Dan Breen and the IRA Read Online Free PDF

left in charge, the P.P. of Knockavilla was not at all satisfied that it was proper to have this young lady in charge of the house with a crowd of young men, some of whom he did not know, in particular Robinson. I am sure Robinson must have been amused at the time over this, because certainly no more proper man could be found than the same Robinson.’
    Conditionally released in November 1917, O’Duibhir made a moderate but threatening speech in front of a crowd of 200 people who met him at the railway station when he got home to Tipperary. He said that their collective idea was to make British rule in Ireland impossible and that he believed they would achieve this without firing a shot. If necessary, he went on, they would adopt active resistance.
    This notion that the Volunteers could put ‘impossible pressure’ on the British without resorting to actual violence was shared by other Volunteer leaders such as Cathal Brugha.
    A few weeks later, the RIC recorded a more bellicose O’Duibhir in front of ninety people: ‘That the Volunteers policy today was the same as that for which the Manchester Martyrs died – complete separation from England – that the young men should train and make themselves efficient and ready to act their part when the time came. As surely it would come, as the men of Easter Week did. That no one should be afraid to die as there was nothing about it to be afraid of. That it was far easier to die on the battlefield than on the scaffold or in prison. That at the present time there was a great movement afoot to secure the independence of Ireland by “passive resistance” which was all very well in its way. But it was necessary that this movement should have the support of rifles and machine guns. That they had them already and were still getting them. That at the present time the only enemy they had was England … that they should take no notice of the laws i.e. the laws of a political character dealing with drilling and such like. They should not mind the police as no one was afraid of the police now … that they should ignore the law courts and set up their own arbitration tribunals … that the police if they were sensible men should now throw in their lot with their fellow countrymen in their struggle for freedom and not be on the side of the enemies of their country as heretofore.’
    Patrick Ryan provided an account of O’Duibhir and Robinson’s rifle-gathering techniques: ‘This soldier got off the train at Goold’s Cross on furlough … We got in touch with Séamus Robinson who was in Kilshenane with Eamon O’Duibhir and I located this soldier. Eamon O’Duibhir was at home from gaol, so the two O’Keefes and I went with three lads from Knockaville to Kilshenane and they wanted to put disguises on their faces … Eamon O’Duibhir was inclined to tell them that it was too dangerous. Séamus Robinson went with us. We had a sort of an old .32 and one round of ammunition. Con Keefe had another gun and he had a strange round of ammunition. Séamus Robinson had a .22 Smith and Wesson automatic. This soldier home on furlough got married and he was more or less on his honeymoon in a house. They were all gone to bed. I went to one room. There were four huge bloody men in two beds. I took a squint but I couldn’t see any sign of a rifle but I heard Con’s voice … Con had it. I handled the rifle and the fellows in the room were made very aggressive by this. I told these fellows that I’d have to blow out their brains. I said we were soldiers of the Irish Republic doing our duty … Séamus was delighted with the gun and we came out onto the road. Séamus Robinson fired the rifle and when he had the gun in his hand I thought it would make an awful report to frighten them, but all it did was to make a ping.’
    Another of the 1916 survivors, who’d once been a Donohill Gaelic League