Fifty Years of Belfast Life (1866-1917) part 42

By “THE MAN IN THE STREET.”

XLII

While I was looking over a file of “The Ulster Echo” for 1892, to refresh my memory regarding the Ulster Convention, the next Belfast incident I desire to recall, a young clerical friend from the country, who had called in, remarked, partly in jest, I think, “We are going to have Home Rule at last.” “Well,” I remarked, “I have heard that at intervals for the last thirty years, and we have not got it yet.” “But it was never on the Statute Book before,” paid my friend. “No doubt,” said I, “but the curious thing is none of those who got it put on the Statute Book would, want it as it is there.”

It is difficult to realise that it is a quarter of a century since the great Ulster Convention of 1892, the greatest Convention ever held in this country, and I would be inclined to say the greatest ever held in any country. The days of the Unionist Government were running out, and there were indications, or at least fears, that the General Election then imminent might result in a triumph for Mr. Gladstone, who, like an old war horse, was still eager for the fray, and determined if he could to take revenge upon the dissenting Liberals and Ulster for having dared to thwart his ambition. In the of spring of the year the Unionist members of Parliament from Ulster met in London and projected a great Convention in the early summer to voice the opinion of the Unionists of Ulster the question of Home Rule. The members sent two of the most prominent men and most pronounced and active Unionist campaigners to sound local feeling on the subject and to explain the purpose and object of the Convention, Colonel Saunderson and Mr. T. W. Russell. No two better or more representative men for the purpose could have been selected. Both were enthusiastic upholders and defenders of the Unionist policy; both were vigorous and slashing orators who did not speak with bated breath about the composition, character, and conduct of the Nationalists of the time. Colonel Saunderson represented the Conservative section of the party, and Mr. T. W. Russell the Liberal section; and both were one in their loyalty to the Union and one in the hate and venom they engendered the breasts of the Nationalists by the boldness and fearlessness of their criticisms. Indeed, I am inclined to think that Mr. Russell was the more hated of the two, and that chiefly because he was the more violent and forceful in his onslaughts. The Colonel, perhaps, used the rapier and Mr. Russell broadsword, but the spirit of both was same.

The first response to the suggestion took the form of a circular convening a meeting in Belfast, signed by four leaders of the time, only one of whom survives. These were Sir Wm. Ewart, Thomas Sinclair, Robert MacGeagh, and R. R. Kane, D.D. In response to that circular a preliminary meeting was held on the 4th April, which resulted in a proposal to hold a Convention in the summer to voice the opinion of Ulster Protestants and Unionists against the policy of a Dublin Parliament. Colonel Saunderson and Mr. Russell both spoke at this meeting, and gave voice to the opinion of the Parliamentary leaders and the Unionists of Ulster. In the light of subsequent developments it may be interesting to quote a few sentences at random from Mr. Russell’s speech which would bear repetition and have application at the present time. He said inter alia — “We protest against the setting up of an Irish Parliament and against being cut off from our inheritance in the Imperial Parliament. If Mr. Gladstone thinks he is going to get rid of the Irish question at Westminster they would tell him that he was launching an unworthy ship, not in fair weather, but in the most howling storm. So far from getting rid of the Irish question, he would have it in an intensified form, and they would have to coerce men who would not be law-breakers, but who were passionately loyal to their country. If the Imperial Parliament cast them off and placed them under the domination of men who for the last thirteen years excited their moral loathing they would not obey them.”

It was first intended to hold the Convention on the first week in June, but as the General Assembly usually met in that week it was put off to the middle of the month, actually the 17th. Accordingly, the interval was spent in the organisation and in preparation for the conference. Every county and every district held its meetings and appointed delegates. The fiery cross spread from one end of the province to the other, and the response was something unparalleled. The daily papers were filled with reports of meetings and the names of delegates, and each county and district vied with the other in the intensity of its enthusiasm and in the selection of the best representatives. But the interest was not limited to Belfast or to Ulster. The British Press was full of it, and the public orators on both sides made it the subject of their text. The “Daily News” and the Radical and Nationalist organs sneered at the movement and sneered at Ulster, just as they do still, but their jeers and taunts only intensified the determination and enthusiasm of the Ulstermen, as they do till this day. Every day brought forth some new support, some new organisation, and as the time approached delegates were announced from England and Scotland and from the South and West of Ireland, and messages of encouragement and support poured in from all parts of the British Empire that respected loyalty and the tradition and spirit of a united kingdom and an inspiring Imperialism.

The work and organisation of many weeks was crowned on the great day; Ulster Day, par excellence, the 17th June. No one who lived through it and was in the centre of its activities, as I was, could forget it. Belfast never saw such a day; and Mr. T. W. Russell, who was one of the most active and delighted spirits of the movement, declared that he had never seen anything approaching yt in his life save the demonstration to Mr. Balfour in Edinburgh on a memorable occasion in that capital. The demonstration to took place on what then was a large unoccupied area, the Plains, immediately behind the Assembly and Queen’s Colleges, and which is vacant no longer. It has shared in the general prosperity of the city, and fine houses and streets now represent what at the time was waste and vacancy. A huge temporary building, with a frontage of about 250 feet and a depth of about 150 feet, was erected, with seating accommodation for many thousands. But huge as the building was, it did not accommodate more than a section of those attending; and three or four other platforms were provided, and meetings held round each. And all crowded with enthusiastic Loyalists wearing the Convention badge. But I question if a tithe of those present heard the speeches. They were demonstrating, and did not require even the most stimulating oratory to fan the flame of their enthusiasm. It was there before, and it remained after. As a triumph of organistion it was most wonderful. There were hundreds of willing stewards, and as far as possible provision was made for all. One feature of the major meeting was that special seats were provided for the delegates from each district, and as they trooped in to their places the cheers made the welkin ring as loud as cheers ever did.

The timber for the building had been provided by six timber merchants, and Mr. R. I. Calwell, who is doing so much volunteer architectural work in connection with the U.V.F. Hospitals of the city, had charge of the erection. Trains conveying delegates from all parts of the province began to arrive early, and followed each other in rapid succession, so that for the entire day the town, and especially the Southern end of it, was one mass of moving men and women, all animated by the one spirit and feeling, and all wearing colours and badges suggestive of the occasion. I may just mention that over three hundred meetings had been held in all parts of the province, and that about twelve thousand delegates were appointed; but it was not twelve thousand men, but twelve times twelve thousand men and women who poured in or through the town on this great day.

Precisely at noon, the Duke of Abercorn who had been selected as president of the meeting, followed by the principal speakers and leaders of the day and the movement, and took their places at the well-decorated platform, the cheering was intense for several minutes; and the hitherto restrained feelings of the vast assemblage broke forth in a burst of enthusiasm that once heard could not be forgotten either in its magnificent impressiveness or suggestiveness. After a special prayer by the Lord Primate, the Right Rev. Dr. Alexander, poet and orator, ecclesiastic and statesman, stately and dignified in appearance and sweet in disposition, the noble words of the first stanzas of the 46th Psalm, were read out by the Rev. Dr. N. M. Brown, Limavady, and sung to a noble and inspiring tune; and as ten thousand voices joined in the singing the effect can be better imagined than described. Strong and spirited and impressive the singing was, and it suggested the faith and hope and confidence the people had in the God of their fathers.

“God is our refuge and our strength,
In straits a present aid,”

was the keynote of the Psalm, the keynote of the song, the keynote of the praise and the prayer. There were nearly a hundred newspaper reporters from all parts of the kingdom present, and some of them, who had much experience of such proceedings, told me at the time that they had never heard anything more striking and impressive than the singing of that Psalm and the scene and the spirit of the occasion.

The Duke of Abercorn, the second Duke, and father of the present Duke, delivered a fine address, the keynote of which was, “We will not have Home Rule.” The phrase caught on, and was often used in the way of ridicule by opponents, who declared we would have to have it. That is now a quarter of a century ago, and we have not got it yet; and by a curious coincidence, while in Dublin the other day, I noticed on the contents board of one of the rabid Nationalist or Sinn Fein papers — I hardly know which it was, the words, “We will not have Home Rule,” put forward not by a Unionist, but by a rebel paper, and not put forward by way of ridicule, but as a serious statement.

The following were the resolutions passed at the time:— “That this Convention, consisting of 11,879 delegates, representing the Unionists of every creed, class, and party throughout Ulster, appointed at public meetings held in every electoral division of the province, hereby solemnly resolves and declares — That we express the devoted loyalty of Ulster Unionists to the Crown and Constitution of the United Kingdom; that we avow our fixed resolve to retain unchanged our present position as an integral portion of the United Kingdom, and protest in the most unequivocal mann ] against the passage of any measure that would rob us of our inheritance in the Imperial Parliament, under the protection of which our capital has been invested and our homes and rights safeguarded; that we record our determination to have nothing to do with a Parliament certain to be controlled by men responsible for the crime and outrage of the Land League, the dishonesty of the Plan of Campaign, and the cruelties of boycotting, many of whom have shown themselves the ready instruments of clerical domination; that we declare to the people of Great Britain our conviction that the attempt to set up such a Parliament in Ireland will inevitably result in disorder, violence, and bloodshed such as have not been experienced in this century, and announce our resolve to take no part in the election or proceedings of such a Parliament, the authority of which, should it ever be constituted, we shall be forced to repudiate; that we protest against this great question, which involves our lives, property, and civil rights, being treated as a mere side issue in the impending electoral struggle; that we appeal to those of our fellow-countrymen who have hitherto been in favour of a separate Parliament to abandon a demand which hopelessly divides Irishmen, and to unite with us under the Imperial Legislation in developing the resources and furthering the beat interests of our common country.”

These resolutions were on similiar lines to those that might he passed to-day, for the cry of “No Home Rule for Ulster” is as strong as it ever was, though in their loyal desire to assist the Government out of a difficulty Ulster Unionists have expressed a regretful willingness to limit their exclusion to the six Plantation counties.

It would be interesting to recall the names of the principal speakers, the majority of whom have passed away, but some are still with us and still honoured, as they were then. At the principal meeting the speakers were Sir W. Q. Ewart, Mr. Thomas Sinclair {afterwards Right Hon.), Rev. Oliver M‘Cutcheon, President Methodist College; Mr. Thomas Andrews (afterwards Right Hon.), Rev. James Cregan (Congregational), Rev. Dr. R. J. Lynd, the Rev. Dr. Kane, Mr. J. F. Shillington (of Musgrave & Co., Ltd.), Mr. E. T. Herdman, Sion Mills; Mr. John D. Dunville, Mr. W. J. Doloughan, a Down tenant farmer; Dr. Ussher (Baptist), Captain Sharman-Crawford, and Sir Daniel Dixon (Lord Mayor of Belfast). At No. 1 platform the Lord Mayor presided, and among the speakers were Mr. J. N. Richardson, Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P.; Lord Frederick Hamilton, Captain (afterwards Colonel) M'Calmont, and the Rev. W. J. M'Caughan; No. 2 platform — Mr. Wm. Johnston, M.P.; the Dean of Connor (Seaver), Mr. T. Lea, M.P.; Rev. J. J. M'Clure (now of Capetown), Mr. J. A. Rentoul, M.P.; Mr. J. Walker Craig (now Recorder of Belfast), and Mr. John Ross (now Mr. Justice Ross); No. 3 platform — Mr. Jas. Musgrave, D.L.; Mr. Arnold-Forster (Unionist candidate for West Belfast), Lord Rossmore, Mr. G. W. Wolff, M.P.; Colonel Waring, Mr. W. B. Macartney (now Governor of Tasmania).

The demonstration was not only unique in its local and representative character, but in the extent of the sympathy extended to it by Unionists from all parts of the kingdom. Many of these organisations sent representatives, and over one hundred sent telegrams of good wishes. All classes were represented not only at the meetings, but on the platform, where great peers, great landlords, great commercial and industrial magnates, ministers of all denominations, and representatives of the farming and working classes met, all animated by the same spirit and stimulated by the same determination. The effect in Belfast and the province generally was immense; but the effect throughout the kingdom was, if possible, greater. The Press of the kingdom was represented by nearly one hundred journalists, and some of them by the ablest member's of their staff. The papers had all descriptions and articles, so that for a week at any rate Ulster may be said to have held the field; and I am proud to say that the majority of the journals that stood up for Ulster stand up for it still, and that their comments on the situation to-day are on similar lines to those of twenty-five years ago, with this difference, that the events of the interval have emphasised all their arguments.

The Convention marked an epoch in Ulster, and the spirit and determination it expressed holds good to-day. The mere fact that the Ulster Unionists have assented as a compromise to accept the exclusion of six counties does not militate against the old declaration of hostility to Home Rule for any part of Ireland. They are still opposed to that, and believe that it would produce evils even greater than some they feared at that time. The hostility to Home Rule that then found its first great expression still remains. So that whatever changes may have come over the spirit of others, Ulster Unionists still remain as strong opponents of the principle as ever, and on the merits, or rather demerits, of Home Rule the reasons for hostility are even stronger.



From The Witness, 27th April 1917.

The "Man in the Street" was the pen name of Alexander McMonagle, editor and manager of The Witness and Ulster Echo.

Fifty Years of Belfast Life (1866-1917) part 41

By “THE MAN IN THE STREET.”

XLI

If the riots of ’86 were a revelation of savagery and brutality on the part of the people and, I will add, of many of the police, the Riots Commission that inquired into them was a revelation of partiality and whitewashing of one section of the population on the part of the majority of the Commission. If the riots had, as I fear they had, both a religious and a political basis, the Commission had a religious and political bias. The riots had broken out while Mr. Gladstone was in office and Mr. Morley was Chief Secretary for Ireland, and were chiefly the outcome of their policy. But they continued at intervals during the general election that followed his defeat, and after Lord Salisbury had come into office, with Sir Michael Hicks Beach as his Irish Secretary, and the Government had trouble in the South as well as in Belfast. In fact, moonlighting and murder were the order of the night and day. But Mr. Sexton was then member for West Belfast, and he kept hammering away at Belfast as if it were the one black spot in Ireland, and his clamouring resulted in the appointment of a Commission, the Government of that day, as, indeed, all Governments since, finding it safer to placate the Nationalists and silence their clamourings by yielding to them. The Commission at first consisted of Mr. Justice Day, an Irish Roman Catholic Judge, and Mr. Richard Adams, an Irish Roman Catholic barrister. Nationalist, and ex-leader-writer for the “Freeman’s Journal” at a time when it represented something of party and power in the country, and a couple of cyphers. I use the word cyphers not in any disrespect to themselves, but in regard to their comparative helplessness in a legal inquiry of which these legal gentlemen figured. They were General Bulwer and Mr. F. Le Poer Trench, Q.C. After a time Mr. M‘Hardy, Chief Constable of Lancashire, who had police experience in that county, and a character for capacity and impartiality, was added to the Commission. From the composition of the Commission, or rather from the character of its head and its right hand, the Protestants had little hope of justice or fair play from it, but they gave a sigh of relief when they heard that one strong and independent man had been appointed upon it. And I may just say that the one strong, independent mail refused to sign the report of the other Commissioners and issued an independent one of his own. But of that anon. The secretary of the Commission was a Roman Catholic barrister from the Munster Circuit.

The Commission commenced its sittings on 4th October. Its members had attended some time before, but as rioting was still going on it was thought advisable to postpone the inquiry till the restoration of peace. There was a large Bar. Mr. James H. Campbell, the present Lord Chief Justice, then without silk, and Dr. Hans M'Mordie appeared for the Loyalist Defence Association; Mr. James Orr, Q.C., the present Co. Court Judge of Down, for the Town Council; Mr. T. L. O’Shaughnessy and Mr. J. B. M’Hugh for the Nationalists; Mr. Isaac Weir, Q.C., afterwards County Court Judge, for the Orange Institution; Mr. J. J. Shaw for an independent  local ratepayer (advised by Mr. J. C. White). I should mention that the Nationalists, though Mr. Sexton, member for West Belfast, who was much in evidence at this time, made a feint of pretesting against Mr. Justice Day as the head of the Commission. And of this I am sure, that if the Nationalists had any doubts about the Judge;s partiality towards and consideration for the Nationalists, or, at any rate, the Roman Catholics, they were removed before the days of the Commission were far spent. All that was known of Mr. Justice Day was that he was a strong Judge and a strong Roman Catholic; and if the object of a strong Judge was to get his own way, and the duty of a Roman Catholic to do the best fior his Church, Mr. Justice Day was a very strong Judge indeed. The other legal Commissioner wa Mr. Richard Adams, whom I knew intimatley in my Dublin days, and who was one of the best humorists that Ireland produced. He had been a leader writer for the “Freeman,” and was brilliant at that; but his love of humour and jest was even greater than his love of law or learning, though he had high claims to both. I am sure his presence on this Commission was one of the greatest jokes of his life, and no man enjoyed the humour of it better than he. Though I doubt if he held any strong convictions on politics or anything else, he knew better than most men how to play the game of politics, and he played it well. I often smiled at the twinkle of his eye as he relieved himself of some grave comment of humorous joke during the proceedings/ If Mr. Justice Day was a devotee, Mr. Adams was anything but that; and I am sure he must often have smiled at his superior’s religious gravity. But he knew well how to play up him, and he did. The other members of Commission were Protestants; but they were not Protestants after the assertive and aggressive manner of the chief, and did not use Protestant spectacles as often as he used Roman Catholic spectacles.

When the Commission opened, he laid down the rule that the Commission, would recognise no parties or individuals before them. When the various counsel put in a claim to be heard, including Mr. O’Shaughnessy, who said he represented the Roman Catholic bishop, which he, perhaps thought would have a mollifying effect, the President gave them very short shrift; and at the end of a short argument they all retired save Mr. Weir, who represented the police. This action of the President created dissatisfaction on all sides, and strong representations were made to the Chief Secretary, with the result that in a few days the counsel were allowed to appear, but were received anything but graciously by the President, at any rate so far as they represented the Protestants.

The inquiry last nearly three weeks, and over one hundred witnesses were examined, including police officers and men, military officers, magistrates — stipendiary and local, the Mayor (Sir E. J. Harland), and the Town Clerk (Mr. Samuel Black), and all sorts of men; and some who were victims of attack, and some who were responsible for attacks — but, of course, in the execution of their duty. It transpired during the inquiry that three or four hundred policemen and a large number of soldiers and civilians were injured and several deaths, and that the value of property destroyed was about £290,000. It transpired certainly that there was a limitless destroying of property; that stoning and looting, rioting and shooting were general, and in all cases reckless by the people, and in many cases reckless by the police. It transpired that there was a great want of leadership among the authorities, and that the Resident Magistrates blamed the local magistrates, and the local magistrates blamed the Resident Magistrates. But it is only fair to say that so far as the R.M.'s were concerned, most of the criticism was directed against Colonel Forbes, the Protestant magistrate, and not Mr. M'Carthy, the Resident Magistrate. Though Colonel Forbes was offensive in his evidence with regard both to magistrates and Protestant clergymen, he was specially so in regard to the Rev. Hugh Hanna; but in justice to the clergyman I must say he gave as good as he got. Not a little of the evidence was directed against Dr. Hanna and Dr. Kane, and some of the police witnesses even went so far as to make insinuations against the Rev. Dr. Johnston, who had interfered in the interest of peace. To anyone who remembers Dr. Johnston the baselessness of such an insinuation is obvious; but I only mention it to show the trend of some of the official evidence at the time. There were three Protestant, or, as they were termed, Orange leaders who came in for much criticism. These were the Rev. Dr. Hanna, the Rev. Dr. Kane, and Mr. Cobain, M.P. As regards the last named, I will only say that I thought very little either of his character or judgment at the time, and much less since, and I had no sympathy at the time with much that he said and did. With regard to Dr. Hanna and Dr. Kane, they belonged to the militant school of ecclesiastics — Sir Andrew Reid, the Inspector-General, or some one at the time, represented Dr. Hanna as a combination of Julius Caesar and the Apostle Paul — and it is quite possible they may not on all points have exhibited Christian meekness or a disposition to turn the other cheek on account of the treatment they had seen meted out to Protestants by many of the police. As I indicated previously, I did not adopt the cry of “Morley’s murderers” as applicable to the police, or adopt the suggestion that they had been sent from the South on Mr Morley’s order to shoot down the Protestants of Belfast. I had no doubt personally at the time that such a statement was both improbable and untrue, and did not need the official denial of Sir Andrew Reid, the Inspector-General, who, however, made it at the inquiry to confirm my belief. But, as a matter of fact, and no doubt of necessity, a good many Southern police were sent into Belfast. And when they came, they did not hesitate to shoot. In his evidence at the Commission the Rev. Dr. Johnston swore that he had seen half a dozen of them, who had been doing considerable sniping before, keep on firing along a street and at houses after everyone had fled from the street.

My own idea of their action, founded on my Southern experience of the opinion that in my time there prevailed in the South about the Orangemen of the North and among the classes from which police would have been selected. The popular idea then was that the Orangemen of the North were huge giants, who went up and down stoning or bludgeoning every Roman Catholic that came into their path. And when these sons of the South got to Belfast, and the chance of giving the Orangemen something in return, they did not hesitate to make the beet of the opportunity. And much of it may have been due to panic as well as the lack of co-ordination that existed among the authorities, for at times, from all I heard before and from all I heard at the inquiry, it was difficult to know with whom the authority rested. While I believe there was a little of both considerations I have mentioned as influencing individuals or squads, I did not, and could not, believe that their action was as bad as it was represented at the time, and that if there was panic on the part of some police, there was also panic on the part of some of the people. I have had intimate association with the police North and South for nearly half a century, and whether from the North or South I am bound to confess that they have, in the main, done their duty to Crown and country with great courage and impartiality, and under great stress and difficulty and danger. And while, perhaps, I could not agree with all the official white-washing they received from the Commission, I am confident that in the general they may not have acted as outrageously as the Protestants at the time thought. But I would be a traitor to truth if I did not say that many of them acted rudely and roughly, and even outrageously. The feeling against them, as was proved at the inquiry, was very strong; and I have no doubt that that feeling did much to prolong the riots and add to the bitterness on the part of the populace as well as the police. There was one striking incident of this. At one time the feeling on the Shankill Road was almost uncontrollable, and it was against the police and not against the military, or, to be more strictly accurate, against the Southern police; and the Rev. Dr. Johnston made an earnest authorities to withdraw the police from the road altogether. This was done for several days, and the military were left in charge and I must admit that, though the riots did not end, the fury of them lessened far the time.

The Commissioners’ report was published in January of ’87 — the Commission sat in October, ’86. It created a good deal of stir and a good deal of interest and a good deal of ridicule. When the great Dr. Johnson was replying in the House of Commons he said he took care that the Whig dogs would not have the best of it. The Commission, in their report, took care that the Protestant dogs would not have the best of it. At any rate that is the impression I retain of it. The Nationalists and their priests were largely represented as innocent and pacific lambs, and the Protestants, lay and clerical, as something, quite different. One of the pointed references is that while twenty-eight Roman Catholic public-houses were wrecked, only two Protestant public-houses were wrecked, by way of suggesting the moderation of the Roman Catholic rioters as compared with the Protestants. But as a matter of fact, I question if there were twenty-eight public-houses in the entire area or even in the entire area owned by Protestants, so that the small number of such houses wrecked did not suggest a sparing of Protestant by Roman Catholic and a systematic attack of Roman Catholics by Protestants. And I suspect love of loot and liquor had much to do with the destruction of these houses. The Commissioners made many suggestions as to the police and the magistrates; but I cannot say how many of them were carried out. So far as the constabulary are concerned, they are still under a Commissioner, but there has been no conflict worthy the name between them and the public since. There was a time when many of us thought the police might have done more than they did at the early stage of the labour troubles; but at that time politics came in, and the the police had to act under orders. Neither is there any change in the magistracy. We have still two Resident Magistrates, and any number of borough magistrates; in fact, they seem almost to be without limit. It was alleged by Colonel Forbes during the Commission that the magistrates attended cases of party, and acted in the interest of the party, with a special shot at the Protestant magistrates. I do not know how far that has changed since. But I have heard again and again that whether magistrates attend now in the interests of party they sometimes attend in the interests of publicans, so that it is almost as difficult for the police to get convictions against a publican as it would be to get the National Anthem sung at a Nationalist meeting. However, for my part I am done with ’86 and its riots, and hope done with rioting for ever so far as Belfast is concerned. Its one object now is to get on with the war and work for the war, and its object in the past has been to get on with industry and unity in the only sense in which both are possible. I only recall these memories as a matter of history, and in one respect a painful history, but one suggestiveness of a partisanship which, under certain auspices, has never changed.



To be continued...


From The Witness, 20th April 1917.

The "Man in the Street" was the pen name of Alexander McMonagle, editor and manager of The Witness and Ulster Echo.

Fifty Years of Belfast Life (1866-1917) part 40

By “THE MAN IN THE STREET.”

XL

My mind and my inquiries are still associated with 1886. I have now to refer to one of the darkest of these, and I do so with considerable diffidence and pain. But I feel that it would be like a performance of “Hamlet” with the Prince’s part out if I did not allude to the riots of that year. It is not to revive unpleasant associations, but to complete historic memories that I do so. The events left painful impressions on all who had regard for the good name and character of the city, and made very discreditable reading both in fact and comments in the Press of the day. “Rioting in Belfast” was a regular headline in the English Press for weeks, with varying and exciting sub-headings, which filled us with shame. The reason this feature remains strongly with me is that not for my sins, but for my health, I spent some weeks in England at the time, and had to hide my head for shame morning after morning as the other guests at the same health establishment discussed and bitterly commented on the news. There was some rioting in June, but this had come to an end before I left; and it was with amazement I heard and read of the renewed outbreaks. I read of wreckings and shootings, of murders and lootings. I read in one set of papers about Shankill Road rowdies and ruffians; and in another of the Falls Road rowdies and ruffians; and according to the paper I read it was one or other of these that caused all the trouble. And I well remember on the morning of my return, that a deputation of the local authorities waited on me appealing to me not to follow some journals and some citizens in the cry of “Morley’s murderers,” but to endeavour to calm the wild spirit that was abroad.

I may say, however, that neither the able deputy who represented me in my absence or myself ever adopted the phrase “Morley’s murderers” — it was the term applied by many Protestants to the Southern police, who had been brought into the city in large numbers, Mr. Morley being then Chief Secretary — though neither he nor I could regard with equanimity all we heard and read about the excesses, at any rate alleged, regarding the constabulary.

These riots formed the subject of inquiry I before a Royal Commission, which dealt with more or less — in some cases I could not at that time help thinking less — impartiality the whole business. But to begin at the beginning, I find the following account of the beginning of the riots in “Irving’s Annals of the Time,” under date June 4, 1886: — “A fatal riot occurs in Belfast between about 2,000 shipwrights and a body of navvies, the latter of whom are employed at the Alexandra Dock. The occurrence was brought about by a dispute two days since, in the course of which one of the navvies was wounded with a spade, the result being that his assailants, who were shipwrights, were dismissed from their employment. Their dismissal of their fellow-workmen exasperated the shipwrights, and at dinner hour yesterday they marched in a body to the dock, and fell upon the navvies with bludgeons and iron bars, wounding several of them severely, and chasing a number of them into the water, one young man being drowned.” As this is an outside, and, I presume, impartial record, I reproduce it, merely saying that in a few days all was quiet at the docks and in the Queen’s Island. I may here remark that Sir Edward Harland, who was Mayor at the time, in his evidence at the Commission said he had threatened to close the yard if there was any more disturbance or interference with workers; and that, in his opinion, ended the trouble at the dock. But the area of trouble extended to other areas, and following the funeral of the Roman Catholic boy who was drowned in the Alexandra Dock attack. There were attacks and counter-attacks — we are now familiar with this phrase in more extended warfare — spreading through all the streets between the Falls and the Shankill Roads. These roads and the intervening streets were the scenes of wrecking and looting and shooting and bludgeoning that for the time kept a great part of the city in a state of terror. This continued for several days, and, I might say, nights; and then came a lull, broken only by trials of prisoners arrested by the police, inquests on persons who had been killed, and in one case at any rate a charge of wilful murder against some member of the Royal Irish Constabulary unknown.

Then came the Twelfth of July, and one of the largest Orange processions for many years. It was stated at the time that 40,000 or 50,000 took part in the march through the city. The Rev. R. R. Kane, Grand Master of the Orangemen, headed the procession. He was a man of note in his day, of great physical stature and great physical energy, and by no means a man who would turn his cheek to the smiter. Personally he was most amiable; but when the fire of strong feeling lit up his eye and his pride as an Orangeman and a Protestant was roused there was no idea of halting or half measures with him. However, the day passed over in peace, and it was noticeable that in his speech the Grand Master showered eulogies on Lord Hartington and Mr. Bright, which was probably the first time he had said a good or kind word about Liberals in his life. The day following, however, a change came over the spirit of the local dream. An Orange drumming party leaving Grosvenor Street to take part in the opening of an Orange Hall was stoned by the Roman Catholics, and the Protestants, as the reports of the “Echo” said at the time, retorted in kind. Then we had some days more, during which, among others, a private soldier was shot. And again a lull. But in August, after the break-up of a Sunday-School party in connection with St. Enoch’s Church, (the Rev. Dr. Hanna), there was some house-wrecking and then stones and fury for several days. Here is the way in which the reporter of the “Echo,” who was something of a humorist, commences his notes of one day’s proceedings:— “In town to-day heaps of stones in various parts of the well-known districts classified as disturbed testify to the valour and right of the men who engage in stone-throwing as a pleasant recreation. We have surfeit of this class of amusement, however, and so have the police, and the sooner an end is put to this disgraceful sport the better. Two companies of the ‘Black Watch’ — a Highland regiment that has made for itself a reputation and a name — arrived in Belfast this afternoon. They were heartily received as they passed through the streets,” But the rioting went on without intermission till the end of the month, when the feeling calmed down, and triais of rioters, with a Royal Commission, were the only things that occupied the newspapers of the day.

I will not trouble my readers or myself to detail the amount of damage done to property and to life and limb during the weeks that the riots continued. Bad as the loss in all these respects, the feeling created in regard to the Royal Irish Constabulary was, if possible, worse. Mr. John Morley was Chief Secretary at the time, and he was credited with having made a statement previous to this that the Royal Irish Constabulary would soon put down Belfast opposition to Home Rule. At the outbreak of the riots a force of police, chiefly from the South and West, were imported into Belfast; and it was alleged by the Protestants of the class affected that they did not spare their truncheons or their firearms against the Protestants. I cannot offer an opinion on that point; but I will say that on my return to Belfast allegations of their barbarity met me at every step, and from the class of men far removed from association with Orangemen or the Shankill Road so far as that represented the fighting element in the body. Mr. Morley denied the charge that he had sent down Southern policemen to shoot Belfast Protestants, which was the crude way in which it was popularly expressed. But certainly the presence of these police did not smooth matters down at the time, and especially on the Shankill Road. In fact, for several days the police were kept off the Shankill Road, the military doing all the work, and to judge from their looks and words did not relish doing what they termed police duty. I may say that the Rev. Dr. Hanna and the Rev. Dr. Kane did not spare the police, and attributed the continuation of the riots to their presence and action and the feeling they provoked. Of course, both gentlemen were called firebrands by the authorities, and not the least by Colonel Forbes, the Resident Magistrate, whom Dr. Hanna afterwards refused to meet even officially on account of some things that he had said. I have no desire to discuss these matters at this time of the day; but I may say this, that I suspect there were clergymen on the other side who did as much as they did to fan the popular flame, if it needed fanning. But they did not do it so openly. Their case then, as now, is that all the Roman Catholics are harmless, innocent lambs, who are always the victims, and act in self-defence and in the way of reprisals. They were like the Germans. They laid in a fine stock of stones to prepare for eventualities, and then pleaded that it was the Protestants who provoked them. We were told that it was the Protestants who provoked the riots originally, and on account of Home Rule. But no account was taken of the provocation of the navvies at the docks by telling the Protestants that when they had Home Rule there would be no work for the Protestants. It is true the Protestants should not have minded that. But then Protestants cannot conceal their feelings and reserve their wrath so that they may appear to be provoked and net provokers, as their opponents can do. Take an example. The year before the war, on the eve of the Twelfth of July, I was myself asked a Roman Catholic in a shop where I was making a purchase if I was going to the demonstration on the “Twelfth.” I said I was not sure. I was told that I should go, as it was likely it would be the last chance I would have. I need not say this did not irritate or aggravate me. I merely smiled. But if such a suggestion, with its natural inference, were made to the men, say, on the Queen's Island, I am not sure that it would have made them less determined that it would not be the last.

I hope to refer to the Commission of Inquiry into the riots and its composition and report next week.



To be continued...


From The Witness, 13th April 1917.

The "Man in the Street" was the pen name of Alexander McMonagle, editor and manager of The Witness and Ulster Echo.

Britain's Foes

Our homes in these Western Islands, the land of the brave and the free,
Are encompassed by mountains and rivers, and valleys delightful to see.
We rise to our toil in the morning, and work while the children play;
In safety we lie down and slumber when night brings the close of the day.

We love the dear land of our childhood, where our forefathers suffered and bled,
We cherish the freedom they purchased, and honour the glorified dead.
See the sweet-smelling hedgerows in blossom, the forest when summer is nigh;
The fields of the ripening harvest, or the leaves as in autumn they die.

Visit the lakes of England, the valleys and mountains of Wales,
The moors and the lochs of Scotland, or Ireland’s glens and dales;
Hear the wildbirds in the the morning as with joy they break forth into song,
Then you’ll know why we love our dear homeland, why we love it so deep and so strong.

To protect and defend our possessions our gallant forefathers have fought,
And freedom from foreign invasion our fleets on the Ocean have brought.
We have prospered beyond expectation, like bee-hives bur cities are filled;
We opened our doors to all nations, tho’ many industries were killed.

Did they all love and value this freedom, and in midst of us loyally live?
No! the Germans were plotting against us, they had nothing but hatred to give.
Their spies were all over these islands, in our army, our workshops, and fleets;
In positions of trust and of power, ay, and some of them played on our streets.

They envied Old England her glory, and her Colonies over the seas,
“Britannia, the pride of the ocean,” they hoped to bring down on her knees.
Yet a foe more aggressive and cruel is stalking through Britain to-day,
Whom we must endeavour to shackle, and deprive of his powerful sway.

This, foe, ever lusting for conquest, who desires to make you his slave,
Is the fiend from the darkest of regions, sending noble men down to the grave.
Rise up in your might and defeat him, by sacrifice you will succeed;
King George set a noble example, and expects you to follow his lead.

This enemy enters your dwelling as a friend, though a foe in disguise,
And many a home that was happy he destroyed with his treacherous lies.
To eject him for ever from Britain unite in your strength one and all,
And fight in a fight to a finish, against this foe, King Alcohol.

William Maxwell, Londonderry. 20th March, 1917.

Poem: The Witness, 30th March 1917.
Image: Bar scene by Norman Cornish

Templepatrick Graveyard, Donaghadee, Co. Down

Last year I made a little visit to Templepatrick graveyard which is on the seaward side of the road from Donaghadee to Millisle. Although referred to as Templepatrick it is actually situated in the adjoining townland of Miller Hill.

Map showing Miller Hill townland from c19th on Ordnance Survey Ireland.

There appears to be no known history of the site and all traces of a church there have disappeared although a map of the area in Taylor & Skinners Maps of Ireland, 1777, shows church ruins there. There was reputedly a well on the seaward side of the graveyard known as St. Patrick's well and a tradition that St. Patrick once landed here. There is also a small watch-house in the centre of the graveyard.

From Taylor & Skinners Maps of Ireland, 1777

The graveyard is very overgrown and the graves are tightly packed but most of the headstones are of local slate and are still fairly legible.

Most of the inscriptions prior to 1800 were transcribed and published in the Journal for the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland, starting in Vol. VIII, page. 518. I have transcribed these and they can be found on my website here. There are 190 inscriptions recorded, the oldest date of death recorded is 1678.

A number of photographs I took can be found on my Facebook page.

Later surveys have been done and one can be found online here.