I haven’t read any of Ms Phillips before but I must see where she sits on Israel/Palestinian issue. Israel only came into effect circa 1946.
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Ancient she says - can someone remind me when the Act of Union was rolled out? Is this lady aware that GB would have no links to Ireland today if it wasn’t for plantation and land confiscation, which is not the raw ingredients of any ancient construct of nationhood between both isles. Dismissing Irish claims of nationhood because we were an island of petty fiefdoms in the medieval period is juvenile and raises all kinds of questions about the real aim of the article and the integrity of the editor that would print such smut. If a common language, a common law, customs and religion are not enough to constitute a nation then I don’t know what is. One suspects miss Philips views nationhood in relation to her views on sovereignty, which is monarchy and imperialism. In short, miss Philips can go shit in her hat.
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Found an interesting series of lectures on various stages of the independence period. Maybe @ChocolateMice knows who some of the lads giving them are.
This one from John Borgonovo is very good. It’s centred around the burning of Cork but what’s more interesting is the depth of detail he gives on the Auxiliaries and the Tans. Stories about Auxies carrying out armed robberies of jewellers and banks, and the police printing notices in papers threatening to shoot people.
What’s very clear is that Britain implemented a full blown terror campaign against the civilian population with the official sanction of its leaders, and the Republicans quite brilliantly used this aggression to devastate the British in the international press. The Brits themselves had launched a massive propaganda campaign based on the German’s burning of Leuven at the outset of WW1. Once the Tans and the Auxies started to burn Irish towns, the Republican propagandists used that narrative to paint Britain’s occupation as akin to the rape of Belgium. This was shocking to the British public and created huge pressure for the government to end the war.
The lecture covers a lot of really interesting dynamics of that nature that i had never really thought about. Another example is the IRA’s assaults on the police barracks. While rarely militarily successful, they spooked the RIC and the Brits to the extent that they abandoned hundreds of small barracks all over the country. The subsequent break down in law and order led to the creation of the Republican courts by the leadership, which reassured the middle classes that the Sinn Feiners were capable of sound government and the protection of property.
It’s fascinating stuff. I didn’t read about any of this in Dan Breen’s book.
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Gas snippet here regarding summer time from Century Ireland
Summer Time has come to Ireland
8 April 1917
Time has officially changed in Ireland as the Summer Time Act has now come into effect. Clock and watches across the island have been moved forward by one hour, despite the protests from Irish MPs and from Catholic Bishops. The Bishop of Killaloe, Dr. Fogarty, has asked mass goers to ignore the change which, he said, was ‘wholly inapplicable to this country.’ It has been forced on our people in wanton disregard of their wishes and interests.’ A Tyrone branch of the Irish National League has protested against ‘English made time in Ireland’. None of this has had an impact on the ambitions of those who sought to obstruct the introduction of the change.
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100 years ago today
Extraordinary celebrations as final rebellion prisoners released
Dublin, 19 June 1917 - There were scenes of jubilation at Westland Row train station yesterday where thousands gathered to greet the released Republican prisoners, arriving home from prisons throughout England.
The crowd had been gathering at the station for hours to meet the 117 prisoners who had been arrested in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. Recognisable in the crowd were mothers, sisters and widows of the executed rebel leaders.
Among those released were Countess Markievicz and Count Plunkett, the latter of whom had only been arrested and jailed earlier this month. Countess Markievicz was accompanied by Kathleen Lynn, Helena Molony and Marie Perolz who had all travelled to Britain to escort her home.
Other senior figures released included Eoin MacNeill, Eamon de Valera, Thomas Ashe and Cathal Brugha.
The prisoners were brought from Parkhurst, Maidstone, Portland and Lewes prisons to Pentonville in London, before being put about a special train leaving Euston Station.
While in Pentonville Prison, some of the prisoners located the grave of Sir Roger Casement and knelt and prayed there for some time. Some took away with them pieces of the sod that covered the remains as mementos.
The returnees arrived in Holyhead at 1.30am, and as they disembarked from the train at the port they sang ‘The Soldier’s Song’, and were arranged in military order by Mr de Valera before setting sail for home.
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Only familiar with John really… Was at a seminar with him once, a sound fella. I recognize the other names but don’t know much about them… Surprisingly, Cork don’t like to mingle all that much … if you can believe that…
Buried the uncle today. 99 years of age. The First World War was still at its height when he was born. His earliest memory was of the Black and Tans searching the house looking for a gun that they had been tipped off was hidden in the house. Granny had the gun hidden in her underskirts and they got away with it.
The family were able to confirm recently as well that the grandfather had been at the GAA convention in Dublin on Easter Sunday 1916. He apparently got the last train out of Kingsbridge that night and missed all the fun of the following day.
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RIP. A great man and a true patriot.
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RIP. A great age
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Sorry for your loss.
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Hope you celebrated his life Fagan. He certainly seemed to have lived his life ro the full
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Great interview with Tom Barry that I hadn’t heard before. Some really interesting stuff in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM0RsCHkQfo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25O8MkLxBWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQHVGqtHcvc
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Was Barry’s policy of engaging the enemy at 10-15 yards unusual? Typically the ambushes are represented as lads on the side of a hill shooting at lads 100 yards away. He must have had some personal authority to be able to make untrained men fight at that range.
There’s a great line in the last part about Kilmichael: “There was no ditch there except rocks and a wild barren country. And they were told before the start of the fight, either you or these come out of it. There is no retreat from this place. You stop these fellas today or you’ll be stopped yourself.”
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A great man.
They had gone in the mire to destroy us and our nation and down after them we had to go
I think Barry mentioned in his book the reason they engaged them so closely was they were poor shots and didn’t have the ammo to practice.
And the Tans were cowards. 
That’s what he says in that interview as well, “there are no good or bad shots at 10 yards”. It’s amazing that he was able to get lads to do it though. Basically untrained men engaging the equivalent of a special forces unit at point blank range. It must have been terrifying. Only a certain type of personality would have been capable of leading men into that.
Great listen - Hindsight is great but linking the actions of the Volunteers to a historical consciousness of tradition and more so failure was interesting and you’d wonder how defined/refined this narrative became over the years as Tom realized he would forever be part of history.
As you’ve pointed out, the bravery of these lads going out against the might of the British army was something else - but the discussion on spies was most interesting and the underlying them/us Prod/Catholic the land issue and local resentment were all hinted at but left hanging.
I must listen to it again properly at home.
Oh too and fro in my dreams I go …
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“Turn informer or we’ll kill you”
Kevin Barry answered, “no”
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