12 March 1998 Edition
Remembering the Past: Drumboe executions
The executions of prisoners held in state jails, as an offical policy of reprisal against continued republican opposition, was a heinous response by the fledgling Free State. Over 80 official executions (77 is the usual figure given) were carried out in the short period of the Civil War, while the British executed 24 during the Tan War.
The policy of execution as reprisal was carried out often against those imprisoned in the areas where the IRA was enjoying a degree of success. By February 1923 there were nearly 12,000 republican prisoners of war incarcerated by the state in various jails and concentration camps around the country. The first of the `offical' executions occurred on 17 November 1922 with the shooting dead in Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, of James Fisher, Peter Cassidy, Richard Twohig and John Gaffney.
A unanimous cabinet decision authorised the execution policy and Kevin O Higgins, the then Justice Minister, stated: ``It was done deliberately and in the belief that only by that method could representative government and democratic institutions be preserved here.'' President William Cosgrave said: ``They are dealing with the dregs of society, people who had no regard for life or property or all that people held dear''.
The only difference between the offical and the unoffical execution is that the state went through the pretence of a court martial before passing sentence. Most of those executed had been in jail months before being `tried' and then executed at dawn, often in groups of three or four. But in one case six weeks before the end of hostilities, with victory for the State in sight, four men who had been sentenced two months previously were taken out and executed.
November 1922 saw a general sweep by Free Staters through Donegal in an effort to end republican opposition in the county. This sweep was successful in that it captured the vast bulk of Volunteers operating in the county or forced them to go on the run in other counties. Amongst those captured were the remnants of Charlie Daly's column (2nd Northern Division) which had been engaging both the Staters and the Crown Forces since May 1922.
Daly, a native of Knockanescoulter, Firies, County Kerry, joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 abd as Adjutant of the Firies Battalion, IRA, he took part in many successful attacks on RIC barracks in County Kerry in the early years of the Tan War, and was also a member of Kerry County Council.
In September1920 he travelled north on Cathal Brugha's order to organise the IRA in counties Tyrone and Derry. From the time of his arrival the local units became more daring and active in the struggle. He organised the first daylight attack on an RIC barracks during the Tan War. Drumquin barracks was taken and a large haul of arms captured. The local RIC sergeant was also killed in the attack.
Before being arrested and interned in Collinstown Camp, County Dublin, in January 1921 he appointed a County Kerry man, Sean Larkin, as Brigade Adjutant. Larkin had joined the Volunteers in 1914 and was arrested in 1920. In Mountjoy jail he went on hunger-strike and was released, and reported back for active service.
(Continued next week)
The policy of execution as reprisal was carried out often against those imprisoned in the areas where the IRA was enjoying a degree of success. By February 1923 there were nearly 12,000 republican prisoners of war incarcerated by the state in various jails and concentration camps around the country. The first of the `offical' executions occurred on 17 November 1922 with the shooting dead in Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, of James Fisher, Peter Cassidy, Richard Twohig and John Gaffney.
A unanimous cabinet decision authorised the execution policy and Kevin O Higgins, the then Justice Minister, stated: ``It was done deliberately and in the belief that only by that method could representative government and democratic institutions be preserved here.'' President William Cosgrave said: ``They are dealing with the dregs of society, people who had no regard for life or property or all that people held dear''.
The only difference between the offical and the unoffical execution is that the state went through the pretence of a court martial before passing sentence. Most of those executed had been in jail months before being `tried' and then executed at dawn, often in groups of three or four. But in one case six weeks before the end of hostilities, with victory for the State in sight, four men who had been sentenced two months previously were taken out and executed.
November 1922 saw a general sweep by Free Staters through Donegal in an effort to end republican opposition in the county. This sweep was successful in that it captured the vast bulk of Volunteers operating in the county or forced them to go on the run in other counties. Amongst those captured were the remnants of Charlie Daly's column (2nd Northern Division) which had been engaging both the Staters and the Crown Forces since May 1922.
Daly, a native of Knockanescoulter, Firies, County Kerry, joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 abd as Adjutant of the Firies Battalion, IRA, he took part in many successful attacks on RIC barracks in County Kerry in the early years of the Tan War, and was also a member of Kerry County Council.
In September1920 he travelled north on Cathal Brugha's order to organise the IRA in counties Tyrone and Derry. From the time of his arrival the local units became more daring and active in the struggle. He organised the first daylight attack on an RIC barracks during the Tan War. Drumquin barracks was taken and a large haul of arms captured. The local RIC sergeant was also killed in the attack.
Before being arrested and interned in Collinstown Camp, County Dublin, in January 1921 he appointed a County Kerry man, Sean Larkin, as Brigade Adjutant. Larkin had joined the Volunteers in 1914 and was arrested in 1920. In Mountjoy jail he went on hunger-strike and was released, and reported back for active service.
(Continued next week)