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November 1st: Kevin Barry the 18 year old Irish Volunteer arrested in Dublin for trying to disarm British soldiers was to be the first of 24 Irish men executed "officially" by the British Government and Michael Collin's efforts to save him had to be abandoned when it was found the prison wall was too well constructed for an explosion to create a section through which he could escape. Sir Henry Wilson the British Imperial Army Chief told the British Cabinet that he would resign his post if Kevin Barry was not executed and there was massive protests carried out to save him as he was considered a prisoner of war but all attempts to obtain clemency naturally fell on death ears. Later on Sir Henry Wilson would be assassinated under previous orders originally given by Michael Collins.

J.H. Gooding who had acted as a British spy for Lord French in an endeavour to capture Michael Collins was also fronted with all the evidence by Arthur Griffith who advised him also to leave Ireland for his own personal safety. - The Dail Eireann Courts were constantly raided by the British forces but they were still to be able to continue on with their hearings right up to the Anglo - Irish Truce in the future.

November: The American Committee on Conditions in Ireland reported back to the Friends of Irish Freedom while the American Commission for Relief in Ireland also raised an additional $ 5,000,000 dollars.

November 5th: The British Government's Black & Tans and Auxiliaries now raided the town of Granard in Co. Longford in the north - west of the Leinster Province were they set fire to the homes there and came up against the Irish Volunteers led by Sean Mac Keon the commander of the Longford Irish Volunteer Brigade who with 20 of his men was able to successfully drive them off, but any reports about the raid they carried put and the actual result were also suppressed by the British Government authorities in Dublin Castle. (The Devil's 1/2 acre)

November 13th: On this day, 700 British forces with no arms attacked the Sinn Fein Party headquarters in Dublin were they where resisted by 30 armed Irish Volunteers who had received advance notice of their coming and were able to drive them off, and this attack and it's successful result was prohibited from being reported also by the British Government's stronghold in Dublin Castle.

November 14th: Liam Tobin the I.R.A. Deputy Director of Intelligence and his assistant, Tom Cullen had a close call when they were taken at the Vaughan Hotel by British Government forces who interrogated them for two hours until they finally decided to let them go and this enabled them to recognize two of the "Cairo Gang" in Bennet and Ames among their interrogators. Later on the Auxiliaries were to carry out another raid there but it was not to be until everyone of any importance connected to the Irish Republicans had left and they were to arrest the unfortunate Conor Clune who would only be visiting Dublin from Co. Clare. Although he was not involved at all in any way he was to be still imprisoned in Dublin Castle were he was to be murdered in the future along with Richard Mac Kee and Peadar Clancy who both were to be captured at other venues and also put in the Dublin Castle prison.

November 16th: Eamonn de Valera still in America held a meeting at the Raleigh Hotel in Washington to promote his new Irish - American organization to be known as the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic. This was to counteract some of the enmity flowing from the executive of the Friends for Irish Freedom and to try and do away with any further division to the cause and to these ends he carried out a personal grand tour to promote it's ideals.

The British Government spy known as Angliss aka Mac Mahon, who they had recalled from Russia and who had been involved in the murder of John Lynch at the Exchange Hotel in Dublin, run off at the mouth and named all of the other British Government agents who were all using false names and many of these had already carried out murders on the Irish population and among their group were the 16 Special Secret Service Agents who had been bought in from Cairo and Russia. Their mission had been to penetrate secretly into the Irish community and to this end had all arrived separately in plain clothes and on different dates as it was their combined intention to also take out Michael Collins along with the Irish Organization in Dublin and Angliss had also blurted out the details of these deadly intentions.

November 17th: The British Government forces had shown no mercy in the City of Cork, in the City of Limerick and in Co. Tipperary all in the Munster Province and they were now even further determined by any means necessary to destroy the I.R.A. Volunteer organization in the Dublin area. Lieutenant "G" who was Michael Collins' agent in the British Military had informed him that he only had 4 days to clear the "Cairo Gang" out until the 21st of this month or else and a list of 35 suspected members of the "Cairo Gang" had been drawn up together with their photographs. It was given over to Cathal Brugha to peruse and he then removed 15 men from the list and Michael Collins then handed the task over to Richard Mac Kee while supplying him with all of the addresses of those who were left on the British "Cairo Gang" list and that it must be carried out on the 21st. Richard Mac Kee then informed Peadar Clancy and the "12 Apostles" who had already carried out surveillance on were they were all living. Meanwhile, the British "Murder Gang" had also shot dead Father O Callaghan in Co. Cork and also killed a school teacher in Galway in Co. Galway in Southern Connacht by shooting him in the head and shortly thereafter also killed Father Griffin the same way and also Michael Walsh a publican from Galway. Sir Hamar Greenwood true to form once again informed the British House of Commons that it was the Irish Volunteers - I.R.A. carrying out the murders on their own Irish people. By now the R.I.C. - Black & Tans in Cork had formed the anti - Sinn Fein Party were they intended to carry out David Lloyd - George's and Sir Hamar Greenwood's instructions to kill any two members of the Irish Volunteers - I.R.A. there for any one of their members killed, or any 3 persons from the Irish population for good measure.

November 19th: Subsequent to this James Coleman was shot dead in his hom while opening his door and Stephen Coleman who was no relation was also shot in bed in front of his wife and then for good measure they killed young Hanley who lived next door.

Members of the Irish Volunteers 3rd Battalion Dublin Brigade, who served under Patrick Flanagan, were also arrested and placed in the Beggars Bush Barracks were they were interrogated and by the minute many new arrests were being made of anyone purported to be an Irish Volunteer.

November 20th: Michael Collins met with Richard Mac Kee and Peadar Clancy at the Vaughan Hotel were it was decided to go ahead with the plans to remove the "Cairo Gang" the supposed secret British Government agents from the scene as it was now a matter of life or death for all concerned before they eventually destroyed any further chance that the Irish people had of obtaining any Self - Determination for Ireland.

The previously mentioned Conor Clune who was only a visitor from Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, who had arrived in Dublin, with the son of his employer, Dr. Edward Lysaght the Irish genealogist, had wanted to meet Piaras Beaslaoi - Beasley who was the editor of the Republican paper An tOglach and was also involved in the Gaelic League the same as he was. Sean O Connell had taken him to the Vaughan Hotel to meet him but a warning was given that the Auxiliaries - Black &Tans had surrounded the hotel and Piaras Beaslaoi who was on their wanted list took off to hide out while Conor Clune just stayed put as he knew that he was not involved in anyway with the I.R.A. but they still arrested him and imprisoned him in Dublin Castle.

November 21st: 2.a.m Richard Mac Kee and Peadar Clancy were staying at Fitz Patrick's in Gloucester Street where it is believed an R.I.C. police Sergeant living nearby tipped off the British Government authorities in Dublin Castle that they were there and as this particular R.I.C. Sergeant was on the opposite list of British Government informers the members of the I.R.A. Volunteers had previously wanted him removed from the scene but their request was denied as there was not enough evidence against him. During their capture Richard Mac Kee was able to destroy the list with the names and addresses of the "Cairo Gang" he had on him before he together with Peadar Clancy and Fitz Patrick were taken off to be imprisoned in the Dublin Castle where they were put in with the innocent new arrival Conor Clune from Co. Clare.

On this same day both Houses of the British Parliament passed the 4th Irish Home Rule Bill to Artificially Partition Ireland into 2 separate Parliaments creating a division also of 6 of the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province on purely Ethnic and Sectarian grounds to suite the continuation of the Ascendancy in Ireland as it would have been too hard to gerrymander the whole 9 Counties. Co. Cavan, Co. Donegal and Co. Monaghan were left out as had been agreed solely to by Edward Carson the Official Unionist leader and David Lloyd - George the British Government Prime Minister. Anyone with any sense at all, who really cared, could see that in the future this would bring about the deaths of many thousands of human beings there in the 6 Counties Artificially Partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province with untold misery and eternal conflict, for no real purpose in the end, other then accommodation and expediency on the part of the British Government to opt out of any real responsibility. Any true Statesmen could see that regardless of the continuation of all of the dreadful turmoil ahead Ireland would one day be re - united anyway. (But of course this would not in any real way impede the immediate needs of the British Government who were by now finally abandoning the ship while bringing it all about.) It had nearly been 800 years of untold repression already carried out by the subsequent English & British Government's in Ireland and the Irish still had not given up the ghost, did they really care or think that this would see the end of it all for them.

Father Michael Griffin, a Catholic priest, had also been kidnapped and shot through the head and his body had been thrown into a bog as there was now no need to officially have any reason whatsoever to kill any Irishman and the British Parliament had passed legislation to ensure that the British Government Forces now had no need to justify any of their actions. Arthur Griffith the vice - President of the Irish Dail Eireann - Irish Assembly feeling the pressure of it all being applied with a vengeance now asked Michael Collins to take over as the acting - President of the Dail Eireann if he should also be arrested or assassinated by the British Government Forces.

Once again the British Government had pushed the Irish to the point of no return and it was now time for real action, not words, and at 8.45 a.m. the I.R.A. Volunteers from the Dublin Brigade, composed of picked men from each group, separated into 8 parties and were sent out to carry out their assignments in the 8 separate areas in the City of Dublin while other I.R.A. Volunteer members, from the outer areas of Dublin, were to act as their individual back ups. 12 British Secret Agents were to be killed and another 5 were to be wounded together with a civilian on this particular morning, which became known as "Bloody Sunday." The Irish Volunteer forces at first raided 28 Pembroke Street where they killed, Captain Price who was a British ex - Middlesex Regiment officer and Captain Dowling from the Grenadier Guards, and Colonel Montgomery of the Lancashire Fusiliers was shot, while Captain Keenlyside and Lieutenant Murray were wounded. At 119 Morehampton Road, Lieutenant Mac Lean the British Chief Intelligence Officer and his friend Smith were killed and his brother - in - law, Caldow from Scotland was wounded. At 119 Lower Baggot Street, Captain Bagally the British Government Court Martial officer who had also been involved in the murder of the innocent, John Lynch from Kilmallock at the Exchange Hotel was another killed. At 92 Lower Baggot Street, Captain Newbury from the Royal West Surrey Regiment was killed and at 38 Upper Mount Street, Lieutenant Ames ex Grenadier Guards and Lieutenant Bennet ex Royal Artillery were others killed. At 38 Earlsfort Terrace, Captain Fitz Gerald was killed, while at the Gresham Hotel, Captain Mac Cormack from the Royal Army and A.L. Wilde were killed. At 22 Lower Mount Street Lieutenant Angliss - Mac Mahon was killed but Lieutenant Peel who was also there with him was able to escape. At one of the addresses the Black & Tan Auxiliaries were to appear outside the building and the I.R.A. Dublin Brigade members split up into two parties with one under Tom Keogh going out the front way firing as they went and were able to get away. Garnin and Morris two of the Black & Tan Auxiliaries were sent by their officer to get them further help from their barracks but were captured by the back up crew near Mount Street Bridge and were the first of the Auxiliaries to be killed so that they could not identify their captures. The other Dublin Brigade party went out the back way were Frank Teeling was wounded and left behind and General Crozier arrived just in time to save him from certain death as an Auxiliary was pushing a gun against his temple and he then had him taken away to the hospital.

4 British Army Officers had escaped the net including Colonel Jennings who was not where he was supposed to be at the Eastwood Hotel and the others who were supposed to be at the Standard Hotel were also missing. While looking for Major Callaghan at Fitz William Square they had run across Captain Crawford and advised him to leave the Country or else and Captain Mac Cormack who had not been on the list was killed by mistake. Peel and others at the Shelbourne Hotel had been very fortunate and were able to escape onto the roof when alarmed by a frightened I.R.A. Volunteer member shooting out a mirror in the dark during the anxiety of it all. Lieutenant James Kenny who was an I.R.A. Volunteer in the 4th Dublin Battalion together with Frank Burke who was a schoolteacher were 2 of the "12 Apostles" and their mission was to also handle Mr. Cleveden but he too was not were he was supposed to be. Arthur Griffith the vice - President of the 1st Dail Eireann was in a state of shock but Michael Collins told him there was just no other way that they could ensure the safety of any the Irish members who were now involved in trying to bring about Irish Self - Determination.

The I.R.A. Dublin Brigade officers had advised the Gaelic Athletic League members to cancel their football match set down for Croke Park in Dublin but they had decided to go ahead anyway as they did not want their association identified with any I.R.A. activities and at 2.45 p.m. a plane flew over the playing field and sent out a red signal flare, then the British Army Auxiliaries turned up en - masse in trucks at the football match. The Black & Tans formed a line with their rifles at the ready, as a British Officer on top of the wall opened fire on the crowd with his revolver and they then followed suite with their rifles and as there were 7,000 people in attendance at the match they killed 14 of them outright including one of the Co. Tipperary players and wounded 62 others as they just blatantly fired on the people present at the match. Then the British Government forces turned to using sub - machine guns, without any conscience at all, as now under the British Government's Act they were encouraged to kill any of the Irish population without suffering any recourse, and men, women and children fell to the ground. One of the players, Michael Hogan from Grangemockler in Co. Tipperary never moved at all so Thomas Ryan from Co. Wexford ran over and began saying the Act of Contrition to him and he too was shot dead as he knelt there beside him and the rest of the Co. Tipperary players were then herded together by the Black & Tans who had full intentions of shooting them all, while other British Government forces went throughout the whole crowd who were by now a mass of thoroughly distraught human beings. Jack Shouldice was among those detained due to the diary he was carrying but was eventually released, and among those who lay dead on the field was Jerry O Leary a young 10 year old boy,

Mac Namara, who was a member of the Metropolitan Detective Branch, who also worked in with Michael Collins was by now worried by the rantings of the British Government Auxiliaries so he informed him of their behaviour and Michael Collins was preparing to get the I.R.A. Dublin Brigade to attack the Braidwell Barracks to try and release Richard Mac Kee and Peadar Clancy but found out they were actually being held in the Dublin Castle, which was impregnable.

November 22 - Sunday: The deaths at 11 a.m. of Richard Mac Kee, who was Michael Collin's right hand man, and that of Peadar Clancy was a great loss to the cause in Ireland as they together with the innocent Connor Clune were to be murdered after the British Government's forces under Sir Ormonde Winter and their agents, Hardy and King, had previously carried out torture on them. They then removed the rest of the Irish prisoners to other barracks leaving only them in the Dublin Castle, on their own, before allowing the Auxiliaries to murder them in cold blood by bayoneting and shooting. Later on endeavouring to cover up the murder of these 3 prisoners at once, Sir Ormonde Winter alleged that they had tried to escape and depicted the innocent Conor Clune as an I.R.A. officer from Co. Clare. In a further attempt to justify the cold blooded murders on this occasion they released a fake film supposed to be of their attempted escape and to counteract the British Government propaganda the I.R.A. - Volunteer newspaper An tOglach now began to publish reports on a weekly basis, were it had previously only came out fortnightly. Dr. Edward Lysaght expecting to meet up with Conor Clune so that they could return to Co. Clare were he worked for his father in his Nursery business was shocked to hear that the British Government forces had killed him so he arranged to pick up his body and took it to the Catholic Pro - Cathedral were Michael Collins and his staff acted as pall bearers and an Evening Herald photographer took a clear picture of Michael Collins. Next morning on seeing the photo in the Dublin newspaper the I.R.A. did the rounds and gathered up all the copies and went to the paper and destroyed the picture plates. Dr. Edward Lysaght perturbed by the death of the totally innocent Conor Clune went to see Michael Collins to discuss what he himself could do about the matter to bring about some recourse against the British Government forces who were by now just killing anyone in Ireland without any justification at all. He then went onto London were he saw Lord Simon and Oswald Morley the M.P. and made an arrangement to meet with Herbert Asquith and when he returned to Ireland he too was also arrested and put in the Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 acre) for his trouble in the same room as the one in which they had murdered Conor Clune.

The death of the British Government's Special Agents received much publicity in England where they stated that they were unarmed British Army officers killed in their beds while the massacre of the Irish spectators and the player at Croke Park barely rated a mention. Sir Hamar Greenwood the British Under - Secretary of State in Ireland who was basically responsible for all the mayhem in Ireland gave his rendition of the facts to the British House of Commons that included a manufactured account that the I.R.A. had used a sledgehammer to bash in the heads of these unfortunate innocent army officers at the Gresham Hotel. Joseph Devlin representing the Irish Parliamentary Party who were still in the Westminster Parliament tried to ask the question, "What were the police doing at the football match at Croke Park. ?" He was howled down and ignored but he persisted with his question until Major Molson jumped on him in the chamber and tried to force him down to the ground while the other British Parliamentary members cried out, " Kill him, kill him." Hugh Martin a British journalist from the Daily News tried to report the truth on the massacre in Croke Park so the Black & Tans in Tralee tried to capture and shoot him.

Frank Teeling from the Irish Volunteers who had been wounded and captured in Mount Street was sentenced to death by a British Government Court Marshall and placed in Kilmainham Jail to be hanged, along with Ernest O Malley who was using the alias of Bernard Stewart, who was an Irish Volunteer organizer and had built up the I.R.A. in the Midlands and the south of Ireland. Patrick Moran and James - Tom Whelan were also arrested and tortured in the Dublin Castle and sentenced to death then placed in with Ernest O Malley at Kilmainham Jail and one of the guards there then gave Ernest O Malley a gun and a pair of wire cutters and he was able to escape with Simon Donnelly and Frank Teeling but Patrick Moran wouldn't go. He believed in democracy and knew that he was innocent of the charge they had brought against him but unfortunately for him the British Government still executed him without allowing his evidence to be heard. Simon Donnelly later on after the end of the Anglo - Irish War was to become the commanding officer of the Dublin Irish Republican police, while Ernest O Malley who Michael Collins had a high regard for as a fighter was to become the Commander of the 2nd Southern Division of the Irish Volunteers. With the loss of two of their best men in the I.R.A. a reorganization was carried out with Oscar Traynor and J. Mooney taking over the positions previously held in the Irish Intelligence by Richard Mac Kee and Peadar Clancy. They set up in the La Plaza Hotel where they were in the future never raided by the British Government forces and J. J." Ginger" O Connell took over as the Director of Training and he also set up in the same building were he was assisted by Emmet Dalton.

November 22nd: Mr. Moylett who lived in England was trying to bring about Peace in Ireland by having discussions with David Lloyd - George and the subject of the demise of the 14 British Special Agents came up and he said to Lloyd - George, "It was a sad event," to which Lloyd George replied, "Not at all, they got what they deserved, beaten by the counterjumpers," meaning Michael Collins. At this time also Michael O Rourke was also up before the British Court Martial for killing a British soldier.

November 23rd: The British Government Auxiliaries also killed a student at Lincoln Place in Dublin in cold blood as he was walking away and they continued to carry out raids everywhere and anywhere they liked and and this encouraged many Irish men and women who were not previously behind the Sinn Fein Party to now adopt a different point of view as they saw plainly themselves what was occurring and were being effected by the random violent conduct carried out by the British Armed forces. The British Dublin Castle officials were also by now finally becoming suspicious of their own Detectives and Broy was arrested but they could find no evidence to convict him but they still put him away in Arbour Jail until after the Anglo - Irish Truce. They dismissed Mac Namara also, but he was still able to continue to assist Michael Collins while Neligan was actually promoted and put in the Dublin Castle's Secret Service were he was able to continue his good work providing Michael Collins with further information.

The British Government had set up internment camps at Ballykinlar in Co. Down in the north - east of the Ulster Province and at the Curragh below Dublin to intern all of the Irish prisoners.

November 24th: The British Government then arrested Arthur Griffith the acting - President of the Dail Eireann, together with Eamonn Duggan and Eoin Mac Neill and they put them also into the Mountjoy Jail in Dublin were Michael Collins was able to keep in contact with them, and Arthur Griffith was not be released until July 11th in 1921, which would then at that time allow him to be able to participate personally in the Anglo - Irish Truce that was to come. Eamonn de Valera, still in America, on hearing of his arrest felt he should return to Ireland from America and wanted Michael Collins to set it all up for him while Michael Collins himself had now the added burden of being also the acting - President of the 1st Dail Eireann.

The British Government forces continued their raids on the Vaughan Hotel to try and capture Michael Collins and even offered the owner, Mac Guire 40,000 pounds if he would give him up and Christy Harte was arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle were he too was also offered a large sum of money and a safe passage to give up Michael Collins and they then released him on this pretext but he immediately informed Michael Collins of their plan. The British forces then arrested Foley who was the private secretary to the Lord Mayor of Dublin thinking he was Michael Collins but on realising their mistake they had to let him go and the Vaughan Hotel was now out of bounds for the Irish Republicans due to the many raids so Liam Devlin allowed them to use his premises in Parnell Street where they were able to continue to meet right up to the Anglo - Irish Truce. James Kirwan's place was another used especially by Sean Mac Mahon the Quartermaster General.

November 26th: The bodies of some of the British Government agents and the two Auxiliaries, Ames, Bennett, Bagally, Dowling, Garnin, Mac Mahon, Morris, Newbury and Price were loaded onto a British Naval destroyer to be returned to England and the Auxiliaries went along knocking the hats off of those standing by the way side looking on and the River Liffey was afloat with them. An order was also put out by the British Government's Dublin Castle authorities that only close relatives were to attend the funerals of those people the British Government forces had killed at the Croke Park football match.

November 28th: Tom Barry with his Flying Column from the Cork I.R.A. Volunteer No 3 Brigade, which was composed of 36 men run up against the British Government's Black & Tan Auxiliaries at Kilmichael near Macroom in Co. Cork in Southern Munster where they had a running gun battle in which only one out of the 21 British Auxiliaries was to survive the battle, but he too was to disappear and was never seen again. The Irish Volunteers had already stopped the first British Government forces truck when their second truck arrived and they too stated that they would surrender and the Irish Volunteers stood up to accept their offer but the Black & Tan Auxiliaries then opened fire on them shooting 3 of the I.R.A Volunteers killing 2 of them outright including the 16 year old, Patrick Deasy. The I.R.A. Volunteers then returned the fire and they fought on until it was all over and they were able to capture 18 British rifles and 1800 rounds of ammunitions during the battle. Up until this particular fight to the death no shots had ever been fired at the Auxiliaries themselves who were considered invincible but the I.R.A. Volunteers success on this occasion was now to change all that.

The British Government forces arrested Neil Kerr and Stephen Lanigan among others and put them into the Curragh Interment Camp so Neil Kerr had to somehow arrange for Daly to take over the task of bringing Eamonn de Valera safely back from America to Ireland.

Cathal Brugha as the Irish Minister of Defence at the meeting held at the Menerva Hotel was definite that he could drive the British Government out of Ireland and he put forward another proposal to carry out reprisals in England where he was going to burn their buildings in retaliation for the constant horror they were inflicting on Ireland, to gain further publicity for the Irish cause, there. This was agreed to and Rory O Connor was put in charge and went off to Liverpool were 17 warehouses were destroyed in one night, to be followed by more burnings all over England and among these attacks was the houses of the members of the Black & Tans themselves, which were carried out under the direction of Sean Flood who had been sent over earlier in November.

November 29th: The British Government forces set fire to the Dublin newspaper, the Freemans Journal, which they then charged with publishing reports of the atrocities carried out by the Black & Tans, who now had their headquarters at Beggars Bush, as the Freemans Journal articles had also included the horrendous treatment of Quirke who was given the lash and Martin Fitz Gerald the proprietor of the paper was charged by a British Court Martial and given 6 months imprisonment. The British Government forces then also arrested Michael Staines and imprisoned him in with Arthur Griffith, Eamonn Duggan and Eoin Mac Neill at the Mountjoy Jail.

+On to 1920 - 6 - December.

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.

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