Ireland’s establishment parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael try to embarrass Sinn Féin – the Provisional IRA’s political wing during the Troubles – by citing those unresolved cases.
Yet the governing parties celebrate the original IRA as national heroes – and party founders – while overlooking victims such as Edward Parsons, aged 15, and Maria Lindsay, shot and secretly buried respectively in 1921 and 1922, said Ó Ruairc. “The Irish state is somewhat in denial over the level of violence used in the war of independence. They don’t want to go digging up the bodies.”
by allthewaybackagain
12 comments
Micheal Martin isn’t going to like this article.
The free state used to take prisoners out of jail and chain them to land mines and detonate it
The amount of stuff brushed under carpet here is shocking
>Irish state’s founding fathers killed and disappeared five times more people than Provisional IRA would do over 30 years
The political revisionism from parties like Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is genuinely so shocking. This isn’t even the only thing.
There’s probably a broader point to be made here about asymmetric warfare. If you have a state (or in our case coloniser) that’s brutally oppressive to civilians, violent rebellion is pretty much inevitable. And once that genie is out of the bottle there’s no stopping it.
You saw the same, or similar things happening in British colonies all over the world.
The reason they don’t want to do this is because the Dunmanway killings and the PIRA campaign have a lot of similarities and Official Ireland likes to rupture the narrative between the good and heroic IRA and the bad evil IRA arbitrarily to not cause too much ruckus
After 800 years of invasion and subjigation, the Irish civil war is the darkest and most vile part of our history. The second we got a sniff of independence, we started killing each other.
A terrible blemish on our history that should be discussed out on tbe open.
FGFF do this because it’s an easy way to end an argument. They do not do anything out of actual moral outrage. In fact they have no morals as is evidenced by the cronyism they’ve exercised throughout their tenure.
Brown paper bags anyone?
Ah but that was the good IRA not that horrible Nordie one.
UCC (in conjunction with the Examiner) did some really good historical work with their [The Irish Revolution Project](https://www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution/) including information on the Disappeared in Cork such as the 2 named here (plus many more):
* **[Edward Parsons](https://www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution/feature-articles/disappeared-but-still-remembered-unearthing-the-iras-lost-victims.html#:~:text=Edward%20Parsons%2C%20an%20alleged%20spy,were%20disappeared%20by%20the%20IRA.)**:
>Edward Parsons a suspected informer for the British forces was abducted by armed IRA volunteers who were waiting near his home at Number 30, High Street, Cork on the night of the March 23, 1922. According to IRA accounts, Parsons was armed with two revolvers when captured. Parsons had previously been questioned by the IRA in late 1920 and was alleged to have admitted his role as an informer when he was observed shadowing a senior IRA officer in the city. Parsons was executed by shooting four days later and was buried between Lehenagh and Ballygarvan on the Kinsale Road.
* **[Maria Lindsay](https://www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution/feature-articles/disappeared-but-still-remembered-unearthing-the-iras-lost-victims.html)**:
> Of these killings the case which achieved greatest notoriety was that of Maria Lindsay, a wealthy Protestant Loyalist who lived at Leemount House, Coachford. Lindsay was abducted with her chauffeur, James Clarke. Her case was raised in the British House of Commons where it was admitted that she had conveyed information on an IRA ambush to crown forces. This had resulted in the capture and imprisonment of several of the would be IRA ambushers including five who were later executed. Lindsay and Clarke were then arrested and held as hostages in an attempt to prevent the executions of the captured republicans but were executed in March 1921 after the British proceeded with the execution of the IRA prisoners.
**[List of disappeared in Cork during the War of Independence](https://www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution/feature-articles/disappeared-but-still-remembered-unearthing-the-iras-lost-victims.html)**:
* 10 July 1920 – John Crowley, Ballymurphy, Bandon.
* 8 July 1920 – James O’Gorman, The Rea.
* 15 Aug 1920 – John Coughlan – Aghada.
* 20 Aug 1920 – James Herlihy, – Pouladuff, Cork city.
* 15 Sept 1920 – John (Sean) O’Callaghan Jr – Farmers Cross.
* 29 Oct 1920 – Lieut Daniel Rutherford – Rusheen.
* 29 Oct 1920 – Lieut Bernard Brown – Rusheen.
* 6 Nov 1920 – RIC Constable Thomas Joseph Walsh, Blarney.
* 15 Nov 1920 – Captain Montague Green – Waterfall, Aherlea.
* 15 Nov 1920 – Captain Stewart Chambers – Waterfall, Aherlea.
* 15 Nov 1920 – Lieutenant William Watts – Waterfall, Aherlea.
* 16 Nov 1920 – Cadet Bertram Agnew – The Rea.
* 16 Nov 1920 – Cadet Lionel Mitchel – The Rea.
* 23 Nov 1920 – Thomas Downing – The Rea.
* 28 Nov 1920 – Cadet Cecil Guthrie – Annahalla Bog, Macroom.
* 29 Nov 1920 – James Blemens – Carroll’s Bog, Cork City.
* 29 Nov 1920 – Frederick Blemens – Carroll’s Bog, Cork City.
* 3 Dec 1920 – Private Percy Taylor – Kilbree, Clonakilty.
* 3 Dec 1920 – Private Thomas Watling , Kilbree, Clonakilty
* 9 Dec 1920 – George Horgan – Lakelands, Blackrock-Mahon.
* 13 Jan 1921 – Pte RG Brown, Grenagh.
* 20 Jan 1921 – Dan Lucey, Kilcorney, Milstreet.
* 21 Jan 1921 – Daniel Lynch, Killeady Quarry, Ballinhassig.
* 23 Jan 1921 – Patrick Ray, Church Hill, Passage.
* 20 Feb 1921 – Private Albert Mason – Ballincollig.
* 20 Feb 1921 – Private B. Pincher – Ballincollig.
* 4 March 1921 – Brigid Noble – Eyeries.
* 12 March 1921 – David Nagle, Clashanure, Ovens.
* Mid-March 1921 – Maria Lindsay – Donaghmore.
* Mid-March 1921 – James Clarke – Donaghmore.
* 1 April 1921 – Pte F. Roughley – Ovens.
* 11 April 1921 – Michael O’Brien –Cork City.
* 28 April 1921 – Major George Compton Smith, Donoughmore.
* 30 April 1921 – Arthur Harrison – Coachford.
* 5 May 1921 – James Saunders – Dunbolloge.
* 16 May 1921 – David Walsh, Doon, Glenville.
* 19 May 1921 – Francis McMahon, Ballyphehane.
* 23 May 1921 – Private Walter Musgrove– Charleville.
* 23 May 1921 – Private P. J. Cagney – Charleville.
* 23 May 1921 – William McCarthy – Mourneabbey.
* 24 May 1921 – Lieut Seymore Vincent, Lenihans bog, Glenville.
* 29 May 1921 – John Sullivan-Lynch, Carrigrohane.
* 5 June 1921 – Private Matthew Carson, – Ovens.
* 5 June 1921 – Private Charles Chapman – Ovens.
* 5 June 1921 – Private John Cooper – Ovens.
* 5 June 1921 – Eugene Swanton, The Rea.
* 8 June 1921 – John Joseph Walsh. – Ahanesk, Midleton.
* 19 June 1921 – Leo Corby, -Killathy graveyard, Ballyhooly.
* 24 June 1921 – Pte George Caen, Ballincollig.
* 11 July 1921 – William Nolan, Cork city.
* 11 July 1921 – John H. N. Begley – Douglas, Cork city.
* Truce Period Mid-July – James Devoy, Killbawn, Co. Cork.
* 12 Aug 1921 – Patrick Cronin –Dunmanway.
* 17 Oct 1921 – Thomas Hanley. Macroom.
* 26 Oct 1921 – Lance Corporal J. Anderson, Glounthuane.
* 9 Mar 1922 – Thomas Roycroft, Cork city.
* 23 March 1922 – Edward Parsons. Kinsale Road, Cork.
* 26 April 1922 – Lieutenant Ronald Hendy, – Macroom.
* 26 April 1922 – Lieutenant George Dove – Macroom.
* 26 April 1922 – Kenneth R Henderson – Macroom.
* 26 April 1922 – Private J R Brooks – Macroom.
* 26 April 1922 – Herbert Woods – Farranthomas, Newceston.
* 26 April 1922 – Samuel Hornibrook, Farranthomas, Newceston.
* 20 June 1922 – Michael Williams Sunville, Glounthuane
but the provisional ira were evil terrorists who didn’t fight for their rights and freedom and the old ira were a great bunch of lads who didn’t commit any atrocities!! the sick amount of southern hypocrisy from FF/FG is disgusting
Be interesting if there’s any official reaction to this (I doubt there will be any). Can’t stand the current FF/FG line that paints the war of independence as some gentlemanly conflict that was fought by a bunch of merry volunteers while the PIRA were a vile bunch of terrorists that sprung out of nowhere to bring havoc to the north when all they had to do was listen to John Hume, ask the stormont/Westminster govt nicely and civil rights and democracy would’ve been granted by our benevolent overlords. Honestly few things piss me off more.
Tom Barry is surprisingly open about his role in this kind of thing in *Guerilla Days in Ireland*. He describes 3 cases in detail (without naming the men to spare the families from shame), and talks about letting some people off when the evidence was insufficient. Of course it’s probably safe to assume he’s picking the examples that put him the best light.