On This Day / May 21, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210521
Reference Date
19210521
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 21st May 1921, a Catholic farmer was murdered in Tyrone amid election tensions while Joseph Devlin continued campaigning against Partition. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
Murder in Tyrone | On This Day – 21st May 1921
A SHOCKING murder occurred at Gortfad Glebe, about five miles from Cookstown, County Tyrone, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The house of Mr Joseph Hayden was forcibly entered by a gang of men who were said to have been dressed in police uniforms, armed with rifles.
The two brothers, James and Joseph Hayden, farmers, lived together. The district is entirely peopled by Protestants and the Haydens, who are a Catholic family, lived in peace and in friendly intercourse with their neighbours.
At about 3.30 a.m. yesterday morning the Hayden brothers were awakened by a knocking at their door and, in answer to his question, Who is there?’ James received the reply: ’Neighbours.’
Before he reached the door it was burst open and the intruders rushed into the bedroom, stabbing him through the lung with a bayonet.
Another member of the band rushed to the bed of the other brother, Joseph, presenting a rifle which Joseph grasped in his effort to save his life.
The man who had previously bayoneted James came to his comrade’s assistance with a loaded revolver, killing his victim who was also bayoneted in the head and body. James Hayden lies in a very critical condition.
It is the confirmed opinion of the supporters of the Anti-Partitionist candidates that this conduct is part of an organised scheme to intimidate them from expressing their free will at the forthcoming elections.
Nationalist Campaign in Down
CONTINUING his successful campaign against Partition, Mr Joseph Devlin yesterday visited County Down where he addressed three meetings in support of Mr Patrick O’Neill, Nationalist candidate.
At Ballyvarley Canon McPolin said they were engaged in a very serious fight for very important rights which were seriously threatened.
Mr O’Neill said that the Government had given this Partition Act as a ‘settlement of the Irish Question’, but it was no settlement – on the contrary.
They were not going to accept the dictation of the Ascendancy Party in Ulster and work this Act. (Cheers.)
As an instance, he referred to the breaking-up of the Labour meeting in the Ulster Hall by an Orange mob who had used the platform for an indecent and sacrilegious attack upon the Pope and the Catholic Church …
That was the first taste of what they might expect under the Partition Act.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In his published memoir of his time as an RIC officer in Cookstown, Head Constable John McKenna records that murder of Joseph Hayden and the wounding of his brother at The Rock in 1921 was carried out by B Specials and that the crime was covered up by the authorities.)
On This Day – 21st May 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210521
Reference Date
19210521
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 21st May 1921, a Catholic farmer was murdered in Tyrone amid election tensions while Joseph Devlin continued campaigning against Partition. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
Murder in Tyrone | On This Day – 21st May 1921
A SHOCKING murder occurred at Gortfad Glebe, about five miles from Cookstown, County Tyrone, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The house of Mr Joseph Hayden was forcibly entered by a gang of men who were said to have been dressed in police uniforms, armed with rifles.
The two brothers, James and Joseph Hayden, farmers, lived together. The district is entirely peopled by Protestants and the Haydens, who are a Catholic family, lived in peace and in friendly intercourse with their neighbours.
At about 3.30 a.m. yesterday morning the Hayden brothers were awakened by a knocking at their door and, in answer to his question, Who is there?’ James received the reply: ’Neighbours.’
Before he reached the door it was burst open and the intruders rushed into the bedroom, stabbing him through the lung with a bayonet.
Another member of the band rushed to the bed of the other brother, Joseph, presenting a rifle which Joseph grasped in his effort to save his life.
The man who had previously bayoneted James came to his comrade’s assistance with a loaded revolver, killing his victim who was also bayoneted in the head and body. James Hayden lies in a very critical condition.
It is the confirmed opinion of the supporters of the Anti-Partitionist candidates that this conduct is part of an organised scheme to intimidate them from expressing their free will at the forthcoming elections.
Nationalist Campaign in Down
CONTINUING his successful campaign against Partition, Mr Joseph Devlin yesterday visited County Down where he addressed three meetings in support of Mr Patrick O’Neill, Nationalist candidate.
At Ballyvarley Canon McPolin said they were engaged in a very serious fight for very important rights which were seriously threatened.
Mr O’Neill said that the Government had given this Partition Act as a ‘settlement of the Irish Question’, but it was no settlement – on the contrary.
They were not going to accept the dictation of the Ascendancy Party in Ulster and work this Act. (Cheers.)
As an instance, he referred to the breaking-up of the Labour meeting in the Ulster Hall by an Orange mob who had used the platform for an indecent and sacrilegious attack upon the Pope and the Catholic Church …
That was the first taste of what they might expect under the Partition Act.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In his published memoir of his time as an RIC officer in Cookstown, Head Constable John McKenna records that murder of Joseph Hayden and the wounding of his brother at The Rock in 1921 was carried out by B Specials and that the crime was covered up by the authorities.)
On This Day – 21st May 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210521
Reference Date
May 21, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 21st May 1921, a Catholic farmer was murdered in Tyrone amid election tensions while Joseph Devlin continued campaigning against Partition. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
Murder in Tyrone | On This Day – 21st May 1921
A SHOCKING murder occurred at Gortfad Glebe, about five miles from Cookstown, County Tyrone, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The house of Mr Joseph Hayden was forcibly entered by a gang of men who were said to have been dressed in police uniforms, armed with rifles.
The two brothers, James and Joseph Hayden, farmers, lived together. The district is entirely peopled by Protestants and the Haydens, who are a Catholic family, lived in peace and in friendly intercourse with their neighbours.
At about 3.30 a.m. yesterday morning the Hayden brothers were awakened by a knocking at their door and, in answer to his question, Who is there?’ James received the reply: ’Neighbours.’
Before he reached the door it was burst open and the intruders rushed into the bedroom, stabbing him through the lung with a bayonet.
Another member of the band rushed to the bed of the other brother, Joseph, presenting a rifle which Joseph grasped in his effort to save his life.
The man who had previously bayoneted James came to his comrade’s assistance with a loaded revolver, killing his victim who was also bayoneted in the head and body. James Hayden lies in a very critical condition.
It is the confirmed opinion of the supporters of the Anti-Partitionist candidates that this conduct is part of an organised scheme to intimidate them from expressing their free will at the forthcoming elections.
Nationalist Campaign in Down
CONTINUING his successful campaign against Partition, Mr Joseph Devlin yesterday visited County Down where he addressed three meetings in support of Mr Patrick O’Neill, Nationalist candidate.
At Ballyvarley Canon McPolin said they were engaged in a very serious fight for very important rights which were seriously threatened.
Mr O’Neill said that the Government had given this Partition Act as a ‘settlement of the Irish Question’, but it was no settlement – on the contrary.
They were not going to accept the dictation of the Ascendancy Party in Ulster and work this Act. (Cheers.)
As an instance, he referred to the breaking-up of the Labour meeting in the Ulster Hall by an Orange mob who had used the platform for an indecent and sacrilegious attack upon the Pope and the Catholic Church …
That was the first taste of what they might expect under the Partition Act.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In his published memoir of his time as an RIC officer in Cookstown, Head Constable John McKenna records that murder of Joseph Hayden and the wounding of his brother at The Rock in 1921 was carried out by B Specials and that the crime was covered up by the authorities.)
On This Day – 21st May 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.