Tom Barry Read Free Page A

as ‘the most principled man’ he ever met, Barry, with his out-spoken opinions, made him constantly a controversial figure. Professor Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh in an RTÉ recording in 1980, described Barry and his flying column’s ‘contribution in the establishment of the twenty-six county state’ as an integral part of a much more general attempt ‘to subvert what was the constituted authority in the land’ in order to ‘implement the decisions’ of the suppressed Dáil. Barry’s brief term as chief-of-staff of the IRA, his constant battle with the State and the Church added colour to his activities. Having discovered this colourful character whom I had got to know, and whose faults and virtues presented them selves to me, I was aware that in order to be true to myself, to readers and to him, I would have to present the ‘full’ man.
    After The Tom Barry Story was published, Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich, Primate of all Ireland, rang me. He believed that more than any other freedom fighter, Tom Barry deserved credit for what he had done for the Irish people. The cardinal had met Barry and said that Barry’s first words were of freedom – ‘freedom for the Irish people to be them selves and to be masters of their own country’.
    In a broadcast tribute to him after his death, Donncha Ó Dulaing, who had interviewed him when he was in his early eighties, said he found him with ‘his back as straight as his point of view’. In that transmission Denis Conroy described him as ‘one of the greatest men this country every produced’. He was the man, Dave Neligan records, that Mick Collins ‘thought the world of’ and believed ‘he truly helped’ bring the British government ‘to its knees’. He was a Republican activist who held no bitterness towards comrades who took the opposing side in the Civil War, and he tried, where possible, to heal ‘wounds’ left because of the conflict.
    Being aware that Tom Barry’s deeds, his strength of character and his controversies will be remembered not alone in the county of Cork which he loved, but throughout Ireland and amongst Irish people everywhere, it is my hope therefore, that in presenting the ‘rounded’ man with all his faults he will be seen as a human being, who was capable of distinguishing the ideal from the real situation, and emerging as a true patriot.
    Meda Ryan

Abbreviations
    Adj. Adjutant
    A/G Adjutant General
    Bde. Brigade
    CI County Inspector
    Cork 1 First Cork Brigade (Mid-Cork)
    Cork 2 Second Cork Brigade (North Cork)
    Cork 3 Third Cork Brigade (West Cork)
    Coy. Company
    CS Chief of Staff
    DI District Inspector
    DIV. Division
    GHQ General Headquarters
    IG Inspector General
    IO Intelligence Officer
    IRA Irish Republican Army
    IRB Irish Republican Brotherhood
    n.d. Not dated
    n.t. Not transmitted
    OC Officer in Command
    Org. Organiser
    RIC Royal Irish Constabulary
    RTÉ Radio Telefís Éireann
    TV Television
    Archives/Records
    CCL Cork County Library
    CCM Cork City Museum
    CAI Cork Archives Institute
    CO Colonel Office
    IWM Imperial War Museum
    MA Military Archives, Dublin
    NLI National Library of Ireland
    PRO Public Records Office
    TCDA Trinity College Dublin Archives
    UCDA University College Dublin Archives

27 – From Mardyke Bench to Final Curtain
    Against the background of what became known as ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, especially in the 1970s, Tom Barry in a frank interview elucidated his personal views:
    â€˜Basically I’m a physical force man. If violent methods are used, you can only counter them with violence. What’s the use in turning the other bloody cheek? Yes I discovered that long ago. But, I would only agree with bombing military targets, and military targets only. The fight to get the British out of Ireland forever is the right of every Irish person, but the killing of non-military