Sir Francis Bond Head Encounters the Police in County Mayo
In the summer of 1852, Sir Francis Bond Head toured in Ireland and published some observations on the Irish police in A Fortnight in Ireland (1852). In the west, he visited Ballinrobe and was so affected by evidence of distress there, and so impressed by the results of newly employed agricultural practices, that he felt like he had to go to meet Lord Lucan. On his way to Castlebar, he travelled through a countryside which was “composed, in almost endless proportions, of three ingredients, bog, stones, and peat” (Head, 1852, pp. 128-129). He visited a constabulary station near Ballinrobe and was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the interior:
"It was really a picture and a pattern of cleanliness ; the walls and ceilings of the rooms were milk white, the floor as clean as a farm kitchen table, and the men, notwithstanding the rain, in perfect parade order. I asked the sergeant commanding, whose arm was distinguished by three chevrons, whether there was much crime in his neighbourhood. “Very little indeed,” was his reply. He said there had been no evictions lately" (Head, 1852, p. 129).
In Castlebar, Head observed about a dozen men in blue uniform standing outside a door on one of the town’s main streets. Unfamiliar with their costume, and eager to find out who they were, he entered the building and was soon in the presence of:
"Two officers in blue military frock coats, gold scales on their shoulders, and wearing swords exactly as if they were of a regiment of the line. The one was a sub-inspector and the other a lieutenant of what is called in Ireland “the Revenue Police”…these officers very readily and obligingly explained to me – who had never before even heard of their force – that its especial duties, which, previous to the year 1836, were performed by the military, accompanied by an excise officer, are to suppress illicit distillation and malting. In order to do so, armed parties, four times a week, by day and by night, and for at least eight hours per diem, make excursions to search the town lands, every suspected house, concealed caves, &c. The whole force consists of about 1000 men under officers…The men, like those of the constabulary, are armed, efficently equipped, and well disiplined and drilled" (Head, 1852, p. 133).
The Revenue Police was established in 1832 in an effort to suppress illicit distillation and stem revenue loss. In 1836, two-thirds of the force were dismissed because of indiscipline and poor training and the entire body was re-formatted. New recruits were trained along the lines of light infantry and the majority of the force was stationed along the western littoral. They were quite effective and they eventually drove poteen-makers off the mainland and onto the western islands. It can be said that this accomplishment led to the Revenue Police becoming a victim of its own success. In 1854, a commission of enquiry concluded that the suppression of illegal distilling no longer required a separate police force. In 1857, it was disbanded and the Irish Constabulary assumed its responsibilities (Herlihy, 1997).
After his visit to Lord Lucan, Head visited the constabulary barracks at Castlebar. He found an orderly contingent of men stationed there in a clean, 5-roomed establishment. The men on duty assured him that religious differences between the men never caused any friction. At Westport, Head encountered policemen who had been to Clare Island the day before to attend at an eviction. The head constable told Head that he had been present at numerous evictions for the previous 5 years in the neighbourhood and that apart from one instance of animosity at Kilmeena, no resistance whatsoever had been made. He claimed that the people of the area had always been amenable to the law and that “it was a matter of wonder they were so submissive” (Head, 1852, p. 152).
During Francis Bond Head’s tour, he was repeatedly assured by the constabulary that the people of County Mayo were particularly honest and that there was scarcely any crime at all in the county. At Westport the head constable informed him that, when it came to crime, there was “None whatever…some petty larcenies, that’s all” (Head, 1852, p. 153). During eviction duty, he admitted that the police had great difficulty but that they endeavoured “to joke off anything that is said against us ; and even if it comes to blows, we will bear a good deal rather than have re-course to deadly weapons” (Head, 1852, p. 152).
"It was really a picture and a pattern of cleanliness ; the walls and ceilings of the rooms were milk white, the floor as clean as a farm kitchen table, and the men, notwithstanding the rain, in perfect parade order. I asked the sergeant commanding, whose arm was distinguished by three chevrons, whether there was much crime in his neighbourhood. “Very little indeed,” was his reply. He said there had been no evictions lately" (Head, 1852, p. 129).
In Castlebar, Head observed about a dozen men in blue uniform standing outside a door on one of the town’s main streets. Unfamiliar with their costume, and eager to find out who they were, he entered the building and was soon in the presence of:
"Two officers in blue military frock coats, gold scales on their shoulders, and wearing swords exactly as if they were of a regiment of the line. The one was a sub-inspector and the other a lieutenant of what is called in Ireland “the Revenue Police”…these officers very readily and obligingly explained to me – who had never before even heard of their force – that its especial duties, which, previous to the year 1836, were performed by the military, accompanied by an excise officer, are to suppress illicit distillation and malting. In order to do so, armed parties, four times a week, by day and by night, and for at least eight hours per diem, make excursions to search the town lands, every suspected house, concealed caves, &c. The whole force consists of about 1000 men under officers…The men, like those of the constabulary, are armed, efficently equipped, and well disiplined and drilled" (Head, 1852, p. 133).
The Revenue Police was established in 1832 in an effort to suppress illicit distillation and stem revenue loss. In 1836, two-thirds of the force were dismissed because of indiscipline and poor training and the entire body was re-formatted. New recruits were trained along the lines of light infantry and the majority of the force was stationed along the western littoral. They were quite effective and they eventually drove poteen-makers off the mainland and onto the western islands. It can be said that this accomplishment led to the Revenue Police becoming a victim of its own success. In 1854, a commission of enquiry concluded that the suppression of illegal distilling no longer required a separate police force. In 1857, it was disbanded and the Irish Constabulary assumed its responsibilities (Herlihy, 1997).
After his visit to Lord Lucan, Head visited the constabulary barracks at Castlebar. He found an orderly contingent of men stationed there in a clean, 5-roomed establishment. The men on duty assured him that religious differences between the men never caused any friction. At Westport, Head encountered policemen who had been to Clare Island the day before to attend at an eviction. The head constable told Head that he had been present at numerous evictions for the previous 5 years in the neighbourhood and that apart from one instance of animosity at Kilmeena, no resistance whatsoever had been made. He claimed that the people of the area had always been amenable to the law and that “it was a matter of wonder they were so submissive” (Head, 1852, p. 152).
During Francis Bond Head’s tour, he was repeatedly assured by the constabulary that the people of County Mayo were particularly honest and that there was scarcely any crime at all in the county. At Westport the head constable informed him that, when it came to crime, there was “None whatever…some petty larcenies, that’s all” (Head, 1852, p. 153). During eviction duty, he admitted that the police had great difficulty but that they endeavoured “to joke off anything that is said against us ; and even if it comes to blows, we will bear a good deal rather than have re-course to deadly weapons” (Head, 1852, p. 152).