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Rathvilly R.I.C. Barracks 1919.
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The Royal Irish Constabulary
By John Keogh
Nearly everyone at sometime or
other has heard of the R.I.C. from an elderly person or
perhaps from a grandfather or grandmother. Almost every
town and village in Ireland was either occupied or
patrolled by the R.I.C. forces during the late
nineteenth and early 20th centuries. In my quest to
uncover data concerning the past history of early police
forces in Ireland I discovered that the first was formed
in 1787. The main function of this force was to maintain
law and order set down by the British authorities who
resided in Dublin. Their first duty was to be loyal to
the Crown.
Firstly
let us investigate the dress and habits of this force.
This early force was dressed in heavy dark green
uniforms decorated with brass buttons. Around the waist
they wore a strong leather belt and on their feet
heavy-duty leather boots. The head was protected by a
hard pointed hat. A long wooden truncheon was worn by
the side and when necessary they carried a flint-lock
carbine.
Re-formed force
The
first Constabulary Force was not very effective and in
1814 it was reformed. This force was called The Peace
Preservation Force. 1822 sees the beginning of the Royal
Irish Constabulary which was formed by Robert Peel.
To be
eligible to join a man had to be under the age of forty,
able to read and write, be not less than six feet, be of
good character and most important of all. willing to
take the oath of allegiance to the Crown. The "Royal"
part of the title was granted and approved by the Queen
in 1867.
On a
more relaxed note we shall look at the day to day life
of the R.I.C. officers. Recently I read two manuscripts,
one written by a District Inspector in Carlow dated 1909
and the other written by a number of Constables
stationed in Tullow dated
1900. The following account is from these books. We all
heard the old saying "all work and no play makes one a
dull boy", this was not the case with the Constabulary
forces. R.I.C. officers took part in many pastimes like
fishing, tug-o-war. They also held boxing tournaments
among themselves. This force included many Irishmen and
was generally liked by the local populace.
On
patrol officers were likely to encounter anything. Their
duties were varied. The following facts were written by
a number of constables stationed in Tullow in
1900.
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Left Tullow Barracks
at 9 p.m. and returned at 11.45 p.m.
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On patrol I inspected lock-up shops in Tullow:
no presence of any inormalities.
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After inspection of shops I proceeded to the
townland of Ardattin.
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I crossed fields in search of vagrants and poachers.
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After laying in wait for two hours without any
detections. I continued on patrol.
In 1901
a small patrol left Tullow Barracks
dressed in civvies’ to patrol the River Slaney in search
of poachers, they returned two hours later without
success. One report tells of a constable making a report
to a local farmer, on the behalf of the Department of
Agriculture, the presence of sheep infected with scab in
his flock.
Constables visited vacant houses where local tramps were
known to frequent. If any were discovered they were duly
moved on. The second report tells of a constable
arriving at the scene of a fight between two women
having cautioned them he sent them home.
From
time to time cases of larceny were investigated. They
usually concerned missing animals, horses, cattle,
sheep, and young dogs of pedigree.
On July
22nd Constable Brady got a report of children being
mistreated by their parents. He visited the house in
question upon arrival he discovered the front door
locked and the children hiding inside unattended. He
later returned and cautioned the parents. Constables
attended religious services in an official capacity to
ensure that there was no disturbance.
From
time to time liquor was sold locally from the backs of
vans. These vans moved from place to place to avoid
detection, however many were detected. As in all areas
each constable attended petty sessions in their
locality.
The
usual procedure for acquiring information was to visit
the local Post Mistress and shopkeepers and have a
friendly chat. On occasion constables were put guarding
vacant houses belonging to local gentry. Also they
observed weddings and wakes to ensure that no fighting
took place.
The
busiest day was fair-day. Officers patrolled roads and
streets as part of their normal duties. Other duties
included taking tillage census for the Dept. of
Agriculture. This was to ascertain the number of acres
under tillage and the amount not used.
Now we
shall look at a District Inspector's report book. The
page (Fig. 1 below) was taken from a report written
about the R.I.C. barracks in Rathvilly in 1909:
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District Inspector's report
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In the
1920's the every day life of the members became
dangerous. This was a time of revolution. Patrols were
stepped up, their numbers increased. District Inspectors
called more frequently. In the past the R.I.C. were
involved in many conflicts such as The Tithe Wars, and
now the Fenian Rising and the Land Wars. These
disturbances were usually quelled with a show of force.
At this particular time constables were armed with
pistols and rifles. They also watched and questioned
strangers to ascertain if they were I.R.A. sympathisers.
Many officers lived in fear of death by the hands of
local insurgents. As time progressed a number of
officers were shot.
To quell
this unrest the British Government sent over a new
military force called the Black and Tans. Their name
came from the uniform they wore which was black and tan
in colour. This force was shunned by the R.I.C. and
hated by the insurgents because of their brutal tactics.
Many R.I.C. officers resigned and others were forced to
resign because they would not conform to this change.
Ambushes became an everyday occurrence. Local estates
were attacked and were either burned or looted. New
precautions were taken, at no time was there to be less
than two officers in any barracks. Windows were covered
with metal shutters and doors were padlocked in all
Barracks.
Ex
British Officers took the place of the resigned R.I.C.
officers. These men were more military minded than their
predecessors. On the 31st August, 1922 the Royal Irish
Constabulary was disbanded. After this many a barracks
was vacated. Once they were left unattended they were
duly burned down. I was informed recently by men who
fought in the 1920's that local insurgents burned down
the barracks in Rathvilly and Tullow.
They also told me stories of different ambushes and
raids but alas that is another story yet to tell.
Shortly after the disbanding of the R.I.C. the present
day Garda Siochana was established. Many ex constabulary
officers were recruited to this new peace-keeping force.
Source: This item originally
appeared in the Carloviana 1984/85 p.16-18.
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