Aloys Fleischmann (1880-1964): Immigrant Musician in Ireland

4. Life in the Free State 1920–34

CORK IN 1920 DURING THE TROUBLES Fleischmann returned to Cork in mid September 1920 after an absence of almost five years. He had to leave his mother on her own in a ruined country, her savings annihilated by the galloping inflation which was paralysing the German economy. In Ireland the war of independence had begun in January 1919: police barracks were being attacked by 4. Life in the Free State 1920–34 Aloys Fleischmann 1928 131 132 Chapter Four republican insurgents, tax offices burnt down, British soldiers ambushed. Taxes could no longer be collected, the courts could no longer sit, the administration of the country was increasingly passing into the hands of the rebels. In March 1920 a special force was sent to Ireland known as the ‘Black and Tans’ due to the colour of their officers’ improvised uniforms ; in July ‘Auxiliaries’ were sent to support them. Their lawless violence brought increasing numbers to join or at least help the rebels. Republican ambushes and assassinations led to reprisals by the special forces: in March 1920 the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás MacCurtain, was assassinated. Terence MacSwiney was elected as his successor. MacSwiney was arrested in August 1920 for illegal activities and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. His death in October 1920 in London’s Brixton Prison after a long hunger strike attracted the attention of the world to the condition of Ireland. In November martial law was imposed on Munster; in December the special forces burned down the centre of Cork city, including the City Hall. As it had become clear that the British could not win without resorting to an all-out military campaign for which there was little support in Britain, a truce was negotiated in July 1920, which was ratified in December. But it entailed the partition of the island, the retaining of the British sovereign as head of state, and the ceding of four Irish ports to British control.The majority of Dáil delegates accepted this, albeit unwillingly; a large minority did not. In June 1922 the hostility between the two factions erupted into a civil war which was to last until May 1923.There were 4,000 casualties during the civil war as against 1,500 during the war of independence.The worst legacy was one of divisive hatred often within families, which smouldered for decades. The civil war did further damage to the already scarred infrastructure of the country, which was seriously under-developed even before the war of independence started.The first government of the Free State thus faced a formidable task of reconstruction without the prospect of receiving one penny in foreign aid or compensation. When the fighting ended in the summer of 1923, the wreckage had to be assessed. There was a sense of shock at the extent of the destruction: not just the physical devastation of the country already so grievously damaged by the war of independence, but a sense that the hopes and potential for the future were in peril. This was coupled, however, with a determination on the part of many working in the cultural field to make every effort to salvage those hopes from the ruins, to heal the wounds of the nation, to create a better life for the people, so that the destruction and bloodshed would not prove to have been in vain. A NEW START IN A NEW STATE Fleischmann’s joy at being reunited with his family in September 1920 was overshadowed by the troubled times, which also brought him Life in the Free State 1920–34 133 personal grief with the death of Terence MacSwiney. His death was of immense political significance, making it difficult for the British government to withstand the pressure of the American government for the granting of independence. MacSwiney’s body was brought from the London prison to Cork, accompanied everywhere by vast crowds. His requiem mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 1 October 1920 was one of Fleischmann’s first major services after his return from Germany. The following month, Cork was placed under martial law.That winter young Aloys woke one night to see soldiers crawling past his attic window on their way to raid the house next door. He wrote in August 1921 to his grandmother with some understatement: ‘I saw a lot last year, and was often not able to go to school. When our neighbour’s house was...