Derry dance
girls in hijack drama
(11/10/1929, Irish News)
Graphic
accounts were available on Friday of the incident which occurred in a desolate
district of Co Donegal on Thursday night when a party of Derry girls were held
up on their way to a British military dance at Leenan Fort, near Clonmany, one
of the British 'treaty ports'.
Some
of the girls were terrified by the sudden appearance of masked gunmen and
almost went into hysterics while others adopted a belligerent attitude and were
roughly handled. Deprived of their shoes and stockings, they were compelled to
walk a long distance barefooted, but they reached the dance and remained till
morning.
A defiant note was sounded by one of the young ladies when, in an interview,
she declared that they would be not deterred by gunmen from going to these
dances and they would have an armed guard to accompany them the next time they
went.
Further information obtained on the incident suggests that the parents of many
of the girls were shocked on learning of the occurrence and were unaware of the
fact that their daughters had left Derry city at all. The popular belief is
that the raid was carried out by a number of young men in the district who took
this method of showing local resentment at the attendance of girls at these
dances. Last year there was evidence of this resentment and it is known that
warning notices were issued. The dances were resumed for the season: as
previously, the girls were selected in Derry by a soldier from the fort.
One,
and sometimes two buses were required and were provided by the military and it
is known that there was often something in the nature of a scramble at Derry
among girls to get participating in these expeditions.
The
bus left Derry with over two dozen girls and a soldier. All went well until a
point near Clonmany was reached. Suddenly the bus stopped, and men whose faces
were masked with handkerchiefs and who carried revolvers, entered the vehicle
and ordered the girls to leave. There was an exciting scene at this stage. The
bus driver was compelled at the point of a revolver to proceed to the Isle of
Doagh. There the girls were obliged to dismount and the soldier was searched,
apparently for arms. He had in his possession a sum of money but it was not taken
from him. It seems that there was a threat to kidnap him and one of the girls
flung her arms around his neck and declared that he was her husband.
The
girls were then compelled to take off their shoes and stockings and those who
showed any disposition not to obey the order were roughly handled. The men then
set fire to the bag containing the wearing apparel.