Ireland -- History -- 1910-1921; Ireland. Royal Irish Constabulary
By the time they landed it was quite dark, and after a walk of about
twenty minutes they arrived at a large building, which Mr Briggs
recognised as Cloonalla chapel, and here the officer handed him over to
a local publican, who told him to follow him into the chapel. Inside
there was a large crowd of country people, while at one end was a raised
table, at which were seated the three judges—two in civilian attire, and
the third in the clothes of a priest.
After his eyes had got accustomed to the poor light of the few
oil-lamps, Mr Briggs recognised in the presiding judge the parish priest
of a neighbouring parish, and in the other two judges a butcher and a
good-for-nothing painter from Ballybor. At the time of his entry a river
fishing-rights case was before the court, with a Ballybor solicitor
acting for the defendant, while another well-known solicitor from the
same town acted as “Republican Prosecutor.”
After a time the case of the Republic _v._ Briggs came on for hearing,
and Mr Briggs learnt, to his great astonishment, that they proposed to
take his island and fishing rights on Lough Moyra from him compulsorily
for the sum of £200, to be paid in Dail Eireann Bonds, whatever they
might be, and that he was to be deported to England as soon as
convenient. At the end of the case the presiding judge asked Mr Briggs
if he had any objection, but he wisely refused to say anything, and
shortly afterwards was handed over to the green officer, who took him
back to the island.
A few days after, as Mr Briggs was sitting disconsolately on a rock at
the north end of the island, gazing across the lake and wondering if he
would ever fish there again, he heard the distant hum of a motor-engine,
and in a short time saw a ‘plane approaching the island from the
south-east. Wild with excitement, he dashed into the house, calling the
colonel to come out at once. The colonel got up from the card-table, and
on seeing the ‘plane quickly collected all the sheets and blankets he
could find, and hurriedly spread them out in the form of rough letters,
spelling the word “HELP” on the grass in front of the house, and then
ran down to the end of the quay, where he waved a sheet frantically over
his head.
For what seemed an age to the prisoners, the ‘plane took no notice of
the colonel’s signals; then, to their great joy, the pilot cut off his
engine, dropped to about 800 feet, and flew low over the island, turned,
flew over the island again, and then made off at full speed in a
southerly direction. That night none of the prisoners slept a wink,
expecting every minute to hear the sounds of their deliverers’ approach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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