War of Independence, Jan 1919--July 1921
[Note added 2010 by Michael Purcell--- On the
21st January 1919, a group of nine masked Irish Volunteers (by this
time the Irish Volunteers were increasingly referred to as the Irish
Republican Army) ambushed a party of armed Royal Irish Constabulary
escorting a cart load of gelignite (used for quarrying) at
Soloheadbeg in Tipperary, two R.I.C. policemen were killed in the
exchange of gunfire. This incident is regarded as the commencement
of the Irish "War of Independence" (Anglo-Irish War). In November of
that year a Carlow man serving in the R.I.C. was killed. The
following is the report from the Nationalist and Leinster Times.
This report is followed by a comment from Nationalist correspondent
"Tatler".
Nationalist 8th November 1919.
Carlow Policeman Killed.
On Friday of last week the R.I.C. Barracks in Ballivar, County
Meath, was attacked by a number of masked men and a quantity of arms
taken. The police defended, but the raid was short, sharp and
decisive. The Sergeant was wounded, and one of the police, Constable
W. Agar, was shot dead. Constable Agar belongs to a family
well-known in Carlow. His father was evicted from a farm at
Coolnakisha near the Kilkenny-Carlow border during the land war, and
the family came to live in the town of Carlow. The dead constable
was for a long time in the employment of Mr. E. Boake, Tullow
Street, and was very popular. He joined the R.I.C. about 12 years
ago. When the evicted tenants were being restored Mr. Agar, the
deceased's father was given a farm near Rathvilly. Since then he has
purchased a larger holding. On Monday the remains were conveyed by
R.I.C. motor hearse to Rathvilly, and were met by a large number of
County Carlow constabulary and contingents from the neighbouring
districts of Wicklow and Kildare. The interment took place on
Tuesday and the funeral was large. Amongst the chief mourners were
the dead constable's three brothers. Mr. Townsend, District
Inspector and Mr. J.C. Ryan, Resident Magistrate were also in
attendance. Rev. Mr. O'Callaghan officiated at the graveside.
Notes by Tatler
The fatal shooting of the R.I.C. Constable in Ballivar, is an act
that no honest or moral Irishman can condone. Condonation of such a
crime would be even worse than active participation because - so far
as the vast majority of the Irish people are concerned - there must
be no condoning, Like a lie no deliberate killing - outside war -
can be lawful, and so far as County Meath is concerned - there has
been no war. I hold my own opinions about such incidents, but I am
most interested in the Commandment - "Thou shalt not kill". That law
is eternal, and the consequences must also be eternal. Slaughter
either in war or rebellion is one thing altogether. Unless the Irish
people want to scrap the decalogue altogether, they cannot condone
murder. I hold terribly strong views on those incidents. I hold that
whoever is perpetrating them have lost the moral sense and are not
worthy members of the community. The Royal Irish Constabulary belong
to the flesh and blood of the Irish nation - rightly or wrongly -
and it must be remembered that nine-tenths of the force joined the
police before the mushroom Nationalists began to realise that there
was ever such a thing as Irish nationality.
- [Note added 2010 by Michael Purcell - In the
months following "Tatlers" comment over 100 R.I.C. policemen were
killed. Because the R.I.C. were an armed force the I.R.A. considered
them an legitimate target for attack. In September 1919 the British
government had reacted to this by sending over a police reserve made
up of British ex-service men to support the R.I.C. they were known
as "Auxiliaries".
-
- The following notes are extracted from the
PPP. ("Irish Republican Brotherhood Recollections" recorded in a
copy book and uncovered by Jean Casey recently.)
-
- "The Black and Tans were formed in
December 1919 when British ex-soldiers and sailors were
recruited as a support force for the Royal Irish Constabulary.
Their wage was 10 shillings per day and cigarettes. The "Tans"
arrived in Ireland on the 25th March 1920 (many of the
participants in the struggle for independence would refer to the
period following their arrival as "the Tan war").
- The Auxiliaries were formed in June 1920,
those who joined were demobilized officers of the British army.
They arrived in Ireland in July 1920. Their wage was £1.00 a
day. The "Auxies" were not under military discipline and they
soon gained a reputation for brutality and ruthlessness.
- A distinctive feature of their dress was
that they wore a belt with two holsters each containing a
revolver.
- The term "Black and Tans" was often
applied by the Irish to the Auxiliaries and also to British-born
constables in the R.I.C. and sometimes even to the soldiers in
the regular British army."
- From that point on a bloody guerrilla war commenced
in which there were "no rules".]
On 19 June 1920 Lieut-Col. Smyth, D.S.O. and Bar, made a speech
to the ranks of the Royal Irish Constabulary in which he stated:
"Now, men, Sinn Fein have had all the sport up to the present, and
we are going to have the sport now. The police are not in sufficient
strength to do anything to hold their barracks. This is not enough
for as long as we remain on the defensive, so long will Sinn Fein
have the whip hand. We must take the offensive and beat Sinn Fein at
its own tactics. If a police barracks is burned or if the barracks
already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the
locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the
gutter. Let them die there? the more the merrier. Should the order
"Hands Up" not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect.
If the persons approaching a patrol carry their hands in their
pockets, or are in any way suspicious looking, shoot them down. You
may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but
that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties
some time. The more you shoot, the better I will like you, and I
assure you no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man".
Many R.I.C. men resigned from the force in
protest at this speech, some of them later joined the Irish
Republican Army. Four weeks after making this speech Lieut-Col.
Smyth was shot dead by the I.R.A. in the Smoking Room of the Cork
and Country Club.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above is a true and
accurate transcript of the original document.
- Transcribed by M. Purcell c2010.
- Old newspapers in the PPP.