Extract from report in Carlow Sentinel, June 31st 1919. Dangerous Speech in Carlow. Southern Police Court before Mr. Swifte, Magistrate, K.C. Frank Gallagher, who was arrested in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, was charged under the Criminal Law, Ireland Act of 1887. On May 25th last Mr Frank Gallagher delivered a speech to a crowd of between 300 and 400 people assembled at Myshall, Co. Carlow. Constable John Boles, Myshall, County Carlow, a special constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary, confirmed his dispositions in which he stated that in company with Constable Henry Skehin he attended a public meeting and Mr Frank D. Gallagher, of Dublin (whom he identified) addressed the meeting. In the course of his speech he made and published seditious and inflammatory observations. Amongst other things he incited his hearers in the following words, or words to the like effect :- " I wish to impress on you that you owe no allegiance to any alien Government ---only to your own---the Irish Republic. England has no more right to govern you than China. You belong to Dail Eireann, and whatever it asks you to do you must do it from a Christian as well as a moral command. If we have another rising be true to Eamon de Valera, Plunkett, Thomas McDonagh, and Pearse. Do not let them and the work they did in 1916 be in vain". Mr Swifte asked Gallagher if he had any question to ask ?. Mr Gallagher stood up and asked the magistrate whether he was appointed under the Act passed under the Constitution of the Irish Republic ?. Swifte took no notice of the question. Swifte then sentenced the accused to three month's imprisonment , without hard labour, and ordered him to give bail in £20 to be of good behaviour for 12 months or serve a further term of one month's imprisonment.

This reference states that Constable John Boles was a 'special' constable of the RIC. I would welcome opinions whether that means he was a temporary member, probably a local, who was signed up to serve with the RIC but possibly was not a full time member of the RIC? I have looked for Boles in the RIC before and the only John I could find was in a northern county. Still he could have been assigned to Carlow. The word 'special' makes me think it wouldn't be that full time constable though. Anyone's thoughts? Thanks for the interesting reference Mick. Tom -----Original Message----- From: irl-carlow-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:irl-carlow-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of michael purcell Sent: 19 March 2010 14:56 To: irl-carlow@rootsweb.com Subject: [IRL-CARLOW] Boles in Myshall 1919. Extract from report in Carlow Sentinel, June 31st 1919. Dangerous Speech in Carlow. Southern Police Court before Mr. Swifte, Magistrate, K.C. Frank Gallagher, who was arrested in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, was charged under the Criminal Law, Ireland Act of 1887. On May 25th last Mr Frank Gallagher delivered a speech to a crowd of between 300 and 400 people assembled at Myshall, Co. Carlow. Constable John Boles, Myshall, County Carlow, a special constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary, confirmed his dispositions in which he stated that in company with Constable Henry Skehin he attended a public meeting and Mr Frank D. Gallagher, of Dublin (whom he identified) addressed the meeting. In the course of his speech he made and published seditious and inflammatory observations. Amongst other things he incited his hearers in the following words, or words to the like effect :- " I wish to impress on you that you owe no allegiance to any alien Government ---only to your own---the Irish Republic. England has no more right to govern you than China. You belong to Dail Eireann, and whatever it asks you to do you must do it from a Christian as well as a moral command. If we have another rising be true to Eamon de Valera, Plunkett, Thomas McDonagh, and Pearse. Do not let them and the work they did in 1916 be in vain". Mr Swifte asked Gallagher if he had any question to ask ?. Mr Gallagher stood up and asked the magistrate whether he was appointed under the Act passed under the Constitution of the Irish Republic ?. Swifte took no notice of the question. Swifte then sentenced the accused to three month's imprisonment , without hard labour, and ordered him to give bail in £20 to be of good behaviour for 12 months or serve a further term of one month's imprisonment.

June 1919 is too early to have been a R.I.C. B-Special Constable ( est. Sept. 1920) or a member of the Auxiliaries reinforcement group ( Sept. 1919) or a Black and Tan recruit (Jan. 1920), possibly volunteer but I don't think that Boles show up in Carlow records for the period ?.... On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 12:14 AM, Tom LaPorte <tlaporte@mts.net> wrote: > This reference states that Constable John Boles was a 'special' constable > of > the RIC. > > I would welcome opinions whether that means he was a temporary member, > probably a local, who was signed up to serve with the RIC but possibly was > not a full time member of the RIC? I have looked for Boles in the RIC > before and the only John I could find was in a northern county. Still he > could have been assigned to Carlow. The word 'special' makes me think it > wouldn't be that full time constable though. > > Anyone's thoughts? > > Thanks for the interesting reference Mick. > > Tom > > -----Original Message----- > From: irl-carlow-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:irl-carlow-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of michael purcell > Sent: 19 March 2010 14:56 > To: irl-carlow@rootsweb.com > Subject: [IRL-CARLOW] Boles in Myshall 1919. > > Extract from report in Carlow Sentinel, June 31st 1919. > Dangerous Speech in Carlow. > Southern Police Court before Mr. Swifte, Magistrate, K.C. > Frank Gallagher, who was arrested in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, was > charged under the Criminal Law, Ireland Act of 1887. > On May 25th last Mr Frank Gallagher delivered a speech to a crowd of > between > 300 and 400 people assembled at Myshall, Co. Carlow. > Constable John Boles, Myshall, County Carlow, a special constable of the > Royal Irish Constabulary, confirmed his dispositions in which he stated > that > in company with Constable Henry Skehin he attended a public meeting and Mr > Frank D. Gallagher, of Dublin (whom he identified) addressed the meeting. > In > the course of his speech he made and published seditious and inflammatory > observations. Amongst other things he incited his hearers in the following > words, or words to the like effect :- > " I wish to impress on you that you owe no allegiance to any alien > Government ---only to your own---the Irish Republic. England has no more > right to govern you than China. You belong to Dail Eireann, and whatever it > asks you to do you must do it from a Christian as well as a moral command. > If we have another rising be true to Eamon de Valera, Plunkett, Thomas > McDonagh, and Pearse. Do not let them and the work they did in 1916 be in > vain". > Mr Swifte asked Gallagher if he had any question to ask ?. > Mr Gallagher stood up and asked the magistrate whether he was appointed > under the Act passed under the Constitution of the Irish Republic ?. > Swifte took no notice of the question. Swifte then sentenced the accused to > three month's imprisonment , without hard labour, and ordered him to give > bail in £20 to be of good behaviour for 12 months or serve a further term > of > one month's imprisonment. > > > ======================================= > Before you post a message to the IRL-CARLOW mailing list you must subscribe > to the List. Its FREE! > --------------------------------------- > To subscribe to the IRL-Carlow mailing list, send an email to > IRL-CARLOW-request@rootsweb.com with the word "subscribe" (without the > quotes) in the Subject box. No additional text is required. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRL-CARLOW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >