AN ON-LINE/DIGITAL EASTER, APRIL 2020.
Due to Covid 19, Sinn Féin Poblachtach will be commemorating Easter 1916 online this year.
Beginning on Good Friday (10th April) a series of live events will be held on Facebook ; at 4pm, Ard Chomhairle member Colette Healy, Galway will be doing a reading of 'The Rose Tree' by W.B. Yeats and also announcing the full Easter online programme.
On Holy Saturday at 2.30pm Ard Chomhairle member Martin Duffy, Lurgan will read the Easter Statement from the leadership of the Republican Movement, following this he will give a short Easter Oration.
On Easter Sunday at 2.30pm Ard Chomhairle member Des Dalton, Kildare, will read the 1916 Proclamation and will them deliver a short Easter Oration.
Finally, on Easter Monday at 2.30pm, National Treasurer Diarmuid Mac Dubhghlais will read the roll of honour of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising and will give a short Easter Oration.
As part of the SFP/RSF online Easter Commemorative events there will be a regular posting on Facebook and Twitter of historical documents, films such as 'An Tine Bheo', excerpts from George Morrison’s MISE ÉIRE, interviews with 1916 veterans, historical documents and photographs and readings of historical documents and speeches. This will begin on Holy Thursday and continue over Easter Weekend and throughout Easter Week ; hope you can join in at some stage!
ON THIS DATE (8TH APRIL) 186 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF A 'COLOURFUL MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT'.
'...Jonah Barrington was a member of the late Irish Parliament for the cities of Tuam and Clogher. He was a lawyer of landed background and then later an MP for Tuam and Bannagher...in 1798 he was appointed an admiralty court judge and knighted in 1807. However he was removed from office for embezzlement in 1830, by which time he had long retreated to France to escape his creditors...' (from here.)
Probably disappointed with the hand that fate had dealt him (but possibly more to do with the way he himself had 'played that hand'!) he wrote a book entitled 'The Rise and Fall of The Irish Nation' which was stated to be 'a full account of the bribery and corruption by which the (Act Of) Union was carried ; the family histories of the members who voted away the Irish Parliament with an extraordinary black list of the titles, places and pensions which they received for their corrupt votes..', and that book is occasionally gifted with another title - 'The Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation: A Full Account of the Bribery and Corruption by Which the Union Was Carried ; the Family Histories of the Members who Voted Away the Irish Parliament'.
Jonah kept company with those as 'interesting and colourful' (!) as himself, as the following piece testifies - 'Irish elections can be boisterous and violent affairs but none more so than the Co. Wexford election to the British House of Commons in 1807, just a few years after the Act of Union...two of the candidates, William Congreve Alcock and John Colclough, fight a duel in front of the county sheriff, 16 magistrates and a large crowd of spectators. Alcock shoots Colclough dead ; he is elected ; he is also tried and acquitted for killing Colclough, but his mind is badly affected ; two years later, he will be confined in an asylum for the insane.
Among the contestants..were two local grandees, William Congreve Alcock and John Colclough. Colclough's brother, who gloried in the traditional Irish monicker of 'Caesar', had been the local MP but was a prisoner of war in France. The Colclough's, who were generally popular landlords, had lived at Tintern Abbey, a former monastery, since the mid-16th century.
The election campaign was a bitter one, polling was due to take place on 1 June but with just two days to go Alcock took exception to what he alleged was an attempt by Colclough to steal the support of tenants obligated to vote for him in what was, by today’s standards, a slightly democratic election. In what appears like a piece of egregious over-reaction, he challenged Colclough to a duel and in the encounter that followed Alcock shot his political opponent dead. As the MP for Athlone, George Tierney observed tartly, "that’s one way of getting an election". As duelling was still socially acceptable in early 19th century Ireland, Alcock was acquitted of murder and allowed to take his seat in the House of Commons.
But he was not to continue in office for long – two years after the duel he was committed to an asylum. The Irish judge and memoirist, Jonah Barrington, wrote of Alcock that "..alas! The acquitted duellist suffered more in mind than his victim had done in body. The horror of the scene, and the solemnity of the trial, combined to make a fatal inroad on his reason! He became melancholy ; his understanding declined ; a dark gloom enveloped his entire intellect ; and an excellent young man and perfect gentleman at length sank into irrecoverable imbecility."
But there is an interesting postscript to this sad tale. Not all those affected by the duel came out of it badly : Colclough's estate at Tintern Abbey was managed by his steward, one James Kennedy. Because of the absence of Caesar Colclough in France, Kennedy continued to run the estate until his Caesar’s return in 1815. During that period something of the order of £80,000 disappeared. Nobody could pin it directly on the steward but in 1818 Kennedy was dismissed at the behest of Caesar Colclough’s wife, Jane Stratford Kirwan. The money remains unaccounted for. There are, however, persistent rumours that at least some of it may have been used a generation later to fund the migration to the USA of the Kennedy family in the 1840s, and perhaps even to set up the Boston saloon that became the basis of the family fortune. A descendant of James Kennedy, by the name of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, went on to become President of the United States of American in 1961. Was the Kennedy fortune based on the tragic outcome of a tragic confrontation between two Irish aristocrats..?' (from here.)
Jonah Barrington, who was born at Knapton, in Abbeyleix, County Laois, in 1760, died at Versailles in France, at 74 years of age, in 1834.
Whatever about the alleged/possible (probable?) Kennedy connection regarding the missing £80,000 (or part thereof)- highly unlikely, we believe, as professional, career politicians would run a mile from tainted money of that sort (!!) - the 'tenants (being) obligated' to vote for their 'landlords' is a position that, mentally and morally, still exists in this warped State : the 'landlord' ie the 'distinguished' [temporary] occupant of the 'Big House' accepts it as a given, morally, that 'his tenants' (constituents) will vote him/her back in for another term in office while the voter/tenant/serf accepts it as a given that he/she is 'obligated' to vote for someone from the 'Big House'. And that's 'progress', Irish style...
'CORK CEREMONY...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
Glasgow Sinn Féin - The cumann held an open meeting on the afternoon of November 28th last and a 'Manchester Martyrs Commemoration' concert was held in the hall at 8pm, and the cumann extended a hand of welcome to the new cumann in Dundee - good luck to you all in the East! The Glasgow Cumann have increased their membership in the past few months, but there is room for a lot more so, exiles in Glasgow, give Sinn Féin your support! We wish to thank all who gave their services to the sale of 'The United Irishman', and are pleased to announce that they have increased the sale of the paper to 62 dozen copies.
A list of candidates for the Westminster elections, for ten of the twelve constituencies, was announced ; they are as follows - ARMAGH ; Tomas MacCurtain, Cork. SOUTH DOWN ; Kevin O' Rourke, Banbridge. NORTH DOWN ; John Dugan, Loughguile. MID ULSTER ; Tom Mitchel, Dublin. FERMANAGH/SOUTH TYRONE ; Phil Clarke, Dublin. WEST BELFAST ; Eamon Boyce, Dublin. EAST BELFAST ; Liam Mulcahy, Cork. NORTH BELFAST ; Frank McGlade, Ardoyne and SOUTH BELFAST ; Paddy Kearney, Dublin. Candidates have yet to be selected for Derry and South Antrim constituencies. (END of 'Cork Ceremony'. NEXT - 'Sinn Féin Victory', from 'The United Irishman' newspaper, June 1955.)
ON THIS DATE (8TH APRIL) 159 YEARS AGO : DERRYVEAGH EVICTIONS.
Twenty million acres of land in Ireland ; 661,931 'tenants' (ie native Irish) in Ireland and 19,284 'landlords' (ie British Planter) in Ireland. If the 'landlords' could get rid of the 'tenants' they could increase the size of 'their' ranches.
In the late 1850's, an unscrupulous British Toff named John George Adair arrived in the Derryveagh area of County Donegal and, by guile, hook and crook, within one year of being in the area, 'owned' more than ninty square miles of the surrounding countryside. Adair imported black-faced sheep from Scotland and allowed them to wander on 'his' land ; British 'landlords' like Adair were not alone in thinking that they could do as they wished with 'their' holdings ; their bigotry was shared by the political establishment. In 1860, the British-appointed Attorney General in Ireland, Richard Deasy, had his 'Act' passed into 'law' in this country - it was known as 'The Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment (Ireland) Act of 1860', but was better known as 'Deasy's Act'. That piece of British legislation removed whatever insignificant amount of protection that the 'tenant' had in relation to their rights and allowed the British a 'free-hand' to do as they choose with 'their' Irish 'tenants'.
The new 'law' allowed the British to set, amend, introduce and/or change any terms which the 'tenant' had with the 'landlord' and defined the contract between both parties as "deemed to be founded on the express or implied contract of the parties and not upon tenure or service." The foreign 'gentry' in Ireland were already aware that it was more profitable for them to have livestock on 'their' land rather than poor 'tenants' who leased the land, and 'Deasy's Act' encouraged them to shift the Irish off the land, 'legally', and removed any 'rights' that the evicted family may have had prior to the enactment of the new 'law'.
The Derryveagh 'landlord', John George Adair, and many others, lost no time in moving against the families living on 'their' estates : within a few months of the '1860 Landlord/Tenant - Deasy's Act', evictions were taking place at a recorded level of twenty a week ; Adair had already attempted to have the families on 'his' estate evicted for 'stealing' his Scottish (black-faced) sheep - if the sheep, while wandering free, should end up near a persons cabin, that 'tenant' was accused of stealing the animal! He changed the 'terms and conditions' of the manner in which he 'leased' the land to his existing 'tenants' and did not bother to notify them ; those families were served with eviction notices, and Adair then notified the 'police-force' and requested the British military to accompany the eviction party while it carried out its 'mandate'. On the 8th April 1861 - 159 years ago on this date - in Derryveagh, Donegal, John George Adair and his party of licenced bandits physically removed forty-four families from their miserable dwellings, burnt the roofs of same and, before the fire was extinguished, levelled the walls.
Whole families lived in ditches ; no food, no income, no shelter, no hope. Adair and his 'landlord' colleagues left such destruction and destitution in their wake that foreign newspapers sent over reporters to follow him, and their words and sketches were sent out world-wide. Irish exiles were furious, and done what they could to help their fellow-countrymen and women back home. In Australia, for instance, a 'Donegal Relief Committee' was established, and paid for most of Adair's and his colleagues victims to re-settle in Australia. That same British mentality in relation to Ireland and the Irish exists to this day and the authors of this blog are of the opinion that only a full British military and political withdrawal from Ireland will solve the issue.
ILLEGAL ARMS : IN BAD COMPANY...
A man suspected of being one of the world's biggest dealers in illegal weapons was a director of two companies based in Ireland. By Annamarie Comiskey. From 'Magill' magazine, July 2002.
Amnesty International in Ireland wants all arm brokers operating from Ireland registered, subject to export licence approval and their activities strictly controlled. Jim Loughran from Amnesty International said - "The lack of effective controls of arms dealers has led to an unrestricted trade in small arms, too often linked to human rights abuses in such places as Sierra Leone and Rwanda."
There was nothing in place to control Leonid Minin when he decided to do 'business' in Ireland ; only now, after the companies have closed, and several arms shipments to Africa latewr, the Italian court may find that Ireland should have done something sooner.
(END of 'ILLEGAL ARMS : IN BAD COMPANY'. Next - 'FIT TO PRACTISE? SOCIAL WORK IN IRELAND', from the same source.)
'THE EPIC OF THE WATER TOWER'.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, November 1954.
The Omagh raid has brought many incidents, amusing and otherwise, in its wake. Among the amusing ones we could mention the epic of the water-tower when a story by some youngsters brought scores of heavily armed soldiers and police to surround the water-tower adjacent to the Omagh Barracks in the belief that one of the IRA raiders, withdrawing from the barracks, had taken refuge there.
Unwilling to risk conflict with him, the doughty warriors of the Empire encamped around the water-tower day and night, prepared to "starve him out". Goaded by the jibes of the people and the offer of newspapermen to climb the tower to see if anyone was really there, the heroes of the Empire eventually went into action.
They first emptied thousands of gallons of water from the tank and then, covering every possible cranny or hole, from which even a mouse might emerge, with rifles and machine-guns, they sent men half-way up the ladder to lob tear-gas bombs into the space between the concrete wall of the tower and the tank... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DAY NEXT WEEK (15TH APRIL)...
..we won't be in a position to post our usual offering, as our time has already been spoke for!
We have something like the usual monthly fund-raising raffle this Sunday (12th April) to attend to but, because of the Covid 19 situation, it's only gonna be more-or-less a 'half-a-raffle' : still 650 tickets, still €440 in prize money to be distributed between the eight winners but a different format for the gig has been put in place, due to the temporarily changed circumstances.
The location has been changed to reflect the relevant safety necessities required and the usual raffle crew has been reduced in number - myself and two others, one of whom will be assisting remotely, will do the necessary on the day and, as I write, we are in the process of collecting the ticket stubs and cash, which were distributed in the usual fashion (in mid-March, before this bug had upset things too much!) but now have to be collected in a different manner than usual because of the changed situation. It's do-able, just about, for the April fund-raiser, but the May 2020 gig is looking doubtful, at the moment, but sure it's early yet...!
Anyway - whatever about next months raffle, we won't have time to put our stuff together for next Wednesday, the 15th April but, if the blog team are up to it, we'll have a few words to say on the following Wednesday, the 22nd April. Keep an eye on yourself and yours, for now, and hopefully we'll all be ok and come out in good form on the other side of this calamity. The luck of the Irish and all that...!
Thanks for reading - Sharon and the '1169' team. Stay safe!
CONTAMINATED EASTER LILY'S -
Please be careful where you get your Easter Lily's from, as Free State fraudsters are attempting to distribute State licenced (!) versions of the Lily.
And no - this is NOT an April Fool's joke!
ON THIS DATE (1ST APRIL) 99 YEARS AGO...
'In 1917, Sean Corcoran called on me and requested me to
organise a company of Volunteers and a Sinn Féin Cumann in Bohola. I arranged for a meeting to be held in Staunton's workshop in Bohola. Sean Corcoran attended the meeting and about 40 young men joined the company. I must state here that they were as fine a bunch of lads as could be found anywhere. Two names were proposed for the position of company captain, mine and P.J. Clarke. I was elected by a substantial majority. P.J. Clarke was elected 1st Lieut. Tom Carroll, 2nd Lieutenant; John Clarke, adjutant and Joe Colgan, quartermaster. A Sinn Féin Cumann was also formed at the meeting and I was elected secretary...' (from here.)
'On 1 April 1921, Sean Corcoran, O/C of the IRA's East Mayo Brigade, was shot dead by British soldiers after a short gunfight at Crossard crossroads (6 km north of Ballyhaunis). A high cross marks the spot where Corcoran died. Later that same day, a member of the British Black and Tans was killed by a sniper. In retaliation, the Black and Tans executed Michael Coen, a man who was later believed not to have taken part in fighting of any kind. A monument to Coen was placed on the Cloonfad/Galway road from Ballyhaunis...' (from here.)
ON THIS DATE (25TH MARCH) 174 YEARS AGO : 'FATHER OF THE IRISH LAND LEAGUE' BORN.
The Irish 'dissident', Michael Davitt (pictured) was born on this date - 25th March - in 1846, in Straide, County Mayo, at the height of 'An Gorta Mór' (the attempted genocide) of the Irish people, and the poverty of those times affected the Davitt family - he was the second of five children and was only a few months older than four years of age when his family were evicted from their home over rent owed and his father, Martin, was left with no choice but to travel to England to look for work.
Martin's wife, Sabina ((nee Kielty), and their five children, were given temporary accommodation by the local priest in Straide. The family were eventually reunited, in England, where young Michael attended school for a few years. His family were struggling, financially, so he obtained work, aged 9, as a labourer (he told his boss he was 13 years old and got the job - working from 6am to 6pm, with a ninty-minute break and a wage of 2s.6d a week) but within weeks he had secured a 'better' job, operating a spinning machine but, at only 11 years of age, his right arm got entangled in the machinery and had to be amputated. There was no compensation offered, and no more work, either, for a one-armed machine operator, but he eventually managed to get a job helping the local postmaster.
'Mary Fitzgerald, dear heart,
Love of my breast and my friend,
Alas that I am parting from you,
O lady who succored me at every stage.'
His final composition was to the butler, Flinn, who brought him his last drink (and his) funeral was widely attended ; in fitting tribute to the man, the wake lasted four days...' (From here.)
ON THIS DATE (25TH MARCH) 81 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF A DODGY 'SHAMROCK PIMPERNEL'.
'Jim 'Just call me the Shamrock Pimpernel' McCann is wanted all over the world for a variety of crimes, and is regarded as a colourful figure in the underworld. The reformed cannabis smuggler Howard Marks wrote in his autobiography that McCann mixed with unsuspecting IRA men and Hollywood actors like James Coburn during his heyday in the 1980s.
McCann, originally from Belfast, in 1971 became the first man in decades to escape from Crumlin Road jail, where he was on remand for petrol-bombing Queen's University. In the intervening period he linked up with international cannabis dealer Marks, while still trading on his reputation as a revolutionary. In 1977 he was arrested in France for extradition to Germany for allegedly bombing a British Army base in Moenchengladbach.
A subsequent case failed, thanks largely to protests by French political radicals. Next he turned up in Naas, when Gardai caught him with nearly £100,000 worth of cannabis. When arrested, he would only say: "My name is Mr Nobody. My address is The World."
McCann was later freed by the Garda on a technicality. He was last seen in Argentina...' (From here.)
This man was born on the 25th March, 1939, had dual British and Irish citizenship but mostly used his Free State passport. He was not the first unsavoury character to latch-on to Irish republicanism and, unfortunately, probably won't be the last. Had he persevered in his 'political' endeavours, he could now well be sitting in Leinster House with other dodgy 'republicans'.
Thanks for reading. And take care of yourself and your family and friends etc ; in these uncertain medical and (enforced) financial times, please don't fully depend on this corrupt State and those incompetents who oversee it to have your back. They haven't, nor will they - you and yours are not their concern, except on a voting day.
Sharon and the '1169' team.
ON THIS DATE (18TH MARCH) 99 YEARS AGO : 'BURGERY AMBUSH' INITIATED.
"...it is very difficult to describe this as an 'ambush' in the strict sense of the word, as there were several smaller engagements within the main attack and, furthermore, the main attack did not take place at the position planned, but was just a hurried interception of British Forces, and shortly beforehand the Volunteers did not know that there was going to be a fight.
In order to interrupt communications between Cloncoskerine, which was a military post, and Dungarvan, it was decided, on the 18th March (1921), by the Abbeyside and Dungarvan IRA Companies, to demolish Tarr's Bridge. The A.S.U. were to act as a protection party for the demolition squad. Earlier that night, 5 members of the A.S.U. had gone to Dungarvan to attack an R.I.C. patrol, which they did and, after an exchange of shots, they withdrew, and rejoined the main body of the A.S.U. at Ballycoe as previously arranged. While they were discussing about the demolition, motors were heard and their lights were seen coming from Dungarvan and going in the direction of Cloncoskerine. This was about 11.30 p.m. It was learned afterwards that there was a hostage in a lorry and that they were going, not to Cloncoskerine, but to Garranbane, where they arrested a Volunteer. With the A.S.U. at Ballycoe were the demolition party from local companies, armed with pickaxes, crowbars etc.
When the enemy lorries were observed going towards Cloncoskerine a hurried consultation took place between the IRA officer at Ballycoe Cross and, as it was nearly always the custom of the enemy not to return by the same route which they had taken going out, it was thought that the enemy would return by Ballycoe, and for this reason it was decided to place some of the A.S.U. on the road at the Burgery, and the remainder took up position on the Military road at Ballycoe.
At about 2.30 a.m. on the morning of 19th March, the enemy party (20 men, 1 officer) which consisted of a Crossley tender and a motor car were returning, it was seen that, on arriving at Tarr's Bridge, they took the main road into Dungarvan. The Volunteers at Ballycoe proceeded with all haste to join their comrades at the main road at the Burgery.
Before they reached them, fire had been opened on the leading car by the party already in position, while some of those who came from Ballycoe attacked the lorry, others rushed to the attack of those in the car (which) had proceeded, after being attacked, a short distance towards Dungarvan, and then stopped. The occupants got out, and returned to the assistance of those in the lorry.
Fighting took place on the main road, and the enemy retreated and then ran pursued by some of the Volunteers and were caught after a short chase. Among those captured was O/C enemy troops in Dungarvan – Captain Thomas and also an R.I.C. Sergeant named Hickey, who had been acting as a guide, as well as some private soldiers.
Hickey was afterwards shot, as he had been warned on a number of occasions previously to refrain from certain activities and he had failed to do so. Meanwhile the enemy in the Crossly lorry had given up the fight and had retreated across the fields, leaving behind them their lorry and some equipment. The lorry and the car were then destroyed...at Kilgobinet it was decided to send back a number of Volunteers to the scene of the ambush, to collect any arms, ammunition or equipment left behind in the darkness during the fight of the night. They proceeded across country, and were approaching the Burgery when fire was opened on them by an enemy party that had come to try to retrieve what was left of their transport.
The Volunteers were now in an open field without any cover, whereas the enemy were lined on the road firing from the cover of the fence. The Volunteers returned the fire and a sharp fight took place, until eventually the enemy retreated back to town. During the fighting, Sean Fitzgerald, Captain of Killrosanty Company was killed, and Pat Keating of the Comeragh was wounded. When Keating was hit, George Plunkett left his position while still under heavy fire and carried Keating to some cover. It is interesting to note here that Plunkett did a similar brave act, when, during Easter Week, 1916, he dashed out of the G.P.O. and went to the assistance of a British officer, wounded during the fighting.
Their first concern now was to have Pat Keating attended to, and this was done by two ladies of Cumann na mBan. He was taken to Monarud, where he received medical aid from Dr. Hackett of Dungarvan, but he died later that evening at about 5 p.m. Considerable enemy reinforcements now arrived from Waterford City, with armoured cars and lorries, and carried out widespread searches in the district, but by then the Volunteers had gone to the safety of the Comeragh Mountains." (From here, by Domnall O'Faolain.)
One of those present, IRA Volunteer Jack O'Mara, stated that, after the capture of RIC Sergeant Hickey... "..our party, consisting of ten or twelve men, halted at Kilgobnet, where the officers held a council of war to decide the fate of Sergeant Hickey...a court martial ensued and because of his activities in assisting the British to hunt down I.R.A. men he was sentenced to be shot. Sergeant Hickey was taken away by others up the boreen...and was never afterwards seen alive..." After he was executed by the IRA, a sign stating 'Police Spy' was fixed to his uniform. A local priest made arrangements for his body to be placed in an unmarked grave which was owned by his fiancée's family at St. Mary's Church in Dungarvan in County Waterford.
The tough times that were forced on Irish republicans by the British and their Free State proxies left republicans with no choice other than to meet force with force.
'CORK CEREMONY.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, December 1954.
'The Manchester Martyrs' were fittingly commemorated in Ladysbridge, County Cork, at 3.30pm, on Sunday, November 21st last. A parade of very large dimensions, led by the Cork Volunteers Band, Cork City Fianna Éireann, Cumann na gCailini and Cumann na mBan, and consisting of a Colour Party drawn from the Cork No. 1 Brigade IRA, the East Cork Manchester Martyr's Committee and the various City and County IRA units.
The following Sinn Féin Cumainn were also present - Cumann Daithe Ceannt, Cumann Mick Fitzgerald, Cumann Tomas MacCurtain, Cumann Brian Dillon, Cumann Tomas Aghas and Cumann Joe Murphy. Those representatives of the local national bodies and the general public marched from the monument in Ladybridge to the grave of Captain Willie Cox, IRA, and here a wreath was laid on the grave of a worthy successor to Allen, Larkin and O'Brien. The 'Last Post' and 'Reveille' was sounded by buglers of Na Fianna Éireann as the Brigade Colours dipped in salute and slowly rose again to flutter in the gentle breeze.
After this simple but moving ceremony the parade marched back to Ladysbridge to the strains of 'The First Cork Brigade'. On approaching the Manchester Martyrs Memorial, the Cork Volunteers Band played the 'Dead March' and the parade slowly moved into position in front of the Monument, where Miss Kitty O'Callaghan, representing Cumann na mBan, recited a decade of the Rosary for the repose of the souls of the three Martyrs.
A wreath was placed on the Monument, the 'Last Post' and 'Reveille' were sounded by buglers from Na Fianna Éireann and then Tomas Foley, representing Cumann Dáithí Ceannt, Sinn Féin, announced the speaker Michael McCarthy... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (18TH MARCH) 99 YEARS AGO : "ONE CONSTABLE DIED FROM HIS WOUNDS.."
On Friday, 18th March, 1921 - 99 years ago on this date - an enemy foot patrol consisting of seven armed pro-British 'policemen' were ambushed in the Cork village of Castletownroche. One of their number, 'Constable' William Elton, from Middlesex in England (RIC reference 76391; LDS 2094/140B/71220), who was two weeks away from his 24th birthday, was badly wounded in the attack and died the next day.
'A large party of Volunteers under the command of James O'Neill ambushed a police patrol (consisting of one sergeant and six constables) at 'The Close' in Castletownroche on 18 March 1921. Constable William Elton was mortally wounded and died on 19 March. His colleague Constable Crowley was wounded in this attack. Former Volunteer John C. Regan, who had fought with the Castletownroche Battalion column, provided a detailed account of this incident :
"About mid-March 1921 I moved with Tim Fay, Jackie Sullivan, Jimmy O’Mahoney, and Danny Shinnick of the column into Castletownroche to ambush a patrol of Tans and R.I.C. which moved regularly about the village each night. We were assisted by representatives of the Castletownroche and Killavullen companies, who performed scouting and outpost duties.
It was proposed to open fire on the patrol when it reached the gate of 'The Close’'— this was the name of a house which marked the end of the area usually patrolled. It was within 60 yards of the RIC post (and) Jackie Sullivan, Tim Fay, and Jack O’Brien were in prone position at the gate of 'The Close', while some of the locals were posted in various other positions. The scouts who were to report the position of the enemy returned to the gate of 'The Close' while they were being followed by the enemy patrol. This apparently made the enemy suspicious and they called on the scouts to halt. The party at the gate then decided that it was time to open fire and did so. Two of the patrol were wounded and the others escaped to the barracks. One of the members of the patrol died from wounds."
The wounded man was, as stated, 'Constable' William Elton, who had worked in his own country as a labourer before he joined the British Army ; he left that branch of the Crown Forces to join a different contingent of same - the RIC - in Ireland, in around late December 1920. He died, in a country foreign to him, about three months later, at 23 years young. For 'King and Country', or otherwise in the service of imperialism, it was a self-inflicted waste of a young life.
ON THIS DATE (18TH MARCH) 38 YEARS AGO : SUNK BY HIS OWN 'STEPPING STONE'.
Paddy Smith (pictured) was born near Bailieborough in County Cavan on the 17th July, 1901 and, at 16 years young, joined an IRA flying column. Within three years he was one of that organisations youngest Commandants. He was active during the 1916 Rising and was captured by the British in 1921 and interned, then charged with 'treason' (a death sentence) but was released in the 'Treaty Truce' of 1921. He took the republican side in the resulting split, stating that Collins and the other 'negotiators' did not push their case hard enough - "They (Collins and his team) gave us stepping stones but they would not walk on them."
However, in 1926, when de Valera left republicanism and founded the Fianna Fáil party, Smith also abandoned those so-called 'stepping stones' with dev and withdrew from republicanism, into the new party. He remained a Leinster House politician for Fianna Fáil until 1977 and died, as a solid FF man, on the 18th March, 1982 - 38 years ago on this date. His funeral oration was delivered by the then newly-elected Free State 'Taoiseach' Charlie Haughey, who, like Paddy, 'had done the State some service' .
ILLEGAL ARMS : IN BAD COMPANY...
A man suspected of being one of the world's biggest dealers in illegal weapons was a director of two companies based in Ireland. By Annamarie Comiskey. From 'Magill' magazine, July 2002.
One of Leonid Minin's Irish companies, 'Limad Invest', was set-up by Irish formation agents in 1996 for a firm of UK accountants. The agents then sold the company back to the accountancy firm in 1997, a standard practice at the time. Minin and Irina Najda Sylam then took over as company directors. Leonid Minin now joins other international undesirables, such as Marko Milosevic and Victor Bout, who found it useful to use Irish companies ; Marko Milosevic, son of Slobodan Milosevic, had several 'brass plate' companies in Dublin, and allegedly used them to launder the proceeds of his illegal trade in drugs and tobacco, and Victor Bout from Tajikistan, the UN claims, was at the centre of an international illegal arms smuggling ring that used Renan Airways to fly cargos to Africa.
Renan Airways used aircraft owned by Balcombe Investments Ltd, a Dublin-registered company, but the named directors of that company, which was dissolved in the year 2000, denied, in 2002, any knowledge of the activities of Renan Airways. Garda sources say that Europol or Interpol has never requested the force to assist in an international investigation related to illegal arms deals and money laundering. When it is so easy to check the directorships of companies registered here, it is surprising that the Garda is not tempted to have a look.
'Brass plate' companies have brought Ireland into disrepute ; the same year that Leonid Minin's companies were dissolved, the government started to crack down on companies set up by non-residents... (MORE LATER.)
'THOUGHTS AFTER OMAGH...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, November 1954.
The freedom of Ireland is worth every sacrifice that we may be called on to make ; so thought the greatest and best of all past generations, and so think the young men and women of today. New leaders have arisen in Ireland, inspired with the cause of justice and right ; Ireland will be free and undivided, and will be prosperous. Her people will be industrious and happy ; the seed buried with the dust of our dead leaders has come to its miraculous ripening - Ireland be proud. Rejoice!
Eight men were arrested after the Omagh Raid - they have left dependants. Will you help to provide for these dependants and thus give the greatest comfort you can to the prisoners? Subscribers and those willing to become collectors should write to : An Runaidhe, An Cumann Cabhrach, c/o United Irishman Office, 94 Seán Treacy Street, Dublin.
('1169' comment - unfortunately, there are still republican prisoners, and they have dependants. If you can help, financially or otherwise, please note that that POW aid group have since changed their name and their address and you should now contact Cabhair at 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1. Thanks!)
(END of 'Thoughts After Omagh'. NEXT - 'Resurgence', from the same source.)
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
