The talk will take place in St Maelruan’s Parish Hall in Tallaght Village
‘Murder by the throat’ talk to be held in St Maelruan’s Parish Hall
“Murder by the throat” comes from a speech by Lloyd George, explains Dr Edward J Bourke, who will be delivering a talk about spies in the Irish War of Independence in association with the Tallaght Historical Society.
The talk is one of the Tallaght Historical Society’s monthly lectures. These run from September to June on the second Tuesday of the month Lectures start at 7pm.
The society has recently moved from the South County Hall Library to the Saint Maelruan’s Church of Ireland Parish Hall in Tallaght Village, by kind permission of Reverend Canon William Deverell.
“Average attendance at our lectures varies from about thirty upwards,” according to Cormac Lowth of Tallaght Historical Society.
The aforementioned “Murder by the throat” phrase was uttered in a speech by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in November 1920, referencing the arrival of the Secret Service agents and the Black and Tans to Ireland.
Dr Bourke’s research has focused on the war in the shadows of the Irish War of Independence, including spying, assassinations, and the actions of Michael Collins.
He goes on to speak about his personal family connections to the events of the 1920s, pointing out that his grandparents lived through them, highlighting the local impact and the RIC’s involvement in Bloody Sunday.
His grandmother’s brother served as a conduit between the assistant governor of Mountjoy and Michael Collins’ men, and his grandmother herself was from Tipperary, where there was active violence in the early stages of the war.
Dr Bourke touches on the misconception that the Black and Tans were solely responsible for the violence in the war, with recent findings attributing blame to the RIC.
He also states that in his talk, he will be addressing the infiltration of the IRA by spies, resulting in many deaths.
Dr Bourke also goes on to mention a local angle through the Tallaght Aerodrome, formerly on the Belgard Road, highlighting its historical significance and industrial changes, such as being replaced by Urney Chocolates.
Edward’s talk in collaboration with the Tallaght Historical Society came into fruition after his lifelong friend and society member Cormac proposed the event based on Edward’s book ‘Murder by the Throat’.
He estimates that a crowd of around 40 to 50 people should be in attendance for the event.
In regard to future projects, Edward will have a paper coming out in the Journal of Military History, called ‘The Irish Sword on the Landmines of the Civil War’.
Meanwhile, the Tallaght Historical Society’s forthcoming lectures after Edward’s talk will include “A history of Lifeboats in Dublin Bay” by Cormac on December 9 and “The Early days of the Free State” by Liz Gillis on January 13, among others.
Cormac would like to thank the society’s many speakers and Reverend Canon William Deverall for continuing to help the society to “fulfil a very important function within the Community with a broad-ranging and interesting range of subjects.”
Dr Bourke will be delivering his illustrated lecture “Spies and Informers of the Irish War of Independence 1919-21” on November 11 in the parish hall of St Maelruain’s Church in the Tallaght village at 7pm.
