Fund launched to relieve Balbriggan distress
Balbriggan, 30 September 1920 - An appeal has been launched to assist the families affected by the sacking of the north Co. Dublin town of Balbriggan by Black and Tans earlier this month.
A committee to oversee the fund was established at a meeting in the Town Hall on 24 September and subscriptions can be given to any member of the committee or channelled through Munster and Leinster Bank or the Northern Bank in Balbriggan. The committee is representative of all churches and political viewpoints in Ireland.
Alongside individual donations, the mayor and people of Drogheda have contributed £200 to the fund. The Archbishop of Dublin, William Walsh, has donated £100. Dr Walsh visited Balbriggan on 24 September to see in person the havoc inflicted upon the town and its people.
Owing to the Black and Tans’ rampage, over 50 families have been left destitute and 500 people have been deprived of their livelihoods. The plight of the town and its people has been described as pitiful.
The American Commission on Atrocities in Ireland has also taken an interest in events in Balbriggan, sending a cablegram to the Chairman of the Town Commissioners inviting him to give evidence before the commission in the United States. The chairman is currently in prison but John Derham, a local town councillor, has offered to take his place.
No official statement has yet been made by the authorities on the events in Balbriggan, while the Royal Irish Constabulary has informed the coroner, Christopher Friery, that an inquest into the deaths that occurred will not be allowed to take place.
People walking behind the hearses of James Lawless and John Gibbon, the men who were killed by crown forces in Balbriggan (Image: RTÉ Archives)
[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.]
