former religion; obviously, the Archbishop made that proposed English dodge very unacceptable indeed. Conscription was not wanted at any price, and the movement for Irish independence and freedom from English tyranny received further strong impetus. Back in the Fenian days, his Holiness the Pope once sent for Archbishop Croke and Bishop Walsh and demanded their resignation but His Holiness received the determined reply that their resignation would be given ONLY to the people of Tipperary and of Dublin. Thus the brilliant and famous summing up both these great men gave to the people of Ireland at a gigantic meeting which was held in Dublin on their return from Rome: "We came back unchanged and unchangeable." The people of Cork subscribed the sum of £23,000 to fight Conscription. This money was held by Bishop Cohalan. The election of 74 Irish Republican TD's in 1918 was the forerunner to the creation of Dáil Eireann and the legitimate Government of the Irish people. This gave Dáil Eireann the power to legislate and to rule. The Lord Mayors of Cork Thomas McCurtain and Terence McSwiney were both also members of Dáil Eireann. Thomas McCurtain was murdered in his own home and before the eyes of his family in March 1919; Terence McSwiney died by hunger strike in a British prison in October 1920. The heinous murders by the British and the constant terrorism, practised on the Irish people, went on relentlessly. Despite the action of the Catholic Hierarchy in 1918, and despite the wave of murders by the British, Bishop Cohalan of Cork saw fit to produce his edict of excommunication on all soldiers of the IRA. This outrageous act has little parallel in history from any Irish bishop. It was an act of treachery and most outrageous disloyalty towards his own people. For 700 years they had courageously battled against English oppression and when, at last, there was hope of securing Freedom for country and people, Bishop Cohalan stabbed his own people in the back and took the enemy's side. However, the patriotism of many of the Priests was remarkable; few read out the edict, those who did read it out hurriedly, while the congregation - apparently prepared for the document - left the Churches while it was being read, so, they did not hear it. Instead of supporting the treacherous Bishop they showed their [4 1 ] contempt for this type of slavishness by burning down the entire centre of Cork City, It is worth noting that Bishop Cohalan kept the £23,000 subscribed to fight Conscription. Later, when he had the temerity to accuse others - who were innocent - of accepting stolen bank money, it is to the eternal credit of Sean Hegarty who wrote a letter to the Cork Examiner, which was published, in which Sean stated "If annexing the sum of £23,000 by the Bishop of Cork and refusing to give an account of the monies, is not robbery, then WHAT is? The aftermath of 1916 left most of the country badly disorganised with the exception of Cork which had not taken part in the fight, thus retaining a well-trained disciplined force, and capable of dispatching some of its men to other spots there to kindle sympathy, organise benefits to raise money for the Prisoners Dependents Fund and to restore calm and order wherever possible. At that time the entire movement seemed to employ and direct all its resources towards the harnessing of the newly gained sympathies with the recruiting of the "Volunteers" as they were then called. Life seemed to settle down peacefully and the Sinn Fein movement held its first Convention in 1917. Delegates were screened most carefully and only those who held the right opinions were selected. The Volunteers grew in numbers despite the fact that each section could only receive instructions and hold drillings and parades at night, usually in some field and under circumstances often far from secure or comfortable. Yet, the amazing enthusiasm of the Volunteers easily overcame all these difficulties. The Company to which I belonged trained under the continued command of Sean Hurley, right through to the autumn of 1918 at which time we were attached to a different Battalion. Sean spared no time of effort to see that each man was instructed and trained in every aspect of the armaments at our disposal (mainly rifles and revolvers) explaining to us the different calibres and their different effect on impact. Bombs only came later as at that time we dependent on our home-made concrete explosives. Our Company also had its own group of cyclists. Almost all men could [5] ride bicycles and that included our engineers, intelligence, red cross and medical men. As a matter of fact, all those who held officers rank were given courses in special services, being greatly helped by the successful fund raising efforts of the local Cumann na mBan. Prior to the threat of Conscription the men received thorough training
1 While there is no page 3 there is no gap in the narritive so I have assumed it is a typing error.
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