A 'LICENSED' EASTER AND A MIS-MATCHED COLLAGE.
Two examples of political ignorance, as practised by those who apparently consider themselves to be 'republicans' but, judging by that with which they hope to cash-in with this Easter time, are actually 'nationalist'-minded ie they would be more at home, politically, with Fianna Fail/SDLP, and answerable to either Stormont or Leinster House, rather than to any Irish republican institution.
The Easter Lily leaflet/poster on view with this post was produced and distributed by Offaly Sinn Féin (Provisional Sinn Féin, that is...) and included the following text - 'Easter Lillies will soon be available in the Offaly area. They will be sold by Licensed Sinn Féin Sellers. Always ask for a permit before you donate'. A 'licence/permit' to distribute Easter Lilies is granted, upon application, by the Free State administration here in Dublin, the same Free State administration which, since it was spawned by Westminster in 1922, has done its utmost to destroy Irish republicanism, and continues to this day in its attempts to do so.
That Free State administration, acting under the guidance of Westminster and, during its 'birth', actually armed by Westminster, turned on Irish republicans, imprisoning, torturing and executing us, as much for its own ends (to maintain the amount of political and military 'control' that Westminster granted it) as for Westminster's (to secure London's 'western front' by planting a friendly [puppet] force in power).
No genuine Irish republican would apply to any such political administration for a 'permission slip/licence/permit' to honour the same men and women that were (and are being) hounded in life and death by that same political administration. A Fianna Fáil/SDLP-type 'nationalist', however, wouldn't comprehend the above, as it's above their political 'paygrade'.
Our second example of political ignorance concerns a print collage assembled by those that are mentally and morally similar to the Provisional Sinn Féin political party -
- to state that Michael Collins, Martin McGuinness and Constance Georgine Gore Booth Markievicz - all of whom ended their days having worked for/with and giving political recognition to, the Free State - had the same '..dream, goal and desire..' as Irish republicans is just as wrong as seeking an Easter Lily permit from the Free Staters in Leinster House. Our regular readers will understand that to be the case and, if any of ye can be bothered, ye mightn't mind educating certain people in Offaly about these things. And, with a bit of luck, they, in turn, might mention it in passin' to the rest of their party at their next get-together...!
'BRITISH FORCES MUST GO, DEMANDS SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT...'From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Tomas O' Dubghaill's speech to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, 7th November 1954 (...continued).
IMMEDIATE TASK OF SINN FÉIN...
"It is not a question of personal advantage, nor of party pride - it is a question of the Nation and the future of the Nation. We are serving the very same Cause in our own way as the men who went to Armagh and Omagh. In that spirit we are going into this contest, and we ask for the whole-hearted support of all who treasure the hopes of Irish freedom, to help us make this a success.
In mentioning this, it is only right that I should take this opportunity to thank publicly on behalf of the organisation those people who have subscribed so generously to our Northern election fund during recent months, in particular the patrons of Croke Park and the other GAA circles where our collectors were so well received.
One final word - the politicians of Leinster House admit they have no solution. They are hoping for a miracle. I would remind them of the words of Ethna Carbery in 'The Shan Van Vocht' in January, 1896, words which are very appropriate today. She said - "Nothing will be accomplished for Ireland by overweening confidence, by empty boasting, by the belief that any favouring circumstances and events occurring outside our own nation will avail to bring us nearer to the goal. The wind and the tide help the ship but they cannot bring her into the port, nor even advance her on her journey. That can be done only by those on board. Ireland will never drift into her desired haven. A few strong hands under the guidance of a few brave resolute hearts can steer her thither before the winds that are now astir, tho' they should grow and blow with a hurricane's strength."
Yes, the miracle will come when we get down to work to bring it about."
(END of 'Ard Fheis Speech'. NEXT - 'Cork Ceremony', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (3RD APRIL) 119 YEARS AGO : 'QUEEN OF GENOCIDE' VISITS HER VICTIMS/SUBJECTS.
The British 'queen', Victoria, who died (but not from hunger) on the 22nd January 1901, aged 81, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, left a special legacy in Ireland which included 1,225,000 deaths due to An Gorta Mór (the 'Great Hunger'/so-called 'famine', but in reality an attempted genocide), 4,185,000 who were forced to emigrate and 3,668,000 who were evicted ; a newspaper editor was jailed for two years for pointing those facts out -"This is the record of Ireland under the glorious and prosperous reign of Queen Victoria! A reign which our country has been slowly bleeding to death...Queen Victoria was a good mother and a model woman according to her lights, but it cannot be said that she took the private interest in the trials and troubles of Irish subjects which would make us mourn her death with a sense of irreplaceable loss..."and, indeed, her visit here during that attempted genocide did not go without some protest -
"In the very midst of all this havoc, in August, 1849, her Majesty's Ministers thought the coast was clear for a Royal Visit. The Queen had long wished, it was said, to visit her people of Ireland; and the great army of persons, who, in Ireland, are paid to be loyal, were expected to get up the appearance of rejoicing...one Mr O'Reilly, indeed, of South Great George's Street, hoisted on the top of his house a large black banner, displaying the crownless Harp ; and draped his windows with black curtains, showing the words Famine and Pestilence : but the police burst into his house, viciously tore down the flag and the curtains, and rudely thrust the proprietor into gaol.. 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper says, that on passing through Parkgate Street, Mr James Nugent, one of the Guardians of the North Union, approached the royal carriage, which was moving rather slowly, and, addressing the Queen, said: 'Mighty Monarch, pardon Smith O'Brien.' Before, however, he had time to get an answer, or even to see how her Majesty received the application, Lord Clarendon rode up and put him aside..." (from here.)
This 'British queen', Victoria, was of German descent, born in 1819 at the Kensington Palace, to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent. She was (and is) known as 'The Famine Queen' here in Ireland, but republicans would not agree with that nickname, and for the same reason that George Bernard Shaw (and many others) disagreed with it : "The Famine? No, the starvation. When a country is full o' food, and exporting it, there can be no famine. Me father was starved dead ; and I was starved out to America in me mother's arms. English rule drove me and mine out of Ireland..." ('Man and Superman', 1903.)
It was not until the 3rd April, 1900 - 119 years ago on this date - that she visited Ireland again, this time for three weeks ; it was suggested that this was really intended as a recruiting tool for British forces during the Boer War and, as with her previous visit, not everyone bowed-down to her. Arthur Griffith's weekly newspaper, 'The United Irishman', which was based in number 17 Fownes Street, in Dublin, had a 'particularly offending' edition seized by the RIC, and the 'Inghinidhe na hÉireann' ('Daughters of Ireland') organisation hung a black banner in O'Connell Street in protest at the visit and placed black flags from the windows of many houses throughout Dublin, which the RIC tried to remove, wrecking the properties in the process :
'Not everyone agreed. Those who cheered were lambasted as traitors by W.B. Yeats. Others questioned why the Queen was not shown the city’s northside where upwards of 200,000 slum-dwellers were living in abject poverty...a large element of Irish nationalists also did not buy into the concept that the Queen’s visit was for the good of her health. Maud Gonne maintained the Queen had taken ‘a shamrock into her withered hand’ solely to stimulate recruitment of Irish soldiers into the British Army. Thousands of Irishmen had already died in the war then raging between Britain and the Boers in South Africa...in 1899, Gonne and Arthur Griffith co-founded the 'Irish Transvaal Committee' (and) amongst their high calibre members were Yeats, James Connolly, Michael Davitt, Willie Redmond and the veteran Fenian John O’Leary. Over the ensuing months they held a number of pro-Boer rallies in Dublin which had led to a notable decline in the numbers volunteering for service...for the Queen’s visit, there was a large increase in military and police presence in the city. There was to be zero tolerance for protests, particularly from the 'Irish Transvaal Committee'.
When Gonne and her supporters gathered for a torchlight procession on the night the Queen reached Dublin, they were charged by baton-wielding Dublin Metropolitan Police and reputedly sent fleeing with faces ‘as black as those of Christy Minstrels.’ The following day, The United Irishman, a Nationalist newspaper edited by Griffith, published an article by Gonne called ‘The Famine Queen’ in which she castigated the ‘vile and selfish’ monarch for presiding over an ‘organised famine.’ The police managed to seize most copies of the paper early that morning. Griffith’s office was raided and, as an indirect consequence of Gonne’s article, the future founder of Sinn Féin was sentenced to two weeks imprisonment...' (from here.)
'Good, you were good, we say. You had no wit to be evil.
Your purity shines serene over virgins mangled and dead.
You wasted not our substance in splendour, in riot or revel—
You quietly sat in the shade and grew fat on our wealth instead...' (from here.)
'THE SPREADING OF THE NEWS'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1955.
'The Spreading Of The News' or - 'Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to sell UI'!
O' then, Paddy dear, did you hear the news that's going 'round?The 'UI' is forbid by 'law' to sell in Belfast Town.No more we'll chant the praises of the traitors to the Crown,No more we'll read of soldiers who would pull the Empire down.Yet still in spite of Stormont's ban and Hanna's loud 'HURRAY!',From mouth to mouth the news we'll hear of how the IRAAre working for auld Ireland in their quest to set her free,Free, that is, from Hanna's bans and Basil's plans and Free State knavery!
'BACK TO THE OLD DAYS OF SINN FÉIN'.
Waterford Corporation adopted a resolution from the 'Anti-Partition League' asking the US President and British Prime Minister to implement in Ireland their recent declaration in Washington to seek through free elections the unity of nations divided against their will. "We realise from past experience," said Mr J. Griffin, "that what Sir Winston Churchill and the President said was simply platitudinous humbug and no amount of appealing to them to apply fair play to Ireland is going to get us anywhere. We should further cease to appeal to them, except for the purpose of underlining to the world their dishonesty with regard to Ireland. We will, however, have to rely on ourselves. It is back to the old days of Sinn Féin.
(END of 'SPREADING' and 'OLD DAYS'. NEXT - 'The Peeler And The Goat' and 'Did They Pledge For You?', from the same source.)
WHEN AN IRISH CITIZEN IS NOT A CITIZEN... By Adrian Langan. From 'Magill' Magazine, May 2002.
Germany is learning that the best way to achieve that is by accepting that immigration will be a permanent process and changing the law to reflect societal reality. Ireland's constitutional position provides a mechanism to overcome a lot of those mistakes. The system has its drawbacks and there is no doubt that the existing situation is causing enormous problems in maternity hospitals. Many asylum-seekers, quite rationally, may view pregnancy as a solution to the lack of other means to secure a right to stay here.
The trend, however, is unquestionable - people will move to Ireland in increasing numbers over the medium to long term and we have a major choice ahead of us in terms of how we choose to respond to those who we will need to work in our society, and will arrive anyway.
(END of 'IRISH CITIZEN'. NEXT - Patrick Cosgrave : born on a Dublin council estate, supporter of the British Army in Ireland and an admirer of Thatcher, from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (3RD APRIL) 173 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF A DUBLIN CHARACTER.
'Michael J. Moran was born circa 1794 in Faddle Alley off the Blackpitts in Dublin's Liberties and lived in Dublin all his life. At two weeks old he was blinded by illness. He developed an astounding memory for verse and made his living reciting poems, many of which he had composed himself, in his own lively style. He was described by songwriter P.J. McCall as the last Gleeman of the Pale.
Many of his rhymes had religious themes ; others were political or recounted current events. He is said to have worn "a long, coarse, dark, frieze coat with a cape, the lower parts of the skirts being scalloped, an old soft, greasy, brown beaver hat, corduroy trousers and Francis Street brogues, and he carried a long blackthorn stick secured to his wrist with a strap."
He performed all over Dublin including at Essex Bridge, Wood Quay, Church Street, Dame Street, Capel Street, Sackville Street, Grafton Street, Henry Street, and Conciliation Hall. He began each oration with the verse : Ye sons and daughters of Erin,
Gather round poor Zozimus, yer friend ;
Listen boys, until yez hear
My charming song so dear.
In his last few years, his voice grew weak, costing him his means of livelihood. He ended up feeble and bedridden and he died on 3rd April 1846 (173 years ago, on this date) at his lodgings in 15 Patrick Street, aged around 52, and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery two days later on Palm Sunday. He had feared grave robbers, who were busy in Dublin at the time. In one of his narrative songs, he begged his long-established companion, 'Stony Pockets' : Oh Stony, Stony
Don't let the Sack-'Em-Ups get me
Send round the hat
And buy me a grave.
Zozimus was buried in Glasnevin's Prospect Cemetery which was guarded day and night. His grave remained unmarked until the late 1960s, when the band 'The Dublin City Ramblers' erected a tombstone in his memory. His grave is in the "Poor Ground" of the cemetery, at the co-ordinates AG 30 South ; it is not far from Daniel O'Connell's monument. His epitaph reads:
My burying place is of no concern to me,
In the O'Connell circle let it be,
as to my funeral, all pomp is vain,
Illustrious people does prefer it plain.' (From here.)
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (27TH MARCH) 369 YEARS AGO : KILKENNY FALLS TO A BRITISH CRIMINAL.
"I came to Kilkenny in 1650 to suppress the Papist extremists. The city was well fortified, however we breached the walls at St.Francis' Abbey, caused collateral damage to much of the ecclesiastical property and confiscated much private property, exiling leaders of the Confederation and Papist landowners to the West of Ireland..." - Oliver Cromwell, who was born on the 25th April, 1599, and was christened in Saint John the Baptish church in Huntingdon, England, on the 29th of that month. Decades later, when someone was trawling through the birth records for that period, they came across an unofficial addendum to that particular entry : it read - "England's plague for five years".
'March 1650, and the city of Kilkenny was increasingly surrounded. The heart of the Confederate movement since the foundation of that entity, it was now just another beleaguered Royalist stronghold, waiting for the Parliamentarian hammer to fall. The Kilkenny area, including the city, had been put in the overall command of James Tuchet, the Earl of Castlehaven, an appointment he does not really seem to have enjoyed being given. With Ormonde and what existed of the Royalist 'government' fleeing west over the Shannon, Castlehaven was left with a great deal of leeway and authority to attempt to resist Cromwell. What he didn’t have was substantial numbers of men. A bout of plague had rapidly reduced the number of soldiers in the Kilkenny garrison to little more than a few hundred troops, and whatever civilian levy was willing to assist them. Castlehaven’s army, bolstered by a strong-ish regiment of Ulster Army men, reached 3’000 according to his own memoirs, but it’s likely that this is an exaggeration.
Ormonde and Castlehaven hoped to be assisted by forces of the Viscount Thomas Dillon, one of the original confederates and a controversial Catholic convert. Accused of corruption and “false musters” by many, Dillon still controlled a few thousand men in the more northerly parts of Leinster that would have greatly aided Castlehaven, but the troops never marched south. Dillon claimed that the troops needed to stay put in case the Ulster Army decided to ravage Leinster ; more likely he did not want to throw them into a losing cause, and as one of the Rinuccini’s former confidantes was unwilling to play second fiddle to the likes of Castlehaven.
Castlehaven and his subordinates were on their own. Receiving intelligence from spies among the New Model Army and the Irish countryside, he discovered the marching route of Colonel Hewson’s Dublin column. Marching quickly and avoiding his adversary, Castlehaven swopped on the recently taken town of Athy in Kildare, which (according to him) had a garrison of 700 and a substantial supply of powder. Castlehaven took the place by storm and with very little loss, taking the defenders totally by surprise. But while this was an impressive success, it was relatively meaningless. Castlehaven had taken the action on his own initiative, as Athy was nowhere near where he was supposed to be, and the taking of it could little help Kilkenny. He lacked the men or the supplies to hold Athy, or even to take care of the prisoners he had taken. He thus abandoned Athy and his prisoners, hoping Cromwell would recognise the mercy. It was shortly before the massacre at Gowran.
Castlehaven’s little venture thus came to nothing. It certainly did not slow the Parliamentarian advance. Castlehaven and his army marched back towards Kilkenny but found it beleaguered upon their arrival. The Ulster Army units left his command and went north, apparently fearing the plague as a sign from God. They took most of Castlehaven’s strength with them. Kilkenny was on its own. Its commander was a kinsman of Ormonde, Sir Walter Butler. Butler is a little noted figure in history, but at that moment he held the fate of Kilkenny and its residents in his hands. Surrender and he could probably save their lives from a Drogheda-style slaughter. Fight, and they could all suffer...' (more here.)
Included in the many other instances when Oliver Cromwell and his army 'kept the peace' was their nine-day siege of Drogheda, which began on the 3rd September in 1649, after which thousands of its inhabitants were butchered. The 'peacekeepers' are also remembered for the infamous 'Death March' that they forced on the survivors after the battle of Dunbar (on the 3rd September 1650) and, one year later on that same date (3rd September), they wallowed in more blood and guts, this time in their own country, at the battle of Worcester. In between the above 'adventures', as we in Ireland know only too well, they 'visited' Kilkenny, which fell to them on this date, 27th March, in the year 1650.
'Cromwell is dead, and risen ; and dead again,And risen the third time after he was slainNo wonder! For he’s a messenger of Hell :And now he buffets us, now posts to tellWhat’s past ; and for one more game new counsel takesOf his good friend the Devil, who keeps the stakes...
'BRITISH FORCES MUST GO, DEMANDS SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT...'From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Tomas O' Dubghaill's speech to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, 7th November 1954 (...continued).
POLITICIANS TRUE TO FORM...
"The politicians, by misrepresenting these actions as attacks on the minority in the country, are deliberately falsifying the facts and in effect playing England's game for her. The key to what is called 'the partition question', but which we maintain is more correctly termed 'the conquest of Ireland by division', is contained in the message sent by Lloyd George to Craig in May, 1921, when he said - "Ulster, whether she wills it or not, must not be allowed merge with the rest of Ireland". That was the determination of the British government then, just as it is today, and they enforce that determination by keeping a British Army of occupation in the Six County area.
The urgent purpose of the Irish people should be to get those occupation forces out. As the kernel of the Sinn Féin programme is "to deny the right and to oppose the claim of the British Government to rule Ireland or any portion of Ireland", so we delight in the fact that there are still men willing to fight and if necessary to die to get the invaders out of our land. We call on all our people to unite with us in one urgent demand - the British occupation forces must go! England - get out of our country!"
IMMEDIATE TASK OF SINN FÉIN.
"Sinn Féin, as the civilian arm of the Republican Movement, has a definite part to play. Our immediate task is the contest of all twelve constituencies in the Six Counties area sending representatives to Westminster. We will enter this contest with the demand for the re-establishment of the 32-County Republican Parliament. Our candidates will not take their seats in any other but an All-Ireland Parliament. In contesting these elections, it is our purpose to mobilise every single vote in the Six County area in support of the unity and freedom of our country.." (MORE LATER).
ON THIS DATE (27TH MARCH) 101 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF FAMOUS IRISH PRO-INDEPENDENCE ATHLETIC.
Martin John Sheridan was born on the 28th March in 1881 in Bohola, County Mayo, and died in Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, New York, at only 36 years of age (he would have turned 37 the next day), on the 27th March 1918 - 101 years ago on this date - about a week after he had contracted pneumonia. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens, in that city, and the following verse is inscribed on his headstone -
'An Intrepid American,An ardent lover of his motherland ;A Peerless athlete ;Devoted to the institutions of his countryAnd to the ideals and aspirations of his race. Athlete. Patriot'
He had emigrated to America in 1899, at only 18 years young, and was not shy about letting people know that he was annoyed that he was forced to emigrate because of the political situation in Ireland, and expressed his opinion that the fact that Ireland was not an independent country "was an injustice which had to end".
He is perhaps best known for his association with USA-team Flagbearer Ralph Rose who, in 1908, at the London Games, refused to 'dip the flag' to the British 'king', Edward VII, and his 'royal' entourage in the 'royal box' - the 'dipping of the flag' was a symbol of respect for the British 'royal family'. That protest/act of defiance was said to be in support of the Irish struggle against British imperialism and legend has it that Martin John Sheridan, when asked about the incident afterwards, replied "this flag dips to no earthly king", and is apparently the reason why several decisions at those 1908 Games by British judges went against American athletes, which led to some friction between the two countries.
By the time he retired from athletics, Martin John Sheridan had won five gold, three silver and one bronze medal at Olympic Games and had also created 16 world records in various track and field disciplines, as well as winning multiple US championships. But he never forgot his Irish roots.
'TIMES HAVE NOT CHANGED'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1955.
We publish hereunder an extract from the Editorial in 'The Nation' newspaper from Saturday, 3rd June, 1848. It is still apt now that eight more 'felons' have been borne away, despite the interval of 106 years -
'The 'law' has triumphed. It lay in wait for its victims, like a robber, or a detective, and it has got him at last. The first 'felon' is borne away by England, manacled with her irons and guarded by her soldiers. He is borne from our shores in no stealthy and hurried retreat, over no bloody corpses, after no desperate conflict, but ostentatiously in the open day, amid unarmed citizens, from whom only fall tears and curses. He is borne through an Irish city, carried on Irish seas, degraded within the Irish confines, and no blow is struck for his deliverance.
And once again we appeal to all young men who really love this country that for her sake they will unite, organise and arm. Once more we say 'let all the past be blotted out, except the monuments of England's crimes against us, and let the present compel our sole and undivided thoughts'.
For at last we are matched with our enemy and there is no way of honour left but one.'
(END of 'Times Have Not Changed'. NEXT - 'The Spreading Of The News' and 'Back To The Old Days Of Sinn Féin', from the same source.)
WHEN AN IRISH CITIZEN IS NOT A CITIZEN... By Adrian Langan. From 'Magill' Magazine, May 2002.
The recent High Court judgement on the Czech Lobe family has cast this existing system into doubt. The outcome of this case, if upheld in the Supreme Court, would be to effectively negate the provision in the 'Good Friday Agreement' in that an Irish citizen, born in Ireland, would have to effectively abandon their citizenship until they were 18 or remain in Ireland and be separated from their parents.
Ireland and other European States are still going to need immigration, even in the context of rising unemployment*. Population growth is slowing and poses a major threat for the labour force base of all advanced industrialised economies. The implications this will have for the tax base and on pensions policy dominates the political agenda right across Europe. It is in this context that this debate in Ireland becomes so central ('1169' comment - Rule Number One = don't let others be solely responsible for setting the 'context/agenda' for this [or any other] discussion/meeting etc you might be having, otherwise you'll find that you have assisted them in 'winning' the day). Immigration will have to occur to fill these gaps but immigration without naturalisation is highly problematic ('1169' comment - as, indeed, is immigration without the proper facilities being in place beforehand).
Germany has struggled since 1961 to deal with the millions of Turks who were effectively legally-accepted strangers in the country that many of them were born in. Integrating immigrants into a society requires respect for difference but also the acceptance by all of common rules and bonds...
(*'1169' comment - what a ludicrous notion! The portion of the State [financial etc] 'cake' that manages to slip 'down the ladder' - after the powers-that-be have fed, watered and pensioned themselves with the most of it - is inadequate to assist those already in this State and simply cannot be stretched to financially etc properly accommodate the needs and requirements of even more people. It's a new system of distribution that's required, not expecting even more people to try and survive on the crumbs that slip through the greedy net of the 'establishment'.) (MORE LATER).
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
ON THIS DATE (20TH MARCH) 76 YEARS AGO : 21 IRA PRISONERS ESCAPE FROM DERRY JAIL.
Early on Saturday morning, 20th March 1943 - 76 years ago on this date - as the Logue family of Harding Street, Derry, were about to sit down for their breakfast, they noticed a part of their small garden rising up and being pushed back - their garden wall formed part of the perimeter of a neighbouring premises, Derry Jail : a figure pulled himself up from the hole in the ground and began assisting others that were trying to scramble to their feet. Within minutes there were 21 men assembled in the small garden, all of whom rushed into the Logue house and let themselves out through the front door. They ran to near-by Abercorn Place and jumped into a waiting lorry, a furniture removal van, which was driven by an on-the-run IRA man, Jimmy Steele, who had recently liberated himself from Crumlin Road Prison!
Among the escapees were well-known IRA activists Patrick Donnelly, Ned Maguire, Hugh McAteer, Liam Graham and Brendan O'Boyle who, incidentally, was the last man to be helped from the tunnel. Jimmy Drumm was earmarked as the last man and was in the tunnel, yards behind Brendan O'Boyle, when he heard a warning being shouted that the British Army had discovered the exit and were picking-up the men as they emerged - so he turned back, only to discover later that it was a false alarm.
The tunnel had been started in November 1942, in Liam Graham's cell and, out of the 200 or so IRA prisoners in the jail, 22 had been picked by the prisoners themselves as it was felt that that group could more readily 'rally the troops' on the outside as each of them had a high profile in the Movement and were respected by all concerned (except, obviously, by the Brits and the Staters!). An estimated five tons of clay was removed over a five month period and most of it was scattered in the prison grounds, although repeated attempts were made to dispose of some of it via the toilets, which blocked the pipes. A plumbing company was called in on a regular basis over that five month period but, whether they knew what was happening or not, they said nothing and the warders and their bosses knew nothing of the excavation that was then on-going. Indeed, during the last few weeks of the dig, the IRA prisoners had held a 'mini-fleadh cheoil' to cover the noise and the constant comings-and-goings from cell to cell and from cell to prison yard.
Jimmy Steele (pictured) and Harry White had each organised to have about 12 men on stand-by on each side of Britain's border in Ireland to assist with the dispersal of the escapees, the majority of whom were taken to Donegal but, within a day, some of their number had been captured by Free State forces and interned in the Curragh. Others were also captured in that county, in a place called Glentown, and they were then held in a FS barracks in Letterkenny.
That successful escape effort not only helped to refocus world attention on to the then and on-going struggle for national liberation in Ireland, but proved to be a massive morale boost for the Republican Movement - it helped to insure that the flame stayed lit, and brought in new recruits who, in turn, passed the mantle to those who hold the same values today.
'BRITISH FORCES MUST GO, DEMANDS SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT...'From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Tomas O' Dubghaill's speech to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, 7th November 1954 (...continued).
BRITISH GARRISONS ATTACKED -
"But of course the most significant events during the past year took place in another sphere. I refer to the attacks made by members of the Irish Republican Army on British military garrisons in Ireland.
The daring daylight attack on Armagh Barracks in June last and the capturing of the entire stocks in the armoury under the eyes of the British troops was an exhilarating tonic to our people and made the invaders a laughing stock before the world. But the very perfection of its success tended to distract attention from the real lesson of the Armagh raid. Last month, in the early hours of a Sunday morning, the British garrison in Omagh was attacked and a short fierce gun battle ensued in which five British soldiers and two Volunteers were wounded. The laughter was gone - we were now confronted with stark reality.
And what is that reality ? Is it not that there is still an army of invaders in our country, that England holds six of our counties by force of arms and that the primary task facing our people is to get those invaders out. The continued presence of the British occupation forces is an act of war against the Irish nation - their presence is an insult and a constant challenge to the Irish people. Thank God we still have young men* ('1169' comment* - men and women, young and old) willing and able to take up that challenge and to answer it in the only way England has ever understood.
POLITICIANS TRUE TO FORM.
Of course the politicians North and South have united in condemnation - in that, they are running true to form. But it is very interesting to see how close, almost identical, are the efforts of both Stormont and Leinster House spokesmen (see above comment*) to misrepresent the purpose of the Volunteers. The two attacks were made on the British garrisons, the first time England's troops in Ireland had been attacked since 1921. They were not attacks on fellow Irishmen whether Orange or Green - they were attacks on occupation forces which have absolutely no right to be in Ireland..." (MORE LATER).
ON THIS DATE (20TH MARCH) 258 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF TONE'S COMRADE, ROBERT 'TANNER' SIMMS.
On the 20th March, 1761 - 258 years ago on this date - a child called Robert was born into a middle-class, socially-conscious Presbyterian family in Belfast, and grew into adulthood to become the co-owner of a paper mill in Ballyclare, in County Antrim, and he and his brother, William, were also newspaper publishers - they owned 'The Northern Star' newspaper.
When he was 31 years of ago, Robert and a group of like-minded individuals - Protestants, Anglicans and Presbyterians - held a public meeting in Belfast, out of which was formed 'The Belfast Society of United Irishmen' (the organisation became a secret society three years later), and one of his colleagues, Sam McTier, was elected as 'President of the Society'. Also present were Theobald Wolfe Tone (who gave Robert Simms his nickname, 'Tanner'), Thomas Russell, William Sinclair, Henry Joy McCracken, Samuel Neilson, Henry Haslett, Gilbert McIlveen, William Simms (Robert's brother), Thomas McCabe, Thomas Pearce and Samuel McTier, among others.
The aims and objectives of the Society were revolutionary for the times that were in it, and brought the organisation to the attention of the less 'socially-minded' political (and military) members of the British ruling-class in Dublin, which was then (and, indeed, now!) England's political power-base in Ireland - "That the weight of English influence in the government of this country is so great, as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our commerce...the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed, is by a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament..."
The Belfast Society also adopted the 'Charter' of 'The United Irishmen' as a whole, and in so doing they drew further attention on themselves from their political enemies, at home and abroad - "In the present era of reform, when unjust governments are falling in every quarter of Europe, when religious persecution is compelled to abjure her tyranny over conscience, when the rights of men are ascertained in theory, and theory substantiated by practice, when antiquity can no longer defend absurd and oppressive forms, against the common sense and common interests of mankind, when all governments are acknowledged to originate from the people, and to be so far only obligatory, as they protect their rights and promote their welfare, we think it our duty, as Irishmen, to come forward, and state what we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we know to be its effectual remedy.
ON THIS DATE (6TH MARCH) 101 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF WESTMINSTER'S PET POLITICIAN IN IRELAND.
"I have publicly promised, not only for myself, but in the name of my country, that when the rights of Ireland were admitted by the democracy of England, that Ireland would become the strongest arm in the defence of the Empire. The test has come sooner than I, or anyone, expected. I tell the Prime Minister that that test will be honourably met. I say for myself, that I would feel myself personally dishonoured if I did not say to my fellow countrymen, as I say today to them here, and as I will say from the public platform when I go back to Ireland, that it is their duty, and should be their honour, to take their place in the firing line in this contest..." - John Redmond, from here.
John Redmond, the leader of the 'Irish Parliamentary Party', was born into a 'Big House'-type Catholic family on the 1st September in 1856 and, after a 'proper' education (in Clongowes College in Kildare and Trinity College in Dublin) he became a political 'player' in the British so-called 'House of Commons', where he supplemented his income as a clerk. He was only 25 years-of-age when he was first elected as an MP, having worked his way up the establishment ladder, and was elected as the leader of the 'Irish Party' on the 6th February, 1900.
John Redmond pictured - 'Irishmen, honour your history, fight for England..' He was an Irish nationalist (small 'n') politician who, occasionally, campaigned for his followers (and anyone else that would listen to him) to join the British Army in its fight against Germany, and did so infamously, and unashamedly, in a public speech he delivered in Woodenbridge in County Wicklow on the 20th September in 1914, where he stated - "The interests of Ireland - of the whole of Ireland - are at stake in this war. This war is undertaken in the defence of the highest principles of religion and morality and right, and it would be a disgrace for ever to our country and a reproach to her manhood and a denial of the lessons of her history if young Ireland confined their efforts to remaining at home to defend the shores of Ireland from an unlikely invasion, and to shrinking from the duty of proving on the field of battle that gallantry and courage which has distinguished our race all through its history. I say to you, therefore, your duty is twofold. I am glad to see such magnificent material for soldiers around me, and I say to you : 'Go on drilling and make yourself efficient for the work, and then account yourselves as men, not only for Ireland itself, but wherever the fighting line extends, in defence of right, of freedom, and religion in this war..".
And, unfortunately, in the months that followed his 'call to arms', tens of thousands of Irishmen joined his 'Cause' and fought alongside imperialism to the extent that one of his modern-day political mirror-images (..who called for Irish people to join and support the British 'police force' in Ireland!) all but called Redmond a traitor for encouraging such folly. Other political leaders did not agree with John Redmond and, among them, was James Connolly, the Irish Trade Union leader, who was also in command of the Irish Citizen Army - he answered Redmond's call thus :
'Full steam ahead, John Redmond said,
that everything was well, chum ;
Home Rule will come when we are dead,
and buried out in Belgium'.
Also, some of John Redmond's own men disagreed with his pro-British 'call-to-arms' ; Eoin MacNeill, who was then in a leadership position within the 'Irish Volunteers', was of the opinion that the 'Irish Volunteers' should only use force against the British if* Westminster first moved against them ; a bit 'watery', definitely, but he was, however, against fighting with the British (*if having your country occupied by a foreign power cannot be considered a 'first move against us' then Mr MacNeill had a different understanding of the English language than we have!).
Just over a year after Mr Redmond had delivered his 'join imperialism'-speech in Woodenbridge, a British Army Major-General, 'Sir' Lovick Bransby Friend (..perhaps his parents never bonded with him?) the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Ireland, said that 1,100 recruits were needed from Ireland every week "to replace wastage" (!) of existing Irish soldiers. The comments were made at a private conference on recruiting in Ireland that was held under the presidency of the 'Lord' Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Wimborne, at the Viceregal Lodge in Dublin's Phoenix Park, where it was also stated that approximately 81,000 Irishmen had 'heeded Redmond's call-to-arms'. The political mirror-image, mentioned above, had a point : if a call to assist the foe comes from 'the right quarters', it will - unfortunately - be heeded by those who should know better.
Anyway : the 'fight-for-England-for-Ireland' man died on the 6th March 1918 - 101 years ago on this date - after a medical operation that month to remove an intestinal obstruction ; the operation appeared to progress well at first, but then he suffered heart failure and died a few hours later at a London nursing home. But his party lived on, albeit with a name change..!
'BRITISH FORCES MUST GO, DEMANDS SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT...'From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Tomas O' Dubghaill's speech to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, 7th November 1954 (...continued).
ELECTION CONTESTS -
"Early this year, an opportunity presented itself for Sinn Féin to make its position clear to the public. We decided to contest a bye-election in County Louth and put forward as candidate Joe Campbell, a Newry republican, who is imprisoned in Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast. He personified for us the unity of the Republican Movement, North and South, and the demand for the unity and freedom of the Nation. He also showed clearly our attitude to Leinster House as co-partner with the Stormont regime in dividing our country at England's orders.
The result of the bye-election was really gratifying - we had no notions of winning the seat, we were putting forward ideas which were startling to many voters. To have expected them to swing over en masse to Sinn Féin would have been hoping for far too much. But we caused them to think, to examine critically a position they had come to accept as natural. That so many of them did support us was very heartening, and a good omen for the future.
When the general election came we again fought the Louth constituency and also County Clare. Sinn Féin policy - the republican demand for the unity and freedom of all Ireland - which had been pushed into the background for so long, again became a live issue for the people. Electioneering work is hard, progress is slow. It is difficult to wean people away from the habits of political jobbery, pension-hunting and all the other lures which have been used for vote catching by the politicians, but deep down our people are sound. They will recognise truth and right and will respond to it. We can face the future with confidence. These election contests did their own small part in bringing about the awareness to which I referred..." (MORE LATER).
ON THIS DATE (6TH MARCH) 96 YEARS AGO : FIVE FREE STATE SOLDIERS KILLED BY IRA.
Paddy O' Daly, pictured ; IRA man-turned Free Stater.
On March 6th, 1923 (96 years ago on this date), five Free State soldiers - Captain Michael Dunne, Dublin, Captain Edward ('Joseph') Stapleton from Dublin, Lieutenant Patrick O’Connor from Castleisland, Private Laurence O’Connor from Causeway and Private Michael Galvin from Killarney - were killed in Knocknagoshel in County Kerry, by a booby trap mine placed by the IRA. The target of the trap was a local Free Stater by the name of Paddy 'Pats' O'Connor who, according to the IRA, was a notorious torturer of republican prisoners. O'Connor had joined the Free State army because of the treatment of his father by the local IRA.
The Dublin Guards, who had been in Kerry since the previous August, were commanded by Paddy O'Daly. He was furious over the booby trap and it subsequently became clear that he was responsible for what took place following the Knocknagoshel incident ; at around 2am on March 7th, 1923, nine IRA prisoners, many of whom had been tortured, were brought to Ballyseedy Wood where they were told that they were to remove an 'irregular' (ie IRA) road block. However, it was clear to the men what was in store for them when they had been shown 9 coffins in the barracks. Each were offered a cigarette and told it would be the last one any of them will have. They were then tied together to the mined road-block and blown up. Some of the men were still alive and were finished off by grenade and machine gun.
A memorial on Countess Bridge, Killarney, County Kerry, in memory of the IRA Volunteers butchered there by Free State forces in 1923.
Unbeknownst to the Free State troops one man was blown clear and managed to escape. His name was Stephen Fuller (who was later to turn his back on Irish republicanism to become a FF 'TD' in 1937). Because the bodies were so badly mangled all nine coffins were filled with the remains of the eight who perished. This was to lead to a near riot in Tralee when the coffins were handed over to the families at the gates of Ballymullen barracks. The families broke open the coffins to try and identify the remains. Later on the same day a very similar incident took place at Countess Bridge in Killarney where five IRA prisoners where asked to remove a mined road block which was also blown up. Three of the men who lay wounded were finished off by grenade. Again, amazingly, a fifth man, Tadhg Coffey, survived and escaped.
Five days later 5 more men were killed near Bahaghs Workhouse in Cahersiveen. In order to prevent any more escapes the men were first shot in the legs, then put over a mine and blown up. When the details slowly emerged about what really happened the Free State government was forced to call an inquiry into the executions and appointed none other than Major General Paddy O'Daly to oversee the court of inquiry in April. It was never going to be anything other than a whitewash. One Free State soldier, Lieutenant McCarthy, resigned his commission after the incident and called his colleagues "a murder gang". Captain Niall Harrington (author of the 'Kerry Landings' book) of the Dublin Brigade reported that "..the mines used in the slaughter of the prisoners were constructed in Tralee under the supervision of two senior Dublin Guards officers..". But neither he nor Free State Lieutenant McCarthy was ever called to testify, but the truth became known later.
'TRAITORS TO THE CROWN...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1955.
After the eight republicans were sentenced, perhaps no better commendation could be given of them than that of a Belfast loyalist who was present in court during their 'trial' - "Whilst I do not agree with their political beliefs or sentiments, I could not but feel impressed by their noble and manly bearing, dignity, sincerity and intelligence. It seemed to me at times that it was not they but the Judge and the prosecution witnesses who were on trial." How near the truth that good loyalist of Belfast spoke. It certainly was not they, but England, and all she represents with her hypocritical professions of justice and freedom, who was on trial.
They have gone to join former comrades in the penal wing of Belfast ; Joe Campbell, Newry, Leo McCormick, Dublin and young Kevin O'Rourke, Banbridge, who was sentenced to five years at the same 'court' a few days previously and, in spirit, they join their comrades in the English prisons - Cathal Goulding, Seán Stephenson, Manus Canning and JR MacCallum. And we find ourselves dwelling on the last verse of Easter Week, written by a Nun ; it is so appropriate today and as necessary as it was in 1916 :
'The Brave have gone to linger on, beneath the tyrant's heel, We know they pray, another day For clash of clanging steel.And from their cells their voices swell,To loudly call on you,Then ask men, the task, men,That yet remains to do.'
(NEXT - letter from Eamon Boyce, POW, to 'The Editor, UI', from the same source.)
WHEN AN IRISH CITIZEN IS NOT A CITIZEN. By Adrian Langan. From 'Magill' Magazine, May 2002.
The question of children born in Ireland to non-nationals becoming Irish citizens has been a burning issue in recent weeks. This right of those who are born in Ireland to be Irish citizens is enshrined in the 'Good Friday Agreement' (the Stormont Treaty) and is based on the principle of jus soli ('the law of the soil'), a rule of common law under which the place of a person's birth determines citizenship.
The issue has been raised for a number of reasons - firstly, based on reports from Dublin maternity hospitals, there would appear to be evidence that asylum-seekers are arriving in Ireland in order to have their child in Ireland and secure Irish, and thus effectively EU, citizenship for their children. This has been placing these hospitals under increasing strain.
Secondly, Irish governmental policy in relation to asylum-seekers has been to mirror our neighbours' policies. The idea has been to ensure that if there is an element of our laws being more beneficial to asylum-seekers than other European states, then we must change it. Finally, racist and anti-immigrant groups such as the 'Immigration Control Platform'* have seized upon the issue to advance their cause to prevent any further immigration into Ireland...
(*'1169' comment - why is it apparently automatically 'racist' or 'anti-immigrant' to want to investigate those who cross your borders?) (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DAY NEXT WEEK - THE 13TH MARCH 2019 - WE WON'T BE POSTING OUR USUAL OFFERING..
..as we'll be just about finished tidying-up whatever loose ends need to be tided-up after the monthly madness : we're booked-in, as always, to help organise and run the 650-ticket raffle for the Cabhair organisation, which will be held on Sunday, 10th February 2019 in a hotel on the Dublin-Kildare border.
We had intended to post the following piece, among others, on the 13th but, as we're now in the process of gathering up 650 ticket stubs and accompanying cash and will be ensconced in a posh hotel over most of the coming weekend, we won't have time then, so we'll post it now :
ON THE 13TH MARCH 1923 - 'THEIR MEMORIES SHALL NOT FADE'
AND NOW YOU THREE - WE'LL HONOUR THEE
AND YOUR MEMORIES SHALL NOT FADE,SINCE T'WAS YOUR LOT - IN THE REBEL PLOT,
YOUR BODIES TO BE LAID.
On March 13th, 1923, three Wexford IRA men that were being held captive by Free State forces - James Parle (of Clovervalley, Taghmon), John Creane (of Clonerane, Taghmon) and Patrick Hogan (of William Street, Wexford (having been 'arrested' on the 15th February 1923 for possession of firearms and imprisoned in Wexford Jail) - were blindfolded by their captors and taken out to the courtyard of the jail. The three men were accompanied to the sandbags by Fr. Patrick Walsh, who wrote about the experience here - "It was 10.30 pm when some day in March '23 when, about to retire for the night, fortified' by some drug or another, and feeling anything but well, soldiers brought me the message. I first had to go to Caro to ask the C.C. to take my place next day as celebrant of a Requiem Mass for somebody in Taghmon. After trouble with lights of my motor I started thither & thence to Wexford. A cheery welcome awaited me from the three - it was about 12 midnight. They had written their last letters and their demeanour was boyish and gladsome, with something of the exaltation of those who have received some great spiritual uplifting.
We had a fairly long walk. Eventually we came to the side of a huge grave beside which were the 3 coffins ; the wall behind was well sandbagged (and) 12, (or 15?) young soldiers with rifles were on one knee opposite the sandbags : we turned when near the wall and beside the grave, we turned the three blindfolded around to face the soldiers, the Wexford boy in the middle. No sound could be heard for eternity of a couple of minutes while the officer made some arrangement. I stood out at an angle to the left of the boys and in line with the soldiers : Fr. William and Doctor O'Connor Westgate stood similarly on their right : the boys faces wore an expression of listening to some sound in the distance.
The officer made two motions with a handkerchief to the soldiers, these made two corresponding movements, and as he quickly, by a third movement, lowered the handkerchief, I was utterly stunned by the report of the rifles, and although I saw Fr. William actually anointing the Wexford boy, who had dropped like a stone, having apparently got most of the bullets, being in the centre, I stood rooted to the spot where I stood for several seconds. I then realised the situation - the other two poor fellows were dying slowly : I went forward and anointed Parle while F. William anointed Creane. A diminutive young officer then came forward and slowly drawing a revolver from his pocket or somewhere, calmly fired twice into the ear of Parle, then turned and looked at Creane, stepped slowly across, did exactly the same for him, and all was over.."
#/media/File:Northern_star.jpg){kind=link}