ballyshannon

its all there in the picture , murdered in 1889 , at Gweedore in the line of duty , an R.I.C officer

Here's an account of his death... freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donegal/deathi...

RTE did a radio documentary on the incident. But it was in the land campaign that he became famous. When the landlords agents arrived at one house to evict a tenant, Fr McFadden stood in the doorway. He withstood the bailiffs and orders were given for his arrest the following Sunday as he was saying Mass. This was too much for the people and they resisted it, in the process accidentally killing the police inspector. But the police returned another day and succeeded in taking Fr McFadden, and forty two others from Gweedore, into custody and brought them to trial for the murder of Inspector Martin.

More from the Nation, Saturday, 9 February 1889...

The Rev. J. McFadden was arrested at Gweedore on Sunday at the conclusion of the ordinary service in the chapel. In his address to the people after Mass, Father McFadden exhorted the people to be quiet and peaceable under any circumstances that might arise. When the congregation left the chapel a body of police under District-Inspector Martin, of Ballyshannon, was posted by the chapel door. The people stood by to see what would happen. As soon as Father McFadden made his appearance the police moved forward to arrest him. Simultaneously the people made a move to save the priest from being captured, and during a melée between them and the constables the priest escaped from the crowd, and ran towards his house. He was, however, followed by the police, and just as he was mounting the steps to his house door, Inspector Martin caught him by the coat. Seeing this the people at once hurled stones at the officer, and one of the missiles struck him on the back of the head. He fell insensible down the steps, his face being crushed as he reached the ground. He dide not recover consciousness, and died about three o'clock in the afternoon. He was attended by Dr. McFadden, of Gweedore, who happened to be returning from Divine Service at the time. Father McFadden, seeing what had happened, submitted to arrest, and was taken to the police barracks at Gweedore. Father McFadden left the Gweedore Hotel for Londonderry at half-past six, escorted by a detachment of the 60th Rifles and a body of constables.

As dearbhaile2 mentions, some of the context is given in the plaque itself. But certainly not all of it. As it happens, this image could very easily be added to the Tríd an Lionsa sequence that we saw on this stream in late 2015, as it relates to some of the images (including those below) shown during on particular episode of that TG4 program. (The episode is unfortunately now gone from the TG4 player). What the plaque doesn't reflect is why and how the named RIC member was killed. It was during the Land War, when the inspector attempted went (maybe inadvisably given the outcome) to arrest the local parish priest immediately after mass. The parishioners were (perhaps unsurprisingly) taken-aback at armed men seeming to pursue and accost the priest, and the inspector was struck and killed in the melee that followed. The TV program covered it well I thought. Though the main point of the program was how photography was used in the case that followed (in that, in 1889, the trial was one of the first in Ireland to use photographic evidence). www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/23350774204/

This similar shot claims to be of Strabane, Co. Tyrone.

Is it Londonderry? Trying to reconcile the bridge and spires ...

Sharon Corbet It's certainly similar - the church is in the right place and orientation, for example, but there's not that many piers on the bridge now, and there isn't on the 6" survey either.

The magic of streetview makes it look a lot less like Strabane. I think it's somewhere else.

derangedlemur Yeah, I've been looking elsewhere too.

Halle-flippin-lujah she's back. I've been like a junkie all week suffering withdrawal symptoms. Believe me "Cold Turkey" is not a nice state to be in. Welcome back Carol and I hope thats the end of the leave for this year?

There's an awful lot of weight at the rear of that car and that gentleman in particular. A lot of it is behind the back axle and it could make life interesting going up a steep hill. Imagine travelling on that in a downpour?

Swordscookie Lovely to be back! But afraid not on the leave front. Don't know how to break this to you gently, so you'll have to be a brave soldier - I'm going away again next week (feast or famine!)... But then I'll be around for ages, no flitting off on tourist cars for me! Though if this picture was taken today, the poor tourists would still be huddling in blankets. Brrrr and boooo to the arctic winds!

Crowded buses even then.

Michiel2005 Wonder if it was the same back then - that you waited for ages and then two came along at once?