Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War Gemma Clark Frontmatter More Information

Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03689-5 - Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War Gemma Clark Frontmatter More information

Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War

Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War presents an innovative study of violence perpetrated by and against non-combatants during the Irish Civil War, 1922–3. Drawing from victim accounts of wartime injury as recorded in compensation claims, Dr Gemma Clark sheds new light on hundreds of previously neglected episodes of violence and intimidation – ranging from arson, boycott and animal maiming to assault, murder and sexual violence – that transpired amongst soldiers, civilians and revolutionaries throughout the period of conflict. The author shows us how these micro-level acts – particularly in the counties of Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford – served as an attempt to persecute and purge religious and political minorities and to force redistribution of land. Clark also assesses the international significance of the war, comparing the cruel yet arguably restrained violence that occurred in Ireland with the brutality unleashed in other European conflict zones.

Gemma Clark is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Global Irish Studies Centre, University of New South Wales.

Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War

Gemma Clark Global Irish Studies Centre, University of New South Wales

University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom

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C Gemma Clark 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United States of America A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Clark, Gemma M. (Gemma Mary), 1984– Everyday violence in the Irish Civil War / Gemma Clark, Global Irish Studies Centre, University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-03689-5 (hardback) 1. Ireland – History – Civil War, 1922–1923. 2. Violence – Ireland – History – 20th century. 3. Political violence – Ireland – History – 20th century. I. Title. DA963.C43 2014 941.5082ʹ2 – dc23 2013040530 ISBN 978-1-107-03689-5 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

In memory of my grandparents, Walter and Maureen Cassin, and Maureen and Tony Clark

Contents

List of Figures page ix List of Maps x List of Tables xi Acknowledgements xiii Abbreviations xvii

1 Introduction 1 2 The Price of Loyalty: Violence, Compensation and the British in the Irish Free State 18 3 The Campaign of Fire: Arson during the Irish Civil War 54 4 The Right to Live in My Own Country: Intimidation, Expulsion and Local-Community Conﬂict 98 5 Harming Civilians: Killing, Wounding and Sexual Violence in Munster 154 6 Conclusion 196

Glossary 205 Bibliography 207 Index 219

vii

Figures

1a and 1b Curramore House, Broadford, Co. Limerick page 32 2 Arson attacks in Cos. Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford, January 1922–May 1923 63 3a, 3b and 3c Graiguenoe Park before and after the burning 76 4a and 4b Rapla House, Co. Tipperary 81 5 Extract from threatening letter received by Willie Roe, a Protestant shopkeeper in Lismore, Co. Waterford 114

Maps

1 Counties Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford, showing cities, towns, villages and other geographical features mentioned in the text page xviii 2 Map showing mansions and houses burned, 6 December 1921–22 March 1923, as reported in the press 7

Tabl e s

1 Compensation claims received and total IGC recommendations page 24 2 Populations of the three Munster counties, 1911 and 1926 47 3 Police casualties in the three Munster counties 166

Acknowledgements

This book developed out of postgraduate research funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. My studies at the Queen’s College, Oxford, would not have been possible without the support of the AHRC; I am very grateful for the help I received through the Research Prepar- ation Master’s and Doctoral Award schemes. I also thank the British Association of Irish Studies for a bursary that funded research in Dublin. The students and staff at Queen’s made it a wonderful college to be a part of as an undergraduate and graduate; I thank Dr John Davis for his wise words over the years and the Governing Body for travel grants. Prof. Roy Foster’s fascinating Further Subject on Irish nationalism at Oxford stimulated my interest in the Irish Revolution. I thank him for this and for his guidance as my Master’s and D.Phil. supervisor; his comments on my thesis drafts helped to shape and direct my research and writing. His great understanding of the ﬁeld was invaluable, and I thank Roy for connecting me with academics and archivists who helped with my research. He has continued to offer support since I left Oxford and has advised me during the writing of this book. His insights on ‘Urban experiences’ were particularly helpful in the preparation of Chapter 4. I also thank Roy’s secretary, Jules Iddon. I also owe a great deal to Dr Matt Kelly. Not only was he an inspir- ing undergraduate tutor, but also his discovery of a 1924 pamphlet on house burnings gave me a fascinating topic for an undergraduate disser- tation that eventually developed into this book on civil-war violence. He encouraged me to pursue postgraduate study and has continued to offer support. I thank Matt and Prof. Ian McBride for inviting me to present my research at a vital stage during my D.Phil. – at the 2010 Conference of Irish Historians in Britain. Dr Tim Wilson has been instrumental to the development of my academic interest in violence and has shaped this book from its beginnings. As my doctoral co-supervisor he motivated and directed me, and helped me – more than did anyone else – to think conceptually and comparatively about violence in Ireland. Since I ﬁnished my doctorate, his advice on job

xiii

xiv Acknowledgments

seeking and publishing has been invaluable. His great support continues from afar. I wrote key sections of Chapter 3 during the first months of my postdoctoral position at the University of New South Wales and, during that time, I consulted Tim on the comparative role of arson in conflict in Northern Ireland. He gave generously of his time and expertise, even checking, on my behalf, references for material I was unable to retrieve in Australia. I am very grateful for his input on this book and for his help in setting me on my career path. Matt, Tim, Dr Aurelia S. Annat, Dr Lauren Arrington, Dr Frances Flanagan, Dr Ultan´ Gillen, Dr Mike McCabe, Dr Marc Mulholland, Dr Ciaran´ O’Neill and others, are/were members of the supportive Irish Studies network that formed around Roy Foster’s Seminar in Irish His- tory. I thank them all for their advice. Indeed, I thank all who discussed my doctoral research with me in Oxford and beyond, including my assessors for Transfer and Confirmation of D.Phil. status; conveners and attendees of seminars in Irish and Modern British History at Hertford and St John’s Colleges, and conferences and local community events outside Oxford; my friend and sounding board, Dr Eve Colpus; and Dr David Thackeray, for information on pre-1920s relief campaigns for British Loyalists. I thank my D.Phil. examiners, Marc Mulholland and Prof. Richard English, and the anonymous readers of my manuscript, for comments that helped to improve my work and sharpen my conclusions. I also thank Richard for his help and advice since my viva exam; his support was central to the development of my D.Phil. research into this book. During the final months of Sydney-based book writing, I had two very helpful and generous email correspondents. I thank Dr Andy Bielenberg for sharing his new work on the Protestant ‘exodus’ from the Irish Free State, and for his advice on ‘Urban experiences’ and Irish demographic change more generally. Dr Pat McCarthy has shared, over a number of years, his extensive local knowledge of Co. Waterford. I thank him for his time and his cheerful words, and particularly for his insights on ‘Urban experiences’ and Munster’s military situation. Researching the book was facilitated by knowledgeable staff in the History Faculty and Bodleian libraries in Oxford, the National Archives (TNA, Kew, London), the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Belfast), the National Library and National Archives of Ireland (NAI, Dublin), the Irish Military Archives (Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin), the Representative Church Body Library (Churchtown, Dublin), the Archdiocesan Archives (Drumcondra, Dublin), the libraries of UNSW and the University of Sydney, and the State Library of New South Wales. I am particularly grateful to Catriona Crowe (NAI), for generously

Acknowledgments xv

granting me access to the un-catalogued compensation material in the first place. I also thank the county historians and archivists from Limer- ick, Tipperary and Waterford, who responded to enquiries and recom- mended sources. I thank Celine Steinfeld who drew Map 1 using UNSW-owned facilities and software (ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA). I also thank Donal and Nancy Murphy (Relay Books, Co. Tipperary) for allowing me to publish the images in Figure 4. Permission to reproduce the images in Figures 1, 3 and 5 was granted by Hugh Alexander (TNA); I also thank Hugh for providing digital copies of the photographs. Parts of Chapter 3 appeared, in an earlier form, in ‘The fiery campaign: New agendas and ancient enmities in the Irish Civil War: A study of arson in three Munster counties’, in Brian Griffin and Ellen McWilliams (eds.), Irish Studies in Britain: New Perspectives on History and Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010). All six chapters draw on the research I carried out for my B.A., Master’s and Doctoral dissertations; my D.Phil. thesis is available, from August 2014, via the Oxford University Research Archive. I thank all of my new colleagues for making me feel so welcome in my first academic position, Sarah Sharkey Postdoctoral Research Fel- low at the Global Irish Studies Centre, UNSW. I thank especially the Centre’s director, Prof. Ron´ an´ McDonald, and administrator, Angela McLoughlin, for their support and for giving me time to finish my book. I thank Michael Watson at Cambridge University Press for considering my initial proposal and for all his help in turning it into this book. I also thank Amanda George, Jeanie Lee, Shashank Shankar, Andrea Wright and all who were involved in its editing, production and marketing, and professional indexers Robert and Cynthia Swanson (Fairfield, IA). I am forever thankful for the kindness and encouragement of my parents, Mary and Greg; my brothers, Patrick and Dominic; and the wider Clark, Cassin and Goodwin families. My granddad, Walter, was a true Irish history scholar; he, and my grandma, Maureen, always encouraged and inspired me. This book is dedicated to the memory of all my grandparents. Heartfelt thanks go also to my Manchester girls, my other dear friends, and my boyfriend, Ed Blakey. His love and support kept me going through job hunting, book writing and a move to Sydney; this project, and many others, have benefitted greatly from his advice and technical help.

Abbreviations

DI Detective Inspector GSWRC Great Southern and Western Railway Company ICCA Irish Claims Compensation Association IGC Irish Grants Committee IMA Irish Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin IPP Irish Parliamentary Party IRA Irish Republican Army* JBS Journal of British Studies NAI National Archives of Ireland, Dublin NLI National Library of Ireland, Dublin O/C Ofﬁcer-in-Command P&P Past and Present PRONI Public Record Ofﬁce of Northern Ireland, Belfast RIC Royal Irish Constabulary RM Resident Magistrate SILRA Southern Irish Loyalist Relief Association TD Teachta Dala:´ member of the lower house (Dail´ Eireann)´ of the Irish parliament (Oireachtas) TNA The National Archives, Kew UIL United Irish League

*The ratiﬁcation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 7 January 1922 split the IRA. Michael Collins’s (pro-Treaty) followers within the organization made up what would become the Free State Army (or National Troops). The anti-Treaty IRA, known as Irregulars, protested against the Treaty’s maintenance of Ireland’s link with Britain and held out for a repub- lic. This book is chieﬂy concerned with the actions of the anti-Treaty IRA and uses the contemporary label ‘Irregulars’ interchangeably with ‘republicans’.

xvii

GG AA LWLW AYAY Belfast

Dublin

Dromineer Nenagh

CC LL AA RR EE N ON R O T R H T Birdhill SILVERMINE Kilcornan River ShannonNewport Pallaskenry Rear Limerick Foynes Murroe Clarina Kildimo Loughill Askeaton Caherconlish Glin Shanagolden Ballyhahill Adare Rathkeale Croom Oola LL II MM EE RR II CC KK Athea Newcastle West G O L D E N Emly Bruree V A L E Kilmallock Abbeyfeale Galbally Broadford Kilfinane Ardpatrick GALTEE

River Blackwater KK EE RR RR YY

CC OO RR KK

Limerick, Waterford County borough 0210 0County town City, town or village Miles

Map 1. Counties Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford, showing cities, towns, villages and other geographical features mentioned in the text.

OO FF FAFA LYLY Borrisokane LL AA OO II SS Cloughjordan Roscrea

Toomyvara T RH I RD II DN IG N G Templemore Templederry Templetuohy MOUNTAINS Borrisoleigh Cross Thurles Holycross

TT II PP PP EE RR AA RR YY KK II LL KK EE NN NN YY

Cashel Golden Mullinahone Tipperary Rosegreen Fethard Dromline New Inn SS OO UU TT HH RR II DD II NN GG Cahir Clonmel MOUNTAINS Carrick-on-Suir River Suir

GLEN OF AHERLOW Portlaw Waterford Clogheen Ballymacarbry KNOCKMEALDOWN COMERAGH MOUNTAINS Kilmeaden MOUNTAINS Ballinamult Kilmacthomas WW ATAT EE RR FF OO RR DD Kill Cappoquin Stradbally Lismore Tramore Dunmore East Dungarvan

Grange mentioned in the text Ballinamona Ardmore