The Dublin team of the day.
An anniversary that might pass you by….
It is very unusual for the anniversary of Bloody Sunday to fall on a Sunday. Sunday, November 21 was one of the most intense and horrific days of the Irish War of Independence.
Michael Hogan, Thomas Hogan, Jane Boyle, Joseph Traynor, Jeremiah O’Leary, Thomas Ryan, James Burke, Daniel Carroll, William Robinson, James Matthews, Michael Feery, John William Scott, James Teehan and Jeremiah O’Dowd were all gunned down at Croke Park in Dublin, while Dick McKee, Peadar Clancy and Conor Clune were killed at Dublin Castle. While Clune was not a member of the Volunteers, McKee and Clancy were leading members of IRA GHQ, and Ernie O’ Malley noted in his article Bloody Sunday how the organisation had developed owing to their leadership and influence.
“The four Dublin city battalions had a very intimate knowledge of the metropolis, its lanes, by-lanes, alleys and back yards, its enemy barracks and the habits of its opponents”
Of those killed in Croke Park, three were children. 10,14 and 11 years old.
Trade union leader William O’ Brien noted in Forth The Banners Go that intelligence efforts against republicans, trade unionists and the like intensified after Bloody Sunday. Following a raid on Liberty Hall, where copies of the Black and Tans internal The Weekly Summary were found, O’ Brien noted that those arrested at Liberty Hall were taken to Dublin Castle. “We were brought into the very room that had been occupied by McKee, Clancy and Clune and where they were killed the previous Sunday. The marks on the walls (…) were still there.”
The day had of course begun with the attacks by ‘The Squad’ of Michael Collins upon the intelligence services which attempted to combat republicans in the city. It was a calculated effort to remove the ‘Cairo Gang’ from the scene, a series of early morning raids for the most part in a small area of south Dublin.
The Irish Times of November 22 ran the below ‘Official Report’ into events at Croke Park.
“It is believed that a number of gunmen came to Dublin today under the guise of a wish to attend a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Tipperary, but that their real motive was to take part in a series of murderous outrages which took place in Dublin this morning. In this belief it was decided to make investigations at the match itself, and for this purpose a mixed party of military, R.I.C and Auxiliary Police were detailed”
Interestingly, Winston Churchill would tell a Cabinet meeting that no reprisals had taken place for the attacks upon the British intelligence machine in Dublin on the morning of Bloody Sunday. Those at Croke Park would no doubt disagree.
Today is a very important Dublin anniversary. Let us hope that in 2020, the day is marked with a game between Dublin and Tipperary perhaps. Great praise is due to John Campbell at the Croke Park Museum for marking the day so fittingly today with two walking tours of the stadium.
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Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 