Battlefield Clonmel: Árd Na Sidhe

The Hill Of The Fairies in Clonmel seems to be reacting to its destruction.

Most of you reading this will now be aware of the standoff in Clonmel town between the locals and the EU migration Hydra. Most of you will also be aware of the hype surrounding the spate of incidents such as freak accidents, vandalism and Black and Tan style British mercenaries carrying sharp implements onsite. The people of Clonmel have by themselves already put up a fierce fight against the plantation activities there, but there seems to be another force at play too as ever since the the sacred tree in the middle of the site, and indeed the two fairy forts were disturbed, the people working on site have had a terrible time of it. A further look at the sites history reveals an incredible coincidence that validates the stories told by Irish natives about these places.

Firstly, mainstream historians agree that fairy forts, or Liosacháns, date back to around 600BC. This timestamp feels a bit off to me. I personally feel that these sites are far older than that but we will roll with 600BC for now. Secondly, there is an entire history attached to every single one of the 30 thousand or so ringforts in Ireland, passed on not just by local legend but also documented by various interest groups and historical societies. In Clonmel itself there are fairy forts out nearly every road of the town, with many stories from in and around the area passed on, generation to generation. A brief google and you will find some of the more well known tales and stories however there are other historical events that reinforce Clonmel’s mystique such as Cromwell’s difficulty while sieging the town in 1650. You simply can’t ignore the cross section of these two important aspects of our history as Clonmel resists plantation once more. Particularly so, when the men who are tasked with clearing the land for this misdeed, suffer catastrophic injuries mere hours after disturbing a fairy fort.

I take no pleasure in the knowledge that there were multiple casualties and a possible fatality (rumoured). The fact that it was foreign men involved is even less pleasing than that because if it had to have been Irish men, the fort would not have been touched, leading me to sympathise with the men who are injured. They were sent in there like lambs to the slaughter regardless as the locals don’t want this. Whether you believe in this stuff or not there is now a stigma surrounding this site and the apparent cause and effect between the disturbance of the fort and subsequent reprisal from the Otherworld that joins a long list of such happenings. 25 miles away or so, the legend of the murder of Bridget Cleary can be used to reinforce the idea that there is something to this. Bridget was murdered by her husband who believed that she had been replaced by a “changling”. Their house was built on the site of a fairy fort and although it was the finest house in the village, nobody wanted it because of the history of the place. More than likely there are string of stories, before theirs, attached to the cottage that still stands there to this day, yet the Cleary’s ignored the warnings and the rest is history.

Sean Quinn’s Trophy Tomb

Another famous contemporary tale of a man falling foul of a fairy fort is that of Ireland’s one time richest man, Sean Quinn. Sean Quinn in his infinite wisdom, uprooted a 4000 year old wedge tomb that was considered a fairy fort by generations of locals and moved it to the other side of the village where he owned a considerable portfolio of property. The tomb was in the way of his planned expansion of a quarry and his money and connections managed to get him “permission” from Irelands Chief Archaeologist. The “Quarryman” then proceeded to uproot and transport the ancient portal tomb over to his hotel as a showpiece. As reported by the Independent:

“Following a full excavation of the site, it was moved -- stone by stone -- and relocated in the grounds of Mr Quinn's Slieve Russell Hotel on the other side of the village.”

”Mr Quinn has since lost the cement works, the hotel, a raft of other businesses and his multi-billion euro fortune. According to bankruptcy documents, he now claims to have just €11,000 in the bank.”

People like Sean Quinn have filled the annals of history, crossing the boundaries of Ancient agreements, modern laws and common understandings alike in aid of personal advancement. The general sense of respect for the dead is lost on these people. So too is respect for their own heritage and the lasting mark left on the landscape by our ancestors. In the case of the Sidhe, this contempt is nearly always met with reprisal.

This brings me to the site on Heywood Road itself and its location regarding Cromwell’s New Model Army siege. Cromwell was known to place his canons inside fairy forts as he assaulted various garrisons indicating either a sick contempt for the customs of the Irish or else a deep knowledge of pre-Christian beliefs and perhaps he intended to rely on the support of the otherworld as he rained death upon our ancestors. His forces demonstrated this in Co.Kerry as per the article above when they placed a canon within the ring fort on the hill across the bay in order to to attack the Tower where Walter Hussey made his last stand. Heywood road, which runs up parallel to Ard na Sidhe, is also adjacent to the site which Cromwell launched his siege on Clonmel’s North Gate. Like the workers last week, Cromwell had a tough time of it.

The locals have gathered themselves, not in the numbers you would expect from a town of 20,000 plus natives, but gathered they have all the same. On Thursday night just gone they held a meeting in the Talbot Hotel on the edge of town, setting out an impressive ball room and head table, complete with a roster of locals who have taken it upon themselves to represent their town. There was a very impressive banner across the head table which read “Clonmel Concerned residents”. All looked poised to be a real sledgehammer of an event which could have produced great footage for social media but the real heroes and serious people involved were given no chance at all to shine as the meeting kicked off with the crowd being subjected to a 22 minute Youtube video containing a man ranting away under his breath in a Liam Neeson-esque voice. Out of sheer politeness, and I shouldn’t have, I held my tongue. Finally, as I was about to break and say something, another victim behind me beat me to it and demanded it to switched off to great applause. From the first few words spoken in the video, I knew Clonmel was in trouble. They had invited people up to this hotel, including Kevin Sharkey as a guest speaker, to force them to endure this video of an unnamed man uttering stock phrases back, to back, to back. Every single person within range of my ear was up in arms about it. And then the speakers spoke.

There was a few locals, one after the other, who gave a great account of themselves. Two of the men gave accounts of the shocking tactics of the Gards and the security on site as well as a correction as to what was reported in the news about the production of a knife by a security guard. We were told that it was in fact a Sisk employee who produced the knife to intimidate a young woman. We were then treated to a very concise update as to what is happening legally. We were informed that a High Court injunction has been sought against works on site and that an experienced legal professional, unnamed, is assisting with this aspect of the fight back.

These are the people who need to be front and centre going forward if they want to salvage this thing and keep the town on their side.

There was however an incredibly disappointing speech given by Kevin Sharkey who I am an admirer of. Sharkey gave his usual backstory that we have heard a handful of times before and then proceeded to segway into an unqualified conspiracy theory about the death of the girl who got stabbed in Parnell Square last November. Sharkey, without a care or a fuck given about the credibility of the Clonmel Residents group and what they were trying to achieve, used the moment to ventilate his theory. He got a bit of a clap as he wrapped up with a few rousing words but combining this with the beginning of the session the whole point and meaning was effectively destroyed.

As Sharkey came to the end of his bit, and this requires its own paragraph, the usual suspects began to hound him, interjecting and “correcting” him. No, this was not left wing activists but rather a different thing entirely although you would be forgiven if you thought they were hostiles. These “Common law” Shamen go by many names in various groups and don’t deserve a mention as to do so only excites them to the point of questionable stimulation. As Sharkey tried to speak they walked up to the area infront of him with their phones out recording, some of them with two phones I shit you not, and proceeded to take fault with with Sharkey’s words in an extremely petty, pedantic and disruptive way, stopping to celebrate and high five each other afterwords. Again, this group did not contribute to the point of the meeting whatsoever and used the meeting to solicit the attendees to buy their printed material. Those poor souls who shone brightly and did their town proud were lost in the middle of all of that manure.

A break was had and afterwords the floor was asked to raise their hands for a chance on the mic. Kevin Sharkey did not return to the room. A lady from Roscrea who traveled to be there gave a stark account of what happened in their town including a break and entry with an attempted rape within her extended family. The mic then landed to me, and to be honest I didn’t want to speak after seeing the absolute state of what was happening but I knew there was genuine group of people at the head table who were there because they loved their town and were prepared to fight for it. Having had the experience that I have had in fighting these centres, and also knowing a few of the locals personally, I stood up and gave a few words for their sake. I emphasised the need for all in the room to support these people with their physical presence and not to take the organisers energy and time for granted. I demanded hat they show steel in the face of intimidation and back their town hard and heavy for the next few weeks. I advised them that in between the local and general elections the government would not be so eager to bribe the locals away with tokenistic projects and funding and that they should up the ante. You could tell the people in the room were breathing easier now that the core theme of the meeting was being addressed. I left shortly after I spoke. I was very interested in hearing a person who I admire speak, a man by the name of New Adda(Keith), however I could not bare to suffer the narcissism and spastication coming from these other detractors in the room and I pulled the plug. I have witnessed them do this on one too many an occasion to suffer the bullshit. My apologies to you Keith if you read this.

I want to clarify the following. My words here may seem harsh, or perhaps very kind depending on whether or not you also witnessed the car crash meeting, but what I will say is this; The people involved are experienced. They have been around as long as I have, if not longer in these battles, and still the mistakes that were made in the early days are being made now 5 years on. Gathering local, regional and national interest and using that audience to ventilate your personal dogmas and pyramid schemes is parasitic and child like. It is selfish and destructive to the mission at hand. Sure, the comfy middle class RTE addicts are to blame for not showing up, for not taking the lead, but when you have been in the game a few years and you still subject people to extreme theories and personality cults you are equally at fault. By setting the bar to entry for locals who are considering joining ye a mile up in the fucking clouds you have to only count in days and minutes the moment that total collapse of public support arrives.

My advice to the gang in Clonmel:

These travelling salesmen are not your friends. Get rid. Do not turn meetings into re-education camps. Inform people of developments and matter of fact, site relevant information, demand their support. Earn it. Keep it simple. Set ground rules with visitors, even the celebrity types. Clonmel Residents Group is a big juicy platform right now for attention seekers, influencers and upstarts. In comparison to these bastards that curse our movement the left are tame and that needs to be taken on board.

Sabotage is only a handshake away.

In the meantime keep up the fight. I am rooting for you, Ireland is rooting for you and to be honest, it seems like the fairies are rooting for ye too.