As soon as he was reported missing, locals in Galway blamed the British crown forces. This group was made up of ex-army officers. Some of the police were ‘Black and Tans’, military veterans recently recruited from Britain, but others were Irish ‘Old’ RIC men. They also believed he may have heard the last confession of Patrick Joyce and that he knew who had abducted him. However most Republicans did not make a distinction, and “Black and Tans” was often used as a catch-all term for all police and army groups. —Lt. He details the activities of the dreaded Black and Tans, and the role played by the RIC and the mainstream British Army who were stationed in the county. The 6th Dragoon Guards were billeted at Tuam Workhouse so the Black and Tans were despatched to Annagh House, Ballyglunin which was in the … His direct family – who emigrated to Australia – always maintained his innocence of collusion allegations. For instance, Tomás Mac Curtain, the mayor of Cork, was assassinated in March 1920 by local RIC men and the massacre of 13 civilians at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday was also carried out by the RIC although a small detachment of Auxiliaries were also present. If a police barracks is burned or if the barracks already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the gutter. © Copyright 2021 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. He was moved by the injustice he witnessed around him every day due to the British occupation. In January 1921, the British Labour Commission produced a report on the situation in Ireland which was highly critical of the government’s security policy. We presume he got his nickname because of the gasworks across the street. “A lot of people don’t realise how tough life was in Galway during the War of Independence. You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time. With the Irish War of Independence going decidedly in the favour of the Revolutionaries, the British Government begin to send WW1 Veterans into Ireland to try and tip the tide-however these men have little interest in law and order. These new recruits, known as the ‘Black and Tans’, arrived in Galway from February 1920 onwards. The arrival of the Black and Tans in the autumn of 1920 brought added uncertainty and fear to the local population. They soon gained a reputation for brutality, as the RIC campaign against the IRA and Sinn Féin members was stepped up and police reprisals for IRA attacks were condoned by the government. Lionel Curtis, writing in the imperialist journal The Round Table, wrote: “If the British Commonwealth can only be preserved by such means, it would become a negation of the principle for which it has stood”. Fr Griffin was found with a bullet in his head, indicating he had been shot at close range. The actions of the Black and Tans alienated public opinion in both Ireland and Britain. The more you shoot, the better I will like you, and I assure you no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man. Starting work on its next Home Rule Act, it had to plan for a growing loss of morale in the RIC with an interim solution until the Act was ready. On 19 July, four RIC men were ambushed near Tuam, with two fatalities; the Black and Tans responded by sacking the town – the first of many such reprisals in the country. Without warrant, or charge, or proof of wrongdoing he has been deprived of his liberty and, for all we know, his life. The notorious Black and Tans (so named for their mismatching surplus uniforms) were initially a force of temporary British paramilitaries that were intended to beef up the resident Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). “The idea that a clergyman would be treated like this was a new low I think for the British forces in the city and, indeed in the country, that they had taken this action against a priest.”. The term can still stir bad reactions because of their remembered brutality. Due to the ferocity of the Tans’ behaviour in Ireland and the atrocities committed, feelings continue to run high regarding their actions. On January 20, 1921 at about 4pm, a motorised patrol of ten armed Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Black and Tans, travelling from Sixmilebridge to Broadford, approached the back gate of Glenwood House. Visit his website here - CiaranTierney.com. The first Black and Tans arrived in March 1920 where they received cursory training at a depot in the Phoenix Park; subsequent recruits were trained at Gormanstown. That legendary formidable clocking hen was part of the ancestral household of Cáit Ní Fhlaithearta (née Hernon) whose uncle Lawrence McDonogh was shot by the Black and Tans on Sunday December 19, 1920. In the summer of 1920, the Black and Tans burned and sacked many small towns and villages in Ireland, beginning with Tuam in County Galway in July 1920 and also including Trim, Balbriggan, Thurles and Templemore amongst many others. Many people had packed into Croke Park, Dublin, to watch a football match. Two members of the patrol were shot dead, Sergeant James Murrin and Constable Edgar Day. Many of the new recruits were veterans of the Great War.