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Cork’s Joan of Arc
Teenage girl, Mary Bowles, hero of the Irish struggle for freedom. Takes on the British Army and government and lives to tell the tale.
Video Transcript
– Mary Bowles, the baddest teenager to ever walk the streets of Cork City.
Also known as Cork City’s ‘Joan of Arc’. Now, I’m going to describe Mary Bowles, the 16 year old Cork teenager.
But, first, my name is Dara. This is the Rebel City Tour, rebelcitytour.com, and I do tours of the city, essentially. Okay, so let’s set the scene, guys.
It’s the war. It’s the Irish War of Independence. The Irish are fighting for freedom from the British Empire around 1919 to 1921.
It’s a morning like any other in the village of Cloheen on the outskirts of Cork City. The villagers, they’re going about their day. They’re getting prepared to go about their day. They’re heading out to work in the fields. They’re milking the cows. What they don’t know is this.
Acting on a tip-off, the Black and Tans, the feared-and-hated British soldiers. These Black and Tans, they’re running a counter-insurgency operation.
They’ve surrounded the village of Cloheen, and they’re slowly starting to tighten the noose. So, they’re kicking in doors, guns raised. They’re looking for IRA fighters. They’re looking for weapons. They’re looking for information.
Now, when these feared-and-hated Black and Tan soldiers get to Mary Bowles house. They kick in the front door, guns raised, and i don’t need to tell you. The Black and Tans are under orders to shoot first, ask questions later.
So, what happens in Mary Bowles house? Well, everybody panics. Now, everybody panics but young 16 year old Mary. Mary knows exactly what she has to do.
She jumps up lightning-fast, runs to the kitchen, gathers the weapons. She runs out the back door, sprints across the field. All the while, the youngest, fittest Black-and-Tan trying to catch up with her.
Eventually, when the Black-and-Tan is about to catch up with young Mary. She turns around to let off a few shots. He grabs her, pulls her kicking and screaming to the ground, holds her while his comrades catch up.
Now, when they eventually catch up and they arrest Mary. They search her. So here’s where it gets interesting.
Mary is carrying a revolver, a loaded pistol, a light machine gun, and she’s also wearing bulletproof body armor. This 16 year old young Cloheen native, also known as the Pride of Cloheen. Mary is a badass. (laughs)
There’s a famous old Irish Gaelic wisdom, that describes the story of Mary perfectly. Now, I’ll tell you this at the end. Okay, so back to our story. Mary’s caught by the Black-and-Tans.
She’s dragged into this police station here, the Bridewell Police Station in Cork City. This is during the War of Independence, so it was run by the British police. After a lengthy interrogation, Mary refuses to give up her comrades, refuses to give any information whatsoever.
So they decide they’re going to haul Mary before the courts. Now Mary refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the British courts in Ireland. The young 16 year old girl. What does this mean? So, she refuses to engage in any way with her lawyer. She refuses to enter a plea to the judge.
And after this, Mary is thrown back into prison, and she spends her time in prison. Drawing accurately and to scale, the various machine gun parts and machine guns she’s handled, on the walls of the prison. So, guys, Mary at this stage enters Badass Valhalla. (laughs)
Eventually, guys, Mary Bowles is imprisoned in a reformatory school up the country, run by the nuns who, I’d imagine, she probably scared half to death.
And that’s the story of Mary Bowles, guys, also known as the Pride of Cloheen. Cloheen was her village in the outskirts of Cork City. So, and the old Irish wisdom, guys, okay. Lag uck two ah beug crown moor. “A small axe can cut down a big tree.”
That’s the story of Mary Bowles, guys. We salute you, Mary!
