Charlotte Despard condemns British reprisals in Ireland as ‘lynch law of the worst kind’

Dublin, 10 February 1921 - English press coverage of the situation in Ireland does not reflect the reality on the ground according to political activist and author Charlotte Despard, who was speaking in Dublin last night at a meeting of the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL).

Ms Despard, one of the founders of the IWFL, was referring to the areas, which she visited during her tour of Ireland, that have been most affected by reprisals. In Cork, she claimed, the physical appearance of the local children ‘was scarcely up to that of the children of Budapest.’

Despard condemned the reprisals, both official and unofficial, as ‘lynch law of the worst kind’.

In no part of Ireland is the dark sinister power at work more noticeable than in the west. She explained that ‘property of people who never had anything to do with politics had been destroyed’. She had also seen bullet marks above where poor, little children had slept and those children had not been well since.

Despard recalled having her baggage searched and being addressed as ‘old sport’ by members of the crown forces who were very rude to her during her investigations.

She concluded by saying that she did not think that Ireland’s suffering would end until the present government ended, a scenario she hoped would not be long in coming.

The IWFL meeting was also addressed by Meg Connery and Maud Gonne McBride, while Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, presiding, paid tribute to Ms Despard for her help during these difficult times.

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[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]