British Army Murderers
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Black And Tans Names Could Go On Glasnevin Remembrance Wall
British Army Murderers
Tag: Black and Tan’s
British Army Murderers
Mayor of Limerick confirms he will not be attending RIC commemoration – Limerick’s Live 95
https://www.live95fm.ie/news/live95-news/mayor-of-limerick-confirms-he-will-not-be-attending-ric-commemoration/?fbclid=IwAR3sjNU1aq91K8BMwxUY0SdrOclFG1jvccjUie34FRwOjsHWCRhx22mVK3c
Follow these links to find out more: https://www.donegallive.ie/news/news/506797/donegal-co-council-to-boycott-black-and-tan-linked-state-commemoration.html?fbclid=IwAR3uOo9XuQdAOJC89jSvO3RjoEal669koVKPVxyCdPxB3zXOhUyqE70zii4#.XhSv778i6oM.facebook
Irish Government Planning Gestapo Commemoration – Ireland on Craic
Óglach Thomas Murphy, aged 22, F Company, 6th Battalion, Dublin Brigade, Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Óglach Thomas Murphy, aged 22.
Murdered in his bed by Black and Tans at ‘The Hotel’, Foxrock Village, on this day 1921.
At the time of his death, Thomas or ‘Tommy’ Murphy, a popular young uilleann-piper, was one of a number of young men active with the local IRA company, a unit made up of men from the Deansgrange, Cornelscourt, Cabinteely and Foxrock districts. By the summer of 1921, several of it’s members had been forced ‘on the run’ and began operating as a full-time ‘flying column’, sleeping rough in stables and sheds and harassing crown forces at any opportunity that presented itself.
Attacks on the local RIC barracks at Cabinteely were numerous. In the dead of night, Volunteers, acting under cover of darkness, would make their way to the village, where they would creep along the empty streets, taking up positions before subjecting the barracks to a sustained attack using rifles and home-made bombs. Just weeks before his death, Thomas Murphy, dressed in a chauffeur’s uniform in order to give the appearance of a British officer, had driven a car at top speed past the barracks while the car’s other two occupants lobbed bombs at the Black and Tan sentries posted outside.
On May 13th, local Volunteer Charles ‘Rodney’ Murphy (no relation) of Deansgrange, scaled a tree in the Brennanstown Road area, using his elevated position overlooking the barracks to snipe at two Black and Tans tending to the gardens in the yard out back. Constable Albert Edward Skeats, a Black and Tan recruit from London, was hit behind the ear and rushed to a hospital in the city, where he lay critically ill. He eventually succumbed to his injuries on May 28th. The night after his death, a party of Tans and RIC returning to their barracks were ambushed at Monaloe cross-roads by Volunteers Jackie Nolan, John Merriman and Billy Fitzgibbon. During a brisk gunfight, one constable was wounded before the Volunteers made their escape across fields.
With one of their number dead and another now seriously injured, tensions inside Cabinteely barracks had reached boiling point. Just before three o’clock in the morning, a party of five Tans, faces blackened with shoe polish, made their way along Brennanstown Road to Foxrock, where they stopped at ‘The Hotel’, a large tenement building that once stood in the centre of the village. It was here that Volunteer Thomas Murphy resided along with his widowed mother and four sisters. As the building was home to several families, the front door was left open, enabling the Tans to make their way inside unnoticed. They then quietly made their way to Thomas’ room before bursting through his bedroom door, waking the startled man from his sleep. One of the intruders asked if he was Thomas Murphy, and when he replied that he was, a shot was fired, hitting the young man through his head, the bullet passing through the wall into the adjacent room. As the intruders left, Thomas’ mother and sisters rushed into the room to find their son in a collapsed state. Despite the best efforts of a local doctor, Thomas died where he lay several hours later.
On June 1st, Thomas’ remains were buried at Deansgrange Cemetery following a military enquiry. In a large funeral cortege, members of the Dublin and South Eastern Railway Company, where Thomas worked as a porter, marched in a body after the hearse. Numerous wreaths were placed over the coffin, which was wrapped in a tricolour flag. Thomas’ IRA comrades supplied a guard of honour and firing party. Three volleys of shots were fired as the coffin was lowered into the grave, before men and arms managed to get safely out of the cemetery through a cordon of British military.
With many thanks to: Sean Larkin, South Derry.
Woman of Aran who lived to age 109
http://stairnaheireann.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/portrait.jpg
BRIDGET DIRRANE: Bridget Dirrane, who died aged 109 in 2003 was Ireland’s second oldest woman.
In a life that spanned three centuries, the Cumann na mBan veteran met Padraig Pearse, went on hunger-strike in Mountjoy, worked in John F. Kennedy’s election campaigns, and was the oldest recipient of an honorary university degree.
The latter distinction earned her a place in The Guinness Book of Records. Her memoir, A Woman of Aran, published in 1998, was a best-seller.
On the occasion of her 105th birthday, when asked if she had expected to live so long, Bridget Dirrane replied, “not really, but my sister Julia did live to be a 100”. She attributed her longevity to a strong religious faith, a good upbringing and a healthy diet. Last February she was highly amused to hear her death reported on Today with Pat Kenny and promptly despatched a correction.
Éamon de Valera was the Irish political leader she admired above all others.
To the end, she maintained a keen interest in current affairs and was an enthusiastic supporter of the peace process, and she earnestly wished for a permanent peace. Of today’s IRA, she said: “They don’t know what they’re fighting for. I wouldn’t approve of all they do, but it’s up to them. They’ll have to answer for their misdeeds.”
Bridget Dirrane was born Bridget Gillan, the youngest of the eight children of Joseph Gillan and his wife, Margaret (née Walsh), at Oatquarter, Inis Mór. Her father was a weaver and wove the cloth for the clothes worn by the young Liam O Flaherty.
She encountered tragedy early in life. Her brother, Patrick, died shortly after she began attending school and her father died when she was eight. On the whole, however, her childhood was happy and she shared the family love of music and dancing.
From an early age, she wanted to be a nurse. “I had the knack of it. I knew the cures, as my mother had.” She left school at 14 and worked intermittently as a childminder.
Among the visitors to Inis Mór whom she met were Padraig Pearse, Thomas Ashe, Eamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Mary Plunkett.
Bridget Dirrane left Inis Mór to work as a childminder in Tuam, Co Galway, and later moved to Knockavilla, Co Tipperary, where she became housekeeper to Father Matt Ryan, a Land League veteran and republican supporter. There she joined Cumann na mBan.
In 1919 she began training as a nurse at St Ultan’s Children’s Hospital, Ballsbridge, Dublin. Part of her duties entailed nursing patients in their homes. On one such occasion, the house was raided by the Black and Tans, and Bridget Dirrane was arrested. Taken to the Bridewell, she infuriated her captors by dancing and singing in Irish. On her transfer to Mountjoy Prison, she embarked on a hunger strike. After nine days she was released without charge.
One of her most abiding memories of the War of Independence was the execution of Kevin Barry. She took part in a Cumann na mBan vigil outside Mountjoy on the morning that he was hanged. “We heard the death bell and then there was silence.”
Dirrane opposed the Treaty, and the Civil War caused her great anguish. Nevertheless, she later took a job caring for the family of Gen Richard Mulcahy, the bête noire of anti-Treatyites.
She retained fond memories of the family to the end of her days, particularly of Risteárd who became one of Ireland’s leading heart specialists.
In 1927, at the age of 33, she emigrated to the US and found work nursing in Boston. Shortly after her arrival, she met Edward (Ned) Dirrane, an island neighbour; they married in 1932. During the Depression, the Dirranes worked long and hard to make ends meet. Roosevelt’s New Deal brought some relief, but before the couple could enjoy the benefits of economic recovery, Ned Dirrane died suddenly in 1940.
When the US entered the second World War, Dirrane worked for two years as plant nurse in a munitions factory and later tended soldiers at the Biloxi military base in Mississippi. On her return to south Boston, she became an active Democratic supporter, canvassing for John F. Kennedy in many elections.
In 1966, after 39 years in the US and now retired, she decided that it was time to return to Aran. She moved in with her brother-in-law, Patrick Dirrane, a widower whose three sons were then living abroad. To show good example, the couple married.
At the age of 73, Dirrane oversaw the renovation of her new home, Cliff Edge Cottage, mixing cement and helping to slate the roof. She also planted the flowers and trees around the cottage. Her greatest joy was to help in the rearing of the children of her step-son Coleman and his wife, Margaret.
Dirrane was quick to embrace change and flew on Aer Aran’s inaugural flight to the islands. She welcomed the growth of tourism and the employment it generated. But she bemoaned the stress of modern life. “Today, unfortunately, people don’t have the time to bid each other the time of day. Everybody seems to be rushing to the graveyard!”
Among the visitors to her home were Senator Edward Kennedy and the former US ambassador Ms Jean Kennedy-Smith. When Ms Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first Freewoman of the City of Galway in 1999, Bridget Dirrane was on hand to meet her. By then, she was a resident in a Galway nursing home, her husband having died in 1990. She had been awarded the Master of Arts honoris causa by NUI Galway in 1998 in recognition of her rich and varied life and her service to others.
Bridget Dirrane was a devout Catholic and, to mark her 100th birthday, she purchased a stone statue of Our Lady which was erected at the Well of The Four Beauties, Inis Mór. In her memoir, she intimated that she would leave no fortune behind her. “What I will leave is the sunshine to the flowers, honey to the bees, the moon above in the heavens for all those in love and my beloved Aran Islands to the seas.”
Bridget Dirrane is survived by her step-sons, Stephen, John, and Coleman. Bridget Dirrane: born 1894; died December 31st, 2003.
https://amp.theguardian.com/news/2004/jan/02/guardianobituaries
With many thanks to: Easter Rising War of Independence and Irish Civil War History.
On this day March 25th 1920 the British Auxiliaries and Black and Tans started to arrive in Ireland.
This day in history March 25th 1920 the British Auxiliaries and Black and Tans started to arrive in Ireland.This photo was taken outside Hynes Bar Railway Street Dublin
With many thanks to: Easter Rising War of Independence and Irish Civil War History.
‘The Rebel Sisters’ – The Women of the Cullinane Family.
The women of the Cullinane Family first is Bridget Cullinane and her two sisters Hannah Cullinane Mary Cullinane and their mother Catherine Kent nee Cullinane
Bridget Cullinane
The four Cullinane sisters of Newtown Kilmacthomas, were often referred to as the Rebel Sisters”, eldest sister Mary (later Power) (referred to as Queen Rebel), Katie (Kent), Hannah Imelda (Power) and Bridget Cullinane. During the War of Independence and throughout the Civil War their home and business (Public House/Grocers) were the centre for dispatches in the area and a well-known safe house for Volunteers. The sisters acted as look out, gathered intelligence, hid and transported arms. According to the memoirs of the youngest of the sisters Hannah, Mary Cullinane managed and helped her mother Mary Phelan, with the running of the family business. In 1916, Mary became interested in national events and visited Dublin to attend Cumann na mBan conferences. On a visit to St Edna’s she spoke with Miss Pearse and her sisters would eagerly await her rerun and listen closely to events happening in Dublin. In 1918, Kate Cullinane was nursing and during this period visited republican prisoners in the City Jails. Kate Cullinane’s nursing training would later become an essential skill required for treating the sick and wounded volunteers in need of medical care.
Hannah Cullinane
Hannah recalls Mary’s great organisation skills, setting up a Cumann na mBan group in Kilmacthomas and Kilrossanty, here the sisters met with like-minded women, the Keating’s sisters of Comeragh. The families developed lifetime friendships with women of nationalist ideals and a strong sense of duty to the cause for Irish freedom. During the War of Independence, Katie Cullinane returned from nursing in London, Bridget from working in Dublin and events would become very hostile with regular hold up and raids on their home. Hannah recalls how there door was never really shut, as it would not stand the pounding and urgency of military raids. Mary was always first on the scene to any military raid be it day or night and the constant raids began to take their toll on the family business, events intensified with the arrival of the Black and Tans.
The sisters played a role following the Burgery Ambush in 1921, Mary Cullinane was engaged to volunteer Pat Keating who was shot by Soldiers and later died from his injuries following the Ambush. She was one of the first on the scene to collect his body from Monarud, Dungarvan. According to Hannah, a note had been placed in his top pocket for her, but she never disclosed to her sisters his lasts written words to Mary.
“My sister Bridget accompanied Mary with the coffin across the mountains, it was carried by Pats father miles to my grandmother’s grave in Newtown and buried a few feet down, and there it was for three weeks. Then one night it was decided to move the remains, I was present when Pats body was taken out. I shall never forget that scene as they lifted the body the wound made by a dumb dumb bullet left an open jagged wound. In his clothes there were lumps of congealed bold and oh! The agony he must have suffered dragging his poor body along in that state. There was no stiffness in his body, he was washed by my nurse sister Katie and clothed in a blessed habit….his uniform is still with us.”
Mary Cullinane
Following the final burial of Pat Keating a group travelling by pony and trap including Mary, Kate Cullinane, Mary Keating and a number of volunteers met with a group of soldiers. Some of the party escaped, however Kate, Mary Cullinane, Mary Keating and several volunteers were arrested. Hannah recalls, when the pony arrived back at their gates at 3am they knew something was wrong. The women were held in the military barracks, Waterford for two days and then transferred to Waterford Jail. Kate Cullinane and Mary Keating were released after a couple of weeks. Mary Cullinane was sentenced to five years imprisonment for carrying and concealing arms, serving six months and was released December 1921. Following the siege of Waterford, Erskine Childers stayed at the family’s home with many Officers and men of Cork and Tipperary Brigades. Hannah’s final words “When Civil war came with attack on the four courts after that divide and conquer, disunity, insanity, chaos and imprisonment etc. As for the rebel sisters, for us it was another war and we were anti-treaty”.
Eldest sister Mary Cullinane married Ned Power and on 10th October, 1933, died suddenly aged 37 suddenly leaving six young children, husband Ned Power died a few months later due to his treatment while imprisoned as a volunteer.
Catherine (Mother) Kent nee Cullinane
Nurse Katie Cullinane became Mrs Kent and her and her husband ran the family business, Katie lived to old age 95 in 1992 28th April. Hannah Imelda Cullinane married P.J and the family moved to Dublin, Dublin. Mrs Bridget Power nee Cullinane later lived in Waterford City and passed away on the 27th November 1992. Hannah Imelda married P.J Power died in 1991, her great friend Mai O’Higgins wrote a tribute to her. Following the final burial of Pat Keating a group travelling by pony and trap including Mary, Kate Cullinane, Mary Keating and a number of volunteers met with a group of soldiers. Some of the party escaped, however Kate, Mary Cullinane, Mary Keating and several volunteers were arrested. Hannah recalls, when the pony arrived back at their gates at 3am they knew something was wrong. The women were held in the military barracks, Waterford for two days and then transferred to Waterford Jail. Kate Cullinane and Mary Keating were released after a couple of weeks. Mary Cullinane was sentenced to five years imprisonment for carrying and concealing arms, serving 6 months and was released December 1921. Following the siege of Waterford, Erskine Childers stayed at the family’s home with many Officers and men of Cork and Tipperary Brigades.
Hannah’s final words “When Civil war came with attack on the four courts after that divide and conquer, disunity, insanity, chaos and imprisonment etc. As for the rebel sisters, for us it was another war and we were anti-treaty”.
“Another incident during a military raid on our home, some of the boys had been in but got away. Some guns were to be hidden very quickly, and not much time, we had a young cousin staying with us at the time, Caith Culinnane. She was only five years old, we packed guns under her and told her to scream and cry when she saw military coming, it worked and the guns were safe”
“It was Christmas day 1920, my mother was preparing the dinner and just as Mary and I got back from Mass we were standing at the door talking to an IRA man. Pat Keating had just gone out to visit another neighbour, Eddie Power was around too. Out of the Ford car came four men with plain clothes and caps H.T & W.U badges, just the real thing. We recognised Capt. Valentene. Before we could move he had gone into my mother and asked her quite casually as he placed the revolver beside her, where is Pat? She didn’t recognise him and asked him to take the gun away and turned to little Caith and said go and get Pat Keating. However by now Pat and Eddie were safe and keenly watching events from the railway and waiting with bombs at the road to apprehend our military friends, but they did not go their direction. Raids continued and especially on Saturday nights our shop was cleared and men held for hours with their hands up.”
Poem by Mai O’Higgins in tribute to Mrs Hannah Power (nee Cullinane) (6.6.1968)
Extract of poem
Ireland – she loved
Its language sweet upon her tongue
And in the long ago
When years were young
And the rebel blood courses through her veins
A patriot crown she won
Life’s simple things she loved
To reminisce across the years
On Ireland wrongs- its joys and tears.
To be among old friends-
Around her loved Kilmac
Together we planned when summers days were nigh
To roam the Comeraghs by Crotty’s rock
Under the evening sky.
Someday maybe- her wish for me comes true
By Crotty’s rock I’ll feel the joy she knew
Sleep gently on – on your soul- angels attend
I breathe a prayer, a Te Deum,
You are my friend
Ref: Memoirs of one of the Rebel Sisters, Hannah Imelda Power, Later, Mrs Paddy Joe Power. (Written early 1950’s) credit to Waterford County Museum
With many thanks to: Easter Rising War of Independence and Irish Civil War History.
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