Cover up of 1922 collusion
Facts were hidden until 1997
Ciarán Barnes
23/06/2006
Residents of the Glens of Antrim will pause today to remember the sectarian murders of three local men by unionist police 84 years ago.
On 23 June 1922, in one of the first recorded cases of collusion in the North, a British army and Special Police battalion shot three young nationalists dead in the seaside village of Cushendall.
They arrested the men at different locations, putting them into the back of a military van before dragging them up an alley where they were shot in the heads.
The killings of John Hill, John Gore, and James McAllister were revenge for the IRA murder the previous day of Field Marshal Henry Wilson - the man who led the early 1920s pogroms against Catholics living in the North.
Field Marshal Wilson was shot dead in London by two republicans, Reggie Dunne and Joseph O’Sullivan, who had served in the British Army during World War I. Both men were later hanged.
A British government inquiry into the Cushendall killings dismissed claims from soldiers and police that they were fired upon first.
English official FT Barrington-Ward, who headed the investigation, concluded: “No one except the police and military ever fired at all.”
Doctors’ reports also revealed powder burns on the dead bodies, indicating the victims had been shot from point-blank range.
However, the then Northern unionist government, led by James Craig, rejected the findings and held its own inquiry into the shootings.
They dismissed all the evidence given by witnesses implicating the British army and police, and accepted the soldiers’ claims that they were fired upon first.
The full story surrounding the murders did not come to light until the mid 1990s when it was established that John Hill, John Gore and James McAllister were innocent men, murdered because they were Catholics.
After the killings the Liberal British government at the behest of Liverpool MP, TP O’Connor, threatened to make public the findings of Barrington-Ward’s inquiry blaming police and the British army.
However, the Liberals were replaced at the next election by the Conservative Party which was more sympathetic to the Ulster Unionist administration.
One of the first acts carried out by the new Conservative government was to place the details of Barrington-Ward’s inquiry under the Official Secrets Act, barring it from view for 50 years.
Historian Michael Farrell best explains the Cushendall cover-up in his book Arming the Protestants.
He writes: “O’Connor was told that the British government had commissioned the report only because British troops had been involved.
“The Northern government showed no concern to discipline its forces and stamp out reprisals and seemed oblivious to the effect this must have on the Catholic population.
“The British coalition government made only a very feeble effort to get Craig’s government to take action. Their Conservative successors did nothing at all.”
Barrington-Ward’s report was again due to be made public in 1972 but because of the Troubles publication was delayed for a further 25 years.
It was not until 1997 that the people of Cushendall became fully aware of the horror that occurred in the village on 23 June 1922.
Barrington-Ward’s report also revealed two Cushendall men who the Special Police falsely accused of opening fire on the military and causing the murders fled to America fearing for their lives.
A number of other nationalists in the village, including the grandfather of local Sinn Féin councillor Oliver McMullan, were also threatened with death.
Mr McMullan was the first person to reveal the full details of the Cushendall massacre following extensive research in the public records office.
He believes the killings are one of the first examples of collusion in the North.
“The decision to cover up what happened and what was in Barrington-Ward’s report was discussed at a full meeting of the British cabinet,” explained Mr McMullan.
“It was a horrible episode, one the British could not even bring themselves to make public until 75 years later.”
Mr McMullan said the Glens community continues to be pained by the murders and subsequent cover-up.
“These killings are very much a part of our history,” he added.
“When we had a collection a number of years back to pay for a plaque in honour of those who were murdered we received donations from America and Australia.
“People from this part of Ireland have long memories, we haven’t forgot this terrible atrocity even though it occurred almost 100 years ago.”
