Arson marks a new era of extremism in Ireland
On December 30, amid speculation a former pub, the Shipwright in Dublin's Ringsend, was going to be used to provide accommodation for International Protection applicants, the vacant building was set on fire. File Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
Almost 103 years ago, a British general stationed in Athlone was travelling to a tennis party when he was ambushed by a local IRA company and killed. In retaliation, the Black and Tans combed the surrounding countryside in search of arms and suspects, ransacking a number of farmhouses in south Roscommon and Westmeath.
In response to that, in the early hours of July 3, 1921, volunteers with the Athlone IRA brigade arrived at the grounds of the nearby Moydrum Castle, owned by Lord Castlemaine, a member of the House of Lords and symbol of British rule in the locality, and burned the stately house to the ground. Almost 300 country ‘big’ houses were burned down or destroyed during the revolutionary years.
