Tuesday, June 08, 2004

JOSEPH BRENAN ; 1828-1857 : 'Young Ireland' Leader .......


.......Once again , Joseph Brenan was 'on-the-run' from the British ; he ended up in New Orleans , in America , and got a job as a reporter with 'The New Orleans Times' newspaper - he was to witness a 'war' of a different kind .......


.....a newspaper circulation war ! This was best exemplified by an incident in 1856 ; the founder of the 'The San Francisco Sunday Times' , a Mr. James P. Casey , was at 'war' with a rival newspaper , the 'The San Francisco Bulletin' , and disliked the ' Bulletin's ' Editor , a Mr. James King . The feeling was mutual...

...one day , the 'Bulletin' published an article highlighting the fact that James P. Casey , from the 'Times' newspaper , had served a prison sentence in 'Sing-Sing' Prison for larceny . Casey was raging and , following a 'war of words' between himself and James King , he pulled out a gun and shot King dead !

Then a gang of what were described as " vigilantes " ('Bulletin' employees ?) got hold of James P. Casey and hung him ; it was reported at the time (probably not by the 'San Francisco Bulletin' !) that James P. Casey " ... was given a tremendous funeral by his Irish followers ..." !

However - back to Joseph Brenan : at 23 years young , he got married .......

(MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.

KNOCKSAHARING.......

"....... Ireland , 1921 ; our IRA Column had temporarly been disbanded , as we knew the Brits were coming in force for us ......."


" The 'Disband' order was a wise move - soon after , a wider area than was anticipated was literally trampled by ten-thousand British troops ; seven of us kept together - Corney O'Sullivan , Jim and Miah Grey , Paddy Donncha Eoin , Patsy Lynch , my brother Pat and I . Six were armed with rifles and revolvers , while I carried the light aeroplane Lewis-Gun . We had come at night-fall to the house of our good friend Patsy Dinneen at Lios-Bui-Beag , a mile south-west of Kilnamartyra Cross . We never went early to bed in Patsy's farmhouse - he himself , his wife and family were all active comrades of ours , from the start to the finish of our campaign .

Here was always the genuine and generous welcome ; the possible consequences of our coming were not thought of . They never counted what might be the cost of harbouring us , nor did they look forward to the chances of our being trapped in their home by the enemy . If we succeeded in breaking through and getting away , they would still have had to suffer heavily - their entire property would be destroyed and possibly their menfolk shot or at least thrown into prison . But the Dinneen family never thought of that and when we reminded them of it they gave it scant consideration . Patsy Dinneen used to say : "It would be no harm to stir up things around here , the place is very quiet anyway !" Nevertheless , we always felt we were doing wrong when we rested at such a homestead , without posting at least one sentry .

At that time , there were area signal stations by night and day ; beacons on hilltops were lighted at night when the enemy was observed leaving his base . These beacons were relayed forward and proved of great value on several occasions when the enemy ventured out on a raid ......."

(MORE LATER).


GETTING OUT .......

'Britain has the economic clout to impose peace in Northern Ireland (sic), argue BOB ROWTHORN and NAOMI WAYNE . Why does'nt it use it ? '

(First published in 'New Statesman and Society' Magazine , 9th September , 1988 , pages 12 and 13).


Re-produced here in 10 parts .

[Apologises beforehand for the use of the descriptions "Northern Ireland" and "Province" , and the constant use of the terms "Catholics" and "Protestants" in the following ten-part article ; they are not our descriptions or terms , but the Authors].


[10 of 10].



Britain is upholding a state which represents the victory of one community over another . Equally , the usual argument put against the course we advocate - that its undemocratic to force re-unification upon the majority (sic) against their wishes- ignores the artificial nature of that majority . Prior to partition , the Protestants themselves were very much the minority .

For 20 years (sic) Britain has fought an unwinnable war in 'Northern Ireland' to save a state which cannot be saved ; only a resolute and well-planned withdrawal can bring peace to the troubled 'province' . For once in its long and unhappy relationship with Ireland , Britain should do the right thing at the right time . And that time is now .

(This ten-part article was adopted from the book 'Northern Ireland : The Political Economy Of Conflict' , which was published by 'Polity Press' in October 1988 . The Authors are BOB ROWTHORN [who , at the time , was a Reader in Economics at Cambridge] and NAOMI WAYNE [who , at the time , was a Trade Union Official]).

[END of ' GETTING OUT .......'].
(Tomorrow - 'A PAINFUL CASE' : Free State police use excessive force - a two-parter from 1987 ...).