A publication honouring the memory of Bob Finn, founder of the Castleisland Moonlighters will be launched by former Fine Gael politician and government Minister Jimmy Deenihan at the River Island Hotel, Castleisland on Friday, December 9th 2022 at 8pm.
This is a sister booklet to the recently launched A Sketch of Rev William Casey, PP, of Abbeyfeale which will also be on sale on the night.
The booklet, produced by Castleisland District Heritage, is a long overdue acknowledgement of the role played by Bob Finn in putting down land-grabbing and helping to win for Ireland the land for the people.
Under Cover of Darkness
The secret nature of the organisation known as Moonlighters – their raids for arms were under the cover of darkness – and the subsequent hostile reaction to their activities by the authorities which resulted in imprisonment without trial, meant that little was placed on record about the movement from the participants’ and the people’s point of view. The result is a lop-sided view taken from official records.
Bob Finn, Captain Moonlight contains a series of essays to help illustrate, to some degree, the other side of the coin, so to speak.
John Roche, chairman of Castleisland District Heritage, believes it is vital to address this issue in the cause of historical accuracy.
Success of Captain Moonlight
“After a hugely successful launch of the booklet on the life of the great Land League Priest, Fr. Casey, in conjunction with the Abbeyfeale Community Council, we are now completing the circle with a similar little book about the contributions of his contemporaries west of the Feale, Bob Finn and Fr Arthur Murphy,” said Mr. Roche.
The success of the campaign by Captain Moonlight and his acolytes in their oath-bound commitment to his authority created panic in the House of Commons where landlords were so numerously represented. Captain Moonlight had shown that the detested practise of land grabbing could be brought to a long overdue end.
Eviction as a Weapon
With nobody to take up a lease following an eviction, the landlords’ weapon of eviction was turned on themselves.
While the Moonlighters prevented a new tenant replacing the evicted family, the two orators, Fathers Casey and Murphy, instilled backbone into the peasant masses as they addressed monster meetings throughout the district.
The British government panicked and rushed through the infamous Coercion Bill followed by the implementation of internment without trial in Castleisland for the first time.
Detested Absentee Landlords
As this also proved a failure the detested absentee landlord system became a beaten docket.
The Land Purchase Acts followed and the rest is history – the Irish people became the owners of the property they occupied throughout all 32 counties, achieved by peaceful protest and people power. Sporadic acts of violence were the work of renegades and private feuds, but they cast a long shadow over the incredible achievements of the trio we are celebrating with these publications.
Bob Finn’s Grandson
The organisers have been in contact with the last surviving grandson of Bob Finn, John Haniver, and have invited him to the launch of the booklet – for which he has written a few words.
It will be on sale at the launch and in local outlets, and will also be available on the website of Castleisland District Heritage: www.odonohoearchive.com
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