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THE FREE STATE PRISON SYSTEM.
Kilkenny Jail.
Since the murder of Sean Edwards here on August 19th, the public have gleaned some interesting details of the tragic occurrence, and have heard something of the treatment which the prisoners were undergoing previously. Now, as during the Black and Tan regime, all news containing any vestige of truth is heavily censored, and in true British fashion the publicity agents of the military junta circulate the most absurd and lying theories of every occurrence which takes place in jail, and outside, of course. But truth has a happy knack of fizzling through, and in spite of the censor, the muzzling of the Press, and the lying PROPAGANDA OF CHURCHILL'S PUPPETS, we hope in this article to enlighten the public on the subject of our incarceration and the criminal treatment which accompanies it.
The evidence contained herein can be testified to on oath by 270 prisoners, men whose sense of honour and faithfulness is the cause of their imprisonment.
In "A" Wing, 120 of the men are soldiers of the Waterford Brigade who resisted the attack on the City and 15 belong to No. 3 Column of the Kilkenny Brigade who were arrested at Windgap. In "B" Wing are 140 soldiers of the Irish Republic from Kilkenny, Wexford, Leix, Offaly and Tipperary Brigades, men who have resisted many an onslaught from England's might and who have also defended the Republic from the new oppressor.
Since the occupation of the prison the prisoners have been denied the privilege of a visit, and parcels handed in at the gate, if taken, have been robbed of their contents or confiscated altogether in many instances. Sums of money sent by friends have been missed on several occasions. The amount robbed in this fashion is considerable and complaints are always treated with contempt. In consequence of this, the practice of sending money has been dropped for some time, much to the loss and disappointment of the prisoners and more so the guard.
The quality and quantity of the food served would take an amount of time and trouble to describe. Meat fit for consumption only in a kennel, black and hard as Kilkenny Marble, evidently reeking with disease when alive, the germs of which stifle the atmosphere with a foul odour, is the principal item for dinner.
Green herbage, believed by some to be an uncommon variety of cabbage in which every known species of the insect world is represented, making a very appropriate companion for the meat and both with unwashed hard
potatoes comprise the principal meal.
The beverage known as "Tea," with an insufficient allowance of bread and butter, is served in the morning at 8 a.m., and in the evening at 4.30 p.m., after which the sickening agonies of meal hours are ended.
Several complaints have been addressed to the Governor, and the meals have been sent back, without result. The apparent idea is of course to compel the prisoners to supply their own food, and this is in practice to a large extent in the prison.
On Fridays the dinner comprises a mixture of rice and water, the latter ingredient to the proportion of 80 per cent.
Before the cell doors were broken by the prisoners the air at night was stifling which together with the bedding, consisting of fibre mattresses laid on the floor and a covering of three coarse blankets though being "unit" for service at Gormanstown Camp by the Black and Tans, were quite good enough for Republican prisoners here, made sleep if possible very unpleasant.
Without warning the cell "windows" are fired into every night amidst the shouts and foul language of the Guard outside. So common has the intermittent sniping of the windows become, as well as the firing of volleys through the large gable windows of both "Wings," that the prisoners have become almost heedless and are quite accustomed to move up and down the stairway and along the corridors under a hail of fire. On August 8th, Volunteer N. O'Neill, of Waterford Battalion, was hit in the left foot and arm by a rifle bullet whilst lying in bed. First aid was rendered by one of his companions, and as no doctor could be obtained he was compelled to lie in this condition bleeding for a time, until his removal to hospital next morning. An operation was performed, and happily he has recovered somewhat since.
Had the cell doors not been open the unfortunate lad might have died from loss of blood and neglect on the part of the Prison Authorities. To obtain the ministrations of a priest would have been out of the question under the circumstances. Can the blackest chapter in the history of "Greenwood's Terror" equal this murderous action? Did the British Forces ever enact such a callous and inhuman tragedy with such unchristian disregard for human life? And we are told that this was done with the sanction of the People's Will, the source from which this self-styled Despotic Government derives its authority. Those who fought through the British Terrorist Campaign know the depths of moral depravity to which the agents of England sank in carrying out their flendish work.
The jails, the workhouses, and every criminal abode in England furnished its quota to the Black and Tan Forces operating in Ireland in a vain effort to crush the spirit of the Nation and the ideal of the Republic.
Since Collins and Mulchay superseded Greenwood and Macready the idea of the
mercenary soldier, unprincipled and devoid of National instinct, willing to wage war on Republicans for a miserable wage, has become a guiding principle in the Councils of the Free State Army. To ensure success in this direction the disbandment of Irish Regiments was carried out quietly and expeditiously by sending home hundreds of men whose instincts were purely British and to whom the situation in Ireland was unknown. As to character, the morals of the British Army, the lowest of any in the world for those who wish to descend, were never questioned. The cities of Ireland, in common with those of every country in the world, contain a never-failing supply of idlers, and those who prefer to live upon the earnings of others rather than work themselves, and to this class "The Call to Arms" opened up new prospects of easily earned money. Deprived of the habitation of the workhouse and periodical terms in jail, the only other refuge was the "Army," and, as recruiting shows, they form a large percentage of its ranks. It may not be believed, but those are now the wretches into whose hands the lives of Republican prisoners are entrusted in Kilkenny Prison. Even cose in charge cannot deny this fact and make no attempt to do so; deep traces of vice and crime are outlined on their evil countenances, and when in a drunken condition are allowed to go on duty, and use firearms in a criminal and reckless fashion.
There are prisoners here at present who were imprisoned by the British, and their description of the contrast in treatment is very enlightening.
During that regime the Governor was Boland, once Chief Warder in Mountjoy, and the murderer of Thomas Ashe; criminal murderer though he was, he allowed prisoners the privilege of two visits weekly, and parcels were always opened in the presence of the prisoners themselves, and thus no complaints were ever made as to pilfering or loss of property. The firing of even a warning shot never took place, and it is only true to say that the Jail was never fired into during the night; in fact armed guards never approached the interior of the Prison, all communication with the prisoners was carried on from the doorway, and complaints were a matter of discussion between the Prisoners' Commandant and the Governor. It will be seen that even the British Agents in all their mad frenzy, never conceived the brutal methods employed by our new captors. During the past few weeks it has been the custom with the prisoners to exchange a few words wit