1920 AD - 6 / December
"Anglo - Irish Truce ?"
1920. December 1st: Dr.
Clune
the Catholic Archbishop of Perth
in
Western Australia
was
asked by
David Lloyd - George
the
British Imperial Prime Minister
to postpone
his journey back to
Australia, as he
wanted him to put a proposal to
Arthur Griffith, the Acting - President of
the
1st Dail Eireann
/ 1st Irish Assembly
who was being held as a "political" prisoner by the
British Government in "Mountjoy Jail" in
Dublin
in
Ireland, to
discuss a "Truce" with the
Dail Eireann / Sinn Fein Party that may
lead on to "Peace"
in Ireland.
December 4th: In reality due to Arthur Griffith beins incarcerated by the British Government in the Mountjoy Prison Michael Collins was actually now the Acting - President of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly and he met with Dr. Clune instead, where he agreed to proceed further with the discussions of a "Truce," but during this period, unknown to Arthur Griffith or Michael Collins, other independent moves for "Peace" had been previously made in the meantime, by other interested parties in Ireland and although they did this with the very best of intentions, this unfortunately led David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister to then believe that his "brutal" methods were finally working, and that he was by now actually winning the "Anglo - Irish War." (The chance for this early opportunity of a "Truce" that wouild have save countless lives on both sides had now been "lost." Their independent actions in personally intervening, were to force Michael Collins to have to put out a statement that the population of Ireland should not be "stampeded" by any false promises and any foolish ill - timed actions, but should, "hold fast."
December 9th:
Archbishop Clune
met again with David
Lloyd George the British
Imperial Government's Prime
Minister, who was now
more sure of
his own "Imperial" position, and he told Archbishop Clune that he had decided the British
Imperial Government would not proceed any further at this stage
with any "Truce" negotiations, giving as his
reason, "Bloody Sunday"
and
advised Archbishop
Clune that he
would only meet in the future with the members of the
1st Dail Eireann,
which did not include
Michael Collins
and
Richard Mulcahy, and he also told
him
that he should advise both of
these two Irishmen to leave
Ireland if they knew what was good
for them and t
The
British
Imperial Government's Military Force the "Cameron Highlanders"
were then to shoot "dead" a blacksmith in
Co. Cork and were taken on by the
I.R.A. Volunteers
who "defeated"
them in
Cork City itself
where they captured
12 of their military rifles and the
British Imperial Government's Military barracks at
Mallow in
Co. Cork were
an Dublin Castle R.I.C. Sgt. was also
"killed," while the
British Government's Military Essex Regiment
there also "shot" a
man dead at
Kilbrittain
in
Co. Cork, so the
I.R.A. Volunteers
took them on
also, and
"killed" 4
of them, and also captured
their arms and ammunition.
10 members of the I.R.A. Volunteers
from the
Cork Brigade
also
commandeered a British Imperial Government's Naval
sloop at Bantry
Bay and secured all
of their arms and ammunition too, and at
Coolavokig in
Co. Cork. During a battle
there 16
of the
Dublin Castle "Black & TanS" and their
"Auxiliaries" were "killed" by the
I.R.A. Volunteers, including
Major
Seafield - Grant, while
another
18 were wounded. The
I.R.A. Volunteers
also attacked a
British Imperial Government Army convoy of 5
vehicles at
Clonbanin in Co. Cork
who were
under the command of
Brigadier
General H.B. Cummins who was also
"killed" during the conflict
while he was
using an Irishman as a
hostage
in his own car. The
I.R.A. Volunteers,
who were
under the leadership of
Tom Barry,
also defeated
900 British Military
Forces at
Crossbarry in
Co. Cork,
and were piped on by
Florence Begley who played
Irish "war music," with
300
of the
British Imperial Government's
Essex Regiment
there being under
the command of
Major
Percival. 70 members of the
I.R.A. Volunteers
also attacked
4
truck loads of
British Imperial Government "Auxiliaries"
at
Rathcoole were the
I. R.A. Volunteers suffered no
casualties at all, but "half" of the British
Government
Auxiliaries were also "killed" and
wounded.The Dublin Castle's
"Black & Tan
- Auxiliaries" retaliated the next day by just generally carrying out
indiscriminate raids throughout the region there and "burning" the homes and the buildings
of the Irish population there, while "killing" many innocent
people in the process. At
Middleton in
Co. Cork
12 British Imperial Government Cameron Highlanders
and a member of the
Dubln Castle's
R.I.C.
were attacked by
10 members
of the I.R.A. Volunteers
who
also captured their arms with out any injuries occurring, and that night the
Cameron Highlanders
raided and shot up the town of
Middleton in retaliation
for their defeat. The
British Imperial Government's Hampshire Regiment
who were backed
up by their Dublin Castle's
"Black & Tans"
attacked
a farm house at
Clonmult
in
Co. Cork,
which they burnt down, and killed
2 members of the
I.R.A. Volunteers
with another
16
men still trapped in the house,
and of these
7
surrendered, and the
British Military officer stopped them from
killing 3
others and one who
was wounded, and they also captured the other
3
wounded together with another
6, with
2
of these
then being
"hanged" in
Cork Jail
and
the others imprisoned.
The British
Imperial Government forces under
Major General
Philip Armstrong - Holmes,
who replaced
Smyth as the
British Divisional Commissioner of the
Dublin Castle's R.I.C.
"Black & Tans,
" was attacked by the
I.R.A. Volunteers
who
"defeated" them,
and sent all their wounded to the County infirmary and the next day the
Dublin Castle's "Black & Tans" fired on a
"football
match" were they "killed" young
Kelleher
who was only 14 years of age and wounded
2
nine year old boys, while bombing
and burning the homes and shops of the Irish
population at
Bally Desmond in Co. Cork.
The British
Imperial Government Forces were
now "desperately" scouring the
Co. Cork
countryside, endeavouring to get at any member of the
I.R.A. Volunteers, and
as usual the general Irish
population were the ones who were really made to suffer.
December 11th: The
British Imperial Government Cabinet now
decided they would break up the
Irish
Republicans in
Ireland first, and proclaimed
British Martial Law in the
south of
Ireland also, and demanded the surrender
of all Irish
arms, and also
offered safe conduct to some
members of the
1st Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly to
discuss Lloyd - George's Peace
proposals to suite his agenda. The
business area, in the City of Cork was placed under
British Martial Law
and
was then burned and looted by the
Dublin Castle's "Black & Tans" / R.I.C. and their
"Auxiliaries" and were assisted by the
British Military Armed Forces, with the City Hall and the
Public Library then burnt down and they also
cut the fire hoses and fired on
the firemen who came to assist and the people who tried to give a hand generally. They also
"killed" the
2 Delaney
brothers in
their beds in front of their family on
Dublin Hill in
the
City of Cork,
and caused
3,000,000 pounds
worth of damage to the City itself and their "violent actions" on this particular occasion were to cause great
"disgust" even in England and all
over the rest of the
"World." The
I.R.A. Volunteers "stood by" on this occasion and did not interfere in the
ongoing mayhem, as
all the British Imperial Government was
really doing now was "recruiting" more members for the cause
of Irish Independence from their
Imperial rule
under their "Immoral Union."
December 13th: Archbishop
Clune
who was
from West Australia met with
Arthur Griffith
and
Eoin Mac Neill as the
representatives for the 1st Dail Eireann in their
British Imperial Government confinement in
"Mountjoy Jail" in Dublin where they decided against him going
once again to see
Michael Collins
as they knew that he
was being
"followed" by the British Imperial "agents" to try and catch
Michael Collins.
To increase
British Imperial Government pressure further on the population in
Ireland the British Imperial Military Forces now attacked any of the
buildings
"officially" to try and drive out the followers of the
"political"
Sinn Fein Party
and also many prominent Irish people
were now taken around in "chains" on the back of their
British Military trucks as "hostages," while the
British Imperial Government's "Murder
Gang"
continued to carry out their "assassinations" throughout the Dublin area in the daytime, including that of the
I.R.A. Volunteer,
Howlett
/ Huileid, and also at the railway station, for all
of the Irish population who were there at the time, to see.
December 18th:Despite
the risk Michael Collins
nevertheless met with
Archbishop
Clune anyway, where it was decided not to continue any further with
the talks with David Lloyd - George the British
Imperial Government's Prime Minister, as the proposed conditions of the I.
R.A,
Volunteers "surrendering up their arms" was not acceptable, as
this was really to capitulate on any terms and
Archbishop Clune reported back to
David
Lloyd - George on the discussions, and also informed him that he
personally was
not happy with his whole approach, as
Lloyd - George had previously "gone back" on his word.
December 21st:
Even the Unionists
in the City of
Cork wanted a
genuine inquiry carried out
into the rampage of their
City,
but the British
Imperial Cabinet,
"refused" and instead handed
it over to their own British
Imperial Government Military Commander,
General
Strickland, and they
also refused to "publish" even his findings and
Sir Hamar Greenwood
who was
still in
control of Ireland
for
the British Imperial Government,
stated
in the British Westminster Parliament
that
the perpetrators of the disaster there in Cork City were not known to him and he
also told them that he believed the
Irish
people
"themselves" had set
fire to the City, as there was no evidence that it was carried out by
the British
Military Forces, even though
everyone in the City of
Cork had seen
them carrying it out.
Sir
Henry Wilson the
"Official" Unionist,
who had been born in the Ulster Province, and
who was now the
British
Chief of the Imperial General Staff also wanted to carry out further
"official" "reprisals" on the
Irish
population.
December 23rd:
Eamonn de Valera the
Priomh Aire of the 1st Dail Eireann
/ Irish Assembly returned to
Ireland from America on the
"S.S.
Celtic"were he was met by
Tom Cullen and was put up at
Dr. Farnans were
Cathal Brugha
/ Charles
Burgess came to see him personally.
December 24th:
Michael
Collins
was nearly "captured" on this day again, along with
Liam Tobin, Tom Cullen,
Gearoid O Sullivan and
Rory O Connor at the
Gresham Hotel, by the
Dublin Castle's "Auxiliaries" who then let them go after interrogating them,
and the British
Imperial Government Forces then raided the bicycle shop were the grenades were
being manufactured for the I. R.A. Volunteers in
Dublin and as they waited to trap what they thought was
to be the
unsuspecting members of the
I. R.A. Volunteers, who
in the meantime had been "warned" of their intentions, who then shifted their enterprise to
Luke Street, which was then also
raided, so many other ammunition sites were then to be set up throughout
Dublin. The
"Flying
Columns" of the I.R.A. Volunteers
/ Irish Republican Army were now also active in
Co.
Longford in the north - west
of
Northern
Leinster and in the south of
Ireland, where they were able to garrison in with the
Irish population in each area.
December 25th:
Eamonn de Valera the Priomh Aire of the
1st
Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly who was now back in
Ireland was introduced
to
Erskine - Childers, an
Englishman, who was not a member of
the 1st Dail Eireann, by
Michael Collins,
and
Eamonn de Valera was to
personally make him the "Director of Publicity"
to replace
Desmond Fitz Gerald
who had also since been "arrested," but
Arthur Griffith
was to be
against the appointment as he considered him a "disgruntled"
Englishman and as such could revert to his previous allegiance at
any time and
Cathal Brugha too was against his
appointment on the grounds
that he was an
Ex - English Army officer. Liam Mellowes
also returned
from America
again, and was
appointed the "Director of Purchases"
for the
I.R.A. Volunteers, due
to
Joseph Vize
also
still being held as a "political" prisoner
in the Mountjoy Jail in
Dublin, who under the
I.R.B.
had previously bought in
arms through Glasgow
and
Liverpool with
Neill Kerr,
and
Piaras Beaslaoi / Peter
Beasley was also appointed the
"Director of Publicity" for the
I. R.A. Volunteers.
The
British Imperial Government
now increased
their British Imperial Military Forces further to
50,000 regular
British Army
Force and
15,000 Dublin Castle
R.I.C. "Black & Tan Auxiliaries"
to continue to try and hold
their authoritarian control over the population in
Ireland and the
British Imperial Cabinet also allowed the
Ascendancy, in the
6 Counties
"artificially partitioned" from
the 9 Counties in the
Ulster Province
to raise a
Class "B" Police Force
known as the
"B Specials"
who were
also allowed to carry weapons.
By this time 11,000,000 acres had been returned into the hands of the Irish people, while another 2,000,000 acres were still under "negotiation."
The
Friends of Irish Freedom in America
by now
had raised $900,000
of which
$150,000 only was to
be spent in Ireland, while
the other $750,000 was listed
for convincing the
"League of
Nations" that had by now been set up on
January 10th,
to
recognize
Ireland's natural rights
to "Self -
Determination,"
but
America
was still not a member.
The British Imperial Government had brought in the "Restoration of Order Act - Government of Ireland Act 1920 in England, which was to "officially" create the "artificial partition" of Ireland into 2 parts and also into 2 parliaments, while still retaining their "Imperial Supremacy" over them with a Council of Ireland for certain matters, and a merging of both if it was desired later on and because of this "artificial partition" of Ireland the "Official" Unionists in the 6 Counties in the Ulster Province were to abandon all of the other Unionists who lived in the other 3 Counties, and their link with the rest of Britain was also weakened. In these 6 Counties that were still to be under the control of the British Imperial Government and the "Official" Unionists 455 more people were to be "killed" in Ireland and 1726 were to be "wounded."