“On Wednesday, February 2nd, a number of the residents of Glanworth, co. Cork, were commandeered and were marched out of the village. They were then compelled to remove trees which had been felled across the roads (by the I.R.A.) some time previously.”
“On February 4th military and constabulary rounded up over a hundred men in Listowel, co. Kerry, including elected representatives, merchants, professional men, etc., formed them up into parties and marched them out of the town to various country roads across which trenches had some time previously been dug. There the parties were given picks and spades and compelled under threats of being shot to fill in the trenches. The weather was very inclement, and no discrimination was made in selecting the victims--age or illness being no protection. Mr. John W. Galvin, proprietor of the Central Hotel, who was suffering from heart affection and asthma, was among those forced to fill the trenches. During the work he complained of heart trouble, but was compelled to continue. While being marched back to town he fell dead.”
From the _Irish Independent_ of January 1st.
“Martin Conway, one of the victims near Bruff, is stated to have crawled four miles after he had been wounded, while he was acting as a sentry near Caherguillamore House. He was tracked by a bloodhound, which had accompanied the police party, and he immediately fired at the hound, killing him; but was himself killed by the return fire. Mr. Conway was a prominent Sinn Feiner, and had been on the run.”
“Afterwards, it was stated, a bloodhound was employed in a search for Tobin, and a pool of blood was found on the mountain where the wounded man had evidently rested. On Sunday morning his dead body was found within a hundred yards of his mother’s house, whither he had evidently crawled from some place of hiding during the night. He had his coat under his head, and had evidently lain down to die.”
Tragic to read? Yes. Regrettable to read? Yes. But the Crown Forces were victims of circumstances no less than were the Irish Volunteers. The trouble began by Britain refusing to concede certain Irish claims; this led to outrage, and outrage to reprisals, and reprisals to a state of civil war. The reprisals were carried out to intimidate (and to a certain extent the reprisals did justify themselves), to satisfy thwarted effort, out of contempt. I have spoken to several Auxiliary Police, humane men, men who had taken part in the European War, and not one of them spoke of the Sinn Feiner as an enemy and an equal, as he might have spoken of a Frenchman or a German. If it were suggested the reprisals were unworthy, the answer would be, “Good enough for them, the swine!”