Remarkable revelations made during poteen prosecutions
ACCORDING to a statement made by District-Inspector Anderson during a licensing court which had been held this week in 1930, poteen was being made everywhere in the district. The District-Inspector had made his claim before a court which was constituted by the magistrates Mr G McElroy, RM, and Mr W Gore Moriarty, RM.
One of the defendants when his house was raided by the police and a complete two cylinder still and bottles of poteen were found had admitted to the police that it was "a straight catch". This defendant, who was stated by the police to have been suspected for years of being engaged in poteen traffic, bore an otherwise "good character" and was sent to jail for three months.
When it was mentioned that another defendant due before the licensing court held a prominent position in a parish church DI Anderson had remarked that three years previously a still had been found under the floor of a gospel hall in Co Down and had been "worked" by one of the preachers.
Sergeant Smith of the Birches gave evidence in the first case which had been brought against a farmer from Derrycaw. He told how he had found eight bottles and a four quart can which was full of poteen, a complete two cylinder still and 12 gallons of wash at the farm in question. The sergeant added of the farmer being prosecuted that the defendant's character was "quite good" but again that he had been suspected for years for making poteen.
Continuing his evidence to the licensing court DI Anderson said that poteen was being made extensively in that part of Co Armagh and that it had been "almost impossible to catch those engaged in the traffic". He said: "The latest stills (petrol tins) are very handy to get and are not too expensive."
Mr McElroy said the case against the farmer was "very bad and audacious" one. The defendant, he said, had had the still in his house openly and was, apparently, "at that trade" for a very long time.
Mr McElroy added that he had believed that the trade in poteen had been confined to the northern side of Lough Neagh but this clearly illustrated that this was far from the truth.
The RM continued "We must stop it (the poteen traffic] and the only way to do so is to sentence those people engaged in it to jail."
He added: "I think we are dealing very leniently with defendant by sending him to prison for three months."
At the conclusion of the case against the Derrycaw farmer Mr Moriarty had words of praise for Sergeant Smith. He remarked that Sergeant Smith deserved "great credit" for the capture of the defendant who had been convicted. DI Anderson concurred with the RM's sentiments, he said: "I think so do. As the defendant said himself it was a straight catch."
In a further case concerning the trafficking of poteen a middle-aged farmer from Derryadd in Portadown was charged with being in possession of illicit spirits on 21st December, 1929.
Evidence was given by Sergeant Smith that about 5pm on December 21, after hearing a noise in a field "as if a can had been thrown away", he had seen a man in the field walking towards a gap. When the man was coming through the gap witness struck a match in his face and saw it was defendant. The field belonged defendant and his house was nearby.
After defendant had gone in the direction of his son's house Sergeant Smith found the tin which had been discarded and found that it contained a small quantity of illicit spirits. When he saw defendant later he had denied that he had been in the field. And the defendant denied to the court that he had met Sergeant Smith on the night in question.
Constable Acheson, who had been on duty with the sergeant, said that he was positive that it was defendant who had left the field. He told the court that knew the defendant well.
To this the defendant protested: "It must have been someone else." To which Constable Acheson said he was certain that it had been the defendant, who held a prominent position in a local parish church.
The farmer's defence solicitor then remarked: "It is no harm for a policeman to know a man well because he goes to church."
To which DI Anderson replied: "Especially when he collects the money." Which was greeted with much laughter in the court.
Turning to address the defendant Mr Moriarty, RM, asked: "Do you go round with the plate?" To which the defendant replied: "Yes, when the other man is not there."
The defendant's solicitor refuted the allegation which were made against his client and claimed that it was a case of mistaken identity. He said that it was only a week after the earlier defendant had been arrested and many people in the area had "wanted rid of their stuff".
But the defendant was fined 5 and Mr McElroy RM remarked: "The police could not have made a mistake after lighting a match practically in the defendant's face."
On the same day that the court report from Portadown was published in the News Letter the paper also dedicated part of its daily editorial comment to the curse of poteen making and how it had become so difficult for the police apprehend those engaged with the illicit distillation of Ulster "mountain dew".
The paper commented: "The making of poteen has been regarded for generations as one of the principal home industries in the counties of Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Kerry, and it seems that Northern Ireland is much more extensively engaged in the trade than had been supposed.
"According to the statement of a district inspector of police in a recent prosecution certain parts of the country are given over to poteen making, but the authorities find it exceedingly difficult, almost impossible, to apprehend those engaged in it."
The News Letter continued: "That these illicit distillers should enjoy such a measure of immunity is, of course, a tribute to the thoroughness of the precautions adopted. Stills have been found in private houses in the towns, but the favourite place for operations is a remote hillside or bog, offering facilities for the placing of sentries to give timely warning of the approach of the police.
"The transport of the "mountain dew" for disposal in the towns presented difficulties, it is true, but those engaged in the traffic find ways and means of overcoming them. In pre-war days the jars were concealed under loads of turf or inside sacks of oats and potatoes.
"Nowadays women "bootleggers" are employed and their equipment, as was revealed in recent prosecutions, consists of a body belt to which flasks are attached." The paper concluded: "A good deal of romance has been woven into the history of the making and disposal of poteen.
"Yet the hard fact remains that the traffic is responsible for countless ruined lives and miserable tragedies.
"Poteen is a curse to the district in which it is made and distributed, and public opinion must be wholeheartedly behind the authorities in their efforts to stamp out the whole illicit industry."
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Wednesday 15 February 2012
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