On This Day / November 8, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
November 8, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 8th November 1921, Unionists moved to block a housing scheme in Enniskillen, while a Belfast widow described how a mob destroyed her home. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Unionists block housing | On This Day – 8th November 1921
OUR Enniskillen correspondent wires: The Unionists, having obtained control of Enniskillen Urban Council by grabbing a Labour seat, James Cooper, MP, the leader of the Unionist Party, has given notice to move that the resolution passed in December 1920, directing an application to be made to the Local Government Board for a loan of £66,000 for the purpose of erecting houses under the Housing of the Working Classes Act be rescinded.
There is a great scarcity of houses in Enniskillen and many of the existing dwellings have been medically condemned as being unfit for habitation.
It is believed that Mr Cooper would not have taken this step if he thought it would not meet with the approval of the Northern Parliament and his action is, therefore, regarded as an indication of the policy of that Parliament on the housing question.
Belfast house wrecked by sectarian mob
AT the County Courthouse in Belfast yesterday before Mr Leech, KC, Deputy Recorder, a claim was made for £70 on behalf of the friends of the late John Cassidy in respect of the destruction of furniture at Harvey Street on 27th August 1920.
The widow of the deceased stated that on the day previous to the attack on the house a mob assembled and the leaders ordered them to clear out inside a specified time.
On the following day, while she was out looking for another house, the mob broke into the house and burned everything, the only article left being an old sofa.
Her husband, who had been an employee of the Corporation for 25 years, was then at work.
He had since died and the doctor attributed his death to shock caused by the conduct of the mobs.
John Burns, brother of the witness and an ex-soldier, said the entire house was wrecked with the exception of a room occupied by himself.
Asked by Mr Beattie [for the Corporation] if he could account for the mob not breaking into his room, witness said it might have been because he had fought for King and country. Mr Beattie — Never mind about your King and country.
His Honour, in awarding twenty pounds, said there was no doubt that the crowd rushed into this house and wrecked everything they could lay their hands on.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Scarcely had partition occurred when many of the issues which would fuel the later Civil Rights movement were set in train.
In Enniskillen, where the Unionists gained control, a previous Nationalist application to build houses for the poor was reversed.
The denial of council houses and jobs to Catholics in Fermanagh would become a burning grievance in the 1960s.)
On This Day – 8th November 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.