Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-12-07
History of EUeflts of Fiue
Years of Conflict in Ireland

ment "a rapid after the Easter Re-
bellion" and up to the end Of the
world war in 1918. In the following
December OF that year when the Brit
ish general elections were held the re-
suit showed the Sim Feiners had won
In Is parliamentary constituencies.
The successful candidates. however,
refused to go to Westminster. They
claimed the elections were an act of
self-determination and that their
chbice was ian Irish parliament in an
i Irish republic
Sion afterward the Sim Fein mem
bers-elect Of parliament organized the
Dali Eireann or Irish parliament in
Dublin. Charles Burgess was chosen
speaker and a committee, composed Of
de Valera. Count Horace Plunkett and
Arthur Griffith, vas appointed to pre-
sent the claims Of Ireland to the Paris
peace conference. De Valera and
Griffith were both in prison at the
time but the former escaped on Feb
ruary 8. 1919. Later he appeared in
the United States to float a bond issue
and to plead the cause of the 'repub-
lic," to the presidency OF which he
had been elected the following March
g..
With the signing of the arnistice
ending the world war and the organi-
cation Of the Dali Eireann began a
guerilla warfare between the forces of
the crown and the Sim Feiners which
continued up to the truce Of 1921.
During this irregular conflict, viii
lagos and towns from Lisburn to Cork
and from Ton,y1aro0~ N Trolao xp,n~n
sacked and burned, crown forces were
~ambushed, police barracks were de-
stroyed and there were wholesale re-
prisals by police "auxiliaries'' or
cadets and BLACK and Tans"- con-
stables recruited in England who wore
a Khaki tunic with a black cap.
Custom House Burned.
On May rs Of the present year the
burned with a loss of $40, 000, 900, the
killing of 1S persons and the arrest of
more than 100 suspects. Damage
wrought by fire and dynamite on the
preceding December IL aggregated
$4,000, 000. De Valera, in replying
to the charge of military crimes by
l Feiners, declared that British
soldiers had no right in Ireland and
that as they were invaders they were
treated as invaders we're usually treat
ed in times of war"
Official British reports on the war
fare in Ireland during 1926 showed
that 34s persons had been killed and
446 wounded, 68 court houses and $50.
police barracks destroyed and 2,SO1
places raided for arms. Cable ad.
vices from Ireland since Jan. 1, 1921
indicated hat hundreds more had
been killed n wounded, and al
though no official estimates were OBJ
tainable from either side.
One of the notable events in this
bitter campaign Of attack and rep, fsal
was the death by hunger strike of
Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney. He
had been arrested on a charge or sedi-
ton, sentenced to Brixton prison for
two years. While he and other Sim
Feiners were in the Cork Jail they
went on a hunger strike and Mac
Swiney died after 70 days of Austen
ton from food. Later those of the
hunger strikers who survived were re-
leased.
The new government Of Ireland act
was passed by the British house OF
commons in December 1920. It pro-
Vlded for a northern and southern
parliament and for a central parlia-
ment containing representatives Of
both the north and the south. De
Valera in a manifesto denounced the
plan and demanded complete tnde-
pendence or DEATH"
This was followed on May 2, 1921,
by the appointment of Viscount Fit
zalan as the first lord lieutenant and
governor general of, Ireland under tn,
new partition measure.
Ulster Held Election,
Ulster accepted the act and proceed
ed to hold elections and organize it's
parliament. In all the rest of Ire
land. however. the Sim Feiners again
swept the elections, winning 124 out
or 12S seats. They refused to organ
lie under the Home Rule Act and de-
clared that the new members elected
would constitute h new Dali Eireann
or parliament Of the Irish republic.
In the north. Sir James Craig was
chosen parliamentary leader in the
place of Sir Edward Carson who re-
tired.
h Ulster parliament opened on
June 20, 1921 and was attended by
King George and Queen Mary. The
king urged the Irish people to TOR
give and forget" past wrongs and
strive for peace in Ireland and con.
Citation between the people of that
country and the British empire.
~ appeal to all Irishmen," he said,
Ito pause. to stretch out the hand of
~forbearance and Cancellation, to for
give and forget, and to join in making
for the island which they love a new
era OF peace, contentment and good
will"