Being captured with the notebook in Kilkenny. The escape from Dublin Castle. The Escape from the Four Courts.
Been a while since I read them but Iâd say the evidence is pretty flimsy. He told a story about resting up in a place across a field from my home house which I doubt would have been a high priority for a double agent. The lad who lived there was in the IRA alright and was subsequently killed in an ambush.
There is a documentary on Ernie O Malley on the TG4 website. Bit of an unusual character.
Oh yeah and the brother was in the British Army
If I remember correctly the actor who âplaysâ him in that documentary doesnât do a very flattering job. He remains a bit of an enigma alright. A romantic but quite a ruthless one. There were no limits to his disdain for people who he regarded as incompetent, much like Collins in that regard. More complex character than Collins as well I think, largely because of his background which was different to most of the IRA leadership.
dont think there was an actor - just pictures of him and interviews with his son and stuff.
The ones about Tom Barry and Dan Breen had actors alright but also old interviews with them. Didnt think they were too bad. I had the misfortune of using Dan Breen as my special topic for History in the LC. My fight for Irish freedom - you would get the feeling after the book that no else fought but himself. Turning the river in Drumcondra red with blood walking through it etc. Get the feeling watching those docs that the liberated women of Cumman na mBan were easy lays for the rebels.
Better docs on TG4 about the railways in Ireland. The West Clare one was actually a bit shit but the Clifden one was excellent as was the one in Tramore.
Whyâs that? :unsure:
I donât think having a brother in the British army could be used as a stick to beat OâMalley with. Wasnât Tom Barry in the British army? Half the country had friends and relations in the army, after all the majority of the Irish Volunteers ended up in it. Iâd need more than that to suspect OâMalley. For a double agent he was party to a hell of alot of mayhem.
Will the Brits be declassifying Tan War material in 2021? I am most looking forward to learning who the traitor was at Caherguillamore. There will be hell to pay in Herbertstown. We know the traitor is from there but we still donât know who.
Hopefully Jock McPeak will be able to clear his name aswell! :lol:
I heard a couple of weeks back that my grandparents shelltered an IRA man on the run from the Tans back in the War of Independence.
OâMalley apepars to have been a romantic for the rebellion. Firing a rifle at no-one in particular during Easter week and going home again later smacks of someone who wanted an attachment. He was certainly an enthusiast and must thave brough a lot of energy to his organising and training role. I dont see that he would have been thinking too far ahead and he clearly lost his enthusiasm after 1923 and spent so much time out of the country.
Barry, meanwhile, comes across as far more cold-blooded and calculating ⌠.exactly what was need in his position.
I think Breen might be best summed up by his photograh.
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check out the TD financial woes thread, TASE might be interested in your take on the situation.
Will Emmet Daltons name be cleared though?
Anyway itâs just a hunch I have about OâMalley. Nothing more.
The Fingal Raven rebranding to NCC and all subsequent rebrandings
Iâm surprised you havenât put in for an IRA pension, Farmer. :lol: Leitrimâs war effort appears to have been rather tame.
There was nothing lukewarm about OâMalleyâs commitment though. Everything about his background should have led him to be sympathetic to the British but as he outlined himself, he recognised how perverse the union jack waving arrogance was when it was turned against Irish âpatriotsâ by Irish people.
In terms of how far ahead he thought he was no more nor less short sighted than any IRA man, in that they all seemed to be committed to political independence rather than any real notion of nation building. OâMalleyâs case also reveals the divide between those who were totally ideologically committed to Irish republicanism and those who had a more vague interpretation of the nationalism. It is impossible to ever imagine OâMalley being willing to accept the treaty, and his later detachment from the scene probably reflects his disgust with the politics of it all. He lived a hell of a life overall it has to be said.
My reaction to Breenâs book was similar to most people here. It doesnât compare at all favourably with OâMalleyâs books obviously nor even Barryâs. His interpretation of the treaty in particular portray him as something of a simpleton. However, it was Breen and his like who made Munster ungovernable for the British. You can question the tactics and even the ideology, but it was a monumental achievement for a peasant army, under-equipped and with little training, to strategically defeat the British military occupation. They were amazing men whatever way you look at it.
Sean Forde was about the only IRA organiser I can think of to rival OâMalley âevangalismâ. He really lit the powder keg in Limerick when he arrived. In typical Limerick fashion we had all been squabbling amongst ourselves until he was sent in to sort it out.
We would be much better off with something closer to the list system or at least having constituencies that have no relationship to county boundaries.
ffs
It must have been a long walk for him.
He picked the right spot to hide from the tans anyways