Tom Barry

by Meda Ryan

  This evidence indicates that the IRA killing of spies and informers and the part played by Tom Barry was not sectarian, but based on their intelligence of the ‘many … who gave information’, as noted by Montgomery, who ‘often found that the best intelligence was received by us in Cork’. Smith’s diary notes: ‘“One T” is shrieking for help, but we can’t guard everyone’ (‘T’ = Tout?).[69]Sir Jeudwine records that in Cork, ‘There were numerous informers, however, and most of them were procured by and gave their information to military intelligence.’[70]

  Brian Murphy in his analysis, names Protestants (including West Cork resident doctor Dorothy Stopford, Denis Lordan’s friend) who were prominently involved in the Republican movement, and asks, ‘Could these Protestants have acted in such a manner, if their fellow religionists were the calculated targets of sectarian attacks?’ Dr Murphy concludes, ‘Hart’s findings on this important issue of sectarianism are open to question’.[71]

  In 1949 after the publication of his book, Barry received letters some mentioning his ‘well-handled’ account of Protestants. One correspondent, Risteárd Ó Glaisne from Bandon referred to the April 1922 killing. As an ‘Irish Protestant’ he used ‘the Irish form’ of his name as ‘an affirmation’ of his ‘belief’ in Ireland ‘and as a vote of confidence in the attempt to cultivate that sadly withered tree assiduously’. He was ‘delighted’ that Barry ‘should go to the trouble of correcting … the stupid misunderstandings of a small group’. Ó Glaisne was only ‘acquainted with the record of the Irish “over-ground”,’ so he appreciated getting ‘the whole truth’ because he was confident he said that Barry’s ‘would be a version’ which he ‘could quote with some confidence’. Ó Glaisne gave Barry the details he obtained from ‘the narrow’ perspective:

  I always loathe having bitter prejudices paraded as mature judgements, and that is what one has almost always to endure when Irish Protestants of a now-elderly generation speak of 1918-21 – what continually amazes me, as a matter of fact, is that men with these prejudices seared across an area of their minds can now live happily in the twenty-six county state thinking and acting constructively, as they do; I think the explanation is that, having been treated decently for years as they have been, they have resigned themselves to the status quo, and only recall with bitterness now the memories they have of those years as one occasionally draws down an old dust-covered box from an attic.

  John Chinnery had been ‘wanted’ by the IRA, and was shot while harnessing a horse in April 1922. Risteárd Ó Glaisne met Chinnery’s brother some time afterwards and ‘was surprised and delighted by his outlook. As a Protestant he is, I would say, typical of the best of his generation, a man of deep, direct piety. But he was also very happily progressive. He evinced the keenest interest in Irish and spoke in conversation of “our own governments” – that phrase can always be regarded as strikingly significant from an Irish Protestant … We must eradicate traditional prejudices … because I think Protestantism as a spiritual force will have to be more vigorous if ever in the history of Protestantism it is to justify itself in Ireland.’ Writing on one of the cases, Ó Glaisne understood that the IRA had called to Chinnery’s house ‘on a number of occasions’ and failed to get him. He ‘was suspected of giving the military police information on the whereabouts of the IRA’. He was caught ‘open-handed’ one day, when ‘he dropped a letter’ as he ‘was passing some police’, Ó Glaisne wrote.[72]

  Ó Glaisne pulled no punches as he told of those who were shot, and he would not want any ‘prejudices’ continued. ‘Don’t forget,’ he wrote ‘that when these ordinarily quiet, humorous, positive philosophic people think about “The Troubles”, “The Bad Times”, all their ordinary attitudes forsake them … A brushful of incidents and ig-norant rumours smeared this part of their minds at that time with a tar which is undefaceable. Quite undefaceable! I have often thought to right wrong impressions, have after much mutual invitation succeeded in reducing bigots to silence, only to find the same old prejudices come out again six months later.’ When speaking to the ‘older Irish Protestants’ regarding the past he says he finds ‘a barren chagrin’ but ‘younger Irish Protestants have minds which cannot receive old bitternesses’.[73]

  Risteárd Ó Glaisne was writing for publication, material in relation to Protestants: ‘It gives me opportunities of telling them all sorts of home truths quite frankly and blankly which might be considered disloyal if I were speaking to a wider audience,’ he wrote. He asked Tom’s advice on a publisher: ‘I am not only stimulating Irish Protestants to be Irish but also to be Protestant’.[74]

  In 1963, when Desmond Fennell wrote an article, The Failure of the Irish Revolution and its Success he stated that ‘the revolution’ was ‘an attempt on the part of the Irish Catholic people to gain material and spiritual conditions of life more favourable to their fulfilment as human beings.’ Barry took issue with these sentiments after Fr Henry asked him to write a ‘comment’ on the essay for the Capuchin Annual. Barry wrote the article, but decided ‘after consideration’ that he would prefer not to have it published ‘because of the danger of misinterpretation by Catholic readers, especially the young.’

  Desmond Fennell’s ‘contention that the fight for Freedom was a Catholic one is something I could not agree with, and I could not deal with honestly’, Barry wrote in a letter to the editor, Fr Henry, ‘unless I dealt with’ other points among them – ‘Leadership down through the ages since the Penal Days, i.e., 1798, 1867, even land fights [which] were essentially by Protestants.’ Furthermore, ‘in all fairness to the British empire, in 1916 there were no disabilities for Catholics in Ireland, instead they were perfectly free to practice their faith.’ He mentioned Bishop Coholan’s excommunication order (1920) against the IRA – ‘we had to look at Volunteers dying without the benefit of Confession,’ which they held dear. In his ‘Comment’ he wrote, ‘I wish I could write truthfully … that the IRA were fighting for spiritual conditions and for “a pure land” … There could be men within the movement imbued with those high motives but I never met one of them.’ The main motive was ‘to drive the British occupation forces from the land; to establish a Republic and to undo the conquest … the armed struggle was only one phase of the revolution.’ He told Fr Henry, ‘I would never feel happy about dealing in public with such a delicate issue’ as any religious aspect to ‘the revolution’.[75]

  Tom Barry enunciated ‘a vast difference between British Loyalism and Protestantism’ where the first is ‘politically motivated’ and in the second the ‘1916 Proclamation guarantees religious and civil liberties to all citizens’. Religious ‘bigotry was not confined to the Protestants for the ignorant and petty-minded Catholics had their fair share of this ancient curse’.[76]

  Monica Sullivan ‘an Irish Republican Protestant’ set forth for Barry ‘the reason why the Irish are Catholics is the black record of the Protestant settlers. If they had not given a bad reputation to the religion they professed it is probable that the Irish would have been interested in the Reformation and accepted it, as did the Gaels of Scotland, descendants of the Ancient Irish.’[77]

  The strongest evidence that the war was not sectarian comes from Lionel Curtis, political adviser to Lloyd George and influential Imperial activist and writer with an interest in Irish Affairs. He wrote in early 1921 that when ‘a brave prelate,’ spoke out in Cork his ‘flock have turned their back on him’ and evoked the rejoinder: ‘We take our religion, not our politics, from Rome’. Therefore, ‘to conceive the struggle as religious in character is in any case misleading’, he wrote. ‘Protestants in the south do not complain of persecution on sectarian grounds. If Protestant farmers are murdered, it is not by reason of their religion, but rather because they are under suspicion as Loyalist. The distinction is fine, but a real one.’[78]

  Barry related that the ‘majority of West Cork Protestants lived at peace throughout the whole struggle and were not interfered with by the IRA’. All the IRA wanted was that they
‘would not stand with our enemy’ and not succumb to British propaganda. The ‘majority’ he said, ‘accepted this position, and let it be said that we found them men of honour whose word was their bond.’[79]After hostilities ceased, Republicans in West Cork took a decision not to expose the names of known spies or of Loyalist informers within the community. This decision was taken to protect relatives and also to preserve neighbourly stability. Family members were generally unaware of the underground activities their relatives were engaged in and for harmony in the area Republicans aided this protectionist policy of nondisclosure.

  In enunciating his conviction on the war and its accompanying horror, Barry did not believe ‘that war is a glorious thing. I think it is bestial, and the First World War taught me that. There’s nothing romantic about war. The only war that I can justify to myself is a war of liberation.’ Those engaged in the fight dislike it because ‘they know the hardships and they know the suffering, not alone of the soldiers but of their kith and kin. It often struck my mind when we killed Britishers that there were women and children maybe left without a husband, without a father. I want to make that very, very clear.’[80]

  Notes

  [1]Flor Crowley ‘Raymond’ – Black and Tan Diary, Southern Star, 23 October, 30 October, 6 November, 13 November, 20 November, 1971.

  [2]Flor Crowley, Southern Star, 23 October 1971.

  [3]6th Divisional Report, Strickland Papers, Typescript, IWM.

  [4]Ormonde Winter, Report on Intelligence Branch of the Chief of Police, Dublin Castle, WO 35/214, Public Records Office, London.

  [5]Record of the Rebellion In Ireland, Jeudwine Papers, IWM.

  [6]The Irish Times, 22 January 1921. It should be noted that the journalist in a query to Strickland used the term ‘murder gang’ when referring to the IRA; The Evening Standard, 25 January 1921.

  [7]Keyes McDonnell, p. 196; The Cork Examiner, 15 February, 1921; RIC Div. commissioner confirmed to Mark Sturges the existence of the ‘Anti-Sinn Féin League’, Mark Sturges Diary, 14 December 1920, 30/59, PRO; Jim Kearney, author interview 15/2/1976; Sonny Sullivan, author interview 14/8/1974.

  [8]Hannah O’Mahony, author interview 28/4/1978; Nelius Flynn, author interview, 24/6/1973; see Percival Papers, IWM.

  [9]The Cork Constitution, 6 May 1922.

  [10]Dan Canty, author interview 5/4/1973; Southern Star, 29/4/1922.

  [11]Mary Leyland, Cork Examiner, 25/7/2000.

  [12] CO 762/133, Statement by Matilda Woods to the Irish Grants committee for £5,000 compensation, 31/1/1927. As there is no record that the bodies of Capt. Woods, Thomas and Samuel Hornibrook were located, Matilda Woods’ statement on the manner of death has to read with caution. Public Record Office, Surrey; Danny Canty, author interview 5/4/1973.

  [13]Southern Star, 29 April 1922. Charlie O’Donoghue and Stephen O’Neill, both of whom were with Michael O’Neill on the night of the fatal killing, attended the inquest.

  [14]The Morning Post, 1 June 1922. ‘The shooting on both sides was maintained until 8 o’clock, when the three persons surrendered owing to lack of ammunition …; in Matilda Woods’ statement, she says that Herbert Woods was ‘hung drawn and quartered in the presence of my father and brother’, then her father and brother ‘had to make their own graves.’ But as she was not present nor in Ireland, her statement has to be disregarded. CO 762/ 133, Public Record Office.

  [15]The Cork Constitution, 29 April 1922; Cork County Eagle, 6 May 1922; Irish Times, 2 May 1922. The Cork Constitution 2 May 1922; Irish Times 2 May 1922, James Bradfield’s name incorrectly given as Shorten.

  [16]Hart, pp. 286–292.

  [17]Ibid., p. 314.

  [18]Dan Cahalane, author interview 25/2/1981. He had the diary and documents and studied them carefully. Flor Crowley studied and worked on this ‘find’. Though many of the names are in the Tom Barry private papers, in letters, arising out of his investigation, there is not an exact copy of lists.

  [19]Eileen Lynch O’Neill, author interview 28/11/2002; The Cork Constitution, 28 April 1922; Irish Times, 28 April 1922; see Sorcha Crowley, ‘Saving Sam Maguire’s homestead’ in Irish Times 5/2/2003; also Margaret Walsh, Sam Maguire.

  [20]Brendan O’Neill, author interview 24/11/2002.

  [21]Irish Times, 2/5/1922.

  [22]Criostóir de Baróid in ‘Archon’ Southern Star 1/12/2001; Cork County Council Report, Irish Times, 5/5/1922.

  [23]Cork County Eagle, 6 May, 1922.

  [24]Brian Murphy, The Month, p. 383, September–October 1998; The Cork Constitution, 29 April, 1922; Irish Times 28 April, 1922.

  [25]The Cork Constitution, 10 May 1922. The newspapers at this period also reflect the pogroms experienced by Catholics in the north of Ireland, and the condemnation by the Protestant community in the 26 counties.

  [26]Criostóir de Baróid in ‘Archon’ Southern Star, 1/12/2001, the convention was held in the Mansion House, Dublin on 12 May 1922, Protestant Bishop of Killaloe presided, and 31 representative dignitaries of the Protestant churches including the high-sheriff of Dublin and the president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce signed a resolution.

  [27]Hart, p. 284.

  [28]Jim Kearney, letter to author 20/1/1994 – also unpublished letter to Irish Times; Denis Lordan, author interview 7/7/1974; Charlie O’Keeffe, author interview 7/12/1975.

  [29] Jim Kearney, author interview 24/2/1974.

  [30]Billy Good, author interview 24/4/1974; Southern Star, ‘Archon’ 1/12/2001, Criostóir de Baróid to author, 9/3/2002.

  [31]Flor Begley to Florence O’Donoghue, 15/3/60, MS 31,301, FO’D Papers, NLI; Tom Barry, TB private papers.

  [32]Cork Constitution, 5 May 1922.

  [33]Report on Bandon District council meeting, Cork Constitution, 9 May 1922. Seán Buckley listed among ‘the greatest patriots, Wolfe Tone, Lord Edward, Mitchel, Martin and hundred of others were all Protestant.’ It was Seán Buckley who first introduced Tom Barry to the officers of the Third Cork Brigade.

  [34]County Eagle and Munster Advertiser, 6 May 1922.

  [35]Irish Times, 5/5/1922.

  [36]Denis Lordan, author interview 7/7/1974.

  [37]Southern Star, ‘Archon’ 1/12/2001.

  [38]Captured Document, Florrie O’D Papers, FO’D intelligence officer 26/9/1920, MS 31,202, NLI.

  [39]Florrie O’Donoghue IO, to Ernie O’Malley, O’MN. P176/96, UCDA.

  [40]Ryan, Michael Collins and the Women, pp. 47, 48; Criostóir de Baróid, author interview 12/1/ 1981.

  [41]FO’D Papers, captured document HQ 1 6th Infantry Brigade, 17/6/1921, MS 31,223 (3) NLI.

  [42]Peter Hart, ‘The Protestant Experience of Revolution in Southern Ireland’, in Unionism in Modern Ireland, ed. Richard English, pp. 89–90.

  [43]Ibid., pp. 90, 92, 93, 94.

  [44]Tom Barry’s notes, no. 75; Mick Costello to Tom Barry, 6/4/1948, TB private papers; Mary Kotsonouris, ‘The Courts of Dáil Éireann’, in The Creation of The Dáil, ed. Brian Farrell, pp. 93–95. See also Mary Kotsonouris, Retreat from Revolution: The Dáil Courts, 1920–24; Deasy, p. 201; Some West Cork judges: Tadhg Ó Séaghdha, Jack Hurley and Freddy Murray, Tadhg Ó Séaghdha, statement, Yvonne Purcell Papers.

  [45]Tom Barry to Nollaig Ó Gadhra, 1969, RTÉ Sound Archives; Tom Barry in discussion with Dave O’Sullivan, home video, early 1970s, courtesy of Dave O’Sullivan; see also Duggan, pp. 55, 56.

  [46]Tom Barry to Nollaig Ó Gadhra, 1969, RTÉ Sound Archives; Tom Barry in discussion with Dave O’Sullivan, home video, early 1970s, courtesy of Dave O’Sullivan.

  [47]Tom Barry in home video, early 1970s, courtesy of Dave O’Sullivan.

  [48]Hart, in English, pp. 89–94.

  [49]Tom Barry to Donncha Ó Dulaing, n.d. c. early 1970s, RTÉ Sound Archives.

  [50]Tom Barry to Liam Mac Gowan, Irish Press, 1 May 1948, TB private papers.

  [51]Hart, p. 288.

  [52]Ibid.

  [53]Ibid; O’Broin, Protestant Nationalists, p. 177; Brian Murphy, September– October 1998, The
Month, p. 383.

  [54]Murphy, The Month, p. 383; Hart, pp. 288–292.

  [55]Hart, pp. 282, 283.

  [56]Here Hart makes reference to Seán Moylan’s (North Cork TD not West Cork) derogatory remark on ‘Unionists’ (Union with Britain and against an Irish Republic) being the ‘domestic enemy.’ Seán Moylan did not use the word Protestant – not all Unionist were Protestants. Hart, pp. 291, 288.

  [57]Hart, p. 290.

  [58]Ibid., p. 288.

  [59]Hart in English, Initials given: (e.g., C. R. 25 October 1993; R. G. and G. D. – 17, 18 April 1993; W. M. 17 April 1993; G.H. 17 April 1993; K.O. 20 April 1993; G.D. 19 April 1993; D.J. 21 April 1993; F.B. 6 December 1993; B.T. 9 November 1994; T.N. 17 November 1994), in Hart, The IRA (Bibliography, p. 330). Hart states that sources for ‘Protestant men and women begin with a “B”’ (e.g., BB, 17 April 1993; BF, 17 April 1993; BG, 18 and 19 April 1993; BO, 21 April 1993; BM, 20 April 1993; BP, 21 April 1993; BP and BH, 20 April 1993 (275); BW and BX, 15 November 1994; BY, 17 November 1994).

  [60]Dan Cahalane, author interview 21/2/1994. In conversation with Dan Cahalane it was obvious that the IRA ‘did not really know much’ about the pogroms of Catholics in the north of Ireland. ‘We had our own concerns’.