Considering Lord Brookborough’s long career it’s strange that nobody seems to have written his biography nor has he left us a memoir. Captain Terence O’Neill wrote a memoir devoid of weight and wit, Brian Faulkner one with a make-weight title -“Memoirs of a Statesman.”
So I’ve had to see what scraps I could dig up on the Internet. Though he didn’t leave a memoir Brookborough was no more a shrinking violet that Faulkner. In fact, while still plain Sir Basil Brooke he invoked a Droit de Seignior to establish Brooke’s Fermanagh Vigilance, his own private army, in early 1920. Apparently when he visited his wife while she was in confinement in Dublin he witnessed a descent into anarchy in “the South.”.
The anarchy was all the work of the British Government. Ireland’s electorate had given Sinn Fein a mandate in the 1918 General Election to establish a Republic, and an even stronger mandate in the local elections in 1920.In March 1920 the Republican Lord Mayor of Cork was murdered in his own home by Crown Forces under the immediate control of District Inspector Swanzy. On February 23 Dublin’s Unionist IRISH TIMES conceded that the British Government was unpopular with the majority of Irishmen.”For the sake of argument” it would go further and assume that it was an arbitrary government which consistently abused its power. But, THE IRISH TIMES said “At the worst, however , it is not nearly as arbitrary as was the Roman Government to which Christ and St Paul rendered strict obedience.”
It was, I think ,in that spirit that Sir Basil Brooke set up his own army and the mere Irish might be flogged and crucified by them. Brooke’s Fermanagh Vigilance was subsumed by the “B” Specials in 1970 and morphed into the Ulster Defence Regiment.
On the 12th July 1932 Sir Basil addressed Fermanagh Orangemen and told them that any farmers among them who employed Catholics were traitors to Ulster. I like to think that not many of them followed his urgings. Brooke’s instincts had he ever led a state, rather than a statelet whose “Parliament” was abolished with less fuss than the Greater London Council, might well have seen measures similar to the Nuremburg Decrees which stripped German Jews of their Citizenship and Civil Rights and foreshadowed the Holocaust.
Lemonhead off on one again? Brookborough was all talk the talk of fascistcly lining em up against the wall and shooting em rhetoric, where as paramilitaries like the IRA actually walked the walk and did it.
KC – please try to avoid name-calling. It’s childish.
From what i see and hear not much has changed from the unionists,/ orange order coming out of Fermanagh , true to the tradition of Brookbrough
as far as Koppergcentral comments go ,republicans had no choice but to walk the walk , and follow the b specials ,RUC,UDR into the mire where we met their institutional,/ para military violence of 50 years with our own’ kick a dog often enough and the dog will bite you
The funny thing is that if the Unionist had have dealt a fair hand to nationalist in 1968/69 then quite lot of the death’s would have been avoided but instead the unionist declared war on the nationalist community !! we met your declaration with bravery,and honour, which was never defeated by any of forces piled up against us ( Free State Government British Government , British Army ,UDR,UVF .UUF. RUC, Garda, Mi5/Mi 6 )
Well KC those other paramilitaries that you speak off do they include the RUC, UDR, A and B Specials. If not could you explain why not?
“Considering Lord Brookborough’s long career it’s strange that nobody seems to have written his biography”
Brian Barton wrote his biography: published in 1988.
At a prematch function before the 2004 all Ireland semi final between Fermanagh and Mayo. Peter Quinn ex president of the GAA, said “that tomorrow in Dublin Lord brookeborough’s wish of not having a catholic about the place would finally come through”. Unfortunately the quip didn’t help with the result.
Thanks MT, I’ll try to get it.