The Donegal Awakening

Donegal & The War of Independence

Liam Ó Duibhir

• Publisher: Mercier Press
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781781170014
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: History

In this new book, Liam Ó Duibhir charts the struggle for independence, both militarily and politically, in Donegal from before the events of Easter 1916 until the truce in 1921.Donegal has long been seen as one of the quietest counties during the War of Independence but this reputation belies an intriguing story of how republican sentiment grew in the county. From the first mention of Sinn Féin, through the conscription crisis and the success of the 1918 elections, Ó Duibhir charts the rise of the new political leadership in Donegal and how they built their own system of justice and local government.Alongside the practical politics, he also highlights the role of the IRB and the activities of the volunteers in resisting and thwarting the British efforts to retain control and impose order. Featuring new information and a fresh look at events of the period, The Donegal Awakening offers an updated account of this crucial period.

1

The New Political Aspiration Versus
the Old

 

THE IRISH PARLIAMENTARY Party was the major political force in Ireland in the late nineteenth century and the party was the driving force behind the Home Rule movement. The party was later augmented by the reorganised Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) which operated as quasi militant support for the Irish MPs. The AOH was formed in America in response to an increase in violence against Irish emigrants who were, for the most part, Catholic. It was resurrected in the late nineteenth century by IPP MP Joe Devlin and the two organisations worked together until the election successes of Sinn Féin in 1918 led to the demise of the IPP.

The first reference to Sinn Féin in a political speech was made in June 1892 at Letterkenny, County Donegal. The speech was made by Irish MP Tim Healy during an election campaign that year. He said:

 

Now they [Parnellites] say against us that we put our hopes in the Liberal Party and that we are bound hand and foot to the Liberal Party. Now, I give you the good old watchword of old Ireland – Sinn Fain [sic] – Ourselves alone.1

 

However, in The Resurrection of Hungary, Griffith promoted the establishment of relations with Britain along the lines of the 1867 Austro-Hungarian model of dual monarchy, with a recommendation that the Irish Parliamentary Party MPs abstain from Westminster and sit in an Irish parliament. Not surprisingly, this policy met with fierce opposition from the IPP and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Griffith proposed the policy at a convention in the Rotunda, Dublin, on 28 November 1905 and the meeting endorsed the Sinn Féin policy of dual monarchy as the policy of the National Council. The National Council was established by Arthur Griffith in 1903 and was composed of separatists opposed to the visit of the British monarch The Council’s objective was to promote the merits of separation from British rule and in 1903 forced the Dublin Corporation into a climb down from their proposal to present a loyal address to the visiting king. The proposal was put to a public meeting and was narrowly defeated signalling a minor victory for National Council. However despite this Edward VII received a regal welcome in Dublin.

At the meeting of November 1905, it was emphasised that there was a need to establish Sinn Féin branches throughout the country to challenge the Irish Parliamentary Party and these branches would become the political arm of the Sinn Féin movement. A number of Donegal men were at the centre of the founding of Sinn Féin, including Seamus MacManus from Mountcharles. MacManus was actively involved in the Gaelic League and the GAA in his locality, as well as being instrumental in helping establish Sinn Féin in 1905. MacManus was the descendant of one of the leaders of the 1798 rebellion; his grandfather and great-uncle were involved in the rebellion in Armagh, with both fleeing to Donegal following the rebellion’s collapse.2 He was also a member of the National Council and was later expelled from Ireland in 1915 under the provisions of the Defence of the Realm Act, not returning to the country until May 1922.

The attraction of the Sinn Féin policy, as it came to be known, was the sheer simplicity of its logic, with Griffith viewing the 1800 Act of Union as an illegal instrument. He believed that MPs who sat in the Westminster parliament since 1800 were participating in a misdeed and were actively assisting in perpetuating a crime.3 Griffith declared that they should withdraw from the imperial parliament and together with the elected representatives of the county councils and local authorities establish a council of 300 to take over the governance of the country and pursue a policy of political and economic self-sufficiency. This same policy had won the Hungarians their independence from Austria.4

The only organised group in Donegal at the time was the Ancient Order of Hibernians. However, the AOH, nationally, was showing no desire to acknowledge the rationale of the proposals from the new wave of thinking and saw the Sinn Féin policy as a threat to its very existence. Arthur Griffith, addressing a meeting in 1907, said:

 

Our demand is for national independence. If England wants peace with Ireland, she can have it when she takes her left hand from Ireland’s throat and her right hand out of Ireland’s pocket …

 

The policy possessed a certain appeal for the members of other societies with separatist aspirations, including Cumann na nGael, the National Council, Maud Gonne’s Inghinidhe na hÉireann and the Belfast republicans who had founded the Dungannon Clubs in 1905. These organisations later merged to become Sinn Féin.5 A Sinn Féin cumann was started in Mountcharles at the beginning of January 1908, as was a Sinn Féin band around the same time. The cumann lapsed shortly afterwards and there is no further evidence of Sinn Féin activities until 1917. Other Sinn Féin branches were set up in the county at that time including Letterkenny, which was established by Michael Dawson, who would later act as a republican justice of the Sinn Féin court.

The British government’s promise of Home Rule for Ireland began to filter down to the people, and this became evident with the influx of young Catholic men into the ranks of the Royal Irish Constabulary. However, many of the new recruits would later resign in the 1920s or remain to serve as intelligence agents for the IRA.6 Moreover, the confidence that the Irish Parliamentary Party and the AOH had in the Home Rule Bill being passed and their willingness to settle for whatever Westminster would offer, had suffered a series of blows by 1914.

The first was the threat from Lord Birkenhead that there would be civil war should Ulster be removed from the United Kingdom. Birkenhead was later involved in the prosecution of Roger Casement in 1916 in his role as attorney general. Then there was the establishment of a unionist resistance movement called the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in January 1913. By April 1914 the UVF had landed arms at Larne, Bangor and Donaghadee. The RIC ignored the landing and some even assisted the gunrunners.

The UVF declared that it was prepared to oppose Home Rule by whatever means. All of this effectively meant that any Home Rule act would certainly have a partition element to it. This action was the catalyst for returning the gun to Irish politics, something that remained as a dominant feature for over ninety years.

2

THE OBSTACLES TO REVOLUTION

ESTABLISHING AND DEVELOPING a fighting force in Donegal was going to prove difficult for a number of reasons, namely the geography of the county, the Royal Irish Constabulary and the large unionist population.

The first problem was the geography; the most northerly county in Ireland, Donegal is surrounded by the sea to the north, west and south-west and the remainder borders counties Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Sligo. The terrain is rugged and mountainous. To the north is Slieve Snaght, the dominant mountain in Inishowen, while the west features the Derryveagh mountains, Errigal, Muckish and Bloody Foreland on the coast. In south Donegal can be found Barnes Mór Gap, the Cliffs of Glencolmcille, the Blue Stacks and Slieve League. The Inishowen and Fanad peninsulas are separated by the Atlantic ocean, which enters Lough Swilly at this point at a stretch of river known as the Lake of Shadows. Although picturesque and captivating, this terrain proved difficult for communications and travel, thus adding to the difficulties of proper organisation.

The second problem was the Royal Irish Constabulary, established in 1836 and made up of recruits from the cadet system, which initially attracted recruits from wealthy Tory backgrounds in England and anti-nationalists in Ireland. From the outset the organisation was a military force, with each member equipped with rifle, bayonet and revolver and trained to act as part of a quasi-army force. This extract from the RIC drill book shows that the force was really just an offshoot of the British army:

The object of the recruit’s course of training at the ‘Depot’ is to fit men for their general duties in the Force. For this purpose the recruits must be developed by physical exercises, and be trained in squad drill and firing exercises, in the estimation of ranges and in skirmishing. Squad drill should be intermixed with instruction in the handling of the carbine, and with physical training and close order drill with skirmishing … It will be explained to the recruits that:

(i) Fire is only effective when the mark can be seen, and when it is steadily delivered.

(ii) It is useless to fire merely for the sake of firing, when no opponents are visible and their position is unknown.

(iii) Engagements are won mainly by the accurate fire of individuals at decisive range. Long range ...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The New Political Aspiration Versus the Old
• Chapter 2: The Obstacles to Revolution
• Chapter 3: Home Rule Suspension and the Birth of the Irish Volunteers
• Chapter 4: 1916 – Leaders in County Donegal
• Chapter 5: Organising the IRB in Donegal
• Chapter 6: Donegal and 1916
• Chapter 7: 1917 - Developing the Military and Political Organisations
• Chapter 8: 1918 - Sowing the Seeds of Revolution
• Chapter 9: 1919 – Government and War
• Chapter 10: Donegal Engages with the Enemy – December 1919
• Chapter 11: 1920 – The Guerrilla Soldiers and the Donegal Gun-runner
• Chapter 12: 1921 – The Donegal Flying Column
• Conclusion
• Appendixes
• Notes
• References
• About The Author
• About The Publisher
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