JUNE 2004

bloody sunday

1920....

In 1920, a reign of terror stalked this land, it was to be a horrific year in Irish history. The Independent Movement was in full swing and guerilla warfare was having an impact on the British authorities. In addition Michael Collins had pierced the British intelligence network and his spies were operating in Dublin Castle.

In March of that year the Black and Tans arrived in Ireland, followed by the Auxiliaries in August.

Pieras Béaslai in his book Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland,

described the Black and Tans as:

"............a body whose unsavoury record stinks in the nostrils of the civilised world ... The origin of the name is not generally known. When the new English recruits to the RIC (the police force) first made their appearance in Ireland, the usual RIC uniforms were not available for them, and they were dressed, for the time being, in khaki uniform with the black belts and caps of the RIC. Hence the country people nicknamed them the 'Black and Tans'. When the new force had distinguished themselves by many murders and outrages, and the sacking of towns, and the name had come to be a name of terror to peaceful citizens, they adopted it enthusiastically for themselves; and their special propaganda organ, issued from Dublin Castle. gloried in the term. At a later stage the term came to be applied to the Auxiliaries and English spies and other agents of the Reign of Terror.

"The Black and Tans were largely drawn from criminal classes, and authentic cases were discovered where they had been released by a beneficient Government from penal servitude, incurred through revolting crimes, to enable them to bring the lights of English Law and Order to Ireland. they were, in short, dirty tools for a dirty job.

"Those of the old RIC who were left in the force viewed with disgust their compelled association with these off-scourings of rascaldom, who stole one another's money and belongings, who had no code of honour, no scrple and very little discipline. But they were the right kind of men for Sir Hamar Greenwood's job."

Of the Auxiliaries, Piaras Béaslai had this to say:

"They were stated officially to be composed exclusively of ex-officers of the British Army, but this, like most English official statements about Ireland, was untrue. A considerable portion of them, but not all, were ex-officers; but the criminal element was also found amongst them. they were a very mixed body, containing some fine types and a great many very low scoundrels.

"This force was much more formidable than the ordinary Black and Tans owing to the superior intelligence energy and courage of its members. They became known as 'the Auxis'; and, in Dublin, where the ordinary RIC did not operate they were commonly referred to as the Black and Tans."

The whole country was in turmoil , Atrocities abounded and terror gripped the land.Conditions during that year resulted in a very reduced amount of GAA (Irish Sport) activity. Many young men were active in the Independence Movement, on the run, or in prison.

On the 16th March 1920, Tomás MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork, received a letter in the post. It bore a cross, beneath which were written the words:

Thomas MacCurtain prepare for Death. You are doomed.

Piaras Béaslai reports as follows:

" On 20th March at 1a.m., a party of armed men, with blackened faces,forced an entry into the house of Tomas MacCurtain, and shot him dead in the presence of his wife......Public opinion in Cork was shown by the Coroner's jury, which after an enquiry lasting sixteen days, returned the following verdict:

"We find that Alderman Tomas MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork, died from shock and haemorrhage, caused by bullet wounds, and that he was wilfully wounded under circumstances of the most callous brutality; and that the murder was organised and carried out by the RIC oficially directed by the British Government.

"We return a verdict of wilful murder against David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England; Lord French, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Ian MacPherson, late Chief Secretary of Ireland; acting-Inspector General Smith, of the RIC; Divisional Inspector Clayton of the RIC; D.I.Swanzy, and some unknown members of the RIC."

He was succeeded as Lord Mayor by Terence McSwiney whose inaugural address contained the following:

"This contest is one of endurance, and it is not they who can inflict most, but they whocan suffer most, who will conquer.




Some of those in the Movement used the Hunger Strike as a weapon - as did Terence McSwiney during his imprisonment in Brixton Prison.

"After a fast of seventy-four days Terence McSwiney died, on Oc.25th.....the event caused intense emotion throughout Ireland, and, indeed, among the Irish race all over the world. "

And so the struggle continued in every shape and form, with the 'Tans' terrorising the civilian population.Piaras Béaslai further records the following:

"On the morning of Nov.21st parties of Volunteers raided houses in various parts of Dublin and fourteen English Officers were shot dead....as a 'reprisal' the Auxiliaries rode up in lorries to Croke Park that afternoon, where a huge crowd of men, women and children were engaged in watching a Gaelic Football match between Dublin and Tipperary, and fired on the crowd killing 14 and wounding about 60. One of the players in the match was among the killed. they then dismounted and searched all the men in the Park. By wasy of justification it was alleged that they were fired on - a statement palpably absurd. It was also alleged that they had information that the shootings that morning had been done by men from the country, who had come up for that purpose under the guise of attending the match, and that this was the reason for the raid on Croke Park ....all the men engaged on the operation that morning belonged to 'The Squad' or the Dublin Brigade.

This paper was supplied to the Handstand by our local historian, Billy Kirwan.