Tom Barry

by Meda Ryan

  Barry’s anger is evident in his response. In early June (out on parole) he sent a letter to all the Irish newspapers. In it he described Mr Aiken’s remarks as of ‘the meanest kind as he merely suggests to his audience, without definitely stating so, that I was guilty of some dishonourable conduct during the “Civil” War. I demand that Mr Aiken should give details or else publicly withdraw his malicious innuendo.

  ‘Clearly, he attempts to convey to the public that (a) I did not fight in the Civil War … I leave judgement on that issue as to whether I fought or not to the Volunteers who were on active service with me in Cork, Tipperary and other parts of Ireland during the “Civil War”. “The Old IRA” of Cork city and county, many of them supporters of Mr Aiken’s party have already refuted Mr Aiken’s allegations … I challenge Mr Aiken to give the name of the person or persons with whom I negotiated or attempted to negotiate [peace]. Should he fail to do so, I demand the public withdrawal of his statement.’ Barry elaborates his involvement ‘as courier’ for intermediary Fr Duggan in February 1923 ‘of copies of certain proposals addressed to individual members of the army executive, including Mr Aiken and myself,’ which were ultimately rejected. Then ‘further proposals’ of March led to the ‘Cease Fire and Dump Arms Orders’. Barry elucidates in detail the plight of men in jails at that time ‘awaiting murder having already been notified.’ Furthermore, ‘I must stress here the fact that my election’ to the executive and army council ‘in the “last” week of the Civil War was unanimous and that Mr Aiken actually supported it.

  ‘I deeply regret I am forced into a public controversy over matters which have hitherto been regarded as confidential. I have no intention of emulating Mr Aiken’s descent to false innuendoes.’ The records of the period should help establish ‘our respective opinions’, he wrote. ‘I resigned from the army executive owing to the adoption by the majority of that body of a policy which permitted the general hunger-strike … Mr Aiken was strongest in the appeals to me to reconsider my decision. Mr Aiken’s attack now (12 years afterwards) does not arise out of the Civil War period, but out of present day circumstances.’[54]In his statement Barry stresses that he ‘has publicly told younger volunteers that ‘two phases’ of the war have been fought; ‘they will experience defeat’ again but they should not give up until ‘the connection’ with England is broken. (This latter part was only, it appears, published in the Cork Examiner.)[55]

  Frank Aiken said he had ‘no intention of referring to Mr Barry in Dundalk. The remark I made was only drawn from me after long provocation.’ In referring again to Barry’s ‘personal peace offer’ and his ‘unauthorised activities’ Aiken said that Barry ‘was not satisfied’ with the Cease Fire and Dump Arms because he also wanted the arms ‘destroyed’. He turned Barry’s words and actions around, saying that it was he who ‘forced’ Barry to resign as Barry ‘would not give an undertaking not to decide for himself when to make war and peace.’ While he ‘never disputed the fact that he fought courageously in the Black and Tan and Civil Wars’ he was asking ‘why he postponed resumption of military activities until Fianna Fáil became the government.’[56]

  Whether it was to appease Tom Barry or to dampen the military enthusiasm of the young IRA men, his parole from the Curragh was extended for a further week.[57]

  Barry in a letter to all the Irish dailies (7 June) wrote, ‘I wish to protest at the fact that you did not publish my reply to Mr Aiken in full ...I must ask that in ordinary fairness this letter will not be censored by you for publication.’ In the letter he states that Mr Aiken ‘has extended his attack on me … I emphatically deny the charges which Mr Aiken makes against me in his letter today. There is but one satisfactory way of dealing with Mr Aiken’s charges … that is, that a committee of inquiry be set up to investigate all allegations, to receive evidence and publish their findings together with the evidence. I now propose this procedure to Mr Aiken and I am willing to submit to the judgement of the inquiry. There will be no difficulty in getting three or five impartial men who served as officers in the army at that period.’

  He sets out a list with which ‘the committee’ should deal. Among them the fact that ‘Mr Aiken joined the Provisional F/S forces in 1922,’ drew his pay from the army, up to the Four Courts’ attack, returned to Dundalk, became ‘neutral’ was arrested, escaped and avoided ‘the scene’ of ‘fighting’ during the Civil War ‘except on one occasion’. That ‘he travelled to executive meetings unarmed and thus helped to demoralise the Volunteers who expected a leader to be armed … his wobbling attitudes, indecisions and refusal to take part in armed operations, was mainly responsible for Republican defeat at that time.’[58]

  Frank Aiken responded and gave his own record of his actions and again challenged Tom Barry on his record. He asks if Barry, who wanted the destruction of arms in 1923, waited to renew ‘his military activities after Fianna Fáil became government, now advocates re-arming and preparation for another civil war.’ Aiken wrote that he, himself, was against the army convention in March 1922, and ‘stood against the destruction of arms while the oath remained.’[59]‘I will have no further dealings with Tom Barry’, Aiken declared.[60]

  Barry in his response expressed his disappointment with Aiken for refusing his offer of ‘an impartial committee’ to referee charges that he refuses ‘to substantiate’. Barry mentions Col David Reynolds, ‘Free State GOC of Cork on February 1923’ and other officers who could prove that ‘at no time’ did he ‘make an offer of peace to the Free State forces.’ He castigates Aiken for incorrectly and ‘indecently’ using ‘the honoured name’ of Liam Lynch to ‘bolster up his attack on me.’ Barry writes that, ‘he was conscious of saving the remnants of the army’ and ‘saving the lives of the men awaiting execution’, as this dictated his priority and the stance he had taken at the time. But now, because ‘Mr Aiken so vilely attacked me’, he wrote, ‘I had no option but to take up the charges’, and he asked him either to withdraw ‘or prove his charges’.[61]

  Tom Crofts, army executive officer, in a letter to the Irish dailies stated that in February 1923, 36 men ‘in Cork gaol were sentenced to death and awaiting execution.’ A number of Cork and Kerry officers including Tom Barry and himself met a deputation sent out by ‘fellow prisoners’. Fr Duggan ‘interviewed the GOC Cork command, with a view to preventing these executions, but he (Fr Duggan) assures me he was not authorised by either Tom Barry or any other officers to make a peace offer on their behalf.’[62]

  Three IRA – James Donovan, Seán Coughlan, Seán MacSwiney – wrote to the daily newspapers contradicting Aiken’s statement of Barry’s military inactivity ‘until the advent’ of the Fianna Fáil government:

  We the undersigned, who were officers on the staff of Cork 1 Brigade, Irish Republican army, during that period, record the fact that Mr Barry was attached to this brigade from the time of his return to Cork in 1927, and further that he carried out all duties assigned to him during that time.[63]

  Nobody appears to have come to Mr Aiken’s rescue. The correspondence closed when a New York Club sent a ‘unanimously adopted’ resolution ‘with regard to Frank Aiken’s comment of Tom Barry’s record.’

  We the Liam Lynch IRA, Club of New York City, representing the exiled members of the five Cork brigades, challenge Frank Aiken or any of his followers to match records with Tom Barry during the fight for Irish freedom.[64]

  In June 1935, when Barry was fighting to keep IRA men out of jail and trying to defend his name, there were serious incursions upon working class Nationalist areas in Belfast, and July became an ‘orgy of murder, arson, looting, assaults and sniping in which 13 died.’[65]Throughout July, riots continued, with mainly Catholics being killed, many severely wounded; ‘over 2,000 were driven from their homes’ and large numbers ‘were forced from their workplaces’. Though 12 IRA were arrested there ‘was ample opportunity’ for its members ‘to wage a sectarian war’ and as previously ‘it refused to do so. Protestants were not shot at or bombed after th
e rioting had ceased, while Catholics were.’[66]When Nationalist party candidates were contesting seats in November in Northern Ireland British election, Tom Barry spoke in Belfast to ‘an estimated 10,000 strong’ and warned of ‘an approaching war’ when the British administration would conscript nationalists. In such a scenario of being ‘tramped down by armed force, the only way to defeat that slavery is with a gun in your hand’, he warned.[67]

  Barry set out for England to see his friend Jack Doheny Lynch who was OC of the Republican forces in Britain. ‘He stayed with me for a week, and it was a great week. We went to Manchester, our headquarters, doing all our travelling at night because it was cheaper and safer. Other places visited were Scotland, Birmingham, Liverpool, London and all over Coventry. Barry had a great sense of humour; we had a few good laughs. I can tell you he took a few chances.’

  Barry took Jack Doheny with him to visit his parents in Liverpool. They got a ‘grand tea – lamb chops and brown bread, and a grand welcome’. Sitting around the table afterwards, they were having a wide-ranging chat with Tom’s mother and father when a family member rushed in shouting, ‘There’s a police car outside!’ The two dived for the back door, cleared the wall and made their escape. That night they moved quickly to the country where they stayed for a few days. Then Barry, well used to slipping through loopholes, hid in a cargo boat and returned to Ireland.[68]

  Barry wanted Ireland for the Irish; at least he wanted to see them getting a share in the work that was available. To this end his next target was the Freemasons in Cork, owners of large businesses known to employ only those of their own persuasion, despite consistent requests by influential people to broaden their employee personnel. ‘You could never get one step up the ladder while they were at the foot of it,’ he said.

  On the night of 25 January 1936 the masons were having a party in the Masonic Hall in Tuckey Street, all happily sitting around their tables, when Barry with a select group of men burst in, smashing the plates, cups and furniture and gave them an ultimatum. ‘The incident had the desired effect; they became friendly and employed Catholics after that. Barry was a dangerous man to have on their backs’, Jerh Cronin recalled.[69]

  Barry lived at this time in Belgrave Place, Cork and on several occasions the house was raided, but the police failed to find him. Den Carey tells of a night when Barry was staying out in College Road and decided he’d like to go to Counihan’s pub as he was to go to Dublin the next morning for an operation for a stomach ulcer. He then insisted on going home. Seán Mitchel and Den Carey were with him.

  ‘Leslie wasn’t home. We knew where the key was, so we went in, and as I was about to close the door, two detectives stood in front of us. They looked at us, hesitated and walked away. I’m sure they were afraid when they saw the three of us.’

  Instantly the three made their getaway. Den Carey took Barry to Jim Grey in Cobh who was to drive him to Dublin. But before he left Tom insisted on buying a bottle of whiskey, and apparently he drank so much of it that he didn’t need the anaesthetic while being operated on! Though he seldom drank during a period of action and was prepared to face any enemy, he had an utter dread of hospitals and operations. However, his recovery didn’t take too long – he joked that the whiskey before the operation aided the healing process.[70]

  Notes

  [1]Jennie Wyse Power to Sighle Humphreys, 7 February 1922, SH Papers, P106/ 743, UCDA.

  [2]Draft Agenda for Convention. MT Papers P69/46, UCDA.

  [3]Ibid.

  [4]Army council to Fianna Fáil, 28 April, 1927, MT Papers, P69/48 (34), UCDA.

  [5]Army council to E. de Valera, 17/5/1927, MT Papers, P69/48 (128), UCDA.

  [6]Army council to E. de Valera 1/5/1927, P69/48 (30) MT Papers, UCDA.

  [7]Correspondence between P69/48 (29) (30) (31) (32), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [8]Danny Canty, author interview 7/12/1974.

  [9]Pat Buttimer, author interview 18/10/1980; Criostóir de Baróid, author interview 11/1/1981; Cork Examiner, January 1931.

  [10]John O’Donovan, author interview 28/10/1976.

  [11]Dan Cahalane, author interview 25/8/1980. This was Pat O’Donovan’s house; he had fought in the Kilmichael ambush. Many of Barry’s Column and Third Cork Brigade men were there.

  [12]Seán Cronin, Frank Ryan – The Search for the Republic, p. 44.

  [13]See Maurice Manning, The Blueshirts, pp. 17–27.

  [14]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 13 May 1932, MT Papers, P69/52 (63) & (64), UCDA.

  [15]Correspondance between Tom Barry and Moss Twomey, MT Papers, P69/52 (62) & P69/52 (58) – May, June, July 1932, UCDA.

  [16]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 13 May 1932, P69/52 (63), (64), Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 3 June, 1932 and 11 July, 1932, P69/52 (60) & (61), UCDA; Moss Twomey to Tom Barry, 6 June 1932, P69/52 (59); Report P69/52 (45), MT Papers, UCDA. Barry had resigned his executive position.

  [17]Moss T., C/S to O/C Cork No. 1 Brigade, meeting with Fianna Fáil, 19 July 1932, MT Papers, P69/52 (54) (55) (56) (57), UCDA.

  [18]Long confidential report – 15, 16, 17 July 1932, MT Papers, P69/52 (55), (56), (57), UCDA.

  [19]C/S to Tom Barry 19 July 1932, MT Papers, P69/52 (53), UCDA.

  [20]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey C/S, (handwritten) 20 July 1932, P69/52 (48) & (49) & (50) & (51) & (52), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [21]The Sunday Express, 24 July, 1932.

  [22]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 25 July 1932, MT Papers, P69/52 (47), UCDA.

  [23]Memo August 1932, P69/53 (374), MT Papers, UDCA.

  [24]Barry in a letter to Moss Twomey, ‘I would have been at the station to see you off only I had to get back to work.’ 28/11/1932, P69/54 (53) (54), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [25]Letter to Seán Martin – sender not given, 6/12/1932, P69/54 (52), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [26]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 28/11/32, MT Papers, P69/54 (53) (54), UCDA.

  [27]Report on general army convention, 17, 18, 19 March 1933, MT Papers, P69/ 187 (90) – (118), UCDA.

  [28]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 23/3/1933, (handwritten) MT Papers, 69/53 (259), (260), (261), (262), UCDA.

  [29]Moss Twomey to Tom Barry, 27/3/1933, MT Papers, P69/53 (257), UCDA.

  [30]Tom Barry handwritten note, 27/3/1933, P69/53 (258), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [31]Tom Barry to C/S, 3/4/1933, MT Papers, 69/53 (212), UCDA.

  [32]Tom Barry to Moss Twomey, 10/4/1933, P69/53 (161), P69/51 (33), (34), (35), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [33]Tom Barry to C/S, 10/4/1933, 69/53 (161), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [34]Moss Twomey to Joe McGarrity, 26 October 1933, Joe McGarrity Papers, MS 17,490, NLI.

  [35]Tom Barry 16/5/1933, MT Papers, P69/53 (8), UCDA.

  [36]C/S to O/C, West Cork, 23 May 1933, P69/53 (2) MT Papers, UCDA.

  [37]Tom Barry to C/S, 8/5/1933, P69/53(9), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [38]Barry, O/C West Cork to C/S, 19/5/1933, P69/53 (6), O/C West Cork to C/S, 18/5/1933, P69/53 (7); unsigned letter to C/S, 20/5/1933, P69/53 (3), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [39]Tom Barry, memo, n.d., P69/53 (327), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [40]‘Programme for Training Camp’, his is a detailed document under headings, and though it does not have Barry’s name or signature attached, it has all the hallmarks of his work structure, and even spelling such as, ‘picquets’, and corresponds with his views in a document in his papers, P69/51 (33) (34) (35), MT Papers, UCDA.

  [41]Minutes of army convention, 17,18,19 March 1933, MT Papers, P69/187 (86 – 118), UCDA. I am indebted to Michael MacEvilly for this reference; see forthcoming publication, Michael MacEvilly, Andy Cooney.

  [42]Minutes of convention, March 1933, MT Papers, P69/187 (86–118), UCDA; see also Keogh, Twentieth, pp. 81–87; For details on tensions between the IRA and the Catholic Church, see Brian Hanley, The IRA 1926–1936, pp. 63–70.

  [43]Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA, p. 103.

  [44]Tom Kelleher, author interview 9/4/1979; Jerh Cronin, author interview 10/1/ 1981.

  [45]Jim Kearney, author interview 18/10/1980; Speakers were O�
�Duffy, MacDermot, Dillon and Blythe; see also MacEoin, The IRA, p. 257.

  [46]Kathy Hayes, author interview 19/10/1980.

  [47]Jack Doheny Lynch, author interview 10/1/1981.

  [48]Handwritten notebook record of March 1934, IRA Convention, P67/525, Seán MacEntee Papers, UCDA.

  [49]Frank Edwards in MacEoin, Survivors, p. 11.

  [50]Tom to Leslie, 12.20 p.m. (exact, as always) 24 April 1935, TB private papers.

  [51] J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army, pp. 149–151, Uinseann MacEoin, The IRA In The Twilight Years, p. 12; Tom to Leslie, 24 April 1935, TB private papers.

  [52]Frank Aiken Papers, P104/1285 (2), UCDA.

  [53]Cork Examiner, 14 May 1935; Irish Press, 14 May 1935; Irish Independent, 14 May 1935.

  [54]Cork Examiner, Irish Press, Irish Independent, 3 June 1935; Frank Aiken Papers, P104/1283 (4), (5), (6), UCDA.

  [55]Cork Examiner, 3 June 1935.