Book of Ryans - After the Famine
The war, or the Great War as it was popularly called, produced some economic benefits to the farmers of Ireland as they saw increased prices for their products, and since the Catholic population was predominantly lower middle class and involved in agrarian pursuits, the war turned their attention to other things besides Home Rule. Over 200,000 Irish men and women enlisted in the allied army, however, the Sinn Fein took the position that the war was Britain's war and should not be supported by Ireland. Because of their influence among Catholics, most of the enlisted men were recruited from predominantly Protestant areas in the North.
The Sinn Fein effectively used their anti-recruitment campaign to increase its membership as Anglo-phobia spread throughout Ireland. Although they were very vocal in supporting Germany, not all Gaelic organizations favored this position. Many opposition groups agreed to continue supporting an alliance with England because it could be misread as a pro-Germany position. Irish nationalists such as Sir Roger Casement and W.P. Ryan, members of the Provisional Committee of Irish Volunteers, viewed a pro-Germany position as anti-English, and consequently pro-Irish.
Mainstream nationalists wanted to work within constitutional guidelines and retain close ties with Britain. These moderates, unlike their radical contemporaries, viewed Germany's friendship with skepticism and saw little value to supporting Germany's expansionist plans. Germany's hatred of Catholics was rooted in the influence of the Lutheran Church, and this hostility, at times, extended to Irish Catholics. In the previous century a pro-Aryan editorialist proposed that the reason Germans isolated themselves from the Catholic Church was because it nourished "their strongest passions, love of beer and hatred of the Irish."[1] It is no wonder that they tried to maintain their distance with a nation that historically disapproved of Catholicism.
During the war Germany promised to send munitions to Irish radical elements for use against British troops stationed in Dublin. Germany agreed to send 20,000 rifles and 10 machine guns, but police were tipped off, and they intercepted the German steamer carrying these supplies off the coast of Kerry. In the confusion that followed Roger Casemont was arrested, but the Irish Republican Brotherhood headed by Patrick Pease went forward with their plans for the Easter Monday attack. His 1600 para-military mob seized key buildings in Dublin, and Pease proclaimed control of Dublin's government after these properties were seized. The rebels were exuberant after their initial successes, but their mood changed after the English army mounted a surprise attack. The army claimed complete control of the building, and they were able to do it with few casualties.
Many of these revolutionaries were sent to prison for their involvement in the uprising, including Desmond Ryan whom was described as an avowed socialist and one of Pease's key aides. Another captured member of the Irish volunteers was James Ryan, a medical student, who was placed in charge of the medical unit at the GPO building. After the police stormed the building, he was captured and sent to prison. He was later released in August of 1916.
Anglo-Irish War
"Like men we'll face the murderousous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back."
Claude McCay, 1922
"If We Must Die"
The nationalists' fears came true in 1918 when a conscription bill was enacted to draft Irishmen into active military service. The Military Service Bill created a crisis in Ireland, and Britain was forced to call off Home Rule again. Lloyd George stated that Home Rule would not take place until the condition of Ireland was stabilized, but his tactic would only stall the implementation of home rule a few years.
The political activism of young Ireland concerned the Protestant establishment, and the Dial attracted new political parties like the Sinn Fien. This radical political party supporting the aims of the outlawed Irish Revolutionary Army had by 1920 captured 572 seats in the Irish Parliament, but the alliance of Unionists, Protestants, and other smaller political groups retained parliamentary control with 872 seats. The Sinn Fien's strength was mostly in rural areas, especially central Munster and the Ulster border areas where most of the disturbances were centered.
The Sinn Fienn provided the IRA some credibility after the elections, and it began to attract young men from mostly lower class families in Cork and northern Tipperary Counties. They trained their recruits in paramilitary activities near the Galtee Mountains, and because of the terrain, the Government had difficulty trying to rout the insurgents from their strongholds. Because of the strong anti-English sentiments, the local population provided aid to the terrorists because, even though they may not have agreed with their tactics, they at least believed that England was their real enemy. This relationship lasted until the IRA killed two popular Irish policemen in 1919. The local population was enraged when they learned that they were executed at close range by hand revolvers. The IRA received condemnation by Tipperary's leading citizens, and priests even decried the horribleness of this crime during their Sunday sermons. Monsignor Ryan of St. Michael's church silenced his congregation when he cried "God help poor Ireland, if she follows this deed of blood!"[2] He spoke of contempt for those who participated in the executions, but he was more concerned how the military would react to these deaths, including what effect it would have on innocent women and children in his parish.
Because of the army's ineffectiveness in preventing these assassinations, the police hired new reinforcements that were specially trained to handle terrorist activities. These reinforcements, the Black and Tans, terrorized the rural population, and as their bullying tactics became more widespread, the IRA with regained public support increased their attacks on the police. The climax occurred when the IRA killed eleven unarmed British officers "on suspicion of their being intelligence operatives."[3] The 'Black and Tans' fired their guns inside a crowded football game in retaliation, and this gunplay caused a stampede which resulted in 12 deaths. England had no choice but to initiate martial law to defuse the heightened tensions in the countryside. Order was eventually re-established, and the army began rounding up suspected radical Republican elements. Of the Irish men and women imprisoned, 24 men were shot or hanged between 1921 and 1923.[4] Among them was Bernard Ryan, a Republican, who was hanged March 14th, 1921.
These events forced England to refuse Home Rule for Ireland; and although they may have believed that they were justifiably punishing the Irish for these murders, it merely provided public sympathy for the IRA's actions. It was inevitable that a civil disturbance would follow. Civil War erupted in 1922, and the fragmented Irish organizations united to form the Free State Army, and with their combined forces plagued the army with their guerrilla tactics. They laid plans to disrupt critical government centers and military outposts, with their most daring feat being the occupation of the Free Courts Building in Dublin. While in possession of the court building they declared all legislation enacted by Dublin illegal. Their attempt to destabilize the judicial system was short-lived as England sent in additional troops to evict the Irish. This massive rout would be one of England's few successes, and their arrogance led them to make poor decisions regarding the disposition of prisoners.
The Free Army lost 800 men during these brief few months of fighting. While most lost their lives battling government forces; some died from disease and accidents. Still others died after being executed for supporting the violent overthrow of the English-backed Dublin parliament. Those prisoners unfortunate to be tried and convicted for revolutionary activities found little sympathy in the English courts, and standard judicial guarantees such as due process and appeals were ignored. After these prisoners received their sentences, England pressed for their immediate executions to dampen public sympathy: 77 executions occurred along with the imprisonment of thousands of young men and women for their participation in revolutionary activities. These actions further eroded Britain's support, especially among rural Irish who were encouraged to support the on-going war effort through Britain's 'Back to the Land Campaign.' With the further erosion of civil law and the increasing support for continued resistance, England decided to pull its police force from Ireland late in 1922. This eventually led England to grant Ireland the independence that they had sought since the days of Strongbow's invasion in 1184.
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish army, stationed in Morocco, declared a revolution against the democratically elected government that was created in 1936. This declaration of war convinced other army units to rise in revolt, and in a short time, the military claimed control over a third of the countryside. This rebel group, popularly called the Nationalists and headed by General Francisco Franco, expected to overthrow the Republican armies quickly; however, opposition groups who favored retaining the Republic organized which threw Spain into civil war for three years. This civil war drew international attention from many of the European countries including the United States and Russia whom supported the Anti-Franco forces, while Germany and Fascist Italy supported Franco and his fascist political party, the Falange Espanola.
Fascism resembled Communism, but unlike Communism it allowed private enterprise to exist under tight regulations. Italy was the first country to embrace fascist ideals, and its appeal among the Italian citizenry was a commitment to restore the glory of the past, the glory of the old Roman Empire. Another attraction of Italian fascism was that it considered all other races inferior to the Romans, and this sense of superiority stimulated the Italian ego. As more and more Italians identified themselves with the Fascist movement, the King of Italy was forced to abduct his throne in 1922 to Benito Mussolini who became the country's first Prime Minister. Mussolini made Fascism the only recognized power in Italy and one of his first acts was to seize control of the police and the newspapers.
A Fascist frenzy spread rapidly throughout Europe, and it ultimately swept into Ireland. The Irish Fascists, or Blueshirts, developed a wide-spread following by recounting the tremendous victories of the Italian Blackshirts and the German Brownshirts. The Blueshirts were able to generate considerable enthusiasm among the young men of Ireland, and many of these new enthusiasts were asked to support the Fascist War in Spain. The Irish army was hastily assembled by General Eoin O'Duffy under the banner ' Irish Brigade', and the blessing it received from the Catholic Church helped it attract over 700 recruits. The Church viewed the war in Spain as a crusade against Communism, and while its position was articulated numerous times, the most eloquent was from the Right Reverend Monsignor Ryan:
The Irish Brigade have gone to fight the battle of tremendous difficulties facing the men under General O'Duffy, and only heroes can fight such a battle...that we will offer up...a desperate battle against the horde that is threatening desecration all over the world, let us pray that the destruction of civilization may be averted and that Christ may live again and reign, and that Communism and the powers of darkness in it, can be brought to naught.[5]
The Church and many Irish organizations endorsing Home Rule supported the Fascist movement, however, this outpouring of support for Franco was not universally applauded in Ireland. The Irish Republican Army, for one, was not persuaded by the 'red scare', and after Franco ended pluralism in Spain they voted to shift their support to Spanish rebel causes. On December 16th, 1936, an Irish volunteer group of 300 men arrived in Albacete, Spain to join the 15th International Brigade which was a contingent of military forces created to oppose Franco. This Irish army was headed by Major Frank Ryan, a Socialist Republican born in Elton County, Limerick. The rest of the International Brigade was composed of British, American, and other European troops who feared that Fascism would spread into their own countries.
Prior to shifting the International Brigade to the Spanish front at Madrid, a meeting was assembled by Andre Marty, a commander of the People's Army. This meeting included some of the most famous commanders of the International Brigade including Major Frank Ryan, commander of the Irish detachment within the British battalion.
This meeting turned into a fiasco as the Irish grew tired of Marty's uninspiring orations:
He (Marty) called a conference of the whole battalion, now including a rumbustious Irish section under the leadership of Frank Ryan, and made an endless speech, which quickly bored the Irish. Towards the end Ryan came to his feet to complain bitterly of the political treatment meted out to the Irish section. Marty tried to call him to order but Ryan ploughed solidly on.[6]
Major Ryan persisted to issue charges of mistreatment, and Marty yelled for him to restrain himself. Ryan continued to the cheers of other Irishmen in the meeting, and Marty becoming agitated yelled over his oration that he should stop or be arrested.
Never gifted with very good hearing, Ryan "continued in better spirit than before with the lusty help of some of the Irish, American, Canadian and British delegates."[7]
Although he was quite deaf it was said that his deafness disappeared if an offer of money was made for his newspaper business. Ryan was the editor of the "An Phoblecht", a nationalistic paper which wrote many articles condemning the neo-Fascists in Ireland. Major Ryan disapproved of the Irish criminal justice system which he contended favored the Irish Fascists in the courts, and in December 23, 1934, he wrote that "one Jerry Ryan, a Tipperary Blueshirt, had only been fined five pounds for possession of a revolver and had not been sent before a military tribunal."[8] He also disapproved of the Blueshirt's tactics to silence their enemies, however, he never criticized the IRA which was equally disposed to 'remove' those who did not agree with their objectives. The newspapers recorded many incidents which documented IRA-inspired deaths as the following article described, but Ryan in general ignored writing articles condemning their criminal ways:
"Two men posing as detectives went to the John Ryan home. He went off with them and his body was found with a notice 'spies and informers beware - IRA.'"[9]
Frank Ryan's argumentative behavior was frequently observed in his native Ireland, and it came to no one's surprise that he would be the one to challenge Marty in such a public display of outrageous behavior. As he continued to argue, Marty grew impatient and ordered his men to place him under arrest. After Major Ryan was hustled out of the room, Marty continued where he left off, but the eviction of this popular Irish commander elevated the emotions of the remaining military leaders of the International Brigade. Later that evening, large numbers of heavily armed Irishmen made their way to the guardhouse to demand the release of their commander, Major Frank Ryan; however, they found that he had already been released, perhaps at Marty's insight to avoid further troubles. This confrontation soon passed, and the diverse armies rallying under the 'brigade banner' organized to meet Franco's armies in battle.
The Irish contingent fought valiantly during the Spanish Civil War, but in the end Franco and his Nationalist party prevailed. Near the conclusion of the Brigade's existence, a major battle occurred near the Madrid-Valencia road where the English and Irish suffered heavy losses. The losses were incredible: from the estimated Irish troops that marched into battle, under 200 remained and were severely demoralized. Even though the Brigade was devastated, Ryan and Colonel Gall attempted to rally this legion to retake several defensive positions along the road to Valencia. Through heroic efforts they regained their lost positions, but ultimately suffered over a hundred more casualties in the process.
The few remnants of the Irish Brigade were later sent to Jarama, and after several days of fighting the Irish Brigade retreated under heavy fire. Through the intervention of General Gall (sometimes seen as Colonel Gall as Ryan sometimes has been referred to as General Ryan), these volunteers were able to retake the positions; and when Frank Ryan was later asked what caused the renewed spirit among his men he said:
'Stragglers still in retreat down the slopes stopped in amazement, changed direction and ran to join us; men lying exhausted on the roadside jumped up, cheered and joined the ranks...I looked back. Beneath the forest of upraised fists. What a strange band. Unshaven, unkempt, bloodstained, grimy. But full of fight again."[10]
For all the casualties suffered by the International Brigade during this battle, they were forced to leave their positions to more fortified ones in Madrid. Jarama was responsible for heavy casualties to the volunteers, and among the wounded was Major Ryan who was sent to Ireland to recuperate from his injury. Several months later he grew restless of Ireland