Ballykinlar Internment Camp.
Nationalist and Leinster Times, March 1921.
Prison Camp -
Sufferings of the Internees.
First-hand information as to the sufferings of the political
prisoners in Ballykinlar Internment Camp was given to a
representative of the "Evening Telegraph" on Saturday by John Rice,
Clonegal, Co. Carlow, who has been on parole and who is returning to
the camp today.
According to this prisoner, the food, sleeping accommodation and
sanitary conditions are bad and disease is raging in the camp. The
food is bad, the beds are bad and the sanitary conditions are bad,
he says.
Father
Burbage who is among the internees, is treated like any other
prisoners. He is anxious that an enquiry should be held into
conditions at the camp. Itch, mumps and scabies are raging in the
camp and the bedding is full of vermin.
Three
days in the week the prisoners are provided with bacon for dinner,
the sight of which is almost calculated to provoke nausea. The men
seldom touch it. In addition they get some peas which are badly
cooked and at times not edible because of their hardness. Two
water-soaked potatoes are also "dished out".
Articles
From Friends.
"Were it
not for the parcels we receive from home" continued our informant"
and the supplies obtainable from the canteen, which we run
ourselves, we would all be in a bad way.
To men
with strong constitutions the conditions are depressing enough, but
many of the prisoners are in delicate health and suffer acutely. The
huts our informant compared to cattle sheds, cold and damp. At night
chilling winds adds to the general discomfort.
Camp
Crowded.
The
camp, which is divided into two parts, now contains about 1,600 men,
and will hardly hold any more. The internees have to do their own
washing and at times water is very scarce.
"These
are but a few of the complaints" said Mr Rice "I could talk about
them to you for the whole day but I must be back in the camp this
evening. A short time ago one of the boys was put on bread and water
for 4 days because he would not take his hands out of his pockets
and say "sir" to one of the officers".
Father
Burbage attends to the spiritual wants of his fellow-countrymen.
Every morning Mass is celebrated in one of the huts and confessions
are heard when desired.
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Lady Searchers ....
Nationalist, March 1921.
Lady Searchers in Carlow.
On Wednesday night, two lady searchers,
accompanied by military, visited Miss Laffan's in Dublin Street, and
Miss Brophy's in Tullow Street, and made a minute personal search of
the female inhabitants.
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