Tom Barry (15 page)
Authors: Meda Ryan
Tags: #General, #Europe, #Ireland, #History, #Biography & Autobiography, #Guerrillas, #Military, #Historical, #Nationalists
In 1941 when Barry's articles under âEyewitness' in
An Cosantóir
were published, some sentences were altered, and some paragraphs were omitted âowing to the international [war] situation' at the time. However, the false surrender is published as Barry wrote it.
[106]
Peter Hart wrote in his book: âAt least two Auxiliaries stood with their hands up and surrendered'.
[107]
In a letter to the
Irish Times
concluding the debate on the false surrender, he wrote: âit is possible that one or more Auxiliaries surrendered while others kept firing. Or that a wounded policeman ignored the surrender and shot an IRA man when he approached. And it is certainly possible that some of the column did believe that they had been tricked. However, what is clear is that there was no “false surrender” as Barry depicted it. There was no trick being played, and at most only one guerrilla died after the surrenders began.'
[108]
These Auxiliaries were commissioned officers with war experience on one or more fronts. Most had been decorated. Three had received Military Crosses, and one the Distinguished Flying Cross.
[109]
General Tudor wished âto utilise the war experience and military knowledge of these capable officers with a view to frustrating the raiding and ambush tactics of the Sinn Féin murder clubs'.
[110]
Sir Hamar Greenwood in the House of Commons on 29 November said that âthe Auxiliary division was composed entirely of ex-officers, selected for conspicuous merit in the war'.
[111]
The Macroom Auxiliaries left their barracks on 28 November, fully armed and prepared for any military conflict that might arise. In the combat that arose at Kilmichael, a distinction should be drawn between the resumption of the fight following a surrender and the continuation of the fight without a stop. Trained, these officers knew the rules of war. Either an Auxiliary/Auxiliaries shouted âwe surrender' or they didn't. If they didn't, then it was a fight to the finish. If they did, as has been accepted, and a firearm was once more used then the surrender call was falsified, thereby resuming an open fight. Either way Auxiliaries were not prisoners. Prisoners may be taken after surrender; a false surrender (particularly one that results in fatalities) nullifies that possibility.
According to Jack Lane âsoldiers act under command, whether fighting or surrendering. And in a concentrated engagement like Kilmichael it was certainly not open to some Auxiliaries to surrender while others kept on fighting. By conceding that “one guerrilla” may have been shot after a surrender, Hart gives away the substance of his case'
[112]
â his theory is that âBarry's “history” of Kilmichael ⦠is riddled with lies and evasions.'
[113]
Notes
[
1
] Peter Hart,
The IRA & Its Enemies
, p. 36; In an RTÃ/TV Documentary, Pat Butler production, November 2000. Peter Hart expressed similar views in a
Radio Kerry
programme in 1998, presented by Sinéad Spain.
[
2
] General staff 6th Division,
The Irish
Rebellion
, Sir Peter Strickland Papers, IWM.
[
3
] Peter Hart letter to Irish Times, 10/12/1998; also Hart, 26.
[
4
] Pat Butler, Presenter, RTÃ/TV Documentary on Kilmichael, November 2000.
[
5
] RTÃ Sound Archives
â
several recordings with different interviewees; RTÃ/TV Archives;
An Cosantóir 1941
;
Irish Press
1948; Tom Barry,
Lecture t
o Irish army officers, 1966, courtesy of Lieut Col Eamonn Moriarty; Griffith and O'Grady interview in
Curious Journey
, p. 182; Barry,
Guerilla Days
, pp. 44, 45.
[
6
] Tom Barry to Kenneth Griffith â he describes the ambush, the Auxiliaries shouting, and the subsequent events. 1968, not transmitted, RTÃ Sound Archives.
[
7
] Presenter, Seamus Kelly, transmitted November 1966, RTÃ/TV Archives.
[
8
] Tom Barry,
UCG Lecture
, 1969, recording courtesy of John Browne.
[
9
] Hart, pp. 27, 36. Kevin Myers,
Irish Times â Irishman's Diary
, 29 May 1998.
[
10
] âOfficial Report',
The Times,
2 December 1920.
[
11
] âOfficial Report', compiled by the
g
eneral
s
taff 6th Division, typewritten after Truce, Strickland Papers, IWM.
[
12
] IO (Major C. J. C. Street),
The Administration of Ireland, 1920
, originally published in early 1921 â new edition by Brendan Clifford and Pat Walsh, Athol Books, pp. 63, 64.
[
13
] Hart, p. 36.
[
14
]
Ibid
., p. 24.
[
15
] âOfficial Report',
The Times
, 2 December 1920.
[
16
]
Irish Press,
18 May, 1948; Tom Barry,
An Cosantóir
, 9 May 1941; Barry,
Guerilla Days
, pp. 43â45; author interviews with participants, Pat O'Donovan, 12/4/ 1975; Tim O'Connell, 4/3/1975 and 24/4/1976; Dan Hourihane, 28/1/1973 and 26/4/1973; Tom Barry in manuscript, TB private papers.
[
17
] Hart, text p. 34, footnote 58.
[
18
] Dan Hourihane, author interviews, 28/1/1973 and 26/4/1973; see also
Wild Heather
, p. 73.
[
19
] Dan Hourihane, author interview 26/4/1973;
Wild Heather Glen,
p. 71.
[
20
] Hart, p. 35, footnote 61, 62; see p. 33, footnote 56, AF interview 19 November 1989.
[
21
]
Ibid
., p. 131.
[
22
] Carbon copy, letter, T. O'Neill to Tom Barry 5/6/48 in relation to Crois na Leanbh and scouts and rifle-men who were shot when taken unawares, TB private papers; Barry,
Guerilla Days
, p. 64.
[
23
] Hart, p. 131. Tom Barry, in a lecture in UCG, spoke of how this first scout signalled from a distance â recording, courtesy of John Browne.
[
24
] See biographical notes,
Wild Heather
, pp. 53â124; see Appendix 1 for biographical list.
[
25
] Hart, p. 33, footnote 56. In this footnote reference is also made to interviews conducted by Fr Cisholm and the Ballineen/Enniskeane Area Heritage Group.
[
26
]
Ibid
., p. 330, also footnotes in pp. 24 to 33.
[
27
] Sinéad Spain presented a radio discussion with Nollaig à Gadhra, Brian Murphy, Pádraig à Cuanacháin and Peter Hart, Radio Kerry, September 1998.
[
28
] Hart, p. 33, footnote 56.
[
29
]
Ibid
., p. 34, footnote 58.
[
30
] After Kilmichael all three participated in other activities with Barry's flying column engagements, which included scouting,
Wild Heather,
pp. 68, 69, 100, 101, 121, 122.
[
31
] Hart, p. 35 footnotes 61, 62 and p. 33, footnote 56 â âAF, 19 November 1989'.
[
32
] Jack Lane,
The Northern Star â Irish Political Review
, Vol. 17, No. 5, May 2002.
[
33
] See
Wild Heather
for details of the men's pride in having taken part in the Kilmichael ambush. See also
Southern Star
and the
Cork Examiner
for the annual commemoration November/ December â held on a Sunday close to 28 November. Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin president and MP for West Belfast gave the oration at the 1983 commemoration. Due to the âNorthern troubles' at the time there was opposition. Newspapers reported on the two survivors, Jack O'Sullivan and Ned Young, as being âfull of enthusiasm'.
An Phoblacht
, 1 December 1983, recorded that due to actions of certain people, âJack O'Sullivan confirmed that he had come under pressure ⦠to avoid Kilmichael this year, as did Ned Young.' Dómhnall MacGiolla Phoil and Seán Kelleher organisers of the commemoration that year confirmed that these men and other Kilmichael veterans' relatives, were under considerable pressure to deny association with the ambush.
[
34
] Fr John Chisholm, author interview 21/9/1998.
[
35
] Joan (Collins) Dineen and Margaret (Collins) White, to author, 6/12/1998. Their mother was Jim O'Sullivan's sister.
[
36
] Louis Whyte, PRO Kilmichael commemoration committee, to author 26/11/1998 & 10/3/2002.
[
37
] Dómhnall MacGiolla Phoil (initially involved with the Kilmichael commemoration committee in 1965) to author 3/12/1998.
[
38
] Seán Kelleher, secretary, Kilmichael commemoration committee, to author 26/11/ 1998.
[
39
] Pádraig Long, letter to editor,
Cork Examiner
, July 1998. Johannah Hallahan (who lived near Kilmichael) and Kathryn Duggan to author 4/9/2003.
[
40
] Tom Barry, to Brian Farrell, presenter,
Seven Days
, transmitted November 1969, RTÃ/TV Archives.
[
41
] With Seamus Kelly â âKilmichael Ambush' transmitted 1966, RTÃ/TV Archives.
[
42
] Jack Lane,
The Northern Star â Irish Political
Review
, p. 18, May 2002.
[
43
] Tom Barry interview RTÃ Sound Archives, also RTÃ/TV Archives, 1966, transmitted â also 1968 not transmitted; Barry,
Guerilla Days
, 47; Tom Barry, talk to Cork group, recording, courtesy of Jean Crowley.
[
44
] Dómhnall MacGiolla Phoil, author interview 3/12/1998. In the 1930s after the Pension Board was set up many men came to Flor Crowley, a teacher, to help them fill out claim forms. âHe said if all the men who said they were in Kilmichael were actually there, it would have amounted to over a hundred.'
[
45
] Tom Barry to Brian Farrell, presenter,
Seven Days
, transmitted November 1969, RTÃ/TV Archives.
[
46
] Tom Barry Papers, also Eyewitness,
An Cosantóir,
9 May 1941.
[
47
] Tom Barry, Documentary, unedited â not transmitted, RTÃ/TV Archives.
[
48
] Tom Barry to Kenneth Griffith, 1968, not transmitted, RTÃ Sound Archives; also Tom Barry to Griffith and O'Grady, p. 182.
[
49
] Tom Barry, 1969, RTÃ, Sound Archives.
[
50
] This video, with the O'Sullivan family, was not made for public viewing. Dave was Barry's friend. Barry's directness comes through (1970s), courtesy of Dave O'Sullivan.
[
51
]
Irish Press,
23 December 1974; in 1945, Seán MacBride, legal advisor, responded to Barry's wish to take a case due to a âdefamatory' statement in a book not named, published 1923, saying the ambush OC was âcutting up dead bodies with an axe'. By the time Barry heard of the book, 1945, it was âstatute barred'. Seán MacBride to Barry, 12/10/1945 and 18/10/1945,TB private papers.
[
52
] Tom Barry to Dan Nolan 9/4/1979, from
Anvil Press
, courtesy of Rena Dardis. Hart, p. 32, has written that Barry âgave an order to fix bayonets and posted men to prevent any Auxiliaries escaping.' Note, only two of his men had bayonets. In setting up the ambush he posted part of No. 3 section across the road to prevent the Auxiliaries from taking up firing positions in the rocks there. His ambush strategy worked.
[
53
]The first account appears after the ambush; another is a filed typewritten report, and another is in a printed internal document. In the first account the man in uniform and wearing a steel helmet has a lorry pulled across the road and âshooting began'. In the later two the Auxiliaries are âconfronted' by âa man in a steel helmet' and âBritish uniform' whose âlorry has broken down and he required assistance' â
The Times
, 2 December 1920. In the Strickland Papers under the title,
The Irish Rebellion in the 6th Divisional Area from after the 1916 Rebellion to December 1921
, the report tells of âthe patrol' being âcaught by three fires, i.e.: from the three sections described in the Rebel Commandant's report.' It goes on to tell that âthe dead and wounded were indiscriminately hacked with axes and bayonets; shot-guns were fired into their bodies, and many were savagely mutilated after death.' This report together with what they call the âRebel Commandant's report on the affair' were typed and bound, and there was also a limited printing to December 1921'. In the printed version they number the soldiers as sixteen travelling in two lorries, Strickland
p
apers, IWM; Jeudwine Papers, Vol. 1, IWM.
[
54
] Hart, p. 25.
[
55
]
Ibid
., p. 34.
[
56
] Tom Barry's notes, TB private papers; also the
Irish Press
, 18 May, 1948; Barry,
Guerilla Days
, p. 48.
[
57
] Deasy, p. 173.
[
58
] Curtis,
Ireland (1921)
, reprinted 2002, in Pat Walsh,
Introduction
:
The Anglo-Irish Treaty
, pp. 61, 62. I am indebted to Jack Lane for this reference. This work contains an interesting analysis of the âRound Table'.