Tom Barry

by Meda Ryan

  In a letter to the Irish Press two Kerry writers jointly questioned Tom Barry’s statement that in 1921 members of the inner cabinet were not members of the I.R.B. Barry in his response wrote: ‘none of those mentioned attended a meeting of the I.R.B. from 1919 to the date of their death … Both Brugha and Stack believed with President de Valera that once the elected parliament of the Republic was set up, the need for the I.R.B. lapsed and that all activities of militant young Ireland should be handled and controlled through the Irish Republican army … No one who has read my views on De Valera and Brugha can have any doubt of my opinion that membership of the I.R.B. was not an essential for a believer of a fighting policy.’[8]Barry wrote to Robert Barton who clarified the issue for him. ‘I can safely state that Dev. and Cathal Brugha left after 1916, probably on account of the then spirit.’ Barton believed that Stack remained a member ‘until after the general election of 1918 when his position as minister clashed. About Dev’s membership I can vouch for as MacDonagh [executed 1916] mentioned it to me in Holy Week 1916. Collins approached me in 1917 to speak to Dev on the matter but Dev refused to rejoin.’[9]

  Brugha had discussed the position with Eamonn Dore (friend of Seán MacDermott executed 1916) and Eamon Price (Leslie’s brother) ‘late in 1917’ or the ‘beginning of 1918.’ So Dore knew that there was ‘more to his [Brugha’s] bitter campaign against the organisation’ than ‘the secret movement’ policy. Believing the IRB ‘had got into wrong hands and was moving that way’, Brugha told Dore he would engage in a ‘crusade’ against it. Despite Dore’s appeal he did not relent. Dore was ‘convinced from the whole discussion that the rift between himself and Collins had started almost from their first meeting and that the “crusade” was a natural outcome.’[10]

  Laurence McVerry wrote to the Irish Press, of ‘the stirring episodes of immortal value. Ireland will long remember the Commandant General, firstly for the noble part he played in this epic struggle, secondly for the meticulous care he took in compiling the true facts about Ireland’s gallant sons and daughters in their dealings with the enemy, and lastly for revealing to the world the shameful and cowardly action of the British government on this blessed land of ours … May the memory of the “Guerilla Days in Ireland” never grow old, and may God grant that the “Boys that licked the Black and Tans” will not have died in vain.’[11]

  In June 1948, the Corrigan Park Reconstruction committee in Belfast invited Barry to perform the opening ceremony of ‘Outdoor Week’.[12]Barry, ‘proud to accept the invitation’ pointed out that his ‘position in the six counties under British Rule’ was ‘not very secure’. He could be: (a) Stopped at the border and ‘served with an Exclusion Order’; (b) ‘Arrested for some previous speech within British held counties’; (c) ‘Arrested immediately after performing ceremony’, consequently he made suggestions as to how he would travel. He would not stay ‘in a public hotel’ but in a private residence and leave immediately afterwards. He said there were those who tried many times ‘to get’ him and ‘may now wish to finish the job.’[13]Before travelling he asked if the committee had ‘any objection to my dealing with Partition’, and ‘any objection to my speaking as strongly as I feel on this matter.’ He suggested that if he was ‘arrested before the ceremony’ his address could be ‘read by somebody else.’[14]

  Later in the month Tom, on behalf of the divisional staff of ‘the twenty-three Battalions which existed in Cork City and County on the date of the Truce with the British’, invited President of Ireland, Seán T. O’Kelly to attend a dinner to be organised in his honour.[15]

  The president replied that ‘he would be disposed to give the most sympathetic consideration to the proposal if he could be assured’ that the invitation had ‘full knowledge of all the former Officers of the units mentioned’. Neither should the occasion be ‘of a party or sectional character’ due to the obligation of the ‘President’s position’.[16]In his response Barry wrote that ‘of the 40 persons who might participate, 35 fought with the Republican forces in the Civil War, three against while two remained neutral … Because of this it is now felt that the inviting body might be considered as one with a very definite political tinge although indeed no such gathering was ever intended.’ Barry appreciated ‘the special position of the President’ and decided that the invitation should be postponed ‘to some later date’. He assured him that the intention was only to honour him ‘in his official capacity and to express our regard … for his life long services to our Nation.’[17]

  On 3 September 1948 Tom and Leslie were invited as guests to the ‘Conferring of Freedom of Cork City on President Seán T. O’Kelly’. It was a formal occasion with a military guard of honour. ‘Mr & Mrs Barry’ were ‘distinguished guests with reserved places’ in the Lord Mayor’s room. The ceremony began in the City Hall and ‘about 12.50 p.m. cars took the party’ to the Victoria Hotel for a sherry reception in the drawing-room. Then, on to lunch and a civic reception in the dining-room at 1.30 p.m. Tom sat beside the president’s ADC and near Dr O’Rahilly, president of UCC. Leslie was at the top table side-seat, beside Dr Coholan, Catholic bishop of Cork. Following the after-lunch party and the president’s speech, the Lord Mayor thanked the guests ‘for attendance and the party dissolved’. Later that afternoon the president officially opened, St Raphael’s, the children’s preventorium, where Leslie Bean de Barra, Red Cross, played a ‘welcoming role’. [18]

  Tom Barry did not leave any note about how he felt in such prestigious company, or whether he doffed his hat – one of his favourite phrases – to the Lord Bishop! It is not known what conversation Leslie had with Bishop Coholan, the man who had issued an Excommunication Order against her husband after the Kilmichael Ambush, 1920![19]

  Though Fianna Fáil had ‘some fifteen months to run’ in its majority government, De Valera called a surprise general election on 4 February 1948. Clann na Poblachta founded in 1946 by Seán Mac Bride promoted the Irish partition issue. This election brought a coalition of ‘no less than six parties with some independents’ into power. They elected John A. Costello as Taoiseach. Despite De Valera’s loss of office he went ahead in March 1948 with his already planned tour of American cities to drum up support for the Northern Ireland cause, and appealed for the ‘Reunification of Ireland’.[20]These activities were followed closely by Tom Barry.

  John A. Costello of the Fine Gael-led government, was a guest of the Canadian Bar Association in Montreal on 1 September 1948, when he delivered an address on ‘Ireland and International Affairs’ with the text approved by the cabinet before his departure.

  On 5 September the Sunday Independent carried the headline EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT TO GO. Two days later the Taoiseach gave a press conference in Ottawa confirming that this was the government’s intention, and in November the Republic of Ireland Bill was introduced in the Dáil.

  An Anti-Partition Association had been in existence since April 1948. They had written to Barry to ask his assistance.[21]Barry had been invited by the lord mayor of Dublin to deliver ‘an address on the 1798 Rising’ in the Mansion House. Peadar O’Donnell with whom Tom had been working, suggested how Tom could use the occasion in his drive for a ‘United Ireland’.[22]He believed Tom should ‘set forth’ his views for the lord mayor of Dublin and ‘ask him’ to call ‘a conference’ as a move towards a ‘National Convention which would readily’ give people a ‘voice on freedom’. This could entail ‘a live ceremony and the re-dedication of Independence.’ Barry, of course, did not miss the opportunity to use the occasion to further the cause of full independence.[23]

  After an announcement of a general election in Northern Ireland, the Taoiseach J. A. Costello invited the leaders of all political parties to a debate, on 25 January 1949, on how their ‘assistance can be given to anti-Partition candidates contesting.’ At an all-party meeting two days later it was decided that a public subscription should be set in motion for an anti-partition fund. The Mansion House committee and its offspring the Anti-Partition League pr
ovided a flood of propaganda about partition and published a tide of pamphlets describing discrimination and gerrymandering. Over £50,000 was collected which was to be used in supporting anti-partition candidates in the north in the general election and in sending ‘anti-Partition speakers like Tom Barry and Denis Ireland on a tour of America and Britain to inveigh against the border (De Valera, too, went on a world tour to highlight the partition issue).’[24]

  Arising out of this, the Unionists pointed out that their sectarian fears were justified – they would be over-run by IRA and Roman Catholic policy, therefore the border should remain. On the other hand, this issue helped the young members of the IRA to consolidate their opinion that the border should go.

  The Republic of Ireland Bill came into force on Easter Monday 1949. At one minute to the hour of midnight on 17 April 1949 a group stood on the steps of the City Hall, Cork, including Tom Barry, Col J. O’Hanrahan, OC Southern command and Col J. Hannon, OC First Brigade. Beyond the steps and over the bridge and all along the Mall stood a throng estimated to be well over 20,000. Long before midnight crowds began to converge on City Hall. According to the Cork Examiner, ‘they counted out the minutes of the old regime; they presented to the close observer a cross-section of the most eventful period of modern Irish history.

  ‘In that gathering were grey beards who had watched at the deathbed of the constitutional movement, and who, in their own way, had effectively advanced the cause of Irish freedom. There were the middle-aged, who in the enthusiasm of their youth had snatched the torch from older hands, and whose readiness to sacrifice for the cause gave substance to the dream of insurrection. Deprived as the great majority were through no fault of their own of the honour of fighting in 1916, they seized the later opportunity with both hands and helped to write a glorious page of Irish history in 1920–1921. The generation which has grown up since then was also fully represented there to witness the transition from partial to full independence.’[25]

  The last chime of the City Hall clock died away, military buglers sounded a fanfare and then all eyes turned to the steps of the building.

  The naval corvette L. E. Maev under Lieut-Comd. J. Whyte, INS, was berthed nearby and ready for the occasion; her search-lights plus the flood-lights at the foot of the steps focused on Tom Barry reading the 1916 Proclamation:

  Irishmen and Irishwomen ... We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible …

  Here was a precious moment for which the guerilla commander had fought.

  In Guerilla Days in Ireland he wrote: ‘The beauty of those words enthralled me. Lincoln at Gettysburg does not surpass it nor does any other recorded proclamation of history.’[26]

  Following the reading of the proclamation, Tom Barry and the central group left the City Hall steps and reappeared a few moments later on the roof of the building where ‘Mr Barry hoisted the tricolour to the top of the flagstaff. As the flag fluttered bravely a guard of honour drawn from the Fourth Infantry Brigade presented arms and buglers sounded the general salute and the reveille.’[27]

  Then came the 21-gun salute fired at ten-second intervals from the quayside, followed by a party from the Fourth Battalion located on the roof of the City Hall who fired a final salute. The playing of the national anthem by the No. 2 Army Band bridged the formal part of the night’s ceremonies towards a new dawn.[28]

  Next day, Easter Monday, Barry was one of the ‘special guests’ invited to ‘a luncheon at Collins’ Barracks on’ the occasion of the inauguration of the Republic of Ireland Act.’[29]

  Being the central figure in the performance of this ceremony was a great honour for General Tom Barry. Why he was the man chosen by a Fine Gael-led government, nobody knows. ‘It was believed that Costello felt that the Tom Barry element should not be ruffled, as trouble could erupt at any time, just as Dev did not want to antagonise that same man, or else they felt he was the most worthy of that honour!’[30]

  Barry, in any case, had always affirmed his non-party stance, had been close friends of many who participated in the opposing side in the Civil War, and had tried on numerous occasions to secure an all-party consensus on an all-Ireland policy.

  Having been actively seeking a publisher for his book, and reluctant to go for a British Publisher he wondered if anybody in Ireland would take on the challenge. He had great difficulty and had a substantial amount of correspondence with publishers. Putnams of New York & London were ‘keenly interested’, with their ‘European manager’ calling on M. J. Costello who gave them his own copy of the manuscript. Peadar O’Donnell suggested that George Bernard Shaw would write an introduction. ‘I imagine your first reaction will be not to have anything to do with him, but I think in this you would be wrong’ as it could be ‘a decisive factor in getting the publishers to take up the matter with urgency and pay a decent factor.’[31]Barry considered Shaw a ‘world figure’ and would ‘hate a refusal’. His ‘views and those of the book would hardly coincide, he would certainly condemn the military mind and what he’d write of its literary merits, I’d shudder to think!’[32]Connie Neenan tried to persuade Barry to allow Devin Adair Publishing, New York to publish, but in the final analysis Barry said he was ‘never keen that this book should be first published by a non-Irish firm’.[33]He had four offers in one week, one British publisher ‘suggested cutting out some of the more anti-British parts when they would be pleased to publish, but’, Barry told Connie Neenan, ‘I will not alter a word or a comma to suit them. The book will be published as written, or not at all’.[34]He was happy therefore, with M. J. Costello’s Irish Press arrangement ‘much happier that the book will not have to be published in Britain.’[35]By 25 August 1949 Tom told Mr Dempsey of the Irish Press that he wanted them to go ahead, as ‘no American publication should be attempted until the book is first published here’.[36]He confirmed the publication of his book to the Irish Press on 14 March 1949, and received ‘two sets of proofs of the first fifteen galleys’ on 24 May and the complete set by 8 June, 1949.[37]

  Guerilla Days in Ireland was published in hardback by the Irish Press Ltd, Dublin, in 1949 and was shortly co-published in several countries.

  His hatred for the Essex Regiment and Major Percival, is openly expressed in the book and he details the night he went into Bandon to shoot him, but failed because Percival did not come his way:

  Disappointed we trudged out of Bandon back to our headquarters, little thinking that Major Percival, who was to fail so dismally against West Cork IRA was later to become commander of the pathetic surrender of 1941 at Singapore. We could not foresee that our target of that night would, as Lieut General Percival, commander-in-chief of ninety thousand British troops, surrender himself, his army, and many month’s supplies, after a skirmish and without a real fight to a much smaller force of Japanese.[38]

  Obviously Lieut-Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival did not like Tom Barry’s biting remarks about him and threatened a libel suit against the publishers for defamation of character. The director upon receipt of the letter, sent for Barry. Barry read it. ‘That’s all right. I’ll take care of it’, he said and walked out of the room.

  Barry wrote to a journalist friend with the Irish Press whom he had known through writing articles for the paper and who was now in London. He asked his friend to call on Percival and tell ‘the bastard’ that if the case was brought on it would have to be tried in Ireland. He had escaped before, ‘but by God, he won’t get away the next time!’

  At a later date the director was talking to Barry and questioned him about Percival. ‘You won’t hear any more from that brute!’

  Percival is said to have replied to his visitor, ‘I have my cottage and my pension. I’ll keep away from Barry.’[39]

  Despite this altercation, Percival in the early 1960s wrote to Liam Deasy and said he would like to meet himself and Tom Barry. It was meant to be a friendly gesture. Deasy was agreeable, but Barry would o
nly meet him at the point of a gun. The meeting between Deasy and Percival never took place as Percival became ill and died on 31 January 1966.[40]

  Ewan Butler interviewed Barry for his book Barry’s Flying Column in the late 1960s and informed him that Major Percival had been awarded the OBE for his part in the 1920–1922 action in Ireland. His retort shows that the passage of fifty years had done nothing to assuage his hatred of Percival: ‘Good old OBE! Percival should have got a bar to it for his valiant defence of Singapore!’[41]Barry’s book sold so well it became a world bestseller. It eventually became required reading at military academies including Sandhurst and West Point. Leaders like Mao, Fidel Castro and guerrilla commanders in Middle Eastern countries all studied his method of guerrilla warfare.[42]