What was Christmas 1920 in Ireland like as the War of Independence raged all around? The radical newspaper, Eire Og: Young Ireland provided an insight into the type of goods and products which were advertised for sale in the weeks leading up to Christmas as the Republican movement called on people to support the war effort. On Pearse Street, George Lyons had a ‘Sinn Fein Series of Xmas Cards’ for sale which we...
 The recent publication of the book, The Dead of the Irish Revolution catalogues the deaths of over 2,300 people in Ireland between the years, 1917-1921. Among them were several civilians who were killed during the month of December 1920. Some of these deaths were included in the newspaper Eire Og: Young Ireland and other radical journals who were keen to highlight at every opportunity cases of British injustice....
The military response to the ambush at Kilmichael and the other attacks on crown forces in November 1920 came with vengeance in Cork City on the night of 11-12 December. Â Rampaging through the city hundreds of premises were destroyed or badly damaged. On that same night, the old City Hall on Albert Quay and the old Carnegie Library on Anglesey Street were also destroyed by fire. In the days that followed the Eire Og: Youn...
On Monday 13 December 1920 ‘crown forces’ wrecked and sacked in full daylight the town of Ballinalee, county Longford following an attack on the police barracks by the IRA. The destruction of the house of Mr Heraty, partially destroyed on 10 December during the IRA attack was finally flattened. The farmhouses, stables and crops of J Hannigan and P Bracken were destroyed, while P Earley and Miss Hannigan’s sh...
The town of Thurles, county Tipperary began December 1920 reeling from the news of the murderous attack made on two young men who had been playing cards in the a house at a place called Mullaunbrack. Â In total, four young men, all known in local GAA circles assembled in the house of Patrick Ryan, a farmer. The card players heard a military lorry approaching and when a man dressed in civilian clothes called to the door a s...
What did Ireland’s newspapers say about the revolution which was occurring in every town and village around the country in December 1920. The Irish Newspaper Archive and the Radical Newspaper Archive has the answers. Following the month of death and carnage which had proceeded it many believed that December would be a quiet month. However, the opposite transpired. Although there had only been a few ‘outragesâ€...
The murder of Captain Joseph T. Thompson (aged 32) of the 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment in Ballincollig, county Cork on 20 November how ruthless the IRA had become as they were determined to put an end to the military’s reign of terror over the civilian population. Thompson left Ballincollig on the afternoon of 20 November ‘in a motor bicycle to visit some friends’ but was soon afterwards ambushed by th...
Some outrages and murders throughout the month of November 1920 failed to generate the same level of condemnation as Kevin Barry, Bloody Sunday or Kilmichael. One such murder was that of Constable James Wood who was shot at Ballybrack Railway Station, near Killarney and died six days later on 15 November. Woods, aged 29 had been returning from leave when he was attacked by an armed group at the railway station. Co...
The murder of Fr Michael Griffen (aged 28) in Galway in November 1920 was seen by many as one of the most grotesque acts carried out by either side in the Irish War of Independence. On the night of 14 November Griffen was lured from his house in Galway city on the pretence of assisting a person who lay seriously ill. Three men played their part in the ruse but more were involved in the interrogation that followed....
Espousing the cause of Labour became a dangerous position throughout the autumn and winter of 1920 as union members became the target of the military and the police. In some cases the Black and Tans as they marauded through the countryside paid little heed to who was who and often targeted the offices of prominent local officials. In November 1920 the secretary of the ITGWU in Ardee, county Louth, James Dolan was ...