the mac nessa, prince of murrisk, claimed descent from one of the nine hostages; and though proud of his lineage, he was still prouder of the boast that, up to comparatively recent times, not one of his ancestors had died in his bed. a violent death in some form or other, chiefly the “middoge,” accounting for one and all.
murrisk abbey is a modern house, as old places go in ireland, but in the grounds there are the ruins of a very old castle, built in the days when the o’fogartys ruled a countryside as far horse could gallop in any direction during the hours of daylight. here the mac nessa had spent most of his life, hunting, shooting, fishing, and farming, and incidentally bringing up a family of two sons and four daughters.
both the sons, cormac and dominic, had served during the war in the british army. dominic willingly and eagerly, and cormac, the elder, only because he feared his father, who was a staunch loyalist.
the spring of 1919 found the two brothers 192at home. cormac for good and all as he believed, and dominic until he could decide how and where to make a living.
in england there is nowadays a large class whose one and only object in life appears to be to take sides with any and every enemy of their country, be he boer, boche, bolshevik, or sinn feiner. this party never ceases to aid and abet these enemies by every means in their power, short of endangering their own skins, and at the same time never let an opportunity pass of accusing our soldiers and police (in ireland) of every abominable crime which man has been known to commit. during the war this class of englishmen greatly puzzled and irritated the french, as they have every nation that has ever admired the british as a race. a french interpreter once said to a british officer, “many of your race are noble, the rest are swine.”
in ireland, by some lucky chance, we have escaped this detestable and despicable breed of man, to whom a sincere rebel is infinitely preferable, but at the same time we have a class of men and women who are first cousins to them. in many good irish families, noted for generations past for their unswerving loyalty, there is often one member who is an out-and-out rebel. luckily he or she has generally less brains than the rest of the family, and is looked upon as a harmless lunatic, and one of the crosses which have to be borne in the world.
a plausible reason often advanced for this 193sporadic appearance of a rebel in a loyal family is the complete lack of conversation at the dinner-table, once sport has been exhausted, when all members of a family see eye to eye in politics; and as a “mutual admiration society” quickly palls on many young men and women, one member expresses contrary political opinions to the others out of pure cussedness, and the anger and recriminations of the rest quickly turn the bored jibber into a red-hot rebel.
not many weeks after the brothers had returned home from the war, cormac, who had spent many hours of his youth reading books and pamphlets on the wrongs england had inflicted on ireland instead of hunting and shooting, and had even appeared at breakfast once in a weird ginger-coloured kilt, raised the red flag of sinn fein one evening at the dinner-table. probably he did it from sheer boredom, hoping to draw his father into a wordy argument and so pass the time. the result, however, had a far-reaching effect on the lives of both cormac and dominic.
the mac nessa was a big man and cormac was not, and but for the intervention of dominic, the elder son would probably have had an unpleasant and painful eviction from the dinner-table. however, the old chieftain controlled himself with a great effort, but as soon as the servants had withdrawn he ordered cormac to leave the house the following morning for good and all, and in a sullen rage cormac stalked out of the room.
194leaving word with the butler to pack his kit, cormac made his way to the house of the parish priest, about two and a half miles from the abbey, where, being a roman catholic, he hoped to receive sympathy.
if there is one church in the world which might be expected to range itself wholeheartedly on the side of law and order it is the church of rome, whose very existence depends on obedience, and it must have been a source of wonder to many english people why, at the very beginning of the sinn fein movement, this church did not at once come into the open and denounce sinn fein from the altar in plain and unmistakable terms. any thinking priest must know that under a semi-bolshevik republic the power of the roman catholic church would be gone, and gone for ever.
cormac found the old priest kind and gentle as ever, but firm in his refusal to listen to any sinn fein views, and in a fresh rage he left to make his way to the curate’s lodging in a neighbouring farmhouse, and here he was received with open arms.
the curate quickly perceived what a valuable recruit cormac might make, and before he left to spend his last night at the abbey, took advantage of the boy’s excited mood to make him swear to join the i.r.a.
after a very early breakfast, cormac left his home on the fifteen-mile drive to ballybor, where he caught the mail train for dublin, his heart full of hatred of his family, and his mind set on revenge.
195a week of dirty dublin lodgings convinced cormac that he had made a fool of himself, and putting his pride in his pocket, he wrote to his father asking to be allowed to return home. by return of post came a typewritten post-card from the mac nessa to the effect that while he lived no rebel should ever darken his door.
that evening two strangers called at his rooms, and after making certain of his identity, explained that a message had been received at the sinn fein headquarters in dublin from father michael of murrisk that cormac was prepared to join in the sinn fein movement, and offering him a high-sounding position. cormac’s vanity was flattered, and he accepted at once.
knowing that cormac’s name would carry great weight with many half-hearted supporters and waverers, the sinn fein leaders employed him solely on propaganda work, sending him to every part of the country, not excepting the north, to speak at meetings, and always taking good care that his name appeared in large letters on the posters, and kind friends were not wanting to send the mac nessa cuttings of his son’s speeches from every irish and english paper in which they appeared.
during his travels cormac at different times met in trains and hotels many friends of his own class, who one and all, to their great credit, refused to speak to him, and this treatment embittered him still more against all loyalists, more especially against his father and brother.
196after one trip to a town in the south, where he had tried to enter a club, and had been ejected by the hall porter, he offered himself on his return to dublin for “active service,” and was at once sent to the ballybor district to organise outrages, the sinn fein leaders knowing that the name of o’fogarty was one to conjure with in that country even in these days.
in the meantime dominic had been asked by the authorities to join the newly-formed auxiliary division of the r.i.c., in order that his knowledge of the ballybor country might be utilised, and after a short training in dublin found himself quartered in ballybor with a platoon of cadets.
by a coincidence the two brothers arrived in ballybor within a week of each other, cormac an avowed sinn feiner, and dominic an officer in the auxiliaries, who were about to take on the rebels at their own breed of warfare.
every kind of news travels fast in country districts in ireland, and within twelve hours of the brothers’ arrival it is doubtful if you could have found, even in the mountains of ballyrick, a child who did not know of the o’fogartys’ return. moreover, there is nothing an irishman loves more than a fight, and one between two brothers of the best-known family in three counties, with armed men at their back, was something worth looking forward to, even in these days of murder and outrage. and at local race-meetings in the 197west bets were freely taken on the issue of the fight between cormac and dominic o’fogarty.
all thought of king or republic was now completely forgotten in ballybor, and for many miles around the countryside was divided into two camps. most of the volunteers, all nominally, were for cormac, whilst all loyalists and a good many volunteers secretly supported dominic, with the result that, so keen were both sides to outman?uvre each other, the police obtained far more information than they had for a long time past.
dominic made up his mind to take the offensive straight away, and learning from one of his volunteer sympathisers that his brother, when in ballybor, always slept in the house of a man called ryan, made arrangements to raid the place, and at any rate to put cormac out of action for some time to come.
however, cormac learning of his brother’s kindly intention, thought that it would be an excellent opportunity to raid murrisk for arms on that particular night, and incidentally to get some of his own back from his father. leaving ballybor as soon as it was dark with a dozen men, they bicycled to murrisk, and after parking their machines in a wood near the main road, proceeded to knock up the house. the butler opened the door, but did not recognise cormac in a mask, though his walk seemed vaguely familiar to him.
the mac nessa was no coward, and on entering the inner hall, the raiders found themselves 198covered by the old man with a double-barrelled shot-gun. cormac had expected that his father would show fight, and knowing where the electric light switch was in the hall, had arranged with his men that when he turned the light off they should throw themselves flat on the floor.
as the light went out the mac nessa fired both barrels, which went harmlessly over the raiders’ heads, and before he could reload they had him down and tied up. cormac then turned on the light, and by now, half-mad with rage and excitement, would have gone for his father; but his men kept him back, and when they had secured all the arms in the house under cormac’s directions, they hustled him away.
in the meantime dominic with a party of cadets had raided ryan’s house, but, of course, drew blank.
early the next morning a mounted messenger brought word to the barracks in ballybor that cormac and a party of armed and masked men had raided murrisk during the night and removed all arms and ammunition. that afternoon dominic put up large notices all over ballybor to the effect that if he caught cormac in the town he would horsewhip him in the market-place.
both the town and countryside were in a wild state of excitement after the murrisk raid, cormac’s supporters acclaiming his victory, while dominic’s could only reply, “wait and see.” and so keen were dominic’s party 199to help their man, that information of every possible kind and description literally poured into the barracks by every post.
like children, as ever, the people quickly forgot that they were either loyalists or rebels, the blood-feud between the two brothers being far more interesting and exciting; and it is probable that, if only sufficient arms had been forthcoming on both sides, the brothers’ feud would have developed into a pitched battle, and if the police had interfered both parties would then have joined forces and turned on the common enemy.
after leaving murrisk, cormac, knowing that ballybor would now be too hot for him, made for some caves in the slievenamoe mountains to the east of the town, and here he remained. some time before these caves had been fitted up like dug-outs in france, while the food supply gave no difficulty, every house at the foot of the mountains having to supply rations on requisition for any gunmen using these caves. here cormac had plenty of time on his hands, and thought out a clever plan to put dominic out of action.
shortly before cormac raided murrisk, a new and simple manager had arrived at one of the ballybor banks. the arrival of a new bank manager in an irish provincial town is always the signal for all in financial difficulties to get busy and try their luck with the fresh arrival, and amongst the new manager’s first visitors came the urban council, who by sheer bluff managed to get their already big overdraft 200increased by some thousand pounds. a fresh election being within sight, they then proceeded to borrow a derelict steam-roller from the county council, who had practically ceased to function, and to spend the money steam-rolling the streets of ballybor. in this way they hoped to catch the votes of the labourers by the payment of high wages, and of the shopkeepers and owners of cars by improved streets.
being in a great hurry to get on with the good work, they forgot that the streets had never been steam-rolled before, and that the gas-and water-pipes were very near the surface, with the result that for every yard of street the roller passed over one or more gas- or water-pipes burst, and the town soon smelt like the inside of a gas-works.
the consequent proceedings give a very fair idea of the celtic capacity for public affairs, and of how the country would be run under “home rule,” or any other kind of rule except the “union.”
instead of stopping the steam-rolling until all mains and pipes had been relaid at a sufficient depth to resist the rolling, they solemnly proceeded to roll, burst, and mend from one end of the main street to the other, to the huge delight of all the local plumbers, who also had votes.
luckily the money was exhausted by the time the main street was finished, and though the greater part of the surface was excellent, the ridges made by digging up the pipes at 201intervals would break the axle of an unsuspecting stranger’s car, to the great benefit of the local garages.
the police barracks at ballybor are situated in a “cul-de-sac” off the main street, at the corners of which stand the principal hotel and a bank, and all cars going to or from the barracks must pass this corner.
word was brought to cormac in his mountain dug-out that his brother left ballybor barracks early every morning with a crossley full of cadets, and that they spent the whole day and often most of the night searching the surrounding country for him. before leaving ballybor he had witnessed the steam-rolling comic opera, and bicycling by night to ballybor, he lay up during the day, got in touch with a plumber, borrowed his tools and barrow, and late that afternoon (in the plumber’s clothes, and slouch hat pulled well over his face) started to dig up the road between the bank and the hotel.
human nature always seems to regard the digging up of a street in the light of a huge joke, and during his work cormac was not only chaffed by the bank manager and the hotel loafers, but by the police themselves. when it was dusk he was joined by a volunteer with a charge of gelignite, which had been raided from a government ship off the south-east coast and brought to the west by car, and the two proceeded to lay a contact-mine in the centre of the road. they then filled in the earth, returned the tools and 202barrow to the plumber, and bicycled back to the mountains.
while cormac was busy laying his mine, dominic and blake were poring over an ordnance-map in the barracks not sixty yards away. having come to the conclusion that it was quite useless to search the countryside piecemeal, and hearing a rumour of what was going on in the mountains through one of the forced food contractors having made a bitter complaint to a passing police patrol, they were now planning to surround the southern half of the slievenamoe mountains, and organising a great drive, and the next two days were spent working out the details.
about 9 a.m. a mineral-water lorry, in order to turn, backed up the cul-de-sac, and the mine being well and truly laid, disappeared in a sheet of flame, wrecking the bank and hotel. hardly had the sound of the explosion died away, and before the police left the barracks to investigate, every young man in ballybor of the shopkeeper class had his bicycle out and was off as hard as he could pedal. a volunteer greatly resembles a mountain hare: directly the hunt is up he makes at top speed for high ground, and the harder you press both the faster they leg it up the mountains. blake and dominic managed to control their men, and no reprisals followed, the only arrest being the unfortunate plumber who had lent his outfit to cormac, and whose bicycle had been “borrowed” by an agitated shop-boy.
at the present time a big drive in the west 203presents great difficulties. very few, often none, of the r.i.c. or auxiliaries know anything of the many wild and mountainous parts in their districts, and the soldiers are invariably complete strangers.
to reconnoitre the ground beforehand is out of the question, and it is difficult to induce reliable guides to act.
the part of the mountains blake and dominic had selected to drive lay about nine miles due east of ballybor, divided by a deep pass from the remainder of the range to the north, and ending in a wild rocky valley intersected by the owenmore river to the south, and the total area to be covered was about eighteen square miles of mountains, glens, cliffs, and bogs. it was not possible to start operations before 3 a.m. (the month being august), and they would have to stop soon after 11 p.m. (summer time), which gave them roughly twenty hours to beat the eighteen square miles.
taking the total number of troops at their disposal, blake divided them into groups of six, giving them nearly a hundred groups. then dominic picked out from a contoured ordnance-map the same number of points surrounding the mountains, from all of which there was a good view and field of fire, and it was arranged that as many groups as possible should have either a vickers machine-gun or a lewis gun.
the actual drive was to be carried out by the police. the cadets under dominic were to start from the north end in a crescent formation 204and advance towards the highest point, which lay nearly in the centre of the area, while the r.i.c. under blake were to advance from the south.
dominic knew every yard of the mountains, having shot grouse there with his brother since boyhood, but the difficulty was to procure a guide for blake’s party, none of whom had ever set foot on the mountains. with much persuasion, however, dominic at last induced a man, who had been one of the mac nessa’s game-watchers on the mountains for years, to act as guide. this man had to be promised a large sum of money, and to save him from the revenge of sinn fein, it was arranged that directly after the drive he should be safely got away to enlist in the british army under an assumed name, and, if he wished, be sent straight off to india.
all officers and n.c.o.’s were given maps showing the position of every group marked, and it was arranged that the police should be in position at 3 a.m. and the troops half an hour later. a few days before the date fixed for the drive dominic and his auxiliaries disappeared from ballybor, and it was given out that they had gone to co. cork.
sharp at 3 a.m., on a perfect august day, the drive began. dominic and the cadets had to start from the shores of a large lake lying in a cup at the top of the pass, and climb a thousand feet before reaching the first valley in the mountains. at the top they halted for a breather and to admire the wonderful view. 205to the east the summer sun was fast rising, all around them stretched miles of heather-clad hills, and away to the north-west lay the sea, a pearly grey-blue in the fast growing light.
after a rest dominic got his men into formation, spreading them out as far as possible without losing touch, while he kept a small party in the rear to go to any threatened point where the gunmen might try to break through the cordon. the cadets had brought their signallers with them, equipped with a heliograph and flags, who remained with the reserve party.
on reaching higher ground dominic could see with his glasses the small groups of soldiers taking up their positions, while far away in the plain to the eastward the owenmore river wound like a blue thread through the dark bogland. a cadet on his left nearly walked on a pack of grouse, which swung right-handed, passing within twenty yards of dominic, and reminding him vividly of other days.
very soon the cadets began to feel the heat of the sun, and the hard going began to tell on several of them. sitting in a crossley is bad training for walking a grouse mountain.
after going about a mile and a half a party of men were seen in front making eastward at full speed down a valley, the end of which dominic knew was held by a group of soldiers with a machine-gun. halting his men, he then brought his right wing well round so as to cut off the gunmen’s retreat to the west should they attempt to break back.
206the fleeing gunmen were soon lost sight of in dead ground, but presently the sound of firing was heard from the far end of the valley, and after a time the gunmen were seen retreating across the cadets’ front, and making as hard as they could for the west side of the mountains.
at this point blake’s men came in sight from the south, and quickly getting in touch with the cadets’ right wing, completed the cordon. the gunmen, seeing that they were surrounded and all retreat cut off, split up into two parties, took up positions on two kopjes, and waited for the attack.
as a frontal attack would have entailed heavy loss, and seeing that there was another kopje on blake’s side which would command and enfilade the gunmen’s positions, dominic ordered the cadets to pin the gunmen down by their fire, and at the same time sent a signaller to blake telling him to occupy the commanding kopje. this blake did, and also sent to the nearest group of soldiers for a machine-gun.
the fight lasted for two hours, and though the gunmen were always subject to a hot fire, and several times a man was seen to spring into the air and collapse in the heather, yet they stuck it gamely until the machine-gun was brought up and opened a heavy fire on both kopjes; the remaining gunmen then stood up and put up their hands.
on the two kopjes the police found twelve dead gunmen and twenty-eight prisoners, eighteen of whom were wounded. and amongst 207the dead dominic found cormac, shot through the heart.
after arranging for the burial of the dead (with the exception of cormac, who was carried down the mountain-side on a stretcher) and the removal of the prisoners, dominic took a party of cadets to search some caves which he knew of about half a mile to the south-west. here, as he expected, he found that the gunmen had been living in comparative comfort. one cave had been used as a living-room and contained chairs and tables, while two smaller inner ones were fitted up with bunks in tiers like a boche dug-out, and had heather for bedding.
towards evening the worn-out cadets got back to their crossleys on the pass road which ran along the north shore of the lake; and after leaving a party with a searchlight mounted on a tender to stop any stray gunmen escaping during the night on bicycles by the road to the east, dominic started for murrisk in a crossley with his brother’s body.
many an evening the two brothers had driven home together over the same road after a happy day’s grouse-shooting, never dreaming that their last journey together would be to bring cormac’s body to the home of their ancestors.
the mac nessa met the party in the great hall of murrisk, and his ancestors looking down from the walls must surely have thought that they were back again in their own times of everlasting war and sudden death.