On the road to freedom? Britain's claim exposed: Uncovering the Irish roots of one Judith Ward has her case why we need to campaign to of the great families of referred to the Court of Appeal repeal Article 75 English literature !• 11111111111111111111111 in 111 ii 1111111111111M11111 § § 111 * 111 • •

w r i 2-SEPI991

Founded 1939 Hon: campaigning for a united and independent September 1991

union: internal education is to be developed, guidelines for raising the issue at regional and national TUCs produced and links forged at every level with NALGO's sister unions - NIPSA in the north, LGPSU in the south. But while the NALGO resolution is a model attempt to advance pre- viously existing policy, the TGWU resolution shows what can be done in a union which has fought Turn to page 2

U1LDING I site bosses •K whose ne- •fgligence Rl^r causes work- place deaths should face police investiga- tions and manslaughter charges according to the big- gest construction workers' union, UCATT. Last month the union announced it was seeking a meeting with police chiefs to discuss much tougher action following work- place deaths, including-im- prisonment of

SB Mzw 'v. NEWS NEWS Trade unions must taride Ireland Innocent victim

Peace Train job with Chipperfields circus. those who dare voice dissent bomb-planter". She of course concerning the M62 bombing. PETER MULUGAN examines She left them on 5 February against Britain's policy in Ire- denied the contents of her en- The prosecution also added From page 1 development and transport 1974 to stay with friends in land. She was putty in the forced "confession" and bombings on the National shy of adopting policy beyond infrastructure integration. A ; the case of Judith Ward, the latest . On 14 February she hands of her interrogators and proved, with ample witnesses, Defence College at Latimer, support for trade union anti- similar resolution is likely to left London to travel to admitted that that she was Bucks, and on Euston Station off the rails but like many before she was sectarian initiatives for de- find its way onto the final she planted the working at based on the evidence of Dr cades. • ; The four-page agenda of next month's La- victim of a destined never to reach her bomb that blew Chipperfields Frank Skuse, the state forensic composite defeated all expec- bour Party conference. tion. She was-arrested Up the coach. She was circus over 200 scientist whose now dis- tations - not least those of the A second composite was to have her case referred to the Tney wrote the miles from the credited conclusions helped to Irish Democrat - when union ac- also passed reaffirming the Eleven days previously on script she convicted scene. The pros- convict the Six. tivists secured the support of union's support for Region 11 3 February, a bomb on a coach signed. There is ecution then In an atmosphere of trium- Appeal Court travelling on the M62 ex- some evidence HE Peace Train people, Families Against In- Irish regional secretary John policy: "it must become ob- moved the goal- phant jingoism Judith Ward ploded killing 12 army largely by timidation and Terror (FAIT), and other anti- Freeman and thus ensured the vious to all clear thinking that she was posts and was jailed for life in November personnel including two IRA groups are in danger of going the way resolution was passed. people that the only way for- mentally un- her own claimed that she 1974. After many tortuous T ward is the end of violence, UDITH WARD was born land which affected every children. The IRA claimed re- stable at this did not plant of the Peace People of the 1970s - of being seen as "Conference believes that years as a top security in Stockport, Cheshire in fronts or pawns for the British government. the only means by which a divisions between' working teenager who claimed* to have sppnsibility and the hunt was time. the bomb but prisoner in Durham she has 1949. After leaving school a moral conscience; Like many- on for a culprit. Picking on rambling Recently Brian iVfawhinney, Minister in the British government can help people and an opportunity to J The trial took delivered it for been moved to London as a she joined the WRAC others during the civil rights Judith Ward travelling to Bel- place in Novem- Northern Ireland Office, said in a tribute in the create a just and peaceful envi- restore peace, work and pro- "confessions' others to plant. Category 'B' which is an indi- gress." (Women's Royal Army Corp). demonstrations in Northern fast was an easy option. ber 1974 andrHMBHB House of Commons to the organisers of the Bel- ronment for the people of the •••••• Additional cation that even the prison whole island of Ireland is to But if the Labour Party She did not fit in and in 1966 Ireland she certainly was not The police knew she was a was a farce typi- charges were service regard her as innocent. fast-Dublin-London Peace Train: "I have been pursue a political programme forms t ie next government , she went to Ireland to work as immune. According to British member of Sinn Fein. They cal of its kind. Ward was port- added but no material proof Judith Ward, HM Prison able to put my money where my mouth - and my of measures which will lead to and if ics Irish commitments a stable girl. She remained in intelligence she joined Sinn also knew she had demon- rayed by the state prosecution was presented. Holloway, Parkhurst Road, pen - would normally be. I have responsibility a united Ireland," the union's are to be honoured, there Ireland for nearly seven years Fein. strated ;for civil rights. She as "a gun-runner, intelligence Judith Ward was convicted London N7. Her prison num- for the Northern Ireland Committee for Com- biennial delegate conference needs to be built over the com- absorbing the news of the trau- She returned to England in suffered the standard intens- officer, bomb-carrier, bomb- largely on her own rambling ber is 994466 and should be munity Relations. This has to date provided agreed. It called for "a pro- ing months and into the first matic turmoil in Northern Ire- August 1973 where she got a ive interrogation reserved for maker and even uncorroborated "confessions" stated on correspondence. £8,500 for the funding of the Peace Train move- gressive demilitarisation of years of office an informed ment." the conflict" and committed constituency within Labour's And Mawhinney promised further funds in fu- the union to campaigning for trade union heartland able to ture. He also told the House: "We are happy to an end to a whole series of civil articulate the case for Irish say that we have agreed to provide a seeding liberties abuses. It further tied unity and independence. It's a grant to Families Against Intimidation and Terror a future Labour government top priority task. to enable it to prepare a strategy for its future de- to working by negotiation and That is why the Connolly co-operation with the Dublin velopment." Association is doing all that it government "to achieve pro- can to help ensure the success- It view of this British Government money it,is gressive, social and economic ful organisation of a new trade doubtful if the "strategy" of these bodies will integration within Ireland", union network on Ireland: If s have any place for criticism of violence or with the construction of a not going to be easy - the Bel- breaches of human rights by the Government o: single development agency, a fast MSF office has already JUSTICE has proved elusive for Dessie Ellis, security forces in the North. single job creation organisa- received its first death threat extradited on charges of conspiring to cause explo- Some Peace Train participants certainly have tion, a joint approach to the as a result of the conference sions and possession of explosives. Despite assuran- curious qualifications as peace advocates. They European single market, a resolution passed this year ces to his family from Taoiseach Charles Haughey that include Ken Maginnis of the UUP and Nigel joint agriculture development And it's going to take time - he would receive a fair trial, Ellis faces the same sort Dodds of the DUP, both of whom have publicly' •JOHN FREEMAN: his support secured victory for the Irish plan, financial and taxation but there are no short cuts; and of charade the Winchester Three did. supported shoot-to-kill actions of the SAS and unK/resolution Pic: Martin Jenkinson harmonisation, joint tourist there's nowhere else I When a magistrate refused to commit him for trial on British Anqy. After the killing of two republicans i i! • the charges on which he was extradited, he should ry in Co Tyrone two years ago, Mr Maginnis called have gone free. Instead, a complicated legal tangle for more killings, saying that "two swallows kept him in prison until Judge Swinton-Th'omas - the don't make a summer". And Mr Dodds issued a Winchester trial judge • agreed to try him on the Bring btMint bossesto boo k original charges. traditional Orange Unionism of refutation than by referring blood-curdling call at this year's DUP conference BOBBIE has become Increasingly ir- back to the nation-building ac- "to fill the cemeteries with dead republicans." What of the fair trial promised by Mr Hsughey? • Location: London hss been affected by many of the relevant. In order to make it tivity of the United irishmen The British government is funding these From page 1 eting in the building industry, plaining about safely condi- despite two of its employees events of the IRA campaign In Britain. Almost every HEATLEY politically feasible for the con- which had to be met with "peace" projects at a time when many inde- It is also launching a health'apd firms are taking desperate tions after a house collapsed suffering injuries; in .virtii^tty furor at the Old Bailey will have been financially af- servative elements of Irish bloody repression in order to pendent cultural and Irish language groups in - safety charter for building cost-cutting measures to avoid into a basement where he had identical falls from an unpcb- fected at the very least by the Victoria bombing and previews this 'nationalism' to go along with prevent them succeeding. Belfast and Derry have had their grants termi- workers to be produced in lea- bankruptcy, driving down been working. Others have tected edge on the same site subsequent hoaxes in February. Details of any explo- this, scheme^ the British are Speakers at the school will nated on the same government's instructions. Is flet form as widely as possible. wages and forcing their wor- been dismissed simply for within a month of eachother! sions alleged against him that occurred in London will year's Campaign having to distance themselves include: there a whiff of the South African government Despite the current reces- kers to dp dangerous jobs. joining unions. This month pees the launch certainly weigh heavy on their minds. A fairer hearing somewhat from their former • UCD lecturer Kevin Whe- and Inkatha about all this? sion there has been no. let-up Most at risk are those em- The Health and Safety Ex- of a construction kwiustry couldhave been held in Dublin under the Criminal Law for Democracy locally-recruited garrison, the lan, who is a foremost ployed at the most casual end Protestant ascendancy-type TRAINSPOTTER' in building site deaths and in- ecutive remains completely relatives support group by the Jurisdiction Act, but the Director of Public Prosecu- opponent of the neo-Unionist juries. Last year, three of the jobs market, working on unable to enforce the law. families of those who' haVe tion refused. weekend school Unionists. historical revisionists; workers died every week in the lump, many of whom are Over 90 per cent of building suffered injufypOr bereave- A Jury selection: the jury will have been vettedbythe This marginalisation of • Roscommon-based school- so-called accidents and a Irish immigrants seeking to site accidents do not result in ment, supported by the police. Orange Unionism has caused teacher Frankie Watson, who lpish OemocHAU death or serious injury oc- avoid unemployment or the an inspection and prosecu- Construction Safety Cam- • Security: the show of armed police and the racing many Protestants to become will speak on the United Irish- curred every hour of the troubles at home. tions are even rarer. Last paign. It canbecontacted«/o prison van, bodysearching of everyone entering the PPROPRIATELY alienated from the British women; ; working day. In one recent case, a young month, an HSE inspector re- AnnElvin,. court will convince every juror the defendant is one enough for the bicen- state, but because of decades • Belfastman John Gray, head MONTHLY NEWSPAPER OF THE With unemployment rock- Irishman was sacked for com- fused to prosecute a firm Keetons Ro dangerous, desperate man. tenary year of the of conditioning by the state of the historic Linenhall Li- • Timing: the trial will coincide with the Tory party founding of the schools, the British-owned brary, who will speak in his EDITORIAL BOARD: Gerard Curran, Conor Foley United Irishmen, the media and latterly the neo- personal capacity on the 1790s (news), Martin Moriarty (editor), Peter Mulligan conference, as did the Winchester trial. Security 0aroun d that time is always emphasised and an 'IRA* theme of the 1991 Campaign Unionist revisionist Belfast debates; PUBLISHED BY: Connolly Publications Ltd., 244*46 for Democracy weekend historians, they are in a • Leitriijvborn Dublin City Cray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR. Tel: 071-833 3022 school will be the continuing quandary as to their future University, lecturer Luke Gib- I TONE: radical dissenter PRINTED BY: Ripley Printers (TU) Ltd, Nottingham ment among the press snd public. relevance of the United Irish- political direction. bons, who will speak on the Road, Ripley, Derbyshire. Tel: 0773-721641 • Media: previous coverage of his fight against men's principles to a solution Few of the Protestant work- relevance of the United Irish- 1939-1980 now available on microfilm extradition mean Dessie Ellis is already known as an r paigning work to be done i 'IRA suspect'. Just in case jurors have missed the of the political problems of ing people know of their men for the politics of today. where local lore has it that the £4,100to go ! this autumn - so keep the i point, the opening of the trial will bring a flurry of the today. radical forbearers in the In addition to the lectures remains of Henry Joy money rolling in. highlights of the more sensational prosecution asser- While Europe's current United irishmen, or what they and discissions, Belfast Ex- McCracken were finally in- AUGUST is never a good Thanks to Bert Cham- tions. Pictures of the security around the trial and the surge to the right in politics stood for. One aim of the Cam- posed will be mounting a terred. A plaque will be Join the CA! time to try to raise bers £10, P&Q Horgan £8, results of any alleged bombings and even - as with makes problematic the econ- paign's school is to assist in photographic exhibition of erected and the Rev Terence money: everyone's away J Morrisssy (Australia) • Danny McNamee - pictures of the results of non-al- omic independence of small overcoming this inadequacy. United irish personalities and McCaughey, originally from on their holidays if £6.90 in memory of C De- leged bombings, will sell a lot of newspapers. The countries such as Ireland, But the Protestants are not the memorabilia of 1790s society, Ballymena but now lecturing Membership costs a mere £10 a year(£12 for ooupies, they've any to spare, or smond Oreaves, D ' In with Tory conference is also usually good for there can be no doubt that the only ones who can benefit. culture and economics. The at TCD, v. ill officiate. £6 unwaged couples saving to getaway later. McLoughlin £10, S but not so good for justice. politically sovereign, pluralist Catholics, too, are being as- well-known harpist Janet Har- The school, on the weekend and secular republic for which So it's not too-surprising McGinley £25, P Byrne the defence can, and possibly will, chal- sailed by neo-Unionist binson will provide musical of 11-13 October, is sponsored the United Irishmen fought scription to the Irish Democrat that . we only collected £3,TDonaghey£5,BFee- these points. Judge Swinton-Thomas has propaganda emanating from interludes at the exhibition by Belfast Trades Council, the would be a vast improvement £980 last month. But ney £5, P Ladkin £3, P all before. At Winchester. He rejected conservative 'nationalism', and will speak on the Belfast Irish Labour History Society, , in democratic terms, on what NAME while we are wafypatsful Coyle £5, G Ftndlay £10 In essie Ells can expect no different. north and south of the border. harpers' festival of 1792. Jane the Workers Educational As- currently exists. This is par- This is eager to accept the new Cassidy will stage a musically- sociation, the New Ireland to all those listed below memory efCbariiefin- JSter Three were released on appeal - and ticularly true of the North, British agenda and its aim of illustrated production on the Group, Belfast Exposed and ADDRESS who put their Stands in dlay, NALGO Metropoli- even Lord Denning has now publicly withdrawn accu- where th° form of governance 'integration within integra- life of Mary Ann MeCracken. the Irish Protestant Education thsir pockets for the As- tan district £100, Bill sations of guilt in a letter to The Times. Dessie Ellis in military-bureaucratic. tion'. For this purpose it plays A coach-full of people, or- and Action Group. • .'CfUrifliJJ; I may or may not be so lucky. But only by continually Now that the British are along with the British 'two ganised by Dick Roche, will be we need a big boost this £5, B Crowiey -82, FHO exposing and opposing how Irish defendants in Brit- Anyone from Britain wish- seeking to incorporate the traditions', 'two communities' coming from Wexford and the on £12 JO, Banker's orders ish courts are treated can we throw the last spanner ing to attend should contact whole of Ireland in a wider - two nations? - conception of descendants of the Wexford £167J9. into the works o|8he judicial conveyor belt, Roger Kelly, Campaign fpr neo-Unionism embracing the Northern Ireland society. Republic will take part in a democracy, c/o 45-47 Done- Return this form with yourcheque peysbl June total. S3S2.79 i • WENDY PEARMAN Association to; 244/46 Gray's Inn Rood, Running total:t&922.04 British Isles inside the EC, There is no better method ceremony in Clifton Street gall Street, Belfast BT1. Hi IRISH DEMO August 1991 page 3 ItHd'A H |OC HOC RAT *8»p te mb e r Wt 1 p s g e * SiSiPi

A m -HE ^S3t 'Will INSIGHT INSIGHT WORLD COMMENT BY P O L I T I C U S Time to repeal Greater Germany The rational Section 75 vs Greater Serbia

RIME MINISTER John Section 75 therefore remains ajor and Northern legally fully in force to this ISTORY must be hurrying backward when one can see ry Brooke have day. It constitutes Britain's such a headline in the year 1991. Some might think it more case for called Articles 2 and 3 of the assertion of de facto and de appropriate to 1914. Vet the dialectics of national inde- Irish Constitution "unhelp- jure sovereignty in Ireland. If pendence as against imperialism make it appropriate ful". This is because the Ar- Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish todav. The creation of new nation states in Europe is so sig- ticles say that the Six Constitution were to be Hnificant for the future that we return once more this month to the Counties should by right be changed so as to give up Ire- Yugoslav crisis. We shall look at Russian developments next month. under Irish rule. The reality is land's claim to the Six Coun- that it is Britain's claim to the ties, the British claim would Since we last wrote the EEC has become ever more obviously a Six Counties that is "unhelp- stand unchallenged in both front for imperialistic German interests in the Balkans. Germany and ful". For until Britain agrees domestic and international its client Austria want the Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia to abandon that claim it is law. That would be a great - the richer republics within the multinational Yugoslav federation - guilty of a fundamental injus- victory for Northern Union- to become independent states economically integrated with Ger- tice towards the people of an- ists and for British uphol- many. But Germany wants them to do so with their present boun- other country and there can ders of the Union. The daries, in order to ensure that Croatia with its riches has a compact be no real peace in Ireland or Northern Ireland Constitu- territory and to allay French, Spanish and British fears in the EEC real friendship between the tion Act 1973 spells out the that a redrawing of the boundaries of Yugoslavia's constituent repub- people of the two islands. claim of Section 75 and re- Little is heard, however, peats the 1949 Act by stating lics will set a dangerous precedent across Europe. withdrawal about the details of Britain's (Section I), "It is hereby de- The Serbs and Croats are first-cousin Slavic peoples. The Croats claim. clared that Northern Ireland were for centuries under German-Austrian domination and are Cath- Britain's assertion of remains part of Her Ma- olic; the Serbs were part of the Turkish Empire and are Greek Ortho- sovereignty in Ireland is ex- jesty's dominions and of the dox or Muslim. The Serbs are the largest national group within pressed in Section 75 of the United Kingdom." Yugoslavia. But after World War 2 Marshal Tito, a Croat, gave Yugos- What are the Government of Ireland Act Over 30 years ago the Con- lavia a new constitution. To reduce the weight of the Serbs in the 1920 as amended. This sec- nolly Association cam- new state, the boundaries of Yugoslav's internal republics were so prospects for tion originally read: paigned in Britain to draw drawn as to put large number of Serbs inside Croatia and Bosnia. It "Notwithstanding anything attention to the significance was Tito's lieutenant Djilas, the later dissident, who drew these boun- contained in this Act the su- of Section 75 of the Govern- Irish unity after preme authority of the Parlia- ment of Ireland Act as autho- daries, ignoring the wishes of the national minorities concerned. ment of the United Kingdom rising the British Parliament Croatia was a puppet Nazi State during World War 2. In those the collapse of shall remain unaffected and to use its supreme authority years the Croatian Fascist Ustashi, led by Pavelic, slaughtered some undiminished over all per- to intervene in the Six Coun- 750,000 Serbs - the greatest atrocity of the war apart from the Jewish sons, matters and things in ties in order to stop the Holocaust, already this year the new right-wing, post-communist the latest Ireland and every part there- abuses and discrimination Hungarian government, urged on by the Germans, was discovered to of." of the Lfnionist regime, at be illegally smuggling arms to right-wing Croat nationalists. When British This assertion of British Stormont. The "convention" earlier this year Croatia proclaimed its independence of Yugoslavia, sovereignty over the whole of the House of Commons at of Ireland was confined to the time was that matters de- it adopted the same flag as the wartkr.e Nazi Ustashi Republic. It sim- initiative? the Six Counties of the volved to Stormont could not ultaneously withdrew language and other rights from its 700,000 Ser- North-East by the Ireland Act be raised at Westminster. bian minority. Understandably these minority Serbs then said that if CONOR 1949. Until that date British This happy "convention" to the Croats did not wish to stay inside Yugoslavia, they did not wish constitutional law regarded let sleeping dogs lie went out to be part of a Croat state flying the hated Ustashi flag of those who F-OLEY listens the whole of Ireland as being the window of course in face had slaughtered their relatives in the 1940s. They demanded reunifi- under the jurisdiction of the of the demands of the Civil cation with Serbia. Crown, as Section I of the Rights Movement that to the rustlings Ireland Act makes clear. It Unionist abuses would not The Serbian minority within Croatia have successfully rebelled. be tolerated any longer. With the support of the Yugoslav Federal Army they now control in the ITH THE Brooke reassured by the retention of "It is hereby recognized There is need for a cam- most of the areas in which they live, amounting to one-third of the ter- part of A "pieace package" such cation of the hostility that thinking of a deal, we should prioritise disbanding the and declared that the part of paign now around the issue ritory of the former Croatia. It is this that infuriates Germany, the process tempo- an Irish base for the regiment a referendum would probably exists towards the IRA's mili- call on MPs to publicly declare loyalist militia which, what- 1AI and the merger will make little Ireland heretofore known as of why Britain insists on main backer of the Croats. It is this which is behind the international undergrowth split Fianna FSil and present tary campaign and the they will not go through the ever it is called, has no role to • ••• rarily stalled, the difference to the behaviour of Eire ceased, as from the claiming supreme authority propaganda campaign directed against the Serbian leader, Slobodan republicans with a campaign contradiction between this same lobby door in a con- play in a demilitarised society. •• •• political players its soldiers, many of whom eighteenth day of April, nine- over "all persons, matters Milosevic, whom the right-wi

IRISH DEMOCRAT September DEMOCRAT BOOKS

LISTINGS PETER MULLIGAN'S PEEPSHOW LONDON Eamon Mor- rissey returns to the Tri- cycle Theatre, Kilburn, Charlie Donnelly ious song, which we dedicate from Wednesday 28 Au- this month toour grand supporter of many years and Omagh resident, Paddy Byrne gust to Thursday 19 Sep- tember with The Brother, to Bally»h*nnoa,and froa Cullyhtnna to Old Arboe his celebrated one-man An Irish battalion was doorstep. The procession as- lie. In his "speech from the we soon realised that we show based on the works Republican raised, under the leadership sembled in St Stephen's dock", Charlie told Justice were not in that stagpof rev- of Flann O'Brien. Perfor- of Frank Ryan, to fight for the Green. One contingent had a Little: "A picket becomes too olution, gave the IRA their "The officer was a big man. They look Mm to the t mances start at 8pm with Congress veteran democratically elected gov- papal flag as their banner, an- large for legality as soon as it guns bade and gpt down to konnels bQslcto the wsll Ho gave the first sscapcr 8 log a 4pm Saturday matinee, ernment of the Spanish repub- other a tricolour and another becomes effective." They real political work. Six bran- except on 31 August. Tic- PADDY BYRNE lic. Charlie went with the a Union Jack. were all sentenced to a ches were formedin Dublin, Tho story In ttis^Mpsrssbout thsm using t whsstbsr- kets: Mon-Wed and Satur- battalion to Spain, and made The flags presented a prob- month's imprisonment in one a branch composed of ex- iMre coved and raabled, caroused and gambled,where songs did thunder and whiskey flow day matinee £6, Thursday remembers the supreme sacrifice on 27 lem. Some of our members Mountjoy. The Republican British Army men, chaired by jority printed the Home Office story that a and Friday £8, Saturday February 1937 at Jarama. would not march behind a Congress paper came out Captain White. wheelbarrow mi used. Will be chas- ! £10.50. Box office: 071- Charlie Donnelly, An Irish 'brigade', led by sectarian papal flag others with a large poster "Little They say thitone picture Used tor non conformance? The Guardian 328 1000. ex-police chief Eoin O'Duffy, objected to the Union Jack, man, you've had a busy is worth a thousand words. It editor of the went to fight for Franco. They and others said they would day", a popular song at the is so hard to convey the IMteMiaiswfeHMBi "| was given an excellent exclu- GLASGOW Public meet- sustained six casualties from be damned if they would time. image of a person in cold sive story fey an amy major...This Is the smartest ing organised by the forerunner of the the guns of their allies, the march behind the tricolour - The formation of the Con- print. When I first met Char- It's light and airy I've tramped through Derry, and to Portaferry in the County Down approach of all, lor In spftaof Journalists' reputations, Hunger Strike Commem- Moors, but returned to Ire- "a capitalist dishcloth" . I was gress was a revolt largely lie, way back in 1934, he was any reporter would prefer a good story to a free drink. oration Committee with Irish Democrat, land from the war with more chairman of the against the a very young; enthusiastic Drinks with Informants, afferall, come on expenses." Ken Livingstone MP, Noel men than they had going out - Dublin United backward, con- man, full of We and energy (I Simon Hoggart former Guardian reporter who lived In Ellis (Irish Anti-Extradi- who died fighting the first army in history to do Tenants servative, reac- was only 26 myself). He ap- the Belfast Europa Hotel Hi the seventies and claimed tion Committee), Fr Des so! (They brought back with League, and so Congress tionary peared to be stiidibus, a lite- it was a meeting place for "sleekly dressed Unionist Wilson and relatives of fascism in Spain them deserters from the Span- in charge. I or- leadership of rary man, welWreadin Marx politicians and shifty looking Republicans." You can But with all ay raking and undertaking, ay heart was aching for Sweet Omagh Town the hunger strikers, at ish Foreign Legion.) dered that all was a revolt the IRA. At and Connolly, a dedicated so- see which side he Is on. The Observer 7.30pm, Friday 6 Septem- In the early days of the Re- the flags would that time it was cialist, as we all were. He was ber, at the Kelvin Par publican Congress in 1933-35 form a colour againstthe a large, well-or- a fine speaker, and in com- •agWBMaa«aiMi«eSPONSORED KILLINGi "Sinn Fein said Mr Shanag- Lome Hotel, Sauchiehall N MY pamphlet I spoke many times with party, and ganised move- mand whether addressing a han (recently assassinated) had been warned by the Street. A social follows Memories of the Republi- Charlie on platforms, from a march behind leadership ment, with Congress meetings slum RUC that Ma personal details were bedovad to be In from 9pm-1am with Bel- can Congress you will mass rally in the Central the Republican considerable dwellers or a hostile crowd, the handsof a loyalist paramilitary group." - "Sources fast band Hot Ash. A read: "Other young (Methodist) Hall in Abbey Congress ban- of the IRA support which was a normal ''indus- said It would be unwise for Harte to cross the border." I march assembles at 10.30 leaders in Dublin, where Street, Dublin, to smaller ner. With Char- throughout the trial hazard" for us at the Then further going, my wild oats sowing THE INDEPENDENT published the warning, Gerard on Saturday 7 September, II was mainly engaged, were gatherings all over the city, lie's help discipline prevailed, country. Among the leader- time. v , Harte acquitted by a Dutch court and the Matt police : and final ! To New York City I crossed the'say' moving off at 11am from Charlie Donnelly, a gifted when our 'platform' was and off we went to the Man- ship, however, were some The Congresssustained I've roved Where a congregation of richrelation s Is from Lurgan Co Armagh. "Ulster Freedom Fighters Blythswood Square to speaker, and a poet of great usually a borrowed kitchen sion House where Charlie ad- progressive men, principally heavy losses in Spain, 72 fatal have released a list of reoublieans they warn wW Im George Square. Stood on the harbour to welcome me promise (later killed in Spain) table or chair qnd on one oc- dressed the people from the Peadar ODonnell, Frank casualties. On the Dublin ex- In grand apparel tike Dukes or Earis shot soon. Names and personal details of nine men casion the horse-trough out- steps. Dublin had never seen Ryan, Geforge Gilmore, Mick ecutive committee; five mem- from thaPortadown area were sent to the press raising I BELFAST The Robert It is not easy to recall side Kevin Street police such a demonstration before. Price and others. They pro- bers were k£!lediji;Sp8.in, a They tried torais e me with swordand crown fears that security files have fallen Into the hand of j Lynd School is being or- events that occurred over 50 station. During one election Then there was a mass duced a socialist line, and loss from which we never re- loyalists paramilitaries." The Guardian ganised at Ulster years ago, even though they campaign, we spoke at 18 picket organised to go to a split the IRA from top to bot- covered. They were Charlie my heart was aching for Sweet Omagh Town. ijaBMsmHrn*^ I • People's College from Fri- relate to stirring and danger- meetings in a week, from Bal- firm in Dorset Street, Dublin, tom. Those of us who fol- Donnelly, KitConway, Jack •emcaaeisriBa As reported previously in the ID the | day 13 September to Sun- ous times: the fight against briggan back to James Street called the Bacon Ships, where lowed them werestill under Nalty, Dinny Ooady, Gene When life grew weary, aye, and Igrew dreary And when life is over and I shall hover 23 officers involved In the Birmingham frame up are day 15 September. fascism in Ireland, manifest (outside "the Union"). We conditions for the staff were the influence of the Fenian Downey and Frank Ryan, ingland from Deny quay. Above the gates where Saint Peter stands receiving support and advice from the Chief Con- Lecturers include Tim Pat in the Cosgrave Party - what- held meetings all over Dublin appalling - wages 12 shillings physical force tradition. So < whpdiedlalerin Dresden in And when I landed, sure 'twas fate commanded And he shall call me for to install me stable of the Birmingham Police. Four police officers Coogan, Flann Campbell ever it was called then - with slums - the worst in Eurojte - and less per week. It was a we resurrected the old irish 1944. V named by the Appeal Court as having lied In the and Andrew Boyd. The That I toLondon , should make my way. its military wing the Blue- and organised a huge demon- non-union house. About 500 Citizen Army and dug up I lost touch with Charlie.^ . Where many a gay night; from dark to daylight And I shall answer: f Ifm sure 'tis grand, sir, Birmingham Six ease have now refused to be Inter- cost is £45 including full shirts, and following the out- stration of slum dwellers or 600 arrived on the picket, gome ICA veterans (Con- after he left ftfr London. I vlowed under caution. The officers concerned are Dot board at the college, break of the Spanish Civil numbering several thousands blocked the street and held Polly's men) to give it legitim- knew that he hadgone with '7 For to play the haip and toweartit e crown Supt George Reads, DM Sgt Colin Morris, DC Terence which can be booked War, the 'Christian Front', to march on the Mansion up the traffic. Swarms of acy and colour. Charlie was Frank to Spain. 1 was shocked But I, being humble, sure I'll never grumble Woodwiss and DC Rex LangforcL The Devon and through the bursar 0232- and the full weight of the une- House. Charlie was the or- police descended on us, and an active organiser, and be- and distressed to learn that 1 ,J If Heaven's as charming as Sweet Omagh Town.' Cornwall Police have submitted their limited report to - 381368. Non residential lected Upper House of ganiser, and charged to con- succeeded in arresting 200 of came an officer in a company. he had been killed in action * the Director of Public Prosecutions who Is in a predi- tees are £5/£2.50 for the bishops at Maynooth. front the Lord Mayor on his our members, including Char- We often met on parade But at Jarama. cament. He also has to review the decision to dis- Friday and Sunday ses- charge the officers accused of perverting the HSfe'.- . three sions and £10/£5 for the S-^^ttH course of.Justice in the Guildford case. Will he pro- Saturday. ceed? Watch this column. The Guardian

LONDON Lawrence and AS I WAS walking down a lane when night was WHEN boyhood's fire was in my blood, m3333MBSm The Force Wishart have organised After a cry in the wilderness... Filling a crucial gap drawing nigh I read of ancient freemen, have now admitted that confidential information held three one-day seminars I meta cail'n with three flowers and she more young Of Gxeeceand Rome who bravely stood, by them was raleassd to the News of the World by an on the history and per- "unidentified officer". The Information waa uaed to spective of the left in Brit- tinml, Three hundred men and three men; lit Pateid . Wesa youdear," said I, '/I pray you to me tell And then I prayed I yet might see smear the good name of Labour MP for ish politics at the Birmingham Ladywood. The ID now predicts that the University of London The place lhatyou did findthes e fine flowers- 1 seem Our fettersren t in twain, Peter Berresford Ellis way through the fascinating lore, has produced a 454pp John Boyd blin Castle and of Whitehall Infamous Weet Midlands force responsible for fram- Union, Malet Street. Sat- to know them well." And Ireland once a province, Ire Myth, Legend & Romance; labyrinth of one of Europe's work on the subject. It is not John Blake Dillon: Young was to break the 'working ing the Birmingham Six will follow British standard urday 21 September: The A nation once again! An Encyclopedia of the Irish oldest mythologies. the major work I had in Irelander, Brendan pact' between Irish nationa- practice and Change their name. Memories of Sella- trade union movement. Folk Tradition, Dr D&ithi O Further, I stated: 'It is my mind, in the style of Cacridis, O'Cathoir, Irish Academic lists and English radicals and She tookan d kissed the firstflowe r once and sweetly flekl, the Maze etc. Saturday 26 October: The hOg&n, Ryan Publishing, sincere wish that before long, but it is a long way along the Press, IRE 19.95 hbk put an end to any chance that satttonte, And from that time through wildest woe, communist movement. £19.95 hbk. with the backing of the Irish path towards it. Where the the Charter of England and "This flower I found on the Wicklow Hills, dew-wet Thai hope has shone a far light PATRICK MAGUIRF SPEAK '"Your Mum Is a ter- Saturday 30 November: state and its academic resour-. work is of benefit to the aca- repeal of the Union might: and pure and free. Nor could love's brightest summer glow rorist, you were making bombs In the kitchen.' he The left. Speakers include ces, a complete and careful demic reader and student is succeed. . . •• screamed. I waa crying, and he kept on hitting me Jim Mortimer, Monty v Its name is Michael Dwyer, the strongest flower of all Outshine Oat solemn starlight; study and synthesis of all the that, following each entry, Dr HIS biography Dillon was $ barrister with harder. He wae hitting me on the head, the back of my Johnstone, Jeremy Cor- And I'll keep it fresh within my breast; though ail the It seemed towatc h above my head manuscript sources of Irish O hOgSin, gives a list of aca- covers the period literary talent. Naive and hesi- neck, my shoulders and the top of my back, but not byn and Clare Short MP. world should falL" . • In forum, field and fame, mythology could be made demic sources both in manu- prior to and includ- tant about practicalities of my face - If he hit my face, It was a slap, not a punch The fee for all three sem- HREE years ago, h Its angel voice rangroun d my bed, with the purpose of produc- script form and in scholastic ing the 1848 revol- revolutions, he easily des- .... Every time I opened my mouth he hit me. It could inars is £5/£2.50 and £2/£1 Constable & Co ing an exhaustive academic studies in academic journals. utions throughout paired. as did the other She took and kissed the next flower twice and sweetly A nation once again! ' have gone on for hours • I lost track of time." Patrick for individual seminars. published my Dic- saidtome, tionary of Irish Myth- reference dictionary, contain- The work is very broad in TEurope, which included the Young Irelanders. The upshot Magulre was 13 years of age when he waa Interrogated Contact: Gordon McLen- ing all the names, major and its scope, perhaps a little too abortive uprising in Ireland was a filed uprising from "This flower I culled on the old Cave Hill, outside It whispered too, that freedom's ark, and he was convicted of handling explosives at the nan, Lawrence and Wi- ology. In the Tintroduction l lamented the minor, with their variants broad with 284 alphabetical in which John Dillon took a which Dillon escaped with a Belfast City, And service high and holy, Old Bailey the following year. Sunday Review shart, 144a Old South and manuscript references entries covering not only leading part. With Charles high price on his head. Lambeth Road, SW8. fact that, at that date, no-one The name I call it is Wolfe Tone, the bravest flower of Would be profaned byfeelings dark had attempted to produce with modern acceptable Irish myths but folk customs Duffey and Thomas Osborne, He eventually reached the all; And passions vain and lowly; forms; a reference work, for and tales, including an entry Dillon was a co-founder of m:i3aaiJni Danny such a work. Perhaps I will United States, where he And I'll keep it fresh within my breast though all die For, Freedom comes from God's right hand, example, on the model of the about the Boyne - well, the The Nation and a leading Lourie's family have ar- be forgiven a little bit of own stayed for eight years, After wodd shoddfall." And seeds a godly train; five-volume study Greek Boyne is (unfortunately) one member of the Young Ireland ranged a Holy Mass for trumpet-blowing when I his return to Dublin, he was Mythology, compiled under of the sad myths of Irish his- Group. And righteousmenmus t make our land the repose of his soul at point out that a paperback elected MP for Tipperary and LAST WORD the editorship of IT Cacridis tory and the entry does, ac- She took'and kissed the third flower thrice and softly A nation once again, 11am, Saturday 28 Sep- edition of my Dictionary has Of especial interest to influenced Gladstone's policy (Ekdotiki, Athens, 1986).' tually refer readers to my said tome, tember, at the Sacred just been published by Ox- readers in Britain will be the on Ireland, work carried on I now feel somewhat as book The Boyne Water. Fully il- "This flower I fondi n Thomas Street, in Dublin Town," Heart Church, Hillsbo- ford University Press at £5.99. chapters on the Chartists and by Parnell assisted by Dil- "Believing that the British government has no right In John the Baptist might have lustrated, with a guide to rough, Sheffield 6. A little However, 1 did point out 1848. The Irish played an im- lon's son John . " said she, So, as I grew from boy toman , Ireland, never had any right In Ireland, and never can felt. Having uttered my cry Irish pronunciation, indexed light refreshment will be at the time that my work was portant role in the Chartist Based on primary sources, lis name is SobertEmmet, the youngest fiowero f ail, I bent me to that bidding have any right In Ireland, the presence, In any one into the wilderness, Dr O hO- and with a generous bibliog- laid on at Fagln's hostelry not an all-embracing guide agitation, the main centres of this biography fills a crucial And I'll keep it fresh within my breast though all the My spirit of each selfish plan generation of irishmen, of even a respectable ml- g4in, a lecturer in the Depart- raphy, the work is a highly afterwards. for academic reference but unrest being the towns and gap and shows qnce again And cruel passion ridding, nority, reedy to die to affirm that truth, makeethat i rather for the lay reader; a ment of Irish Folklore at important volume in making regions where the concentra- that the basic stijjggle^e- -i I Tone I'll keep, for I do love For, thus I hoped someday to aid, government for ever an usurpation and a crime guide for enthusiasts by UCD, and author of several Irish culture more widely tion of Irish communities was mains, even if th£/ojrm works on Irish myth and folk- known. themifl, Oh, can such hope be vain fl hWt which they might pick their most evident. The aim of Du- changes. And I'll keep thera fash withinmy breast though all When my dear country shall be made * " 'TMSBlOU* at his court-martial, . - the world should fell" A nation once again! 9 May 1916 IRISH DEMOCRAT September 19 91 page 6 mm •sZSW - ANONN IS ANALL: THE PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS COLUMN

Uncovering the Irish origins of one of the great families of English literature

Irish roots adequately He local seanachie or storyteller. prenticed to a hand-loom states: Hugh was born a Presbyte- weaver and then a blacksmith. 'Very little is known about rian. In spite of modern Because of his father's views, his life in Ireland and it is un- 'revisionist' propaganda, a and the fact that his mother certain whether the family Presbyterian Irish-speaker was Catholic, there is evidence name was Brunty or from Co. Down was no rarity that Patrick had a tough time OTronty.' Though, of course, then. Protestants in Newry, as a child. Other village child- at the age of fourteen Patrick for example, an industrial ren called him 'Papish Pat'. was to sign his name as town in Co. Down where com- His escape lay in his literacy 'Prunty' on the flyleaf of an plete anglicisation might be and his fondness for books. arithmetic book. expected, are on record as still When, in 1811, Patrick pub- This statement about the speaking Irish in the mid-19th lished a collection of verses shortage of reliable informa- Century and few regarded it entitled Cottage Poems, it.was tion about the Bronte's Irish as 'not their language'. In- reflective of his own poor cot- background is not accurate - at deed, in 1841 the Presbyterian tage background and it first least to those who are pre- General Assembly called Irish job as a hand-loom weaver. He pared to carefully research the 'our sweet and memorable also aimed it at a specific audi- area. mother tongue' while the 1833 ence, those, like himself, who He was born on March 17, Synod of Ulster had required came from such a background 1777, the eldest of the ten that all candidates for the Pres- who sought escape into lite- children of Hugh Prunty and byterian ministry learn some racy. his wife Elinor (sometimes Irish. 'All you who turn the study given as Alice). The cottage But Hugh Prunty had re- soil, where he was born was ident- jected all organised religion. Or ply the loom with daily ified in 1932; only two walls He is reported to (have said: toil. stood with a mound of nettle Protestant parsons got their And lowly on, through life covered masonry between. It livings for political services turmoil has now been respectfully re- and not for preaching the Gos- For scanty fare: stored. It was a whitewashed pel.' He also said that 'while Attend: and gather richest — stone bothdn (or cabin) God had made all things good spoil measuring 20 feet by 25 feet. a number of people, like kings To sooth your care.' In a poem entitled 'The and emperors and ministers It has been argued that Pa- Cabin of Mourne', Patrick was had come between God and trick was pioneering the field caught in an oddly reminis- his world'. of popular adult education. cent mood about his boyhood. Ireland, he said, was gov- Certainly, Patrick saw literacy 'Well thatched, had a good erned 'by a gang of rapacious as an escape route from his earthen floor brigands'. 'Irish law was not own impoverished early life One chimney in the midst justice' and he, Hugh Prunty, and not literacy in his native of the roof 'was unable to obey the laws language but literacy in Eng- One window and one of the country, as those laws lish, the language of the latched door.' were made by an assembly of colonial administration. Hugh Prunty prospered landlords, purely and solely to Rev Andrew Harshaw, a and we are told the family serve their own rapacious Presbyterian minister, helped LL literate people 'Patrick, who as an admirable magazine and Charlotte wrote moved into a two-roomed desires and not in accordance the boy in his studies. And, at would immediately raconteur, told his children Le Fanu a letter of appreci- whitewashed cottage at Em- with any dictates of right or sixteen, Patrick became an as- identify the Bronte Celtic legends which actually ation about his work at the dale, near Rathfriland in the wrong. As soon might the sistant school-teacher at A family as among the moulded the structure and in- time. townland of Ballynaskeagh, lambs respect the laws of the Drumballerony, attached to names of Eng- cidents of Wuthering Heights The critic William Make- near Loughbrickland, in Co wolves as the people of Ire- the Glasscor Presbyterian lish literature. Charlotte and lane Eyre.' peace Thackeray had written Down, within sight of the land respect the laws of Church. He was then invited (1816-55) achieved lasting Miss Bentley, in assessing to Charlotte to point out that Mourne Mountains. We are landlords'. to become tutor to the sons of fome with her novel jane Eyre the Brontes in English lit- the plot of the book seemed told Hugh Prunty was Protes- With a man holding such Reverend Thomas "Pighe, vicar (1847); Emily (1818-48) only erature, goes further: familiar to him when it ap- tant and his wife was Catholic. views, there is no surprise to of Drumballerony. Tighe was wrote one novel VJuthering '... there is a peculiar peared in 1847 but he did not find him supporting the ideals a graduate of St John's Col- Heights (1847) - but such a quality in the Bronte presenta- connect it with Le Fanu. This, of the United Irishmen. lege, Cambridge, and through novel! - while Anne (1820-49) tion of Yorkshire; a quality of of course, is not to accuse HY IS;Patrick Bronte's Hugh married Elinor, his patronage Patrick #as sent is probably best remembered wild poetry, of arrogance, of Charlotte of plagiarism. She family so hurried sometimes called Alice, to England to study tl^re. ipr The Tenant of Wildfell Hall melancholy, of stern intran- had probably forgotten the Wpassed over? Can it be McClorey, a Catholic girl who It Was at Cambri^e that (1648). Of their brother, Patrick sigence and fiery intensity, of story she had enthused over that biographers feel the Irish had eloped with him, The Patrick changed the Spelling Bfanwell Bronte (1817-1848), passionate scorn for material ten years before by the time family background will not sit marriage took place in 1776 in of his name from Pnifity to most people would regard him values, which is not native to she wrote her book. Such well in their work on writers Magherally, Co. Down. It was Bronte (or Admiral Nelson as a sad study in talented that robust and practical things happen to writers. One claimed as 'among England's Elinor, according to some had been created Duke of failure. He attempted to write county. This is the Celtic strain can never be sure that the greatest literary talents'? Ac- sources, who taught Hugh to Bronte {in Sicily) by the King but could never finish a single which mingles with the York- superb plot you dream up is cording to the Reader's Encyclo- read and write. If this is so, of Naples in 1799. Did Patrick work. He was a manic de- shire to produce so strange a entirely original or a mixture pedia, the Brontes were 'an then she must have taught her try to make a claim of being pressive, frequently drunkand blend. There are no other of half-forgotten tales en- English family'. Would it spoil husband to read and write in related to Nelson? Or did he lest in the grip of self pity. Yorkshire writers like the countered before. the mythology for people to Irish for the evidence is that see the name, similar in sound Most literate people would Brontes for all other Yorkshire There are numerous bio- know they had roots in Ire- she was a monoglot Irish value to his own, as a means of even be able to acknowledge writers hitherto lacked the graphies of the Bronte family. land? speaker. Similarly, we are in- escaping his Irish back- that the father of this remark- Celtic strain. There are no Some have dealt with the char- Perhaps the real reason formed, that Hugh was a ground? His Ulster accent was Brie family was one Patrick other Irish writers like the acter of Patrick Bronte whose may lay in the fact that Pa- storyteller of the oral tradition surely enough to make such Eronte (who had changed the Brontes for all other Irish wri- influence on his children was trick's father and brother in Irish. an escape impossible. Never- spelling of his name from ters lacked the Yorkshire profound, but no biographer William were Irish republi- This fact, as we shall see, theless, Patrick sought to Prunty) and that Patrick was strain.' has ever examined his Irish cans, with William taking an holds the implication that Pa- ignore his Irish heritage. Ac- an Irishman from Co. Down. Indeed, it has been re- origins closely. active role in the uprising of trick Bronte, father of one of cording to his first patron, Some biographers, like Phyllis marked that the plot of His origins are usually dis- 1798. And herein may lay the England's greatest literary Rev. Harshaw, Patrick feronte Eentlev in The Bronte* (1947) Charlotte's lane Eyre bears a missed in a few paragraphs reason why Patrick never families, was a native Irish became a Church of England might even point out that their strong resemblance to a story and we are assured 'very little spoke much of his family nor speaker himself. minister for no other reason mother, Maria Branwell, was which appeared in the Dublin is known about his life in Ire- was prepared to give any but Now Hugh's two eldest than 'that he would escape for also ?. Celt, a Cornish woman University Magazine in Oc- land'. the most cursory details to sons \yere Patrick (father of ever the cry of 'mongrel' and from Penzance, born in 1783 tober, 1839. The story was'A Even Brian Wilks {The those seeking biographical the Brontes) and William. Both Tapish Paf that every Protes- when the last native speakers Chapter in the History of a Ty- Brontes, Hamlyn, 1975), who material. sons inherited their father's tant urchin sf at him of Cornish were still living a rone Family' written by argues that 'The Rev Patrick Hugh Prunty of, red hair. But, apart from that, through the i na- mile or so away from her Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu Bronte has been a much mis- keagh, at Loughbrickland, Co. the sons were no more alike tive village, on < of his home. (1814-1873). Not surprisingly, understood and maligned Down, was au'lrish-speaker than chalk and cheese. . mother's maiden i . rt. According to Miss Bentley: the Brontes subscribed to the man', failed to examine the who had a reputation as the Patrick was initially ap- • Continue* inS i« Wa I R ( S H OEM OCBAT S e p t e m b « r t «fttB£S# a g • — .... J ^s^rssfmsr- " : WY* -8