Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Irish History

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Irish History

    Franciscans who served as chaplains to Republicans 1916-1922 were banished from Ireland.

    Letter to Joseph Barrett from Remains Repatriation Committee, Cork. No. 1 Brigade.

    This letter came from the home of Frank Butler, Station Road, Ennis. Frank was a rates and rent collector with Ennis UDC for forty years, and was retired only one yea...r before his sudden death in 1968. In his younger years he was active in the War of Independence and the Civil War when he served as Company Captain in the Mid-Clare Brigade of the Old IRA.

    This is a copy of a letter originally sent to Joseph Barrett of Kilrush from F. O’Donoghue, Hon. Secretary of the Remains Repatriation Committee, Cork No. 1 Brigade. Dated 20 June 1958, the letter conveyed thanks from the committee to Joseph Barrett and others in the Mid-Clare Brigade , for co-operating with them in receiving the remains of Fr. Dominic O.F.M., Cap., and Fr. Albert O.F.M., Cap. at Shannon Airport.

    Capuchin priests, Fr. Albert Bibby and Fr. Dominic O’Connor ministered to the 1916 leaders and later to various leaders in the struggle for freedom. Both were present in the Four Courts garrison in June 1922 when it was attacked by the Free State government under the order of Michael Collins.

    Both Fr. Dominic and Fr. Albert were posted to the United States by the Capuchin Order in the early 1920s, presumably for the role they played on the Anti-Treaty side of the Civil War. Neither ever returned to Ireland.

    A letter sent to the then president of Sinn Fein, Éamonn De Valera, in 1925, by Fr. Dominic describes how on a vacation to visit his old friend and colleague, he found Fr. Albert on his death-bed. He described his loneliness in exile, but his conviction in his previous association with the struggle for Irish freedom is apparent when he stated that it is “better to die in agony for freedom than live in luxurious slavery”.

    Fr. Albert died in 1925 and was buried in Santa Inez, California. Fr. Dominic died ten years later in 1935 and was buried in Oregon. The remains of both men were brought back to Ireland in 1958 through the efforts of the Remains Repatriation Committee of the Cork No. 1 Brigade, Old I.R.A.

    Their bodies were received at Shannon Airport where a crowd of thousands turned out to pay their respects to the two patriot priests. Among those present were the then Taoiseach, Eamonn de Valera, and Minister for Justice, Oscar Traynor, as well as representatives of the clergy, the Capuchin Order, the Irish Army, and Brigade units from throughout the country. A guard of honour was formed by Officers of the Mid-Clare Brigade of the Old I.R.A., under Commdt. Joseph Barrett, Kilrush.
    Attached Files
    'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
    .

  • #2
    Rashers, I'll have to check my parent's wedding records ..... I've always understood that Fr. Domnick officiated at their wedding !!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Capt Patch View Post
      Rashers, I'll have to check my parent's wedding records ..... I've always understood that Fr. Domnick officiated at their wedding !!
      Capt, as I read the story of 1916 and the later troubles, I heard that Fr Dominick and Albert attended the executed in Kilmainham for final confesssions and at the moment of execution, and that at least one (Albert I think) was in the Four Courts... but that they were Capuchins and were not in any way chastised by their superiors.

      In fact I went with my father and one of his friends (when I was about 6 or 7.. so I suppose it would be more accurate to say I was brought) around several chapels where they were refused absolution... finally receiving it in Church St by a Capuchin who bore our family name, as it happened.
      'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
      .

      Comment


      • #4
        A protest in Washington D.C. against Free State General Richard Mulcahy visit in 1925.

        Writings on the posters carried by the protesters refer to Mulcahy as “The Kings Butcher” The Free State Government executed 77 Republicans.
        .
        Attached Files
        'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
        .

        Comment


        • #5
          "No English chain around my neck!"

          When Kathleen Clarke widow of the 1916 leader Tom Clarke was elected the first woman Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1939, she refused to wear the mayoral chain, which had been presented by King William III in the 17th century.

          On arrival in the Mansion House, she ordered the removal of Queen Victoria’s portrait along with other royals. As she felt, she could not sleep until they were removed. She sat up all night waiting on a number of trusted men to come around six o’clock in the morning and take them down. A new plain chain of gold was made for her to wear.
          .
          Attached Files
          'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
          .

          Comment


          • #6
            Patrick Heeney

            Patrick Heeney 1881-1911

            In 1907 the music of the Irish National Anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann (The Soldier's Song), was composed by Patrick Heeney at his home here at 101 Mecklenburgh Street (renamed Railway Street). His fellow Irish patriot, Peadar Kearney, wrote the song's lyrics, also in 1907.

            Patrick Heeney never lived to see his music become famous; he died in abject poverty in 1911 aged 29. He lies buried in an unknown grave in Drumcondra Cemetery in Dublin.

            The song became the battle hymn for the men and women of the 1916 Easter Rising and was later sung in various British internment camps and prisons.
            In 1926, the Irish language translation of the song was made by Liam Ó Rinn, chief translator to the Oireachtas, who, along with his four brothers: Christopher, Joseph, Leo, and Patrick, all fought in the GPO during the 1916 Easter Rising, as members of the Irish Volunteers.

            This video clip is from yesterday. Keep a sharp eye out for me... I was there for the historical reasons and because I was born only an ass's roar from where Patrick's home was... where you see the plaque being unveiled... and as a boy I played in probably all of the streets you will see.


            'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
            .

            Comment


            • #7
              James Connolly Heron the Great Grandson of James Connolly presents Constance Cocoran with a replica of the flag that was hoisted by her mother Molly O’Reilly of the Irish Citizen Army over Liberty Hall in 1916.

              The event on Easter Monday 2011 drew hundreds of people, which ended with the unveiling of a plaque in Railway Street to Patrick Heeney who composed the music to our National Anthem.
              .
              Attached Files
              'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
              .

              Comment


              • #8
                In his Victory in Europe day radio broadcast on the 8th May 1945, the British prime minister Winston Churchill launched a strong attack on the Irish government's policy of neutrality during the second world war.

                This is Éamon de Valera's reply which was broadcast live on Radio Éireann, 16th May 1945.

                'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
                .

                Comment


                • #9
                  Sean Heuston was born on February 21, 1891 in Gloucester Street Re named Sean McDremott Street in 1932 in Dublin. The Christian Brothers educated him. He worked as a railway clerk in Limerick and while there took an active part in Fianna Éireann, of which he was an officer.

                  Heuston arranged for Fianna members who could not afford to buy their uniforms to do so by paying small weekly sums. Under his guidance the Fianna in Limerick had a course which encompassed not only drilling, which was made up of signalling, scout training and weapons training but also lectures on Irish history and Gaelic classes.

                  In 1913, he was transferred to Dublin Fianna, and was appointed to the Emmet Sluagh. Sean went on to join the ranks of the Volunteers and played a prominent part during the Easter Rising 1916.

                  Heuston was the Officer in command of the Volunteers in the Mendicity Institution (now called Heuston’s Fort) on the south side of Dublin city. Acting under Orders from James Connolly, Heuston was to hold this position for three or four hours, in order to delay the advance of British troops.

                  This delay was necessary to give the headquarters staff time to prepare their defences around the city. Sean Huston successfully held the position for the specified period; he went on to hold it for over two days, with twenty-six Volunteers. With his position becoming untenable against considerable numbers of British troops, the building almost completely surrounded, he sent a dispatch to James Connolly informing him of their position.

                  Two Volunteers, P. J. Stephenson and Seán McLaughlin, who had to avoid both sniper fire from British troops overlooking their positions, carried the dispatch. It was soon after sending this dispatch to Connolly that Sean Heuston decided to surrender.

                  Séamus Brennan, a member of the Mendicity Institution Garrison under Heuston, gave the following account of the decision to surrender:

                  “Our tiny garrison twenty-six—had battled all morning against three or four hundred British troops. Machine-gun and rifle fire kept up a constant battering of our position. Seán visited each post in turn, encouraging us. But now we were faced with a new form of attack. The enemy, closing in, began to hurl grenades into the building. Our only answer was to try to catch these and throw them back before they exploded. Two of our men, Liam Staines and Dick Balfe, both close friends of Seán’s were badly wounded doing this. We had almost run out of ammunition. Dog-tired, without food, trapped, hopelessly outnumbered, we had reached the limit of our endurance. After consultation with the rest of us, Seán decided that the only hope for the wounded and, indeed, for the safety of all of us, was to surrender. Not everyone approved but the order was obeyed and we destroyed as much equipment as we could before giving ourselves up”

                  According to the statement given by Séamus Brennan to Piaras F. Mac Lochlainn, author of Last Words, the British troops were “infuriated when they saw the pygmy force that had given them such a stiff battle and caused them so many casualties.

                  “They screamed at us, cursed us, manhandled us. An officer asked who was in charge and Sean stepped out in front without a word… We were forced to march to the Royal (now Collins) Barracks with our hands up, held behind our heads. In the Barracks, we were lined up on the parade ground. Here we were attacked by British soldiers, kicked, beaten, spat upon.”

                  Séamus Brennan never saw Seán Heuston again after being transferred to Arbour Hill Detention Barracks. Heuston had been transferred to Richmond Barracks, and on the 4 May 1916, he was tried by Court Martial.

                  On the Sunday, 7 May 1916, the verdict of the Court Martial was communicated to him that he had been sentenced to death and was to be shot at dawn the following morning.

                  Prior to his execution, Father Albert, Capuchin priest in his final hours, attended him. Father Albert wrote an account of those hours up to and including the execution.

                  Father Albert went on to note:

                  “Never did I realise that men could fight so bravely, and die so beautifully, and so fearlessly as did the Heroes of Easter Week. On the morning of Sean Heuston’s death I would have given the world to have been in his place, he died in such a noble and sacred cause, and went forth to meet his Divine Saviour with such grand Christian sentiments of trust, confidence and love”
                  Attached Files
                  'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
                  .

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    1932. IRA man Sean McGuiness Addressing a crowd outside the Bank of Ireland on College Green Dublin.

                    Thousands gather to hear some of the released prisoners interned by the Free State government.

                    Sean McGuiness was one of the many hundreds of political prisoners set free by Eamon De Valere in 1932.
                    Attached Files
                    'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
                    .

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      clanwilliam.jpgTHE BATTLE OF MOUNT STREET DURING EASTER RISING 1916

                      To attack British reinforcements making their way from the port of Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) to the city centre, Commandant de Valera detailed small parties of men to occupy buildings overlooking Northumberland Road area, one of the likely routes the British reinforcements would take. The buildings designated were St Stephen’s School, the parochial hall and No. 25 Northumberland Road, all at the Kingstown side of Mount Street Bridge.

                      One of the most important post, was Clanwilliam House, at the city side of the bridge, overlooking Northumberland Road. A party of IRA volunteers led by the section commander, George Reynolds, garrisoned it. On Monday afternoon, the Volunteers fired on columns of what was said was elderly armed Home Defence Force styled Georgius Rex (King George) nicknamed ‘Gorgeous Wrecks’ killing or injuring a number of them. The area was generally quiet until noon on Wednesday when a large force of British troops tried to force its way down Northumberland Road in the direction of the city centre. Lieutenant Michael Malone, Volunteer James Grace and two others who were in No. 25 opened fire on them killing a large number of them, this action temporarily halted their movements.

                      A vastly superior number of British troops attacked No 25, with many been killed by Malone before he was killed in the course of the engagement. The British troops also cleared the school and parochial hall, but were held up by heavy fire from Clanwilliam House at the far side of Mount Street Bridge. Successive waves of British troops were mowed down as they tried to make it across the bridge, until eventually Clanwilliam House was set on fire.

                      The position could have been by-passed and surrounded, but General Lowe insisted on pressing on with the frontal assault with little regard for the lives of his soldiers. His contemporary tactics were those of the Western Front where it was normal practice for soldiers on both sides to charge one another in the field of battle.

                      Three of the Volunteers, including George Reynolds, were killed, but four escaped. Over two hundred British troops and officers were killed or injured. Mount Street Bridge was one of the major engagements of the Easter Rising.
                      'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
                      .

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Rashers View Post
                        1932. IRA man Sean McGuiness Addressing a crowd outside the Bank of Ireland on College Green Dublin.

                        Thousands gather to hear some of the released prisoners interned by the Free State government.

                        Sean McGuiness was one of the many hundreds of political prisoners set free by Eamon De Valere in 1932.
                        Yeah... a true democrat.... McGuinness on Fine Gael after the FF government were formed... '... the members of the defunct Executive Council were... a menace to society and the independence of Ireland, and it behoved all Republicans to unite and wipe out that menace at all costs....'
                        Everything is self-evident.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          John J. Horgan, (1904- 1964) The photographer in short pants

                          True story of a ‘remarkable photograph’.

                          The photograph of a crouching gunman wearing a hat and riding boots, often reproduced as a scene from the Talbot Street gunfight in which Sean Treacy was killed on 14 October 1920.

                          16-year-old John J. Hogan, an apprentice photographer’ This is Horgan’s own account of how he took the picture in Talbot Street:

                          ‘big chance to fire my first shot with a real press camera. The picture turned out to be a scoop over all our rivals and obtained world-wide circulation. I did not, at the time, realise that I was helping to make history...

                          When Len Maunders took time off—generally to go to the pictures—I would ask his permission to try out his £40 Minimum Palmos camera. The modern press camera costs five times that amount [in 1957] but £40 was a lot of money in 1919-20. Len granted the usual permission to try out his camera, and so here I was with a fully loaded pukka Press camera and a free afternoon.

                          I had locked up the office [at 35 Henry Street] and gone down the stairs before the Maunders could reach the cinema queue. Whether to turn right towards Mary Street or left towards Talbot Street was decided by the source of light which was clouded and dull.

                          Meandering down Earl Street, I paused at the junction of Marlborough Street with the vague notion of meeting former classmates breaking early from the Central Model Schools. I would doubtless have swanked [i.e. showed off] the posh camera. Suddenly came the familiar whine of a Crossley tender, followed by a lorry load of tin-hatted troops. They dashed into Talbot Street and I turned instinctively in hot pursuit as other youngsters follow the fire brigade.

                          With a screeching of brakes, the vehicle halted near the Masterpiece cinema and soldiers with fixed bayonets poured onto the roadway, driving pedestrians and surprised shoppers in front of them on every side. Miraculously I found myself inside the cordon and crouching behind the meagre shelter afforded by the plate-glass porch of Moran’s drapery store. On the opposite side of the street a figure dashed from the doorway of the “Republican Outfitters”—pitifully exposed—drawing a gun as he ran. After a few sharp, staccato barks, a fusillade of firing broke out, scattering screaming spectators in a wild stampede.

                          The man with the gun and another man in civilian clothes sprawled fatally wounded within 15 yards range. Trembling, I sighted the prostrate form in the view-finder and pressed the trigger. I did not know it at the time, but the central figure in this gun battle was Sean Treacy.

                          “Get out of here” was the next coherent impulse, and in a matter of seconds I found myself in the lingerie department of Moran’s store. Several people were injured and an officer swinging a revolver came into the shop with a blood-spattered civilian for screening [i.e. summary interrogation/search to check whether they had incriminating material or might be worth detaining for further questioning].

                          His glance fell upon the bare-kneed, bare-headed boy [i.e. Horgan had not graduated to wearing long trousers and a hat, both being seen as marks of manhood] clutching a leather case which might easily have contained things more lethal than lingerie. “You run home, sonny”, he said, beckoning a Tommy to put me outside the cordon. And did I run!

                          Back in the darkroom I developed the precious plates in a paroxysm of fright, occasioned not by the exciting experience but by anxiety about manipulation of the camera and Bert Maunder’s oft-repeated admonition—“The picture is the thing”.
                          Had I drawn the slide? Had I done this and that at the right time? Minutes of suspense culminated in the hypo-happy moment of realisation that I had the most dramatic picture of the day, of the week—perhaps of the year.

                          Clearly, then, Horgan did take a photograph at the scene of Treacy’s death in Talbot Street, which achieved a ‘scoop’ and worldwide circulation and was crucial in his photographic career; Irish Destiny photograph as Horgan’s (together with images from a brief cine film taken of the scene by one Gordon Lewis).
                          Horgan then worked as a freelance (he describes photographing the burning Custom House) until he was taken on as an assistant by Matt Rice, the Irish Independent photographer during the Civil War. (Rice was impressed that Horgan honoured a photo-sharing arrangement they had reached even though Rice, who had been imprisoned by Republicans during the Dublin fighting at the outbreak of the Civil War, could not reciprocate.) Horgan remained with the Independent for the rest of his career, was for many years the chief photographer of the Irish Independent.
                          Attached Files
                          'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
                          .

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Horgan himself never claimed the photo of "the crouched gunman" in fact he deliberately says that his shot was after the shooting ie.

                            "The man with the gun and another man in civilian clothes sprawled fatally wounded within 15 yards range. Trembling, I sighted the prostrate form in the view-finder and pressed the trigger. I did not know it at the time, but the central figure in this gun battle was Sean Treacy."

                            I've read somewhere recently where the "crouched gunman" is a still photograph from a movie in 1926 !!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Capt Patch View Post
                              Horgan himself never claimed the photo of "the crouched gunman" in fact he deliberately says that his shot was after the shooting ie.

                              "The man with the gun and another man in civilian clothes sprawled fatally wounded within 15 yards range. Trembling, I sighted the prostrate form in the view-finder and pressed the trigger. I did not know it at the time, but the central figure in this gun battle was Sean Treacy."

                              I've read somewhere recently where the "crouched gunman" is a still photograph from a movie in 1926 !!
                              I suppose there'll be different accounts of what he actually said. But as far as the 'crouched gunman' is concerned, compare the building in the top and bottom left pictures.
                              'Never look down on a person unless you're helping them up'.
                              .

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X