On This Day / June 15, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
June 15, 2021
Publication Date
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Summary: On This Day – 15th June 1921, Joseph Devlin accused Crown forces of involvement in Belfast reprisals and challenged the Government over a series of controversial killings. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Devlin on Reprisals | On This Day – 15th June 1921
AT WESTMINSTER last night, Mr Joseph Devlin said they had seen how, in the supposed interest of law and order, a policy of repression unparalleled in the history of violence had been pursued by the Government in Ireland.
In Belfast they had been accustomed to Government murders and military murders embellished by all the glory of authority …
On September 26, in the early hours of Sunday morning, armed and uniformed men, wearing uniform caps, drove out to the house of a man called Edward Trodden in the Falls Road and there, in the presence of his wife and children, dragged him out into the back yard and murdered him.
They proceeded to the house of John Gaynor in Springfield Road and did this man to death in the presence of his aged mother.
They then proceeded to the house of John McFadden, Springfield Road and they murdered him.
Mr Devlin asked the Chief Secretary [Sir Hamar Greenwood] what was to be done to bring these midnight assassins to justice and [Greenwood] said these murders will be submitted to a military tribunal inquiry.
However, Mr Devlin said he had no faith in any of the Chief Secretary’s inquiries. They were brought into existence… but to cloak crime and not to expose or punish it….
What happened on Sunday [in Belfast] was that McBride, Halfpenny and Kerr were dragged out of their houses and driven to a secluded spot to be riddled with bullets.
Kerr was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians [Devlin’s organisation] and his brother was a regimental sergeant major in the Army.
The third case was that of Malachy Halfpenny (22). … He had served three and a half years with the Army in France.
An hon. member – The dirty dogs.
Mr Devlin – He was twice gassed… Four of his brothers were in the Army and one was killed in France. This was the boy who died in the night in the name of British law …
Major Prescott – Does the hon. gentleman wish the House to believe that servants of the Crown put an end to such a life? (Cheers.)
Mr Devlin said that after 10.30 p.m. no civilian and no motorcars were allowed in the streets of Belfast. Who did it if it was not done by the forces of the Crown ?
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Devlin was taking a considerable personal risk by indicting the Crown forces for the recent series of ‘reprisals’ in Belfast.
That such a police ‘murder gang’ could operate with impunity raised concerns for the safety of the Catholic minority in the new state.)
On This Day – 15th June 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.