The Royal Irish Constabulary

About this book

Published for the first time, this memoir by a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) provides many insights into life as an Irish policeman in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, during Ireland's turbulent years of the Land War right up to the Irish War of Independence. Thomas Fennell (1857-1948) paints a lively picture of the daily activities of a highly regimented force, constantly under hierarchical scrutiny from Dublin Castle. He is acutely aware of the ambivalent position of the RIC drawn largely from the sons of tenant and small farmers yet supporting the Ascendancy and the landowning classes. Fennell was a nationalist yet retained a loyalty to and pride in the force. He also contrasts the sympathetic attitude of the general population to the police during the Land War with the more hostile response after 1916. He counters the critics who ascertained that the RIC was engaged in espionage on behalf of the State, makes the points that the RIC provided no advance of the Rising of 1916, and that any such spying as occurred was on behalf of Collins, echoing the experience of Michael Davitt during the Land War. -- Publisher description