A rather crudely made replica of the Irish Army cap badge, 1-1/4 inches in diameter, stove enamelled black and with the field around the letters FF solid rather than pierced. In the garter around is the inscription BUIDEAN PHILA PA. An old IRA or Sinn Fein unit in Philadelphia? What do we know of this one? 

Peter Sheen 

6th Battalion Connaught Rangers, 16th (Irish) Division

10th November 1885 – 4th January 1942

Thomas Hughes was born on the 10th November 1885, the son of a Roman Catholic farming family who resided on a small farm in the townland of Coravoo in the parish of Donaghmoyne, some 5 miles from the market town of Castleblayney in the County of Monaghan. Thomas attended Aughnafarcon National School until his early teens. Here he received his Primary Education with his two brothers and two sisters. Some number of years later he left Coravoo and went to the Curragh in Kildare to train as a jockey. This was a great career for him as he was not very tall and of light build.

At the outbreak of The Great War in 1914, Thomas enlisted and went to Fermoy in County Cork to train as a soldier.

In September 1915 the 16th Irish Division left Fermoy and crossed to England where they remained until the 17th December 1915 when they left for France.

Thomas Hughes won the Victoria Cross, which is the highest award ‘For Valour’ in the British and Commonwealth armed forces for his heroism at the battle of Guillemont on September 3rd 1916 (During the First Battle of the Somme).

The official record states that the distinction was awarded :-

 ‘For the most conspicuous bravery and determination . He was wounded in an attack, but returned at once to the firing line after having his wounds dressed. Later seeing a hostile machine-gun, he dashed out in front of his company, shot the gunner and single-handed captured the gun . Though again wounded, he brought back three or four prisoners’. 

On June 2nd 1917 King George V presented Thomas Hughes with his V.C. at a presentation in Hyde Park in London. He later received the rank of Corporal.

Other events he attended at a later time were a garden party given by the King at Buckingham Palace on the afternoon of 26th June 1920 and a dinner given by the British Legion to V.C. recipients at the House of Lords, Westminster. Other Medals awarded to him were 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20, Allied Victory Medal 1914-19. His Victoria Cross is presently displayed at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, England.

On his return to Ireland, after his gallant act the people of Castleblayney and district with Lord Francis Hope and prominent citizens at their head marked their appreciation of his heroism by making him the recipient of a presentation with which he purchased the hill farm of Thomas Gilmours in Fincarn adjacent to Aughnafarcon on which he resided afterwards. He lived alone, a bachelor until his death on 4th January 1942 which occurred at the Farney Famine Workhouse, in Carrickmacross in the County of Monaghan which at this period was a County Home for the Infirm, Aged and Destitute. He died aged 57 years old and is interred in Broomfield Old Cemetery at Taplagh in the parish of Donaghmoyne. He is buried beside his parents and brother’s family. “For Valour” is inscribed on his tombstone.

The above is an extract from a school project called “Forgotten Hero” by Aughnafarcon past-pupil Lorraine Garland who interviewed, Mickey Hughes R.I.P. and Denis Christie R.I.P. both nephews of Thomas Hughes V.C. and gave their assistance to Lorraine with her project while she was a primary pupil at Aughnafarcon School.

The Dedication of the Grave

Joseph Edward Woodall V.C. Rifle Brigade had moved in the mid-1950s from Eccles, near Manchester England, to Sandycove in Dublin, where he rented a room with a local family. He died in Saint Michael’s Hospital, Dun Laoghaire on the 2nd January 1962 as a result of burns he received after an accident in this room.

He was buried in Deansgrange cemetery, but his grave was never marked with his name. After months of fund-raising by members of the Medal Society of Ireland and the Friends of the Somme Mid-Antrim, a headstone was dedicated on the 2nd January 2010, forty eight years after his death.

The headstone was crafted by Mark Davidson stonemason of Ballyclare Co. Antrim, who as a contribution to the venture, maintained costs to an absolute minimum. The headstone is a credit to him, and features the crest of the Rifle Brigade, Victoria Cross and the grave number where Woodall is buried. John McCann manager of the cemetery provided a site for the headstone, along with a granite surround to frame the headstone and I would like to thank them both for all their help.

Over 100 people attended the dedication on the 2nd January, including

the Cathaoirleach of Dun Laogahie Rathdown Cllr. Maria Baker, Cllr. Adrian Watson Mayor of Antrim, Cllr. James Currie M.B.E. Mayor of Ballymena,  A representative from the British Embassy

The following societies and associations were represented by their members:

·          Medal Society of Ireland

·          Friends of the Somme Mid-Antrim

·          Connaught Rangers Association

·          Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association

·          Leinster Regiment Association

·          Royal Munster Fusiliers Association

·          The British Legion

·          Retired members of the Irish Defence forces (who travelled from Cork)

The event was also well attended by members of the general public. The religious service was jointly conducted by the Rev. Brian Turnbull from Antrim and Father Derek Smyth of Foxrock. The unveiling of the memorial was to be conducted by Major-General David N.C. O’Morchoe C.B. C.B.E. President of the Republic of Ireland Branch of the Royal British Legion, but due to the bad weather conditions, he was unable to travel from his home in Gorey, Co. Wexford. Therefore, Mr English of the British Legion Dun Laoghaire had the honour. Wreaths were then laid as a piper played a lament.

I would like to thank Cllr. Baker on behalf of everyone, especially those who travelled long distances to attended the service on a very cold day and for her invitation to a reception which included tea coffee sandwiches and soup.

The citation for the actions which resulted in the award of Britain’s highest military decoration to Woodall was as follows.

Woodall was presented with his V.C. at Buckingham Palace on the 23^rd of November 1918,by King George V. He continued to serve with the Rifle Brigade until 1921 when he retired with the rank of Captain. His Victoria Cross and service medals are on display in the Imperial War Museum in London.

The King Edward Medal  - A Posthumous Award

Last night’s London Gazette announced that His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to award the Edward Medal in silver to the late Edward Reid Powell in recognition of his gallantry in the following circumstances.

On the 2nd August 1935 a fire broke out in the ground floor premises of the building at 2 Amelia Street Belfast, in which Mr Powell was employed as managing director of a firm of handkerchief manufacturers. The ground floor was occupied by a firm of wholesale confectioners and instead of first giving an immediate alarm, the staff on this floor endeavoured vainly to extinguish the flames, which had obtained a good hold before the workers on the upper became aware of the danger.

When the danger became known several women and girls escaped from the first and third floors by means of the main staircase, and about forty women and female young persons on the se cond floor also proceeded to escape in the same way. A number succeeded,being assisted by Mr Powell who was in his office at the commencement of the outbreak and who was subsequently seen on two occasions assisting women down the stairs and out of the building. In the meantime the heat and smoke had much increased and the remaining women were unable or unwilling to descend by the front stairway. Efforts were made to induce them to try the back stairway, but without success. A few were assisted through a window to the flat roof of an adjoining building and the others, more or less panicstricken, made for the front windows, which the Fire Brigade officers were then preparing to enter.

Mr Powell was in the street at this juncture but, observing the plight of the women at the windows, he again groped his way up the smoke-laden stairs to the second floor, endeavoured to calm them and shepherded them one by one through the windows to the firemen, who by means of a portable escape, conveyed them to the street. During the rescue operations Mr Powell sustained severe burns to the eyes, face, scalp, neck, hands, arms and legs and he died two days later from shock, following these injuries. From special inquiry and the evidence of eye-witnesses it is clear that Mr Powell risked his life, consciously and deliberately, to save the lives of a number of employees of the firm and that the injuries which he sustained were cumulatively acquired in long-sustained and repeated exposure to death in one of its most terrifying forms.

Source

Irish Times 9th November 1935

Dublin United Tramway Company (DUTC)

The DUTC was formed by the merging of several of Dublin's existing tram operators in 1891, that is:

•       The Dublin Tramways Company

•       The North Dublin Street Tramways Company

•       The Dublin Central Tramways Company

Dublin's first electric trams were run between Haddington Road and Dalkey in 1896, initially by the Dublin Southern Tramways Company, but soon incorporated into the DUTC , as it purchased from the Imperial Tramways Company and integrated that company, itself comprising:

•       The Dublin Southern Districts Tramways Company

•       The Blackrock and Kingstown Tramway

The DUTC subsequently changed its name to the Dublin United Tramways Company (1896) Limited, and later again changed the “Tramways” part of its name to “Transport” reflecting the final abandonment of trams in 1944 in favour of buses. Following legislation in the Oireachtas (Transport Act 1944), the DUTC and the Great Southern Railways (Ireland) were vested in the newly-formed Coras Iompair Eireann in 1945.

The DUTC's logo (sometimes known as “the Flying Snail”) was adopted as the logo of CIÉ and continued to be painted on the side of Dublin's buses until the 1960s.

The Inspectors badge is in silver coloured metal and the badges for Bus Driver, Conductor and Motorman are gilt. The note attached to the offer states that the badges are dated 1931 and made by Gaunt. Thus they were possibly worn from at least 1933 to 1945. Post 1941 the C.I.E Inspectors badge was somewhat similar in design with the letters C.I.E. surrounded by a wreath. In the case of the Dublin Port and Docks Board Police the other ranks wore a gilt cap badge and the officers a silvered coloured Badge.

Sources: 

Wikipedia 

Memorial to Soldiers Unveiled

On Monday April 12^th 2010 serving and retired members of the 4^th Western Brigade attended the unveiling of a memorial at Athlone Castle to their 19 fallen comrades. Some 100 members of the Defence Forces including the Band of the 4^th Western Brigade and a lone piper took part in the ceremony. To date, 84 members of the Irish Defence Forces have died on U.N. service, 19 of whom were from the West of Ireland.