{"id":4908,"date":"2020-06-15T23:45:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T03:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=4908"},"modified":"2020-06-15T23:50:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T03:50:32","slug":"date-error-crrected-episode-66-bunmahon-ireland-sunday-july-17-1960-to-jjuly-22-1960-cattle-chomping-and-castles-burning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=4908","title":{"rendered":"*DATE ERROR CRRECTED…. EPISODE 66 BUNMAHON, IRELAND SUNDAY JUly 17, 1960 TO jJuly 22 1960 CATTLE CHOMPING AND CASTLES BURNING"},"content":{"rendered":"
DATE ERROR CORRECTED  \u2026 ORIGINAL HAD JUNE, SHOULD BE JULY
<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

From: <\/b><\/span>ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Subject: <\/b><\/span>EPISODE 66 BUNMAHON, IRELAND SUNDAY JULY 17, 1960 TO CATTLE CHOMPING AND CASTLES BURNING<\/b>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Date: <\/b><\/span>June 15, 2020 at 9:00:16 PM EDT
<\/span><\/div>\n
To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
EPISODE 66   BUNMAHON, IRELAND,     CATTLE CHOMPING , AND CASTLES BURNED<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan  skeoch<\/div>\n
June 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Our crew assembling on a roadside.   The local newspaper from Waterford took this picture when they did a<\/div>\n
long article on our poject.   I count 7 men here.  At one point I think we had 10 men employed.   Quite  a job to<\/div>\n
keep  things  moving.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
SUNDAY, JULY 17, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I\u2019m getting to be familiar with Mass at St. Mary\u2019s RC church but today<\/div>\n
was a  cold weather experience\u2026.no heat in church.  What really amuses <\/div>\n
me at the church is  the Holy Water urn at the door.   My employees always<\/div>\n
try to hit me with a handful.   Sometimes successful.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I spent the part of the day reading The Bramble Bush\u2026very sad  book about mercy<\/div>\n
killing, religions and, of  course, sex.  Not sure it was worth the time.  In the<\/div>\n
afternoon we went down to Kirwin\u2019s and Frank let us into the \u2018secret\u2019 room\u2026the room has<\/div>\n
connection with Time of the Troubles and the IRA.  I never know when <\/div>\n
people are telling the truth as they love mysterious stories.  Hard to imagine<\/div>\n
Bonmahon people full of hatred.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then I went for a walk on Bunmahon beach alone.  There were clusters<\/div>\n
of people walking along the cliffs higher up.  Every evening. So I was not alone.<\/div>\n
  A group of girls appeared  and greeted me by my name much  to<\/div>\n
my surprise.  Scared me a bit really.  I think they used my first name, Alan,<\/div>\n
rather than  the usual Master Skeoch.  Sounds odd to be called Master Skeoch<\/div>\n
but it is very natural and I think a term of respect.   Certainly funny.<\/div>\n
We  talked but I never quite understood  the accent.  Nice kids\u2026a couple<\/div>\n
of the girls were about my age.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then around 9 p.m. a couple of the boys arrived to take me to a dance<\/div>\n
in Tramore.  We had a grand time.  Dancing is a big time thing here in<\/div>\n
Ireland.  Both of the \u2018boys\u2019 were older and married.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
MONDAY, JULY 18, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The sea was changeable.  In bad weather the waves came so far up the beach that our grounding rods were compromised. Waternever reached<\/div>\n
the generator.  My fault for thinking grounding rods were secure.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Today we attempted to lay a new base line east of Bunmahon.  Not easy.<\/div>\n
Barney and I had to scale down a  200 foot cliff to get a good grounding<\/div>\n
point.  I wish  I knew more about grounding.  Perhaps top of cliff would have<\/div>\n
been fine.  Cliff climbing was frightening.  No sooner did we get the base line<\/div>\n
in place than new herds of cattle began browsing on what looked  like special<\/div>\n
food to them\u2026our yellow wire.  Five cable breaks reduced  our daily mileage<\/div>\n
to 3,100 feet.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I spent the evening working on my earphones and then Mrs. Kennedy<\/div>\n
asked me to repair her vacuum cleaner.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I think this lad\u2019s name was Tim.  He never spoke to me but loved the job.  I am not sure<\/div>\n
he could speak.  Maybe he was  just shy.   He sure was  dependable\u2026almost like he was<\/div>\n
camping at our motor generator.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Bunmahon has quite a few handicapped  people.   We hired one young<\/div>\n
lad to guard our motor generator.  He is handicapped.  Overjoyed to have<\/div>\n
a job so  he set up a campsite beside the motor generator   Very cute.<\/div>\n
I estimate there are 5 severely handicapped people in and around the village.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
TUESDAY, JULY 19. 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
This was  our first full working day  on new base line.  Disappointing. The local<\/div>\n
cattle destroyed 1,500 feet of new cable\u2026wire a jumble as  cattle dragged<\/div>\n
lengths of the cable into a tangled mess.  Then they ate some.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Worse still today the ocean got to our grounding rods.  My error. Relocated<\/div>\n
them.  By 11 a.m. we were ready to try to get some readings done.  Managed<\/div>\n
to do four lines.  Not bad.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Passed through  a tiny chapel with an ancient graveyard\u2026all that remains<\/div>\n
of a monastery.  The boys told me the \u201cchapel jumped across the stream\u201d<\/div>\n
and that is why it was saved.  Believe it or not.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Returned home quite pleased with the day.  Mrs. Kennedy assured  me she<\/div>\n
now had enough peanut butter as she drove to Waterford where it was<\/div>\n
sent from Dublin.  Nice of her.  Seems she did  know about peanut butter\u2019s<\/div>\n
existence.  Sometimes her dialect confuses me but she is a quite outstanding<\/div>\n
woman and certainly has strong opinions about human behaviour.  Neither<\/div>\n
she wore her husband go to Kirwin\u2019s pub.  She disapproves of local  people<\/div>\n
spending money there because they have so little money.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
John Stam and John Hogan drove to St. Patrick\u2019s, a mining community,<\/div>\n
in search of more business for the Turam\u2026or maybe just curiosity.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The boys and i pushed  the distance we could be from the electrified<\/div>\n
base line.  I was able to read a signal at 4300 feet. but only faintly. We<\/div>\n
usually terminate the lines at 3,000 feet distant at a right angle from the base line.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Dr. Stam thinks some of our anomalies merit deeper consideration so<\/div>\n
we have hired more men to did trenches down to bed rock just in<\/div>\n
case there are mineralized exposures.  I visited our first trench today<\/div>\n
where we found a little quartz exposed.  I do  not know if this was<\/div>\n
important or not.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
What is most amusing, however, is  the way  a herd of pigs clustered<\/div>\n
at the top of the trench while the men were digging.  Barney thinks<\/div>\n
some pigs are dangerous but this group were just curious.  When I get<\/div>\n
strapped in to the Turam receiving coil and console  and battery pack<\/div>\n
I cannot get away should  the pigs let hunger trump curiosity.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Barney tells me stories endlessly.  Always with the hint of a smile so i am never sure what to<\/div>\n
believe.  The pig story for instance.  He mentions it every time we meet a gang of pigs.<\/div>\n
\u201cStory is told of a Nun taking a short cut to church across a farm field.  The pigs got<\/div>\n
her. All that was found were her boots with her feet in them.\u201d  Chuckle\u2026chuckle.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Took a  bath tonight.  Needed it<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
THURSDAY, JUlY 21, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Today  we entered  the O\u2019Shea  forest at Garnemorris.  Purgatory<\/div>\n
would be nicer than this expanse of tangled Holly and Ivy.  Dense.<\/div>\n
Higher than any person on our crew and  difficult to cut.  All part of<\/div>\n
of a large heavily treed  forest.   Part of the 1500 acre O;Shea estate.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The manor house was set on fire in 1922 by IRA members protesting<\/div>\n
the large landowners wealth at the expense of ordinary Irish who lived<\/div>\n
in poverty.  Must check out the name \u201cPower O\u2019Shea\u201d.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Mr. Cunningham arrived to check out our Turam  work . He represents<\/div>\n
the Geological Survey of Ireland.   We picked up a hue anomaly.  Not sure<\/div>\n
if reading is  reliable though as  signal was  very weak due to leak.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We  had to give up around 3 p.m. because foliage was  so dense we<\/div>\n
could hardly move and I was not sure the compass baring was accurate<\/div>\n
when the lines were cut.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:  Before we attempt to \u2018read\u2019 the Turam, a linocutting crew is <\/div>\n
sent to cut and mark lines 3,000 feet on either side of the electrified base <\/div>\n
line.   The line cutters pound in stakes marking  50 or 100 feet <\/div>\n
\u2018stations\u2019  as they proceed.  Usually a  two or three man crew do this<\/div>\n
using a compass for accuracy\u2026ie. to ensure the lie is straight.  In the<\/div>\n
O\u2019shea forest errors occurred because straight line compass sightings<\/div>\n
were difficult.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\t\t\t\t\"page1image2866760544\" \t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Fener Bog, County Waterford\u2026where Larry Dey<\/div>\n
got caught and was sinking. Fenor<\/span> Bog began to grow 10,000 years in a lake basin at the bottom<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

of Ballyscanlon Hill. Peat – the partially rotted remains of plants filled the basin to form a raised bog. <\/p>\n

In historic times the bog was cut by local people. The turf removed was used to heat family homes. <\/p>\n

About 100 years ago, turf cutting ceased and the bog began to regenerate into the wet fen habitat we see today. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Larry Dey got stuck in the Fener bog hole today.  He was trapped and<\/div>\n
sinking when Johny came along and pulled him out.  Probably would<\/div>\n
not have sunk much deeper.  But bogs can paralyze.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
FRIDAY,  JULY 22, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We got an early start today   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The day  was  full of troubles as rhe staking crew were inaccurate due<\/div>\n
to the heavy forest and low brush and bog vegetation.  Very difficult to<\/div>\n
keep the lines  straight.   I was irritated but should not have been <\/div>\n
since the crew tried hard to keep at right angles to base line. <\/div>\n
I should not have been angry\u2026but the feeling of responsibility overcame<\/div>\n
good sense \u2026 and good public relations.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TIME OF THE TROUBLES?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"File:Aupload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/b9\/A_family_pose_beside_a_make-shift_shelter_Alexander_Street%2C_Waterford%2C_Ireland%2C_1920s_%286805869735%29.jpg\/1575px-A_family_pose_beside_a_make…<\/a> 2x” data-file-width=”2485″ data-file-height=”1890″ class=””><\/div>\n
Pictured above are three generations  of a poverty stricken Waterford family living under a old tarpaulin.<\/div>\n
The picture may have been  staged somewhat .  photo credit 1900 to 1920 by a reporter associated<\/div>\n
with the IRA movement.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:   While there were almost constant references to the \u201ctime of the Troubles\u201d by<\/div>\n
our Irish  hosts, the Kennedy family\u2026and also by our work force and people at Kirwin’s<\/div>\n
pub, these comments were never made in a hostile manner.  The Irish were warm and<\/div>\n
fun loving in my experience. When one  of our workers father died  i went to the<\/div>\n
wake which was a warm tribute to the man… feeling of warmth\u2026of acceptance\u2026of sincere interest. It was<\/div>\n
very hard for me to visualize either the  potato famine of the 1840\u2019s or the violence of<\/div>\n
the move to independence in the 1920\u2019s.   But there were definitely bad times.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The mention by Mrs. Kennedy that the O\u2019Shea manor house had been burned by he IRA<\/div>\n
in 1922 was an offhand remark. I thought it might be an isolated event.  Wrong. In the Time<\/div>\n
of the Troubles  IRA men burned 274 Irish mansions mostly owned by Protestant Irish (many<\/div>\n
of  them former English).  The goal  was to get land back to Irish  peasant farmers but much of<\/div>\n
that had already been done.  A Land Reclamation program had been redistributing land for<\/div>\n
some time.  As a result  The burnings backfired on the IRA since many jobs on these <\/div>\n
estates were lost. That was the 1920\u2019s. But the IRA was making a point no matter what the cost.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So in the 1920\u2019s many great mansions were lost.   In the 1950\u2019s and the 1960\u2019s the same thing<\/div>\n
was happening to  English country houses<\/div>\n
by the hundreds\u2026.in1955 one was being demolished  every five days\u2026 auctioning contents<\/div>\n
 and demolition because aristocratic  families<\/div>\n
lost their heirs in the World  Wars or the owners could no longer pay the taxes on big estates<\/div>\n
that amounted  unto 65% Succession duties.  In  both cases\u2026Irish violence and  English post war<\/div>\n
poverty resulted in the loss of hundreds of magnificent buildings.  National treasures gone.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
(Later I hoped to visit the Eywood Estate in England which was demolished  in 1955.  My grandfather<\/div>\n
Edward Freeman  had been he head  gardener on the estate  Mom was born there.  I wondered<\/div>\n
what would be left standing.  I knew the huge country house was gone.  Was it all gone?)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
How much of this violence happened near Bunmahon in the 1920\u2019s?   Two events stand  out.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
1) THE BURGERY AMBUSH:<\/div>\n
(Dungarven)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
“On the night of 18\u201319 March 1921, IRA volunteers of the West Waterford flying column ambushed a British military convoy at the Burgery, about a mile and a half northeast of Dungarvan. The convoy included Black and Tans<\/a> and a Royal Irish Constabulary<\/a> Sergeant, named Michael Hickey.[2]<\/a><\/sup> In overall command of the IRA unit was IRA GHQ Officer George Plunkett<\/a>. Also present were West Waterford Brigade Commandant Pax Whelan, ASU leader George Lennon<\/a>, and Mick Mansfield. A British Crossley tender was set on fire and prisoners taken by the IRA, including Sergeant Hickey. Hickey was later killed by an IRA firing squad<\/a>[3]<\/a><\/sup> with a sign reading “police spy” affixed to his tunic. He was later buried in an unmarked grave.[2]<\/a><\/sup> Other prisoners including Captain DV Thomas, the commander of the British garrison, were released.<\/div>\n
After the ambush, a group of volunteers under Plunkett returned to search for any armaments left behind by the British forces. Crown forces who were now searching the area engaged the IRA party; IRA volunteers Se\u00e1n Fitzgerald and Pat Keating were shot dead. A Black and Tan, Constable Sydney R. Redman[3]<\/a><\/sup> was shot dead during the return fire.\u201d  Wikipedia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
2)  BURNING OF THE POWER O\u2019SHEA \u2018BIG HOUSE<\/font>\u2019<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
(This mayor may not be the O\u2019Shea big  house  (Country House, Mansion\u2026other terms).  After the fire the <\/div>\n
house was  rebuilt and repaired)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The \u2018big house\u2019 on the O\u2019Shea estate was one of the nearly 300 country houses set on fire by the IRA in the 1920\u2019s\u2026set on fire  because they were symbols of<\/div>\n
the English oppression of the Irish.  The OShea  house was only partially destroyed so it was subsequently rebuilt.  Lost in the fire, however, were the artworks<\/div>\n
and the library.  Other Country Houses had a much darker fate .. i.e. totally destroyed.<\/div>\n
Quote below:
<\/p>\n
\n
QuoW “\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

Ballynastragh House depicted in 1826, typical of the “Big Houses<\/a>” targeted by the IRA.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 “By the start of the Irish revolutionary period in 1919, the Big House had become symbolic of the 18th and 19th-century dominance of the Protestant Anglo-Irish class in Ireland at the expense of the native Roman Catholic population, particularly in southern and western Ireland.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\n
The Anglo-Irish, as a class, were generally opposed to the notions of Irish independence and held key positions in the British administration of Ireland<\/a>. The Irish nationalist<\/a> narrative maintained that the land of Irishmen had been illegally stolen from them by the landowning aristocracy, who had mostly arrived in Ireland as Protestant<\/a> settlers of The Crown<\/a> during the late 16th and 17th centuries. The Irish Big House was at the administrative centre of the estates of the landowners, as well as being the family seat<\/a> from which the Anglo-Irish exerted their political control over the island.[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\n
This perception was popularly held by nationalists, despite a considerable increase in Irish landownership in the previous decades due to the Irish Land Acts<\/a>. Whereas in 1870, 97% of land was owned by landlords and 50% by just 750 families, by 1916, 70% of Irish farmers owned their own land.[6]<\/a><\/sup> Catholics had been emancipated<\/a> in 1829 and the political dominance of the Anglo-Irish in Ireland had consequently declined following the electoral successes of the Catholic nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party<\/a> through much of the 19th century.[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\n
The former Protestant Ascendancy had lost its economic power following the Great Famine<\/a> of 1845-49, and the Long Depression<\/a> of the 1870s; and then lost its political power after the Representation of the People Act 1884<\/a>. By 1915 the Irish Land Commission<\/a> had transferred over 60% of Irish farmland to tenant farmers, leaving most of the former landed gentry<\/a> with a house and a home farm known as a “demesne”. The former landlords could afford to employ gardeners and household staff as they had received, as a group, the equivalent of over \u20ac60 billion (in 2019 euro).[8]<\/a><\/sup> Burning country houses from 1919 was therefore largely symbolic, and removed the former landlords’ capital from the Irish economy when they emigrated, as well as ending the employment of thousands of their staff, with an inevitable knock-on effect on local economies. \u201c (wikipedia)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Bonmahon was not such a peaceful friendly place  in the years of the Great Potato Famine much<\/div>\n
of which was blamed on the English.  Negative  comments made in the 1850\u2019s by the local Protestant minister<\/div>\n
in Bonmahon, Rev. Doudney. who left  Bonmahon in 1857 nearly triggered  a blood bath but that<\/div>\n
could be an exaggeration.   No one seems to have lost their life.  People just moved  on.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
Postcard pictures of Bonmahon between 1900 and1920\u2019s.  Mr. and<\/div>\n
Mrs.  Kennedy\u2019s home survived but other homes were gone by 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
END EPISODE 66<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n


<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DATE ERROR CORRECTED  \u2026 ORIGINAL HAD JUNE, SHOULD BE JULY Begin forwarded message: From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Subject: EPISODE 66 BUNMAHON, IRELAND SUNDAY JULY 17, 1960 TO CATTLE CHOMPING AND CASTLES BURNING Date: June 15, 2020 at 9:00:16 PM EDT To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> EPISODE 66   BUNMAHON, IRELAND,     CATTLE CHOMPING , AND […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}