On This Day / October 28, 1920
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19201028
Reference Date
19201028
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Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 28th October 1920, Joe Devlin clashed with Sir Hamar Greenwood in the Commons over the prosecution of the Freeman’s Journal, while the body of Cork’s Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney was removed from Brixton Prison for burial. Edited by Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Greenwood’s Attack on Free Press | On This Day – 28th October 1920
IN THE House of Commons yesterday, Mr Hogg asked the chief secretary if he would state the precise charge on which the directors of the [Nationalist] Freeman’s Journal newspaper were being court-martialled.
Sir Hamar Greenwood – The charge is for spreading false reports likely to cause disaffection.
Mr Joe Devlin, MP – Is it not a fact that the reason the Freeman’s Journal is being prosecuted is because it attacked the right hon. gentleman and the Prime Minister [Lloyd George]?
Sir Hamar – It is not.
Lieutenant-Commander Kenworthy (Lib.) – Is this an attempt to hide the truth by intimidating the Press in Ireland?
Mr Devlin – And intimidate the people?
Mr Devlin said he resented the manner and method by which the Chief Secretary dealt with these horrible affairs in Ireland.
He seemed to have made up his mind to become the defender of the indefensible – to take advantage of having a majority of 350 well-intentioned but ignorant Englishmen.
He did not care about ‘the hard-faced men who had made money out of the war’ but his function was to draw attention to the appalling condition of Ireland and the responsibility of the Government and the right hon. gentleman for these horrible outrages committed against innocent people.
[Sir Hamar] denied all allegations against the forces of the Crown. He said that if any Irish newspaper uttered the slightest amount of public opinion on these infamies it would be prosecuted.
A nation that was not crushed by Cromwell would not be crushed by a Canadian who thumped the table of the House.
Lord Mayor’s Funeral
LAST evening the body of the late Lord Mayor of Cork was removed from Brixton Prison to St George’s Cathedral, Southwark and after Requiem Mass today it will be conveyed to Houston en route for Cork for burial.
The coffin, with the Sinn Fein flag as a pall, was borne to the Cathedral in a motor hearse followed by a Doil Eir-ann deputation headed by Count Plunkett. There was an orderly and reverent crowd outside the prison.
Dublin and London Irish Volunteers shared with the Cork contingent the guard duties.
Village Horror
TERRIBLE scenes, resulting in a tragedy, were enacted in the village of Skerries, fifteen miles from Dublin on Tuesday night.
John Sherlock, aged twenty-two, a farm labourer, was taken from his house by uniformed men and shot dead in a field.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: As so often in these years, the knock-out blow against the British government’s Irish policy was delivered by Joe Devlin, Falls MP and Irish News chairman.
The Freeman’s Journal (1763-1924), like the Irish News, was a consistent advocate of non-violent nationalism.)
On This Day – 28th October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19201028
Reference Date
19201028
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 28th October 1920, Joe Devlin clashed with Sir Hamar Greenwood in the Commons over the prosecution of the Freeman’s Journal, while the body of Cork’s Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney was removed from Brixton Prison for burial. Edited by Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Greenwood’s Attack on Free Press | On This Day – 28th October 1920
IN THE House of Commons yesterday, Mr Hogg asked the chief secretary if he would state the precise charge on which the directors of the [Nationalist] Freeman’s Journal newspaper were being court-martialled.
Sir Hamar Greenwood – The charge is for spreading false reports likely to cause disaffection.
Mr Joe Devlin, MP – Is it not a fact that the reason the Freeman’s Journal is being prosecuted is because it attacked the right hon. gentleman and the Prime Minister [Lloyd George]?
Sir Hamar – It is not.
Lieutenant-Commander Kenworthy (Lib.) – Is this an attempt to hide the truth by intimidating the Press in Ireland?
Mr Devlin – And intimidate the people?
Mr Devlin said he resented the manner and method by which the Chief Secretary dealt with these horrible affairs in Ireland.
He seemed to have made up his mind to become the defender of the indefensible – to take advantage of having a majority of 350 well-intentioned but ignorant Englishmen.
He did not care about ‘the hard-faced men who had made money out of the war’ but his function was to draw attention to the appalling condition of Ireland and the responsibility of the Government and the right hon. gentleman for these horrible outrages committed against innocent people.
[Sir Hamar] denied all allegations against the forces of the Crown. He said that if any Irish newspaper uttered the slightest amount of public opinion on these infamies it would be prosecuted.
A nation that was not crushed by Cromwell would not be crushed by a Canadian who thumped the table of the House.
Lord Mayor’s Funeral
LAST evening the body of the late Lord Mayor of Cork was removed from Brixton Prison to St George’s Cathedral, Southwark and after Requiem Mass today it will be conveyed to Houston en route for Cork for burial.
The coffin, with the Sinn Fein flag as a pall, was borne to the Cathedral in a motor hearse followed by a Doil Eir-ann deputation headed by Count Plunkett. There was an orderly and reverent crowd outside the prison.
Dublin and London Irish Volunteers shared with the Cork contingent the guard duties.
Village Horror
TERRIBLE scenes, resulting in a tragedy, were enacted in the village of Skerries, fifteen miles from Dublin on Tuesday night.
John Sherlock, aged twenty-two, a farm labourer, was taken from his house by uniformed men and shot dead in a field.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: As so often in these years, the knock-out blow against the British government’s Irish policy was delivered by Joe Devlin, Falls MP and Irish News chairman.
The Freeman’s Journal (1763-1924), like the Irish News, was a consistent advocate of non-violent nationalism.)
On This Day – 28th October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19201028
Reference Date
October 28, 2020
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 28th October 1920, Joe Devlin clashed with Sir Hamar Greenwood in the Commons over the prosecution of the Freeman’s Journal, while the body of Cork’s Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney was removed from Brixton Prison for burial. Edited by Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Greenwood’s Attack on Free Press | On This Day – 28th October 1920
IN THE House of Commons yesterday, Mr Hogg asked the chief secretary if he would state the precise charge on which the directors of the [Nationalist] Freeman’s Journal newspaper were being court-martialled.
Sir Hamar Greenwood – The charge is for spreading false reports likely to cause disaffection.
Mr Joe Devlin, MP – Is it not a fact that the reason the Freeman’s Journal is being prosecuted is because it attacked the right hon. gentleman and the Prime Minister [Lloyd George]?
Sir Hamar – It is not.
Lieutenant-Commander Kenworthy (Lib.) – Is this an attempt to hide the truth by intimidating the Press in Ireland?
Mr Devlin – And intimidate the people?
Mr Devlin said he resented the manner and method by which the Chief Secretary dealt with these horrible affairs in Ireland.
He seemed to have made up his mind to become the defender of the indefensible – to take advantage of having a majority of 350 well-intentioned but ignorant Englishmen.
He did not care about ‘the hard-faced men who had made money out of the war’ but his function was to draw attention to the appalling condition of Ireland and the responsibility of the Government and the right hon. gentleman for these horrible outrages committed against innocent people.
[Sir Hamar] denied all allegations against the forces of the Crown. He said that if any Irish newspaper uttered the slightest amount of public opinion on these infamies it would be prosecuted.
A nation that was not crushed by Cromwell would not be crushed by a Canadian who thumped the table of the House.
Lord Mayor’s Funeral
LAST evening the body of the late Lord Mayor of Cork was removed from Brixton Prison to St George’s Cathedral, Southwark and after Requiem Mass today it will be conveyed to Houston en route for Cork for burial.
The coffin, with the Sinn Fein flag as a pall, was borne to the Cathedral in a motor hearse followed by a Doil Eir-ann deputation headed by Count Plunkett. There was an orderly and reverent crowd outside the prison.
Dublin and London Irish Volunteers shared with the Cork contingent the guard duties.
Village Horror
TERRIBLE scenes, resulting in a tragedy, were enacted in the village of Skerries, fifteen miles from Dublin on Tuesday night.
John Sherlock, aged twenty-two, a farm labourer, was taken from his house by uniformed men and shot dead in a field.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: As so often in these years, the knock-out blow against the British government’s Irish policy was delivered by Joe Devlin, Falls MP and Irish News chairman.
The Freeman’s Journal (1763-1924), like the Irish News, was a consistent advocate of non-violent nationalism.)
On This Day – 28th 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.