1920 AD - 1 / January to March

1920 The British Imperial Government Act: Was introduced to divide, and basically set up the 2 divided Parliaments in Ireland, with one at Stormont in Belfast in Co. Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster Province to be composed of the 6 Counties to be Artificially Partitioned from the 32 Counties of Ireland by the British Imperial Government for the "Official Unionists" to continue on with the Ascendancy in Ireland to be known as Northern Ireland. It was to have 52 seats by Proportional Representation, and a Senate of 26 members with 24 of these elected by the proposed Northern Ireland MP's themselves in their House of Commons, plus the Mayor of Belfast and the Mayor of Derry. In theory they were to be prohibited from making laws, and the administration there had to carry out religious equality with Supreme authority of the British United Kingdom Parliament over the the 6 Counties, designated by the British Parliament as Northern Ireland - 12 MPs elected and 1 from Queens University. The other divided Parliament was to be known as Southern Ireland, composed of the other 26, or the rest of the 32, Counties that actually made up the whole of Ireland in the Connacht Province, the Leinster Province and the Munster Province along with the 3 Counties in the Ulster Province, which were not required by the "Official Unionists" from the actual 9  that made up the whole of the Ulster Province as there were too many Irish Catholics still existing in them to gain complete Ascendancy control. A gerrymandered Council of Ireland was also proposed to be made up of 20 Representatives from the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, and also 20 from the other 26 Counties, with a President nominated by the British Imperial Government's Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, retaining their overall control anyway, with an intention to eventually re - create a re - Union of the artificially divided Country. - See also May 3rd this year.

 January: The Irish Bond Drive, set up by Eamonn de Valera the President of the 1st Dail Eireann, in the United States was under the control  of the American Association for Recognition of the Irish Republic and it had already raised $5,500.000, with the total amount that was to be received to be paid back by the Irish people at a rate of 6 % interest when Ireland eventually became a Republic. (Out of this total amount $4,000,000 was to be eventually spent in Ireland). January 17th: Eamonn de Valera the President of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly was granted the freedom of New York, were he was accompanied by the leaders of the Irish - American Associations to a function at the City Hall, and among those present were John Devoy from the Clann na Gael (the American - Irish Republican Association), Judge Cohalan from the Friends for Irish Freedom and Austin Ford.

January 20th:  Much to the ire of the British Imperial Government the elected political Sinn Fein Party in Ireland came out on top once again, electorally also winning the Municipal democratic elections all over Ireland, as this was another bitter blow to the British Coalition Government's propaganda line that the Sinn Fein Party had no support at all in Ireland. Among those winning for the Sinn Fein Party were Thomas Mac Curtin who had been elected the Mayor of Cork in Southern Munster to replace the unfortunate deceased Terence Mac Sweeny, Michael O Callaghan who was elected the Mayor of Limerick in the mid - north - west of Munster, and Thomas Kelly who was elected the Mayor of Waterford in the south - east of Munster, even though he also was still imprisoned by the British Coalition Government in a jail in England. January 22nd: The British Imperial Government forces continued on with their terror campaign in Ireland, when they also sacked the town of Thurles in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of Munster, and carried out further raids, and even went as far as placing a curfew on the most important City of Dublin. Despite the early warnings put out by Michael Collins, 58 Irishmen, who the British Coalition Government believed were connected to the elected political Sinn Fein Party, were now also arrested and sent to jail, (among these also was Robert Barton) and all of them were once again sent off to England, to be imprisoned there in their Portland Jail.

January 25th: Michael Collins as the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly Finance Minister and the Irish National Loan Director was now placed under even greater stress besides the other numerous administration positions he now also held at the same time, as well as the Adjutant General, the Director of Organization and the Intelligence Director for the Irish Volunteers / Irish Republican Army.

     Cathal Brugha / Charles Burgess was acting as the Minister for Defence besides being the Chief of Staff of the I.R.A. / Volunteers, and as Michael Collins was heavily involved as the 1st Dail Eireann Minister for Finance, the Irish Volunteers / Irish Republican Army were basically allowed to operate independently when carrying out their operations. Michael Collins as the I.R.A. Coordinator together with Richard Mac Kee had also formed groups of 20-30 of the Irish Volunteers / I.R.A into Flying Columns, which they were to use for their hit and run guerrilla warfare missions. These were usually special assignments, such as the destruction of all the R.I.C. police barracks and on the overall spy network, set up previously by the British Imperial Government, and because of this the I.R.A. / Volunteers were under condemnation by the leaders of the Irish Catholic Church. The reward on Michael Collins was increased by the British Imperial Government to 10,000 pounds, either dead or alive, but despite this, and although his workload was tremendous, he still continued to either walk or ride freely around on a bicycle in the Dublin City area. Finally, due to all of these commitments, he had to resign from the positions he held with the I.R.A. / Irish Volunteers to concentrate on the more important administration matters concerning the 1st Dail Eireann, and his assistant Diarmuid O Hegarty took over as the Irish Volunteer's Organization Director. Geroit O Sullivan took over as their Adjutant General , and Richard / Dick Mac Kee, (whose real occupation was as a printer), concentrated on the Irish Volunteer newspaper, An tOglach. 

January 30th: The R.I.C police, (who were always under the overall control of the Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 acre) British Imperial Government's authorities), who were now stationed at Thurles in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province were by now made up of Orangemen brought down to serve the British Coalition Government's agenda from the north - east of the Ulster Province. They reacted violently and went berserk there, when one of their officers was shot, and they immediately ransacked the town of Thurles again, and burnt down two of the Dairy Creameries there.  

January 31st: A League of Free Nations debate was held on this day in America, between Sir Horace Plunkett, and Eamonn de Valera who was officially the elected Priomh Aire / Taoiseach (leader)of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly, but there was no Irish Tricolour to be found amongst all the other flags. Eamonn de Valera refused to participate any further until this situation was corrected, so all of the other flags except for the Stars and Stripes were removed from the room. St. John Ervine then attacked Eamonn de Valera verbally, and insisted that he did not really represent the people of Ireland, and in reply this then allowed Eamonn de Valera the opportunity to elaborate to all those present on the actual support the elected political Sinn Fein / Irish Republican Party was receiving in Ireland itself.     

February 6th: An article appeared in the Globe newspaper in America of an interview given by Eamonn de Valera the elected President of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly,, in which he had inquired why the British Imperial Government had not treated Ireland just as the U.S.A. had done with Cuba under the Platt Amendment, and unbeknown to Eamonn de Valera in reality in other clauses in the Platt Amendment, Cuba was actually defined as a U.S.A. Protectorate. The article was then taken out of context to suite, so that it implied that this comment was a withdrawal by Eamonn de Valera, as the official head of the Irish Republican movement, for the demand that Ireland be set free to decide her own international relations. Eamonn de Valera was now once again in trouble with John Devoy from the Clann na Gael, who was the editor of their newspaper, the Gaelic American, in which he also noted Eamonn de Valera's comments. He had also made remarks about the American involvement in the Irish crisis, plus America's involvement with Cuba, and John Devoy in his articles now accused him of making compromising statements on Ireland's claim for Irish Independence from the British Government's Imperialism. He was of the opinion that his comments would be hailed in England as an offer of surrender, to which Eamonn de Valera then issued a further statement clarifying his own position, and had Dr. Patrick Mac Cartan return to Ireland to explain his particular point of view to the members of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly. Dr. Mac Cartan was an old Republican, and the members of the 1st Dail Eireann had great respect for his personal opinion, and Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith stood by Eamonn de Valera as their leader believing him to be in the right. John Devoy who was now no friend to the personal staid attitudes of Eamonn de Valera was not appeased by their decision, as he considered for Eamonn de Valera to quote the Platt Amendment outright, was to quote all parts of it.       

February: John Devoy in America kept up his condemnation of Eamonn de Valera, who was informed that it was really Judge Cohalan who was behind the move now to get him out of America altogether, or to pull him back into line. To settle the matter Eamonn de Valera wrote to Judge Cohalan who controlled the particular association, that was known as the Friends of Irish Freedom, and asked him to explain where he stood on the outstanding issues with John Devoy. The Judge replied with a stinging letter, informing him that American interests must come first in America, and that it was not in Ireland's interest to upset the Irish - Americans, so Harry Boland then tried desperately to reconcile John Devoy and Eamonn de Valera, so that the divisions in the Irish - American ranks in America itself would be re - united.    

      Meanwhile, back in Ireland the Carrigtwohill Barracks, held by the R.I.C / Royal Irish Constabulary police, who were under the control of the British Imperial Government's Dublin Castle authorities, in Co. Cork in Southern Munster was then captured in a raid by the I.R.A. / Irish Volunteers, once again, to obtain arms, and from now on many of the other R.I.C. barracks were attacked and burnt, while their officers who were stationed there were released. The Irish Volunteers / Irish Republican Army / I.R.A. was now continuing to grow in numbers, as the British Imperial Government continued on with their terrorizing campaign on the the general population throughout Ireland, under Lord French, their appointed British Military Viceroy in Ireland, who had continued to represent them with great vigour. The situation was now so bad that the I.R.A. decided to take him out of the scene altogether, by assassinating him near Phoenix Park, when he was on his way back from his country residence to the British vice - Regal Lodge at Ashtown Cross. The attempt turned out to be much more complicated then the I.R.A. had first thought, and it soon became a mess, and the British Imperial Government Military forces then in a panic instead killed Martin Savage, who was there at the time who was an innocent bystander, and then in their panic, to cap it off, they also killed one of their own British officers, Lt. Boast. They then bayoneted Kennedy, who was also another innocent bystander, who unfortunately was also deaf, and had been only walking on his way home through Phoenix Park and was unaware of the noise going on around him, and for good measure they then shot him as he fell to the ground.  

February 18th: The R.I.C. police spy network in Ireland, controlled by the British Coalition Government's Dublin Castle authorities, was now undermined, with the British Government spies and informers done away with, and members of their "G" (Government) Division was removed one by one, so they were now down to relying on using British Secret Agents. In order to get results the Secret Agents were to operate anywhere and at any time, and the Irish from now on had to be very diligent, to ensure that they never succeeded in their covert missions. The success of Michael Collins' infiltration, inside of the British Intelligence Service in Ireland, was brought home especially on one occasion, when the I.R.A. / Volunteer leadership was to meet at a house in Merrion Square in Dublin. The British chief of their "G" Division in Ireland had been informed of the meeting, and also exactly when they were to meet, and trusting no one himself, he made the unfortunate choice of only taking along Lieutenant "G" who then took him out also on the way there, while making out that they had come under attack from the I.R.A. / Volunteers. An informer by the name of Quinlisk, who was to be the first and last to do so, had tried to set up Michael Collins when he met with him personally, telling him he was a double agent, so Michael Collins told him to meet with him at a certain address in the City of Cork, his response to this was that the British Intelligence sent an immediate message, by code, to the R.I.C. police there to capture him, but it was to be one of Michael Collins' own informants in the R.I.C. police who decoded the message, and instead Quinlisk himself was executed by the Irish Volunteers / I.R.A. when he showed up. Another of the British Imperial Government's Secret Agents, known as Hardy, approached Arthur Griffith with a bogus plan to capture certain British Army heads who were then stationed in Ireland, and he too wanted an interview with Michael Collins, so Arthur Griffith took him to a room where he also introduced him to a "bogus" Michael Collins. Arthur Griffith then informed Hardy that he had been in receipt of correspondence between Hardy and the British Imperial Government authorities and advised him to leave Ireland as quickly as he could for his own sake.

     Sir Ormonde Winter was now appointed the British Imperial Government's Director of Intelligence in Ireland, after previously serving in India in a similar capacity for the British Government there, and he imported 50 Bloodhounds to track down the Irish insurgents, who nevertheless then upset this ingenious plan by putting disinfectant on their boots and also using pepper. The British Imperial Government, who were now more desperate then ever to continue on with their control over the Irish population, then suppressed the Freeman's Journal for publishing what they said were false statements. They then brought in an officer named William Redmond from Belfast in Co. Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster Province to take control over the Dublin R.I.C. police force, and also sent an ex - British soldier, known as Jameson, over from Scotland Yard, who was to operate as another of their Secret Agents. His main objective was to assist William Redmond "to get" Michael Collins, as Jameson had previously infiltrated the Volunteer / I.R.A. group in London where he had told the Irish Volunteers / I.R.A. there that he would be able to obtain arms for them and he had secretly worked his way also into the Irish Labour movement. In Ireland he was so convincing also that he was to personally able to attend a meeting with Michael Collins himself, who then put him to the test by informing him that a certain document of interest to the British Imperial Government was being held, in what he knew was actually a pro - British household. This particular house was then raided by the British Military Government forces giving away the true identity of Jameson, and his superior William Redmond was then also shot dead a few days later. The terrified Jameson then took off back to England to make his report to the British Coalition Government authorities, but made the mistake of feeling he was still safe and returned to Ireland to continue on with his spying operations on their behalf, and as his true purpose was now well known he too was soon disposed of by the I.R.A. / Volunteers. Still undaunted the British Imperial Government then sent over another of their Secret Agents, who went by the name of Fergus Molloy who also endeavoured to set up Michael Collins personally, but he too was discovered and then disposed of, becoming the last British agent of that type to try it on in Ireland.

     Meanwhile, in America, John Devoy, from the Clann na Gael, now publicly outlined his grievances against Eamonn de Valera the President of 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly in various articles printed in their paper there, and W.J. Maloney circulated a pamphlet in response, and together with Joseph Mac Garrity from the Clann na Gael and Dr. Patrick Mac Cartan, the 1st Dail Eireann Ambassador in America, they set up a meeting at the Lexington Theatre to bring to an end the open ego breach in the Irish - American relations. Eamonn de Valera's opinion was that he did not want to appear to be under the thumb of Judge Cohalan in America, as he was the actual leader / Taoiseach of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly, which meant that he must operate as his own man. 

March 1st:  The town of Thurles in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province was sacked again by the British Imperial Government  forces in Ireland.

     In America, Eamonn de Valera was feeling the strain of his personal confrontations with the Irish - American leaders, but despite this he had still managed to see many of the American Senators there personally, to pursue his purposes in bringing about the recognition of the Irish Republic.  

March 2nd: David Lloyd - George the British Prime Minister and his Coalition Government were now really desperate to keep up their Imperial pressure in Ireland, and they sent over 2 of their Intelligence Officers this time to set up a "Murder Gang" in Ireland, and they were to carry out terrible atrocities without any regard at all for human life, or any Irish interests, with David Lloyd - George's full knowledge. David Lloyd - George had instructed them to murder 2 Sinn Fein Party supporters for every one of the British Imperial Government's forces, and this instruction was to be confirmed later on by Sir Henry Wilson the British Imperial Government's Chief of Staff, who was actually against it. With the full backing of David  Lloyd - George the Prime Minster of the British Imperial Government they then tried to murder any prominent Sinn Fein Party supporter they could find, knowing full well that there would be no actual repercussions on them.

March 7th:  The town of Thurles in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province was sacked again by the British Imperial Government Military forces.   

March 11th: The 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly Cabinet had Arthur Griffith their acting vice - President send an assurance of full support to Eamonn de Valera in America over his dispute with John Devoy and Judge Cohalan from the Clann na Gael there in America.

March 13th:  The town of Thurles in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province was sacked again by the British Imperial Government Military forces, but this time they also shot and wounded a physically handicapped young boy in place of his brother, together with another 10 year old boy who they actually shot dead.         

March 16th: Thomas Mac Curtin the Mayor of Cork in Co. Cork in Southern Munster together with many of the prominent elected political Sinn Fein Party and 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly members began to receive "death notices" from the British Imperial Government's Army Intelligence Department's recently established "Murder Squad," who were now set up in their stronghold in the Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 Acre.) They  could now do as they liked in Ireland and were subject to no one, with the full backing of David Lloyd - George the British Imperial Government's Prime Minister. 

March 18th: The U.S.A. Senate on this day passed a Resolution, which favoured the establishment of the Irish Republic.

March 19th: Judge Cohalan from the Friends of Irish Freedom called a meeting at the Park Ave Hotel in New York to were he invited many prominent Irish - Americans, and Harry Boland ensured that Joseph Mac Garrity went along, and during the proceedings Judge Cohalan personally attacked Eamonn de Valera, who was not present, and Joseph Mac Garrity demanded that he be sent for and be allowed to defend himself personally. Eamonn de Valera arrived in the company of James O Mara the organizer of the 1st Dail Eireann's Irish National Loan in America, and Harry Boland who stated that he had a letter alleging that Eamonn de Valera was being forced to leave the U.S.A. Utter turmoil then broke out over this, until Bishop Turner made Eamonn de Valera and Judge Cohalan shake hands and administered a blessing on them both to try and bring peace between them. James O Mara as the organizer of the Irish National Loan in America then offered the staid Eamonn de Valera his resignation, due to the personal difficulties he was also having with him, and on receiving word of this conflict Arthur Griffith wrote to James O Mara from Ireland and asked him to reconsider staying on with the Irish National Loan for the sake of Ireland.

     Meanwhile the British Imperial Government's established "Murder Squad," in Ireland, was now in full swing and they shot dead Michael Ryan who was in bed with pneumonia at the time at Curraghduff in the north of Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province, and then killed William Gleeson, a 15 year old boy in his own house, in place of his father. George Nathan, one of the British "Murder Gang," then also shot dead George Clancy the Lord Mayor of Limerick in Co. Limerick in the mid - north - west of Munster, in his own house, then did the same to George O Callaghan the ex - Mayor of Limerick, and feeling more then secure in carrying out these terrible deeds, under the banner of the British Imperial Government, went around the region bragging about it.

March 20th: Thomas Mac Curtin who now the Mayor of Cork City in Co. Cork in Southern Munster was then also shot dead in his own home by the British Imperial Government's "Murder Gang," whose English accents stood out for all to hear, and David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister tried to make out that he was actually killed by his own Irish people. The inquiry carried out by the Cork Coroner into the murder found that he was actually killed by the R.I.C police under the direction of the British Imperial Government. They indicted Lloyd - George, Lord French and the British Imperial Government authorities at the Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 acre) who had initially instigated his cold - blooded murder, and also Swansy the British District Inspector at Dublin Castle. Swansy was then quickly shifted north to safer territory at Lisburn in Co. Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster Province, to get him out of the way, but the Cork Irish Volunteers / I.R.A. found out were he was, and shot him dead and the members from the Orange Order, in the Lisburn region, retaliated with more ethnic and sectarian violence by attacking and burning many of the Irish Catholic houses around the area. Thomas Mac Curtin's body was placed in the Cork Town Hall to lie in state for many of the citizens there to pay their last respects, where it was guarded by the Irish Volunteer members, and 15,000 attended his funeral, together with 8,000 I.R.A. Volunteers. (David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister was still under the impression that for every one of the British Imperial Government forces who were killed in Ireland, 2 supporters of the Sinn Fein Party were also being killed, but in reality the the true facts were that the majority of their murdered victims were only innocent Irish people.  

March 31st: The Cork I.R.A. / Volunteers, then blew up the R.I.C. police barracks, where Thomas Mac Curtin's murder had been originally planned, and Terrence Mac Swiney was then elected to replace him as the Mayor of Cork, who would also die in prison at the hands of David Lloyd - George and the British Coalition Government. Meanwhile at Thurles in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province the R.I.C police, under the control of the British Government Dublin Castle authorities, continued to harass the civilian population on a daily basis, and to this end carried out further cold - blooded murders on James Mac Carthy and Thomas Dwyer in their own homes also. David Lloyd - George, the British Imperial Government's Prime Minister, who were now even more desperate then before, to continue to show their overall continuing Imperial power in Ireland, now appointed a really stupid nasty in Sir Hamar Greenwood to be their British Chief Secretary in Ireland. Sir Neville Mac Ready, who was previously the Commissioner of the London Police, was to be appointed their British Military General Commander in Ireland to eventually replace the rapacious Lord French.  

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