Sad Irish History

One loser down, one more to go – Get Em’ Boston!

Tamerlan Tsarnaev is dead. LOL. Too funny. The coward is probably shocked there’s no 32 virgins waiting for him. Instead, Hitler and Stalin are taking turns poking him in his ass! One coward dead. One more coward to go…………..!

Where should the jokes begin???????

1. Damn, is that your nose or John Holmes’ cock? (get it, huge ass nose)

2. You look like Pete Sampras with Down Syndrome

3. Sorry there’s no 32 virgins. You died a virgin, lol.

Boston Bomb suspects

Coward ass cock sucker.

Irish History #19

The second republican to join the H-Block hunger-strike for political status – a fortnight after Bobby Sands – was twenty-five-year-old Francis Hughes, from Bellaghy in South Derry: a determined, committed and totally fearless IRA Volunteer who organised a spectacularly successful series of military operations before his capture, and was once described by the RUC as their ‘most wanted man’ in the North.

Eluding for several years the relentless efforts of the British army, UDR and RUC to track him down, Francis operated boldly throughout parts of Tyrone and north and south Antrim, but particularly in his native South Derry, with a  combination of brilliant organisation and extreme daring – until his capture after a shoot-out with the SAS – which earned him widespread popular renown, and won general support for the republican cause, as well as giving him an undisputed reputation as a natural-born soldier and leader.

ROOTED

Francis Hughes was born on February 28th, 1956, the youngest son amongst ten children, into a staunchly republican family which has been solidly rooted, for most of this century, in the townland of Tamlaghtduff, or Scribe Road, as it is otherwise called.

His parents who married in 1939, are Patrick Joseph Hughes, aged 72, a retired small cattle farmer born in the neighbouring town land of Ballymacpeake, and Margaret, aged 68, whose maiden name is McElwee, and who was born in Tamlaghtduff.

A quarter-of-a-mile away from the Hughes’ bungalow, on the other side of the Scribe Road is the home of Thomas and Benedict McElwee – first cousins of Francis. Benedict is currently serving a sentence in the H-Blocks. Thomas – the eldest – embarked on hunger strike on June 8th, and died sixty-two days later on August 8th.

In Tamlaghtduff, as throughout the rest of Bellaghy, sympathy as well as active support for the republican cause runs at a very high level, a fact testified to by the approximately twenty prisoners-of-war from around Bellaghy alone.

Francis was an extremely popular person, both to his family and to his republican colleagues and supporters.

His father recalls that as a boy he was always whistling, joking and singing: a trait which he carried over into his arduous and perilous days as a republican, when he was able to transmit his enthusiasm and optimism both to Volunteers under his command and to Sympathisers who offered them – at great personal risk, food and shelter

It was qualities like these, of uncomplaining tirelessness, of consideration for the morale of those around him, and his ruling wish to lead by example, that have made Francis Hughes one of the most outstanding Irish revolutionary soldiers this war has produced and a man who was enormously respected in his native countryside.

BOY

As a boy, Francis went first to St. Mary’s primary school in Bellaghy, and from there to Clady intermediate school three miles away.

He enjoyed school and was a fairly good student whose favourite subjects were history and woodwork. He was not particularly interested in sport, but was very much a lively, outdoor person, who enjoyed messing around on bikes, and later on, in cars.

He enjoyed dancing and regularly went to ceilidh as a young man, even while ‘on the run’, although after ‘wanted’ posters of him appeared his opportunities became less frequent.

His parents recall that Francis was always extremely helpful around the house, and that he was a “good tractor man”.

DECORATOR

Leaving school at sixteen, Francis got a job with his sister Vera’s husband, as an apprentice painter and decorator, completing his apprenticeship shortly before ‘going on the run’.

In later days, Francis would often do a spot of decorating for the people whose house he was staying in

On one occasion, shortly after the ‘wanted’ posters of him had been posted up all over South Derry, Francis was painting window frames at the front of the house he was staying in when two jeep-loads of British soldiers drove past. While the other occupants of the house froze in apprehension, Francis waved and smiled at the curious Brits as they passed by, and continued painting.

It was such utter fearlessness, and the ability to brazen his way through that saved him time and time again during his relatively long career as an active service Volunteer.

On one such occasion, when stopped along with two other Volunteers as they crossed a field, Francis told a Brit patrol that they didn’t feel safe walking the roads, as the IRA were so active in the area. The Brits allowed the trio to walk on, but after a few yards Francis ran back to the enemy patrol to scrounge a cigarette and a match from one of the British soldiers.

A turning point for Francis, in terms of his personal involvement in the struggle, occurred at the age of seventeen, when he and a friend were stopped by British soldiers at Ardboe, in County Tyrone, as they returned from a dance one night.

The pair were taken out of their car and so badly kicked that Francis was bed-ridden for several days. Rejecting advice to make a complaint to the RUC, Francis said it would be a waste of time, but pledged instead to get even with those who had done it, “or with their friends.”

Irish History #16

A soldier and politician who was prominent in the struggle for Irish independence in the early 20th century. He agreed to the partition of Ireland and the creation of the Irish Free State, becoming leader of its provisional government.

Michael Collins was born on 16 October 1890 near Clonakilty in County Cork, the son of a farmer. After leaving school he worked for the Post Office, spending nine years in London where he became involved in radical Irish nationalist politics.

By 1908 he was a member of Sinn Féin, and a year later he joined the clandestine Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). He then returned to Dublin in January 1916 and took part in the Easter Rising, but after its failure he was imprisoned, although he was later released in December of that year.

In 1918, the British government attempted to introduce conscription in Ireland and Collins went on the run to avoid the call-up. He became the IRB’s organiser-in-chief and assembled a network of spies within government institutions.

In the 1918 December general election, Sinn Féin took 73 of 105 Irish seats, with Collins winning his seat for South Cork. In Dublin, January 1919, they declared themselves a sovereign parliament – Dáil Éireann – and then declared independence. Éamon de Valera was elected president of the Dáil and Collins was appointed minister of home affairs and later minister of finance. In this role he organised the hugely successful Dail loan which financed the republican government.

Collins is most famous for his leadership of the republican military campaign against Britain (the War of Independence) through the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He directed a group of gunmen tasked with assassinating British agents whose campaign culminated on 21 November 1920 with the killing of 14 British officers in Dublin. In the day of violence that followed, British forces opened fire at a Gaelic football game, killing 12.

When a truce was agreed with Britain in July 1921, Collins and de Valera were the two most powerful men in republican Ireland. Collins led the Irish delegation at the peace conference in London which resulted in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. This brought the Irish Free State into existence and partitioned the island, with six predominantly Unionist counties in the north remaining outside the Free State. The Treaty was passed by the cabinet in Dublin by one vote, with de Valera opposed, and was accepted by the Dáil by a very small majority. Collins became chairman and finance minister of the provisional government.

The republican movement was now split into those who opposed and those who supported the treaty. In April 1922, a group of anti-Treaty IRA men took control of the Four Courts Building in Dublin. With support from London, Collins ordered it to be attacked, marking the beginning of civil war in Ireland. Collins took charge as commander-in-chief of the pro-treaty, Free State army. His campaign was successful but before its conclusion, on 22 August 1922, he was assassinated by anti-treaty forces in an ambush in County Cork.

Full story here

Irish History #13

Irish History #12

Full story

James Connolly was a leading figure in recent Irish history. James Connolly played a leading part in the Easter Uprising of 1916 and his execution outraged many in Ireland.

James Connolly was born in June 1868. For a man so linked to Irish history, Connolly was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. The area he lived in was nicknamed ‘Little Ireland’ and was one of the city’s slum areas. His parents were originally from County Monaghan and their life in Edinburgh was hard. Connolly’s mother, Mary, died early as a result of the deprivation they faced.

James Connolly went to school until he was ten years of age. He then joined a newspaper firm where he cleaned the rollers of dried ink. It was dull work but it brought in some income for the family. At the age of fourteen, James Connolly joined the British Army. He stayed in it until he was twenty-one. All of his service was in Ireland, mainly around Cork. Here he witnessed how the Irish were treated not just by the army but also by the landlords who owned the land there. It was at this time that Connolly developed a hatred of landlords.

In 1889, James Connolly left the army and married. He moved back to Edinburgh where he worked as a labourer and a carter. It was around this time that he became interested in socialism. Connolly joined the Scottish Socialist Federation and he was also involved with Keir Hardie’s Independent Labour Party.

James Connolly went to Dublin after the failure off his cobbler’s shop in Edinburgh. Here he was the organiser of the Dublin Socialist Society. In May 1896, Connolly founded the Irish Socialist Republican Society and he founded the organisation’s newspaper – “The Worker’s Republic”. After this, James Connolly embarked on a series of lecture tours, both in Scotland and America.

He returned to Dublin from America in 1902. By this time the Irish Socialist Republican Society had essentially ceased to exist and Connolly founded the Socialist Labour Party. This was not a success and Connolly took his family to America to live. Connolly was a founder member of the Irish Socialist Federation which published “The Harp” newspaper. In 1908, Connolly was appointed the organiser for the Industrial Workers of the World and between 1908 and 1909, he spent his time trying to expand support for all socialist groups in America, though primarily on the East Coast with its large American-Irish population.

In 1910, James Connolly returned to Dublin and in 1911 he was appointed the Belfast organiser for the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. In 1912, he helped to found the Irish Labour Party. James Connolly also formed the Irish Citizens Army during the so-called ‘Great Lock-Out’ of 1913 when Connolly became a central figure in the workers opposition to the Employers Federation. The Irish Citizens Army was created to protect the workers from any groups that might have been employed by the employers to ‘rough up’ any striking worker. It was at this time that James Connolly revived a newspaper called “The Worker’s Republic”. Up to this year, all of Connolly’s work had been orientated around socialism and developing the rights of the working class. His work was specific to the Irish population but it was not, at this time, linked to an Ireland free from British rule. The revival of this newspaper was the first time that any form anti-establishment could be properly identified. A republic by its very definition does not have a monarchy and the most important aspect of Britain’s establishment then was the monarchy. The title may have been symbolic but the symbolism it represented was important.

James Connolly fell out with the leadership of the Irish Volunteers. This group had been established as a defence against the Ulster Volunteers. At the start of World War One, the Irish Volunteers numbered 180,000. It was led by the Provisional Committee and the Provisional Committee refused to allow the Irish Citizens Army to have any input into it – hence, why Connolly fell out with it.

During the war, the majority of the Irish Volunteers supported John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who supported the government in London and its war aims. Redmond also supported the suspension of the 1912 Home Rule Bill for the duration of the war. Around 11,000 Irish Volunteers did not support Redmond and left the organisation. These people were the more radical side of the Irish Volunteers who were furious that Redmond, having pushed for a Home Rule Bill, now accepted that it could not come into being until the war was over. In 1915, trench warfare was dominant and there was no end to the war in sight. Therefore, there was seemingly no chance in the immediate future for Ireland to get any form of Home Rule. To some this was unacceptable. However, these people were in the minority as many people in Ireland supported the London government’s war effort.

In February 1915, “The Worker’s Republic” was banned by the authorities in Dublin Castle. In the same year, James Connolly was appointed acting General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. By now, Connolly had become very militant. He paraded units of the Irish Citizens Army in Dublin and such displays alarmed those who had left the Irish Volunteers and gone to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). They felt that such displays would attract the attention of the authorities which they did not welcome as they were making plans towards a rebellion. In an effort to bring on board Connolly and to tame his more wild displays of militancy, the IRB took him into their confidence. Connolly was told about the planned rebellion for Easter 1916. After this, Connolly took an active part in the preparations and he was appointed Military Commander of the Republican Forces in Dublin, which encompassed the Irish Citizens Army.

When the rebellion started on Monday 24th April, James Connolly was one of the seven signatories to the Proclamation. Connolly was in charge of the General Post Office during the rebellion– the rebels headquarters. He was severely wounded during the fighting and was arrested once the rebels had surrendered. He was court-martialled in a military hospital in Dublin. Charged with treason, there was no doubt as to what the verdict and punishment would be.

At his court martial, Connolly made the following statement:

“We        want to break the connection between this country and the British        Empire, and to establish an Irish Republic. ” With reference to the uprising,        Connolly stated: “We succeeded in proving        that Irishmen are ready to die endeavouring to win for Ireland those        national rights which the British government has been asking them to die        to win for Belgium. As long as that remains the case, the cause of Irish        freedom is safe. I personally thank God that I have lived to see the day        when thousands of Irish men and boys, and hundreds of Irish women and        girls, were ready to affirm that truth, and to attest it with their        lives if need be”

James Connolly was sentenced to death. Some of the employers with whom he had battled in the ‘Great Lock-Out’ of 1913, called on the British government to execute Connolly.

Irish History #7

Irish History #6

Full story

The famous and important Irish historical figure Wolfe Tone was born Theobald
Wolfe Tone on 20th June 1763. His place in Irish history can scarcely be
overstated as he is regarded as the father of modern Irish republicanism.

He was born in Dublin to a Protestant family and attended Trinity
College, qualifying as a barrister at the age of 26, practicing in London. He
soon turned his attention to Irish politics and wrote an essay attacking the
ruling administration which became popular among the liberal ‘Whigs’ of the
time. At the time the French Revolution had had a profound effect on not just
French but on world politics. Ireland was no exception with the ideals of that
revolution fuelling a desire for separation from English rule.

Whig
stalwarts such as Henry Grattan however, wanted Catholic emancipation without
breaking the tie to England. Tone was adamant that the Irish people should be
governed by an Irish parliament and, although he was an Anglican he proposed
co-operation among the various religions as a means to make progress on the
issue of separation from England. In 1791 Wolfe Tone founded the Society of the
United Irishmen, together with Napper Tandy and Thomas Russell. The moderate
aims of this society (parliamentary reform) soon became overtaken with the
desire for full independence from England and especially once Tones view of the
necessity for armed insurrection took prominence. It was at this point that the
difference between Henry Grattan and his pursuit of parliamentary reform without
democratic consequence and Wolfe Tone’s view of revolutionary democracy came
into stark relief.

The English authorities were quick to realise the
threat and sought to promote religious intolerance and sectarianism, thus
dividing the Catholics and Presbyterians who otherwise were of the same Irish
stock. The newly formed Orange Order was also a useful tool used by the English
in stoking religious discord. By 1794 and after much political manoeuvring it
became clear to Wolfe Tone that no political party would fully get behind their
movement and they began to lobby for French military support in the form of an
invasion.

Communications between the United Irishmen and the French were
betrayed when the go-between, an English clergyman named William Jackson, was
arrested and charged with treason. Given that England and France had been a war
since 1793 any collaboration between the United Irishmen and the French would
certainly have greatly alarmed the parliament in London. The organisation was
effectively broken up by the English with several of the leaders fleeing the
country. Wolfe Tone was able to use his connections to negotiate passage from
the country and he duly emigrated to America, arriving in May, 1795. He had
first stopped in Belfast however, and made what became known as the ‘Cavehill
compact’ with Russell and McCracken, swearing:

‘Never to desist in our
efforts until we subvert the authority of England over our country and asserted
our independence’.

He lived in Pennsylvania until 1796 but disliked the
new American revolution, declaring that the birth class system of England had
been replaced by one decided by wealth in the US. He travelled to Paris with
Tandy to try to persuade the French to invade Ireland. He provided the necessary
intelligence to the French who were impressed with his proposal. The result was
an armada led by Louis Lazare Hoche consisting of 43 vessels under sail and
14,000 men. Much to Tone’s disgust the French could not land off Bantry Bay due
to severe weather and eventually returned to France. A further attempt at
invasion by a Dutch expedition in 1797 also fell foul of the weather with Tone
returning to Paris only to find that his greatest French ally, Hoche, had died
of consumption.

Records of the time showed that membership of the United
Irishmen numbered 280,000 volunteers, or about 5% of the entire population. Had
the French force under Hoche been able to land at Bantry, and been joined by a
popular native uprising, then the country would surely have been liberated from
English rule.

By the winter of 1797/98, with hopes of a renewed French
attempt fading, the United Irishmen were forced to adopt a go-it-alone military
strategy focused on Dublin. Their organisation was strengthened in and around
the capital and it also expanded in south Leinster. The planned insurrection was
to have been a three-phased affair: the seizure of strategic positions within
Dublin city co-ordinated with the establishment of a crescent of positions
outside in north County Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. The engagement of
government forces in the counties beyond was designed to prevent reinforcement.

Disaster struck on 12th March 1798 with the arrest of most of the
Leinster leadership. Further arrests on the very eve of the rising in May
effectively decapitated the movement. The seizure of Dublin from within was
aborted as the rebels waited for orders that never came.

United Irishmen
positions outside the city succumbed one by one with only Wexford showing any
success. A fortnight later (7-9 June), despite the mauling at the hands of
Lake’s forces the year before, the United Irishmen of Antrim and Down managed to
rise up but they too were quickly defeated.

The Wexford insurgents met
with a string of early successes but were ultimately prevented from spreading
the insurrection beyond their own county by defeats at New Ross (5 June) and
Arklow (9 June). Massive government forces began to move in for the decisive
military showdown at Vinegar Hill, outside Enniscorthy (21 June). Although the
insurgents suffered defeat, the bulk of their forces escaped encirclement and
carried on the struggle for another month, one group in the Wicklow mountains
and the other in a ‘long march’ into the midlands before being worn down and
forced to surrender.

A month later (22 August) over a thousand French
troops under General Humbert landed at Killala, County Mayo, but it was too
little too late. Despite some initial successes, including a spectacular victory
at Castlebar, Humbert and the United Irishmen who flocked to his standard were
defeated at Ballinamuck, County Longford on 8th October.

The 1798
Uprising was a military catastrophe. The French and Irish forces were severely
out-gunned in the field and in one battle 2,000 revolutionaries faced 30,000
English regulars. The captured French were shipped home, but the Irish were all
executed after their surrender. It is estimated that 30,000 Irishmen were killed
in fighting that terrible summer, many of the victims were peasants who faced
cannon with pitchforks, and a great number of these were women.

Tone
himself had sailed in a French raid at Donegal in October 1798 but here too his
hopes were dashed. He was captured and taken to Dublin and court-marshalled. He
requested that he be afforded the death of a soldier, to be shot, rather than
hanged. His request denied he died in Provost’s Prison in Dublin of a neck wound
in November 1798 at the age of 35 years. History records his death as being a
suicide but there remains some doubt.

The defeat of the United Irishmen
signalled the end of Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland as the Act of Union of
1800 abolished the powerless parliament in College Green and moved all authority
back to the parliament in London.

Some United Irishmen welcomed this
development as the first step on the road to parliamentary reform as did many of
the Catholic peasantry who envisaged their election in the English parliament.
Daniel O’Connell secured Catholic Emancipation in 1829 by which time the context
of separation from England had changed from being a wholly national issue to
being a Catholic issue. The great famine of 1845 to 1849 destroyed the
countryside and for those who survived and did not emigrate left a lasting
legacy of hatred of English rule.

Wolfe Tone is remembered by republican
groups as the father of their cause. When examining the timeline to Irish
freedom it is certainly easy to view him as the political ancestor of O’Connell,
the Young Irelanders, Parnell and Davitt, Pearse and Connolly, Collins and
DeValera, on the ultimate path to independence.

Irish History #5