On This Day / October 22, 1920
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19201022
Reference Date
19201022
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 22nd October 1920, Ballyclare-born schools inspector Samuel Weatherupp, previously kidnapped in Monaghan for opposing Irish language teaching, jumped into the Lagan in Belfast, believing he was being hunted. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Kidnap Inspector’s Jump | On This Day – 22nd October 1920
AN exciting incident occurred yesterday morning about 11am at the Albert Bridge, Belfast when a well-dressed man climbed the parapet and jumped into the Lagan, a plunge of some 30 feet as the tide was at its lowest at the time.
The identity of the man was discovered following his rescue as that of Mr Samuel Weatherupp, BA, an inspector of National Schools who figured recently in a kidnapping incident in Co Monaghan.
While examining a school there, four men entered and ordered him to accompany them.
He was placed in a car, driven to the borders of the county and told not to return. Mr Weatherupp had been antagonistic to the Irish language being taught in schools.
Following his leap yesterday morning, he stuck in the mud and the depth of the water only reached his waistline.
An exciting 15 minutes elapsed before he was rescued by a passing lighter [ a coal barge on the Lagan Canal].
A rope was suspended from the bridge parapet but the man was too far down the river for it to reach him.
Constable McNulty, Mountpottinger Barracks, a proficient swimmer, and a civilian made praiseworthy attempts to go out to him but had to desist owing to the treacherous mud and the fact that the river for a good distance was only a foot or so deep.
At length, a small flat-bottomed punt was secured by a man at the Electric Station nearby. Meanwhile the scene was being watched by thousands.
The boatman soon reached Mr Weatherupp who was observed to be gesticulating in a wild manner and attached the suspended rope about his body.
At this stage the punt filled with water and sank, but the boatman clung to the rope and a lighter coming on the scene, both men were pulled aboard.
Mr Weatherupp was conveyed to the Union Hospital [Lisburn Road] in the ambulance.
It is stated that he seemed obsessed with the delusion that four men were tracking him down to shoot him.
Save for the lengthy immersion, he appeared to have sustained no serious injury.
UVF ‘Curfew’
A NEW form of terrorism has come to light in the northern portion of Co Monaghan where in certain districts Curfew has been put in force by alleged ‘Ulster Volunteers’. Motorists out after the prescribed hour (9.30 pm) are to be fired upon.
The occurrences have caused intense ill-feeling which has been intensified by the recent fatal shooting of Michael Kelly.
(Editor’s note: The sad case of Ballyclare-born Samuel Weatherupp and the sectarian reprisals which followed it characterised this period in rural Ulster.)
On This Day – 22nd October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19201022
Reference Date
19201022
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 22nd October 1920, Ballyclare-born schools inspector Samuel Weatherupp, previously kidnapped in Monaghan for opposing Irish language teaching, jumped into the Lagan in Belfast, believing he was being hunted. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Kidnap Inspector’s Jump | On This Day – 22nd October 1920
AN exciting incident occurred yesterday morning about 11am at the Albert Bridge, Belfast when a well-dressed man climbed the parapet and jumped into the Lagan, a plunge of some 30 feet as the tide was at its lowest at the time.
The identity of the man was discovered following his rescue as that of Mr Samuel Weatherupp, BA, an inspector of National Schools who figured recently in a kidnapping incident in Co Monaghan.
While examining a school there, four men entered and ordered him to accompany them.
He was placed in a car, driven to the borders of the county and told not to return. Mr Weatherupp had been antagonistic to the Irish language being taught in schools.
Following his leap yesterday morning, he stuck in the mud and the depth of the water only reached his waistline.
An exciting 15 minutes elapsed before he was rescued by a passing lighter [ a coal barge on the Lagan Canal].
A rope was suspended from the bridge parapet but the man was too far down the river for it to reach him.
Constable McNulty, Mountpottinger Barracks, a proficient swimmer, and a civilian made praiseworthy attempts to go out to him but had to desist owing to the treacherous mud and the fact that the river for a good distance was only a foot or so deep.
At length, a small flat-bottomed punt was secured by a man at the Electric Station nearby. Meanwhile the scene was being watched by thousands.
The boatman soon reached Mr Weatherupp who was observed to be gesticulating in a wild manner and attached the suspended rope about his body.
At this stage the punt filled with water and sank, but the boatman clung to the rope and a lighter coming on the scene, both men were pulled aboard.
Mr Weatherupp was conveyed to the Union Hospital [Lisburn Road] in the ambulance.
It is stated that he seemed obsessed with the delusion that four men were tracking him down to shoot him.
Save for the lengthy immersion, he appeared to have sustained no serious injury.
UVF ‘Curfew’
A NEW form of terrorism has come to light in the northern portion of Co Monaghan where in certain districts Curfew has been put in force by alleged ‘Ulster Volunteers’. Motorists out after the prescribed hour (9.30 pm) are to be fired upon.
The occurrences have caused intense ill-feeling which has been intensified by the recent fatal shooting of Michael Kelly.
(Editor’s note: The sad case of Ballyclare-born Samuel Weatherupp and the sectarian reprisals which followed it characterised this period in rural Ulster.)
On This Day – 22nd October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19201022
Reference Date
October 22, 2020
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 22nd October 1920, Ballyclare-born schools inspector Samuel Weatherupp, previously kidnapped in Monaghan for opposing Irish language teaching, jumped into the Lagan in Belfast, believing he was being hunted. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Kidnap Inspector’s Jump | On This Day – 22nd October 1920
AN exciting incident occurred yesterday morning about 11am at the Albert Bridge, Belfast when a well-dressed man climbed the parapet and jumped into the Lagan, a plunge of some 30 feet as the tide was at its lowest at the time.
The identity of the man was discovered following his rescue as that of Mr Samuel Weatherupp, BA, an inspector of National Schools who figured recently in a kidnapping incident in Co Monaghan.
While examining a school there, four men entered and ordered him to accompany them.
He was placed in a car, driven to the borders of the county and told not to return. Mr Weatherupp had been antagonistic to the Irish language being taught in schools.
Following his leap yesterday morning, he stuck in the mud and the depth of the water only reached his waistline.
An exciting 15 minutes elapsed before he was rescued by a passing lighter [ a coal barge on the Lagan Canal].
A rope was suspended from the bridge parapet but the man was too far down the river for it to reach him.
Constable McNulty, Mountpottinger Barracks, a proficient swimmer, and a civilian made praiseworthy attempts to go out to him but had to desist owing to the treacherous mud and the fact that the river for a good distance was only a foot or so deep.
At length, a small flat-bottomed punt was secured by a man at the Electric Station nearby. Meanwhile the scene was being watched by thousands.
The boatman soon reached Mr Weatherupp who was observed to be gesticulating in a wild manner and attached the suspended rope about his body.
At this stage the punt filled with water and sank, but the boatman clung to the rope and a lighter coming on the scene, both men were pulled aboard.
Mr Weatherupp was conveyed to the Union Hospital [Lisburn Road] in the ambulance.
It is stated that he seemed obsessed with the delusion that four men were tracking him down to shoot him.
Save for the lengthy immersion, he appeared to have sustained no serious injury.
UVF ‘Curfew’
A NEW form of terrorism has come to light in the northern portion of Co Monaghan where in certain districts Curfew has been put in force by alleged ‘Ulster Volunteers’. Motorists out after the prescribed hour (9.30 pm) are to be fired upon.
The occurrences have caused intense ill-feeling which has been intensified by the recent fatal shooting of Michael Kelly.
(Editor’s note: The sad case of Ballyclare-born Samuel Weatherupp and the sectarian reprisals which followed it characterised this period in rural Ulster.)
On This Day – 22nd October 1920
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.