21st November, 1920: Ireland's Bloody Sunday

Today is the anniversary of the so-called "Bloody Sunday" of 1920. It was a gruesome day in the middle of the Irish War of Independence, or the Anglo-Irish War, depending on one's terminology, in which thirty-one people lost their lives in a cycle of increasingly-unhinged violence. It was neither the first time, nor the last time, that such a thing would occur.

Since the end of the First World War, just over two years earlier, Ireland had slid inexorably into violence. Like most of Ireland's historical violence, it was presented as a conflict between two rival nations - Ireland and Britain - when, in fact, it bore all the hallmarks of a civil war. The failure of the republican Easter Rising of 1916 and the British administration's lethally incompetent, and cruel, repression of it had radicalised Irish nationalism and pushed many into the arms of the republican paramilitary movements. In the northern province of Ulster, Protestant hysteria at the proposed implementation of Home Rule for Ireland had led to widespread sectarian violence, particularly in rural areas, and there was little doubt in the British government's mind that any attempt to force the northern-most six counties to participate in any form of all-island independence would result in unparalleled civil unrest - if not a bloodbath. 

In the south, the who's who and the what's left of the Irish aristocracy, known as the Ascendancy, were quietly preparing themselves for the liquidation of their way of life and the whole island suffered through attacks and counter-attacks. In Dublin, the British-born and Ascendancy-related Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord French, was struggling to hold on to power through increasingly desperate measures, all the while being undermined by the hunger strike-suicides of republican prisoners, republican-led spy-rings inside Dublin Castle, various attempts on his life and assassinations of numerous politicians, military service personnel and policemen. The main party of Irish republicanism, Sinn Féin, had been outlawed; many of its leaders were in jail. In retaliation, republicanism's military wings, like the IRA and the Volunteers, had carried out numerous night-time attacks. In Sligo, Mayo and Clare, the homes of the local aristocracy were torched to the ground, leading some of the Ascendancy to characterise the republican movement as the second coming of the French Revolution. The Volunteers' newspaper, An t Óglach, had declared that its supporters should used "all legitimate methods of warfare against the soldiers and policemen of the English usurper" and "slay them if necessary". The behaviour of a supplementary force of British ex-soliders, known as the Auxiliaries or "the Black and Tans," because of the colour of their uniforms, was borderline psychotic and capriciously cruel. Earlier in the year, they had burned the entire southern city of Cork to the ground, reminding many Irish nationalists of the dark legends of Oliver Cromwell and the inherent cruelty of the British.

It was in this environment of death, civil war, repression and reprisal, that Bloody Sunday took place.

The King leads Norway's mourning

His Majesty King Harald V has lead mourners at the Lutheran Mass celebrated in Oslo Cathedral to mark the tragic deaths of ninety-seven Norwegians, in twin terror attacks carried out yesterday by a Christian fundamentalist, Anders Behring Breivik (32). The service was also attended by the Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, whose political party was allegedly one of the main targets of the attacks.

Under questioning by Oslo police, Breivik, whose political views are described as far to the right, claimed that his decision to open fire on the island summer scheme youth gathering of Norway's largest left-wing group, the ruling Labour Party, was "cruel but necessary." He also claimed to have been planning to carry out the atrocity since at least 2009.

Many foreign leaders, including the Pope, the Prime Minister of Israel, the President of the United States and many others, have personally communicated with the King of Norway to express their shock and horror at these awful and horrifying events. From London, Her Majesty The Queen expressed her grief at the attacks by publicly writing to King Harald, saying, "I am deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic loss of life of so many people on the island of Utoeya and in Oslo. Prince Philip joins me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to Your Majesty and the people of Norway. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this dreadful atrocity."

Yahoo News has more.

"Choose Goodness": Reflections on the murder of Constable Kerr

The recent murder of Catholic policeman, Ronan Kerr, has sparked revulsion across Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic. Across Ulster, protests and marches were held by the people to show their overwhelming rejection of the dissident IRA's murder of Constable Kerr, by a car bomb last Saturday. They have been known as "peace marches."

Speaking at Constable Kerr's (25) funeral at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Beragh, County Tyrone, His Eminence Cardinal Brady, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland, give the Catholic Church's unequivocal condemnation of the killing: -

"Parents and grandparents, I beg you: plead with your children and with your grandchildren not to get involved with violence. Never let them be deceived by those who say that Ireland will be united or the Union made more secure by war. They are wrong. It is an illusion. Violence has nothing, absolutely nothing, to offer except misery and destruction."

He called the dissident republicans' killing "an offence against God," and implored them, in God's name, "to choose goodness, choose peace." As a sign of how far the nation has come in the last decade, members of Constable Kerr's local Gaelic Atheltic Association (GAA) carried the coffin half the way to the cemetery, before yielding to officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI.) One was once a byword for Irish republican sentiment; the other once seen as the incarnation of official Unionism in Northern Ireland. Now, they helped carry the body of the same person to Saint Patrick's Cemetry. Amongst those carrying the coffin from the GAA was local sporting legend and manager of the Tyrone GAA, Mickey Harte, who only a few months ago tragically lost his only daughter, Irish beauty queen and newlywed Michaela, when she was murdered by robbers on her honeymoon in Mauritius. Tyrone is burying two young people in a short period of time; both senselessly and needlessly murdered.

The funerals of Michaela McAreavy (seen right with her father  on the day of her wedding) and Constable Ronan Kerr were attended by all members of the community and leaders of both "sides" in scenes unimaginable only a few years ago. The current First Minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson, leader of the strongly Unionist and right wing D.U.P (Democratic Unionist Party), sat near the prime minister of the Irish Republic, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, whilst the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Norman Hamilton, exchanged kind words with Cardinal Brady after the Requiem Mass. Former loyalist paramilitary, Jackie McDonald, attended, along with the leaders of Sinn Fein, Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams. The world has changed.

After Constable Kerr's death, his mother, two brothers and sisters made an appeal for information and to encourage Catholics who have joined the police force not to be intimidated by the dissident IRA's threats to punish them for being "collaborators" with the British. Mrs. Kerr speaks with dignity, despite the tormented grief you can see in the faces of her children. And I think I would speak for the vast majority of my countrymen when I say that prayers for Mrs. Kerr, her surviving children and, of course, for Ronan, would be very much appreciated. RTE and The Daily Telegraph's coverage of the funeral can be seen below.

In Memoriam: Police Constable Ronan Kerr

“We have lost one of our brave and courageous police recruits, someone who joined this fine service simply to do good, joined to serve the community impartially and to be someone I describe as a modern-day hero.” - Chief Constable Matt Baggott, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland

A car bomb planted by the Continuity I.R.A. has claimed the life of a 25 year-old police constable in the town of Omagh, in western Northern Ireland. Constable Ronan Kerr was on his way to work on Saturday morning when a bomb planted beneath his car detonated, taking away a young life of a man devoted to serving his community and wakening the town of Omagh to sounds they are all too familiar with. It was by car bombs, the I.R.A's most deadly, feared and frequent style of attack, that the town had become the victim of the last major atrocity of the Northern Irish Troubles, in which the I.R.A. had murdered twenty-nine people by detonating it at three o'clock on the afternoon in a busy shopping area on a weekend. For those not killed, as the bomb tore through the streets, limbs were taken off, windows and doors hurled out into the street and a woman pregnant with twins, two Spanish tourists, visitors from the Irish Republic, Protestants, Catholics, a Morman and five teenagers lay dead on the ground. In the name of Irish freedom. I wonder if any of the Catholics and nationalists lying dead on the ground or screaming with their Protestant neighbours amidst broken shards of glass and blood seeping across the streets of Omagh had been asked if they wanted this "sacrifice" inflicted upon them? Probably not. They had never been asked by the I.R.A. before. Just as Protestants had never asked if they were prepared to endure the treatment of the L.V.F. or U..F.F.

Then, yesterday, Omagh was hit again and this morning at Christ the King Church where Constable Kerr, a practising Catholic had been a practitioner, the parish priest, Father Kevin McElhennon spoke to a stunned congregation. He spoke of the Church's "absolute and clear condemnation of yesterday's murder" and of "the misguided, blind, morally wrong and sinful ideology of those who planned, executed and supported the brutal murder of young Ronan."

Father McElhennon is right; this is not the 1970s anymore. The world has changed; the country certainly has. For many, if not most, in Northern Ireland, stories like this belong to another world. A world they thought had vanished and belonged to their parents' generation or even their grandparents'. I hope, in the most part, we are right. I think we are. The condemnation from everyone, even from the republican Left, Sinn Fein, has been encouraging. The failure of this policy, historically, is also evident to anyone with a knowledge of Ireland's past. Thirty years of bombs and violence did not bring about a united Ireland. Indeed, if anything, they seemed only to galvanise both moderate and extreme Unionist sentiment against any form of compromise. Now, today, mercifully, we do have a compromise of sorts. There is a full and equal electorate and an impartial police system, which Constable Kerr had become a member of, only a few months ago. There has not been one bit of support for what the Real or Continuity I.R.A did yesterday. Indeed, it has been the Catholic community in this country which has spoken out most vocally against the killing. For the killers, Constable Kerr was not a human being; he was a target who had "collaborated" with the occupying British imperialist forces. Few think that way anymore. Many would still like to see Ireland be unified under one republican government in Dublin. They are more than entitled to do so. But the way to convince people of the benefits of remaining in the Union with Britain or of going into a union with Ireland is not this way. It is not through bombs, or fear, or violence. If you have to resort to that in 2011, there is something very wrong with the message. If people cannot be persuaded of the justice and truth of your cause without being frightened by car bombs and stealthily murders, then it is the cause which is defective, not the people. The Chief Constable was right; the man who died was a hero serving his community. And the people of Northern Ireland are a lot stronger than the car bombers give them credit for. 

The Belfast Telegraph's article on the killing can be read here. 

The Facebook group honouring Constable Kerr can be viewed or joined here.

January 21st, 1793: The Execution of King Louis XVI

Anyone who saw Louis XVI, the deposed King of France and Navarre, in the final year of his life would have been struck by how little the imprisoned monarch now resembled the trim and faintly handsome crown prince who had won the praise of the visiting Duchess of Northumberland two decades earlier. Years of over-eating and over-drinking had swollen his always large, but once impressive, body; two or three years of effective house arrest had only exacerbated the problem. An unhealthy attitude towards food had long run in the French Royal Family, which in every generation since the sixteenth century seemed to have produced at least one person who would now be classed either as an anorexic or a bulimic or one with a tendency to "comfort eat". It had been the great crisis of the monarchy in 1789, in the months directly leading to the fall of the Bastille, which had broken King Louis's once unassailable work ethic and optimism in his country's future. The death of his eldest son, Louis-Joseph, at the age of seven in that same summer had pushed the king into a breakdown, which, today, would be recognised as clinical depression. At the time, horrified members of the King's family and entourage simply watched on as their sovereign ploughed his way through family-sized meals and demolished glass after glass of burgundy and his favourite port. His wife, Marie-Antoinette, who ate sparingly and never drank alcohol, only highlighted their worried observations, since when compared to the queen, the king seemed to behaving like both a glutton and a sporadically functioning alcoholic.