Memoirs of Connie Francis Neenan 1916-1920s, 1939-1940

being drawn from those who not alone saw the needs of the poor but were sufficiently charitably-minded to actively help and relieve hardship wherever needed most. In quite a number of cases the Protestant clergymen shared their duty with the Catholic P.P. or his representatives, admirably proving that, in the face of real [65] need and poverty, all barriers between different faiths and religions can and will fall before the plain, humane efforts to relieve misery and suffering. In addition to this and thanks to the true goodness and Christian spirit of the friends of Ireland in America, that committee were able to help by distributing parcels of food and clothing, as well as giving financial aid. A Central Committee to help the poor operated from the Cork Courthouse, and the I.R.A., in addition, directly supported legitimate cases which needed active help and advice. Late in the month of June of that year, it became evident, that three more informers had to be immobilised. Two of these traitors were merchants while the third was a magistrate. Sorry to say, but their friendship with the enemy - not to call it fawning - was actually like an obsession with them. There was no choice but to eliminate them; the fact that they sacrificed their lives to their "slave-masters" was something they, apparently, had never thought nor expected to do. There was rarely a day in the months of April, May, June, and right through to the Truce in July 1921, that not some raid or attack took place. On both sides, Irish as well as British, activities were stepped up tremendously. While I.R.A. tactics were designed to harass, the British tried to exhaust immobilise, and finally annihilate the I.R.A. There was no verification or confirmation of the release of Daithi Kent, and even Sean Hegarty, the Brigade O.C., was unable to get information on the matter. Next, Sean Hyde, a Cork man, who was attached to GHQ in Dublin appeared at the end of May and told me of a plan to get some of the prisoners out of Spike Island. The 4th Battalion, Cork 1 Brigade, were very actively involved in these plans, and Mick Burke, Frank Barry, and several other members attached to the Battalion affected the escape with the aid of a motor boat. The escaped prisoners Sean McSwiney, Con Twomey, and a third man were met as they reached land in the area of the 9th Battalion, Cork 1 Brigade, by Sean Hyde and several others of our men; from there they were, immediately to a hiding place and safety. Later on, during the truce, another escape was arranged. Henry Mahoney of 9th Battalion, Cork 1 swam out to get a boat and, with seven others, including Tom Crofts of 1st Battalion, Cork 1 [66] and Bill Quirke from Tipperary, all escaped safely. It was during early 1921 that the British started to resort to a new trick, namely, forcing the people to list the names of all occupants of their respective houses and to pin such lists to the back of the entrance door. At night, the British patrols would then go around and check, and since all of them wore rubber-soled boots their approach could not be heard. One night while George Bourke and I were staying at the home of Dents Crowley of Bandon Road, who had kindly given us shelter, we happened to look out a window only to discover a British patrol looking up at the house numbers with the help of their flashlights. We were all set to escape by the backdoor but, very fortunately, the Crowley house was not raided that night and the patrol went by. We knew, however, that it was only a matter of time until the British would return to check the house, consequently, and so as not to unnecessarily endanger our host and his family, we left the house and joined Bob Aherne (one of our full-time Intelligence Officers) at the home of Mr. Butler on Friars Walk. One morning, after having been given the assignment to raid some enemy supplies, we left rather early, some time before 7 a.m., and were able to complete our mission very successfully. It was that very same morning, at about 8 a.m., just a little more than an hour later, that the Butler home was raided by British Intelligence Officers; so, once again, and by sheer luck we had escaped the drag-net. The constant raiding of private houses by the British became so severely relentless, that the number of our once plentiful “safe houses” was getting ever smaller and last second escapes from the British were an almost daily occurrence, since restaurants, public conveyances, and even churchyards were regular hunting grounds for them. It was during May 1921 that a message from our prisoners in Cork Jail was smuggled out and sent to me. Thus, Denny Hegarty and I learned that a plan for escape had been figured out and decided on. Right away I contacted Tom Shea, the sympathetic warder and, aided by warder Quigley, also a trusted friend of ours, the two men accepted revolvers and ammunition and took them to the prisoners who were selected for escape. Unfortunately the plans had to be abandoned due to the British policy, at that time, to constantly change around prison

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