Saturday, November 23, 2002

More on MYLES BYRNE ,1798 rebel , and a mention for someone from the same historical period who is better known than Myles Byrne but ,in my opinion, should'nt be .....
Daniel O Connell,'The Great Liberator' ,so-called NOT because he liberated Ireland from British rule(has'nt happened yet) but because he is said to have "liberated the great mass of the Irish people from their irrelevance on the political scene" . O Connell opposed the 1798 Rising ,and was a member of the Lawyers Corps of Yeomanry ,which was the Protestant militia which fought against the United Irish forces.O Connell , a Mason, referred to the insurgents as "criminals" . He was known as a landlord of ill-repute,and once stated- "I desire no social revolution,no social change,in short-salutary restoration without revolution,an Irish parliament,British connection, one king,two legislatures ".He frequently called for more British troops to be sent to quell the secret societies which resisted landlord oppression !
George Bernard Shaw(1856-1950) had the measure of people like O Connell--
" The more things a man is ashamed of,the more respectable he is" ('Man and Superman',1903).

A man of different character was Myles Byrne - " He was only a boy when he witnessed the attacks by the yeoman militia and other mercenaries which England let loose in Wexford in 1798. But he took his place in the United Irishmen and fought through the Wexford campaign , joined Michael Dwyer afterwards in Wicklow , later came to Dublin and was a comrade and friend of Robert Emmet in the continuation of ' 98 which failed so sadly in 1803 . He was sent by Emmet(then on the run) to France to seek assistance from Thomas Addis Emmet and the other exiled United Irishmen .He went with no hesitation ,in the hope that he would return in the ranks of a conquering army - but it was not to be ...." (more later).

Friday, November 22, 2002

When it was first established in 1795 as a militant Protestant organisation dedicated to preserving Protestant 'supremacy' ,the Orange Order had a Grand Master named John Claudius Bereford, who stated that the union with England would "see the destruction of the country. Proud of the name of Irishman,I hope never to ... see my country governed by laws enacted by a parliament over which she can have no control..(the proposed Union was) a measure so destructive of their commerce and prosperity ,and so humiliating to their pride as a nation". All the Orange lodges of the nine Ulster counties organised a meeting and issued the declaration that the proposed Union would bring " inevitable ruin to the peace, prosperity and happiness of Ireland" . What next-Nationalists opposed to a United Ireland? Well...
At the height of the 1798 Rising, the Archbishop of Dublin, John Troy, in a letter read at all masses in his diocese , wrote about the "heinousness of violating the laws of our country and of attempting by insurrection and murder to subvert the government of our gracious King. Let no one deceive you by wretched impracticable speculations on the rights of man and the majesty of the people. Unite with all your loyal and peaceable fellow subjects to crush the wicked spirit of insurrection " .
Without commenting on "the rights of small children" to the Catholic Church , it really would be better for all concerned if they kept out of politics and childrens underpants .......

Thursday, November 21, 2002

Many thanks to a Mr Frank Clarke,from Enniscorthy in Co Wexford , who e-mailed me re my comments here on Sunday last ,November 17 , when I mentioned a Wexford rebel named Myles Byrne; Mr Clarke gave me more details re the 1798 fighter--
" In Montmartre("Hill of Martyrs") Cemetery in Paris lie the remains of Myles Byrne ,United Irishman,Wexford man and survivor of Oulart Hill and Vinegar Hill in 1798.The inscription on his gravestone reads~ Here lies Myles Byrne,Lieutenant Colonel in the service of France.Officer of the legion of honour.Knight of St Louis,born at Monaseed in the county Wexford in Ireland,20 March 1780. Died at Paris,the 24th January 1862,his long life was distinguished by the constant integrity and loyalty of his character and by his high-minded principles.Sincerely attached to Ireland,his native land,he gave faithful service to France,the country of his adoption "
Frank gave me a personal history of Myles Byrne , and requested that I post same on this page ; the Myles Byrne described in Franks e-mail to me is very much the man I thought he would be --a genuine rebel of that period and this one ,as the fight is the same fight and likewise the oppressor. I will return to Myles Byrne at a later stage .As Frank Clarke stated in his letter to me -- " Myles Byrne would have had no time for those that think they can talk the British out of our country;he was a man of honour ,not to be bribed or brokered with .He is Irelands loss..." There's still a few of us out there ,Frank! Slan Anois,agus go raibh maith agat.

Wednesday, November 20, 2002

14 killed,13 wounded-'BLOODY SUNDAY',January 30,1972:4.09pm---
The Bloody Sunday march in 1972 was not an isolated event~ it was one of a series of nine such marches,with the first one having taken place on Christmas Day 1972,with a demonstration from the outskirts of Belfast to the gates of LONG KESH prison.
In the four weeks before Bloody Sunday ,there were nine "illegal" (so the British said) anti-internment marches across the Six Counties;on January 22,1972,an anti-internment march in Armagh was scattered by British soldiers firing CS gas and rubber bullets- on the same day,a march to a newly-opened prison camp at Magilligan in Co.Derry was beaten and kicked into disarray by British soldiers ,including men of the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment fron Belfast.
The day before Bloody Sunday a riot in William Street was stopped when British soldiers opened fire-Peter McLaughlin and Peter Robson were wounded and classed as "nail-bombers". Neither man was ever questioned or charged in relation to the 'nail-bombing' allegation! In a BBC documentary broadcast in January 1992(Nineteen-ninty-two) the commander of 1PARA,Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford,stated- "When we moved on the streets(on Bloody Sunday) we moved as if we in fact were moving against a well-armed .well-trained army".
14 KILLED,13 WOUNDED-- British Army V Non-combatants~ the British trade-mark in every country they blighted with their presence.

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

'NEWSFLASH 2' -- " Nationalists(will not) even begin to contemplate a unionist-dominated Assembly which would have Trimble as its 'prime minister' .Not a chance".
---Brian Campbell,journalist with AP/RN,writing in that paper on...oh!-well,not recently ; no,actually,he wrote the above around the same time as Jim was having his change of heart--March 1998(see AP/RN,26 March,1998,page 19).

'NEWSFLASH 3'-- "An internal Six County settlement is not a solution to the conflict.A Six-County assembly would institutionalise the Unionist veto" -fightin' talk at last from the Provo 'paper(see 'Editorial' column,page 8,AP/RN...OOPS! my fault again-its not a current statement from the Adams Family indicating a realisation of the facts;its from AP/RN,February 5, 1998,putting down a line in the sand which would soon be washed away by the tide of incoming careers...

Monday, November 18, 2002

'NEWSFLASH' -- Jim McAllister,former Provo Ard Comhairle(Executive) member stated " The peace process has failed.The party should not go back to the talks.They are not a stepping-stone to a United Ireland or to disengagement.Adams played his hand well,but it was a selected hand and it was'nt the best one in the game.Long term,he has to lose". WHATS THIS? A top Provo breaking ranks and telling things as they are?? Well...Yes and No- The above quote is from February 1998(see 'The Sunday Tribune',March 1,1998,page 13) when Adams and Co. were hustling for a career in a British parliament (ie Stormont) but were doing so in a manner which some of their own people could'nt stomach.

Sunday, November 17, 2002

More on the British in India- according to the author MIHIR BOSE , many millions of Indians collaborated with the British and found both profit and pleasure from British rule; one-third of India was never ruled by the British but was left in the hands of Indian 'Princes'- these were the greatest bulwark of British rule and their biggest collaborators. A system which the British are still using to this day in Ireland~ "if its not broke,don't fix it"~ "jolly good" !
MILES BYRNE ,an 18-year young 1798 rebel leader from Monaseed,escaped to France where he played a prominent role in the Napoleonic wars of Europe . In the 1850's he wrote his memoirs of the 1798 Rising ,in which he was critical of the "gentlemany nature" of the rebel approach,believing them to have been "too willing to negotiate and to accept(British) government protections and non-existent government good faith" . What would Miles make of the carry-on of the inheritors of the 'Stoop Down Low Party' throne?