Tom Barry (34 page)

The General Synod Members of the Church of Ireland issued ‘a call of goodwill on men of all religious persuasions to unite …'
[25]
A convention of Irish Protestant Churches in Dublin placed ‘on record' that apart from this incident ‘hostility to Protestants by reason of their religion has been almost, if not wholly, unknown in the twenty-six counties in which Protestants are in the minority.' A similar ‘statement emanated from a convention of Protestants Churches in Schull, in the heart of West Cork Brigade area, on l May 1922.' Arising out of Peter Hart's suggestion of an IRA vendetta against Protestants, Criostóir de Baróid notes that ‘no responsible political commentator or newspaper of the time ever made the allegation that the IRA military campaign was sectarian.'
[26]

The suggestion of non-action at this period by the Bandon/ Dunmanway IRA cannot be substantiated.
[27]
Officers, including Tom Barry, Liam Deasy and Dick Barrett, were in Dublin at this time of Provisional Government administration, when efforts were being made to consolidate the army and ward off a Civil War in an atmosphere of country-wide disturbances. Some Protestants left the area: those who had been involved in informing felt in imminent danger. Barry returned briefly to West Cork and with Tom Hales, Flor Begley, Seán Buckley and other local IRA officers set up ‘guards' in districts throughout the brigade area. He wanted to avoid recrimination or ‘grudges' held. ‘One very important fact', Jim Kearney wrote, ‘the Third Brigade had a guard on the [loyalist] Protestant houses at that time to protect them. I was one of the guards so I should know.' Denis Lordan, Charlie O'Keeffe and a substantial number of men were appointed ‘guards' in round-the-clock protection in case other citizens, some known to have informed during ‘the troubles', would become victims.
[28]
‘Barry didn't want revenge. “We will all have to live as neighbours. We are trying to make peace now and settle our differences”.' This was a few months prior to the outbreak of Civil War.
[29]
Tom Barry heard that because of a neighbouring feud, some men were going ‘to set upon' Billy Good, Calatrim, Bandon, a Protestant and First World War British army officer. Tom with a few officers hid in the lane-way. Billy was housing the dog for the night and became fearful when he heard the voice “‘… Get out of here! This is your last warning! You'll get no more!”' Tom Barry ‘intercepted' the men, told them to get out of the locality and ‘not to come back' as ‘the Good family were decent people'; they had not done any harm.
[30]

Months earlier, during ‘Truce times', Barry had ‘commuted to exile for life' the sentence on ‘the informer' who was ‘found guilty' of selling both the Crossbarry and Upton ambushes, causing the death of his close friend Charlie Hurley and the arrest of several IRA. ‘Because of this man's betrayal of many vital facts', Flor Begley wrote, ‘the column could have been wiped out.'
[31]

In Bantry, brigade officer, Ted O'Sullivan and close friend of Tom Barry publicly stated that ‘ample provision was made and steps taken to see that the wave of human destruction didn't enter' that area. ‘Protestants and Catholics will, as they hitherto have, dwell together here in peace, harmony and good relations.'
[32]

Comdt Con Connolly and Stephen O'Neill (section commander at Kilmichael and no relation to Michael O'Neill who was shot) condemned ‘the recent shootings'. At a Bandon district council meeting Seán Buckley, chairman (former Third Cork Brigade intelligence officer, and Tom Barry's friend and comrade), said he wished ‘to tender to the relatives of the victims our sincere sympathy'. Timothy Murphy supporting the motion, said that many Protestants ‘during the recent troubles … had sheltered our brave men and had sympathy with us in our trouble … these cruel shootings are contrary to every conception of justice and liberty, contrary to every sentiment of religious and moral obligation to one another. In Easter week the men that proclaimed the Republic did so with a fervent prayer that no one would dishonour it by cowardice or inhumanity.' Seán Buckley in concluding the debate drew attention to some of ‘the greatest patriots' of the past who were of Protestant faith. He could and would personally ‘bear testimony' to ‘the willingness' of his ‘Protestant neighbours who sheltered the men who were hunted by the British forces.' Many of the men who were ‘most wanted by the enemy were sheltered', he said, ‘and supported' by them. He had it ‘from the lips of leading Protestants in this district that they were willing to live and give allegiance to the government of the Republic.'
[33]

On 28 April Comdt Tom Hales, on behalf of the Third Brigade issued a
‘Definite Military Order
to all Battalion Commandants' in his brigade that any ‘soldier in the area was neither to interfere with or insult any person … Even capital punishment will be meted out' to those ‘not upholding the rigid discipline of a military force.' In his statement he promised ‘to give all citizens in this area, every protection within' his ‘power'. Comdt Con Connolly, Skibbereen, in a
Public Notice
stated that the IRA would do all in their ‘power to protect the lives and property of all citizens irrespective of creed' and would ‘faithfully observe the amnesty proclaimed by Mr M. Collins.'
[34]
Sinn Féin-led Cork county council condemned the killing and asked the ‘the authorities charged with peace and order to afford protection to all classes'. This ‘resolution' was forwarded to ‘the Protestant bishop of Cork.'
[35]
Tom Barry, Liam Deasy, Tom Hales and Seán Buckley travelled to Skibbereen and helped Con Connolly and the Skibbereen IRA with ‘house-guard' protection rota administration, to back up the Bandon-Clonakilty-Dunmanway-Ballineen protection teams.
[36]

Tom Kelleher and another IRA comrade caught up with thieves, unconnected with the IRA, who, taking advantage of the climate at the time, had stolen cattle from Mr Wilson, a Protestant farmer near Bandon and were en route with them to Kinsale fair. Kelleher ordered the men to return the animals. The order was ‘promptly' obeyed. Tom Barry's first cousin, Paddy O'Brien, ‘appointed permanent guards to protect John Winters, a Protestant landlord' who was in dispute with local farmers. Rather than going to the Establishment courts, Winters went to the Sinn Féin courts at the time to seek ‘redress', and got it.
[37]

During the war of independence Macready stated that he had covered the country with spies from end to end.'
[38]
Florrie O'Donoghue found: ‘There were no hostile people, as far as we knew except Loyalists all of whom we knew.'
[39]
Much useful information was obtained for the three Cork brigades from Josephine Marchmount, a confidential secretary to Captain Webb, chief officer to Major Strickland, Cork Military Barracks.
[40]

In a captured British document Strickland wrote: ‘I want … the troops and police' to seek out people for intelligence purposes, to get ‘in touch with the people in a friendly way, so as to enlist the waverers on our side … Remember we have two moral objectives, i.e., to hearten the morale of the Loyalist and waverer and to dishearten the morale of the gunmen.' Money ‘is' available ‘to pay for intelligence'. Also ‘if protection and repatriation to England are required by individuals who have given VALUABLE information' this should be done. The document states ‘the following is a list of the flying columns of the IRA and the localities in which they are thought to be harbouring …' (‘Valuable' is written in bold caps.)
[41]
It is difficult to agree with Peter Hart's suggestion that the IRA's targeting of spies and informers during the war ‘had little or nothing to do with the victims' actual behaviour' but their religion, and that as the ‘war continued to escalate right up to the July 1921 truce ... anti-Protestant violence rose along with it'.
[42]
Hart states that the ‘IRA had begun to seize Protestants to use as hostages.' As has been demonstrated, these individuals such as Lord Bandon were kidnapped (later released) under Tom Barry's direction, because of their status and power in society and as a bargaining ploy and had nothing to do with their religion. (It is unlikely that Tom Barry or other IRA members thought of religion.) Hart has suggested that, ‘The revolution made Protestants “fair game” to any of their neighbours, whether angry or covetous.' (In the course of my extensive interviews over the years with ex-IRA participants of the period I did not hear of ‘ethnic cleansing' and ‘ethnic conflict' as Hart wrote.
[43]
There is no evidence that this scenario entered the equation for Tom Barry and his comrades in the Third West Cork Brigade.)

Throughout the period of conflict up to the Truce, Seán Buckley IO successfully organised Republican courts and Republican police in West Cork so that spies or informers were not killed without a court-martial or Republican court appearance. These Sinn Féin or Republican courts also investigated ‘robberies, assaults, recovered stolen property and administered swift punishment of wrong doers.'

Tom Barry and officers in West Cork, who allowed proceedings to be dealt with within this system, drew a distinction between Protestantism and Loyalism, when it became known to them that persons who were loyal (Loyalist) to the British monarch betrayed fellow countrymen, and formed a ‘League'. When the IRA's intelligence department in Cork county found proof of informants at work, they dealt with the situation within the confines of the war as set out by GHQ. Religion was not a distinguishing factor. ‘Rigorous and stern action was for us a necessary duty in dealing with spies and informers', Liam Deasy recorded. ‘This unpleasant duty was necessary when seen against the light of many noble efforts made down the ages to secure our freedom' which ‘was defeated by English gold and Irish greed'.
[44]

Tom Barry in
Guerilla Days
wrote that ‘British Imperialists' used a ‘technique of “Divide and Conquer”. They have consistently urged class against class, district against district, creed against creed … In 1920 and 1921 they fanned the flame of religious intolerance between Catholics and Protestants. Whenever one of their agents not of the faith of the majority was shot, they announced his death as Mr X, a Protestant. But, although the West Cork Brigade [during the war, in 1921] shot five Catholics who were British agents in quick succession, never once did the term Catholic appear after those men's names in the British announcements of their deaths.' This was, he stated, their propaganda method of making (succeeding in cases) ‘the Protestants of Ireland' believe they would be ‘victimised' under ‘a Republican government of Ireland'. Barry tells a story of ‘an informer' who spoke with warped logic of the Protestant religion being under threat and felt duty bound to betray the IRA. Barry didn't bother correcting him as he was ‘going to die' anyway.
[45]
Barry, speaking of informers and spies, told Nollaig Ó Gadhra that they ‘executed 15. Incidentally, for those who are bigots – 9 Catholics and 6 Protestants! British propaganda announced him [in each case] as a Protestant landowner. But if it was a Catholic who was executed for spying – “blood money”, he was only mentioned by name, never that he was a Catholic.'
[46]

‘They were all as guilty as hell. The Loyalists informers weren't doing it for money … and were far more dangerous' than the spy. ‘We had our information'.
[47]

Peter Hart also states that ‘the conspiracy theories and the terminology of hatred' and ‘sectarianism was embedded in the Irish revolution, north and south.'
[48]
However, Barry told Donncha Ó Dulaing in the early 1970s: ‘We never killed a man or interfered with a man because of his religion, we didn't give three straws, they were human beings to us and they were treated as that and there was never a breath of sectarianism, but we had to face facts … We lost men who were sold or given away – sleeping in barns and outhouses ... The informer was far more dangerous because he had intelligence and was used by the British who were clever at propaganda publicity. They used the divide and conquer principle … in the newspapers … They were no more shot because they were Protestant or Jew or Atheists or anything else. They were shot because we had in their own confessions they were doing the job, and they had caused loss of Irish Republican army men's lives.'
[49]

When Tom Barry initially wrote
Guerilla Days
, he named the spies and informers (as reported in newspapers) who were shot during the war, but because the
Irish Press
in the serialisation of the book before publication felt this would create problems for relatives, the editor asked him to omit names and to tone down the language. Finally he agreed for the sake of the families. He said, ‘Two resided in (naming the district)' and ‘two more resided in' – and so on. ‘This does not add to the identification of any particular spy, but if the IP so desires this sentence could read (four came from the First Battalion, two from Fourth Battalion, etc.) … I take it there is no objection to the general references', he wrote.
[50]

To argue in the case of Protestant informers who were shot, that it was not the fact of their being informers that determined their fate, or to go further and claim that, ‘The gunmen, it may be inferred, did not seek merely to punish Protestants but to drive them out altogether', is difficult to agree with, in the light of the evidence now available.
[51]

Despite identifying a British Loyalist connection in the dramatic events of April 1922, ‘the fact of the victim's religion is inescapable', Hart wrote. ‘These men were shot because they were Protestants. No Catholic Free Staters, landlords, or “spies” were shot or even shot at. The sectarian antagonism which drove this massacre was interwoven with political hysteria and local vendettas, but it was sectarian none the less. “Our fellas took it out on the Protestants”.'
[52]