williammartin

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/

Same photo used in the news item below: Hence the identity of those in photos above, from left to right, test pilots Bill Harwell, Bob Myrann, Harry Henderson, Rex Warden, and Bill Martin.

The original photo, plus others taken of test pilots Bill Harwell, Bob Myrann, Harry Henderson, Rex Warden, and Bill Martin during the same photo shoot:

William Knox Martin (USMC) (October 30, 1892 - July 28, 1927) Distinguished aviator, painter and poet, W. Knox Martin. He is also the father of artist Knox Martin. See: earlyaviators.com/emartin.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_Martin