Ireland's Cause by Jack McGrath Flynn at Inkitt

Summary

This is a fictional story of how a local group and community of people from a small town on the Tyrone/Derry border fought the might of the British Army in Ireland in 1972. . The Clark family from Glenbeg in County Tyrone have a long tradition of militant Republicanism in the fight for Irish freedom stretching back generations. Hugh Clark has been active in the Irish Republican Army since 1918 and, with his son Sean, is still a local leader in 1972 building and training the local IRA Company. In Derry a Civil Rights march is attached by the British Army which leads to the death of 14 protesters and thousands of people flocking into the Irish Republican Army seeking revenge. Hugh and Sean Clarke welcome these outraged people with open arms training and arming them. The Glenbeg Company launches several attacks on the British Security Forces which respond in a brutal manner utilising the local British Army Forces, the local Loyalist Paramilitary force the Ulster Defence Regiment, the local Loyalist death squads and the secretive British Army Death Squad the Military Reaction Force. Ambushes, informers, torture and death are all part of the daily lives of the participants and the local community in this struggle of Ireland's Cause.

Genre: Action/Other

Author: Jack McGrath Flynn

Status: Complete

Chapters: 16

Rating: n/a

Age Rating: 18+

Prologue

Security Forces Report on Hugh Clarke of Glenbeg, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

1905: Year of birth

1917-1924: Member of the Republican Youth Movement, Na Fianna Eireann. Active in illegal and subversive activities with his parents.

Father: Hugh Clarke Senior, Irish Republican Army Flying Column (Officer Commanding).

Mother: Bridie Clarke (nee Devlin), Cumann Na mBan/Irish Women Council (Auxiliary Branch Irish Republican Army).

1924: Immigrated to Scotland. Location and activities unknown.

1928: Returned to Northern Ireland. Inherited family land in Glenbeg. Re-joined the local Irish Republican Army Company. Believed to be responsible for supplying arms obtained in Scotland for training.

1934: IRA Officer Commanding (OC) Glenbeg, active in restructuring and training local IRA Company following Republican Congress split.

1939: January - Assigned to Active Service in the England Bombing Campaign. Arrested in May during a raid on a bomb making facility in London. Convicted and sentenced to 7 years’ penal servitude.

1946: Returned to Glenbeg, having completed his sentence.

1947: Actively involved with rebuilding and training of the local IRA.

1950: Arrested in Cork City, Irish Republic, for attempted murder of alleged informer.

1951: Stood trial for the attempted murder charge, acquitted and released. Returned to Glenbeg. Believed to be involved in IRA raids for arms on Security Forces Barracks in Derry City and Omagh.

1954: Believed to be involved in IRA raid on Armagh Barracks.

1956 - 1962: Actively involved in IRA Border Campaign (aka Resistance Campaign) with son Sean Clarke, (born 1937).

1967: Dismissed from IRA for unofficial removal of arms from Republican Army dump.

1969: Actively involved in formation of Provisional IRA.

1970: Allegedly responsible for supplying arms to Derry City and Belfast PIRA subversives.

1971: Earmarked for internment, however it is believed that he was tipped off and fled the immediate area.

1971 – Present: Active in illegal activities and strong mentor of the Glenbeg Officer Commanding, his son Sean Clarke.

Dangerous subversive. Approach with caution, believed to be armed and dangerous.