Saturday, July 12, 2003

Tom Doyle , Free State Civil Servant , Free State Department of Defence employee....and IRA activist.

.... when he was released in December 1945 , Tom Doyle had lost his job (due to pressure exerted by the Free State administration) ; however , he was already working with the 'Republican Prisoners Release Association' (RPRA) ....

In 1947 , Tom Doyle was elected Secretary of the 'RPRA' , a position he held until the organisation was disbanded in 1952 and its committee (Rita McGlynn , Ella Woods , Donal O'Connor , Tom Gill , Nan Dillon and Tom Doyle) founded 'An Cumann Cabhrach' (now 'Cabhair') in 1953. He was elected Secretary to the new organisation and held that position until his death in 1962.

Tom Doyle regularly wrote articles for the then newspaper of the Republican Movement 'The United Irishman' (now 'Saoirse') which was first published in May 1948 ; in that same year he was elected as Secretary to the Sinn Fein Organising Committee and later became joint General Secretary (along with Jim Russell) of Sinn Fein proper. Also in 1948 , he got a job on the staff of the 'Workers Union of Ireland' .

At Sinn Fein's 1951 Ard Fheis , Tom Doyle was elected Vice-President of the organisation and, during the early 1950's , he served as President for two years and from 1956 to 1962 again held the position of Vice-President . (MORE LATER)>


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle , first published in 1924 :

Joe and Seumas Taylor of Glencar -

" ..... for the British left in their place an army of Irishmen pledged to the same King .....

.... June came and that army was commanded to complete the Empire's unfinished work . The war against the Republic was renewed. Again mothers saw their sons go out to the mountains- to their "loyal allies the hills" , and again they held in their hearts the dreadful knowledge - "without falling they will not win" .

Seumas Taylor was not like his soldier brother ; he was a very gentle , home-loving boy . His comrades tried, because of Joe's death, to keep him out of the danger , but for all his quietness he had his own way : he was adjutant of a company in March, 1923. He was sitting in his mother's house , resting, very tired, when the Free State troops rushed in and took him away. The prisoners saw him the next night in Killorglin Barracks . He was covered with blood-stained bandages , hardly able to stand. Sheila (his sister) had sent him in a coat. In the censor's office they had filled the pockets with ammunition ; when Seumas opened the coat this fell out and he was pitilessly beaten by his guards . " (MORE LATER)>


" PADDY IRISHMAN ...... " -

- "They're so intelligent , the Irish . Give them an education and they can do anything . I remember the first time I met an Irish accountant . I laughed because I could'nt believe it : an Irish accountant ! " .

----- Tory MP Edwina Currie , the SUN 'newspaper' , 1st March 1997 .

Oh we're good with figures , Edwina :

1+1+6+9 = 834 ; 26+6 = 1.

.... you can count on that .

Friday, July 11, 2003

.... Tom Doyle , Free State Civil Servant, Free State Department of Defence employee... and IRA activist --

..... in February 1941, Tom Doyle was noticed by the Special Branch as he was talking to people that they were interested in .....

-- his movements and contacts were now being monitored . In March 1942, Tom Doyle was arrested and sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment for IRA membership and was locked-up in Mountjoy Jail ; he was later moved to Arbour Hill Military Prison and, in July 1945, was transferred to the Curragh Internment Camp where he was detained for one year - he was then moved to the 'Glasshouse' in the Curragh and kept there until that December (1945) when he was released.

The Free State administration used 'Section 34 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939' on Tom Doyle and he lost his job ; by then he had already reported back to the Movement and was involved in the 'Republican Prisoners Release Association' (RPRA) , which had been founded in 1945 - the aim of the 'RPRA' was to assist the Republican prisoners and their dependants and to campaign for the release of all Irish Republican political prisoners in Ireland and England. (MORE LATER)>


THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 :

Joe and Seumas Taylor of Glencar -

...the Black-and-Tans pulled Joe Taylor out of his house and shot him ; he died from loss of blood ....

" His memorial stands on the roadside where he was shot , in a little plot planted with shrubs and flowers. The cross bears an inscription:'CAPTAIN JOSEPH TAYLOR,IRA,DIED FOR IRELAND,FEB.27th,RIP'.The lesson of his death was for Seumas to learn.

June came, and, as Joe Taylor had foreseen, the enemy called a truce: not out-numbered, not out-rivalled in violence, but defeated by their own campaign of terror . The world's indignation turned against the Imperial assassins : the men whom they had murdered conquered them. December came and the annihilation of a great hope. The departure of British troops from Ireland , dreamed of as the reward of a thousand martyrdoms , came as most bitter shame, for they left in their place an army of Irishmen pledged to the same King . " (MORE LATER)>


WHAT A COINCIDENCE......

.....according to a book by Gary Wills entitled 'REAGANS AMERICA' , Twentieth Century-Fox purchased 236 acres of land from Ronnie and , in doing so, gave him a three-thousand per cent profit on his investment - shortly after that deal , the then U S President signed a bill (which had been vetoed by his predecessor) giving all the major film studios a multimillion-dollar tax break !

...at least he did'nt start a war ....

....and, as they say in Nicaragua , - "El que tuvo reales ya los tiene todavia " ("The one who had money before still has it now").

Thursday, July 10, 2003

....Tom Doyle , Free State Civil Servant , Free State Department of Defence employee...and IRA activist.

..... near the end of his teenage years , Tom Doyle became interested in Irish Republicanism....

....and , within a few months, had joined the IRA - he was an active Volunteer in the Dublin Brigade. His position in the Free State Department of Defence gave him access to certain files which were classed as 'sensitive' ; he was interested in one particular folder - it contained information on the 'Magazine Fort' in Dublin's Phoenix Park , where the bulk of the Free State Army's ammunition was stored .

Tom Doyle copied the details from the folder and approached IRA leaders Michael Traynor and Jack McNeela with a view to putting a plan together to raid the 'Fort' ; the idea was worked on and , on 23rd December, 1939 , the raid was carried out : over one-million rounds of ammunition was 'liberated' and Tom Doyle himself was among the dozens of IRA Volunteers that took part in the operation.

In 1940 , Tom Doyle acted as Adjutant General to Stephen Hayes , the IRA Chief-of-Staff ; the Special Branch knew nothing of his IRA activities as he continued to work in the Free State Department of Defence while his IRA comrades were forced to go 'on the run' as the Branch were looking for them . However , in February 1941 , he was noticed by the Branch as he was talking to people they were interested in ..... (MORE LATER)>


'THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY' , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 :

Joe and Seumas Taylor of Glencar -

.... Joe Taylor , IRA Volunteer, was at home when two armed men rushed in and struck him with a rifle on the forehead , shouting "Get up and come out ..... " --

" Sheila (his sister) stood in the doorway , and caught at the rifle and implored the men not to shoot , but they dragged Joe out on the road . There were about fourteen of the Black-and-Tans round the house with three prisoners they had taken that morning . Seumas (Joe's brother) was one. His captors took Joe to the roadside, made him stand against the hedge, and shot him . He fell on the ground , blood streaming from his wound, and lay moaning .

The mother and father came rushing up from the house, frantic, but the Black-and-Tans held them back. They would let no one go to the wounded man. It was an hour before they went away , leaving Seumas free. The father and brother carried Joe into the nearest house . He was able to speak to them and to take a drink. They did not think that he would die ; but he died an hour later from loss of blood . " (MORE LATER)>


PILLOW TALK.......

The Loyalist 'TARA' paramilitary group (founded , and flounderd,in the 1980's) was led by William McGrath - the same man that made his name in the 'Kincora Boys Home' forced male-prostitution ring, and a 'pin-up' for perverts everywhere. Before he was caught with his bag of lollipops and measuring tape , the bould Willie maintained that the Ulster Protestants were one of the 'Lost Tribes of Israel' !

McGrath claimed that the British Coronation Stone was originally to have been Jacobs Pillow ....

.... life's just one long nightmare for you, Willie, is'nt it....?

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

Tom Doyle , Free State Civil Servant, Free State Department of Defence employee..... and IRA activist.

A child born on Comeragh Road in Drimnagh, Dublin, in 1917, was to put a full twenty-seven years work into the Republican Movement before his death at the young age of 45 ; again, as so often mentioned on this site, his name is practically unknown outside the Movement.....

Tom Doyle was educated at St James' Christian Brother School in James' Street, Dublin, left school at sixteen years young, and commenced employment as a clerk in the Free State Department of Defence ; he furthered his education and his career prospects by later obtaining a diploma in social and economic science at University college Dublin .

Near the end of his teenage years he became interested in the concept of Irish Republicanism ...... (MORE LATER)>


' THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY ' , by Dorothy Macardle , first published in 1924 :

.... Joe and Seumas Taylor of Glencar -

" In the lonely glen, wind-swept and filled with heroic beauty, it is no wonder if men's minds grow restless- if its young men see visions and its old men dream dreams . It is a place that has given Ireland brave sons.

A little stone-built cottage is the Taylors' home . When things were quiet Joe and Seumas both lived at home. Joe was the elder of the two. He was an officer in the Volunteers in 1916 , one of those who held men together by their own faith and daring when to the worldly-wise the thought of a free Ireland seemed no more than a poet's dream .He was six months in jail for "illegal drilling" in 1918, and was drilling openly again as soon as he was released. He lived in the mountains , carrying out the work of the Republican army until February 1921.

"Tell me,son, are we going to win at all? " , his mother asked one day . "We are," he replied, "but not till after June. Till June things will get hotter; there will be more of them coming in ." "God pity us!" the mother exclaimed . "There'll be many a poor boy fall before that" .

"They'll not win without falling," he said. The twenty-seventh of February was a Sunday , and Joe ventured home to get ready for Mass. It was early ; only his sister Sheila was up and he sat resting, half asleep by the fire . He had been walking the mountains all night and was very tired.

Two armed men rushed in, and one struck him with a rifle on the forehead, shouting "Get up and come out!" ...... (MORE LATER)>


GOOD LORD , JOHN, YOU'RE VERY QUIET .....

.... even before his 'elevation' to that of a 'British Lord' , the Unionist John Taylor was keeping the head down - or was he ?

According to 'The Sunday Tribune' issue of 22nd January 1989 (page 32) , Mr Taylor is probably just to busy to be botherin' with us Taigs :
He was listed as Chairperson of - Cerdac Ltd ; Tyrone Printing Company ; Ulster Gazette (Armagh) Ltd; Bramley Apple Restaurant Ltd; Gosford Housing Association Ltd; Sovereign Properties Ltd; and Tyrone Courier(Dungannon) Ltd !
He also published five newspapers , is a civil engineer , a land owner , a developer holding eleven acres of development land in Armagh , owns two houses in Cyprus and, at the same time , was an MEP .

.... does'nt leave much time for chasing Fenians !

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

..... James Nowlan , GAA President and Sinn Fein activist.....

.... in August 1916 , James Nowlan was released from Frongoch Prison in Wales and resumed his GAA and Sinn Fein activities - he also raised funds for the 'Irish National and Volunteer Dependent Fund' ......

During the 'Tan War' (1919-1921) James Nowlan publicly voiced support for the IRA's armed struggle and was unmercilessly harassed by the British for doing so - the GAA itself as an institution and anyone associated with it were abused , verbally and physically, by the Brits. James Nowlan retired as GAA President in March 1921 , at the Congress that year, and was appointed 'Honorary Life President' of the association - the only person to be so honoured .

He died on 30th June , 1924 , in his 70's and , three years after his death , the Kilkenny GAA Stadium became known as 'Nowlan Park' . There is a lot more that today's GAA leadership could do to honour that man properly ; the GAA leadership of today has, in my opinion, aligned itself firmly with the establishment of the day and is wasting the potential it has to help achieve a British withdrawal from this country. Again, in my opinion, James Nowlan would have little to do with them .....


'THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY ' , 1924 (Dorothy Macardle) -

"... there is no lovelier place in Kerry than Glencar ..." :

"Sombre holly-trees huddle under young birches and larches, whose boughs sprinkle the air with luminous green. Scotch firs stand, tall and sparse, in a straggling line. Far and wide the marshy land, grey-brown with rocks and flowering myrtle, flows up to the encompassing hills. Eastward rise up , proud and protective, the Macgillicuddy Reeks, culminating in the summit of Carrantuohill, his head lost in the clouds.

Over it all the restless Kerry weather . Atlantic winds and massive or airy clouds, with varying shadow and sun-burst, weave their spells : visions of floating mountains seem to open only to vanish again ; a hill stands out , clear-cut like a pyramid of gold; a green, wooded valley is transmuted to a heaving sea; then all lies gloomy and sullen once more under a thunderous sky " ' (MORE LATER)>


IT's JUST NOT CRICKET .....
.... In 1935 , the British Duke of Westminster made use of a 'loop-hole' in the tax system to pay his domestic employees (and would'nt we all....) on whom he would not otherwise have received a tax deduction for ; instead of paying them wages , he gave them annual payments under deeds of covenant !

The British House of Lords rejected the tax inspectors arguments that the truth of the matter was that the Duke was paying his staff wages in a form that was dressed up so as to be tax deductible - a 'Lord Tomlin' stated that " Every man is entitled if he can to order his affairs so that the tax attaching is less than it otherwise would be " . The Duke of Westminster won his case .

So - if you're 'signing-on' and doing a few nixers , or doing some extra work after the day job -- don't worry about being caught ; Lord Tomlin says its ok !

Monday, July 07, 2003

.... James Nowlan , GAA President and Sinn Fein activist.....

....although he was a well-respected member of the GAA and a trusted Alderman on Kilkenny Corporation , Sinn Fein member James Nowlan failed to convince the Central Council of the GAA that it should publicly commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1798 Rising .....

The GAA leadership refused to even appoint representatives to the 1798 Centenary Committee , but James Nowlan and a few other GAA members played a prominent role in the celebrations .

At the GAA Congress held in September 1901 , James Nowlan was elected President and attempted to steer the organisation towards a more Republican path ; for instance , when the 'Irish Volunteers' was formed, Nowlan stated that it was a most suitable group for GAA members to join , even though other GAA leaders were not as enthusiastic about the group.

James Nowlan was arrested by the British in May 1916 following the Easter Rising, and imprisoned in Frongoch, in Wales ; in August that year he was released , and resumed his GAA and Sinn Fein activities . He was to the forefront in campaigning for a general amnesty for all political prisoners and also raised funds for the 'Irish National and Volunteer Dependent Fund' . (MORE LATER)>


From 'The Tragedies of Kerry', by Dorothy Macardle , 1924 :

JOE AND SEUMAS TAYLOR OF GLENCAR

" There is no lovelier place in Kerry than Glencar. In Autumn it is aglow with rowan-berries and in May it is full of rainy, sun-lit colours changing with every wind from hour to hour ; always it is full of sweet fragrances and sounds - of "Shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds make madrigals".

Violets and cloud-blue hyacinths, primroses and white bell-flowers whose name nobody knows , glimmer in the hollows under the trees. Little orchards where the apple-trees are a-bubble with blossom struggle up on to rocky moors , and there the starry branches of the blackthorn shine, and the rich yellow of gorse " . (MORE LATER)>


When British Captain Eric Nave retired from service he wrote a book in which he claimed that Churchill knew that the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbour ....

.....he stated that Churchill learned of the imminent attack from intercepted messages but refused to tell the Americans for his own reasons (anyone know the Japanese for 'Steaknife' ?) . An extract from Nave's book was published in an Australian newspaper , which prompted British Admiral D Higgins, from the British 'D Notice Committee' (the under-cover censorship board) to contact the 'Bodley Head'-group of publishers , who then decided not to go ahead with the book !

The Americans should realise that the Brits have no friends , only interests .....

Sunday, July 06, 2003

James Nowlan , GAA President and Sinn Fein activist .

Born in Kilkenny city during the early 1850's, this child grew up to become the President of the GAA (and was to hold that position for over twenty years) and was a wholehearted supporter of the IRA's armed struggle .....

James Nowlan was a respected and well known member of the Gaelic League , the GAA and Sinn Fein ; his Republican credentials were known to all when , in 1898, he was elected as Alderman to Kilkenny Corporation - Nowlan used the position to great effect in his endeavours to publicise the then fourteen-year's young 'Gaelic Athletic Association' , but was less successful in persuading the Central Council of the GAA that it should begin preparations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1798 Rising . (MORE LATER)>


....John Tadhg Sullivan of Killurley ........

.... John Sullivan promised his mother that he would visit her on Thursday - he was an IRA Volunteer on leave, and was on his way back to his Column -

" After the Garrane fight John Sullivan and Patrick Coffey set out to rejoin their Column towards Glenbeigh . Suddenly , at the turn of a lonely road in Gleesk, they saw four Free State officers facing them . The officers saw them and fired point blank . Coffey and Sullivan returned the fire, retreating, with zig-zag movements, along the road and Coffey succeeded in escaping over the fields. As he ran he looked back , anxious about his comrade, and saw him standing in a field among the four officers - a prisoner of war .

Nurse Sloan and Nurse O'Connor went with parcels for the prisoners to the Workhouse at Bahaghs, near Cahirciveen, and the sentry told them " There is one of your men wounded up at Gleesk " . They drove to Gleesk and found John Sullivan on the road . He was dead. There was a clean bullet-wound in the right thigh ; the chest and right shoulder were shattered , the skin singed and still hot to the touch. They sent word to the boy's mother that he was wounded and not expected to live ; then they brought him home .

" Oh Johnny , Johnny ! " the mother cried , " you came to us- you kept your word . But, oh Johnny, what a way you came .... " " .

------ 'The Tragedies of Kerry' , 1924.


When the 'ALONE' organisation was founded (by Fireman Willie Bermingham , if memory serves...) in 1977 , to help those unfortunates living rough on the streets of Dublin , the then Fianna Fail administration in Leinster House saw an opening to publicise their 'caring' side and , in a high-profile exercise in front of the media , a cheque for £5000 was handed over to 'ALONE' by Mary O'Flaherty , the then Free State 'Minister for Poverty' (and yes, there was an office with that name at the time!) .

However , in a less well-publicised reply to M/S O'Flaherty and that which she represented , the £5000 cheque was handed back to her along with a second cheque , also for the amount of £5000 , accompanied by a list of twenty-five people living in poverty in Dublin city , requesting the Leinster House administration to spend the £10,000 themselves on the problem !

What a nice way to be called a hypocrite .....