The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-05-31
IRISH INTERNMfNT
CAMP PROOF AGAINST
ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE
(Ry Associated Prnssl


BALLYKINLAR, Ireland. May 81
The internment camp for Irish polit-
ical prisoners. established here last
November, is now filled with 1877
men. 1t was originally used as a
training camp for Ulster troops in
the war and is divided into two en-
closures which are called cages"
Within each of these are two rows
reation ground, the whole ringed
about thickly with barbed wire and
overlooked by a number of high SEN
try boxes.
There have been no escapes from
Ballykinlar and no attempted breaks.
"Tunnelling would be impossible" an
officer said, because the water comes
close to the surface Of the ground"
The men are housed Is to hut,
each being provided with plank bed,
straw mattress and four blankets.
Plenty Of Fresh Air
The Associated Press correspond
ent and a representative Of an Eng
Nsh news agency were the first news
paper men ever allowed To visit the
camp, which is about 80 miles from
Belfast Scarcely a drearier spot is
to be found in Ireland. The camp is
pitched on a flat which is swept by
all the winds that sport on Dundrum
Bay I'VE have a lot of rain here,
said one of the British army officers
in charge. I'VE get the maximum
rainfall"
The prisoners were shy Of the news
paper men. Joseph McGrath, a mem
Der of parliament from a Dublin dis
trict, a prisoner who holds the post
OF the Irish supervisor Of internees,'
voiced his distrust of the correspond
ents who sought to interview him
about prison conditions.
How do l know who you are?" he
asked. ANY outsider allowed to
come into this camp is bound to be
suspected from our point of view.
You could not come unless the mill
tary authorities consented.
Even if you are what you say you
are, anything I told you would be
subject to censorship before you were
allowed to publish it. I am willing to
give you written statement if you
can undertake to print it as submit
ted. The Irish people will never
learn the truth about conditions here
until we are released and can tell
them ourselves"
Prisoners Do Own Cooking
Dr. Hayes, another member OF the
Dali Eireann, also refused to make
statement but both men talked at
some length with the visitors.
Two sleeping huts inspected by the
newspaper men we're clean and we'll
Kept and there we're stove fires burn
ing. Prisoners do the cooking under
the supervision of a British army SER
geant. The informed men were at
their evening meal in the mess room
and looked up with curiosity at the
sight of strange civilians. They
ranged in age. from youths to elderly
men.
One of the first prisoners encoun-
tered in the camp was Dublin bar
rister whose long white beard gave
him the look of a patriarch. He com
planned to the escorting officer that
he had failed to receive the literary
supplement of London paper TO
which he had subscribed.
Except for supervision by the mill
tary authorities. the prisoners run
their own show" They are organized
in units of about 100 each under a
company captain. Each of the two
ages has a supervisor of internees
who, until a few weeks ago, was
known as camp commandant." The
prisoners had regular military drill
daily and, according to Mr.. McGrath,
they were ready for rifle practice
when the authorities put stop to
the drilling and changed the titles OF
the "commandants" to something less
military in sound.