Jeremiah Mee (29 March 1889 – 8 May 1953), was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and leader of the Listowel Mutiny in 1920.

Early life

Mee was born in the townland of Knockauns East, near

Glenamaddy Glenamaddy, or Glennamaddy (), is a small town in County Galway, Ireland. 50 km north-east of Galway city, it lies at the crossroads of the R362 and R364 roads. Glenamaddy became a musical focal point in Connacht during the 1960s during ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. He was the fourth child of John Mee and Ellen née Mee; he had four brothers and four sisters. He left school at the age of 12 and worked on his father's farm until he joined the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

(RIC). Mee joined the RIC on 16 August 1910, aged 19. He was first stationed in Kesh, County Sligo in 1911. Following that he served in

Collooney Collooney or Coloony () is a town in County Sligo, Ireland. Toponymy Collooney is thought to derive from . Reverend Terrence O'Rorke has previously also suggested ''Culmaine'', as Collooney is designated this way in such works as the ''Annal ...

Geevagh Geevagh () is a village in the south-east corner of County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the R284 road, R284 Regional road (Ireland), regional road. The name, meaning "the windy (place)", describes a climatic feature of the village a ...

Ballintogher Ballintogher () is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. It is located approximately 8 kilometers southeast of the county town of Sligo on the R290 road between Ballygawley to the west and Dromahair in County Leitrim to the north-east. Known a ...

and Grange, all in County Sligo.

Mutiny

Mee was initially stationed in Listowel in 1919. In June 1920 the transfer of fourteen constables was ordered from Listowel barracks as the military were to take control. The constables at Listowel, led by Mee, refused the transfers as they felt military intervention unnecessary in the area. On 19 June, Divisional Police Commissioner for Munster, Lt.–Col.

Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth, DSO and Bar, French Croix de Guerre and Belgian Croix de guerre (7 September 1885 – 17 July 1920) was a British Army officer and police officer who was at the centre of a mutiny in the ranks of t ...

, came to Listowel to give a speech to the constables, in which he called for more ruthlessness against The sein Fein 'The more you shoot the better I will like you, and no policeman will get in trouble for shooting a man.' he also hinted at the treatment for its prisoners and proclaimed:'Any man who is not prepared to co-operate is a hindrance rather than a help and he had better leave the force at once.'After an angry reaction from Mee, Smyth ordered that he be placed under arrest, which the remaining constables prevented. After a period of quiet in the barracks Mee, along with four other constables, left the force. A version of Smyth's speech at Listowel was published in the Freeman's Journal on 10 July 1920. There has been debate over the accuracy of this reported speech. The ''

Freeman's Journal The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper. History Patriot journal It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified ...

'' later reported that it was polemically based to discredit British governance. Following this Smyth was shot dead on 17 July 1920 in the County Club, Co. Cork.

Later life

Following the mutiny, Mee made contact with

Countess Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, and socialist who was the first woman ...

and

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

, becoming involved with Sinn Féin, helping former RIC officers find employment. He was involved with the Belfast Boycott, boycotting Belfast banks and businesses, which was instigated by the Republican Dáil. Mee later worked for the

Irish White Cross The Irish White Cross was established on 1 February 1921 as a mechanism for distributing funds raised by the American Committee for Relief in Ireland. It was managed by the Quaker businessman, and later Irish Free State senator, James G. Dougla ...

and in the oil industry for British Petroleum (BP) and Russian Oil Products Ltd. Following that he worked in the

Department of Local Government and Public Health The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Departmental team The official headquarters and ministerial office ...

. Mee died on 8 May 1953, and is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mee, Jeremiah People from Glenamaddy Royal Irish Constabulary officers 1889 births 1953 deaths Police officers from County Galway