Tom Barry (53 page)

Here was a precious moment for which the guerilla commander had fought.

In
Guerilla Days in Ireland
he wrote: ‘The beauty of those words enthralled me. Lincoln at Gettysburg does not surpass it nor does any other recorded proclamation of history.'
[26]

Following the reading of the proclamation, Tom Barry and the central group left the City Hall steps and reappeared a few moments later on the roof of the building where ‘Mr Barry hoisted the tricolour to the top of the flagstaff. As the flag fluttered bravely a guard of honour drawn from the Fourth Infantry Brigade presented arms and buglers sounded the general salute and the reveille.'
[27]

Then came the 21-gun salute fired at ten-second intervals from the quayside, followed by a party from the Fourth Battalion located on the roof of the City Hall who fired a final salute. The playing of the national anthem by the No. 2 Army Band bridged the formal part of the night's ceremonies towards a new dawn.
[28]

Next day, Easter Monday, Barry was one of the ‘special guests' invited to ‘a luncheon at Collins' Barracks on' the occasion of the inauguration of the Republic of Ireland Act.'
[29]

Being the central figure in the performance of this ceremony was a great honour for General Tom Barry. Why he was the man chosen by a Fine Gael-led government, nobody knows. ‘It was believed that Costello felt that the Tom Barry element should not be ruffled, as trouble could erupt at any time, just as Dev did not want to antagonise that same man, or else they felt he was the most worthy of that honour!'
[30]

Barry, in any case, had always affirmed his non-party stance, had been close friends of many who participated in the opposing side in the Civil War, and had tried on numerous occasions to secure an all-party consensus on an all-Ireland policy.

Having been actively seeking a publisher for his book, and reluctant to go for a British Publisher he wondered if anybody in Ireland would take on the challenge. He had great difficulty and had a substantial amount of correspondence with publishers. Putnams of New York & London were ‘keenly interested', with their ‘European manager' calling on M. J. Costello who gave them his own copy of the manuscript. Peadar O'Donnell suggested that George Bernard Shaw would write an introduction. ‘I imagine your first reaction will be not to have anything to do with him, but I think in this you would be wrong' as it could be ‘a decisive factor in getting the publishers to take up the matter with urgency and pay a decent factor.'
[31]
Barry considered Shaw a ‘world figure' and would ‘hate a refusal'. His ‘views and those of the book would hardly coincide, he would certainly condemn the military mind and what he'd write of its literary merits, I'd shudder to think!'
[32]
Connie Neenan tried to persuade Barry to allow Devin Adair Publishing, New York to publish, but in the final analysis Barry said he was ‘never keen that this book should be first published by a non-Irish firm'.
[33]
He had four offers in one week, one British publisher ‘suggested cutting out some of the more anti-British parts when they would be pleased to publish, but', Barry told Connie Neenan, ‘I will not alter a word or a comma to suit them. The book will be published as written, or not at all'.
[34]
He was happy therefore, with M. J. Costello's
Irish Press
arrangement ‘much happier that the book will not have to be published in Britain.'
[35]
By 25 August 1949 Tom told Mr Dempsey of the
Irish Press
that he wanted them to go ahead, as ‘no American publication should be attempted until the book is first published here'.
[36]
He confirmed the publication of his book to the
Irish Press
on 14 March 1949, and received ‘two sets of proofs of the first fifteen galleys' on 24 May and the complete set by 8 June, 1949.
[37]

Guerilla Days in Ireland
was published in hardback by the Irish Press Ltd, Dublin, in 1949 and was shortly co-published in several countries.

His hatred for the Essex Regiment and Major Percival, is openly expressed in the book and he details the night he went into Bandon to shoot him, but failed because Percival did not come his way:

Disappointed we trudged out of Bandon back to our headquarters, little thinking that Major Percival, who was to fail so dismally against West Cork IRA was later to become commander of the pathetic surrender of 1941 at Singapore. We could not foresee that our target of that night would, as Lieut General Percival, commander-in-chief of ninety thousand British troops, surrender himself, his army, and many month's supplies, after a skirmish and without a real fight to a much smaller force of Japanese.
[38]

Obviously Lieut-Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival did not like Tom Barry's biting remarks about him and threatened a libel suit against the publishers for defamation of character. The director upon receipt of the letter, sent for Barry. Barry read it. ‘That's all right. I'll take care of it', he said and walked out of the room.

Barry wrote to a journalist friend with the
Irish Press
whom he had known through writing articles for the paper and who was now in London. He asked his friend to call on Percival and tell ‘the bastard' that if the case was brought on it would have to be tried in Ireland. He had escaped before, ‘but by God, he won't get away the next time!'

At a later date the director was talking to Barry and questioned him about Percival. ‘You won't hear any more from that brute!'

Percival is said to have replied to his visitor, ‘I have my cottage and my pension. I'll keep away from Barry.'
[39]

Despite this altercation, Percival in the early 1960s wrote to Liam Deasy and said he would like to meet himself and Tom Barry. It was meant to be a friendly gesture. Deasy was agreeable, but Barry would only meet him at the point of a gun. The meeting between Deasy and Percival never took place as Percival became ill and died on 31 January 1966.
[40]

Ewan Butler interviewed Barry for his book
Barry's Flying Column
in the late 1960s and informed him that Major Percival had been awarded the OBE for his part in the 1920–1922 action in Ireland. His retort shows that the passage of fifty years had done nothing to assuage his hatred of Percival: ‘Good old OBE! Percival should have got a bar to it for his valiant defence of Singapore!'
[41]
Barry's book sold so well it became a world bestseller. It eventually became required reading at military academies including Sandhurst and West Point. Leaders like Mao, Fidel Castro and guerrilla commanders in Middle Eastern countries all studied his method of guerrilla warfare.
[42]

Notes

Barry, always conscious of injustice in one part of the country, continued to keep the question of the partition of Ireland to the fore. In August 1949 he wrote to his friend Connie Neenan, in America, about ‘the new League of Nations' which had begun its sitting in Strasbourg. ‘This body will show to the Irish people that it does not give three dams (
sic
) about “Partition” or any other aspect of Irish freedom,' he wrote. ‘Perhaps then the Irish people will realise this bluff which politicians have been shouting for the last eighteen months. I have often wondered that when the bluff is exposed, would the Irish people care sufficiently to make our rulers take realistic action.'
[1]
A few days later he informed his friend Richard Dalton in America that he was pleased that the issue of ‘the British made partition of Ireland' was raised in Strasbourg ‘giving it world wide prominence'. However ‘what is required is a plan of action,' he wrote. But he doubted if any Irish political party would ‘tell the British “Get our or we will make it as costly for you in the Six Counties as we did in the Twenty-Six!” and then go ahead to formulate and implement a plan to do so if the British refuse to leave … Heaven knows, I do not want to see any more armed action if it can be avoided, but I am convinced that unless the British are of [the] opinion that such action will eventually be taken they will not leave go their hold.'
[2]

The next month he wrote again to Connie: ‘One may well ask why people like me do not force the issue with political parties, but how in the name of Heavens could we get a hearing
now
when the whole of our people are dam
(sic)
well mesmerised with the political dictum, “Be quiet, trust us and propaganda will finish partition very soon” … that is what the people believe now.' It will be ‘the beginning of the year' at least, he wrote, ‘until the population' realises that they are being ‘gulled … but until then one dares not to doubt the political saviour of the Nation.'
[3]

By November he was ‘unanimously selected by the joint committee' in the United States to be the invited speaker in New York on behalf of the ‘26 County Area'. He agreed to join ‘a Public Demonstration against Partition' in New York on 15 November 1949.
[4]
At the invitation of the American League for An Undivided Ireland, ‘General Tom Barry as a proven military leader in the south' addressed a public meeting of over 6,000 in ‘Manhattan Center' on 17 November, 1949. ‘Thousands were unable to gain admission and stood on Thirty-fifth Street, listening attentively through the PA system.' He called for ‘Dáil Éireann, the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland, on behalf of all the people within the shores of Ireland to declare that Britain withdraw from Northern Ireland.' If this was not done then there should be a recruitment of ‘100,000 for the Local Defence Force' as well as the purchase of ‘£20 million of arms and ammunition.' Furthermore, he asked for ‘the replanning of our economy now so that the people will be able to maintain life and health … when the guns begin to bark.'
[5]

The Boston Globe
reported the ‘deafening applause' that ‘greeted' the speaker's ‘frank and fearless' statements. ‘The issue was not between people in the 26 and those of the 6 counties,' Barry said, ‘nor is it one between Catholic and Protestant, and still one between different classes resident in our land. It is only an issue that rests and will rest for all time while it exists, between Ireland and Britain.'
[6]

The League for an Undivided Ireland, founded in the spring of 1947, held an Irish Race Convention in November in New York. Numerous Irish and American organisations were enlisted to ‘campaign in America to abolish partition'. They took as their motto,
Ireland, One and Indivisible, Though the Heavens Fall.
[7]

The Ancient Order of Hibernians extended ‘a hearty welcome' to Barry and hoped that his ‘mission' in America would ‘prove as successful' as his ‘unequalled feats of daring when Ireland needed men'. With Barry ‘as leader of the movement' for ‘the abolition of the infamous border' the Order knew ‘the cause' was in ‘capable' hands. ‘No one man in Ireland has a better right to speak for Ireland,' and ‘the great hope is that Emmet's epitaph would be written by men like General Tom Barry'.
[8]

Tom accompanied by Senator James G. (Jeremiah) Lennon of Armagh and Malachy Conlon, MP, went on a gruelling tour, travelling by air transport, rail, and car.
[9]
In Pittsburgh on 20 November 1949, he told his ‘enthusiastic' audience: ‘We had to take the 26 Counties of Southern Ireland by force. We will probably have to use the same methods in Ulster'.
[10]
To the thousands who had gathered he emphasised that ‘the word Partition in Irish ears means the occupation of the Six Counties of Ulster by the British'.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette
reported on ‘the mild-mannered man whose soft-spoken sound served as a strange contrast to the fury of his words'. General Barry made it clear that he was not in America to raise funds, ‘the Irish government has set aside $100,000,000 to purchase arms,' and would engage the ‘Irish army' to end partition. He told his audience that ‘the British would either yield Ulster or have it taken from them.' Ireland is ‘getting back into character after a lull of impatient peace and awkward neutrality', he said, and he would like ‘to settle the issue peaceably' but doubted ‘that such a result would be reached.'
[11]

Over the next few days he was engaged in League meetings; then he flew to Chicago and told ‘the assembled thousands' that ‘America never enslaved another race.' He was ‘here' he said ‘as a guest of the United Irish Societies' and was not representing any political party, ‘the fact is I have never in my life been a member of any political party'. His voice rang clear. ‘My one aim is to unite the Irish people – one race … it is futile to say that partition will end if we are patient, and if we stay quiet that the Border will fade away, or melt away like ice-cream in the summer time. The Border will not fade away, or the partition will not be ended until such time as the united strength is used in a supreme effort to get rid of it.'
[12]
In Baltimore, 26 November, in Philadelphia 28 November, in Boston 29 November he continued to speak to large gatherings, and got front page newspaper headlines, with an editorial in The New York
Irish Echo
.
[13]

The Boston Herald
reported that Tom Barry's speech brought cheers from the audience when he called for Ireland to go to war against England unless all British armed forces and administrative personnel were withdrawn from ‘the British imposed puppet state' of Northern Ireland within a year, ‘or else the Irish nation will use all of the forces at its disposal to drive out the occupying invaders.

‘We must be prepared to pay the price if we are to redeem our Northern brothers from British bondage and unite our ancient nation … No sane man, particularly those who have experienced war, will want to see it again, with its attendant death and miseries. But what alternative for a conquered people, when the only language their conquerors can understand is that of war?'
[14]

Barry proposed that all parties in the Irish parliament be forced to drop party politics, during this last phase of Ireland's struggle for freedom ‘and declare the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Parliament.' The Irish fight for freedom was ‘spiritual as well as material', he said. ‘When a nation fights for its freedom it is fighting also for the dignity of mankind.'
[15]
His final meeting was in Providence, Rhode Island, 30 November. Departing from his prepared script on the last day of his ten day tour
The Advocate
reported that ‘the slim, grey-haired military veteran' declared that ‘the keys to peace are right and justice and not strength, economic and military.'
[16]
Before leaving the Commodore Hotel, he told the waiting press and other dignitaries that he was returning to Ireland ‘with the hope that our people at home have now realised that the nation and all its resources must be swung into an action program by a united people in Ireland, backed by the united American-Irish actionists.'
[17]

On 10 December, 1949, the front page headline in the
New York Irish Echo
was, ‘IRISH PROTESTANTS OPPOSE PRAYERS FOR BRITISH KING – FAVOR IRISH REPUBLIC'. A joint Diocesan Synod in Dublin ‘pledged loyalty to Ireland'. Capt. T. McKeever said their church ‘had not recognised Partition of any sort, and they were proud of this fact', but this should not stop them from praying for the welfare of the head of ‘the Anglo Communion and of the Commonwealth … we do not ask to pray for him as the king of this part of the country, nor do we translate any of the prayers into a political petition', said Mr Maude. The members of the synod did not want to drive a wedge between the people in the two parts of the island. The archbishop said there were members of the Church of Ireland with Republican ideals. A. W. Cotton, a Dublin delegate stated, ‘we in the Church of Ireland are not under the Church of England, we were in existence before the Church of England was heard of, and we will exist probably when there is no king of England.'
[18]
Tom commented favourably on the synod's ‘loyalty to Ireland'.
[19]

While Tom Barry, Malachy Conlon and Jeremiah Lennon were in America, degrading leaflets were issued by a group of men who were described later as ‘England's agents in this [US] country'. And the question was asked, ‘Is there British money behind all this?'
[20]
The men were critical of Barry on his American tour and all the ‘groups trying to unify the race' and Irish American organisations. The leaflet stated that ‘Tom Barry, James Lennon or Malachy Conlon do not speak for or represent the Irish Republic or the Irish people. All three speak and represent corruption, hypocrisy and treachery.' They claimed that Barry and his companions travelled on British passports. However, this was refuted when the numbers and details of their Irish Republican passports were published. ‘The IRA Veterans of the Cork First, Second and Third Brigades – all soldiers of the pre-Truce period' issued a pamphlet with passport details. This had the endorsement of the veterans of the above brigades from New York, New Jersey, California, Boston and Chicago.

The veterans called the group who had issued the leaflet ‘loud-mouthed in their acts of vilification of true and tried Irish patriots, and at a time when every effort is being pushed or should be pushed for the restoration of the six northern counties and make Ireland a united and independent republic.' The pamphlet lists the 15 successful ambushes that Barry participated in, together with his leadership on barracks' attacks. ‘In addition, Barry made West Cork untenable for British law, British spies and British government. Barry's successful attack on Rosscarbery barracks cleared for him 270 square miles of territory without a British armed post. A masterly stroke of strategy and genius!'

The pamphlet gives many of his military actions during the War of Independence – feats ‘unequalled in the Black-and-Tan fight!' It lists many of Barry's other actions and asks (in bold print) ‘Where were the members of the smear-gang during the above periods?' And where were they ‘when the blood of young Irishmen was being shed on the roadsides in Ireland during the Tan war?'

The IRA veterans' pamphlet is full of bite as it lists the background and activities of the ‘smaer' group – ‘Any further attempt by British hirelings to libel or slander … will be met with all the resources at our command.'

The attitude of this protesting group was hurtful and saddened Barry greatly. However, it only helped to enhance his reputation.
[21]

The Ancient Order of Hibernians, New York apologised to Tom on behalf of all Hibernians. The action of such a group ‘to discredit' Tom's ‘unblemished character' who ‘were ashamed to put their names' to such leaflets and have them distributed ‘cannot be considered anything less than revolting to the men and women of our race at home and abroad who are today working side by side in the cause of Irish freedom.

‘Be assured … in the not too distant future when Ireland takes her place amongst the free nations of the world, Emmet's epitaph may be written by men like General Tom Barry.'
[22]

In 1951, Tom's friend Connie Neenan with Ernie O'Malley's help tried to get a film made on Barry's activities and those of his West Cork comrades in the fight for Irish freedom. Con became friendly with some movie ‘big shots', he told Tom. Jim Feeney ‘the ONLY director with guts enough to make a film, extreme action, plus the fact he has been sympathetic all down the line, brings a combination which ought to be fruitful.' Then Ernie O'Malley met John Wayne the ‘most popular of all movie actors today,' according to Neenan. It was O'Malley's hope that because ‘his rating' was ‘the highest … mostly on action pictures', plus the influence of John Ford, ‘America's greatest director', this would become a success. The Ernie O'Malley/Connie Neenan project materialised.

One day, some time later, with a twinkle in his eye, Barry said to his friend Christy Barrett, ‘Can you imagine me up there on the screen, in and out of bed with all the coleens of West Cork!' He told Christy he would not stand for that. There was enough action; such a film ‘wouldn't need that distraction.'
[23]

Barry declined an invitation to unveil a 1916 memorial in Limerick, because he felt unworthy as he had not participated in the Rising. Seán T. O'Kelly told him that ‘no man living is more worthy to unveil such a memorial than yourself. The fact that you were not out in the Easter Rising has to my mind no bearing on the question. You did much more in the cause of the independence in Ireland later on than most of those who were in 1916 ever did.' Still he declined. Leslie, who was in the GPO during the 1916 Rising, was then asked and agreed to do the honour.
[24]
Whenever the president was in Cork he sought out Barry's company. They went to festivals and exhibitions, such as an informal private visit to the Seamus Murphy exhibition at the [Cork City] library.
[25]
Barry was an avid reader, mainly non-fiction, correspondence shows he shared his views with Seán T., Connie Neenan in America and the writer and social revolutionary, Peadar O'Donnell. (A collection of his books are held in Cork City Library.) He also loved the races and enjoyed his trips to Cheltenham. It was the only time, he said, that he could look down on the queen! These trips also gave him an opportunity to visit his relatives in England.
[26]