in the afternoon they appeared before Justice Michael Lennon and were charged under Section 52 of the Offenses Against the State Act with failing to account for their movements. It was the same Offenses Against the State Act that Matt Brady had protested in 1939 when it was first proposed. Detective Inspector John O’Flaherty of the Special Branch informed the justice of the charges. The justice, an old Sinn Ftiner and Irish Republican Brotherhood man, raised a technical issue. Under Irish law, Section 52 came into force via a public proclamation from the government. Lennon asked for proof that this had happened. O’Flaherty did not have evidence of a proclamation, and the justice dismissed the charges against all seven. (Justice Lennon subsequently resigned at the government’s request.) They were not immediately released but were returned to the Bridewell. Because he was unarmed and arrested by himself with no incriminating evidence, Kavanagh was later released. The others, who were implicated by the items found in Ó Brádaigh’s haversack, spent the night in the Bridewell. That same day, eight of the captured Brookeborough raiders appeared in another court and were remanded to Mountjoy.
On January 3rd, Ó Brádaigh, Pat McGirl, Joe Daly, and Dermot Blake were back in court, this time facing District Justice Reddin. Paddy Duffy and Leo Collins were sick and unable to attend. The prosecution was ready and offered evidence that the government had publicly proclaimed that the IRA was an unlawful organization and that the Offenses Against the State Act was in force. The group was then formally charged with five offenses: membership in an illegal organization, refusing to account for their movements on the evening of December 30 and the morning of December 31, possession of fourteen rounds of .303 ammunition, possession of a practice grenade, and possession of an incriminating document-Cronin’s Notes on Guerrilla Warfare. As they were IRA prisoners in a court that they did not recognize, the proceedings consisted of Detective Inspector O’Flaherty describing the respondents’ refusal to answer questions. When O’Flaherty read the charges to them, Ó Brádaigh responded in Irish: “Ni fheddfadhJios a bheith ag aon duine des na fedraibh eilefaoi a raibh I mo mha’la agus ni raibh aon bhaint acu Len a raibh i mo mhdla” [It would not be possible for any of the other men to know what was in my bag and they had no connection with anything that was in it]. When offered the chance to provide a statement, the others had responded with, “Nothing to say.” In response to the charge of failing to account for their movements, Ó Brádaigh replied, “Nil aon rud le rd agam” [I have nothing to say]. In court, when the justice asked if they had any questions for the inspector, none of them replied. When he finished presenting the evidence, Walter Carroll, of the chief state solicitor’s office, asked that the men be remanded in custody for another week.
Justice Reddin then asked the prisoners if they had anything to say. Ó Brádaigh spoke for them: “We have already been three days in solitary confinement, and on New Year’s Day we were not permitted to go to Mass. On behalf of the men I wish to make a protest in the strongest possible form against their treatment.” The prosecutor said he was surprised to learn this, but added, “I cannot make any comment.” Ó Brádaigh could: “We made several objections and were told there were no facilities for hearing Mass in the Bridewell.” He also complained that they were being held illegally. Under the Offenses Against the State Act they could only be held for forty-eight hours without being charged. “Our period of detention was up yesterday [January 2nd] at 4.30 p.m.,” he said. “We were brought into Court and the charge was dismissed. We were not allowed to leave the Bridewell until 12.30 this morning when we were again charged. It would appear to us that our detention on the third day is illegal.” O’Flaherty and Carroll countered that they had been charged within the 48-hour period. The justice accepted this and asked the prisoners if they objected to being held on remand for a week. Ó Brádaigh replied, “I have no objection to a remand, but we would prefer that it would not be in the Bridewell again in solitary confinement.” Informed by the prosecutor that the remand would be to Mountjoy, he replied, “Very good.” Justice Reddin then asked if any of them sought bail. Speaking for the group, he replied, “No sir.”
Prisons north and south were filling with Republicans. On January 8th, Irish police officers spotted Sein Cronin, Robert Russell, Noel Kavanagh, and Paddy Duffy-who had escaped from a hospital near the Bridewell-in a car outside Belturbet in County Cavan. They were arrested and sent to Mountjoy. On January 12th, 100 people were arrested in Belfast. That same day, Tomis Mac Curtiin addressed a large crowd at College Green in Dublin. He argued that the IRA did not threaten the Dublin government and that volunteers would not return the fire of the Irish Army. It did not help. The next day most of the IRA’S leadership, including Tony Magan, Larry Grogan, Charlie Murphy, and Tomis Mac Curtiin, were arrested; they too ended up in Mountjoy.
On Monday, January 14, 1957, the Derrylin raiders made their final court appearance, before Justice Fitzpatrick. They marched in and remained at attention. The justice informed them that they could be seated and Ó Brádaigh issued the order “Suzgi sios” [Sit down]. Informed that they had the right to a trial by jury, each replied, “I am not interested.” The prosecutor, Mr. Carroll, described their arrest, including Ó Brádaigh’s attempt to toss items out the car window. When Superintendent Kelly, one of the arresting officers, took the stand, Justice Fitzpatrick offered Ó Brádaigh the chance to question him. Ó Brádaigh began by asking Kelly if he wanted to speak in Irish or English. Kelly replied that it did not matter. The justice asked for an interpreter, stating, “I recognise your right to speak the Irish language, but I would like to have an interpreter as I do not know it.” Superintendent Kelly then said that he would prefer to have the questions in English, as he did not know enough Irish.
Ó Brádaigh proceeded in English. When he came to Kelly’s offer to drop the charges in exchange for information, Kelly denied that he had made such an offer:
Ó Brádaigh: “Do you remember having a private conversation with me in one of the rooms of the police barracks?”
Kelly: “Yes.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Do you remember showing me a tin with a number of rounds of ammunition?”
Kelly: “Yes.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Did you ask me to take responsibility for that ammunition?” Kelly: “No.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Did you promise me on that occasion there would be no charge in relation to those rounds contained in the tin?”
Kelly: “No, no, I did not give any promise at all of that.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Did you at the same time ask the whereabouts of other members of our party?”
Kelly: “Yes.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Did you press me hard as to where they were?” Kelly: “I do not know whether you could say I pressed you hard.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Did you ask me would I give my word of honour as to where they were?”
Kelly: “I did.”
Ó Brádaigh: “Do you remember taking me aside and promising that the men now in Court would be driven home?”
Kelly: “I did not give a definite promise at all.”
The judge, who was interested in the line of questioning, interjected with, “Did you give a promise of any sort?” Kelly replied, “No.” As Ó Brádaigh remembers it, Kelly “had the grace to blush when the Judge pressed him.” Ó Brádaigh, who was inexperienced at dealing with police officers, was shocked by the denial under oath.
Detective Inspector O’Flaherty also appeared as a witness. Ó Brádaigh used him to make political points. The Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet Union had begun in October 1956, and Imre Nagy had been appointed prime minister of Hungary. In November, Soviet troops attacked Budapest
