Time magazine obituary of Countess Markievicz, 1927

In previous posts I posted letters to the Irish Times and Irish Independent which challenged the allegations they contained about Countess Markievicz’s involvement in the shooting of a policeman on Easter Week in 1916. I just stumbled across Time Magazine’s obituary of the Countess in which they termed her a “murderess” and accused her of a completely different killing:

In 1916 one of the guards of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin resisted the entrance of a mob led by the Countess Markievicz. She opened her purse, drew out a pistol, shot the guard dead, and continued to lead a faction of the great Republican demonstration staged in Dublin throughout the notorious “Black Easter Week.”

The truth of the matter is that Markievicz intervened to save the doorkeeper’s life as the occupation was taking place:

Frank Robbins of the St Stephen’s Green contingent related that, as the College of Surgeons was being occupied, the doorkeeper let off a shotgun blast, nearly hitting Robbins.

Markievicz’s intervention saved the man, whom Robbins and the others considered shooting.

Remember, when you come to write history from the imperialist point of view, make sure your women are crazy and your facts are a mirror image of the truth – in other words, backwards.

Dinny Lacey, Tipperary officer

Dinny Lacey and his death.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~150/page45.html
http://homepage.eircom.net/~150/page46.html

http://republican-news.org/archive/1998/February19/19hist.html

http://1169andcounting.blogspot.com/2004_01_25_1169andcounting_archive.html (Given that the story was published in separate blog posts, the article is broken up, so you’ll have to scroll down the page to read it all.)

And scroll down nearly to the end of this page to read the rest:
http://1169andcounting.blogspot.com/2004_02_01_1169andcounting_archive.html

From here:

“Republican activity was high during the troubles at the start of the 20th century. This was due to the many hiding places in the Comeraghs and the willingness of the local population to aid the “Flying Columns”.

Rathgormack was attached to the 3rd Tipperary Brigade at the end of hostilities in 1921 and was known as F Company of the 8th Battalion Carrick-on Suir. There were 30 men in the company. Mothel/D company had 57 men, Clonea/E company had 72 men and Windgap or G company had 30 men. You can read more about those troubled times at Phoenix Publishing.
One of the darkest incidents in the bitter struggle to happen in the Rathgormack area was when the 3rd Tipp. brigade under Dinny Lacey executed District Inspector Gilbert Potter, of the RIC station in Cahir, in response to the execution of Thomas Traynor in April 1921. This event occurred around Coolnahorna and Moonminane. There is further information about the operations of the IRA in the Comeragh area in “The Comeraghs – Refuge of Rebels by Sean and Sile Murphy, though this is probably long out of print.
Upper part of the Nire Valley a favourite haunt of the rebels and venue for a famous meeting of the IRA executive in 1923 attended by De Valera, it signaled the beginning of the end of the Civil War.”

http://www.tipperarylibraries.ie/ths/thj1993.htm
References to two articles about Lacey’s death.

And finally (for now), a couple of songs which mention him by name.

I think it possible that my grandfather may have fought with Dinny Lacey, but I cannot be sure. I do know that, when I told my mother the following story about him, which Seán Fitzpatrick related in his Bureau of Military History statement, she had already heard it.

One night, Dinny Lacey and his men were lying in ambush. Their quarry did not appear, but during the night they were unnerved by an approaching sound. It was like someone walking towards them very deliberately. Lacey shouted at the intruder to identify himself. No answer, and the steps continued.
Lacey again shouted a warning, but no response. Finally, he fired a shot in the direction of the noise. It ceased immediately. On investigation, it was found that Lacey had shot a poor inoffensive donkey.
Seán Fitzpatrick rebuked Lacey for his actions.
“Well, he should have put up his hands!” was the response.

Memorial to Dinny Lacey.

Some sean-nós favourites Part 2

Part 1 of this post.

Slán le Máigh sung beautifully by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. Lyrics.

A Chomaraigh Aoibhinn O sung by Karan Casey. Lyrics.

An Clár Bog Déil, Lorcan Mac Mathúna. Lyrics here, song no. 5.

An Buachaillín Bán sung by Lorcan Mac Mathúna. Lyrics.

A version of Tá Mé i Mo Shuí by Altan. Lyrics.

Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí sung by Liam Clancy. Lyrics.

Jimmy Mo Mhíle Stór sung by Frances Black: lyrics are on the page with the video.

To come: more sean-nós songs, and other songs in the Irish language.

First Dáil commemoration: some sources and media

See the official Dáil record of the proceedings of the first sitting of Dáil Éireann, 21 January 1919.

RTÉ Archives displays some interviews with the first TDs and footage of previous commemorations. See also President de Valera’s address to the Dáil on its 50th anniversary (scroll down the page).

The online version of the Irish Times supplement on the First Dáil.

Official commemoration of the anniversary of the First Dáil

Today, the Oireachtas sat at the Mansion House to commemorate 90 years of the Dáil. Any official celebration on the date of the actual anniversary, the 21st January (tomorrow), was prevented by the fact that Sinn Féin had pre-booked the Mansion House for their commemoration.

The Joint Sitting of the Oireachtas consisted of speeches by all the political parties and the Cathaoirlaigh of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. Of the poitical leaders, Caoimhín O Caoileáin’s speech was the best, keeping the historic aspect of the occasion to the forefront. Sinn Féin is always very canny when it comes to striking the right notes.

John O’Donoghue, Cathaoirleach of the Dáil, quoted the impressive words of Cathal Brugha, who presided over the historic first meeting of the elected parliament of Ireland’s independent republic. What followed, however, was scarcely worthy of that tradition. In particular, the Taoiseach, Brian Cowan, used the occasion to promote the Lisbon Treaty and to attack its opponents. Not only that, he even said that the First Dáil had no international relevance, nor did any subsequent Dáil, until Ireland joined the EU. That is an outrageous thing for a Taoiseach to say in light of the international achievements of the nation from 1919 on, but it also leaves him open to the charge of disparaging the sovereignty of the state.

Ireland’s historic parliament was subjected to constant attack and its representatives to harassment, assault and assassination by the imperial power that would not recognise its existence. Choosing to adhere to the Lisbon Treaty’s requirement that it show its “loyalty” to the EU, the Irish government has similarly declared to the Irish people that its vote against the “treaty” (actually the EU Constitution, slightly reworked) is illegitimate and will be ignored. Cowan’s conduct at the commemoration mirrored his conduct as Taoiseach.

As the more bumbling and obvious PD leader, Ciaran Cannon, put it, “real freedom means” the attaining of a “position of influence”, which involves “pooling sovereignty”.*

The joint degradation of the process of commemoration by the government and by Sinn Féin is telling.  It is up to the Irish people, not its present representatives, it would seem, to honour and celebrate its achievements.

*In international relations, even realist theory does not have smaller countries “pooling” their sovereignty, but joining together to gain maximum influence as a group. National sovereignty is not to be superceded by any other authority.

Anniversaries

On 6 December 1922, the Irish Free State came into being, a year after the signing of the Anglo-Irish treaty. The treaty was never ratified by the British parliament, but its punitive directives were relentlessly enforced. Although the Fianna Fáil government which came into power in 1932 managed to end the Oath of Allegiance, partition was never substantially addressed. However, the 1937 Constitution claimed the whole island of Ireland as a single national territory, thus creating a legal premise for reunification.

On 7 December 1922, the Free State deputy Seán Hales was shot dead, and his friend and fellow deputy Pádraig Ó Máille was injured. The IRA were blamed for the killing. It is possible that this was the case – the Civil War was still ongoing, and anti-treaty military leader Liam Lynch had declared that executions of IRA men would be revenged by targeting of Free State deputies – but there are some odd features about the case. Hales, suspecting British involvement in the killing of Michael Collins, was demanding an investigation, which was refused by the Free State government. The night before his killing, Hales was refused a billet at one of the city’s barracks by Free State Chief of Staff Richard Mulcahy. Pádraig Ó Máille’s son Eoin (who died in recent years) expressed his belief that the Free State government or military were involved in Hales’s killing, saying that they, and not the IRA, knew of Hales’s movements on the day he was killed. Others have pointed out that no-one was charged with the killing, neither were there any suspects. However, British soldiers were seen in the area shortly before the shooting, and there was even a photograph taken of Hales and Ó Máille minutes before the shooting.

The Free State government improved the occasion by executing four anti-treaty prisoners the following day in an action generally accepted as judicial murder. The four were key men in the War of Independence – Liam Mellowes, Rory O’Connor, Richard Barrett and Joseph McKelvey. The lie that Liam Mellowes had died cravenly was circulated. The Free State had also executed Erskine Childers a few days earlier, and the list of important figures left alive was growing shorter.

The Irish Civil War became more and more brutal from this point. The winter of 1922 was one of the lowest points in the country’s history.

Here are a few pages of interest in tribute to the executed men. http://burnsmoley.com/text/mellowes.php is the best page I can find on Liam Mellowes – a very complete account of his life. His writings while in Mountjoy Jail in the months leading up to his execution are well worth reading.
Here is a listing of a small collection of Rory O’Connor’s papers.
And an account of the executed men and the background to their killing from a lecture by Brian O’Higgins in 1936: http://irelandsown.net/fourmartyrs.html

Warping the minds of the young

I was at a bookshop in town yesterday, spending more than I should have. There were a few boxes of books in the shop which came from the estate of the late Terry de Valera (son of the former president). It was a very esoteric and interesting collection. From here I picked up “Irish at Home” by Máire Ní Cheallacháin, a 1922 reprint of a book originally written at the height of the War of Independence in 1921. Among the book’s grammar, sample phrases, and so on (which I actually find very useful), we have a sample conversation in Irish, the English version of which is as follows:

IN DUBLIN:
[TWO SISTERS TALKING]

BRIGID: Is it in the city you were?

MARY: Yes.

B: Anything strange going on?

M: I did not see anything but I believe there was a “raid” being made by the military in O’Connell Street about twelve o’clock.

B: I wonder [I do not know] if they found anything?

M: I hear that some man was arrested and that he was brought as a prisoner to the Castle but I did not hear who he was.

B: Do you know that an ambush took place in Camden Street last night?

M: No! What time?

B: Just after we clearing off [out of it] according to what I hear.

M: We were in luck so. And was anyone killed?

B: One man was killed on the street and others who were passing by got wounded. It is said that one bomb was sent into the very centre of the lorry and it is not known how many of them were killed or wounded. Two or three of them began to fire shots all around them, in any case and off with them then like a whirlwind.

M: Was there any hostage in the lorry with them?

B: I do not know that [That is a thing I do not know].

M: And was it black and tans or soldiers who were there?

B: Black and tans, I believe.

M: Listen! that is a stop-press being called out. I wonder what has happened now?

B: Well, the Lord knows! Go out and get one.

[She goes out and gets one.]

M: Another spy shot in Cork.

B: I read in today’s paper that there is a detective missing in Galway and it is thought that it is what he has been carried off to an unknown destination.

M: Did you notice in this evening’s paper that there is to be a change in the Curfew again? We’ll have until ten [o'clock] now.

B: That is good as it was mischief when we had to be in at eight. It was upsetting everyone. The dinner is ready now and you had better have it [eat it] before you commence any thing else.

M: Very well. I won’t find any fault with that as I have my appetite I promise you.

[They go into the kitchen.]

Well, at least those raids and ambushes didn’t spoil their appetites. As someone said to me, if this was on the syllabus instead of Peig, everyone would be rushing to learn Irish.

Some sean-nós favourites

An explanation of the term “sean-nós”.

Finola Ó Siochrú: Searc mo Chléibh. Listen to 2 minute excerpts of the songs from her album, including the popular Máirín de Barra and her masterful performance of the beautiful Tipperary song An Clár Bog Déil. The album notes and lyric sheet (both from her website) are worth reading.

Róisín Dubh by Caitlín Maude (Youtube file). The great aspirational song of independence sung by a wonderful poet and singer.

The comic song Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneala is sung here by Dublin singer Róisín Chambers.

Slán le Máigh sung by Máire Uí Dhonnchadha. Not the best interpretation, I think, of Aindreas MacCraith’s song of exile from his native part of Limerick.

Seán Ó Sé sings Iníon an Phailitínigh atop a tourist bus in Cork. He also sings a verse of The Bells of Shandon, which takes its tune from Slán Le Máigh. I’m not really sure that Iníon is a sean-nós song, but I liked it.

Iarla Ó Lionáird sings Táimse im’ Chodladh. Lyrics in Irish are here – note that these lyrics are obviously nationalist, whereas some versions are more general in tone.

Bruach na Carraige Báine on the flute. Lyrics.

Sliabh na mBan on the uileann pipes. A beautiful tune. The song is about the failure of the 1798 rebellion in Tipperary. Lyrics.

Úna Dheas Ní Nia sung by Naisrín Elsafty.

If anyone comes across videos or other streaming files of Nioclás Tóibín, I’d love to be able to include them here.

There are a ton more – I might do a second post or update this. Any suggestions are welcome.

Part 2 of this post.

The mystery of “The Galtee Mountain Boy”

The Galtee Mountain Boy, by Patsy O’Halloran (fourth verse by Christy Moore)

I joined the Flying Column in 1916
In Cork with Seán Moylan, Tipperary with Dan Breen
Arrested by Free Staters and sentenced for to die
Farewell to Tipperary said the Galtee Mountain Boy

We crossed the pleasant valleys and over the hilltops green
Where we met with Dinny Lacey, Seán Hogan and Dan Breen
Seán Moylan and his gallant band they kept the flag flying high
Farewell to Tipperary said the Galtee Mountain Boy

We crossed the Dublin mountains, we were rebels on the run
Though hunted night and morning, we were outlawed but free men
We tracked the Wicklow mountains as the sun was shining high
Farewell to Tipperary said the Galtee Mountain Boy

I’m bidding farewell to old Clonmel that I never more will see
And to the Galtee mountains that oft times sheltered me
To the men who fought for liberty and died without a sigh
May the cause be ne’er forgotten said the Galtee Mountain Boy

This song is written from the point of view of a Tipperary Volunteer during the War of Independence and Civil War. In the latter conflict he is an anti-treaty soldier. He laments his fate as a captive of the Free State army and awaits his summary execution.

When I visited this site* last year, I learned that some people found the lyrics of the third verse unusual: surely a band from Tipperary would cross the Wicklow mountains before the Dublin mountains, presuming that they were on the way from Tipperary to Dublin?

However, assuming the song is intended to make logical sense, there were only a few specific occasions on which a band of Tipperary soldiers went from Tipperary to Dublin during the period referred to.

One such occasion occurred in the Spring of 1922, when group went to assist in the takeover of the Four Courts (see Ernie O’Malley, The Singing Flame).

Two months later, at the beginning of the Civil War, Harry Boland called for reinforcements from Tipperary for the Dublin anti-treaty garrison. Commandant Michael Sheehan led a flying column to Dublin, but they arrived after the fall of the Four Courts and too late to be of any help. However, they did head, first to the Dublin and then to the Wicklow hills, where the remnants of Dublin anti-treatyites were continuing the fight. Harry Boland took part in these battles, while Éamon de Valera travelled directly to Field General Headquarters in Clonmel.

The Tipperary column, bolstered by some Four Courts refugees, then went to Enniscorthy where they took part in the fighting, and from there headed back to FGHQ, Clonmel via Carlow and Kilkenny. Thus, the (presumably fictional) Galtee Mountain Boy would have crossed the Dublin and Wicklow mountains on his way back to Tipperary.

The author may have been very knowledgeable about the 4th (Tipperary town) Battalion. The Tipperary battalion had the most activity and the most casualties, and contained the soul of the Brigade – Seán Treacy, Seán Hogan, Seán Fitzpatrick, Dan Breen and Dinny Lacey

The references to Seán Moylan possibly refer to the occasional co-operation between the Cork No. 2 Brigade (of which Moylan was commandant), the East Limerick Brigade and the 3rd Tipperary Brigade, such as the Glencurrane ambush of December 19 1920, in which companies from all three brigades took part

*I contacted the owner of the Triskelle site, who incorporated my ideas on the lyrics page.

Ireland’s neutral foreign policy and World War 2

Melbourne Ph.D. student derides Sunday Times and Irish Independent for completely misquoting him in order to make de Valera look like a Nazi sympathiser.

A documentary called Ireland’s Nazis, which is co-produced by RTÉ and the History Channel, attempts to make a case that Ireland harboured Nazi war criminals. There is a fairly interesting discussion about it here, where there is a fair amount of scepticism displayed.

There are many issues at play here, as there often are surrounding the portrayal of Irish history, and it would be difficult to discuss them all at once.

This Time Magazine article is interesting in order to gauge de Valera’s real, working attitude to fascism. When Mussolini’s Italy attacked Abyssinia in 1936, de Valera urged the League of Nations to defend the Abysinnians with arms, and was even prepared to have Irish soldiers under English command for the cause. He was influential in ensuring that Haile Selassie was able to address the League Assembly to make his personal appeal, which the League rejected. Many think that this decision made war in Europe inevitable.

As the delegates hastily left Geneva for their home capitals, most privately agreed that by far the best speech of the week had been made by the Irish Free State’s Eamon de Valera and that these were his most trenchant words: “If the great powers of Europe would only meet now in that peace conference which will have to he held after Europe has once again been drenched in blood; if they would be prepared to make now, in advance, only a tithe of the sacrifice each of them would have to make when war was begun, the terrible menace which threatens us all today could be warded off. “The problems that distract Europe today should not be left for soldiers to decide … They should be tackled now by the statesmen.”

Ireland withdrew from the League of Nations some time after the Abysinnian débacle, with de Valera explaining that in the forthcoming conflict, small countries must endeavour to protect themselves, as larger nations would certainly not respect their rights or keep their promises. This was the real origin of Ireland’s neutrality during the Second World War.

De Valera stated his opposition to fascism in the national parliament. He also opposed a fascist movement in Ireland, making no attempt to conciliate its leaders. He stated Ireland’s intention to oppose German forces with arms in the event of invasion, and plans were drawn up with army leaders, although weapons were short due to an embargo by England and America. SOE, the arm of British intelligence which organised sabotage operations in Europe, and which was inspired by the 1919-1921 era IRA, proposed that they should work with the Irish government on a plan to oppose the German forces.  Churchill vetoed it, and MI6 drew up a report on de Valera to try and convince the British cabinet that that Ireland would be brought into the war (and hence its ports made available to England) if he was overthrown. Yet among the massaged facts, falsehoods and half-truths in the report – propaganda should always contain at least a grain of truth – there is no attempt to say that de Valera actually had any sympathy with the German cause.

I predicted about two years ago that very soon P.R. would have Ireland as collaborating with the Nazis, just as the War of Independence has been dubbed a sectarian and terrorist conflict by a certain newspaper group and a handful of soundbyte-spouting academics. It should be noted by advocates of fairness that those who seek to discredit Ireland’s role in both conflicts have mirrored the propaganda of those who sought Ireland’s defeat. I would also point to the fact that that Ireland’s Nazis is a part of the same series that also contained a documentary about Eoin O’Duffy which sought to rationalise his fascism.