March, 2016

Court Martials– Easter Rising Court martials  There were two types of court martials operated by the British Army in Ireland, these were: A General Court Martial comprised of at least nine officers, A Field General Court Martial comprised of three officers. The power to try civilians by Court Martial was contained in provisions of the […]

Surname First Name Court Martial date Sentence Final Sentence Date of Execution Clarke Thomas 01.05.1916 Death by being shot 03.05.1916 Davys Richard 01.05.1916 Death by being shot Ten years penal servitude Irvine George 01.05.1916 Death by being shot Ten years penal servitude Ceannt Eamonn 01.05.1916 Death by being shot 08.05.1916 MacDonagh Thomas 01.05.1916 Death by […]

    It is quite clear to me that the southern 26-county Irish free state has officially disowned its Irish citizens in the northern territory of Ireland. Unionists see the GFA as support for partition, legitimacy for British rule in Ireland.  To be honest, so did I when I refused to participate in the referendum […]

Those who remember the “NAKED GUN” movies, starring, amongst others, O.J.Simpson, may remember  when Shakespeare’s “JULIUS CAESAR” was being staged in New York’s Central Park, and during the assassination scene the dumb cop outed with his Equaliser and blasted half the cast to Kingdom Come. And those of you who read the Blog “Dulce et […]

Much has been made of the recent clash between members of a loyalist band or its supporters with members of the PSNI. Two policemen in the Ormeau area were injured,  but the thing that got headline news was the claim that several children had been hurt with pepper spray, presumably fired by the police. No […]

An English friend of mine once told me that the DAILY TELEGRAPH was the house journal of British Intelligence. He is both extremely intelligent and a habitual joker.But he kept a straight face long enough to persuade me that he wasn’t taking the whatsit. But I suspected he was mistaken. I remember one of the […]

Frank Skeffington taught in St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny from 1900 to 1901. My grandfather, Patrick Kennedy 1866-1949, taught there from 1888 to 1901, when he left to start his own school, THE HIGH SCHOOL, Kilkenny. Thomas MacDonagh, who had been teaching in Rockwell, transferred to St Kieran’s in 1901 and shared lodgings with Skeffington who […]

I attended the 1916 centenary in Dublin and while I enjoyed the day, on reflection, it was a celebration of a 26 county state. There was nothing about why the rebels wanted freedom for the people of Ireland, no mention of the UVF and threats of civil war, the denial of home rule and the […]

There appears to be general agreement that the south’s Easter Rising commemorations (so far) have gone extremely well. The rain held off, the people came out – there was a rejoicing in the courage of the handful of men who challenged an empire and created conditions for its defeat. I heard of no instance where a […]

March 28, 2016 Letters Editor NEW YORK TIMES 620 8th Avenue New York, New York 10018 Dear Editor: In “Martyrs With Guns…” (3/27) the views of Mr. Downes and  Fr. Murphy S. J.  on the Easter Rising are inaccurate and misleading.  Daniel O’Connell didn’t work for Irish freedom.  He championed Catholic civil and political rights […]