On This Day / February 9, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210209
Reference Date
19210209
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 9th February 1921, a Special Constable was killed in a Warrenpoint attack, Bishop MacRory denounced silence over Belfast expulsions, and the death of Charles Stewart Parnell’s widow was reported. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Special Killed in Down Attack | On This Day – 9th February 1921
ABOUT 10.15 last night an attack with bombs and revolvers was made on three policemen in Warrenpoint as a result of which one was killed and the other two seriously wounded. The attack took place at Back Seaview.
One of the policemen – Constable Scott – belonged to the regular force; the others – Constables Cummings [who died] and Wallace – belonged to the Special Constabulary.
Pogrom Silence Denounced
IN his Lenten Pastoral, Bishop Joseph MacRory refers to the trials of his Catholic flock in Belfast: ‘Six months have passed since they were expelled from their work. They had given no offence to anyone. …
‘A very disappointing and disheartening feature of the pogrom is that the great non-Catholic community of Belfast, with the honourable exception of a few clergymen, has been content to look on silently at this continued injustice. It may be that many of them have been afraid to speak up.
‘Nor can the inaction of the British government in Dublin Castle be easily comprehended.
‘We are being constantly reminded of their burning desire for law and order yet here, in the protracted victimisation of thousands of working men, is a most flagrant example of lawlessness but still the powers that persist in ruling us have not thought fit to move a finger to have justice done.’
Death of Parnell’s Widow
MRS KATHERINE Parnell (76), widow of Charles Stewart Parnell, died on Friday at Brighton.
This lady was an Englishwoman – the daughter of [Rev] Sir John Page Wood [an Anglican clergyman]. Her brother was General Sir Evelyn Wood, a famous English soldier.
In 1867, aged 21, she married William Henry O’Shea, a member of an Irish family of the ‘shoneen’ class who had some connection with commerce and sport.
Seeking to advance his own interests, O’Shea managed to get elected as a [Home Rule] MP.
Parnell’s relationship with Mrs O’Shea was suspected by her husband as early as 1881 when the Irish leader was challenged to a duel by Captain O’Shea.
At the Commission trial [1888], Captain O’Shea swore that letters attributed to Parnell [condoning the Phoenix Park murders] were really written by the Irish leader; it was later proved that the documents had been forged.
In December 1889 Captain O’Shea filed a divorce action against his wife citing Parnell as co-respondent.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: As partition loomed and IRA attacks gained momentum, Bishop MacRory highlighted the fact that the British government had failed to seek the reinstatement of the 8000 Catholic workers driven from their jobs in 1920.
Speaking later in Belfast City Hall on ‘unemployment’, the Chief Secretary, Greenwood pointedly ignored the issue to Nationalist outrage.)
On This Day – 9th February 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
Katharine Parnell/Kitty O’Shea
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210209
Reference Date
19210209
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 9th February 1921, a Special Constable was killed in a Warrenpoint attack, Bishop MacRory denounced silence over Belfast expulsions, and the death of Charles Stewart Parnell’s widow was reported. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Special Killed in Down Attack | On This Day – 9th February 1921
ABOUT 10.15 last night an attack with bombs and revolvers was made on three policemen in Warrenpoint as a result of which one was killed and the other two seriously wounded. The attack took place at Back Seaview.
One of the policemen – Constable Scott – belonged to the regular force; the others – Constables Cummings [who died] and Wallace – belonged to the Special Constabulary.
Pogrom Silence Denounced
IN his Lenten Pastoral, Bishop Joseph MacRory refers to the trials of his Catholic flock in Belfast: ‘Six months have passed since they were expelled from their work. They had given no offence to anyone. …
‘A very disappointing and disheartening feature of the pogrom is that the great non-Catholic community of Belfast, with the honourable exception of a few clergymen, has been content to look on silently at this continued injustice. It may be that many of them have been afraid to speak up.
‘Nor can the inaction of the British government in Dublin Castle be easily comprehended.
‘We are being constantly reminded of their burning desire for law and order yet here, in the protracted victimisation of thousands of working men, is a most flagrant example of lawlessness but still the powers that persist in ruling us have not thought fit to move a finger to have justice done.’
Death of Parnell’s Widow
MRS KATHERINE Parnell (76), widow of Charles Stewart Parnell, died on Friday at Brighton.
This lady was an Englishwoman – the daughter of [Rev] Sir John Page Wood [an Anglican clergyman]. Her brother was General Sir Evelyn Wood, a famous English soldier.
In 1867, aged 21, she married William Henry O’Shea, a member of an Irish family of the ‘shoneen’ class who had some connection with commerce and sport.
Seeking to advance his own interests, O’Shea managed to get elected as a [Home Rule] MP.
Parnell’s relationship with Mrs O’Shea was suspected by her husband as early as 1881 when the Irish leader was challenged to a duel by Captain O’Shea.
At the Commission trial [1888], Captain O’Shea swore that letters attributed to Parnell [condoning the Phoenix Park murders] were really written by the Irish leader; it was later proved that the documents had been forged.
In December 1889 Captain O’Shea filed a divorce action against his wife citing Parnell as co-respondent.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: As partition loomed and IRA attacks gained momentum, Bishop MacRory highlighted the fact that the British government had failed to seek the reinstatement of the 8000 Catholic workers driven from their jobs in 1920.
Speaking later in Belfast City Hall on ‘unemployment’, the Chief Secretary, Greenwood pointedly ignored the issue to Nationalist outrage.)
On This Day – 9th February 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
Katharine Parnell/Kitty O’Shea
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210209
Reference Date
February 9, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 9th February 1921, a Special Constable was killed in a Warrenpoint attack, Bishop MacRory denounced silence over Belfast expulsions, and the death of Charles Stewart Parnell’s widow was reported. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Special Killed in Down Attack | On This Day – 9th February 1921
ABOUT 10.15 last night an attack with bombs and revolvers was made on three policemen in Warrenpoint as a result of which one was killed and the other two seriously wounded. The attack took place at Back Seaview.
One of the policemen – Constable Scott – belonged to the regular force; the others – Constables Cummings [who died] and Wallace – belonged to the Special Constabulary.
Pogrom Silence Denounced
IN his Lenten Pastoral, Bishop Joseph MacRory refers to the trials of his Catholic flock in Belfast: ‘Six months have passed since they were expelled from their work. They had given no offence to anyone. …
‘A very disappointing and disheartening feature of the pogrom is that the great non-Catholic community of Belfast, with the honourable exception of a few clergymen, has been content to look on silently at this continued injustice. It may be that many of them have been afraid to speak up.
‘Nor can the inaction of the British government in Dublin Castle be easily comprehended.
‘We are being constantly reminded of their burning desire for law and order yet here, in the protracted victimisation of thousands of working men, is a most flagrant example of lawlessness but still the powers that persist in ruling us have not thought fit to move a finger to have justice done.’
Death of Parnell’s Widow
MRS KATHERINE Parnell (76), widow of Charles Stewart Parnell, died on Friday at Brighton.
This lady was an Englishwoman – the daughter of [Rev] Sir John Page Wood [an Anglican clergyman]. Her brother was General Sir Evelyn Wood, a famous English soldier.
In 1867, aged 21, she married William Henry O’Shea, a member of an Irish family of the ‘shoneen’ class who had some connection with commerce and sport.
Seeking to advance his own interests, O’Shea managed to get elected as a [Home Rule] MP.
Parnell’s relationship with Mrs O’Shea was suspected by her husband as early as 1881 when the Irish leader was challenged to a duel by Captain O’Shea.
At the Commission trial [1888], Captain O’Shea swore that letters attributed to Parnell [condoning the Phoenix Park murders] were really written by the Irish leader; it was later proved that the documents had been forged.
In December 1889 Captain O’Shea filed a divorce action against his wife citing Parnell as co-respondent.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: As partition loomed and IRA attacks gained momentum, Bishop MacRory highlighted the fact that the British government had failed to seek the reinstatement of the 8000 Catholic workers driven from their jobs in 1920.
Speaking later in Belfast City Hall on ‘unemployment’, the Chief Secretary, Greenwood pointedly ignored the issue to Nationalist outrage.)
On This Day – 9th February 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
Katharine Parnell/Kitty O’Shea
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.