the other hotel , where we had tea . We sat by the fire talking to a group of friends for some time , then we started on our homeward walk . It was a fine, calm , frosty night . We had nearly reached Poul na Bro , about a mile from Ballyvourney , when we heard a car behind us .

Hastily assembling some dumps of 'ammunition' in the dykes at both sides of the road , we waited . They came , and as their lights fell on us , they gave a defiant yell at the country yokels who did not appreciate their genius . A feu-de-joie rattling on their enamel , warned them that they were still in hostile territory . With increasing speed they vanished from our sight .

We stopped on Poul na Bro bridge , over the River Sullane , while Dan Harrington lit his pipe . By the light of the match I could see his face . It wore a happy smile . He spoke -

" Well , bedamned boys , 'Handy Andy' could hardly be described as a huge success , you know . " "


[END OF '1916 AND AFTER'].


IF YA COULD SEE.......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 15th May , 1988 , page 8]


At a press conference in 1983 , journalist Sam Donaldson of ABC Television had put President Ronald Reagan on the spot over an issue . Ronnie's then Press Secretary , a Mr. Larry Speakes , yelled " LIGHTS ! " and , one second later , someone pulled a plug or threw a switch - and the room went dark !

END OF PRESS CONFERENCE.......

How can I work a comment in that the lights may be on but theres no-one home .......?



.......YOUR WAY ---->

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 24th August , 1986 , page 11]


<---- In Buraimi Oasis , in Oman , during the 1950's , the CIA offered British oil companies a $90 Million bribe to pull-out lock , stock and barrel (pun!) from the country ; the Americans wanted their own oil company , ' ARAMCO ' , to be the top dog in the region .

The Brits refused the bribe , but the CIA kept pushing , so the British took a court-case over the issue , which ended up in the International Court in Geneva ; once there , the CIA tried to bribe the Court Officials to find in their favour ! They failed again .......


RONNIE - " The damn Brits won't move , honey ! "

NANCY - " Hold on , Ron - ah'll jus' make me a phone-call... "

---

NOLLAIG SHONA AGUS.......

A REBEL PRIEST - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 .......


.......in February 1798 , Fr. James O' Coigly and four other members of the United Irishmen were on a final visit to France to confirm French military involvement in Ireland - but all five were arrested by the British at Margate in England .........


The five Rebels were thrown into the infamous Tower of London prison .

In preparation for the coming fight in Ireland , both the French and the Irish Rebels had located a group in England willing to help - a Jacobin organisation called the 'Secret Committee of England' (also known as 'The United Britons'), which was attempting to organise the overthrow of the Westminster Parliament .

When the British searched Fr. O'Coigly , they found a letter from The United Britons addressed to the French Revolutionary Government calling for an invasion of England : this letter alone gave the British a reason to charge all concerned with " High Treason "....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......the iron roof of the hall was being pounded by rocks thrown by the crowd . One of those inside came out looking for a fight - he was one of those who offered to defend the RIC Barracks in Macroom on the night of my uncle's arrest ......."


" I groped on the ground for some missile . I was so tightly restricted by the crowd that I could find nothing . He retired again behind the closed door . It was then I realised too late that I held a stick in my right hand . I promised myself that I would not forget again .

The RIC now endeavoured to clear the crowd from the front . They started moving them slowly down the lane . A civilian appeared from nowhere helping them to push individuals here and there . I concluded that he must be one of the players coming again to the assistance of the RIC . I waited . Presently he approached , pushing people near me .

The RIC had stopped , but he continued energetically . I reached my right arm across a couple of my neighbours and the stirabout stick rapped sharply on his head . The RIC made an industrious movement forward but saw only a small ripple in the crowd as I disappeared . The bombardment continued and soon the garrison surrendered . As they came out , the crowd voiced its disapproval .

The RIC shepherded them practically unscathed through the crowd , save for a few shrewd cuffs and toes hastily administered . They sought the solace of their hotel ......." (MORE LATER).



CAT JUMPERS.......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 24th August , 1986 , page 11]


" We will never have universal peace until the strongest army and the strongest navy are in the hands of the most powerful nation . "


--- the oft-repeated motto of the then US Secretary of Defence , James Forrestal , who introduced ' Directive NSC 4a ' in December 1947 .

This allowed for "encouraging" a certain outcome in foreign elections ie the then CIA pumped millions of dollars into the election campaign of the Christian Democrats in Italy , hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in Greece and Turkey to obtain a " US friendly outcome " , and China and the Philippines had their 'guerrilla movements/terrorist organisations' either supported or suppressed , depending on the interests of the United States .

However , perhaps less well known was the involvement of the CIA under James Forrestal in 'Project MK Ultra' , from which came 'Project Bluebird' and 'Project Artichoke' - experiments with mind-bending drugs ; in 1953 , a substance containing LSD was added to bottles of Cointreau water which were consumed by scientists meeting in the Appalachians to discuss their work . One of them reportedly went hyper and jumped to his death from a tenth-floor window !

The CIA also attempted to turn house-hold pets into guided microphones and/or bombs !-- a cat was operated on ; it was 'opened-up' and a microphone was built-in to its stomach , then its tail was wired-up to same as the ariel ! The unfortunate animal was placed on a city street to be "field-tested" and was promptly run over by a taxi !

Taxi Driver -- " Oops ! Bleedin' cat . Better get it to the vet . "

Passenger -- " The vet ? No need. I'm a scientist . Lets take it to my tenth-floor office ......."

.......BEANNACHTAI NA FEILE .

---

A REBEL PRIEST - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 .......



.......born in County Armagh in 1762 and sent to The Irish College in Paris , a young trainee priest , Fr. James O'Coigly , witnessed the beginning of the French Revolution . In 1789 , at 27 years young , he returned to Ireland and , two years later (ie 1791) joined the new ' Society of United Irishmen '.......



As a leading member of the Society's 'Ulster Directory', a dedicated Republican and with experience of , and contacts in , France , he was put in charge of a small group of United Irishmen which was sent to France in the mid-1790's to convince the Revolutionary Government that it should physically assist the Irish in their endeavours to force a British withdrawal from Ireland .

Fr. O'Coigly and his team of four other Irish Rebels made the journey to France a number of times in the mid-to-late 1790's and were successful in convincing the French Administration that the Irish fight was worthy of support . In setting-out for what was to be their final visit to France , in February 1798 , to confirm dates etc for the French military action , the five Irish Rebels were arrested at Margate in England....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......the crowd refused to go in to see the play . The two RIC men knew something was wrong . One of Mikeen Buckley's men volunteered to pay in and see what was happening inside ......."


" He got in all right . Indeed I think he need not have spent the bad sixpence . Afterwards he told us of the financial side . " Six-and-six , they got , " he said , " and that included my good money . " Presently a spokesman appeared on the doorstep . He made an appeal to the good taste of the people of Ballyvourney . They had come to show them first-class drama , indeed they should be glad to have this opportunity .......

The hall was made entirely of iron . The first rock falling on the roof sounded like the crack of doom . It was the first of an avalanche . The front door was closed . The RIC men approached Mikeen Buckley and his men - the 'boys' retired into the shadows , and the RIC then infiltrated into the "masses" in front . The bombardment continued . Suddenly the door opened and out rushed a big man . With the bluster of a bully he challenged the best man in Ballyvourney to fight him . No one moved , but some laughed .

I recognised him as one of those who had offered to defend the barracks in Macroom on the night of my uncle's arrest ......." (MORE LATER).




......not finished yet with REAGANISMS.......


[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 15th May , 1988 , page 8]


DIVISIONS IN RONNIE's HEAD ---->


<---- Ronnie Reagan's Budget Director , a Mr David Stockman , organised a number of meetings at which the bould Ronnie was present , along with the various 'Heads of Departments' , Secretarys etc .

The Stockman fella was apparently an awful man for t'oul cutbacks , and argued for same at the meetings - some of those in attendance agreed with the proposed cutbacks , while others called for increases in expenditure . Stockman talked later of how Reagan would sit there , taking notes , looking at and , apparently , listening to the finer points of the pro-cuts and anti-cuts speakers .

Until one day Mr President left his notes behind.......


Mr Stockman , obviously curious as to which way the Boss was thinking re cutbacks or increases in the finances , sneaked a peep ....... and discovered that Ronnie was simply writing down the highest and lowest per-centage figures mentioned by those at the meeting (ie "increase by 9 per-cent" : "decrease by 5 per-cent" etc) , adding those two figures together (ie 14) and dividing by two !

Ronnie would then announce an increase or decrease of 7 per-cent , depending on which side had been most vocal at the meeting ! He would have been rightly stuck if he went deaf .......

RONNIE - " Nancy , ah done the sums , and divided bah two , but do ah make this one an increase or a decrease ? "

NANCY - " Hold on , dear - ah'll jus' make me a phonecall ......."

---

A REBEL PRIEST - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 .



A child born in County Armagh in 1762 grew up to become a priest in the Catholic Church ; as part of his training in the priesthood he was sent to the Irish College in Paris , where he was witness to the beginning of the French Revolution - that young man , James O'Coigly , returned to Ireland at twenty-seven years of age , in 1789 , a changed man .......

A rebellious spirit was gathering momentum in Ireland at that time and , in October 1791 , the ' Society of United Irishmen ' was formed - Fr. James O'Coigly joined the new organisation and was known as one of the Society's Organisers in his native Armagh ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......hundreds of people were outside the hotel in Ballyvourney , waiting to see the play ; we were there to disrupt proceedings . Two RIC men were on duty ......."



" People were still coming , and each of us held a position to intercept them . To the right of the entrance door and just in the shadow I saw Mikeen Buckley with a dozen of his " boys . " They appeared to be in a pensive mood like real connoisseurs of the drama .

The players had entered the hall a long time since . It was already past the hour advertised for the start of the play . Then someone announced from the entrance door that all was ready . A placard had told us already that the admission fee was one shilling for front seats , and sixpence for the rear . No one stirred in the crowd . The RIC men got uneasy - they moved about as if trying to fathom the mystery .

I would have given a good deal to see both the body of the hall and the stage at the time . One of Mikeen's men came to my side . " I have a bad sixpence here , " he said , " and I'll never again get the opportunity of spending it . Would it be all right to go in ? I'll find out what's happening inside . " " Go ahead , " I said . " (MORE LATER).




and yet again....... ANOTHER REAGANISM.......---->

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 15th May , 1988 , page 8]


' CUT ME DOWN BEFORE I KILL AGAIN . '

--- the above slogan , no doubt printed on eco-friendly cardboard , was tied to thousands of trees in America in early 1979 , in the run-up to the American Presidential election . And the reason .......?

.......While out on the hustlings and the rubber-chicken circuit looking for the top job , the bould Ronnie Reagan gave a radio interview in which he attacked the enemies of his buddies in Industry ; he declared that the United States Environmental Protection Agency had recently suppressed a report which , he said , " reveals that eighty per-cent of air pollution comes , not from chimneys and auto exhausts , but from plants and trees . " !

Apparently , someone on Ronnie's campaign staff had told him , correctly , that plants and trees emit nitrous oxide as they consume oxygen ; the Pres-to-be confused the emission's from plant-life with nitrogen dioxide , a polluter , and then (completely out of the blue) formed the notion that the country's Environmental Protection Agency was involved in a conspiracy against American Industry !


' KILLER PLANTS ' - .......was'nt that the name of an old 'B-movie' , starring that chap ,...oh , what's his name now , its on the tongue of me tip ......

---

STORMONT 'talking-shop' ; not a new failure -
Belfast May 1998 -- Dublin July 1917........


.......the 1917 'Irish Convention' , established and funded by the British , was a disaster from the start - Sinn Fein and the Labour Party boycotted it and those that took their seats did so for 'PR' and financial reasons only ; it was doomed to failure .......



On 8th April , 1918 , a mere ten months after its fanfare of a birth , it spluttered to an end !

Less then half of its one-hundred-and-five members bothered to 'sign-off' on the Conventions final report which , ironically , actually recommended to its parent body , Westminster , that Ireland should have self-government ! That last report also warned against extending military conscription to Ireland - the creation had turned on its master !

Indeed , on a public relations tour of America to promote the faltering Convention , a British Minister , 'Lord' Birkinhead , inadvertently let it slip that the body would continue to sit until such time as America had decided to enter the war in Europe - in other words , when American eyes looked elsewhere , the Convention would shut up shop !


The Brits practically admitted that the talking-shop was simply a diversion (similiar to today's Stormont Assembly-- an institution established to give the gullible the impression of 'movement'). The ploy worked in 1917 , and it worked again in 1998 ; but , as always , there are those who refuse to be purchased , fooled or intimidated .


[END].



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......on our way to upset the Macroom Dramatic Company , the four of us met up with Mikeen Buckley , a wild man , ex-British Army , who helped the I R A on occasion......."



" " We are going to Ballyvourney , Mike , to see that play , " said my uncle with a roguish smile . " I was thinking of going there myself , but I must tell some of the boys , " said Mike . We knew the "boys" . They were all about Mike's own calibre . No harm in them really . They would go to a wedding as strawboys , or stand at the village cross at night , until all hours , singing songs .

Indeed , one of the four of us now going northwards to Ballyvourney had been one of their company - Joe Roche . We reached Ballyvourney in good time . In the main street outside the hotel stood a motor-car . Enquiries confirmed that the players had come and were refreshing at the bar , for the play . We sought out a few locals whom we knew . They got busy with us talking about the play among the crowd that was gathering in front of the hall . Soon , some hundreds had assembled . Each new disciple spread the light . The people had not understood . Soon the disciples were in the majority .

A lamp blazed in front of the hall ; two RIC men were on duty . We kept out of their sight , well back in the crowd . We had no desire to enlighten them of our little organisation ......." (MORE LATER).




Hear we go again....... A REAGANISM ---->

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 15th May , 1988 , page 8]



<---- " Ssshhh ! Don't bring that up . Leave it be . "

--- the words of Michael Deaver , the then Deputy Chief of Staff in Ronald Reagan's White House .

Mr. Deaver was replying to a question from his new Chief of Staff , Donald Regan ( 'Wall Street' millionaire and former Secretary of the U S Treasury) who had asked why the President's daily schedule was in such a mess - he got the above-mentioned answer from his Deputy.

Michael Deaver was known as a good time-keeper , always punctual , and part of his job was to arrange each days itinerary for President Reagan - but the daily meetings never went as planned , to such an extent that other White House staffers would imitate Deaver by intoning the mans mantra --- " Let's play around with this , let me see what can be done . "

A frustrated Deputy Chief Deaver later admitted that Nancy Reagan would go through the meetings schedule with her " friend " in San francisco , by telephone , every day - the " friend " was an astrologer ! The Chief of Staff , Donald Regan , had to go along with the charade , later stating that it was best to " humour her(Nancy) - at least this astrologer is not as kooky as the last one . " !


RONNIE - " Should ah press the red button , Nancy .......? "

NANCY - " Don't do nothin' just yet , Ron - ah wanna' make me a call ... "

---

STORMONT 'talking-shop' ; not a new failure -
Belfast May 1998 -- Dublin July 1917........


.......the business community , the Irish Unionists and the Irish Parliamentary Party were all eager to take the seats allocated to them by Westminster in the so-called ' Irish Convention ' at Trinity College , Dublin . The then Sinn Fein organisation dismissed the institution as a farce , a "face-saving" operation for the British .......


The 'Convention' , like the 1998 Stormont Treaty , was flawed from the start - the Irish Unionists were present to demand that Ireland be kept within the confines of the 'United Kingdom' while those in the chamber that purported to be 'Nationalists' had to be seen and heard to be seeking self-government for the country ! (Definately sounds familiar .......)

Sinn Fein boycotted this talking-shop and refused to take its seats ; it had been allocated only five places in the 'Convention' by the British . Likewise , the then Labour Party , mindful of the very real threat to its future political prospects from Sinn Fein , and not wanting to leave itself exposed as an out-and-out pro-Brit grouping , also refused to take its seats in the assembly .

And that was the charade that the British and their lackeys in Ireland grandiosely referred too as " The Irish Convention " -- a spurious mish-mash of native Unionists , castle-Catholics and till-fumblers ; self-serving creatures , every last one of them . But try as they did , they could'nt keep the show on the road ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......the local I R A Company was 'up-and-running' again ; myself and three others were on our way to Ballyvourney when we met a neighbour . He asked if we were going to the play - we knew nothing of it ......."


" We asked him about the play he mentioned - he told us it was called 'Handy Andy' and the players were the Macroom Dramatic Company . " Handy Andy ," said my uncle . " It is hard to teach an enslaved people . Is'nt it remarkable how the shoneen is not happy until he is trying to belittle the people of Ireland , and show them to the world as a race of uncouth and ignorant savages ?

Pearse and his comrades are not dead a year and these so-and-so's from Macroom must come and resurrect the Stage Irishman again . Come on lads, we will go to Ballyvourney . " My uncle's dog was with us . We liked his company but we decided his presence might complicate matters for us later . We left him at the cottage of Johnny Curley , a friend of ours whose son was a Volunteer . As I was leaving the cottage , I saw a stirabout stick .

" Johnny , " I said , " will you give me a loan of that stick ? " " I will and failte , " said Johnny , " but I'll give you a nice walking stick if you like . " " No , Johnny , thanks , " I said , " this is quite good enough for the Stage Irishman ! " Johnny blinked his eyes , and I knew he did not understand but I had not time to explain .


Near the Cross we met Mikeen , a brother of Tadhg Buckley . A hard man who had long ago been drummed out of the British Army . A splendid cavalry man , but all the King's men could not bring him to discipline . He would take a horse when he wanted one and suffer for it later . Their varied punishments failing , they let him go . He was never a Volunteer , but was always ready to help , and in later days often risked his life to warn us of the enemy . Now he eyed us as if he knew we were on some business bent . " (MORE LATER).



BAT's IN THE .......

[from 'The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 24th August , 1986 , page 11]


Two months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour , a Mr. Adams from the town of Pennsylvania wrote to the President of the United States .

The President should know , he wrote , that the Japanese were " simply terrified of bats . " On 9th February 1942 , Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed the letter to the then Chief of the 'Office of Strategic Services ' (OSS) , the then C I A , a Mr William Donovan . A cover-note saying " This man is not a nut " was included .

So , for the next three years , Donovan ensured that bats were dropped on Japan ! Sometimes the bats were just slung out of bomber-planes , other times they were dropped by parachute ! When a bat is thrown out of an airplane at high altitude it freezes to death long before it hits the ground .

Might have been a good plan but ..... the Japanese were not actually afraid of bats ! Apparently , due to Roosevelt's covering-note , OSS Chief Donovan presumed that someone had confirmed the Japanese 'bat-phobia' ! What must the Japanese have thought of three years of being 'bat-bombed'.......?

---

STORMONT 'talking-shop' ; not a new failure -
Belfast May 1998 -- Dublin July 1917........


.......the one-hundred-and-five seat 'Irish Convention' was to be heavily-loaded by the British , in their favour - only five seats were ear-marked for Irish Republicans , with the other one-hundred seats to be shared out between professional or 'wanna-be' 'place-seekers'.......



One of the groups in receipt of British largesse (and hoping for more) which was allocated seats at the 'talking-shop' was the business community ( "the fumblers in the greasy till") who were loyal to the half-crown only and who sat beside another group favoured by the Brits - the Irish Unionists .

John Redmond's Irish Parliamentary Party were grateful for the extra income and had no scruples about whose purse it came from ( sound familiar ? ) . The then Sinn Fein organisation dismissed the notion of a British-imposed so-called 'Irish Convention' as a farce , saying its purpose was " to assure the world that England left the Irish to settle the question of government for themselves and they could not agree , " thus 'explaining' to those asking the question of why they were in Ireland at all .

The 'Convention' , like the 1998 Stormont Treaty , was flawed from the start ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......in the Spring of 1917 , the story of Joe Roche , a local IRA man , was re-called ......."


" Joe and three others met at the Cross and adjourned to a pub for a while , and came out feeling much better . The martial spirit asserted itself . They even felt numerically stronger . They decided that at least they should drill and march through the town . Joe was appointed instructor .

He drilled and dressed his men , first in single file and line , then two deep . And then to the delight of the boys at the corner , Joe shouted : " Form fours ! It must be done , be dammed , boys , although there are only three of ye there ," he added . Here someone suggested that we go through a little drill , as a token for a new start . Six of us were later drilled by my brother Pat . So the start was made .

After that evening men were coming in one by one , until the Company's strength reached its old level . In a few secluded spots we met and drilled . One fine Sunday evening four of us left my uncle's house and strolled along the road to the village . My uncle , Joe Roche , Tadhg Buckley and myself comprised the party . We met a neighbour , on his way home from the Cross , and sat down on top of Achan Riach while talking to him . He told us the news and casually asked us if we were going to Ballyvourney to the play . We knew nothing about it ......." (MORE LATER).



DEMOCRACY AS DEFINED BY 'DEMOCRATS'.......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' Magazine , 17th August , 1997 , page 17]


According to the book ' Crimes and Mercies ' , by James Bacque (published by 'Little Brown') , at least 9.3 million German civilians , P O W's and refugees died mostly of starvation on German soil in the aftermath of the 'Second World War ' , between 1945 and 1950 .

The deaths were caused by a planned , man-made 'famine' to which post-war Germany was subjected by the "victorious Allies" -- Britain , the U S A , France and Russia were responsible for the atrocities , which only became known-about in 1989 , via Soviet archives . The Allies took the above action under their 'Morgenthau Plan ' , which was designed to punish Germany with great severity , to reduce its infrastructure , turn the country into a primitive agrarian state and to weaken forever the ambitions of the German people .

The 'Plan' was responsible for the civilian death rate in Germany jumping up from an average of twelve per thousand to around twenty-nine per thousand , and when Goebbels learned of the 'Morgenthau Plan' and told his troops , it struck such fear into them that they fought more fiercly than they had previously !

A massive food-aid operation , set up by Herbert Hoover , failed to reach Germany when one-thousand boxcars and four-hundred trucks with food reached Germany but was turned back by the Allies and returned to its owners .


As the 19th Century humorist Ambrose Bierce put it - " A Christian is one who thinks the Bible is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbour ."

Quite.

---

STORMONT 'talking-shop' ; not a new failure -
Belfast May 1998 -- Dublin July 1917........



.......the Brits decided that it was time to appease international opinion regarding their Irish 'colony' -- in July 1917 , they established a 'talking-shop' in Dublin to give the impression of political movement .......



That month (ie July 1917) , the British Parliament at Westminster gave birth to a bastard offspring - 'The Irish Convention .' Financed by the Brits and convened by their Prime Minister , David Lloyd George , who appointed its Chairperson , 'Sir' Horace Plunkett , the 'Convention' (to consist of one-hundred-and-five members) held its first meeting at Trinity College , Dublin .

At the time , the strongest political organisation in Ireland was the then twelve-years young Sinn Fein grouping , which was allocated only five seats at the 'Convention' -- the British themselves held fifteen seats for their own representatives and , in a rare show of "democracy" , decided that local politicians should also be present (ie Town Mayors and Chairpersons of Councils etc - in short , those who had proved that they were prepared to hang their backbone up with their coat each morning in the expectation that the British would slip them in to a permanent , pensionable position in the British Administration in Ireland .).


(MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.



1916 AND AFTER.......


"....... When she was a younger woman , my grandmother was no stranger to having a go at the British forces of occupation ; she once had at them in her family's yard with a cart-shaft ! I was happy to be preset when , as an old woman nearing death , her son Dan was released from jail by the British ......."


" " Oh Dan ," she cried , " I lived to see you home again . Now won't I be happy going to Kilmurray ! " She talked with us , my mother , my uncle and me , for a long time . Then she lay back smiling and said she would rest . We stole away to the kitchen . In the kitchen there was an old clock . Every week , she reminded me to wind it . " Maybe we will have good news before it is wound again , " she would say .

Ellen Cronin , her nurse , returned to the bedroom again . Soon Ellen called softly to us - " She is dying ," she said when I went with her . " She is sleeping , " I said . We knelt down . We could hear nothing but the gentle breathing and the measured tick of the old clock . Presently I noticed the breathing getting slower , but yet it seemed to me to keep harmony with the clock . Slower and slower , then fainter and fainter .....

.....then - it stopped . And with it stopped the old clock . Old Ellen looked at me - " The clock stopped , " she said . " It did, " I answered . We called my mother and my uncle in from the kitchen . They knelt down with us .


The New Year , 1917 , started quietly . A few Volunteers met at my uncle's house at least once a week and discussed the future . Now and again we opened dumps and cleaned and oiled the guns . One evening in the Spring , seven of us were together . We were in a happy mood . Some one told a story of how Joe Roche , my uncle's man , and three other old-timers met at the Cross ......." (MORE LATER).




NOTE TO ' KOSBIES ' COMMENTATOR (see '1169....' Guestbook , comment dated 18th December).......


....... A reader stated that 'WW1' had not begun at the time that I wrote that the 'KOSBIES' had been shipped-out from Ireland to the Western Front , and stated that I was ignoring that fact in order to maintain an " anti-Brit rant " .

In that particular article , on 15th December last , I wrote that those British Army troops " were shipped-out only days after the incident ......."

I also wrote , on 16th December , that " the 'KOSBIES' were quickly shipped-out of Ireland and sent to the Western Front ......." , as the reader correctly pointed out . I should have made myself clearer and mentioned the dates involved (and the reader in question should have checked said dates him/herself before making their comment) ---

--- The 'KOSBIES' shot forty-one members of the public , in Dublin , on 26th July 1914 ;

The then British Prime Minister , H. H. Asquith , announced on 4th August 1914 that Britain had declared war on Germany ;

The 'KOSBIES' were shipped-out from Ireland on that same date (ie 4th August 1914), and sent to the Western Front . There were already twenty-two thousand soldiers from all parts of Ireland serving in the British Army when the war began , attached to regiments such as the Connaught Rangers , the Munster Fusiliers and the Irish Guards . Thousands more Irishmen took John Redmonds advice and joined up as well . ( Redmond's crew were apparently led to believe that they would be kept together , as an 'Irish Brigade' , with their own special badges and emblems etc , but the British War Office would not allow that to happen .)


And , before I am accused of doing so , I am not suggesting that the Brits declared war on Germany because they wanted a reason to withdraw the 'KOSBIES' from Ireland !

Now that would be an " anti-Brit rant " ! Thanks for reading , and for the comment .......

John Horan. (PS - how's that for " a good trick " ?)

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STORMONT 'talking-shop' ; not a new failure -
Belfast May 1998 -- Dublin July 1917........


.......the Brits were losing the propaganda war in Ireland ; the 1916 Rising had ensured that international attention was still directed on this country , and the pro-Brit Irish Parliamentary Party was losing the last of its credibility .......



The focus now for the British was to get world opinion , if not actually on its side then at least neutralised or dis-interested and , at the same time , shore-up those in the colony that are eager to be placed in the new order (ie in the early 20th Century , the most prominent 'place-seekers' would have been the 'Irish Parliamentary Party' ; today , in the early 21st Century , it is Provisional Sinn Fein ).

From the British point of view , a ' Parliament ' (of sorts) was the ideal solution (sound familiar ?) --- if established 'correctly' and guided by a hidden-hand , it could boost the profile of the 'place-seekers' and , at the same time , give the impression to on-lookers that the British were indeed just an "honest broker" , trying to bring peace to the unruly natives . And so an earlier version of the present-day Stormont Parliament was born ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


1916 AND AFTER.......


".......my uncle's mother , my grandmother , was very old and near death . She was adamant that she should live long enough to see her son , Dan , come home to her from the British prison he was in ......."



"....... " When he comes home , " she used to say , " then ye can carry me to Kilmurray ." I had stayed with her while Dan was away , and the house was often raided and searched by the British military and police . Very early in the morning they invariably came . From her bed in a room below she would call upstairs to me :

-- : " Mick , you must come down to admit the ragged regiment !" This was a term of contempt for the forces of the crown in the Land War . She had seen 'famine' , Fenians , evictions and emigration , and many were the stories I heard from her of the " bad times . " My mother told me how , once , in a fight with the British police and bailiffs for possession of cattle in the yard of her home , my grandmother , then a young woman , took a decisive part .

The men of the family were being forced backwards . She rushed into the yard and , seizing an old cart by the two shafts , she pressed them apart . One gave way before the strength of her fury . Grasping it with both hands , she rushed on the enemy . Her example carried the day . I was present to witness her triumph at Dan's homecoming ......." (MORE LATER).



NOT ON .......

[from ' The Irish News ' newspaper , 3rd February , 1997]


....... " We know there are two roads before us . One is the road to further conflict and the other is the road to the negotiating table . We have declared ourselves and now re-declare ourselves in favour of travelling to the negotiating table . There is nowhere else for us to go . "

--- so said Martin McGuinness , Provisional Sinn Fein , ex-British Minister for Agriculture and Education in the ex-Stormont 'Parliament' .

Tell ya where else you can go , Marty - to your British-funded holiday home in Donegal ; we'll send ya a postcard now and then - let you know how the struggle is going.......



.......THE ONE ROAD ---->

[from ' SAOIRSE ' , Irish Republican newspaper , March , 1997 , page 15]


<---- Prior to his execution on 7th May , 1916 , Eamon Ceannt , one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising , stated ---


" I leave for the guidance of other Revolutionaries who may tread the path which I have trod . Never treat with the enemy - never surrender to his mercy ; fight to the finish . Nothing can be gained by any other means . "


Martin , Gerry and company - hang your heads in shame.......

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