The daring capture of Brigadier General Lucas in Fermoy county Cork during late June 1920 was captured in the pages of the Irish Bulletin. Described by the newspaper as the ‘Commanding Officer of the British Army of Occupation’ in the Fermoy area, the military carried out a frenzied search for him using armoured cars and even aeroplanes as large parts of Munster were scoured for evidence. It was estimated that...
The continued violence by all sides during the War of Independence and the lawlessness that prevailed generated considerable interest in the international press, with many sending correspondents to witness events at first hand. In Britain, there were varying reports about the cycle of violence and in June radical newspapers such as the Irish Bulletin published extracts from some. The excerpts gave an insight into popular op...
The ongoing riots in Derry City continued to generate interest throughout the month of June. Described by the Freeman’s Journal as being on the verge of destruction, tensions ran high after Catholics were attacked coming from Mass. Catholic houses were attacked in the Waterside and families were forced to leave their homes. In a night of terror on 19 June five men were killed. The fighting continued over...
Another radical newspaper in circulation in 1920 was Old Ireland a paper which provided commentary and debate on all of the leading issues of the day. In an edition published in June 1920 in the wake of the county council elections, the editor of Old Ireland declared that the result was ‘a defeat for Carson’ and victory for republicanism. Amongst the contributors to Old Ireland was Maud Gonne McBride who in 19...
Radical newspapers continued to report on the activity of the military who, very much on the back foot, up the ante in terms of targeting suspected republicans and their homes. The backlash also coincided with the upsurge in activity of the republican police and in many areas, incidents were directly related. In Lismore, county Waterford the military fired into the home of J. Geary; in Ardmore in the same county s...
Another popular newspaper in 1920 was The Irish Statesman, the organ of the Irish Dominion League. This weekly journal ran from June 1919 and had its final issue 100 years ago this month. Edited by Warre B. Wells and with contributions from W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and George William Russell. In June 1920 among its contributors was Aodh de Blacam and Darrell Figgis. A political party formed to advocate fo...
Historians of the Irish revolution are well aware that few records survive which shed light on the operation of republican courts which as we have already seen this month commenced in earnest all across the country in June 1920. The Irish Bulletin frequently reported on the outcome of these court cases. A report in mid-June highlighted some 41 cases, 84 arrests by Republican police, which had taken place...
By June 1920 Republican Police were in control of many towns and villages across the country and began to hand out their own justice. One of the areas they were most concerned with preventing was petty crime and larceny. A celebrated case in Millstreet, county Cork displayed how the local Republican police reacted to the robbery of the bank at Ballydaly Cross carried out by individuals who were not connected to th...
June 1920 also witnessed the widespread establishment of republican or Dail courts, which replaced the holding of petty sessions in many towns and villages across the country. This transfer of administrative law and order was another decisive victory for the IRA. While often dealing with trivial matters they were nonetheless effective and soon people refused to bring claims before the petty sessions. The Young Ir...
Irish Radical newspapers continued to comment and report on the vast array of IRA activities which were being carried out across the country during the month of June. While the national daily newspapers and the weekly provincial press reported on large scale engagements by both the military and the IRA, the radical newspapers reported on the minutiae of the war. The Irish Bulletin, for example, reported ...