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"RAINBOW FARMS" HARNESS HORSES - STANDARDBREDS - PACERS - TROTTERS The Hunter Valley - New South Wales - Australia.
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Irish Heritage Standardbred Yearlings 2003 - 2012 Minis Sweetwaters "Egyptian Kings Smokey (Imp) Shazzally Shazam (Aust) *Mini Weanlings |
May to June 1916 / 3
Monday - May 1st: 238
Irish
prisoners were now taken to the
Richmond Barracks, by the
British Government's Imperial Military Forces, and on the way there they were to be saddened by
what seemed to be a lack of understanding, at this
stage, by the people who were
looking on, of what their previous efforts had been all about,
as there were few among them, who seemed to show any real sympathy with their
previous attempts,
during the Easter
Uprising, to try and bring about
Irish Independence. On arriving at the
Richmond Barracks, they were
separated from each other, with all of those removed
who were identified by the
British Government's "G Men," who
had their
stronghold in Dublin Castle
(the Devil's 1/2 acre) They endeavoured to separate off the Irish leaders, and those
who they considered were still dangerous,
which included
Michael Collins,
Con O Donovan and
Jack Shouldice.
As Fate would have it,
Michael Collins
then thought he heard a voice calling out to him, to come out of the particular
group that he was in, which was again repeated, two more times, until he eventually
responded to the
call, and through this intervention
he
was able to survive to fight another day, and
in his own right go on to change the course of
Irish
History. He was then to be
sent on instead, to British Prisons
in Stafford
in England, and from
there to their prison in Frongoch in
Wales,
where he was to become their leader there. (The British
Imperial Government now
in desperation continued to carry out blanket arrests of
any Irish men at all without any real cause all over
Ireland.
Eamonn de Valera,
one of the
Irish Volunteer
Dublin Brigade's commanders, was placed in with
Count
Plunkett,
John O Mahony and
Lawrence O Neill,
where he was to await his sentence, naturally fearing the worst. The
"selected" group,
were to be put before a British Imperial
Government Court Marshall, while the rest of
the Irish prisoners were to be
shuffled off to Concentration camps in
England,
without a trial, to serve
8 months imprisonment, and those
who were not required for the
British Court
Marshalls were then forwarded on to the
Stafford Detention Barracks in
England, where the numbers
of Irish men imprisoned there, was to
eventually grow to
2500 whether they were involved or not. With their
ongoing usual Imperial acts of stupidity, more arrests were then carried out, by the
British Imperial Government in
Ireland, with any
Irish man
or woman, being arrested at random,
regardless of whether they had been involved in
the Easter Uprising or not,
which certainly did not help the British Imperial Government cause at all.
Among those arrested was
Hanna
Sheehy -
Skeffington, who was also imprisoned, and when she was eventually
released, she refused an offer of
10,000 pounds for
Blood Money
made to her by the British
Imperial Government for the
cold blooded murder of
her husband,
Francis Sheehy -
Skeffington who was a peace
loving person, and a well known definite pacifist, who had been
arrested while he was trying to stop looters and then imprisoned in the
British Military barracks also.
Captain
Bowe - Colthurst,
an English
officer, had also arrested two innocent journalists in
Thomas Dickinson, and
Patrick Mac Intyre, and then went on
to carry out
the cold - blooded murder of the three of them at
the same time, when he had them placed up against a wall and
executed by a firing squad, on his own
volition for no particular reason. As usual he was
eventually acquitted by the British
Imperial Government authorities on the grounds of "Insanity,"
Eventually, in another act of British Imperialism 15
Irish men, who were involved in the
Easter Uprising,
were to also be executed in cold
blood, by the British Government without even a trial
over a long drawn out period, which was to eventually show, for all to see
their, Imperialistic attitude of indifference and stupidity.
In the meantime, the
National Volunteers, which were still operating under
John Redmond
the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who were
now known as the
"Redmonites" had assisted the Dublin Castle's
R.I.C police and the
British Military Forces, and the general
public was also hostile to the
remaining Irish prisoners being held in
Dublin Prisons, as they were lead away to the
Rotunda Hospital, where they were to
be left until the following Sunday
morning.
John Redmond, the
leader of what was by now a failing
Irish
Parliamentary
Party, still hoping to win brownie points,
sought his opportunity, and also publicly
denounced them in the
Westminster Parliament in England, and although the Irish
Republicans had been prepared for a military
defeat, their spirits were very low, as they
now also faced a
moral defeat.
Sir
John Maxwell, the British
Government's appointed Commander in Chief,
had by now replaced
Augustine Birrell the
previous British appointed Chief Secretary in
Ireland, who had resigned
his position,
warning
Herbert Asquith the British Prime Minister,
that, "It
was not an Irish Rebellion, but it could easily become one."
Sir
John Maxwell, with the
usual British
Imperial
Military disregard towards any sign of humanity, passed
90 Death
sentences, of which
75
were to be eventually committed to
Penal Servitude, while
picking out a further
15
of the Irish,
who were to be executed in cold blood, without
any trial, whose sentences
were to be finally read out, after they were executed. To make
matters even worse, the executions of these
15 were to be
dragged out
over a 10
day period, when all were to be exterminated by shooting them in cold blood, including the
7 men
who had had the intestinal fortitude to sign the
Proclamation
of Irish
Independence.
Even
Edward Carson,
who was
the leader of the
Ulster Unionists,
also tried to stop the shootings,
and warned the British
Imperial Government,
that they were creating
Irish
Martyrs,
while Arthur Griffith, the leader of the
political
Sinn Fein
Party, was appalled at the continuing stupidity
of the
British Imperial Government in carrying out
these executions, although he also said that he, "Knew that they were
obtuse and brutal
enough to do it."
May 3rd:
Patrick Pearse, the
Irish I.R.B./
Irish Republican Brotherhood
leader, was to be shot first without a trial and in cold blood, and prior to his execution
he was moved to comment,
"My sons were faithful, they fought," then
they did the same to
Tom
Clarke, the Old Republican, who was
59 year old, and was married to the
young
Ned Daly's older sister,
Kathleen, and
they also executed
John
Mac Bride, the husband of Maude Gonne, and the father of
Sean Mac Bride, who
would found Amnesty International in the future.
Arthur
Griffith,
the founder of the
Gaelic League and the
Sinn Fein
Party, was also imprisoned in
Wandsworth Prison, although he was not involved
in the Easter Uprising, as he had been
opposed to their particular course of action, although he had tried to join in once it was
full on. It had been thought better by those in command of the
I.R.B. to keep him out of it, as they were prepared for a
defeat, so that he may be free to
publicize the
events and speak on the reasons why they did carry out the
Easter Uprising, but he was not to be
released until
25th December from
Reading Prison in England, along with the other
Irish prisoners that were being
held in their British Prisons. May
4th -
Thursday:
They then shot
Joseph Plunkett, who had married
Grace Gifford, the sister - in
-
law of
Thomas Mac Donagh,
prior to his execution also, and also without a trial and also in cold blood.
May
5th: They did the same
to
Thomas Mac Donagh,
who was a member of the
I.R.B. Military Council, and the overall leader of
the
Irish Volunteers Dublin Brigades.
May 7th:
Sinead de Valera, the wife
of
Eamonn de Valera,
was desperate to save his life, so she went to see the
American Consul to plead for their
intercession in his case, as he had been born in
America.
May
8th:
They removed
Eamonn Ceannt / Kent, and
Michael Mallon, from their cell to
carry out their executions, and put in
Con O Donovan and
Jack Shouldice, to replace them, and
they then shot the crippled
Sean Mac Diarmada
/ John Mac Dermott from the
I.R.B.,
and
Eamonn
Ceannt
/ Kent, who had also been a commander
in the Easter Uprising, both
of whom were executed in the prison at
Kilmainham in
Dublin, which is now a museum.
Michael Collins,
was so moved by the death of
the crippled
Sean Mac Diarmada
/ John Mac Dermott, that he was to express the opinion,
"That
Ireland
will never see another of his like," and
was to be severely emotionally upset over his execution, as he had a
great admiration for
him, and believed that he was "A
True Son of
Ireland,
and an inspiration to all his fellow Countrymen.
Meanwhile, Eamonn de Valera
on this very same day let the
British Imperial Government authorities in Dublin Castle, know that he was an
Irish man,
and not a
British subject, as he and
Thomas Ashe were also both sentenced to
death, which was later to be commuted to
life imprisonment. They were placed in
Mountjoy Jail also in
Dublin, along with
Harry Boland,
Jack Mac Ardle,
Dick King, Michael de Lacy,
Seamus Rafter, Con O Donovan,
Jack Shouldice, Frank Lawless
and
James O Sullivan.
A week later, they too were all put on a boat and sent over to
England, to be incarcerated in
Dartmoor Prison, and
Eamonn de Valera's half -
brother, Father
Wheelwright
in America, together with other
Redemptorist Fathers,
approached the American Senators
there
to ask President
Woodrow Wilson to
intervene to reduce his sentence, but he refused.
May
12th:
James
Connelly, the
Socialist Labour leader, was
then also shot on this day, although he was
wounded and sitting on a chair, in Kilmainham
Jail in Dublin also, and
Michael Collins,
had since gained much respect for him, as he considered him to be a
realist. The
other
8 Irish men
they then shot in cold blood, included
Con Colbert
of the
Fianna,
Michael
Mallon a
commander, and
Sean Heuston, who was only a
youngster from the Irish Citizen Army.
They also killed another youngster in
Ned
Daley, who was shot
because he fought at the Four Courts,
leaving behind
9
sisters, as he was the only boy in his family.
Michael O Hanrahan,
an
Irish Volunteer, was also shot, and
Liam
/ Willie
Pearse was
also executed in cold blood, for no other reason, then he was
Patrick's brother.
Thomas Ceannt, was also executed for
being involved in the killing of an
R.I.C. Sergeant in
Cork on the
Tuesday.
Countess
Constance Markievicz
nee Gore - Booth, who was an
officer in the Irish Citizen
Army, was imprisoned after she had her death sentence commuted, along with
Helena
Molony,
another of the group, who was also imprisoned.
Edward O Dwyer the
Catholic Archbishop of Limerick,
denounced Sir
John Maxwell
the newly appointed British Imperial Commander In Chief / Chief
Secretary in Ireland, for his extreme brutality, and
also for his stupidity, and
told him, "You
have outraged the conscience of the Country." As the general
population in Ireland looked
on, the horror of it all began to sink in, and it
all soon turned to anger,
against the stupidity and lack of any humanity shown once again by the
British Imperial Government. Eventually
it began to turn to one of
admiration for the
Irish Republicans,
who had paid the ultimate price to try and bring about
Irish Independence for all in
Ireland, from the British Imperial
authorities in the Dublin Castle and England.
George Bernard Shaw was to sum it up
nicely, when he stated,
"The British Government are canonising their Irish
prisoners." The British Imperial Government's continuing actions of arrest without reason or trial, further upset many more of the population in Ireland, as great numbers of innocent people were taken away, and the cause of Irish Independence was then given further strength, as the British Imperial Government built up stronger reasons for the Irish resistance to their continuing authority in Ireland. With their usual disregard for Irish common rights, they continued on with their oppressive campaign, making further great numbers of substantial arrests, while expecting those Irish, who were innocent, to come forward and leave the others to their fate, but much to their ire, the innocent Irish did not, and this further aggravated the unpopular position they already held within the Irish population and the rest of the World looking on.
May:
Dennis
Mac Cullough,
the President of the
I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood Supreme Council, had also supported the
Easter Uprising, and he too was imprisoned along with
William
O Brien,
Sean O Kelly, Ernest Blythe,
Richard Mulcahy and
Sean Russell,
while
Liam Mellowes, who had since returned
to Ireland from America, to
command the
Irish Volunteers in the west of
Ireland, was able to once again
slip away and escape back to
America.
Eamonn
de Valera,
who had been an Irish Volunteer commander in the
Dublin Brigade,
was sent to Pentonville Jail
also
in England,
and as he was American
born
Joseph Mac Garritty, from the
Clann na Gael in
America, did everything he could on
his behalf there to ensure that he was not executed also.
Edmund Duggan, who was a supporter of
the political Sinn
Fein Party, was also arrested, while
Tomas
Derrig, who they
could find nothing against, was deported by the
British Imperial Government from his
own Country. The
National
Aid Association, was now set up to help the
Irish families of those who were
killed, or
imprisoned, and in time two thirds of
those who were imprisoned had to be finally released by the British Government due to
a lack of
any
evidence against them. The
650
Irish men, who were to be
still left behind
in
the English Prisons, would
tell the British Imperial Government
authorities nothing, so they then tried to force them to join the
British Military
Forces, and if they refused
to join, they were then imprisoned for up to
2 years,
while another section of
122
Irish prisoners who they
considered were the actual leaders of the
Easter Uprising, were kept in the
Dartmoor and
Portland Prisons in England, while another
18 were sentenced to
further
hard labour. The
exposure to all of this allowed many more people throughout the World, to become aware of what was
really going on in Ireland, and were becoming more upset by the
continuing harsh treatment being handed out to the
general Irish population
there. One of these
was
Robert Childers - Barton,
who had been previously a British
Military Army
officer and who was also a Land Lord in Ireland, who resigned his commission, and joined the
I.R.B. /
Irish Republican Brotherhood, and now also became a great supporter of the
Irish
Independence cause.
May 16th:
David Lloyd -
George, who was the
British Home Minister at this time, initiated negotiations to try and resolve the
British Imperial Government's problems with
Ireland, which as usual went on
for another 2
years, and achieved nothing, as the survivors
of the Easter Uprising
were to take no part in these discussions, and it was really they, not
John Redmond,
the leader of the failing
Irish
Parliamentary Party, who were now becoming the dominant factor in the
politics of
Ireland.
Herbert Asquith,
the British Imperial Prime Minister,
and his Cabinet were by
now finally aware
that Irish
Affairs needed a vast new approach, if they were ever going to placate public
opinion in
America, so he made
a trip to Ireland
personally, to try and
re - establish goodwill with the
Irish people, and regain the confidence in his
Government, but he had left
his run too late.
May 29th:
David Lloyd -
George,
as a member of
Asquith's
Cabinet, wanted the
3rd
Irish Home Rule Act
implemented before the War
with Germany came to an end,
and he wrote to the
Unionist
leader,
Edward Carson
informing him of his opinion as to the
6 Counties
from the 9 in the
Ulster Province of
Ireland, being
Artificially Partitioned off from the other
3 Counties in the
Ulster Province, by the British Imperial
Government. The 6 Counties were to be known to the
British Government as
Northern Ireland and they were to be
eventually split off for the retention of the
Ascendancy in Ireland when they were
artificially taken out of the
9 Counties
there, as the
Ascendancy had considered the
other 3
Counties had too many Catholic
Irish in them to gain complete control over the
Ulster Province
to continue on with the Ascendancy. They would not be able to gain complete
Ascendancy
control there, if all of the
Catholic Irish
in Ulster were to be
included in their plans, so
David Lloyd - George
informed him that at the end of the stipulated
Provisional period of
6 years, after the British Government's
Artificial Partition
was to occur, they would not have to
merge back into
Ireland,
whether the Irish
people
willed it or not. He wanted him to pass the
British Government's decision onto
William Craig
the other hard line Unionist leader there in
Ulster.
The British Imperial Government's intention that
Co. Antrim, Co. Armagh, Co. Derry, Co. Down, Co. Fermanagh
and Co.
Tyrone were to be left out of the
whole of
Ireland for
6
years, was then accepted by
Edward Carson the
Unionist
leader in Ulster, and also by
John Redmond the leader of the failing
Irish
Parliamentary Party, who seemed to have no idea
by now
of what was really going on in Ireland, as
it seemed also by now that he was well out of touch with the real feelings of the general population in
Ireland. John
Redmond, had foolishly expected that the
exclusion of the 6
Counties in Ulster from the 9 Counties
there, would only be temporary,
while on the other hand,
Edward Carson expected it
to be permanent, so eventually their negotiations came to
nothing, but
John Redmond's prestige in
Ireland was
to depreciate further for being willing to accept the
Artificial Partition of
Ireland, and therefore of its
people.
June: Sir Roger Casement, was now convicted of High Treason by the British Imperial Liberal Government, and George Gavan Duffy / Seorsa Gabhain Ua Dhubthaigh, the son of Gavan Duffy, the previous Young Irelander, who had gone on to become the Premier of Victoria in Australia, acted as his defender. June 24th: The Irish prisoners, including Michael Collins, who were still held in the British Prison at Stafford in England were now sent onto Frongoch Prison in Wales. +On to 1917 / 1 - January to June
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Situated on the western bank of the Hunter River, midway between Muswellbrook and Denman the doorway to the Heart of Australia's "Horse Capital" in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales., Australia. John & Sue Markham RAINBOW FARMS 603 Roxburgh Road., Muswellbrook., 2333. 02 65 479 100 - Fax: 02 65 479 102 E - Mail: www.rainbowfarms@bigpond.com |