On This Day / July 7, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
July 7, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 7th July 1921, archeologists were hurt in Dundalk Museum attack, Tyrone’s Daisy Hill mansion was burned and Ballymena Catholic house raids were condemned. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Attack on Heroic Site | On This Day – 7th July 1921
IN CONNECTION with the recent attempt to burn the Dundealgan Museum, located near Dundalk on a mound reputed to be the birthplace of the Fenian hero, Cuchulain, a number of local archaeologists who were at the time in the building received rather serious injuries and had many narrow escapes.
Messrs Redmond Magrath, Joseph Dolan and Matthew Berrills, who were injured in escaping from the museum when it was fired by armed men, are progressing favourably in the Louth Infirmary.
Dublin Castle issued the following report: ‘An attempt was made to set fire to the residence of Colonel Eastwood of Castletown, Dundalk.
‘The lower part of the house was saturated with paraffin oil but the flames were put out before much damage was done.
‘On the same night Dundalk Museum at Castletown was entered by a party of armed men who ordered the caretaker to leave.
‘The raiders then removed the furniture, sprinkled the building with paraffin and set it on fire.
‘The police state that it was thought locally that both buildings were to be taken over for the accommodation of Crown forces. Ravensdale Courthouse was also burned.
Mansion Burned by Raiders
DAISY Hill, about two miles from Clogher [County Tyrone], the beautiful residence of Major William Stewart, was burned to the ground on Wednesday morning by a band of about fifty or sixty armed men.
Major Stewart was roused from sleep by the barking of his dogs.
On looking out of the window he saw that the house was surrounded by armed men who shouted, ‘Surrender, we are going to burn the house. You have minutes to clear out.’
Realising that resistance was useless, Major Stewart opened the door and a number of raiders rushed in and searched the house, carrying away many articles of value.
A section of the attackers were in favour of shooting Major Stewart but the leaders decided against this.
Having sprinkled petrol over the building, the raiders set it on fire and departed
Ballymena Raids Condemned by Priest
AT EACH of the Masses in All Saints Church, Ballymena on Sunday, Canon O’Donnell made a strong protest against the recent raids by Crown forces on Catholic houses in the town.
The raids, he said, were made on the houses because their inhabitants were Catholics.There was no provocation whatever given.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Even as De Valera considered Lloyd George’s offer, the war continued along the new border.
The IRA incendiary attack on Dundalk Museum showed scant regard for a harmless group of antiquarians in the building at the time.
Meanwhile the Specials were asserting their sectarian ascendancy in Ballymena.)
On This Day – 7th July 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.