Ireland -- History -- 1910-1921; Ireland. Royal Irish Constabulary
Here they tried her by court-martial, convicted her, and no time was
lost by the assassins in carrying out the death sentence. They then
flung her body outside the cottage, where it was found by her mother,
whose cries brought old Brogan out of his bed, and between them they
managed to carry their murdered daughter in. The shock was too much for
the old man, and he died shortly after he returned to bed, which finally
turned the old woman’s brain.
Then followed weeks of misery. Every night Carew’s cattle were driven,
his gates taken off their hinges and flung into the river, trees were
cut down, fences smashed, and the showing of a light at any window was
the signal for a volley of shots. Life in the trenches on the Western
Front was often fearful enough, but to realise the life Carew and his
herd led at this time one must remember that they had to carry on week
in week out, with no rest billets ever to retire to, apart from the fact
that at any moment sudden death in some horrible mutilating form might
be their lot.
The first fair at which Carew tried to sell cattle warned him of the
futility of attending any more. Sinn Fein “policemen,” with green,
white, and yellow brassards on their arms, took care that no buyers came
near him, while all the corner boys in Ballybor amused themselves by
driving his cattle backwards and forwards through the fair until they
could hardly move. Directly Carew would make for one set of tormentors,
a fresh lot would appear behind his back and take up the chase.
After starting Coleman on his way home with the weary cattle, he went to
the grocer he had dealt with for years, meaning to lay in a good stock
of provisions. On entering the shop the owner took Carew into a private
room, and explained that if he sold one pennyworth of food to him his
shop would be burnt over his head that night, and that all the
shopkeepers had received the same orders from the I.R.A. Carew then went
straight to the police barracks, where the police soon bought all that
he required.
It was nearly dark when Carew drew near to his entrance gate, and as his
horse started to walk four men darted out from the shadow of the demesne
wall, two seizing the horse, while the rest, covering him with
shot-guns, ordered him to get out.
Carew had no alternative but to comply, whereupon his captors led him
down a lane towards the river, where they were joined by a crowd of men
and boys. On reaching the river a violent argument started, one section
being for drowning him out of face, while another wished to give him a
chance of his life if he would swear to give up his land. In the end
they compromised, and two tall men took Carew by the arms and waded out
into the river with him until they were over their waists.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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