BENEATH A REBEL FLAG IN THE HEART OF THE EMPIRE On 25 October 2020, one hundred years after his death, a small gathering of London-based Irish republicans assembled outside Brixton Prison to remember, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney. The gathering was compliant with the latest Covid-19 guidelines. Masks were worn. Social distance was kept. Temperatures were recorded and contact details collected. A piper played, a wreath was laid, and a few words were said. It was simple, dignified, and concluded within a half-hour. In any event, it was always going to be the case that MacSwiney would be remembered - in one form or another – on that day in London. The city where his life came to an early end. The city that was home to many an exiled fellow Irish citizen down through the decades following his death. Among those in attendance was Terry Brugha, Terence MacSwiney’s grandson, who was accompanied by his two sons Rossa and Cathal, as well as Nigel Blakelock, the grandson of Terence’s wife Muriel MacSwiney from her second partner, and Ty Galvin, the great-nephew of the cork republican Tadhg Barry. As the well-known 'Irish Post' journalist, Frank Dolan, wrote in 1986: “The reason why MacSwiney’s name and memory is of special significance in London is that he is the only major figure in modern Irish history to have died in London.” Outside of Cork, the London-Irish are the probably the most notable community to have adopted the legacy of MacSwiney. A communal memory of his death - and famous funeral procession through the streets of London - has long been held onto dearly. 54
Terence MacSwiney, the London-Irish, and the Politics of Commemoration
BY JOE DWYER
It is arguable that MacSwiney’s story, and in particular its end, resonates with the exile experience. Dying as he did, far removed the land he loved, in a foreign land is a familiar motif of the diaspora tale. The ballad ‘Shall My Soul Pass Through Old Ireland’, written in MacSwiney’s memory, encapsulates the final wish of many of the ‘forgotten Irish’ who ended their time in any number of other English cities. In the days that followed his death on hunger strike, MacSwiney’s close friend and colleague, Professor Daniel Corkery, wrote to Mary MacSwiney, reflecting: “What you say of his longing to be in Ireland only shows how much greater his sacrifice was than the average mind would or could conceive.”
THE HUNGER-STRIKE MacSwiney was arrested on 12 August 1920 in Cork City Hall. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of Dáil Éireann, Commandant of Cork No. 1 Brigade IRA, Lord Mayor of Cork, and President of the local branches of the Gaelic League and Sinn Féin. The Lord Mayor immediately commenced a hunger-strike in solidarity with eleven hunger-striking republican prisoners in Cork Gaol. On 16 August, MacSwiney was tried for possession of seditious documents by a court-martial and sentenced to two years imprisonment. He immediately was taken by boat from Cork to Pembroke, Wales and, from there, was transferred to Brixton Prison. Besides his high-profile status as both a Lord Mayor and an abstentionist MP, MacSwiney’s presence in London was a key driver for the worldwide attention that his case received. It was not long before his prison protest became
something of an international cause célèbre. Daily press conferences on MacSwiney’s condition were held in the Sinn Féin London Office at No. 3 Adam Street. Art O’Brien, the Envoy of the Irish Republic to London, was fluent in both French and Spanish and was thus able to keep international journalists fully abreast on the progress of MacSwiney’s strike. Much to the annoyance of the British Foreign Office. The principal pro-Irish independence organisation in Britain at the time, the Irish Self-Determination League (ISDL), organised daily prayer vigils outside Brixton Prison for the Lord Mayor’s release. The attendance steadily grew as the strike continued. On 25 August, the 13th day of the hunger-strike, MacSwiney’s health rapidly declined and a rumour spread that he was very near death. A ‘Labour Rally’ was quickly organised, outside the Prison, by George Lansbury, editor of the pro-labour newspaper the Daily Herald. From a small-platform down a side street, speakers publicly lambasted the British Government’s treatment of MacSwiney to reported cries of ‘Up Sinn Féin’ and ‘Up the Rebels’ from the crowd. The demonstration soon turned into a riot as a squadron of mounted police riders were dispatched to prevent the crowd turning the rally into a formal procession, especially with their many pro-Sinn Féin banners in tow. With police batons drawn, it was not long before stones and loose bricks travelled through the air. Neighbouring windows were shattered and garden railings torn out of the ground. In the melee, one police officer was knocked down by a blow to the skull, while another was reportedly “unhorsed”. Once reinforcements arrived on the scene, the crowd was soon divid-
ISSUE NUMBER 1 – 2021 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 1 anphoblacht
