Athy woman, Mrs Hester May recalls the occasion in 1922 when she attended the formal handover from British to Irish control at the Curragh Camp 

“I remember that those trees outside were very small then” was one of the nostalgic comments to come from Athy woman Mrs. Hester May when she recently revisited Curragh Camp. Meeting Curragh Command G.O.C., General Charles McGuinn, at Ceannt Barracks, Mrs. May had come back to recall the first day on which the Irish flag flew over the camp.

 

On 16 May 1922 – the day on which the “handover” from British to Irish control formally took place – Mrs. May, then Hester Dooley, was the only woman actually present on the Curragh. Now into her eighties, her fascinating recollections of life before and after the war of independence are not just interesting personal memories of people and placenames which have now taken their place in the history books. They also serve to remind us of the very active role played by some women at the foundation of the State.

 

Born at Duke Street, Athy, Mrs. May was just twenty on that historic date at the Curragh. However, her work experience to date would undoubtedly have made exciting reading on any curriculum vitae. A member of Cumann na mBan, she went to work in Dublin for the late Piaras Beaslai. Many supposedly legitimate businesses in the city at that time were in fact “fronts” for a variety of activities connected to the war of independence in progress. Mr. Beaslai was editor of An tÓglach (The Volunteer), a magazine which was printed “somewhere at the back of Aungier Street”. In the course of her work, Mrs. May was frequently requested to carry despatches and messages and more than once placed her own safety in jeopardy. “I remember occasions when the military (British army) would climb on to a bus to carry out a check. You would have to hide whatever documents you were carrying under the seat”.

 

Among those she met was Erskine Childers, father of the man who subsequently became Irish President. She remembers, too, hearing the news of his execution at a later date. “It was a bleak day for us when we heard about that”.

 

Others whom she recollects meeting include Desmond Fitzgerald (father of the current Taoiseach), Kevin Barry and Michael Collins. After Mr. Beaslai departed to the United States, she began to work for others, including General J.J. (“Ginger”) O’Connell, at whose invitation she was on the Curragh on 16 May 1922. She remembers having to ask her parents’ permission on that occasion – they were dangerous days. “You might be travelling home from Dublin by train and have to stop along the route because a bridge had been blown up, or something”.

 

Towards the end of the war of independence, during the “Black and Tan” period, Mrs. May actually came under direct fire while on her way to Portobello Barracks in Dublin. Joseph May, the man whom she later married and who was also native of Athy, was arrested and interned during the “Black and Tan” era. For her visit to the Curragh recently, Mrs. May wore two medals awarded to her for her service during the war of independence, one of them relating specifically to her activities while the “Black and Tans” were in Ireland.

Following the ending of the war of independence, Mrs. May among others, was officially made a civil servant and, throughout the civil war, continued to do essentially the same work on behalf of the Free State government.

 

The camp, to Mrs. May’s eyes, has not changed radically although she did comment that there appear to be a lot more buildings. On that day in 1922 she watched the handover from the then H.Q. (now the Civil Defence building).

 

To mark Mrs. May’s nostalgic trip into the camp. The Army produced the original tricolour to be flown from the Water Tower on that date. The flag is enormous, measuring 150 x 243 inches. The original measurements were 150 x 250 but unfortunately pieces have actually been removed from time to time. The flag had been in the possession of the O’Connell family but was frequently given out on loan for the funerals of veterans and other occasions. It has now been given into the care of the Army and, following consultations with the National Museum on suitable means of preservation, it is to be displayed at Ceannt.

 

Mrs. May, meanwhile, does not really need a flag to recall her many memories. Now living at St. Patrick’s Avenue, Athy, she has seen a lot of water flow under the bridge since those days, as the mother of eight children and now a grandmother. Her youngest brother, Paddy, served as T.D., and Mrs. May has always retained a keen interest in political developments. No period, however, could be as close to her heart as the years from 1918-23 when going to work in Dublin brought a combination of excitement and, on occasions, terrible tensions.

 

The birth of the Irish State has been a popular and frequently controversial subject for historians over the years. As an elderly and much respected lady, however, Hester May has gone long beyond caring about controversies. She just likes to smile and say, “I was there”.

  

Source

Leinster Leader 14-12-1985

Whereas the Irish fought abroad in the Crusades for religious reasons, they hired themselves out for pay as mercenaries to the English kings. For five centuries (13^th/17^th inclusive), they fought in Wales, Scotland, Flanders, England and France. Irish regiments fought against Cardinal Richelieu, Oliver Cromwell and Scottish Covenanters. They fought both for and against Louis XIV on behalf of Charles II, and. tragically, fought on the side of James II.

In October 1641, there were local risings by the Irish in Ulster, who had taken an oath of allegiance to King Charles I, to defend themselves and protect the king from the English parliament. They hoped to recover their properties and social positions. The Parliament’s ingrained distrust of Catholics was inflamed by exaggerated reports of the brutality with which the Ulster planters (some English but mainly Scottish Protestants) had been treated.

 

The British civil wars, known as the English Civil War, saw an Irish Army fighting in England and Wales, 1643-’44, and in Scotland, 1644-’45. Even before this, in 1642, Prince Rupert of the Rhine wrote to the Duke of Ormond, the King’s Viceroy in Ireland, to say that his “Irishes” were “instinctively the best fighters” he had yet commanded and that “I am mightily in love with my Irish soldiers.” He requested trained Irish regiments to join him, as reinforcements. Ormond negotiated one year’s cessation of hostilities between English royalists and Irish confederates with the Supreme Council of The Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny on September 15, 1643, and 10,000 Irish Catholic soldiers, trained to fight the English in Ireland, were sent to England and Wales in support of the Royalist Army, arousing fears of a “Catholic Crusade”, in the minds of Parliamentarians and Scottish Covenanters alike. Parliamentary orders went out:

 

“Ordinance no quarter to the Irish.”

 

Parliamentary indoctrination maintained that all Irish were less than human and had the blood of murdered Protestant on their hands, while Irishwomen were drunken whores, who aimed to lead young innocent Puritans down an immoral path.

 

We know something about the men who fought the Royalist cause in Scotland. Montrose’s Irish Musketeers sailed from Waterford, June 24, 1644, under the command of Lieutenant General “Colkitto” (Alisdair MacCollen Chiotaigh) MacDonnell, with Colonel Manus O’Cahan, as Second-in-Command, and Colonel James McDermott, as the third regimental commander. Having landed at Ardnamurchan, Argyllshire, in July, they marched well over 2,000 miles and fought with the Duke of Montrose’s Royalists in the defeat of the Solemn League of the Covenant forces in six battles, against superior numbers. During the campaign, Montrose’s forces suffered a fraction (approximately one fourteenth the number) of casualties suffered by the forces of the Covenanters. As veterans of Owen Roe O’Neill’s Ulster Army of the Confederation, this Irish Brigade were capable of deadly accurate and controlled musketry, hardy endurance, great discipline and courage. When the Border landowners did not support the king, the Highlanders started to drift home and, at Philipshaugh, September 13, 1645, with about 100 Scots, 500 of the Irish Brigade repeatedly fought off 5,000 horse, under Major General Sir David Leslie, who had surprised their camp at daybreak. While Montrose cut his way free with a few companions and managed to flee abroad, the Irish, commanded by Colonel O’Cahan, only surrendered when 5 out of every 6 were casualties, on a promise of leniency from Leslie. The ministers of the Covenant Army were perfidious to General Leslie’s promise and the few surviving Irish prisoners were massacred, together with 300 camp followers. Manus O’Cahan, an excellent soldier, was later hanged in Edinburgh.

 

However, not much is generally recorded about the Irishmen who had been fighting in England before this. The Battle of Edgehill, Warwickshire, October 23, 1642, was, at that time, the greatest battle ever fought on English soil - 15,000 died and a further 15,000 were wounded. Irishman Robert Welch was knighted, early in the day, for capturing two pieces of cannon. Later, together with Englishman, Sir John Smith, Sir Robert recovered the Banner Royal, standard of the King’s Own Regiment, which had been captured by Parliamentary forces when its defender, Sir Edmund Verney, was hacked to death. The Banner Medal, the first war medal granted for service in the field, was issued to both men. The large gold medal bore King Charles I’s head on the obverse and the Banner on the reverse.  It was worn on a broad green watered ribbon over the shoulders. The inscription on Welch’s medal read:

 “Per Regale Mundatum, Caroli Regus Hoc Assignatur Roberto Welch, Militi”. 

Middlewich, a market town on the east Cheshire plain, where a natural saline water (brine) is found, from which salt has been produced since prehistoric times and, though not many people in Ireland may know of Middlewich, most people will be familiar with the brand names produced and packaged here - Cerebos, Saxa, Bisto and Paxo. The salt was also used in the development of the chemical industries and companies such as ICI had factories here. Irish families came to live and work in this town after the Great Famine but, prior to that, Irishmen came as navigation engineers (“navvies”) who, together with unskilled workers from Cornwall and South Wales, helped dig the three canals here, using only picks, shovels and wheelbarrows.  However, many Irish soldiers had fought and, indeed, died in this area, long before these immigrants arrived. The town is 5 miles from Sandbach, 8 miles from Crewe and 11 miles from Nantwich (headquarters of Sir William Brereton, Commander of the Cheshire Parliamentary forces).

 

In 1643, an Irish invasion force of 2,500, under English and Anglo-Irish officers, assembled at Dublin, on 26 ships. En route to North Wales, they captured several Parliamentary ammunition ships, on the Irish Sea. Having landed at Mostyn, North Wales, the Irishmen, very different in dress, custom and religion to the English, marched to Chester, where they were provided with uniforms. These reinforcements allowed for parties of soldiers to be sent out from Chester to forage and to harass the mainly Parliamentarian county of Cheshire.

 

One such party of Irish troops, commanded by one of Colonel Sneyd’s officers, the appropriately named Major Connaught, entered the village of Barthomley (4 miles from Crewe) on December 23, 1643, and were fired upon. Twenty men took refuge in the tower of St. Bertoline’s Church but the royalist troops smoked them out of the tower by burning church furniture (pews) at its base. Historians differ on the sequence of events that followed but the report preferred by Parliament was that when the villagers surrendered, on a promise of quarter from Major Connaught, he stripped them naked and killed 12 (including a school master—said to have been a cleric—and John Fowler, then under 21) and wounded 5 others. The remaining 3 escaped unharmed. The Massacre of Barthomley (sometimes wrongly called The Christmas Eve Massacre) became notorious and it fuelled the Parliamentary anti-Irish propaganda machine—“We hear that those Irish have hewn a godly minister in pieces and have begun a new Irish massacre in England” The same troops were allowed to plunder Crewe on Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day, while another group of Irish troops plundered Sandbach on the evening of Christmas Day. A letter from Lord Byron, Royalist Commander in Cheshire, dated January 9, 1644, claimed that a summons, issued to the men in the church tower, had been refused, pushing the issue to violence and bloodshed. Some historians believe that, having initially agreed to surrender to an offer of quarter, a villager wounded or killed a royalist soldier and, thus provoked the slaughter. Still others hold that some of the men named as being killed did not die on that occasion and were buried at the church at much later dates. The following article in the August 2000 Newsletter of the Middlewich Heritage Society, written by Allan Earl reads:

 “Details of the Second Battle of Middlewich, December 26^th 1643: 

On December 26^th 1643, approximately 1,500 men under Col. Rigby (for the Parliament) had made a rendezvous at Middlewich with the Parliamentary men stationed there, including some 400 at Kinderton Hall demanding supplies. Col. Byron (Royalist) was near to Sandbach at this time and had a skirmish with a small force of the Parliamentary army, but this was enough to send a messenger with a warning that the Royalists were near. Col. Byron approached the town from the Booth Lane end, where his enemy had hidden themselves in the hedges and ditches. The attack lasted about an hour but Col. Byron had to withdraw with losses at this point. Col. Gibson’s Regiment (Royalist) pressed home his attack with his cavalry and breached the defences, chasing the foot soldiers through the smoke and noise into the town and church. Two hundred Parliamentary men were slain and many taken prisoner.

 

The Royalist forces also had heavy losses with many wounded, and so it could have been that Captain Edmund Ferrall was critically wounded in Col. Byron’s first attack at the beginning of the battle. His life must have been ebbing away or he would not have wanted to make a spoken Will, and they obviously had no time to write out a Will and for him to sign it. He would probably have been taken to a nearby cottage, so that his wounds could have been taken care of by his brother Nicholas and his immediate comrades. So his will is described as follows:

‘Mind that Capt. Edmund Ferrall of Ballebrauntan in the county of Longford in the Kingdom of Ireland being under the command of Col. Byron in his Majst service in the county of Chester in a battle at Middlewich Agst his Majst enemies being of good and p’fect mind and memerae yet wounded and minding to dispose of his goods and estate by words without writing did upon Tuesday the 26^th day of December 1643 make and declare his will in manner and forme following: The said Captain Ferrall being reqd by his brother Nicholas Ferrall then present to make his will or to declare howe hee would dispose of his said goods and his estate and hee replied and said “Whom should I dispose of them but unto you” or words to that effect, speaking unto the said Nicholas Ferrall, and thereupon delvd his key of his trunks to the said Nicholas Ferrall meaning and signifying by speaking the said words that the said Edmund Ferrall did give and dispose unto the said Nicholas Ferrall his brother, his goods and estate, in the presence of John Markes, Hugh Dulie and Adam Crozier.’ 

This Will was proved at Chester on January 4^th (1644).”

Obviously Captain Edmund Ferrall (Farrell / O’Farrell?), his brother, Nicholas and Hugh Dulie (Dooley?) were Irish officers. The number of Irish soldiers that died here is unknown. At least 250 men were killed, on both sides, on December 26, 1643 but, as there are no Middlewich registers for several years of the Civil War, it is a mystery as to where in the town or surrounding area the bodies are buried.

 

During the Battle of Nantwich, January 1644, the River Weaver flooded, carrying away a bridge and dividing the Royalist forces, to the benefit of their enemy. On January 25, over 1,500 Irish prisoners, which included 120 Irishwomen, armed with long knives, were taken to Nantwich Church. The townswomen stripped the female prisoners naked and escorted them out of town. A week later the male prisoners were given the choice of joining the Parliamentary force or leaving town but the Irish were warned that they would be hanged if caught again. When 3 Irish prisoners were brought to Nantwich, June 11, 1644, they were promptly hanged behind the church, as were a further 3 on June 21. Two more - Denby Covan and Montague Colane - were sent to Nantwich and hanged, under the ordinance of Parliament, on January 17, 1645. The following week, a Royalist prisoner, Lieutenant Hawkins, was deemed to be an Irishman, named Huggyn, who had fought initially for the Parliamentary side and was shot at the church.

 

Prince Rupert took his Irish troops with him when he left Chester and they fought at the Battle of Naseby, June 14, 1645. Many young women were captured behind the Royalist lines - English, Welsh and the same young Irishwomen who had been expelled from Nantwich. The Englishwomen were allowed to go free but the New Model Army troops assumed that, as they were not speaking English, the Welsh-speaking women were Irish. Over 100 women of both nationalities were slaughtered and most of the rest had their faces slashed or their noses slit - the mark of a whore. In the eyes of the Welsh, it was one thing to hang Irishmen but it was quite another to butcher or mark Welshwomen. In response, supplies from North Wales, destined for Sir William Brerton’s troops, were buried or burned.

 

When the Rump Parliament instigated the “trial” of Charles Il in 1649 - the first war crimes trial - the Massacre of Barthomley was used against him, before he was beheaded as a “tyrant, traitor, murderer and public enemy”. At the Chester Assizes, October 1654, former Major John Connaught was charged with murdering “several persons” on December 23, 1643 in St. Bertoline’s Church and convicted of issuing a fatal blow to John Fowler’s head with a battleaxe. He was hanged outside Chester on October 17, 1654.

If it had not been for this reinforcement from Ireland, Charles I would never have been able to last out until 1646 but, on the other hand, it was probably the decision to bring Irish troops to England that caused Charles’s ultimate defeat, cementing the alliance between the Puritan forces and those of the Scottish Covenanters. When Oliver Cromwell, as Lord Lieutenant and Captain General in Ireland, departed from Park Gate, on the Wirrall, for Ringsend, Dublin in 1649, he had revenge on his mind and Irish people had not the slightest idea of what atrocities his English Army had in store.

 

NB. I wish to thank Betty Williams, David Leathwood and, in particular, Allan Earl, of the Middlewich Heritage Society, for their help.

 

Sources:

Civil War in Cheshire / The King’s Divided Palatine by D.J. Brownsword-Hulland; The English Civil War 1642-1651 by Philip Haythornthwaite;

Wych and Water: Middlewich’s Canal and Salt Heritage by Tim Malim and George Nash;

Middlewich Heritage Society Newsletter, August 2000: Details of the Second Battle of Middlewich, December 26^th, 1643 by Allan Earl.

Sergeant Patrick Dolan, Irish Guards

 

Napoleon said an Army marches on its stomach, but in my opinion without their feet they're not going very far. Here is a story of one of the other rank’s mainly forgotten when recalling conflicts and logistics and one of the men who kept an army on their feet. It’s the story of 498 / 2714014 Sgt. (Shoemaker) Dolan of the Irish Guards.  Patrick Dolan was born in the parish of Belleck in Co Fermanagh in 1879. He enlisted in the Irish Guards on 9th November 1900 in Liverpool and was given the regimental number 498. He also stated he had no previous service.

 His record also states the following information:

Occupation:	Shoemaker.
Full Address:	Belleck Co Fermanagh
Apparent Age:	21 years 8 months.
Height:	5 Ft 7.5”.
Denomination:	Roman Catholic.
Distinctive marks:	Small Scar centre forehead.

He was appointed L/cpl on 4th July 1903 and extended his service to eight years with the colours. He was again promoted to Corporal on 29th September 1905. In 1907 his career in the Irish Guards ground to a halt, when he was convicted by the Civil Power of indecency and reduced to Pte on 14^th February 1907. His good conduct badge was restored to him in 1908, but on the 11th November 1908 with his eight-year engagement finished he transferred into the Reserve, for a period of four years, and re-engaged again for a further four years in 1912.  He was to be employed in the railway company until his return to the Army. Dolan was to marry Ellen Hunter on 13th February 1913, and they were to have four children two boys and girl’s (John .J, James Fredrick, Elizabeth and Francis). On August 4th 1914 Great Britain declared war on the German Empire. Mobilisation orders were posted to the Irish Guards Reservists, a total number of 1322, the majority of the reservists had reported by the 6^th August 1914. Any surplus reservists were quartered at the Duke of York’s School, and afterwards moved to Warley Barracks to become 2^nd (Reserve) Bn. On Sunday August 9^th the whole Battalion attended Church Parade. At 8 a.m. on August 11^th the Battalion marched to Hyde Park, where the Colonel of the Regiment Field Marshal Lord Roberts V.C. inspected them.

On the 12^th August 1914 Pte Dolan embarked with the Battalion (32 officers and nearly 1100 rank and file) to Southampton at Nine Elms Station. That night they sailed on the S.S. Novara to Harve, that morning they disembarked and marched to No 2 Rest Camp above Hafleur that was about 3 miles away. The next day the “Mick’s” entrained with the rest of the Brigade for the British concentration area between Le Cateau and Guise. The 4^th Guards Brigade formed part of the 2^nd Division of the First Army Corps. On 21^st August the British moved forward on the left of the French Fifth Army towards the line of the River Sambre and the Mons-Conde Canal. On the 22^nd the French Fifth Army was forced to retreat after been heavily engaged on the Sambre. As a result the British advance had to be checked and remain in position to assist the French retirement. The “Retreat from Mons” had begun. Dolan service in France and Flanders lasted only until the 29^th October having taken part also in the battle’s of the Marne and Aisne, until he was returned to Britain with a wound to his right knee. This probably saved his life, as the Irish Guards were to have their greatest losses the following month. During this period he had gained promotion back to L/Cpl on 26^th September 1914.

 

On recovering he was posted to the 2^nd Battalion and promoted to Sgt Shoemaker on 20^th July 1915. On the 16^th August 1915 he returned to serve with the Mick’s In France and Flanders’s until the end of the war. On 25^th September 1915 Dolan was to receive tragic news his youngest son James Frederick had passed away. Dolan spent the rest of the war keeping his battalion “shod” and advancing on the enemy. Dolan for his effort's during the war was awarded with a Guards Division Certificate 191.

 

Dolan was to continue his service with the Guards post war and was permitted to continue beyond 21 years service in October 1921. He departed again for foreign shores in 1922 to join the British garrison in Constantinople along with the rest of the Battalion. They embarked on the Derbyshire for their first time peace tour on 23^rd August 1922. Before casting off Dolan sent his wife a postcard. After a short stay in Alexandria the Derbyshire passed through the Dardanelles and reached Constantinople on May 12^th. With colours flying and bayonets fixed the battalion marched to their barracks in Pera the European quarter. It was sited above the sea of Marmora with a magnificent view of Asia Minor across the Bosphorus. The barracks as it was called Tash Kishla was to be their home for over a year. The habits and pleasures of the Middle East were new to the Mick’s but they soon settled into local ways. They discovered the local hooch “dusico” which could leave a man sober in the evening and a raving drunk after consuming his tea at breakfast the following morning.

 

Dolan continued to serve with the Battalion until on 12^th May 1922 when he was posted to the R.O.A.C. in Gibraltar. He continued to serve there until he returned home on 7^th August 1925 to be discharged a month later on 7^th September 1925. His Testimonial on leaving was as follows.

A very good man steady, trustworthy and an excellent worker. Has been employed as a shoemaker for an considerable number of years during which time his work has been carried out in a thoughly efficient manner..................during his service he has been a great assistance to the Battalion. Before enlistment he was a shoemaker. Holds a 3^rd class certificate of education dated 06/04/06. 

 

Dolan was granted a pension of 39 d a day for life. His papers state that on leaving he had been awarded the 1914 trio with bar. I know little of his life after this until his death, except for that the Royal Hospital Chelsea requested a copy of his records and his civil conviction in May 1928. Patrick Dolan passed away on 17^th April 1933 aged 54 years and was interned at Middlewich Cemetery on April 21^st. His obituary reads,

 

 Mr Patrick Dolan, 25 King-street, Middlewich, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 54, had a remarkably fine army career. He was in the Boer War with the Coldstream Guards and, as a reservist was called up at the outbreak of the Great War, and was at the battle of Mons with the Irish Guards. After the South African war. Mr Dolan was employed by the old London and North-Western Railway Company as a guard at Widnes. When the war ceased Mr Dolan who had been several times wounded, saw further foreign service, and after a time at Constantinople he went to Gibraltar. He obtained the rank of Staff-Sgt. Mr Dolan has one son, who was with the Dragoon Guards in Egypt, and is now with the Garrison Police. Mr Dolan had been resident in Middlewich for nine years. The funeral at Middewich Cemetery on Friday was conducted by Father Wilkinson who also officiated at as service in the R.C. Church. The mourners were Mrs Dolan (widow), Miss Elizabeth Hunter Dolan and Miss Francis Josephine Dolan (daughters), Mr and Mrs Handley-Broadheath (brother-in-law) 

 

His son was unable to attend the service due to serving in Egypt at the time. Dolan’s obituary does not tie in with his service record unless he did not mention his previous service in the Boer war. I have checked the medal roll of the Coldstream Guards for the Boer War and I have found no mention of his name. His family may have misinformed the press on his obituary, or maybe there is more of his story to be uncovered, if anybody can help please contact me.

 In the article on this topic in the December 2009 issue of this Journal (No. 86) it was stated :- There are many sources of information about the air raids on Ireland. These range from formal documents including state papers, histories and also books by those who were directly involved and put their personal experiences in print. These personal accounts are very interesting social histories and will be focussed on in this article. Since this article was written, several new books have been published and it could be useful to provide some details about them. In passing, it is worth mentioning the major role of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in the Air Raid Precautions organisation as reported in the Irish times. The St. John Assistant Commissioner J.P. McNamara was the Chief Casualty Officer of Dublin Corporation. A joint appeal was made to the Irish Red Cross Society and the St. John Ambulance Brigade as follows :- To the Editor of the Irish Times.  Sir, on Saturday morning, in Dublin the Irish Red Cross Society and the St. John Ambulance Brigade rendered First Aid to the hundreds of casualties and the Irish Red Cross is providing shelter, food and clothing for hundreds of others. Both of these organisations are definitely short of funds, and they cannot carry on their work with empty hands. We appeal to the generosity and humanity of you readers.  Yours etc.,  Conor Maguire and John Lumsden. The Bombing of Dublin’s North Strand, 1941. The Untold Story. The author, Kevin C. kerns, has based his book on the oral historical statements of survivors, rescuers and observers who provided graphic eyewitness accounts of the bombings. Some examples will give a flavour of the book. Noel Brady a young member of the St. John Ambulance Brigade had seen the bomb blasts from his home on the Naas Road and with his fellow members got on their bikes and set out for the North Strand. John Doyle driving his St. John Ambulance to the site of the bomb at Summerhill was caught in the explosion of the big bomb on the North Strand. His ambulance was blown twenty-five yards down the road and was extensively damaged. The nearest fire station was in Buckingham Street and some of its firemen ran the short distance to the bomb scene. The book also has accounts of the fire engines going north to help with the fires caused by the blitz on Belfast. The book addresses the reasons for the bombing of Dublin by the German Air Force but its major purpose is clearly the recording of the personal experiences of the Dubliners. The Belfast Blitz. Luftwaffe Raids in Northern Ireland 1941. This book was written by Sean McMahon, a native of Derry and published in 2010. The book opens with an account of the severe unemployment in the pre-war years. The war years brought employment for many in the dockyards; constructing and repairing warships, in the rope works, the munitions works and in factories making warplanes. Even with this major contribution to the war effort, officialdom did not expect Belfast would be attacked and so, little was done to put the defences and air raid precautions in place. The Minister of Public Security, John MacDermot, appreciated the seriousness of the lack of preparation for the defence of Belfast and fought hard to put measures in place. Unfortunately few listened to him and little was achieved. The major air attacks on Belfast and the assistance sought from Dublin, which was readily given, are described.  The book also deals with the air attack on Derry. ReferencesThe Bombing of Dublin’s North Strand, 1941, Kevin C. Kearns, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 2009. (Initally published in hardback and later in paperback in 2010)The Belfast Blitz. Luftwaffe Raids in Northern Ireland. Sean McMahon, The Brehon Press, Belfast, 2010 (paperback)The Irish Times, 2^nd June 1941

South Dublin World War I Memorial Restored

On Saturday 27 September Kilgobbin Church in south County Dublin was the setting for the rededication of a World War 1 Memorial erected in 1924 in the adjacent Kilgobbin Cemetery to the memory of 29 local men who died during that conflict, with a new plate with their names recorded on it being unveiled.

Driving force behind moves to have the memorial restored and a new name plate added to replace the original one on which the names had become obliterated with the passage of time was historian and local author Ken Kinsella.

Research carried out by Mr. Kinsella revealed that in 1924 the Rathgdown No 1 Rural District granted permission to a Ms. Belinda Barrington Jellett to erected the Celtic Cross at the old cemetery in Kilgobbin “ in memory of the officers and men from the district who fell in the Great War “ which commemorated those coming mainly from the Kilgobbin, Sandyford, Stepaside, Golden Ball, Kilternan and Carrickmines areas.

Army Bomb Disposal Team Renders Old Artillery Shell Safe

 

On Thursday 25 April an Army Bomb Disposal Team rendered safe a sixinch coastal artillery shell at Kilmore Quay, Wexford. The projectile, which it is believed  came from a rifle cannon, probably dated from the nineteenth century and was most likely a solid shot projectile  without viable explosive content. 

 

The badly corroded artillery shell was apparently discovered in the net of a local fisherman who alerted the Gardai who   in turn  requested  assistance from the Defence Forces which sent an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team to Wexford.

Following an examination of the shell,  it was declared safe at the scene without the need for a controlled explosion and was subsequently removed to a  secure military location for further examination and later disposal. 

Siege of Jadotville Memorial, Athlone, Westmeath

Jadotville Garrison. 13th_17th September 1961

“A” Coy and Attached 35^th Irish Battalion ONUC

Brian Smith 

Situated in the grounds of the Irish Army, Custume Barracks, Athlone, County Westmeath, the 180 cms high, stone memorial was erected in honour of the men who served in Jadotville, Katanga with the ONUC (Organisation des Nations Unies au Congo/ United Nations Organisation in the Congo) in September 1961. The following names are inscribed on brass plaques on the left and right hand sides of the base. 

 

 

 

Brass plaque [Left hand side] 

Quinlan Patrick J 0.5176 Co. Comdt Byrne Dermott 0.7102 Capt Donnelly William 0.7440 Capt. McGuinn Thomas E 0.4874 Capt. Carey William N 0.7767 Lt. Leech Joseph AO 0.7639 Lt. Quinlan Thomas 0.7668 Lt. DSM   Fagan Thomas J Chaplain   Prendergast John 73505 Coy Sgt	Neville Patrick 113181 CQMS   Cuffe Geoffrey P 806778 Sgt. Dixon Henry 408827 Sgt. (medic) Gilsenan Francis 87211 Sgt. Hegarty Walter T 801545 Sgt DSM Joyce Patrick J 74802 Sgt. Kelly Thomas 425402 Sgt. Monaghan John G 94808 Sgt. McCabe Martin 200386 Sgt.
McLoughlin Kevin C 87230 Sgt. Rea James J 805649 Sgt. Tiernan George F 90244 Sgt.  Allen William 81154 Cpl. Brannigan Colm 807525 Cpl. Burke Patrick 810589 Cpl. Dempsey James 97855 Cpl. Devine John O 804192 Cpl. Donnolly John 805100 Cpl. Duffy Patrick 206726 Cpl. (medic) Foley John 810428 Cpl. Foster John J 92122 Cpl. Kerr John 99003 Cpl. Laffere Brendan 805589 Cpl. Lynch Michael 425332 Cpl. McAnaney John 84197 Cpl. McArdle James 90926 Cpl. McDonagh John 98807 Cpl. McDonnell Thomas F 94809 Cpl. McEntee John 88618 Cpl. McManus John F 96739 Cpl. O'Brien John 89748 Cpl. O'Callaghan Peter J 94823 Cpl. O'Connor Michael J 91440 Cpl. Quinn Timothy 810264 Cpl. Rhatigan Patrick 808262 Cpl. Rellhan Joseph 87715 Cpl. Roche Christopher J 88569 Cpl. Smith Michael J 810244 Cpl. Tiernan Sean 810838 Cpl. Williams Francis 77210 Cpl. (sig)   . Battles Gerard 809853 Pte. Boland Francis L 808554 Pte. Bracken Joseph D 810792 Pte. Bradley Robert L 809947 Pte.	Brennan Michael G 809683 Pte. Broderick John 807964 Pte. Broderick Michael 810941 Pte. Byrne James 800000 Pte. Conlon Patrick 803881 Pte. Connolly Desmond 94301 Pte. Conway John 808910 Pte. Cooley Charles J 810219 Pte. Cunningham Thomas 808073 Pte Delaney Patrick 809805 Pte. Dell Albert A 435951 Pte. Donnelly Patrick 810006 Pte. Dowler John J 808174 Pte. Duff Joseph 85058 Pte. Duffy William G 807893 Pte. Doyle Maurice 808510 Pte. Dunleavy Patrick 811090 Pte. Dykes Anthony 809015 Pte. Farrell Michael S 810656 Pte. Feery James W 809084 Pte DSM Finlass Simon J 810794 Pte. Flaherty Dominick 210199 Pte. Flynn John 809977 Pte. Flynn John W 807245 Pte. Flynn Thomas 810143 Pte. Galvin Michael J 809687 Pte. Gildea Patrick 206011 Pte. Gorman John 809362 Pte. Gormley Edward J 808114 Pte. Graham Noel F 810576 Pte Greene Michael 809385 Pte. Gunn Thomas P 800068 Pte. Hannigan William F 809337 Pte. Harkin Dominick 810793 Pte. Harper James 808424 Pte. Heffernan William 95011 Pte. Hegarty Daniel 809388 Pte.
Hegarty Henry 810213 Pte. Hegarty Joseph G 809692 Pte. Hennely Gerald 809650 Pte. Hogan Patrick F 807860 Pte. Hogan Thomas M 810140 Pte. Hughes William H 808556 Pte. Keane William F 808552 Pte. Larkin Robert P 809016 Pte Larkin Thomas M 808976 Pte. Lynch Kieran V 808049 Pte. Maher Edward 810291 Pte. Malone Francis P 810865 Pte. Maloney Joseph A 810946 Pte. Manley Donal M 809849 Pte. Manning John C 811272 Pte. Myler James 808092 Pte. Molloy Daniel 809854 Pte. Monaghan Patrick J 808743 Pte. Murray James 421445 Pte. McCourt James 803923 Pte. McCormac Michael 88511 Pte. McDermott Michael J 810000 Pte. McDonagh Thomas 810559 Pte. McGrath Mattew J 806370 Pte. McGuinness Joseph 809893 Pte. McMahon Terence 810223 Pte. McManus Francis 808261 Pte. McNerney Anthony 87480 Pte. Nicell John J 810214 Pte. O'Kane James P 808749 Pte. O'Kane Joseph A 808117 Pte. Orr Robert 810511 Pte. O'Sullivan Michael 806704 Pte. Peppard John F 808012 Pte. Powell Christopher 810163 Pte. Purtill John D 809976 Pte. Quinlan Matthew 810997 Pte. Redmond James 809777 Pte.	Regan Daniel 810945 Pte. Riggs William 803473 Pte. Roper Anthony 809530 Pte Scally James J 809771 Pte. Seery Michael J 90925 Pte. Shanagher John V 809174 Pte. Stanford John J 808563 Pte. Stanley Noel 809693 Pte. Sullivan Timothy 807790 Pte. Sweeney Bernard 92710 Pte. Sweeney Philip J 807892 Pte. Tahaney James J 810567 Pte. Tighe Michael J 809014 Pte. Tomkins Charles 70696 Pte. Williams Patrick J 95241 Pte.   Attached Clune Joseph P 0.7529 Comdt (MO) Knightly Kevin P 0.7645 Lt. (OIC Cgp) Geary Colman 96125 Sgt. O'Connor Thomas 807143 Cpl Lucey James 804723 Cpl. (armd C gp) Kavanagh James 807961 Pte. (sig) Dreelin John 810800 Pte. (medic) Dunne Michael 804685 Pte. (HQ Coy) Ready William 805954 Pte. (HQ Coy) O'Brien Joseph 207463 Pte. (B Coy) McCarton Patrick 807159 Tpr. (armd Cgp) Nolan Michael 808772 Tpr. (armd C gp) Shanahan John 90089 Tpr. (armd C gp) Froberg R. Larse 3169 (Sweden) 2nd Lt. (Interpreter) Thors Eric O 41138 (Sweden) Warrant Officer (Helicopter Pilot) Hovden Bjhrne 11885 (Norway) Lt. (Helicopter Pilot)

 

Soldier

I was one of those that others did not dare to be.

I went where others feared to go; and did what

others failed to do ... 1 asked nothing from those who

gave nothing, and reluctantly accepted the thought

of eternal loneliness ... should I fall;

I have seen the face of terror; felt the stinging cold

of fear and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love.

I have cried, pained and hoped, but most of all I

have lived times that others would say are best

forgotten. At least now today I am able to say

that I am proud of what I was, A SOLDIER

 

 

by Col R.B. Oram, OBE, ERD

From THE ROYAL ENGINEERS JOURNAL 1965

In 1595 the Spaniards had fortified the Brittany ports of Morlaix and Quimper. Young Sir Nicholas Clifford, who had fought with the English contingent, came back to court wearing a medal given to him by Henri IV. When Queen Elizabeth spotted it she ordered him to return it at once, adding the angry reprimand, “My dogs wear my collars”. The impression that incident made has hardened into immutable custom. A British Prime Minister admitted in recent years to having the Order of Chastity, presented to him by a North African monarch, but which this 16th century mandate prevented his wearing.

by Liam Dodd

In Journal 79 December 2007 the Roll of Honour for the Great War 1914-18 of men who were employed by the Commissioners of Irish Lights (Lighthouse Service) was published. Since then I have researched some of the men a little more and the extra information that I have found is below.

Decoration for Captain and Crew of the South Arklow Ship
Submarine Commander’s Revenge Recalled

During the week Capt. James Rossiter, The Faythe, Wexford, Master of the South Arklow Lightship, was notified that the King had been pleased to award to him and the crew of the South Arklow Lightship “The Torpedo Badge”— a special distinction created to denote that the wearer had performed exceptional services to shipping at the risk of his own life.

by Liam Dodd

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