LENNONS IN TIME
Ivan Lennon
242 Beresford Road navilenn65@gmail.com
Rochester, New York 14610
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CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5
INTRODUCTION 7
I IRISH NAMES: AGLICISATION 8
II LENNON SURNAME 11
Family Crest 13
Pronunciation 13
Modern Variants 14
DNA 15
North America 16
III ULSTER 18
Distribution of the Name 18
County Down: Crolly/O Crilly 21
County Fermanagh: O Luinin/O Leannain 24
IV FERMANAGH MONASTERIES 26
Inishmacsaint 28
Derryvullan 28
Lisgoole 29
V IRISH ANNALS 30
Annals of Inisfallen 30
Annals of Ulster 30
Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters 31
VI POST MEDIEVAL PERIOD 33
Strongbow to the Flight of the Earls 33
The Maguires 34
Upheavals of the 1600s 35
Penal Times 38
Emancipation, and Nationalism 40
The Great Hunger 40
VII COUNTY WATERFORD 44
Waterford City 44
The Desii 45
Dungarvan 46
VIII SHANAHANS IN THE DEISE 48
The Town Park 50
1901 Census (#5 Jacknell) 52
1911 Census (#10 Jacknell) 53
IX LENNONS IN THE DEISE 55
The Gas Works 56
1901 Census (#83 O' Connell) 57
1911 Census (#81 O’ Connell) 58
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Locating Dungarvan Lennon Residences 58
George Gerard Lennon and Parents 59
St. Mary’s Church Controversy 62
St. Mary’s Family Plot Disappearance 64
X TROUBLED TIMES (1913 – 1921) 66
Volunteers 69
Easter Monday 1916 70
1916-1918 72
Redmondites in Waterford 75
Guerrilla Warfare 77
Cork Male Prison 78
Fermoy, Co. Cork 81
Ardmore, Co. Waterford 82
Dungarvan, Co. Waterford: Inspector King 83
Dungarvan, Lismore, Ring: Impeding Administration 84
Kilmallock, Co. Limerick 84
Bunratty, Co. Clare 88
Bruree, Co. Limerick 89
Co. Cork 90
The Deise Flying Column 91
Bunmahon, Co. Waterford 95
Kill, Co. Waterford 96
Brown’s Pike, Co. Waterford 96
Piltown, Co. Waterford 97
Walsh’s Hotel, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford 101
Aborted Ambushes, Co. Waterford 105
Rockfield Cross, Cappagh, Co. Waterford 106
Cappoquin, Co. Waterford 107
Pickardstown, Co. Waterford 109
Roberts Cross, Ring, Co. Waterford 112
Durrow/Ballyvoyle, Co. Waterford 113
Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford 116
Ballyhooly/Cappagh: Train Station Escapes 117
XI TRAUMA AT THE BURGERY (1921) 121
Accounts 121
Background 123
R.I.C. 124
Volunteers 127
Ambush 131
Execution 135
Sequel 139
Burials 143
Aftermath 145
Kilrossanty Burial 148
Grawn Ambush 149
Seeds of Discord 150
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XII FINAL MONTHS (1921) 156
Ballyvoyle/Ballylynch, Co. Waterford 156
Brigade Reorganisation, Co. Waterford 157
Cappagh Station, Co. Waterford 160
Kilgobnet, Co. Waterford 161
The Truce 163
XIII END OF THE ROAD (12 July 1921 – 1923) 165
Cheekpoint/Ballinagoul: Arms Landings 166
Dunkitt, Co. Kilkenny: Arms Seizure 170
The Treaty/Barracks Seized 171
Mick Collins in Dungarvan 174
The “Unmentionable” Civil War 176
Attack on Waterford City 177
Retreat from Waterford 181
Legion of the Rearguard 184
XIV EMIGRATION (1926-1936) 190
New York City 193
The Irish Review 194
Military Service Pension 196
Medals 198
XV RETURN OF THE NATIVE (1936 – 1946) 200
Church Controversy 200
Pre – War Rathfarnham 205
On the Left 208
Marriage 210
Employment: The Emergency 213
Parenthood 215
Wound Pension 216
XVI UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1946 ff.) 218
Family Emigration and Citizenship 218
Rochester, New York 221
Last Years 230
Belated Recognition 233
XVII CONCLUSIONS 237
Waterford Didn’t Do Much? 237
Seoirse O Leannain 239
APPENDICES 245
A Lennons in Time 245
B Irish Volunteers: A Revolutionary Chronology 248
C A Deise Tale: The Burgery Ambush 250
D “Down From the Comeragh Hills He Came” 256
E The Munster Express (March 17, 2006) 257
F In Search of a Forgotten IRA Commander 259
G Plays 263
H Escapes 264
I “Last Monday” (A Poem in Honour of George Lennon) 265
BIBLIOGRAPHY 266
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Starting points for this study were George Lennon’s military service pension application
(January 10, 1935), a Dublin interview with the pension examiner (10 October 1935) and
his short memoir, Trauma in Time, completed in the late 1960’s.
Of value were the Bureau of Military History 1950’s witness statements of the Deise men
of Oglaigh na hEireann who chose to file them.
Sincere appreciation to Milan Stolka PhD for his patience and technical assistance.
Thanks to Tommy Mooney of Ardmore who is committed to garnering a greater degree
of recognition for, in the words of O/C Sean Moylan, “the handful of men” who put
“their puny strength against the might of Empire.”
A sincere “go raibh maith agat” to Abbeyside’s Eddie Cantwell whose assiduous research
of largely forgotten early twentieth century Dungarvan written materials necessitated
this updating of earlier research.
NOTE: Appendix material, for the most part written at a different time, are largely
recapitulations with each entry meant to stand by itself in isolation from the body of this
work. To be viewed similarly are the Chapter XVII conclusions regarding George
Lennon and the Republican struggle in County Waterford.
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The Thirty Two Counties
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INTRODUCTION
Not atypically of Irish people of their generation, my parents were not always
forthcoming about family matters. It was subsequent to their demise that I began to
uncover the twentieth century story of this pre-Norman Ulster family. A story that
reached an apotheosis in revolutionary Ireland, followed by the Free State theocracy
and, lastly, emigration on two separate occasions.
Perhaps surprisingly, it was my mother, Eveline May Sibbald, of Dissenting
Presbyterian background, who most loved Ireland. In a certain sense, she never left her
native Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire), despite emigrating, albeit reluctantly, with the
author in late 1947.
My father, George Gerard Lennon, the erstwhile Old I.R.A. rebel, rarely spoke well of his
native land. Steeped in tales of Patrick Sarsfield, the Wild Geese and the ideals of
Connolly and Larkin, Ireland represented for him a revolutionary dream (“a dead star’s
light”) shattered by a premature Truce, an “unmentionable” civil war, a Jansenist
Church and a conservative Free State Government.
Religion in Ireland has been for centuries a convenient means of differentiating between
Celt and Sassenach (foreigner) as well as Unionist/Loyalist and Republican/Nationalist.
The Lennon/Shanahan/Crolly/Power/Walsh narrative falls largely on one side of these
divides. However, twentieth century political events led to disagreements with the
Roman Catholic Church and its “special position” as embodied in the 1937 Irish
Constitution. The Irish theocracy did not sit well with George and May Lennon.
For George it was a journey that began with minority “physical force” Irish
Republicanism and came to embrace leftist politics in the 1930’s. The 1940’s saw him
attracted to the pacifism of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and, ultimately, Zen
Buddhism. He became a founding member of the Rochester Zen Center.
An article in the Dungarvan paper of 3 May 1973 remarked that “when the history of
that period comes to be written, George will figure largely in it.” Unfortunately, he was
not one to dwell on his accomplishments and was unaware of, or perhaps did not even
respond to, the Bureau of Military History when it compiled witness statements in the
1950’s from the men of Oglaigh na hEireann (I.R.A.).
Hopefully, along with other endeavors, this investigation, the 2009 Terence O’Reilly
biography, the 2011 Nemeton documentary by Cormac Morel, Muiris O’Keeffe’s 2012
play, the books of Tommy Mooney, Dr. Pat McCarthy, Eamon Cowan and the author’s
numerous PowerPoint presentations have resulted in a measure of belated recognition.
I would like to think that this study is more than a simple search for an emigrant’s roots.
Perhaps more accurately, it is an attempt to draw attention to one family’s largely
forgotten past. In the words of one émigré observer, it is “ultimately a story of
emigration and return, of belonging and not belonging and of always wondering.”
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CHAPTER I
IRISH NAMES: ANGLICISATION
Historically, Irish surnames fall into three broad categories: Gaelic (native Irish), those
of Anglo-Norman origin, and those with English (Saxon) roots. English surnames have
generally been maintained as originally transplanted to “John Bull's Other
Island.” Obviously there was no necessity to "Anglicise" them as occurred in the case of
indigenous Gaelic surnames. Numerous American presidents trace their ancestry
to people of "planted" Ulster-Scots background.
In Ireland, Ulster Scot Protestants were part of the Gaelic Revival at the end of the
nineteenth century. The leading figure in the late eighteenth century United Irishmen
movement was the Protestant Wolfe Tone. Others were members of the Young Ireland
Movement of the mid nineteenth century and later, in the twentieth century Protestants
included such notables as Countess Gore-Booth Markievicz, Bulmer Hobson and
Erskine Childers. 1916 martyr Padraig Pearse (Pierce) came from a "mixed" background.
Some twenty per cent of Irish names fit into this category.
Anglo-Norman surnames are likely to trace their origin to places where the families
originated before coming to Ireland: Power (Poiters) from France; Landers from
London; and Barry, Prendergast and Walsh from Wales. The prefix "Fitz” (Fitzgerald,
Fitzgibbon) comes from the French "fils” meaning "son of.” Norman names are most
common in County Waterford and the Lennon family tree includes the names Walsh
and Power. Some eight or nine per cent of Irish surnames fit into this category.
Surnames of native Irish Gaelic origin arose from the original population of Ireland
where history began to be recorded in the sixth century A.D. The Irish tongue, however,
has reportedly been spoken since pre-historic times. Scholars differ as to when this
Celtic language arrived with estimates varying from roughly 1000 B.C. to 100 B.C. About
seventy per cent of surnames found in Ireland before 1850 were of Gaelic origin.
In medieval England, a "byname" from an occupation or locale was unremarkable (e.g.,
Cooper, Mason, Walsh, Newcastle), but in Irish Gaelic it was extremely rare.
Occasionally, Irish surnames did reflect an occupation or place of residence; but the vast
majority of Gaelic names did not fit this pattern. Those descriptive bynames found
in Old or Middle Irish stem from an individual's appearance:
Age Og (young)
Coloration Dubh (black)
Fionn (fair)
Ruadh (red)
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Buidhe (yellow)
Ballach (freckled)
Riabhach (swarthy)
Appearance Mor (big)
Beag (small)
Behaviour Garbh (rough)
Posture Cam (crooked)
Bacach (lame)
Speech Balbh (stammerer)
Irish name are patronymic, deriving from the name of a paternal ancestor. In ancient
Ireland there were no fixed surnames but, by the twelfth century, most all of Europe,
including Ireland and England, had adopted standardised surnames. Ireland was one of
the first in Europe to do so, perhaps as early as the tenth century. Brian Boru being
credited by some with introducing the modern concept of a surname into Ireland.
A man was known as the son of his father's first name or, of his grandfather's. In some
cases (e.g., O'Briain or O'Brien) the reason for adopting a surname with the Uibh or Uib
(Old Irish), Ua or Ui (Middle Irish) or the more modern O, meaning descended from, is
fairly clear: it allowed members of the family who were not sons, but more remote
descendants, to use a name that reminded their peers of a prestigious ancestry and,
in some cases, thus boost their claim to be natural rulers.
Generally to follow later were surnames preceded by “Mac,” abbreviated “Mc,” the Irish
for son. There is a widespread misconception that one is Irish and the other Scottish.
Both variations are in wide use in both countries.
In the fourteenth century the Statutes of Kilkenny (1366 A.D.) sought unsuccessfully to
limit Irish influence upon the Anglo-Norman community. This action was taken to
combat the perception that the newer arrivals were becoming more Irish than the Irish
("Hibernis Hibernicres").
Beginning in the late sixteenth century, a process of Anglicisation took place with
English government officials writing Irish surnames phonetically without any regard to
the Irish spelling. The fada above the prefix O was moved to the right (O') and, even-
tually, in many instances, including Lennon, the O was lost entirely. Others, with native
Irish names, took a surname that was known amongst the Scottish and English settlers
– a process not unlike that which took place in the American South where the
descendants of black slaves in North Carolina can be found bearing the Lennon
surname.
Anglicisation occurred in other aspects of native Gaelic culture. Brehon Law was
replaced by Anglo- Saxon common law. Also, in the decades prior to the Great Hunger
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(An Gorta Mor), British government surveyors and their Irish advisors went through
Ireland mapping terrain and, in the process, Anglicised the local place names; thus
abetting safe and fast movement in the event of threats to the 1801 Union of Great
Britain and Ireland.
In the nineteenth century the Board of National Education decreed that the following be
learned in Irish schools:
I thank the goodness and the grace
That on my birth have smiled
And made me in these Christian days
A happy English child
However, the Gaelic Revival of the latter part of the nineteenth century (e.g., the Gaelic
League and the Gaelic Athletic Association), the early twentieth century establishment
of a separate Irish political identity (the Irish Free State) and the more recent emergence
of an economically vibrant Ireland ("Celtic Tiger"), have led to a greater awareness of,
and pride in all things Irish. Part of this movement has been a reversion to more
traditional Irish first names (e.g., Aoife, Niamh, Oisin, Ciaran) and last name spellings,
in contrast to the non-Irish names popular well into the twentieth century. For
example, Christian names for the Dungarvan Lennon/Shanahan/Power/Walsh families
included Sarah, James, William, Ellen, John, Mary Anne, Thomas, Agnes, George
and Eileen, inter alia.
The most recent Lennon family birth, in 2008, witnessed the arrival of Aoife Lennon.
This is perhaps fitting in light of the fact that the twelfth century marriage of Aoife
MacMurrough to the Norman Strongbow took place in Waterford. This symbolic joining
of Sassenach and native Irish was to end some 750 years later when an I.R.A.
“Irregular” contingent, commanded by Aoife’s great grandfather, entered the City and
declared it to be of an Irish nation.
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CHAPTER II
LENNON SURNAME
“Prisco Stirte Hibernico”
To some observers, the modern Lennon surname may seem less "Irish" than those
preceded by the prefix O' or even names of Norman origin. In fact, Lennon forebearers
may be traced to before the 1170 A.D. arrival of Strongbow in County Waterford.
One ancient form of Lennon is Ó Leannain derived from the Irish "leannan” meaning
lover or "leann,” a cloak or mantel. Another form, Ó Luinin, (perhaps stemming from
the Irish "lon" meaning blackbird) is now almost indistinguishable from Ó Leannain,
except where it has been Anglicised to Linnegar. Be it Ó Luinin or Ó Leannain, an
assumption of Ulster origins points to the medieval ecclesiastical enclave at Lough Erne,
County Fermanagh, Ulster.
Ulster, the most Gaelic of the four provinces, was home to the great Irish Chieftains.
While not approaching the fame of the Ó Neills or the Ó Donnells, the Ó Luinin/
Leannain were "a noted family of clerics, scribes, historians and stewards of church
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lands (pp.26-32) who served for many generations as the royal scribes and historians to
the Maguire dynasty” (p.34).
Septs (people of a common ancestry living in a given locale) of the Gaelic form of
Lennon also arose separately in east County Galway and County Mayo. The Galway sept
eventually spread, per researcher David Larkin, across Connacht to the Midlands and
Dublin. The Fermanagh sept, while spreading to Dublin and parts of Munster, basically
remained in Ulster, chiefly Armagh, Monaghan and the Ards Peninsula of County Down.
Name searches in Ulster are complicated by the fact that the upheavals of the 1600s
were particularly catastrophic for the native population as evidenced by the Crom-
wellian edict of "to hell or Connacht.” By 1703, reportedly, less than five per cent of
Ulster lands remained in native Catholic hands.
Even with the population "dispersals" though, many Irish names remain localised. This
is particularly true in County Waterford, Province of Munster, where Anglo-Norman
names such as Power, Prendergast and Walsh remain common more than eight hundred
years after the arrival of the Normans.
Appearing in nineteenth century Dungarvan, Co. Waterford (the Deise or Decies), the
Lennons, not surprisingly, included in the family tree people of Norman background.
Records, on the maternal Shanahan side reveal Sara Eliza Walsh (1846-1894) and her
parents, William Walsh (1811-1891) and Ellen Agnes Power (d.<1891) who
were married (22 September 1845) during the early years of the Great Hunger. Power
and Walsh (pronounced as Welsh) being two of the most common surnames found in
Waterford. Likely antecedents would also have included Desii, a native Gaelic people
who settled in County Waterford.
On the paternal side, the family narrative involves the nineteenth century Dungarvan
Lennons and Crollys who trace ancestry to Ulster's County Down (pp.18 ff.). Northern
historian Monsignor Ambrose Macauley maintains that the Crollys had been in the
Downpatrick area since Anglo-Norman times. Originally called Swords, the family later
adopted the Irish Crolly surname. Not unlike the O Luinin/O Leannain many were of a
“priestly caste” (pp. 21 ff.).
What remains to be determined is the route Lennon/Crolly forebearers in Ulster took to
nineteenth century bourgeois respectability in County Waterford. Ultimately, however,
early twentieth century political and economic developments were to force both the
Shanahans and Lennons of Dungarvan to leave an island where they had resided for
more than a millennium.
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Family Crest
A family crest does not necessarily denote common ancestry via prior family status in
that the Irish system of elected chiefs, under Brehon Law, diverged from the English
primogeniture hereditary system. Moreover, the origin of the Dungarvan Lennons is
difficult to trace because of Gaelic and Anglicised variants (e.g., Ó Leannain, Ó Luinin, Ó
Lionnane, Linnane, Ó Lennan/Ó Lennon) and the fact that several families have
changed their surname to Lennon.
A coat of arms is only to be borne by the heirs of the family to which it was granted.
Were it otherwise, all bearers of Irish surnames would trace their pedigree to kings and
chieftains rather than the more numerous "hewers of wood and drawers of water.”
Genealogist Ken Lennan cautions that "it is ... unlikely that any of us can claim” the
shield.
It may be said definitively, however, that a particular sept of this surname was granted a
shield, motto and crest. The Lennon crest being the buck browsing on the shield with
the motto "Prisco Stirte Hibernico.”
The presence of the stag on both the McCarthy and Lennon crests is indicative of a
shared ancestry. The use of the stag as an icon symbolizing chieftaincy can be seen in
ancient stone carvings and in Irish art across four millennia. A grazing stag denotes
contentment, lack of concern and an animal in the ancient Celtic world secure in its own
power as ruler of the animal kingdom. Its use on the crest thus denotes a family of pre-
Norman origins. This is corroborated by the family motto, which translates as "of
ancient Irish stock.”
For the ancient Celts, the stag was depicted as a guide for people journeying from this
world to the next. This suggests that people bearing the surname were spiritual guides
or priests. Logically, the background to the scene would be a blue sky, but the crest
shows a white sky. White has been used since ancient times to denote purity suggesting
spiritual leadership as borne out by family monastic and diocesan service to this day.
Pronunciation
A very brief exposure to the native tongue, at the long since departed Mariners School in
Dun Laoghaire, has left this writer totally deficient in the language of his
Gaelic forbearers. Ken Lennan, schooled at least in "Parnell Square," Irish, offers the
following analysis:
...Leannain (is) in (the) genitive case (because of the O) given the
"i" second from the end. Don't forget the acute accent over
the last "a" since this changes (Anne) to Awn - as in yawn or for
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"ain" to awe-in. Probably the most difficult part to describe is
the "Lean". This is not an English "lean" but something like "lan
with a "yah" somewhere between the L and the N....
Ó Luinin: Cannot immediately find an "original" Gaelic version - it
is in the translation (of the) Annals of Ulster. As written ...it would
sound like "Luhnen"
Modern Variants
Although Ireland was subject to an influx of Vikings, Normans and “planted” Scots, it
has essentially remained, at least until the latter 20 th century, a most homogeneous
nation and therefore, lends itself to fruitful genealogical research.
However, any absolute blood relationship between bearers of a particular surname
would have to be based upon documented pedigree. Possessors of the same surname are
generally not descended from a common ancestor.
Moreover, further complicating the matter are the aforementioned Gaelic and more
modern variants of the surname. Lennon has even been used as the English version of
completely different surnames; in particular Ó Lonan or Ó Lonigan (Lenane or
Lannigan) in West Cork and Ó Luinigh (Lunney) originally from Donegal but now
closely associated with adjoining County Fermanagh. Leonards, likely descended from
the royal family Mac Giolla Fhinnein (son of the follower of St. Finnian), are prominent
in Waterford City (Portlairge).
Fortunately, for the purposes of this study, is the preponderance of the modern Lennon
as the most common variant of the original Gaelic Ó Leannain/ Ó Luinin. Griffith's
Valuation of the mid nineteenth century, per Ken Lannan, reveals the following
distribution of surname variants as a percentage of the total:
Lennon........ 52%
Lennan....... 11.8%
Lannan....... 9.2%
Lannon....... 7.7%
Linnane...... 6.9%
Lennane..... 6.6%
Lannin....... 1.7%
Lenan......... 1.3%
Lannen....... 1.0%
Lenane....... 1.0%
Linnen....... .6%
Lennin....... .2%
Lennnon.... .2%
Lennen...... .1%
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DNA
Data received from http://www.familytredna.comwww.familytredna.com (Kit #8747,
password: J1045) may also be found at http://www.ysearch.org/www.ysearch.org/
(User ID M9M5D, password: Guinness). The database of "Recent Ancestral Origins"
(RAO) below show the ancestral origin of those matched for Ivan Lennon (12 Marker Y-
DNA Exact Matches). Exact matches show individuals closest to this writer genetically
and where their ancestors' are reported to have lived. Each testee provided the known,
to the best of his knowledge, ancestral origin of his family's male line. For example, the
author, with a church records dating to the 1820's and likely medieval Ulster origins,
listed Ireland as the origin of the Lennon family line.
ORIGIN MATCHES
Germany 34
Ireland 23
England 23
Scotland 11
United Kingdom 8
France 2
Italy 2
Cuba 1
Exact matches are to be expected for the nations of the British Isles. This is most
particularly true for Scotland, which was settled by the Irish, as evidenced by its very
name which is based on the Latin "scotti" for Irish. Scots Presbyterians of the 17th
century subsequently returned as "undertakers" for the "planting" of Ulster. Similar
plantings of the London and Virginia Companies occurred along the coast of British
North America.
The great Irish Diaspora was not limited to Great Britain, the Continent, Australia and
North America but extended to portions of South America and the Caribbean as slaves
and indentured servants, per Oliver Cromwell's mid seventeenth century edict.
Dispersals included the "Flight of the Earls,” (1607), the "Wild Geese,” (1691),the Ulster-
Scots (1700’s) and the "Famine Irish" (1845 ff.).
It was to the Roman Catholic countries of Europe (Spain, France) and their armies that
many of the pre-Famine dispossessed fled. In France some are known to this day as the
"Wine Geese" (e.g., Barton, Hennessey). Former French Olympic champion skier, Jean
Claude Kelly, in all probability, traces a similar pedigree.
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Tied into deep ancestry are "Haplo group markers". By deep ancestry one must think
10,000 or 10's of 1000's of years. Countries in this database are listed by the place one
came from or currently lives. The value therefore, is that it tells researchers about
migratory patterns. Everyone not in Haplo group A or B has lived outside Africa for at
least 60000 years.
Ivan Lennon attaches to Haplo group R1b1 and again exact matches are found in the
countries of the British Isles (4) and the Continental countries of France (1), Germany
(1) and Russia (1).
North America
In that the Dungarvan Lennons and Shanahans did not emigrate until the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century, there can only be a tenuous family link with the
“Famine Irish” in mid nineteenth century American cities and the Ulster-Scots in the
ante-bellum South.
It is of some peripheral interest, however, that some pre-Famine Lennons settled in
North Carolina. Approximately six miles south of Bladenboro in Bladen County,
is Lennon's Crossroads and the Lennon's Crossroads Baptist Church, reportedly
founded in 1797. Also in the area there is an old Lennon Road and a Booker-Lennon
Road. Haynes Lennon Highway was named for a Baptist minister who was a prominent
member of the community. Haynes and his family are the only non-blacks buried in
the family cemetery at the African American Crossroads Church.
In addition to the descendants of the slaveholding Lennons, there are numerous
African-Americans who currently bear the surname in Bladen and Columbus Counties.
The name was apparently appropriated from their former owners and, hence, there is no
known admitted genetic relationship. However, it was not uncommon for slaveholders
to father mixed race offspring as witnessed in the case of Thomas Jefferson and Sally
Hemings. This raises an interesting juxtaposition for the Southern Lennons: Ulster
abbots and Roman Catholic clerics on the one hand and, on the other, willing
participants in the institution of slavery.
The Carolina Lennons would have been part of the earlier Irish Diaspora, largely from
non Roman Catholic "planted" Ulster. Their specific religious loyalty (Dissenting
Presbyterian, Protestant Church of Ireland or Roman Catholic) is a matter of conjecture.
However, Haynes Lennon was noted as a Baptist.
Ulster-Scots, often incorrectly labeled in America as "Scots-Irish," had themselves
being the object of discriminatory Penal Laws in Ireland. These
enactments were not only applicable to Papists but to Presbyterians who
were "excluded from all places of public trust and honour.” Marriages by Presbyterian
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ministers were not marriages by law and were not valid until 1782. Tithes were
demanded of all in support of the state “Protestant” church, the Church of Ireland.
Upon arrival in the United States, these émigrés were to apply many of the same
strictures, under which they suffered in Ireland, against Negroes in the form of Black or
Slave Codes. It is also deserving of note that supporters of the Protestant William of
Orange had formed in Ireland the militantly anti-Catholic Orange Order. Similarities
abound between this organisation and its American nativist variant - the anti-
immigrant, anti-black and anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan whose membership
included many descendants of these "Billy Boys" (a follower of William of Orange)
often derided as "hillbillies".
"Redneck" is another word whose derivation is found in Ulster-Scots history. In 1638
and 1641 Scottish Presbyterians signed a covenant, some in blood, rejecting the
established Anglican Church. Red pieces of cloth were worn as symbols of this
opposition with redneck becoming slang for a Scottish dissenter. This term has been
applied to a white member of the Southern rural labouring class. Also descriptive of this
group is the word "cracker," arguably derived from the Northern Irish word "crack,"
meaning chat or conversation in a social sense. This word may be said to have been
“Gaelicised” in the Irish twenty-six Counties in the 1960’s as the non-existent “Irish”
word “craic.”
In the American mind, though, it is the later wave of largely poor, rural Roman Catholics
that is associated with being Irish. Many of these mid nineteenth century Irish arrived
on "coffin ships" at eastern U.S. ports or via the less expensive Atlantic route to the St.
Lawrence River and Canada. Mortality rates, at times, on these ships matched or
exceeded those found on the earlier slave ships.
Due to their mid nineteenth century arrival in northern coastal cities, this largely un-
wanted group was not directly involved in that "most peculiar institution" of slavery.
Lacking, at the time of the American Civil War, the financial means to buy their way out
of the Union Army, some resorted, as in the 1863 New York City draft riot, to
violence against blacks. Men who served in the Irish Brigades for the Union were later to
engage in the Fenian "invasion" of British North America via such northern New York
border points as Malone and Buffalo.
Relegated to the bottom of the economic pecking order in urban enclaves, such as New
York City's infamous "Five Points," the Irish were subject to discrimination as embodied
by the term "No Irish need apply.” Castigated by Thomas Nast caricatures as simian like
creatures or apes, they were forced into wage slavery.
That the Irish were not viewed as being white or Anglo-Saxon is evidenced by the title of
the book How The Irish Became White. Numerous academic studies have dealt with the
similarities between African-Americans and the Irish as both groups struggled for
economic, political and social equality. Stereotypes applied to both groups include
17
laziness, a propensity to drink, a fun loving nature, violence, dysfunctional families
and inherent abilities as entertainers and athletes. "Burnt Irish" in fact was a term used
to describe African - Americans.
CHAPTER III
ULSTER
Distribution of the Name
Historically there were more than the four provinces of today. Additional provinces
included Breifne (between Ulster and Connacht), Oriel (Clogher and County Armagh)
and Meath (northern half of Leinster). In ancient times a king ruled each province.
These provinces were dynamic with their borders in flux.
18
Today's four provinces (Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht) incorporate-
rate thirty-two counties with an explanation required for “Ulster.” Under the
Government of Ireland Act (1920), the Ulster counties of Monaghan, Cavan, and the
most northerly, Donegal, were ceded to the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland, thus, is
not synonymous with Ulster. Only the truncated version of Ulster containing six
counties (Armagh Derry, Down, Fermanagh, Antrim and Tyrone) is a part of the United
Kingdom. The removal of the three counties with sizable Catholic and Republican
populations has served to ensure a Loyalist (Unionist) majority in the “Six Counties” for
nearly one hundred years.
In the British North, the six counties, as subdivisions of provinces, survive merely as
curiosities - i.e., basically serving no actual governmental purpose (save for automotive
licence plates), having being replaced in 1972 by unitary authorities. In the Republic of
Ireland the twenty-six counties serve as the basis of local government and hotly
contested Gaelic sporting events.
Family historical research in Ireland is complicated by the fact that 19 th century census
returns were largely destroyed, both intentionally and unintentionally.
This necessitates reliance on Griffith's Valuations, an in depth valuation of all land and
buildings for the purpose of taxation in the thirty-two counties. This extensive under-
taking of 1848-1864 was under the direction of Sir Richard John Griffith.
A study of the most common surnames was undertaken in 1863-1864. Births by
province are available for 1864-1870. For the years 1871 to 1886, there is a listing of
marriages by province and deaths by provinces, 1891-1900. Published in 1909 there is a
statistical report on surnames (Matheson), which is based on births registered in Ireland
in 1890.
Few Lennons were reported by Griffith in the western province of Connacht, save for 52
in County Roscommon.
In Munster, home to the Dungarvan Lennons, Griffith, for County Waterford, listed only
nine Lennons. Perhaps surprisingly, this mid nineteenth century property survey listed
no members of the surname in Dungarvan. However, there was a John Lennon in
Curraheen, Kilrossanty.
In Leinster, twenty-three Lennons were listed for County Dublin, forty-five in Langford,
thirty-six in Westmeath and, closest to the northern border, the highest number,
seventy-four, in County Louth. Interestingly, fourteen households were reported for
County Wicklow, which had been the site of an erenagh sept of the surname in
Kilranelagh, close to St. Kevin's monastic site at Glendalough.
19
The concentration of the family in the northeast is dramatically reflected in the figures
for the Ulster counties. Ninety-nine households were listed in County Armagh, the
ecclesiastical capital of Ireland. To the east of Armagh, County Down listed eighty-eight
households. Immediately southwest of Armagh, County Monaghan had thirty-four.
County Fermanagh, home to the medieval Ó Luinin and Ó Leannain erenagh septs,
listed only four households.
A search for the most common surnames in 1864, shortly after Griffith, again revealed a
preponderance of the surname in Ulster and Leinster. In the former province, the
largest concentration was found on the Ards Peninsula of County Down. Specifically, it
was the most common surname in the parish of Ballytrustan. Concentrations were also
found in the peninsula parishes of Ardquin and Ballyphilip. In the Downpatrick area, in
the parish of Down, the name was also fairly numerous. Coincidentally, it was in nearby
Killybegs that family ancestor Archbishop William Crolly was born in 1780.
20
Births by province for the years 1864 - 1870 show some eighty five percent of Lennons
born in Ulster and Leinster. Marriage statistics for the periods 1871-1880 and 1881 -
1886 show more than ninety per cent of Lennon marriages occurring in these two
provinces. Deaths for 1881-1900 reflect the same distribution.
The concentration in Ulster and Leinster was confirmed by 1909’s Matheson's Special
Report on Surnames in Ireland for the year 1890. Of a total of one hundred three
Lennon births, nearly half were in Leinster (forty nine), concentrated in Dublin, and
more than one third (thirty six) in Ulster, largely in Armagh.
Robert Bell's The Book of Ulster Surnames lists Lennon, for 1970, as the forty-second
most common surname in Ulster's County Monaghan and somewhat numerous in
County Armagh.
In Ulster's County Down, Lennon remains a fairly common name on the southern tip of
the Ards Peninsula near Ardquin. Coincidentally, Ardquin had been a monastic site, the
outline of whose walls may be traced today. Whether any of the Lennons in the vicinity
can trace their pedigree to the monastic inhabitants is a matter of conjecture.
A subject for further enquiry would be the religious affiliation of these Northern
Lennons: Dissenting Presbyterian, Roman Catholic or Church of Ireland (Anglican).
Religion, in most cases, being indicative of Loyalist/Unionist (Protestant) or
Republican/Nationalist (Roman Catholic) sympathies.
County Down: Crolly/O Crilly
Lineage to the Ulster Crolly/O’Crilly family can be traced via the rebel George Gerard
Lennon’s (1900-1991) paternal grandmother, Mary Anne Crolly Lennon (1825-1898).
Crilly is a Mac name of Irish origins. Associated with the place name Ballymacreely, it
derives from the medieval Gaelic MacRaghallaigh, loosely translated as "the son of the
descendant of the rakish one.” It should not be confused with O’Croly, which is the older
form of Crowley.
There are two separate septs, which carry the name, and it is now spelled largely as
Crilly but also as Crolly. It is also occasionally found with the prefix O', Mac or Mc.
Name holders are found chiefly in Country Louth or in Ulster's County Armagh and
south County Down.
Found in an ecclesiastical history of the Diocese of Down and Connor is mention of a
George Crolly, Baron of Ulster, who, in all likelihood, was an Anglo-Norman. A direct
family link remains problematic.
21
In the 1640's Abbot Patrick Crolly (O Creely) acted as an intermediary between the
Crown and the Catholic forces of Owen Roe O'Neill with the object of affecting an
agreement on the basis of toleration of the Church of Rome. The plan came to naught.
Also of a "priestly caste," circa 1647, was a Maghera priest named O'Crilli.
The family, at the end of the seventeenth century, gained note as supporters of James II.
One of the few of a "military caste" was James O'Crilly (Crolly) who served in the O'Neill
regiment of the Jacobite army at the Boyne. Retreating with James II to Waterford, Niall
O'Neill was to die of his wounds and his remains lie today at Greyfriars (The French
Church) in Waterford City. Many others of these “Wild Geese” fled to France.
The nineteenth century witnessed three noted Ulster clerics of the Crolly or Croly
surname, including Archbishop William Crolly.
Archbishop Crolly of Armagh
The Archbishop was born at Ballykilbeg (the townland of the little church) near
Downpatrick, County Down on 8 June 1780. Land there remained in Crolly hands until
1784 when the family remained as tenants.
As there were no Catholic schools in the north of Ireland, William attended a classical
school in Downpatrick conducted by Rev. Mr. Nelson, a Unitarian minister. Attending
Maynooth, he obtained first place, in 1801, in dogmatic theology. For six years he
lectured in logic, metaphysics, and ethics. In 1812 he moved to the Parish of Belfast,
a large district of some thirty miles across. Appointed Bishop of Down and Connor from
22
1825-1835, he built a large church in almost every parish and founded St. Malachy's
Seminary. This was made possible by the easing of the Penal Laws in the latter 18th
century. Accordingly, the Catholic Church began to erect edifices of some architectural
significance following the Relief Act of 1793.
Known for his liberal views on inter church relationships, he was something of an
ecumenist before his time. On two occasions he was allegedly reported to Rome for his
liberal ideas. His relations with the other main churches during his time as Bishop of
Down and Connor was excellent as demonstrated by the manner in which financial
support for church building and for Catholic Emancipation in the 1820s was reportedly
extended by Presbyterians and Church of Ireland alike.
Owing to the shortage of Roman Catholic schools, he was obliged to allow Catholic
children to attend Protestant schools. This was a course of action destined to cause
fierce controversy after his death. He was also one of the few bishops who looked favor-
ably upon the establishment of Queen's colleges. The project was formally condemned
by the Vatican as being pernicious to the Faith.
In 1835 he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and thereby Roman Catholic Primate
of Ireland. He took up residence in Drogheda as well as in the See of Armagh. Up to his
time no Roman Catholic primate had been allowed to reside in Armagh. His great work
was the foundation of St. Patrick's Cathedral and, earlier in 1838, St. Patrick’s College.
Having with great difficulty acquired a site on an historic hill by the side of the town, he
laid the Church’s foundation stone on St. Patrick's Day, 1840.
23
St Patrick’s, Armagh
As described in 2008 in Patrick Vesey’s The Murder of Major Mahon, Strokestown,
County Roscommon, he reacted to the November 1847 assassination of Roscommon
landlord Major Denis Mahon by attributing his death to
the harshness of the owners of the soil and
the vengeance of their evicted tenants.
There was to be no red cardinal’s biretta for Dr. Crolly.
Work on the cathedral was halted during the Great Hunger. His life was taken, in 1849,
by the same disease, cholera, which caused so many deaths in the final years of that mid
nineteenth century catastrophe. He was buried in the centre of the choir of the
unfinished cathedral. Construction was resumed in 1854 and dedication occurred in
1873.
A nephew of the Archbishop was Reverend George Crolly (1813-1878) who wrote a
biography of his uncle. The Reverend was born in Downpatrick, County Down, educated
at Maynooth and, in 1837, became a parish priest in Belfast. In 1843 he was appointed
professor of theology at Maynooth. He assisted the famed Young Irelander Gavan Duffy
24
in establishing the Belfast Vindicator newspaper. Duffy also founded the famed
weekly journal of the Young Ireland movement, the Nation, in 1842.
Easily confused with the above Rev. George Crolly, is the noted poet and preacher of the
same name, spelled Croly, who was born in 1780 and died in 1860.
The Christian name of George and the Crolly/Croly family name, hence, were shared by
four individuals: the Anglo-Norman Baron of Ulster, the poet, the Reverend biographer
and, ultimately, Dungarvan’s George Crolly Lennon (1870-1914), father of George
Gerard.
County Fermanagh: O Luinin/O Leannain
That Lennon family ancestry likely traces to medieval County Fermanagh in the
Province of Ulster is supported by Australian genealogist David Larkin and by the listing
of the two Gaelic forms of the name at the Lough Erne monasteries as detailed in
medieval written works known as the annals.
Larkin maintains that the sept developed as an offshoot of the McCarthys. Most
noteworthy, Briain Mhoir Lennan MacCarthaigh who settled in the eleventh century in
the Lough Erne area near Enniskillen. Possible corroboration of this connection may be
seen in the presence of the stag on both family shields.
Reference is made to the family in the Fermanagh Genealogies written by members of
the family who served as scribes at Lisgoole, County Fermanagh. According to these
pedigrees, an O Lennon of Lisgoole traced his ancestry to Cormac MacArt (226-268
A.D.), King of Tara. This was the same king who reportedly drove the Desii from Tara to
"South Desii," today’s Waterford or the Deise.
An assumption of the family's presence at the ecclesiastical enclave at Lough Erne, as
detailed in chapter IV, does not necessarily mean a presence in that area after the
monasteries had been subdued and a diocesan system introduced.
Later years were to see the establishment of an Anglo-Saxon hegemony as the native
culture was brought to its knees. The early years of the seventeenth century witnessed
the "Flight of the Earls" from Donegal and the "Ulster Plantation" followed by the flight
of the "Wild Geese" after the Treaty of Limerick (1691). Cromwell's mid seventeen-
century edict ("to hell or Connacht") moved the landed Irish to west of the Shannon
River. The ultimate catastrophe of the late 1840's was the Great Hunger. While
Fermanagh maintained a sizable Catholic population throughout those years, it was
without a notable number of Lennons.
Pinder's Census of 1659 revealed a total Fermanagh population of 7102 of whom 1800
were "planted" English and Scots with Anglican (C of I) congregants, rather than
Presbyterians, predominating. Listed was a native Irish population of 5202 with a
multitude of McGuire and Maguire’s with whom the O Luinin were associated as
25
historians. Listed in Derryvullan (site of Ard O Luinin on Inishmore Island) was an O
Lynnan. Also noted was another at "Ennismacsaint" (Inishmacsaint). A total of seven O
Luinins were listed at the old abbey site of St. Aid, Lisgoole, Rossorry Parish. Later, a
Franciscan Abbey was established there in the sixteenth century.
Useful in studying nineteenth century families is "The Tithe Composition Act of 1823"
which replaced in kind payments to the Church of Ireland with landlord cash payments.
To effect this change, a Tithe Applotment Survey surveyed all land from 1823 to 1837.
The continuation of the tithes was not a measure which appealed to either native Roman
Catholics or Dissenting Presbyterians.
The survey, in that it applied to landlords, showed a preponderance of names of planted
origin. Moreover, there was a tendency on the part of British authorities to Anglicise
native Irish names. Listed was a "Willm Lennon" of Derryvullan, Townland of
Rossighth. Indicative of a thorough Anglicisation is the English phonetic spelling of the
surname minus the Irish prefix of O or Ui. The Christian name of William is the English
form of the Irish Liam or the French Guillaume.
A 1909 report on Irish surnames for 1890 (Matheson) listed 109 Lennon births. Only a
handful were to be found remaining in the Enniskillen-Lough Erne area of County
Fermanagh.
CHAPTER IV
FERMANAGH MONASTERIES
For more than half a millennium, monasteries (a.k.a. abbeys) played a unique role as
centres of religious life in Ireland. Sometimes grouped into "parachiae" or families, they
presented a very different form of church organisation than the episcopal system
widespread elsewhere in Europe. On the Continent, church structure was based on
bishoprics, which simply copied Roman administrative units called dioceses. In an
26
Ireland without cities, the Church did not see the necessity of having bishops. It was
abbots and abbesses who ruled over increasingly larger and powerful monastic
communities.
Families ensured continuity with both sexes performing all church rites. As noted by
writer Frank O'Connor:
The rulers of the monasteries after having disposed of the Romanist
prigs are no longer the harsh, unworldly men... who read nothing
but their Gospels and Psalm books. They are far more like the
parsons of Peacock and Meredith - wealthy, worldly, scholarly men
who live in the little oases of civilisation among the bogs and the
woods, in comfortable wooden houses with wine cellars and
libraries, with clever sons...and clever daughters. They are
custodians of relics and treasure worth the ransom of a great many
kings.
Abbeys were usually established on arable land because they were intended to be self-
sufficient centres of prayer, productivity and communal harmony. They were also
centres of culture, learning and social progress. Monks established schools, copied and
illuminated manuscripts, improved farming methods and organised early cooperative
farming. They also developed the first hospitals in the western world to care for the sick
on pilgrimage.
Church lands were farmed by often-hereditary tenants under lay abbots known as
erenaghs (or herenaghs) from the Irish "airchinnech" (chief man). These keepers of
church estates functioned as stewards, collecting rents and tithes. Lay erenaghs knew
Latin and claimed spiritual powers of blessing as guardians of the relics of their
founding saints. They took no holy orders but had the tonsure or shaven crown as a sign
of dedication to special service.
A possible early antecedent of the family is to be found in the personage of Colman
MacLeinin, credited with the founding of the sixth century monastery of Cluain Uama,
Cloyne, County Cork. However, the surname is more generally associated with the
Ulster monasteries in Fermanagh (Fear Managh), "the region of the monks.”
After 1100 A.D reformers sought to subdue the monasteries with a diocesan system to
provide priestly services - the exception being the abbeys revitalized by the
Augustinians. Drained of resources, the communities declined in importance bringing to
a virtual close the 600-year tradition of fostering culture and the arts that was so
different from anything on the Continent. After 1200 it was the Cistercians, Dominicans,
Augustinians and Franciscans who continued, in a different form, the monastic way of
life in Ireland.
Specifically, in County Fermanagh, the Augustinians came to the Devinish Island Priory
on Lower Lough Erne, to Derryvullan and to Lisgoole in 1145 A.D. where they were to be
27
replaced, in 1583, by the Franciscans. Other monastic settlements in the Lough Erne
area included Inishmacsaint and Derrybrusk. The reason for this particular concent-
ration of communities remains a matter of conjecture. Possible explanations include the
concentration of people in the area and the Erne's importance as a means of water
bound transportation and communication.
Fermanagh Civil Parishes
Inishmacsaint (14)
The Ó Luinin sept held land and ecclesiastical office on the island monastery at
Inishmacsaint located a mile from shore on Lower Lough Erne in the present civil parish
of Inishmacsaint. The abbey was founded in the early sixth century by St. Nenn
(Nennid). Reportedly, it is accessible by the Enniskillen to Belleek road. Visible today
are headstones and an ancient Irish cross.
28
Derryvullan (8)
This monastery was located on the east side of Lower Lough Erne, in the Parish of
Derryvullan, north of Enniskillen town and west of Lisnarrick in Castle Archdale Bay.
The townland of Arda (Ard Ui Luinin) is located on Inishmore (a.k.a. Davy's) Island.
Erenaghs of Arda included the fourteenth century Matha Ó Luinin (d.1396 A.D.) who
was described by contemporaries as "skilled in praise-poetry, history, music and Latin
learning." Described as "a learned historian and poet and a man greatly reverenced and
honoured" was erenagh Piarus Cam ("stooped") Ó Luinin (d.1441) who reportedly had a
one third share in the administration of Derryvullan.
Scribes included Chief Herald of Ulster, Matha mac Briain mhic Cormaic Oig Ó Luinin
(1470-1516 A.D.) and Ruaidhri (d.1528 A.D.) scribe of the greater part of the Annals of
Ulster. Other Ó Luinins included Cormac mac Deinis mac Phiarusa Ó Luinin (d.1529
A.D.); Neime Ó Luinin and his family died of the plague in 1540 A.D.; Ruaidhri's
grandson, Matha, wrote, in 1571 A.D., a manuscript entitled Bretha Nemed; and Cormac
Ó Luinin (a.k.a. Seurlas Ó Luinin and Charles Lynegar) was an early eighteenth century
professor of Irish at Trinity College Dublin and "chief antiquary of the Kingdom of
Ireland."
Dated 1632 is a certificate signed by Patrick Ó Luinin (a.k.a. Lynegar) at his residence
on Inishmore that he had received "genealogies from his ancestors, chief antiquaries of
Ireland.” A contemporary, also residing on Inishmore, was chief Maguire historian,
Giolla Padraig Ó Luinin,
In her 1982 book, Prospect of Fermanagh, Mary Rogers reports the ruins of a church on
the island surrounded by a roughly circular graveyard indicative of Celtic monastic
origin. It now contains no datable stone earlier than 1762. At the beginning of the
seventeenth century the island belonged to the Augustinian Canons of Lisgoole and an
abbey is marked on the island on the 1834 ordnance survey map. Rogers theorises that
the island may have been used as a hostel for the use of pilgrims on their way to St.
Patrick's Purgatory ("the mouth of hell") at Lough Derg in Donegal. However,
Fermanagh historian John Cunningham is unaware of any monastic remains with the
nearest ancient graveyard being to the south at Aghalurcher near Lisnaskea.
Lisgoole (19)
A most noted monastery was located at Lisgoole (Lios Gabhail), Rossorry. Located on
the shore of Upper Lough Erne the old monastery of St. Aid was taken possession of, in
1145, by the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. In 1360 the Duke of Clarence, second son
of Edward III, came to Ireland, dispersed the monks, and burned many religious houses,
including the Lisgoole monastery.
29
Circa 1583, however, a Franciscan Abbey was begun on the site under the direction of
Cuchonngacht Maguire II. Forced to leave in 1598, the Franciscans returned in 1616 and
served in the region well into the eighteenth century. Local historian Cunningham states
that some of the remains were incorporated into a private house and the surrounding
headstones were removed to make a foundation for the Enniskillen Military Barracks,
now a Gardai Station.
The Book of Invasions (Leabhor Gabhala Erenn), which includes the Ulster Cycle of
Cuchulain and the Ossianic Cycle revolving around the legendary Finn McCool, had a
connection with this monastery when, in the early 1600's, Giolla Padraig Ó
Luinin assisted in writing a new edition. This was to be part of the larger Annals of the
Four Masters.
Successive Ó Luinin scribes at Lisgoole compiled, from the fourteenth to the eighteenth
century, the Fermanagh Genealogies (Geinealaigh Fearmanach). Conchubhar Caoch Ó
Luinin, in 1712, brought the initial genealogies up to date. Earlier having written a
manuscript known as G129. The most delightful feature of the genealogies is that they
give nicknames of their subjects, whether complimentary or otherwise.
All the original Fermanagh Genealogies manuscripts are now lost. However, the sole
remaining edition of a transcript (1842) by Pol Ó Longan resides at St. Colman's College,
Fermoy, County Cork. While attacking British forces at that garrison town in 1919, a
teen aged George Lennon was, no doubt, unaware of any possible family connections to
the manuscripts at the college.
Modern day Lennons, however, may more likely trace their ancestry to the Ó Leannain
variant of the surname whose existence at the Lisgoole abbey is confirmed by the Annals
of Ireland by the Four Masters which lists six Ó Leannain priors or canons from 1380 to
1466 Included in AFM is a reference to the fourteenth century prior, Domnail Ó
Leannain (d.1380), who is also noted as being a master of history in the Annals of
Connaught.
CHAPTER V
IRISH ANNALS
The Irish annals are a unique collection of yearly records of political and ecclesiastical
events accumulated in monasteries from the late sixth century to the end of the
sixteenth century. It was Colm Cille, third of the three patron saints of Ireland, who was
30
responsible for the sixth century Iona Chronicle which identified the founders of Irish
Christianity (St. Patrick and St. Brigid), terrestrial phenomenon and political events
related to the Ulster Ui Neill from whom Colm Cille was descended.
This chronicle was maintained at Iona until its removal to Ireland in the eight century.
Here it was continued and copies made that form the basis for all the surviving
collection of annals, each of which reflects something of the monastery and the district
in which it was compiled. Among the numerous ancient histories included in this work
are the Annals of Connaught (1224 -1544 A.D.) for the west of Ireland and, relevant to
St. Ciaran's monastery at Clonmacnoise (established circa 540's A.D.), were the Annals
of Tigernach.
As scribes of the annals, the O Luinins kept these records and were noted in them;
earning for themselves the description as “peaceful sept(s) of lay abbots, scribes and
ecclesiastics.” The O Luinin/O Leannain presence at the Lough Erne monasteries and
the Lennon family connection with the numerous religious Crollys lends credence to
the observation that large numbers of the family were associated with the Church in its
monastic and diocesan forms. Adding credence to this assumption is the crest’s
portrayal of a stag (p.13) on a white background.
George Lennon’s journey, from “physical force” Irish Volunteer to a pacifist influenced
by the tenets of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and Zen Buddhism may
understandably be viewed in the context of a “peaceful sept” of a “priestly caste.”
Annals of Inisfallen
Lennon Ulster antecedents mentioned in this annal (written 1092-1326 A.D.) includes
the earliest possible reference to a Colman "Lenin" in 606 A.D. A perhaps more obvious
reference to the name, however, was not until 898-899 A.D. when note was made of a
County Clare erenagh at Inis Cathaig (Scattery Island) in the mouth of the Shannon:
Lennan MacCathranagh (Lennan, son of Cathrannach) who was to die in 913 A.D. The
death of Bishop Diarmait Ua Lennain, also an erenagh of Inis Cathaig, was recorded for
1119 A.D.
Annals of Ulster
Reflecting northern Connaught, Derry, Armagh and Fermanagh are the Annals of Ulster
(circa 1489 A.D.) that are cited as a most valuable source for the early history of Ireland
and Scotland. Preserved, with an astonishing degree of accuracy, were copies of
contemporary records from the late 7th century to the 1540's A.D. Maintained, based on
memory with somewhat less accuracy, are matters prior to that period. The complete
edition is available at Trinity College, Dublin.
The major portions of the A and B texts were penned by Ruaidhri (Ruiri) O Luinin
(d.1528), scribe and historian to Cathal Og MacMaghnusa (Cathal the younger son of
Maguire), Chieftain of Fermanagh.
31
Continuing the family's tradition as scribes was the aforementioned Matha O Luinin
(Bretha Nemed) a "sage in history" who complained, in 1579, that a manuscript
allegedly written by a O Cassaide (another Maguire sub sept) was, in fact, written by
Matha's grandfather, Ruaidhri. He maintained that O Cassaide's penmanship was too
poor to have written the manuscript.
The Annals of Ulster reported a death, in 780 A.D., of Abbot MacLeinne of Innis Bairein
and, in 1540 A.D., a plague in the Ard of Muintir resulting in the deaths of the family of
Neime O Luinin.
Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters
With the Tudor-Stuart plantations and the suppression of the monasteries, this tradition
of yearly monastic records ended, except for one final flourish in the 1630’s which was a
period of unprecedented literary activity in many parts of Ireland. This activity was
borne out of desperation to preserve records of an ancient Gaelic civilisation. It was felt
that if the works were not done at that time, the original manuscripts might never again
be brought together. This fear proved prophetic, with the Great Rebellion of 1641, when
most of the sources used were scattered and became no longer available.
Compiled, in the Franciscan monastery in Donegal, under the direction of Brother
Micheal O Cleirigh (O Clery) was an enormous compendium known as the Annals of
Ireland by the Four Masters (AFM). Drawn upon, as archival sources, were (inter alia)
the aforementioned Annals of Tigernach, Annals of Inisfallen, Annals of Ulster and the
Book of Invasions (Leabhor Gabhala Erenn). The latter, first written perhaps in the
32
eleventh century, was an elaborate legendary account of the origins of Ireland and the
Irish people.
Drawing on these sources, AFM, begun circa 1630 A.D., was completed on 10 August
1636. It has been hailed as the "greatest intellectual legacy of the early modern Francis-
cans" and covers events from earliest times to 1616 A.D. It is probably the best known
and most referenced account of Irish history. Owen Connellan later, in 1846, translated
them into English.
The Franciscans reportedly supplied the food and lodging for the Four Masters;
although there may have been as many as seven scribes involved including the chief
Maguire historian, Giolla Padraig O Luinin ("follower of Patrick, grandson of Luinin").
Giolla Padraig, of Inishmore Island (Davy's Island) in Lower Lough Erne, is also credit-
ed with a new edition of the Book of Invasions.
An examination of these manuscripts, many of which reside at the Royal Irish Academy,
reveal a multitude of references, although on occasion reported to be "chronologically
inaccurate," to possible O Luinin family antecedents including: Flanagain O Lonain,
abbot of Leamor Iniscealtra in Lough Derg (d.900); O Lonain, blind poet of Munster
(d.1064); Piarus Cam O Luinin, Erenagh of Arda, Fermanagh (d.1441); Matha O
Luinin, Erenagh of Arda (d.1477) and Tadhg Finn Luinin (d.1478) a Maguire historian.
Of the O Leannain form of the name, six are referenced as priors of Lisgoole: Domnail
(d.1380), Giolla na-Naev (d.1430), Lucas (d.1434), Tomas (d.1445), Eoin (d.1446), and
Domnail (d.1466).
CHAPTER VI
POST-MEDIEVAL PERIOD
33
Strongbow to the Flight of the Earls
While the erenaghs, historians, canons and industrious Irish scribes of Lough Erne,
County Fermanagh provide a most fertile ground for Lennon family historical research,
there is no analogous entity in later years to replace these writers of ancient Irish
history.
As subsequent historical events were destined to have a negative impact upon Gaelic
Ireland, to follow a Lennon family pedigree from medieval Ulster to nineteenth century
Dungarvan is a daunting and perhaps impossible task.
This brief chapter, therefore, involves a rather simplistic representation of Irish history
and how, on occasion, the family was involved in that narrative from the time of the
Norman incursion in Waterford to the early twentieth century.
Under the "Donation of Constantine" in 1156 the pope granted the island to Henry II.
Less than two decades later there began the rapid military domination of a politically
fragmented Gaelic polity by subjects of the King of England. Most notable was the 1170
A.D. Waterford arrival of the Norman Richard Fitz Gilbert (Strongbow).
With the Normans becoming, in many instances, "more Irish than the Irish," the English
Parliament sought to Anglicise the population through the largely ineffectual fourteenth
century Statutes of Kilkenny (1366 A.D.). In actuality, by the 1500's, wide-
ranging control was to be exercised by the Norman Great Earl of Kildare, Garret More
Fitzgerald.
Tudor conquest was to eventually prevail, however, beginning with the 1537 A.D. Tower
beheading of "Silken Thomas" Fitzgerald, tenth Earl of Kildare, and five of his uncles.
Henry VIII had the Dublin Parliament, controlled by the Anglo-Irish elite, declare him
head of the state Church of Ireland in 1537 A.D. By 1541 he had been declared King of
Ireland.
When Henry's daughter, Elizabeth, became Queen (1558 A.D.), she was convinced that
even more stringent measures would have to be taken to stabilise English domination in
Ireland. The Act of Supremacy confirmed her as the head of the Church of Ireland and
required all civil officials to swear allegiance to her as such. She then began to
steadily expand the plantation system displacing the indigenous people.
However, Saxon law did, on occasion, re-grant sept lands to the Gael. Pardons were also,
on occasion, granted to native populations. Included, in the sixteenth century, were
Moreirtagh Luinion and Conogher Rowe O Lonnan.
Using loyal English subjects, the plantation of Munster began in the 1580's. In
Waterford this involved Richard Boyle (Earl of Cork), Sir Walter Raleigh and the
Cavendish/Hartington family of Lismore Castle and England’s famed Chatsworth
34
House. The various Dukes of Devonshire were to leave their imprint on west County
Waterford (p. 47), including Dungarvan.
To be subdued next was the Province of Munster, the most Gaelic part of Ireland, and
home to the famed Chieftains – the O Donnells and the O Neills.
Educated as an English nobleman the orphaned Hugh O Neill returned to Ulster in
1567. Elevated to the peerage as Earl of Tyrone in 1585, his loyalties swayed back to his
native Irish and he was inaugurated as The O Neill in 1593.
Five years later, in union with other Irish Chieftains, he defeated the Sassenach forces
at the Battle of the Yellow Ford. Badly beaten at Kinsale in 1601 A.D., he surrendered in
1603 and fled, in the 1607 "Flight of the Earls" from Lough Swilly, Donegal. He died in
Rome in 1616. The old Gaelic order had passed and the plantation of Ulster began with
Scots and English "undertakers."
The Maguires
No discussion of family forebearers in post medieval County Fermanagh would be
complete without mentioning the ties between the O Luinin and the
Maguires (MacUidhir), the Chiefs of Fermanagh. The O Luinin sept were noted as
chroniclers of this family.
The frontier of the Maguire's country was Enniskillen located on the Erne. The Erne is a
unique maze of channels, islands, waterways and semi-connected lakes covering a large
portion of the County. The local saying is that "in summer Lough Erne is in Fermanagh;
in winter Fermanagh is in Lough Erne." There, in Ulster, far removed from the Munster
incursions of the Normans, Gaelic civilisation lived on until the end of the Middle Ages.
35
The lengthy reign of the Maguires began with Donn Currach Maguire (1260-1302 A.D.).
The building of a castle at Enniskillen, in the early 15th century, served to solidify their
control over the northwestern part of their territory. A senior branch of the family,
however, maintained a stronghold at Lisnaskea that remained the seat of the ruling
chieftain until 1484, with kingship alternating with the junior branch at Enniskillen
Castle. Through the following century all but two of the chieftains came from
Enniskillen. By the time of the death of Thomas the Younger (Tomas Og) in 1471,
Fermanagh, thanks to an alliance with the O Neills, had become entirely Maguire
country. Chronicling this was Tadhg Fionn O Luinin who died in 1478 A.D. Writer of the
manuscript Bretha Nemed (1571) was Maguire historian Matha O Luinin.
The O Donnells saw fit to invade Fermanagh in 1515 A.D., forcing the Maguires to
submit to them. Later aligned with the ONeills in 1522, the Maguires drove out the O
Donnells. In a three hundred year period there were no fewer than fifteen
Maguire chieftains of the territory. It remains the most common name in the County.
Cuchonngacht Maguire II founded, in 1583, the Franciscan Abbey at Lisgoole where
the chief Maguire historian, Giolla Padraig O Luinin, assisted in the re-compilation, of
the Book of Conquests (Invasions) to be part of the larger Annals of the Four Masters
(AFM).
A Maguire alliance with the other great Ulster Chieftains led to the Yellow Ford victory
followed by the defeat at Kinsale. Cuchonngacht, after securing the ship to take the earls
away, then joined the Earl of Tyrone (Hugh O Neill) and the Earl of Tyrconnell (Rory O
Donnell) in the historic flight.
Upheavals of the 1600s
With the 1607 departure of the Earls the most wrenching and dramatic changes in Irish
history were to occur. Symbolic of the transition was the 1610 settlement in County
Colerane (Derry) by a group of London livery companies causing the name of the county
to be changed to Londonderry. The period 1622 to 1641 witnessed an increase in the
Protestant population from 13,000 to over 100,000. While most of the Irish remained
on their lands, it was as tenants not as owners. Mentioned, as dispossessed of land in
Galway was Mary Lennan, wife of Bryan, who was the son of John. She
later unsuccessfully sought reinstatement of the lands from her brother in law, John Og
(the younger) Lennon.
Owen Roe O Neill, Phelim O Neill and Rory O More formed an alliance in the 1640's to
overthrow the Dublin government (within the Pale). The leading Catholics set up a
provincial government, the Catholic Confederation, in Lord Ormonde’s (James
Butler) Kilkenny Castle. The national parliament stood for independence and for full
liberty of religion and conscience. Serving as an intermediary between the Catholic
forces of Owen Roe and the Crown was the aforementioned Abbot Patrick Crolly.
Officers in the Irish army of Charles I included Manus Lenan, Robert Lenane and Peter
Lenean. The rebels were subsequently dispossessed of their lands as duly recorded in
36
The Book of Surveys. Before the downfall of Ormonde, the following were noted in his
papers: Bryan Lennan, John Lennon and John Oge Lennon.
When the rising began in 1641 A.D., nearly eighty per cent of the island's land belonged
to Roman Catholics. With Cromwell's landing in Dublin, on 15 August 1649, the fate of
the Catholic Irish was sealed. The revolt was crushed, tens of thousands were murdered,
the Catholic religion outlawed, and the rights of the native people reduced to little more
than that of livestock. Many of the Irish gentry embarked in 1650 and 1651 for Spain and
Italy. Those who remained took up their former abodes in the outbuildings attached to
their homes that were now occupied by an English officer or adventurer. They were
employed tilling and labouring on the land they once owned.
By 1653 the island had been completely subjugated with the ancient estates and farms of
the Irish people declared as belonging to the adventurers and the army of England. The
Irish aristocracy banished - "to hell or Connacht" - to go abroad leaving their family and
followers behind if they lacked the means to follow. If found east of the River Shannon
after the first day of May 1654, they faced death.
By the year 1665 only twenty per cent of the land remained in Catholic hands. In
"planted" Ulster, by 1703, the figure was less than five percent. Noted as "innocent
papists" loyal to the Crown in 1653-1654 were Manus and Mary Lenan
Oliver Cromwell
Holding the Irish population in contempt the “L0rd Protector” forcibly transported, by
some accounts, more than fifty thousand men, women and children to plantations in
Barbados, St. Kitt, Montserrat, Antigua and Guinea. Removing a potentially seditious
population also earned money for Cromwell’s Commonwealth.
37
Recorded in the Book of Survey and Distribution was Herbert Lynon,
Catholic proprietor of Ballydowan, County Mayo, who forfeited his lands to Sir Arthur
Gore; a name (Gore Booth Markievicz of County Sligo) that was to play a significant role
in the revolutionary years of 1916-1923. Individuals with the surnames of Lenan,
Lenane, Lenean, Leonard and Lynans were listed a followers of Charles I before his
execution.
With the collapse of the Cromwellian regime, in December 1659, Charles II was
proclaimed king. Included in the short-lived restoration of Roman Catholics in the
1660's was Bryan Lennan, County Antrim. A shortfall in English coffers, due to the war,
resulted in the imposition of additional taxes. In Kilkenny, taxes were received from
Patrick Lanane and four individuals with the Lonnane surname. In Sligo, payments
were recorded for O Linnin, Luinnin and O Lunine. Variant spellings may be attributed
to the transcriptions of Irish surnames to a more convenient phonetic English spelling
by Anglo Saxon officials. Many other variants of the surname are to be found in filed
wills records.
The post Cromwellian period witnessed the writing of the G129 manuscript, as well as
genealogies of the principal Irish families, in English and Irish characters, by
Conchubhar Caoch O Luinin of Ard Ui Luinin, County Fermanagh. Listed as a 1684
Dublin inhabitant was William Linegar, formerly of the Fermanagh Lough Erne area.
Cormac O Luinin (a.k.a. Lynegar) was a professor of Irish at Trinity College, Dublin.
Matriculating at Trinity College in 1688 was Patrick Lenan from County Down.
Enrollment at Trinity was no doubt indicative of Church of Ireland (Protestant) or
Presbyterian (Dissenting) religious affiliation.
Ascending the throne in 1685 was the Catholic James II. Protestant nervousness over his
perceived pro-Catholic policies led to his removal in 1688. “England's difficulty became
Ireland's opportunity” and the Irish prepared to rebel with James leading them. James
borrowed troops from France and landed in Ireland in 1689, the year that William (III)
and Mary ascended to the throne in England. James was defeated on 11 July 1690 at the
Boyne by William of Orange.
38
Participating as a Jacobite officer, under Sir Niall O Neill, was James O Crilly (Crolly).
Consequently labeled as "attainted Jacobites” the Crollys may well have lost their lands.
Accompanying the fleeing James II to Waterford, the mortally wounded O Neill died
with his remains interred at the Franciscan’s Greyfriars Abbey (The French Church).
Incongruously it was the nearby Christ Church that witnessed the marriage of the Irish
Chieftain’s daughter to the Norman Strongbow in 1171.
The official ending of the Jacobite wars in Ireland was the ill-fated Treaty of Limerick (3
October 1691). The flight of the" Wild Geese," as they were labeled on the manifests of
ships, had begun. To the Battle of Fontenoy (War of the Austrian Succession) in 1745,
the French Bureau de le Guerre estimated that some 440,000 Irishmen served in the
armies of France. "Remember Fontenoy" was destined to become a rallying cry for Irish
rebels in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The year 1695 marked the beginning of penal legislation against the Irish Catholics and
other “Dissenters” including the numerous Presbyterians. Outlawed for treason from
1690 -1699 were individuals with the surnames of Leonard, Lenard and O Lennargh.
Penal Times
The victory of William of Orange left Ireland at the mercy of English Church of Ireland
interests who had little inclination for accommodation with the defeated. Subsequently
enacted by the Irish Parliament were a series of discriminatory laws:
A 1692 act encouraged Protestant settlement in Ireland.
It was declared, in 1697, that "all popish archbishops, bishops, vicars-general,
deans, Jesuits, monks, friars and all other popish clergy shall depart out of
this kingdom..." Remaining clergy were subject to other restrictions.
39
Intermarriage between Protestants and Catholics was forbidden in 1697. An
act of 1704 forbade Catholics to own land or inherit lands from Protestants.
Further acts prohibited Catholics from practising law, sitting in Parliament, or
holding public office and voting.
Public office holders were required, in 1704, to take communion under
Church of Ireland auspices.
The objective was to break the political power of the Roman Catholics. Despite their
formal ferocity, they were not vigorously enforced. There was arguably no sustained
campaign of persecution and, from the 1720's onward, the structures and institutions of
the Catholic Church began to recover. Minor enactments continued until 1755, but, by
then, the tide had turned.
Other laws, such as the imposition of new taxes, the payment of tithes to the established
Church of Ireland, high rents and the enclosure of lands, led to rural protest
movements. These included the Whiteboys, the Oakboys, the Steelboys and the
Rightboys.
Subsequent relief acts of 1778, 1782, 1792 and 1793 swept away most of the Penal Laws.
By then, though, the persecution of the indigenous population had resulted in Catholic
ownership of a meager percentage of Irish lands. The easing of the strictures did not sit
well with the Ulster Protestants who formed the Peep O Day Boys and, in 1795, the
Orange Order in County Armagh.
Not dissimilar to these Penal Laws were the Black or Slave Codes of the American South
where race, not religion, denoted the oppressed. However, unlike the slaves, the Irish
were a majority in their native land. A more contemporary example may be found in
the South African apartheid era.
In 1798 the United (Presbyterian Dissenters and Catholics) Irishmen's Rising, led by
Wolfe Tone, failed and this resulted in the abolition of the Irish Parliament and direct
English Parliamentary rule in 1801 with Irish members of Parliament serving in London
not College Green, Dublin.
Eighteenth century variants of the Lennon name, too numerous to mention, are to be
found in parochial registers. These families were largely concentrated in Galway,
Down, Dublin and Roscommon.
Also mentioned was the Anglicised Leonard quite common in Waterford City. Leonards
trace their ancestry to the royal family of MacGiolla Fhinnein (pronounced Magilla
Nane), translated as son of the follower of St. Finnian. Ancestry is also traced to a
branch of the O Muldory with Fermanagh and Donegal antecedents
40
Emancipation and Nationalism
After the Act of Union came into effect Robert Emmet's Dublin insurrection of 1803
failed. Daniel O'Connell was later successful in attaining Catholic Emancipation with the
focus of his final years becoming the repeal of the Act of Union. While praising his
organisational skills, subsequent generations of nationalists criticized his opposition to
armed rebellion as a means of achieving independence.
With famine raging from circa 1845 to 1850, the Young Ireland insurrection of 1848
came to naught. Assisting Young Irelander Gavan Duffy with his newspaper was the
aforementioned (p. 24) Rev. George Crolly. Growing out of this failure of this mid
century revolt was the Fenian movement founded in the United States and Ireland.
Following the disaster of the subsequent 1867 Fenian rebellion, the movement split
between those who advocated physical force (I.R.B.) as a tool and the more moderate
constitutional nationalists of the Home Rule League founded in 1873 and Isaac Butt’s
Irish Parliamentary Party of 1874
Espousing the latter “Parliamentarianism” were M.P.s Charles Stewart Parnell and John
Redmond who was elected from Waterford City in east County Waterford. The physical
force Fenian element was to find a more hospitable home in west County Waterford
where the Irish language was still spoken.
Cultural nationalism was fueled in 1893 by the establishment of the Gaelic League by
Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill. Earlier, in 1883, Michael Cusack formed the Gaelic
Athletic Association (G.A.A.) "for the preservation and cultivation of the national
pastimes of Ireland."
Well into the twentieth century, however, this cultural revival had minimal effect on the
use of traditional Irish names. Surnames by this time, had become fully Anglicised (e.g.,
Lennon, Shanahan) through the rendering of Gaelic names in a phonetic form. For
many, the Irish O prefix was eliminated. English Christian names also predominated.
The Great Hunger
While James Lennon (b.1823), James Shanahan (b.1820), William Walsh (b.1811) and
his wife, Ellen Agnes Power, were in the Deise at the time of the Great Hunger, there are
no records, anecdotal or otherwise, to indicate any impact upon the family. Nonetheless,
no discussion of an Irish family can be complete without reference to this mid
nineteenth century event whose effects are felt to this day.
41
More urbanised areas seemed to have been largely
spared from the ravages of this contagion. However,
great effort was made in Dungarvan, considering its
relatively small population, to provide succor for the
afflicted through the fever hospital, the workhouse and
rented facilities.
Published by the Waterford Museum in Dungarvan in
1997, Desperate Haven paints an appalling picture of
the effect of the Great Hunger on West Waterford
and describes the futile efforts by the government to
ameliorate the situation through the local Poor Law
Unions. Laissez-faire capitalism was the rule of the day.
A portrayal of the 1840's situation is to be found in the
1843 Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland:
...The lowest class in Ireland is the most
miserable in the world....
Their hovels are, literally speaking, shared with their pigs and poultry.
The food of the peasantry is literally is literally potatoes and skimmed
milk... Throughout...animal food is never tasted...except perhaps at a
festival or a wedding….
These conditions were attributable, in no small measure, to the fact that
...the produce of a farm...deducting tithes and taxes, and the
potatoes and milk consumed, are exacted by the landlord.
The Dungarvan Union, one of 130 Poor Law Unions in Ireland, covered all of West
County Waterford. Construction of a workhouse, now St. Joseph's Hospital, began in
1839 and was completed in the summer of 1841. The earliest surviving "minute-book"
account began on 1 November 1845 when there were 197 "inmates.” The 1845 blight
while serious was not yet a desperate situation. In January of 1846, 200 yards of
limestone were acquired to give employment with the stones to be broken and sold for
road repairs. Famine public works included a road (Father Halley's Road) that begins at
the Two Mile Bridge and continues on to Clashmore.
Always conscious of the effects upon the ratepayers and no doubt desirous of not
making the workhouse alternative too attractive, the "meals" in the autumn of 1846 saw
milk replaced by treacle (molasses), water for breakfast and bread and cheap soup for
dinner. In November an adult pauper's meal consisted of 10 ounces of Indian meal
(maize) mixed with treacle for both breakfast and dinner. This proved to be of limited
nutritional value, as mills in Ireland could not grind the corn sufficiently to make it
42
digestible. Prior to the hunger it had been used exclusively as animal feed. However, as
bad as it was inside the workhouse, it was far worse in the surrounding areas.
From 1847 on thousands of people were applying to the workhouse with room for only
600. February listed a workhouse population of 732. In March 2000, people sought
relief necessitating the Board of Guardians to rent any available facilities. In September,
Kiely's on Quay Lane was leased with room for 350. In January of 1848, Galwey's
warehouse on Strandside South in Abbeyside was leased with accommodation for 150
people. Keating's store (The Quay, Shandon) was leased in mid 1848 with room for 600
and, in 1850, an adjoining building was used as an ophthalmic hospital. Another Kiely's
building, with room for 150, was leased in December 1848 and closed in 1850.
Also leased was Carbery’s on Strandside South in January of 1849 to house 550, mostly
women. In bad repair, it was closed in September 1849. Two homes were leased on
O'Connell Street. Shandon House with room for 200 was rented in 1849, closing in
September. Other locales were also rented as needed.
The main burial site for those who died in the early years was at Kilrush; but, by June
1847, it had become overcrowded and an alternative graveyard was located at
Slievegrine about 2 miles from Dungarvan. Also used may have been the Shandon
cholera graveyard.
The year 1849 witnessed a total of 3,946 inmates in all premises. In 1841, the population
of the town itself was only 8625 people. By the summer of 1850 it was reported that
inmates had taken to eating the weeds from the workhouse grounds after they had been
discarded in an ash pit.
From 1841 to 1851 the population of Ireland declined from 8,175,124 to 6,552,385 with
an estimated one million perishing and others emigrating. Connacht was hit
particularly hard, losing some 28.6% of its population, many of whom were Irish
speakers. The twin scourges of “famine” and emigration were reflected in County
Waterford with a population of 196,000 (1840) that had declined to 94,597 by the late
20th century. In Dungarvan a 1841 population of 8,625 was reduced to 4,977 in 1911.
No doubt folk memory still lingered in the 1840’s of earlier catastrophes such as the
“year of the slaughter” (1740-1741) when perhaps 38% of an Irish population of 2.4
million succumbed to starvation and fatal diseases.
With that in mind, to play a role in the contagions of the 19 th century was the Abbeyside
Fever Hospital. Built in 1819, it was situated on a piece of land on Strandside South,
which projected, into the Colligan River. At high tide it was almost surrounded by water.
With patients transferred to the Workhouse, it closed on 29 December 1860 and
remained so until 1869. At that time on 2 June 1869 the Poor Law Medical Officer stated
that the building was most unsuitable for treatment of the sick and that the Board of
43
Guardians should build a proper hospital on the Workhouse grounds. However, it was
not to be completed until 1876.
In August 1881, Gas Works manager and Superintendent of Works James Lennon found
the main building to be “in fair order with the exception of about 3 square feet of ceiling
that had fallen down in the men’s ward.” Also, seawater erosion had breached the
boundary wall.
With the appearance of smallpox in November the rooms were reported as damp and
the house sooty due to a defective chimney. The medical officer on 1 December reported
that “the hospital is in a filthy state, one room rotten from the excreta of fowl, other
parts sem to be used as a dog kennel…Rain is coming in through all parts of roofs, in
fact the whole place is in a state of ruin.”
Abbeyside Fever Hospital
After inspecting the premises, Superintendent Lennon, on 8 December, listed the cost of
repair at forty pounds, five shillings and sixpence. Repairs were duly carried out.
Deterioration continued with seawater coming up through the flooring at high tide. In
March of 1914 the Board of Guardians approved the sale of the premises to Mrs.
Margaret Norris for the sum of two hundred thirty five pounds. The renovated facility is
now an attractive B and B known as Cairbre House.
44
45
CHAPTER VII
COUNTY WATERFORD
Waterford City
County Waterford (Contae Portlairge) is geographically located in the Province of
Munster on the south east coast of Ireland. Administratively the city in East Waterford
is the county level authority and Dungarvan, in West Waterford, is the administrative
centre for the rest of the county.
The original name of the area was Cuan-na-Grioth ("the harbour of the sun"); reportedly
because the original inhabitants were worshippers of the sun. Vikings first established a
settlement in 853 A.D. to be vacated in 902 A.D. when the native Irish drove out the
Norsemen. The Vikings re-established themselves, circa 914 A.D., and built what would
be Ireland's first city, known as Vadrarfjord (”ford of the rams" or "windy ford"). Upon
their defeat, the native Irish applied the sad name Gleann-na-Gleodh or "the valley
of lamentations,” also known as Portlairge ("hilly shore").
Diarmait (“the traitor”) MacMurrough), King of Leinster, failed in an attempt to take the
city. Expelled from his kingship he travelled to Britain and the continent seeking aid in
reclaiming his kingdom. Henry II allowed him to recruit Norman-Welsh adventurers,
chief among them Strongbow.
This marked the introduction in 1169-1170 of the Anglo-Normans into Ireland
Cementing the ties between the Normans and the King of Leinster was the Christ
Church marriage of MacMurrough's daughter, Aoife Rua, to Strongbow. This union may
46
be viewed as symbolic of the ensuing 750-year relationship between the foreigner and
the citizens of Portlairge.
In that, in the mid seventeenth century, Waterford did not capitulate to Cromwell's New
Model Army, it had conferred upon it the title of "Urbs Intacta Manet Waterfordia"
(Waterford remains the untaken city).
The Desii
A native Gaelic people called the Desii, who had reportedly been driven in the third
century from County Meath by Cormac MacArt, King of Tara, settled Waterford between
the Suir and Blackwater Rivers. The accuracy of the saga "The Expulsion of the Deise"
has, however, been labeled "pure fiction" by some.
As a tribal group, they dominated what is now County Waterford (An Deise) during the
early Middle Ages. They retained a sense of their importance and claimed that their own
saint, Declan, was a Christian before the coming of St. Patrick. Founded by St. Declan
was an ecclesiastical complex at Ardmore, where to this day the round tower remains
well preserved.
Ardmore Round Tower
In County Waterford were found seven baronies plus Waterford City. Midway in size
between a county and a parish, a barony is an old and now obsolete administrative
47
unit. Two of the baronies west of the City of Waterford, separated by the Drum-Fineen
Hills, boasted of the Decies name: Decies Without Drum and Decies Within Drum.
Map of Waterford Baronies
In pre - Norman times the chiefs of the Deise were O Bric and O Phelan (O Whelan).
Shortly after the Norman incursion, a 1177 grant ceded control of the eastern part of the
county to the LePoers (Power). In 1204 Domhnall O Faolain, King of the Deise
surrendered to King John. The native Irish character of West Waterford, however, was
never really eliminated with Irish spoken well into the twentieth century, particularly in
Ring, to the southwest of Dungarvan.
Dungarvan
To the west of Portlairge, Saint Garbhan (Garvan) is credited with founding the original
settlement. He is known to have founded the monastery of Achadh-Gharbhain in the
seventh century. It is a matter of dispute as to whether this refers to Dungarvan. It is
also possible that the town may have been named after a warrior of the time.
A small Viking trading settlement is reputed to have existed, to the north of the present
town, on the banks of the Colligan River at Shandon. The town really owes its
development to the 12th century Anglo-Normans, being granted a charter by King John
in 1204.
48
Lacking a sufficient water supply and a quay, Dungarvan was in a state of decay at the
beginning of the 18th century. However, it became a notable fishing town until the
1830’s when government bounties were withdrawn.
The Liberator Daniel O’Connell was moved to describe the town as “the piss pot of
Ireland.” Prior to the mid century Great Hunger, it was noted that “the town has on the
whole a rather neat appearance…yet it is poor in proportion to its population and makes
a melancholy display of small houses …inhabited by fishermen or by persons of various
and precarious means of support.”
Thanks to the “largesse” of the various Dukes of Devonshire at Lismore Castle,
significant internal improvements were to occur in west County Waterford. Included,
over time, was a canal, a railroad (“The Duke’s Line”) with an elaborate Lismore Station,
the very “tidy town” of Lismore and a rebuilt early nineteenth century (1806-1826)
Devonshire Square (Grattan Square) in Dungarvan.
The latter was not an entirely unselfish act in that the newly constructed housing
qualified the inhabitants as forty-shilling freeholders who were expected to vote for the
Duke's Parliamentary candidate, thereby increasing his influence.
The houses on the square were three stories in height. On the north side, flanking the
entrance to Bridge Street, were two four-story buildings. Also included were fish and
meat markets, a new quay and a still extant bridge over the Colligan to connect the town
with Abbeyside.
On the southwest side of the square, near the corner of Mary Street, stood, somewhat
incongruously between taller buildings, a two-story structure destined to house the turn
of the century Lennons (photo, p.61).
49
CHAPTER VIII
SHANAHANS IN THE DEISE
In the case of names of pre Norman Gaelic origins, confusion often exists as to the
spelling in that English surveyors, magistrates and law clerks wrote down Irish names as
nearly as they could phonetically. English speakers in that day, not unlike many of the
present day, were inclined to silence an internal h. Hence, Shanahan (O Seanachain or O
Seanain) minus the internal h, ended up as the more common Shannon.
It should be noted that the name is unconnected with the name of the principal river in
Ireland. This Gaelic surname is derived from seanach meaning old or wise. O Shanahans
were a sept of the Dal gCais who were chiefs of Ui Rongaile in County Clare. They were a
sept of sufficient importance to have a recognized chief.
In 1318, Torlough O’Brien and the MacNamaras expelled them. They first settled in
Waterford, but subsequently scattered throughout Ireland with a sizable
presence in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, home to the O Luinin/O Leannain.
Griffith's mid nineteenth century valuation revealed a concentration in the counties of
the Province of Munster with 189 households reported in Tipperary, 57 in adjoining
Waterford, 76 in Cork, 124 in Limerick and 99 in Kerry. Concentration in these five
counties was confirmed in 1890, with the name still surviving in Munster's County
Clare.
50
With respect to the Dungarvan area, a map of adjoining Abbeyside, dated 1760, shows,
among more numerous Osborne and Lord Burlington holdings, four Shanahans in what
the map labels as "Dungarvan East." A member of one of these families may well have
been the James Shanahan who is listed as the father of customs officer James of the
Lookout, Dungarvan.
The mid nineteenth century Griffith's Valuations showed Shanahans in nearby
Ballyvoyle, Kilrossanty and Kilmacthomas. In Abbeyside there was an 1851 listing for a
Reverend John Shanahan (d.1853) of the Roman Catholic Chapel.
Customs officer James Shanahan was married on 7 September 1873 to Sarah Eliza
Walsh (b.18 October 1846). The marriage certificate listed his age as 42, meaning a birth
in 1831. The death certificate of 1900, however, noted an age of 80 in
1900, necessitating an 1820 birth date. If the latter is accurate this means he was age 53,
not 42, at the time of his marriage. Listed cause of death is "senile phthisis” or TB.
James's wife was the daughter of shopkeeper William Walsh (1811-1891) of 37 Buttery
West (today’s Mitchell Terrace) and Ellen Agnes Power (d.<1891). Sarah Eliza’s
baptismal certificate listed a date of 18 October 1846. Her death certificate of 11 October
1894, however, noted an age of 41 rather than 47. Assuming the likelihood of the
baptismal certificate being accurate, the greater probability was an age, at death, of one
week shy of her 48th birthday.
The Walsh-Power marriage certificate of 9 September 1845 listed Abbeyside’s Reverend
John Shanahan as a witness. He was also listed as a sponsor at the 1846 baptism of Sara
Eliza Walsh.
James Shanahan and Sarah Eliza Walsh Shanahan were to have a total of eight children,
including eldest daughter, Ellen (“Nellie”) A. Shanahan who was to marry George Crolly
Lennon.
Shanahan acquired six properties and adjoining land at the Lookout, overlooking the
harbour, with views towards Helvick and Abbeyside. A Dungarvan map of 1858 shows
the properties, numbered one through six. Three properties faced what was to become
the park and the others faced Devonshire Street as it was known at the time.
Interestingly, number five Devonshire was occupied, mid nineteenth
century, by Nicholas Walsh. It is a matter of conjecture as to whether he was a relation
of Sarah Eliza Walsh Shanahan.
The photograph, taken from the park, shows St. Mary’s Church of Ireland with three of
the Shanahan properties, including outbuildings, to the right.
51
The Town Park
On 3 September 1894 a special meeting of the Town Commissioners was held to
consider adopting the "Parks Act" to establish "a public park for the use and enjoyment
of the people of Dungarvan...." On 6 September John Walsh proposed, at a regular
meeting of the Commissioners, that such a park be established. On 18 October the clerk
was ordered to write to various landowners to enquire as to what sum they required for
some six to nineteen acres of land. A deputation was accordingly appointed to visit the
site of the proposed park at Jacknell Street on an elevated site overlooking the bay (the
Lookout). Borough Surveyor, Michael Breary was appointed to design the site. On
2 November an advertisement was placed in the Waterford Star indicating the
intention of the Town Commissioners to establish a park.
Financing for the development was traced to the 1894 death of Church Street
resident Captain William Gibbons whose will left a bequest of one thousand seven
hundred fifty pounds for the creation of a park at Ringnasilloge. The creation of a park
at that locale never came to fruition.
In early 1895 two Commissioners met with land owner and James Shanahan. He
proposed two hundred pounds for his interest in two plots comprised of three tenant's
gardens of twenty two "perches" (1 acre = 160 perches) each and one garden in his own
possession. As an alternative proposal, he offered to rent the land at six pounds per
annum for a period of sixty years. In March, the latter proposal was accepted.
A small archway (shown in photo) with inscribed plaque was erected adjacent to the
three Shanahan owned properties facing the street.
52
A dispute ensued over the names of the Commissioners on the plaque. In October, a
beneficiary of the Gibbons' will, Mrs. Mary Gibbons, threatened legal action unless the
plaque on the arch was removed. Accordingly, on 14 November 1895, it was removed
after having being defaced and photographed by Edmond Keohan. The photo was
entitled "The Condemned Slab."
Due to vandalism, in February of 1896, a request was made to Royal Irish
Constabulary Inspector John Egan to send a man to watch the park.
In May, further improvements were carried out including an iron railing and work
on the cliff wall. A "rubble wall" was erected “opposite Shanahan's houses.”
In July of 1918 the Council decided to purchase the park outright rather than to
continue annual rental payments. The Council was informed that the park could be
purchased for one hundred pounds. However, it was not until March of 1925, after the
“Troubles” and the death of Nellie Shanahan Lennon in 1924, that solicitors
representing her estate stated that they were willing to sell her interest in the park for
that sum. The following year the Local Government Department of the now independent
Irish Free State granted permission to the U.D.C. to purchase Mrs. Lennon's interest in
the park for one hundred pounds. This occurred in 1926, just prior to the emigration of
George, Eileen, John and Sarah Frances Lennon.
53
Lacking documentation at this time, it is nonetheless probable that the six pound per
annum rental payment from the time of James Shanahan’s death in 1900 to the time of
the sale of the Lennon interest in 1926 went to either married daughter Nellie Shanahan
Lennon and/or spinster school teacher Sarah Josephine Shanahan. The whereabouts of
the surviving Shanahan siblings was likely America. The recipient(s) from Ellen’s estate
of the one hundred pounds buyout would logically have been her four offspring, then
resident in Dungarvan, and eldest son James who had emigrated eastward.
1901 Census: #5 Jacknell Street
By the time of the taking of the 1901 Census on 31 March 1901, father James Shanahan
had died (11 February 1900). His death certificate listed him as a "retired customs
officer" for the Port of Dungarvan. Earlier, in 1881, Slater's Royal National
Commercial Directory of Ireland listed his occupation as "port surveyor etc." He was
noted as the "head of the Coast Guard” per the 1879 death certificate of his infant son,
James Joseph. James's wife, Sarah Eliza Walsh Shanahan had predeceased him (11
October 1894).
Of the eight children of James and Sarah, infant James Joseph died on 12 January
1879. Eldest son John William would have been age 26 and, not surprisingly, a resident
elsewhere. By this time eldest daughter, Ellen Agnes Shanahan had married (9
September 1897) George Crolly Lennon.
Of the remaining five children at home, National School teacher Josephine Shanahan (b.
21 March 1879) was listed as the twenty two year old head of the family at the 5 Jacknell
Street address.Also listed as residents were the four youngest: "18" year old
Mary Frances (born 6 June 1880), "17” year old James Francis (born 15 October
1882),"14”year old Michael Augustine (born 1 November 1885) and 13 year old David
Patrick (born 19 October 1887).
The birth certificate of James Francis noted an address of the "Square.” Births for
all other siblings were noted with an address of Devonshire Street which by the time of
the 1901 census had been renamed (1885) Jacknell Street.
Earlier also listed with a 1846 birth address of the Square was mother Sarah Eliza
Walsh and, in 1848, her sister Ellen Agnes Walsh. This raises the possibility that this
locale was the address of a birthing hospital, doctor's surgery or even a Walsh residence.
Aunt Ellen Agnes Walshe (erroneously spelled with an e), the younger "40" year old
sister of deceased mother Sarah Eliza Walsh Shanahan, was listed on the census form
as " housekeeper.” The stated age on the form contradicted her baptismal date of 24
January 1848, which would have made her correct age 53.
54
Quality ("class of house") of the residence was listed as the second highest including 4
front windows and a total of 9 rooms. The roof was not thatched but of slate, iron or tile.
Having inherited the cluster of six homes, upon the death of her father,
(Sarah) Josephine was also listed as landholder at adjoining numbers 1, 2, 3,4 and 6.
Numbers 1, 2 and 3, which faced Jacknell Street, had a smaller number of rooms (two,
three or four) than the nine rooms found at numbers 4, 5 and 6 Jacknell, which had a
more desirable location facing the park.
1911 Census: #10 Jacknell Street
Ten years later, the 1911 Census revealed significant changes regarding the Shanahan
holdings facing Jacknell Street and the park. Save for the Shanahans and Christina
O'Brien in the adjoining house, the residences witnessed changes in occupancy, but not
ownership.
The Shanahans who owned numbers 1 through 6 in 1901 are now listed as owning
numbers 14 through 9. The O'Brien occupied residence, formerly #6, is now #9 and the
Shanahan occupied # 5 is now listed as #10. In that the" particulars of inhabited houses”
remained the same it is apparent that 1901 house numbers 1 to 6 simply
become numbers 14 to 9 in 1911.
Landholder for numbers 14 to 9 is Sarah J. Shanahan (Josephine) who is the thirty two
year old head of household at number 10. No notation is made of her occupation, which
in 1901 was "national teacher."
Noted as “domestic servant" is Aunt Ellen A. Walshe. Unlike 1901, her age of sixty-three
is correctly stated as based upon her baptismal certificate. No longer listed as residents
were siblings John William, Mary Frances, James Francis, Michael Augustine and David
Patrick. Family anecdotal evidence suggests emigration at some point to New Jersey
with the name subsequently shortened to Shannon.
55
Sarah Josephine Shanahan (standing, 4th from left)
Sister of Nellie Shanahan Lennon
While the properties remain today, it should be noted that as enumeration for many
Dungarvan properties changed so did the name of the streets. At the Lookout the
changes were from Devonshire to Jacknell to today’s Park Terrace. Additionally, the
three homes facing the park are now numbers 1, 2 and 3 Park Gate Terrace. The former
Shanahan occupied house is in the middle and is numbered 2.
Neighbour Joe Foley (d.2016) of #8 Park Terrace recalled being asked at the last
moment to serve as a pallbearer for his former teacher, Josephine Shanahan. At the time
of her death (20 May 1959), due to “Chronic Bronchitis Certified,” she was a resident at
St. Joseph’s Home/Hospital in Dungarvan.
Save for the pallbearers, no one was present at her interment in the unmonumented (at
the time) Shanahan St. Mary’s R.C. plot. Joe graciously commented that “had they
known many of her devoted former students would have been in attendance.”
56
57
CHAPTER IX
LENNONS IN THE DEISE
On George Gerard Lennon's (1900 -1991) maternal side, the presence of Shanahans
(albeit not necessarily forebearers) was noted from the 1700's in nearby Abbeyside,
Kilrossanty, Ballyvoyle and Kilmacthomas. Recognised Walsh and Power forebearers
traced to the Norman incursion of 1169-1170.
The determination of the date of an initial Lennon presence in Dungarvan on the
paternal side is complicated by the absence of census data. The 1922 bombardment by
Free State forces of the Four Courts destroyed, save for fragments, the returns of 1821,
1831, 1841 and 1851. The 1861 and 1871 returns were intentionally destroyed. Those of
1881 and 1891 were pulped during the paper shortage of the 1914-1918 Great War.
This forces reliance on Griffith’s Valuation of Tenements which lists no Dungarvan
Lennons or Crollys in the mid 1850's; although Lennons were noted in nearby
Cappoquin and Kilrossanty with Crollys in Tallow. One might arguably assume that one
or both of the families arrived in Dungarvan after the mid century when the gas works
was built in the early 1860’s. James Lennon (1823-1889) served as the town’s
“Superintendent of Works” and, per Slater's Directory of the 1870's, gas works manager.
There is a possibility that Mary Anne Crolly Lennon (1825-1898), wife of James and
mother of George Crolly Lennon (b.1870), came to the Deise from the Province of
Ulster. However, a Dungarvan birth for Mary Anne cannot be ruled out due to a gap in
the records for her birth year.
It is known, however, that her Ulster born uncle was Dr. William Crolly (1780-1849), the
Roman Catholic Archbishop Primate of Ireland in Armagh. George Gerard Lennon
(GGL) noted him as a “great grand uncle.”
The Reverend George Crolly (1813 - 1878) of Maynooth also listed the archbishop as his
uncle. To be determined is whether, separated by twelve years, the Rev. George and
Mary Anne Crolly Lennon were siblings. Lending credence to this family connection is
the naming of Mary Anne’s son as George Crolly Lennon. His son, George Gerard
Lennon, being, minimally, the fifth family member (p.24) named George (albeit without
the Crolly middle or last name). He subsequently used “George Crolly” as a nom de
plume for a 1934 Irish Review article (p. 196) he wrote in New York City
58
The Gas Works
The Towns Improvement Act was adopted in 1854 and Town Commissioners elected. In
February of 1857, Town Clerk Edward Longan asked the Commissioners to become
shareholders in a new gas works at five pounds per share. By 1858, twenty shares each
were held by Andrew Carbery, John R. Dower and Benjamin Purser. Patrick Cody,
James Kennedy, Christopher O’Brien, and Eliza Ahearne held ten shares each. All other
shareholders owned five or less shares. The total amount raised was one thousand
seventy pounds.
On 7 November 1859, permission was granted to John Hollwey, a Kilkenny contractor,
"to open the streets of the Town for the purpose of laying down his gas mains etc." In
January of 1860, the secretary of the Dungarvan Gas Consumers Company, Ltd. wrote
as follows to the Town Commissioners:
Sir, the Directors of the above company propose to the Town
Commissioners to light, extinguish and keep clean 50 or if required
60 street lamps for nine winter months... at the rate of 3 pounds per
lamp. The gas to be produced from equal parts of best Newcastle
and Cardiff coals.
In December of 1863, the Dublin Builder reported that "gas works have been lately
established and the town is very well lighted, there being no less than sixty lamps
erected in the principal streets, a large number for a town like Dungarvan.”
The Waterford News reported, "the town appeared considerably improved.” Advantages
listed included improved safety and "lessening a good deal of immorality which will be a
source of gratification and delight to the pious inhabitants...."
The gas works was located on “Rope Walk” at Shandon, immediately southwest of the
old creamery, abutting today’s shopping centre. Rope walks, found in most ports, were,
of necessity, narrow strips of land used for stretching/manufacturing ropes for sailing
ships.
According to the “sale rental “of the Devonshire estate, dated 9 December 1859, the gas
company had a lease of the land from the 7th Duke of Devonshire for a term of ninety-
nine years from 25 March 1859 at three pounds per annum.
An 1867 directory lists Thomas Walsh as Secretary. Slater's Directory of 1876 and 1881
refer to the gas works and manager James Lennon of New Lane, near the Lookout just
off Church Street.
The Shandon facility apparently served, at times, as the residence of the manager
as stated on the 1897 marriage certificate of James's son George Crolly Lennon to Nellie
59
Shanahan. By this time, with the 1889 death of his father, George Crolly had succeded
as a 2nd generation manager of the facility. As late as May 1926 George Gerard Lennon
was listed on his siblings’ immigrant ship manifest as residing at the “Gas Works
Dungarvan.” Confirmation dependent upon release of the census of April, 1926.
The introduction of electricity to Dungarvan in 1920-1921 meant the demise of the gas
works. At a council meeting in May 1921, there were two tenders for the public lighting
of the town; one from W.P Lonergan, manager of the gas works, the other from John
Dunphy of the Electric Light and Power Company. The latter's tender was accepted.
The closing of the works ended whatever possibility there was of a Lennon becoming a
third generation long term manager of the facility. However, eldest son James worked,
after his father’s 1914 death, at the gas works to at least 1921 (p.60). Second eldest
George son continued at that time his association with the Republican movement.
1901 Census: 83 O'Connell Street
Despite being an essentially obsolete administrative unit, the 273 baronies in Ireland
were used for census purposes. The returns were arranged for rural areas by town lands,
the smallest division of land in Ireland. For urban areas, such as Dungarvan, the
arrangement was by streets. Specifically, for the turn of the century Lennons their home
was to be found in the Barony of Decies Without Drum, Dungarvan Parish, and
O’Connell Street.
The census abstract consisted of two forms. Form "A" related to the inhabitants: name,
relation to the head of the family, religion, education, age, sex, occupation, marital
status, where born, and whether the individual was an Irish speaker.
The property, unlike the height of nearby structures, was a two-story building with a
public house on the ground floor. Landholder for the pub, with the exterior inscription
“Veale,” was Hannah Veale. Resident at #83 were five Roman Catholics. Listed as head
of family was George (Crolly) Lennon (age 31), "gas manager," and his wife, Ellen
Lennon with a listed age of 24 despite a birthdate of 4 August 1875. There were two male
children: James (age two) and infant George. Also listed was an unmarried seventeen-
year-old "domestic servant" named Anne Heffernan.
Form "B 1" related to "Particulars of Inhabited Houses" in which the census taker had to
fill in information regarding the walls, roof, number of rooms, number of windows in
front and class of house.
Number 83, with no landholder indicated, was listed as an ”ornate dwelling” with three
out buildings, including a stable. Walls were of stone, brick or concrete (category 1) and
the roof of slate, iron or tiles (category 1). There were six rooms (category 3). The three
60
front windows (category 3) resulted in a category number designation of 8. This
figure merited the 2nd highest (out of four classes) rating for the "class of house."
The 1901 census also noted the Whelan family residing on the other side of O'Connell
Street. Listed at number 6 was Patrick (plumber) whose son Pax was to play
a significant role in the Republican movement as the officer commanding the West
Waterford Brigade of the Irish Volunteers (I.R.A.) and Waterford “centre” of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.), known in America as the Fenians.
1911 Census: #81 O' Connell Street
In 1908 Kathleen Ryan from Tipperary purchased the building and added new upper
signage denoting “Tipperary House.” Over the pub, the “Veale” sign was replaced by
“Ryan.” The building was renumbered as #81 at some time prior to the 1911 census. In
1909 the building was enlarged with upper floors installed. The Tipp House sign was
removed, per photos, and replaced by “Ryan’s Hotel” sometime before 1915.
On the 4th of April 1911, the census form listed a Lennon address of #81 O'Connell
Street inhabited by eight residents. Enumerated, as in 1901, were husband George
Lennon ("gas engineer"), his wife Ellen Lennon and sons James and George (GGL).
Seemingly with a listed age of 30, mother Ellen had only aged 6 years from a decade
earlier!
Additionally listed were Eileen (b.20 November 1901), John (b.1908) and youngest
daughter Sarah known as Frances (b.1910). Noted as "servant" was seventeen-year-old
Ellen Morrissey.
Form B 1 listed #81 as a private dwelling with a Mrs. Plunkett as the landholder. Mary
Ryan was listed as the landholder for the public house.
The "particulars of inhabited houses" (walls, roof, rooms, and windows) matched, with
two exceptions, the 1901 census description of #83. The 1909 addition to the home
was reflected in the number of rooms, noted as nine. However, the number of front
windows (3) seemingly did not reflect the additional floors (2) and upper windows (4)
added. The "class of house" again merited the second highest designation. Form B 2
noted three outbuildings: a stable, a shed and "stors."
Locating Dungarvan Lennon Residences
61
Sometime after the 1914 death of George Crolly Lennon, a family move was made from
O’Connell Street to nearby #3 Western Terrace. This address is confirmed by GGL’s
1918 incarceration record at Ballybricken Prison. Newer homes now occupy this terrace.
However, it was with some difficulty, due to the different building descriptions for 1901
and 1911, that I was able to ascertain the exact location and correct enumeration over
the years for the O’Connell Street residence. Enumeration had changed from #81 in
1901 to #83, the enlarged structure, in 1911. The same building is today’s (2017) #88,
occupied by Rossiter’s Butcher Shop, formerly the long-lived butcher shop of the
Morrissey family; Kathleen Ryan having married a Morrissey.
Upon GGL’s return to Ireland in August 1936, a Dungarvan address of convenience of 11
Mitchell Terrace was given on his pension application. It was also listed as his address in
a 1936 letter to a Dublin newspaper. This was the family home of Paddy Duggan who
had married George’s youngest sister, Sarah Frances. The row house retains that
number today. A few houses down the terrace was the home of Volunteer “Nipper”
McCarthy who served as George’s driver during the “Troubles.” The Nipper’s son, John,
now lives in that same house (#19) in which he grew up.
George Gerard Lennon and Parents
Familiarly known as Nellie, Ellen Agnes Shanahan was born, on 4 August 1875, to
“Customs House Officer” James Shanahan and Sarah Eliza Walsh Shanahan. The
Christian names Ellen and Agnes came from her aunt (the younger sister of her mother)
Ellen Agnes Walsh (“housekeeper” for the Shanahans) and grandmother Ellen Agnes
Power Walsh.
62
Ellen Shanahan Lennon and daughter Eileen
With their substantial properties at the Lookout, adjacent to the Protestant Church of
Ireland, the Shanahans, as did the Lennons, enjoyed a bourgeoisie existence. Their
parish church, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic, was the same as the Lennons.
The ninth of September 1897 witnessed the marriage of Ellen Shanahan to George
Crolly Lennon of Shandon, Dungarvan. Younger sister Mary Frances Shanahan was a
witness. Also a witness was James Shanahan, likely her brother James Francis; although
her father James was alive at this time (d. 1900).
The newly occupied Lennon residence on O’Connell Street looked out on Grattan
(Devonshire) Square, one block from St. Mary’s R.C. where the couple were married.
Just four years after the birth of their fifth and youngest child (Sarah Frances), some
two months prior to the beginning of the Great War of 1914-1918, forty four
year old George Crolly Lennon passed away of heart disease on the 11th June 1914. As
noted by the Munster Express:
The people of Dungarvan were greatly shocked and grieved when
they learned, on Thursday evening, that Mr. Geo. Lennon, Gas
manager, Dungarvan, had passed away. Deceased, who was about
44 years of age, had been ailing for some little time past, but his
death was unexpected. He was much esteemed. The greatest
sympathy is extended to his wife and young family.
63
In a period of European and national political unrest, the impact on the young family,
financially and otherwise, may possibly have been of some significance in that George
Crolly Lennon died intestate (without a will). Probate of the sum of seven thousand
pounds did not occur until some months prior to Nellie’s death ten years later.
This would have been a strikingly large amount of money in the early decades of the
twentieth century in an Ireland where agricultural labourers earned, on average, some
twenty-five pounds per annum. While historical currency conversion is an inexact
science, the 2016 equivalent of the estate would be between 500,000 and 750,000
English pounds. Dollar equivalency ranging from $625,000 to perhaps $800,000 at the
very high end.
Specific monies received by the widow, in the 1914-1926 period, perhaps included the
six pounds per annum from the Town Park Rental Agreement, which would have ceased
when Nellie’s estate sold the family interest for 100 pounds in 1926.
There was also George Crolly Lennon’s life insurance policy payment of an unspecified
amount (as recorded 16 June 1914 by life insurance sales person Tom Dee) plus wages
from eldest son James. Working for the Gas Works, after his father’s death, he sold “gas
cooking and heating ranges” as well as “coke, tar ashes, gas lime, fire bricks, fire clay,
etc.” All items duly noted on receipts for Carriglea Convent from 1915, 1920 and 28 April
1921.
Perhaps indicative of the unavailabity of intestated monies or simply an opportunity to
broaden his privileged upbringing, fifteen-year-old George, in the autumn of 1915, was
newly enrolled, albeit to last for only six months, at the Abbeyside Boys National School.
The school register noted that George “never attended National School;” likely
indicating prior home tutoring or conceivably private schooling
The move to nearby #3 Western Terrace may have been attributable to the pre 1915
conversion of the O’Connell St. residence to a hotel rather than to financial constraints.
Regardless of any possible lessened financial means, the Lennons, with a live in servant
and private educations, were definitely of the “better element” in the town. George
seemingly eschewed the rougher “corner boy” element, seeking friendships with
nationalist Na Fianna Eireann scouts of the likes of neighbor Barney Dalton (p.66) who
were raised on tales of the bold Fenians, Sarsfield and the men of 1798. George noted
“patriotism rising with our puberty” as the intrepid lads anticipated the “longed for
Rising.” Antithetical to this impulse would have been his National School reader, which
noted: “I thank the goodness and the grace that…made me…a happy English child.”
64
He also sought friendships among the children of the R.I.C. chief constable at the nearby
barracks in King John’s Castle. Relationships formed with Constables Neery and Hickey
were to impact the trajectory of his life as events of March 1921 unfolded (pp. 119 ff.).
Pre 1909 two-story 83 O’Connell Street home (upper right)
St.Mary’s Church Controversy
For the widow Lennon, St. Mary’s was a source of strength and comfort. The parish
priest was the Very Reverend Archdeacon John Power. Keohan’s Illustrated History of
Dungarvan (1924) described him as a curate who “in the stormy days of the Land
League...did heroic work for the success of the farming population in their stubborn
fight for justice.” Church curates were Rev. L. Egan, Rev. M. Hearne and Rev Father
McGrath.
Noted for her large hats, Nellie Shanahan Lennon apparently possessed a strong will
and the courage of her convictions. This was evidenced one Sunday during the
Troubles when the parish priest saw fit to admonish, from the pulpit, her son George
and the other I.R.A. men who were "on the run" from the authorities. As described in
the Una Troy Walsh novel (Dead Star’s Light), written under the nom de plume of
Elizabeth Connor, she
65
... just got up and out of the chapel...walking down to the door under the
amazed stare of the whispering congregation... imagine the agony in her
heart….
St. Mary's
She had missed her first communion in "I don't know how many years." But her views
on the Roman Catholic Church, in contrast to the priests, were made quite clear:
The priests...they think they're the Church. They forget they’re only
a very small part of it – they forget they should be our servants, not
our masters. I often wondered what Christ thinks of ‘em – not
much I'd guess. She smiled placidly. Well, if every priest that ever
there was a rogue incarnate – and the pope himself the biggest
rogue unhung - it wouldn't affect my religion. Sure, it's a religion
that's grand enough even to get over the priesthood it has - and that
ought to be enough to make any one believe it's the true one.
66
Such outspoken religious sentiments may be seen as a continuation of the liberal views
expressed years earlier by her husband’s forebearer, Archbishop William Crolly, who
had “advanced” views on educational matters and Church involvement in politics (p.23)
Secure in her faith, her devotions continued, most likely at the Friary Church on nearby
St. Augustine Street. Another possible locale, albeit less likely, was the Roman Catholic
Church in Abbeyside across the Colligan River.
Of passing interest are her ages as listed on official documents: marriage certificate, the
census of 1901, the census of 1911 and her death certificate. These were all at variance
with the official birth certificate date of 4 August 1875.
Listed on her marriage certificate was an age of 20 rather than her actual age of 22. In
April of 1901 the census reported an age of 24 rather than the correct 25. Ten years later,
the census listed her as age 30 rather than the correct 35. Upon her death, from liver
cancer on 7 November 1924, Richmond Hospital, Dublin listed her as age 46 rather than
the actual 49. It would seem unlikely that all discrepancies were solely attributable to
faulty official record keeping by the Church, the census enumerators and the hospital.
Nonetheless, such mistakes, were quite common in documents of the period.
The Munster Express of 15 November 1924 reported her 7 November death as follows:
During the past week there passed away a widely known figure in the
town in the person of the late Mrs. Lennon, Western Terrace. Her
death occurred at a Dublin hospital on Friday, and on Saturday the
remains were conveyed to Dungarvan by motor hearse followed by a
large number of motorcars. Deceased was an active member of
the social life of the town and one who will be much missed by a large
circle of friends... After reposing in the parish church (italics
added) throughout the Saturday night, the remains were interred in
the adjoining cemetery (italics added) on Sunday, when there was
an unusually large cortege.
Per the Waterford News of 14 November 1924:
The procession in the night was a very sad one, the children of the
deceased being the chief mourners. After last Mass on Sunday the
interment took place, when the remains were laid to rest with those
of her deceased husband (italics added).
Also mentioned:
One of the sons of (the) deceased, Mr. George Lennon, occupied a
responsible position during the fighting in the country, and
in the struggles that took place he had many hair- breadth escapes
67
The latter in reference to George’s avoidance of capture, over eleven months, while “on
the run” as a teenager. Subsequent escapes were to occur in Kilkenny, Fermoy,
Kilmacthomas, Ballyhooly, Cappagh, Cappoquin and Grawn. During the Civil War (July
1922) there were two narrow escapes at Ballybricken and Barnakill.
St. Mary's Family Plot Disappearance
In light of the fact that no trace can be found today of the Lennon gravesite, the
following, as noted in Keohan's 1924 town history, may be of note:
The new cemetery attached to the old burial grounds was
consecrated by the Most Rev. Dr. Sheehan, then Bishop of the
Diocese. It... is well laid out and in the course of some twenty years
it has got pretty well filled up.
Parish priest Nicholas O'Mahony wrote (24 April 2005) that “no record of burials was
kept.” However a schematic drawing (circa 1980’s) in the church office shows the names
of those interred in each plot. No Lennons are shown to be there and civil records reveal
no dis-interment of Lennon remains.
Father O'Mahony continued in his letter that "the custom in Ireland is to be buried
in the family grave...usually in the parish where one resided.” In light of the newspaper
accounts and Lennon residences on nearby O’Connell Street and Western Terrace, there
can be no doubt as to the identity of the family’s parish church. A family presence is
corroborated by parish records of Lennon family christenings, Ellen Shanahan’s
baptismal record of 5 August 1875 and the Shanahan - Lennon nuptials of 9 September
1897 conducted by J.C. Prendergast, C.C.,"in the Catholic Chapel of Dungarvan."
1924 newspaper accounts report Ellen's remains being "laid to rest with those of her
deceased husband" at her parish church. Additionally, Eileen Duggan (d.2009), adopted
daughter of Paddy and Sarah Frances Duggan (nee Lennon), informed the author that
years earlier she had visited the graves which were located to the right by the wall as you
enter the church grounds.
An examination of the wall, in September of 2007, revealed inscriptions denoting the
names of those buried there in the 19th and early 20th century. Conspicuously, in some
cases, writings appear to be absent from sections of the wall. Immediately in front 0f
portions of the wall are headstones which note burials of a more recent vintage, decades
after the early 20th century Lennon burials. The most probable scenario, in light of the
overcrowded cemetery and Lennon family emigrations in 1926-1927, is that the family
plot was sold. Reportedly this was a not uncommon occurrence in the days of the Irish
theocracy.
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St Mary’s R.C. Church and Cemetery
CHAPTER X
69
TROUBLED TIMES (1913-1921)
In support of his original "Application to the Minister for Defence for a Service
Certificate" (i.e., pension application), George submitted, as notarized in New York City
on January 23, 1935, "Additional Information" regarding his service in the I.R.A.
(Volunteers). In this brief summation he noted that he
left school Easter Week, 1916 to take part in the rebellion and was
constantly engaged in army activities during the whole period to
August 1922. I did not work at our family business or any other
occupation during this time ... I was almost constantly on the run
up to the end of hostilities. I took part in a total of seventeen
engagements with British forces. During the Truce period I took
over Waterford City from the evacuating British military and
commanded the garrison there until driven out by the Free State
army in July 1922.
Prior to Easter Week, although not pensionable, he was involved in the nationalist
movement as an youthful member of Na Fianna Eireann (Irish National Boy Scouts)
founded in 1909 by Protestants Bulmer Hobson and Countess Gore-Booth Markiewicz.
Winner of a national essay contest (“Sarsfield at Ballyneedy”), he, with Barney Dalton of
nearby Mary Street, was implicated, on the basis of informer testimony from “one of
those brainy, owlish, bespeckled kids,” for exploding “a large home made bomb” (I.E.D.)
adjacent to the Dungarvan sea front. George stated in his remembrance that the result
“was a number of very serious conferences with the police constables, our teachers and
our parents.”
Excluding "matters of a confidential nature for Dublin G.H.Q.” and ambushes that did
not materialise, the following, based in large measure on his pension applications, is
a specific listing (including escapes) of his revolutionary activities as a member of the
Irish Volunteers:
Easter Week, 1916 Ballynamuck, Co Waterford: attempt to seize arms from a train
12 January 1918 Dungarvan, Co Waterford: arrested with Pax Whelan for theft
of a soldier's weapon on 9 January
January/February Waterford: Ballybricken Prison
February 1918 Dublin: collecting arms/ammunition with Nipper McCarthy
Kilkenny: stopped by British soldiers /Eludes capture
March 1918 Waterford City bye election: Armed protection for Sinn Feiners
April 1918 Dungarvan Court House: Riot/D.O.R.A. Arrest warrant issued
April 1918-March 1919 “on the run” away from home/eludes capture for 11 months
70
Training Volunteers, resisting conscription
Gun running operations of a “confidential nature for G.H.Q.”
March 1919 Captured
Sentenced at Lismore Court House
31 March – May 1919 Cork Male Prison solitary confinement (Charlie Daly)
June - August, 1919 Ballyduff: "In ill health as a result of imprisonment"
7 September, 1919 Fermoy, Co. Cork: ambush with Liam Lynch
Lennon/Mansfield elude capture
1 January 1920 Dungarvan, Co. Waterford: Petty Sessions
Clerk office raided
17 January 1920 Ardmore, Co. Waterford: R.I.C. Barracks attack
2 February 1920 Church St. Dungarvan, Co Waterford: Inspector King incident
Jan./April/May 1920 Dungarvan, Lismore, Ring: Attacks on British Administration
Spring 1920 Eludes Black and Tans at Kents of Kilmacthomas
28 May 1920 Kilmallock, Co. Limerick: R.I.C. Barracks attack
June 1920 Corbetts of Bunratty, Co. Clare: gelignite manufacture
Aborted attack at Sixmilebridge R.I.C. Barracks
30 July 1920 Bruree, Co. Limerick: ambush
7 August 1920 Kildorrery, Co. Cork: ambush
August 1920 Co. Cork: Cork No.2 Flying Column (“Men of the South”)
August 1920 Bunmahon, Co. Waterford: Coast Guard Station burned
9 September 1920 Vaughan’s Hotel, Dublin: meeting with Mick Collins
12 September 1920 Youghal, Co. Cork: stolen motorcar
17 September 1920 Nagle Mountains/Glenville, Co. Cork: Training camp
with Ernie O’Malley, Liam Lynch, George Power
and Tom Barry
18 September 1920 Kill, Co Waterford: Planned R.I.C.Barracks attack
September/October West Waterford Flying Column formed
12 October 1920 Brown's Pike, Co. Waterford: ambush
1 November 1920 Piltown, Co Waterford: ambush
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27 November 1920 Cappoquin, Co. Waterford: escapes after Quirk shooting
Autumn/Winter Co. Waterford: aborted ambushes at Kilminnion Bridge,
1920/21 Kilmacthomas, Whitfield, Carrickmourn, etc.
31 November 1920 Rockfield Cross, Cappagh Co. Waterford: ambush
7 January 1921 Pickardstown, Co. Waterford: ambush
11 February 1921 Robert’s Cross, Ring, Co. Waterford: aborted ambush
27 February 1921 Glenville, Co. Cork: meeting of Brigade officers
3 March 1921 Durrow/Ballyvoyle, Co. Waterford: train ambush of jurors
4 March, 1921 Glenville, Co. Cork: Liam Lynch meeting called
March, 1921 Ballyhooly and Cappagh Stations: eludes capture
18 –19 March 1921 Burgery Ambush/execution of Sergeant Hickey
28 March 1921 Glenville, Co. Cork: meeting of Brigade officers
28 April 1921 Meeting with East Waterford O/C Paddy Paul
29 April 1921 Ballyvoyle/Ballylynch, Co Waterford: train ambush
7 May 1921 Glenville, Co. Cork: meeting of Brigade officers
19 May, 1921 Grawn (Faha Bridge): Eludes British forces
May 1921 Cutteen House, Comeragh: Paddy Paul meeting
regarding planned Ballybricken prison escape
and formation of an East Waterford Flying Column
June 1921 O/C of enlarged Waterford Flying Column
4 July 1921 Rockfield, Cappagh, Co Waterford: train ambush
9 July 1921 Kilgobnet, Co. Waterford: trenching disaster
11 July 1921 Sleady Castle area: Truce news received
Post Truce, 1921 Vice O/C of combined Waterford Brigade
I.R.A. Liaison Officer
11 November 1921 Cheekpoint, Co. Waterford: Frieda gun running
January 1922 Vaughan’s Hotel, Dublin: Liam Lynch, Charlie Daly, “Fitz”
7 January Mansion House, Dublin: Dail accepts Treaty
3 March 1922 Dunkitt, Co. Kilkenny: arms seizure
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March 1922 Cappoquin, Co. Waterford: Barracks seizure
9 March 1922 Waterford City: Occupied by I.R.A. “Irregulars”
26 March 1922 Mansion House, Dublin: Army Convention
18 July 1922 Waterford City: Free State attack
21 July 1922 ff. Ballybricken Prison, Waterford: evacuation/escape
Retreat to Mt. Congreve, Kilmeadan
Escapes Free State soldiers at Barnakill,Kilrossanty
1 August 1922 Resigns from Irish Volunteers
Volunteers
Led by Sir Edward Carson, the Unionist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was formed when
it appeared likely that a Home Rule Bill would be enacted at Westminster. As a counter
measure, Eoin MacNeill, at the instigation of the I.R.B and Bulmer Hobson, formed
the Irish Volunteers at the Rotunda Rink in Dublin on the 25th of November 1913.
A split in the Volunteer ranks occurred when Irish Parliamentary Party leader John
Redmond pledged at Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow, the “National” Volunteers to the
British cause in the 1914 Great War. For the National Volunteers (some 170,000)
and others throughout Ireland, the promise of Home Rule was seen as the equivalent of
independence, albeit within the British Dominion. This split was reminiscent of the late
nineteenth century split between the more moderate Home Rule League/Irish
Parliamentary Party (I.P.P.) and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (Fenians).
In opposition, under the leadership of Sir Roger Casement and MacNeill, were the
minority “Irish” Volunteers comprised of arguably some 10,000 men or roughly six per
cent of the total Volunteers. These men rejected the more moderate constitutional
nationalism of Daniel O'Connell, Parnell and Redmond in favour of the I.R.B. physical
force approach.
Francis Phillips, Secretary, Tipperary Sinn Fein, remarked (BMH ws 1703) that what
was espoused by the Irish Volunteers “was looked upon as something akin to political
heresy and national lunacy.”
It was to these Volunteers that the Supreme Council of the I.R.B. looked to form the
nucleus for a rebellion. Sworn in by IRB “centre” Pax Whelan, Lennon became one of
the youngest members of this militant oath bound Republican organisation; as had
similarly occurred with his youthful Na Fianna Eireann membership and as a fourteen
year old Adjutant in the Dungarvan Irish Volunteers in 1914.
73
After the Redmond split the Dungarvan Volunteers of some twenty-one men (per P.C.
O’Mahony, BMH ws 118) were organised, in October 1914, under I.R.B. man O’Mahony
of the Dungarvan Post Office. O’Mahony was Officer Commanding with Vice O/C Pax
Whelan. Kerryman O’Mahony had reportedly spent some time with 1916 martyr Sir
Roger Casement in the Belgium Congo.
Active men included, among others, Phil O’Donnell, Sonny Cullinan, Phil O’Donnell,
Dan Fraher and Paddy Whelan. The Decies Battalion was organised in 1917, per George
Lennon, and, when enlarged, became the West Waterford Brigade.
Generally though, per James Fraher, Dungarvan, circa 1918, was
...a town which up to that time had been noted for its apathy in
regard to things national.
Nearly a year after the January 1919 outbreak of hostilities, George Kiely, according to
Volunteer Moses Roche (BMH ws 1129) "said he was the only (Irish Volunteer) at that
particular time in Kilmacthomas.” Roche also noted that there was, in Kilmac, "no
Volunteer company at all" in mid 1920.
Police estimated, in December of 1915, some sixty-three members in the entire County.
By Easter 1916, in the opinion of Pax Whelan, that number included “about three or
four" in the town of Dungarvan.
It is perhaps noteworthy that many of the most active men in West Waterford during the
War of Independence were teenagers at the time of the 1916 Dublin Easter Week Rising.
These included James Fraher (b.1898), Mick Shalloe (b.1897), Patrick
("Pakeen") Whelan (b.1901), Moses Roche (b.1900), Mick Mansfield (b.1897), George
Lennon (b.25 May 1900) and John Riordan who had joined the British Army at age
seventeen.
Whelan and Lennon were to occupy the West Waterford (Deise) Brigade leadership
position during the ensuing “Troubles” of 1919 -1921. In addition, Lennon was chosen,
in 1920, to lead the West Waterford Volunteers on active service (Flying Column).
With respect to the selection of officers, the Volunteers followed the ancient Brehon
system of elected leaders under which Irish tribal groupings operated.
Easter Monday 1916
On Easter Sunday, the 23rd of April, local Irish Volunteers learned from O'Mahony that
Eoin MacNeill had called off the insurrection. The men, consequently, dispersed to their
homes. On Easter Monday, O'Mahony was informed that the Rising had begun in
Dublin, centered on the Government Post Office (G.P.O.), just down Sackville
(O’Connell) Street from where the Volunteers were formed.
74
Donal O'Faolain (Whelan), Pax's son, noted that
...confusion was rife throughout the country. Waterford was no
different... However...the men were prepared to rise and, in
Dungarvan's case, took part in an actual operation....
While O'Mahony was on duty at the post office on Monday, a coded message came
through from the R.I.C. County Inspector in Waterford to District Inspector O'Keefe in
Dungarvan.The message stated that an ammunition train would pass through
Dungarvan station after midnight. O’Mahony, possessing the key to the cipher, decoded
the communication but was unable to leave his post.
Dungarvan Post Office
Sometime around 11 P.M. on Monday night the 24 th, O' Mahony, answered an "excited
knock on the door" by the son of the widowed Ellen Shanahan Lennon. Informed of the
situation, the fifteen year old
Grasping my .32 revolver ... rushed off into the night to seek
assistance. The rain was coming down in torrents.
George and Pax, accordingly, set up a wall of stones in an "unsuccessful attempt to
wreck (a) munitions train at Ballinamuck" (Ballynamuck) beyond Con Dempsey's Bridge
just outside Dungarvan. No train came at the expected hour, but one eventually came at
approximately 4 A.M. Tuesday morning. The train guard was questioned and a search of
the train was undertaken. It was determined to be an ordinary goods train with
no military guard and no arms or ammunition aboard.
75
To honour the Dublin participants in the Rising, the 1916 Medal was presented on the
twenty fifth anniversary of Easter Week. Awards were subsequently made to members of
Cumann na mBan, the women's auxiliary to the Irish Volunteers. Later, members
of rural Volunteer units were declared eligible. With the inclusion of the latter two
groups, some 2411 medals were awarded (pp.198-199). The two Dungarvan men
received no such honour.
1916-1918
George’s sole six months of formal schooling at Abbeyside Boys National School ended
abruptly after Easter Week, 1916 when he left to dedicate himself to the revolutionary
struggle. From Easter 1916 to 11 April 1918, when he was forced to go “on the run,” he
was involved, as stated in the addendum to his pension application, for "most of the
period…organizing, training and securing arms.”
Dungarvan: Court House (left) on Meagher Street
In 1917 a meeting was held in Dungarvan featuring notables in the Republican
movement. Speaking were Piarais Beaslai and Mick Collins' friend Harry Boland. Also in
attendance was Easter Week Dublin G.P.O. participant George (Seoirise) Plunkett who
remained in the area and helped with training and organising the Volunteers. In March
1921, he was to return to evaluate the operations of the Deise Flying Column and
to command the men at the Burgery engagement.
By January of 1918 the West Waterford Brigade, under newly installed O/C Pax
Whelan and Vice O/C George Lennon, was organised with four battalions: Dungarvan
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(1st Battalion), Lismore (2nd Battalion), Ardmore/Old Parish (3rd Battalion) and
Kilrossanty (4th Battalion).
Raids for arms were carried out. On 12 January 1918, Pax and George were arrested and
charged with entering a house and carrying away a gun three days earlier. The “General
Register of Prisoners" (National Archives) revealed the following with respect to the
seventeen year old incarcerated in Waterford’s Ballybricken Prison:
Height: 5 ft 8 1/2 inches
Weight: 112 pounds
Marks On Person: "old cutmark on f 'head"
Residence: Western Terrace, Dungarvan
Next of Kin: Mrs. Ellen
Occupation: nil
Education: Rw (read and write)
On Remand: 13 January 1918
For Trial: 28 January 1918
Fine, Bail or Hard Labour: "no bill at assizes"
Further Remarks: Bailed 11 February 1918
For Lennon, the whole experience was not altogether unsatisfactory as
...the kindly night warder let himself into my cell with the excellent
intention of trying to cheer me up. The good man explained that I
did not have to wear prison clothes, that I could procure books from
the library, that I could have meals sent in, that I would exercise in
the yard for an hour every day, and so forth. The poor man finally
ran out of goodies and with a deep sigh he said this place was not
built for anyone's pleasure.
Bailed on Monday 11 February he returned, via the Duke’s Line, to Dungarvan, where he
was noted by the Irish Times as being “followed by members of the Constabulary.” He
was also “met by 400 Volunteers who cheered him” en route to the Town Hall. The
Dungarvan Observer headline read: “Out on Bail: Mr. George Lennon’s Enthusiastic
Reception.” Featured was a front page poem by Michael Walsh entitled “Last Monday”
(see Appendix I). The last stanza read:
As our captain has told us – Fall in today!
Nor think ‘tis a time for idle play,
Yet be sure that victory shall yet be won,
If you play a man’s part as George Lennon has done
Eventually larceny charges were dropped (“nolle prosequi”) on 4 March relying to some
extent on the perjured testimony of his mother that her “delicate boy” had been at home
that night studying for a mercantile marine examination. Once again he was accorded a
magnificent reception in his hometown. Speaking to the crowd, the seventeen year old
urged all to join the movement.
77
The search for arms at Ascendancy "big houses" in County Waterford and beyond
continued. Employed as a driver was Nipper McCarthy of Crotty's Garage, Dungarvan.
Per a recorded interview with Kilmac author Sean Murphy, the Nipper drove Phil
O'Donnell and Lennon to Waterford City in February 1918 where the two Volunteers
were to take a train to Dublin. Having missed the train, he then drove the men to Dublin
where they spent four days collecting arms and ammunition. Returning southward, they
hid the armaments beneath fire extinguishers (minimaxes) in the car. Stopped by
the British military in Kilkenny, they showed their forged passes and maintained
that they were on their way to install the extinguishers at Waterford Barracks. The
soldiers obligingly directed them toward Waterford City.
In April of 1918, British intentions to enforce conscription in Ireland led to a surge in
popularity for Sinn Fein ("Ourselves"), the political arm of the Republican movement.
Numbers of men were also drawn to the Irish Volunteers "but...left again when the
danger of conscription had passed and they were no good to anyone," in the estimation
of Donal (“The Duck”) O’Faolain.
George's 1935 pension application listed to the end of 1918 time spent "training units to
resist conscription.” During the autumn, operations were undertaken off the Waterford
coast “...of (a) confidential nature for G.H.Q.”Also of a confidential nature were
"preparatory gun running operations" and "collecting...arms: training and organising.”
Volunteer training manoeuvres, according to Whittle's Saga of the Deise People, were
generally carried out “at night in quiet sequestered parts of the country-
side" and meetings were held in "Gaelic League rooms to learn the language of their
fathers.” Military classes included signaling, demolition, engineering and bomb
making. Drilling at night took place in a sunken roadway next to the Gaelic (Dan
Fraher's) Field. Volunteers were eventually emboldened to drill openly using hurley
sticks.
The period of the 1914-1918 war witnessed thousands of voluntary Irish enlistees in the
British cause. Not unlike recruits to the later Black and Tans, many joined out of sheer
economic necessity, realising that mothers and wives were paid a “separation
allowance.” Some returned war veterans proved to be a fertile field for the rebel cause.
Notably, in West Waterford were John Riordan from the British Army and Jack O’Mara
from the U.S. Army. In East Waterford Paddy Paul became Brigade O/C as did Tom
Barry in neighbouring County Cork.
In 1918 non-cooperation was a common tactic employed by Sinn Fein, Cumann Na
mBan and the Volunteers. The occasion of Pax Whelan facing public disorder charges in
April 1918 let to Dungarvan Republicans refusing to accept the authority of the local
courts. In his statements before the Irish Pension Examiner in 1935 George remembered
that “the Head Constable asked me to remove my hat; there was a hustle and the
Magistrate (R.M. Gerald Griffin) ordered the galleries to be cleared; we attacked the
police and we were driven out; we smashed the windows and there was a regular uproar
in the town for the afternoon.” Arrested were Ned Kirby and John Broderick.
78
On Easter Sunday 1918 George was observed drilling the men and wearing a Volunteer
uniform in violation of the Defence of the Realm Act (D.O.R.A.). He was to be
additionally cited for “unlawful assembly” at the Dungarvan Court House on 6 April
1918. Consequently, the seventeen year old was forced to go on the run for the
remainder of the year and beyond. This commenced 11 April when the arrest warrant
was issued.
While Deise physical force Volunteers continued to drill and organise, events involving
Parliamentary elections (March and December 1918) to the east, in Waterford City, did
not bode well for co-operation between East and West Waterford in the ensuing
revolutionary 1919-1922 period.
Redmondites in Waterford
As noted in Chapter VII, for many centuries Waterford City, in contrast to the less
urbanised West Waterford, had been closer to the more Anglicised Leinster side
of Ireland. From the time of Parnell it tended to espouse the more moderate course of
constitutional nationalism contrasted to the more militant “Fenianism” of the I.R.B.
John Redmond (d.1918)
To some extent, the Comeraghs and Monavullagh Mountains form a natural
divide between East and West Waterford with the latter centered on the market town of
Dungarvan.
In an American context, the dichotomy in Waterford may be similar, in some respects,
to the cultural, political, social and economic distinctions in New York State between
79
the metropolitan downstate region, centered on New York City, and the upstate region,
comprised of smaller cities and open spaces, including the vast Adirondack Park.
George Lennon was well aware of the twelfth century arrival of the Norman foreigner
when he referenced mention in ancient Irish texts of King Henry II Plantagenet (reign:
1154-1189):
There came into Ireland Henry (son of the Empress) most puissant
king of England, also Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count
of Anjou and Lord of many other lands with 240 ships. And he came
to land at Portlairge and received the pledges of Munster.
To him came all the archbishops, bishops and abbots of Ireland who swore fealty to him
and confirmed the Kingdom of Ireland to him and his heirs forever. The Viking name
Vadrarfjord (weather fjord) and the Irish Cuan-na-Grioth (the harbour of the sun) were
supplanted by the English name of Waterford.
Lennon continued:
Different English monarchs lavished fulsome charters on the city in
return for this unswerving loyalty, for it was indeed, to the English,
the one bright spot.
The "bright spot" refers to the area's early Irish name of Gran-na-Grioth, meaning "the
harbour of the sun.”
Nearly 750 years later, in May of 1904. the King of England, Edward VII, accompanied
by the Queen, visited the city. Whittle's The Gentle Country: A Saga of the Decies
People, noted that
a large majority... were in favour of it. The trend of opinion being
that England was now extending the hand of friendship,
and Ireland should grasp it... small opposition groups were active,
and a public meeting of protest was convened and held by them on
the Quay. However the population at large were in favour of
receiving the King in reciprocation for the new era of good will
shown, and the small opposition was smothered....
Assuming in 1900, until his death in 1918, the mantle of leader of Irish constitutional
nationalism was John Redmond who served his Waterford City constituency as a
member of the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster. His brother, William, was
killed in the Great War and his son, Willie, served as an officer. The latter was elected,
wearing his British officer’s uniform, in the March 1918 bye election to replace his
father. Reflecting the more militant nationalism found to the west were a number of
armed West Waterford men, including Pax Whelan, Mick Mansfield and George Lennon
who were brought in to protect harassed Republican Sinn Fein speakers. Also present
80
was Northern poet (“My Lagan Love”) and Sinn Fein organiser Joseph Campbell (pp.
194-195).
The “Khaki” general election of December reflected the political split in the two
Waterfords. While Captain Redmond was re-elected in the city, the county elected
revolutionary Republican firebrand Cathal Brugha.
Continuing on until the armistice of 11 November 1918, Irishmen in the British forces
had faced tragic consequences in the killing fields of the Somme, Verdun, Ypres,
Passchendaele, Gallipoli, etc. As to the percentage of eligible males killed in British
service, the number was relatively higher in County Waterford (2.64%) in contrast to
1.9% in Wexford, 2.25% in Kilkenny, 2.36% in Tipperary and 2.01% in County Cork. It
was reported that thirty-one men perished in the Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford area
alone. The some 1100 Co. Waterford dead are today honoured by a large granite
monument installed in 2013 at Dungarvan Castle.
Guerrilla Warfare
Some two months after the end of the Great War, a Volunteer attack on 21 January 1919,
under the leadership of Dan Breen, Seumas Robinson, Sean Treacy and Sean Hogan,
took place at Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary. This attempt to seize explosives from a
convoy resulted in the deaths of two R.I.C. constables. In the words of Dan Breen "...we
had nothing in mind but...to engage in some enterprise that would start the ball
rolling...." For many, arguably not Dublin G.H.Q., this was the signal to commence
hostilities against the foreign presence.
That same day marked the fulfillment of a Sinn Fein promise to abstain from taking
their seats at Westminster. Acordingly, a National Parliament (Dail Eireann) met at the
Mansion House, Dublin and established the Provisional Government of the Irish
Republic as proclaimed Easter Monday, 1916. The general public began to refer to the
Irish Volunteers (Oglaigh na hEireann) as the Irish Republican Army or I.R.A.
For the I.R.A., outmanned by British military and an armed police presence (the
R.I.C.) in excess of ten thousand men, only an unconventional military approach could
be successful. The earlier Boer War provided the template. As leader of that
approach, Michael Collins was to be seen as an early proponent of "asymmetric warfare”
in which a small group of guerrillas is able to take on a lumbering imperial giant and
win. They were indeed, as Sean Moylan noted, but “a handful of men” who put “their
puny strength against the might of Empire.” Such tactics were to be later used to great
effect against the French and Americans in Viet Nam and the British in Palestine.
Zionist Yitzhak Shamir so admired Collins that he chose the name "Michael" as his nom
de guerre.
West Waterford provided, in Ernie O’Malley's words, “a great base and shelter for
guerrilla warfare" as it possessed, between the Suir River and the coast, the Comeragh
and Knockmealdown mountains. Additional cover was provided, between Ardmore and
81
Dungarvan, by the Drum Hills as well as the Colligan Woods and the Nier Valley, located
between Dungarvan and Clonmel.
A matter of some debate has been the appropriate name to apply to the years of the
guerrilla struggle of January 1919 to 11 July 1921. The British position, at that time, was
that this was not a war, but simply a rebellion or civil insurrection. For many Irish
Republicans, the most appropriate name is the War of Independence or Black and Tan
War. Some have preferred the term Anglo - Irish War, arguably ignoring the internecine
nature of the conflict when the Irish policeman, at least in the in the initial stage of the
conflict, was the target of I.R.A. actions. Lacking an agreed upon name, others have
resorted to the euphemism of "The Troubles."
Unease with respect to the War of Independence years is reflected in the chosen
national commemoration date of Easter Monday, 1916. Some in Ireland apparently find
it easier to associate themselves with the martyrs of 1916 than an ultimately
successful guerrilla campaign. Playing a part in this reticence were the developments of
1922-1923 when many of the most active rebels took up arms against the Free State
Government. Some of these so called “Irregulars” were to become reluctant emigres.
From 1916 to the end of hostilities in the summer of 1921, public support for the physical
force movement waxed and waned depending, in part, on British actions – e.g., the
onset of the Great War, the sixteen executions, enforcement of the Defence of the Realm
Act (D.O.R.A.), the threat of conscription, implementation of the Restoration of Order in
Ireland Act (R.O.I.A.), the introduction of the Tans/Auxiliaries, martial law and
reprisals (e.g., Abbeyside, Balbriggan and Cork) for I.R.A. ambushes. Not surprisingly,
the cessation of hostilities in mid 1921 witnessed the apogee of popularity for the
physical force adherents.
Cork Male Prison
Still on the run, away from home, at the time of the January 1919 outbreak of hostilities,
the eighteen-year-old George managed to avoid capture until March 1919 when he was
arrested and taken, not to the local Dungarvan Court, but to the Devonshire built
Lismore Court House adjacent to Devonshire Castle. With J.J. Madden and John Keyes
he was initially sentenced to a month in Cork Male Prison. The men were sent off from
the Devonshire built train station amidst much jeering at the Constabulary.
Also forcibly detained in Cork, at the City Prison for women (Sunday's Well Prison),
in June 1919 for four months, was Countess Gore-Booth Markiewicz who had
successfully stood for election to the British Parliament while in London's Holloway
Prison in 1918. In accordance with Sinn Fein policy of abstention she refused to take her
seat at Westminster. The honour of being the first woman to take a seat in the British
Parliament, therefore, went to Lady Astor.
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Cork Male Prison
For the men, abstention/non-cooperation, as mandated by the GHQ order of August
1918, involved claiming political status. George was removed to Wing 10 where
conditions were shockingly bad. Beds were mere benches, barred windows were devoid
of glass and food was of an appalling poor standard.
My cell in No. 10 was anything but luxurious. After they had taken
my shoes and locked me in I had ample time to survey my new
home for the next three months to come. The bed was something
that looked like the lid of a coffin covered by a hard mattress and
pillow, a sheet and two army blankets. Nothing else but a sanitary
utensil and a wooden saltcellar. We had to eat our meals on the
floor... My predecessor had vented his wrath on the window,
bursting out every last vestige of glass; he had also gouged out
some minor holes in the wall. Needless to say there was not heat of
any kind, and the weather was cold. A strange silence reigned. The
policy, as I was soon to discover, was to break every prison
regulation; non co-operation in short. So we all stayed in bed most
of the day and stayed up most of the night yelling out through the
cell windows...distracted parents living in the vicinity...complained
that they could not get their children to sleep....
Not unlike his Ballybricken Prison experience, he observed, once again, that “the Irish
prison warders were an admirable lot of men" who handled the underground mail to be
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posted outside the prison's walls. Although he was totally ignored by all Volunteer
prisoners, the gaol governor, Captain King, kindly slipped George a pack of Capstan
cigarettes and a box of matches after admonishing him for not exercising! This despite
the fact that the Volunteers had engaged in what George referenced as a “smash up
strike.” Tom O’Connor of Kerry observed, as quoted in an interview with Ernie O’Malley,
that “they had to send in the military and the RIC.” The men were subsequently placed
in solitary confinement in individual cells with windows open to the elements. As
further punishment they were denied exercise and quinine during the great pandemic of
1918-1919.
Noted as Prison Officer Commanding the Volunteers, in George’s 1937 wound pension
application, was Thomas D. “Synnott” (sic). The jail register also notes his brother
Michael (Mick) Sinnott. Both were incarcerated earlier on 29 October 1918. They were
Enniscorthy born - Michael in 1895 and Thomas either in 1894, 1893 or 1892 based
upon jail registers from his three incarcerations of 1916 (Waterford), 1918 (Cork) and
1921 (Waterford). O/C No. 10 Wing was Charlie Daly of Castlemaine, Co Kerry. Daly’s
D.O.R.A. offence was unlawful assembly with the additional charge of “throwing stones
at the police.”
Resident physician, Doctor Foley, upon examination of the "Shinners" under his
charge, became concerned over the state of their health.
Five of us, including two other beardless infants, young Barlow and
young Phillips from Tipperary, were removed to the prison
hospital...After being administered Parish's syrup and other
nourishments to build us up, we were released.
Having just observed his 19th birthday (25 May) in situ, George was released on the 28 th
with J.J. Madden. The local newspaper noted that “both prisoners received a rousing
reception on their return” to Dungarvan. Such adulation, before and after his
incarcerations, seemingly becoming commonplace for the young rebel.
"In ill health as a result of imprisonment,” recovery, at home at on Western Terrace, was
hastened by his mother feeding him numerous "egg flips.” There is a possibility that his
compromised well being may have been attributable in part to the Spanish Flu
pandemic which killed more people (perhaps upwards of 50 million) in a twelve month
period than any other calamity of similar duration. The third wave of the contagion (mid
February to mid April 1919) coincided with the period of his incarceration.
From June to August 1919 he recuperated with the Whelans of Lower Ballyduff – Mr.
and Mrs. Whelan, Hanna, Mollie, Ned (Edmond) and Aunt B - whose "comfortable farm
home was within easy cycling distance" of the Lennons’ Western Terrace home.
The valuation of property undertaken by Richard Griffith in 1856 noted, in Lower
Ballyduff, an Edmond Whelan and the Dungarvan Electors Register of 1936 listed the
following Ballyduff Whelans: James, Edmond, Hannah and Mary.
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In that Whelan or O'Faolain is a common pre Norman Waterford name,
any relationship of the Ballyduff Whelans to the Ring family of Patrick or to the
Dungarvan families of Pax or Pakeen is unknown.
Fermoy, Co. Cork
Planning the first County Cork attack on a British military target for September
1919, Liam Lynch asked his Dungarvan friend Pax Whelan to obtain a vehicle. Pax
procured a car but was unable to travel that day. Largely recovered from his prison-
induced infirmities, George volunteered with Mick Mansfield. Unable to secure the
Nipper McCarthy of Crotty’s Garage, they found another driver who was not a
Volunteer.
Under the guise of attending a feis (festival) in Fermoy the two Volunteers left
Dungarvan to join forces with Lynch. The objective was the weaponry possessed by a
detachment of the Royal Shropshire Light Infantry. They were to be ambushed on their
way to the Wesleyan Church, near the Fermoy Court House, on Sunday, 7 September
1919.
Some twenty-three men of Cork's 2nd Brigade were involved. Included was Lynch friend
Michael Fitzgerald, later to die after a 67 day hunger strike, on 17 October 1920, a week
before the similar death of Cork Lord Mayor Terence McSwiney.
Augmented by Lennon and Mansfield, the Corkmen took up positions around
the church gate. Most Volunteers were armed but some were there simply to load any
seized arms into nearby vehicles.
Some fourteen or fifteen armed British soldiers were surrounded and told to surrender
after having being informed that the rebels only interest was the soldiers' arms. Seeing
the soldiers reach for their weapons, the men of the I.R.A. opened fire. Four wounded
soldiers fell to the ground - one fatally. Mick Mansfield observed (BMH ws 1188) that
"badly needed rifles and equipment were captured from the soldiers and taken quickly
away by the Cork Volunteers to a place of safety.”
Liam Lynch was wounded through the shoulder and taken to Youghal and over the
Blackwater to the care of Jim Mansfield, O/C West Waterford Third Battalion
(Ardmore/Old Parish). Proceeding to Ardmore, the men had tea at Foley’s and
continued towards Dungarvan. Lynch was taken to Cooney's house in Carrigroe where
Dr. Moloney of Dungarvan attended to his wounds.
After the attack, the two Deise participants found themselves "in a rather precarious
position" when they made their way back to a prearranged spot and found that the
driver had disappeared, seemingly having become suspicious, upon hearing gunfire, of
his passsengers’ intent. The men "were left stranded in a locality more or less strange..."
to them and became resigned to a lengthy walk back to Dungarvan, "whilst the
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countryside was alive with military in lorries and on horseback, searching for the
raiders. Planes were also up looking about for us.”
Mansfield continued:
Later in the day we found ourselves surrounded by searching
troops, so we hastily took off our coats and got into a cornfield and
proceeded to make up stooks of corn. We were seen by the military
who took us to be men engaged in harvesting work; they passed us
by without suspecting a thing.
Eventually they
reached Lismore about 12 miles south at about 8 P.M. where we
were welcomed in the house of Sean Goulding (afterwards a
Senator). We remained in his house overnight and returned to
Dungarvan safely the following morning....
A foretaste of British policy occurred later that night when reprisals led to the sacking of
a portion of Fermoy.
Ardmore, Co. Waterford
With the goal of undermining morale and making the R.I.C. ineffective, military action
for 1920 began with a 17 January attack on the barracks at Ardmore (the present site of
the White Horses Restaurant). The garrison reportedly had a complement of 12 to 15
men including transferees from vacated barracks who had been withdrawn from rural
locales in smaller villages and towns. The Dublin Castle hierarchy considered such an
arrangement easier to defend in the case of attack.
In the words of Irish Volunteer James Fraher (BMH ws 1232), the R.I.C. structure was a
“stoutly constructed stone building, two storied and the windows were reinforced with
steel shutters with loop - holes to enable the garrison to fire.”
About midnight, the Volunteers, more than twenty in number, approached the
barracks from the Curragh (east side) of the village and were allocated positions
immediately opposite the barracks. The intention was to explode a land mine against
the gable end of the building and then to attack and capture the police officers. Before
this could be accomplished, an accidentally fired shot rang out from the Volunteer side.
Alerted, the garrison responded with heavy fire and Verey lights were sent up to
summon assistance.
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Fraher noted:
After about half an hour of this, we were ordered by George
Lennon, Brigade Vice O/C, to break off the action and get away. It
was obvious, now that the element of surprise had gone, that it was
useless to continue the engagement, more especially as our supply
of ammunition was very limited that night.
The Volunteers suffered no casualties, although an undetermined number of the R.I.C.
garrison were wounded.
Shortly after the attack, Mick Mansfield
...was ill at home when a party of R.I.C. arrived. They found me in
bed and gave me a pretty rough time of it. I remember them asking
the name of the doctor who was attending me. I told them and they
checked on this. My young brother and another chap who was in
the house at the time succeeded in putting the police motor car out
of action while they were interrogating me; as a result the car had
to be drawn away by horses when the party were leaving the house.
Dungarvan, Co. Waterford: Inspector King
Of particular concern to the I.R.A. in Dungarvan was the behaviour of District Inspector
King of the Royal Irish Constabulary. This Church Street incident led to King’s request
to be transferred to Mallow Co. Cork. Involved, on 2 February 1920, were Volunteers
Pax Whelan, George Lennon, Joe Wyse, Pat Lynch and Pat Power. The following
account was obtained from James Mansfield (BMH ws 1229):
For several months previous to January 1920, Captain King,
Inspector of Police for the Dungarvan district, had been noted by us
as being particularly over-zealous in the matter of raiding the
houses of I.R.A. men. In the course of a raid on my own home at
Crowbally, Old Parish, Dungarvan, he was particularly incensed at
not finding my brother Mick or myself at home and threatened my
mother (with his revolver) that he would shoot her if she would not
divulge our whereabouts. Needless to say, she refused.
With a view to warning him of the consequence of his officiousness,
it was decided to burn his motorcar outside his house. This
"warning" was intended to be a preliminary to more drastic action
if King did not mend his ways.
One night his car was taken, placed outside his home, and set
alight.
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Dungarvan, Lismore, Ring: Impeding Administration
Dungarvan men Pakeen Whelan, Paddy Lynch, James Fraher, Mickey Morrissey,
Lennon and others raided the Dungarvan Office of the Clerk of the Court (Petty
Sessions). Pakeen noted (BMH ws 1357) that “the lock of the office door was broken and
all documents relating to court work or R.I.C. correspondences were taken away and
burned” on Grattan Square as part of the new year (1920) celebration. The aim being to
encourage litigants to take their disputes to the newly established Republican Courts.
Such actions were part of the non-military objective, in early 1920, of hampering British
administrative structures in its variant forms. In that spirit the I.R.A., according to Mick
Mansfield
.... intensified our raids on postmen, post offices and mail trains
with a view to capturing correspondence addressed to military or
R.I.C. personnel in the area, or to loyalist sympathisers. Letters of
this nature were passed to the brigade for examination.
In April 1920, we raided the Income Tax offices at Dungarvan and
Lismore. The offices of the Sheriff in Ring were also raided. All
books and documents helpful to the British administration were
taken away and burned.
Operating under the leadership of the nineteen year old Brigade Vice O/C , these raids
were carried out at gunpoint using weapons previously obtained at Ascendancy "big
houses” and R.I.C. barracks.
Kilmallock, Co. Limerick
In his pension application George noted that, from 26 May 1920 to August 1920, he
served with the two Limerick Brigades that formed that summer the first Active Service
Units commonly referred to as Flying Columns.
West Limerick was under the command of Sean Finn who had organized safe movement
through his area for Sean Hogan and Dan Breen after the beginning of hostilities in
January 1919 at Soloheadbeg. In East Limerick, Tomas Malone (a.k.a."Sean
Forde") was the outstandingly successful Brigade Vice O/C.
On Liam Lynch’s orders Lennon moved northward to organise and to gain experience of
guerrilla tactics. South of Limerick, he was met by the Limerick men and taken by car to
Newcastle West. In the vehicle he made the acquaintance of a boy by the name of Frost.
He was struck by the young man's intensity as he sat in the back cradling a Lee
Metford rifle. In Newcastle West Father Hayes heard the men’s confessions prior to the
engagement.
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The R.I.C. barracks in nearby Kilmallock had been unsuccessfully attacked in the ill-
fated Fenian Rising of 1867. As a result of the police response at that engagement, Sub
Inspector Millings of the Kilmallock Irish Constabulary was granted a Constabulary
Medal. At the awards ceremony, in Phoenix Park, Dublin on the 6 September 1867, it
was announced that the armed Irish Constabulary were to be known as the "Royal" Irish
Constabulary in honour of their role in suppressing the Fenians.
The symbolism of another attack at the same barracks was not lost on the Volunteers.
Raised on tales of failed rebellions of the past, Lennon saw this as the perfect locale "to
get our own back with a vengeance.” Facing the Volunteers on the night of 27 May was a
more than substantial facility protected by steel shutters whose
...destruction...would constitute an important blow against the
morale and effectiveness of the Royal Constabulary, who regarded
their barracks as impregnable...and that it would continue to keep
the unruly and seditious in there proper places in 1920.
It was decided that tactics similar to those successfully employed at Ballylanders (17
April 1920) would be utilised. At that time the barracks roof was attacked. Accordingly,
a room was booked at Clery's Hotel, directly in front of the barracks and at about twice
its height. Also occupied, adjoining Clery’s, were the premises of the Provincial Bank of
Ireland.
On the R.I.C. side of the street, abutting it on the north, was Willie Carroll's residence
and store. In that the barracks was set back from the street, its front was level with the
rear of Carroll's shop and the roof of the shop was slightly higher than the roof of the
police station.
Lennon observed:
There was a most eerie silence before the attack began as if all the
people in the town were lying awake waiting for something awful
to happen. The moment the signal light flashed we put our rifle
butts through the window glass, knelt down behind the ledge and
opened fire. There was immediate response... and a frightened wail
went up from all the houses around... the top glass was soon
peppered with bullet holes ... pieces of plaster came... down from the
ceiling...Soon...the barracks were ablaze...the noise was terrific.
At about two o'clock in the morning our leader ordered a ceasefire
and called upon the police garrison to surrender. The answer was a
shout of defiance and a renewed outbreak of firing from the
building, now quite half consumed by the flames. So it went on all
night until all but a small part of the barracks was enveloped in
flame. It seemed impossible anybody could remain alive there.
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Near daybreak I descended into the street and, with a young
man named Liam Scully (Glencar, Co. Kerry), stood watching the
now almost consumed buildings. Suddenly my companion dropped
to the ground, shot through the throat.
When day began to break we had to withdraw Frost and I had been
running around everywhere for each other. We climbed into the
back seat of one of the cars, happy to be together again. The dead
man (Scully) was on a stretcher in the other car. Black clouds of
smoke were going up over the town as we drove off.
The building was never again to be occupied by R.I.C. or British forces.
The death of Scully was reminiscent of a Fenian who had died in the 1867 barracks
attack. He was a stranger in Kilmallock and ultimately had a monument in the local
cemetery erected to him as the "unknown Fenian." History nearly repeated itself
with Scully, the County Kerry native, being the "unknown Volunteer.” As a stranger
in the area, the identity of his remains was unknown for a period of time. Because of the
need to avoid the attention of the authorities, Scully could not be buried. Consequently
he was waked locally and buried at midnight. Some years later the largest headstone in
the old Templeglantine (Inchabaun) graveyard was erected in his memory.
This not uncommon quandary, involving the ultimate disposition of the body of Deise
Flying Column member Pat Keating, was to reoccur at the Burgery outside Dungarvan
in March of 1921.
By most accounts, the Kilmallock engagement proved to be one of the “fiercest of all
barracks attacks during the War of Independence.” Unfortunately,in the words of Tomas
Malone, “because so much ammunition had been expended…the area was a bit
dosorganised after it.”
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Kilmallock is also of note in that, after the attack, the East Limerick Brigade
organised Ireland’s first flying column composed of Volunteers on full time military
service. This was a direct consequence of Malone’s men being forced to move away from
home (“on the run”) to avoid detection. Leadership of the column was placed in the
hands of Donnchadh O h-Annagain (O Hannigan). No stranger to being on the run (11
April 1918 – March 1919), George accompanied them as they moved northward.
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Bunratty, Co. Clare
The Limerick men with George moved off to West Limerick and County Clare with plans
for a large-scale attack in Clare. It was hoped that the Kilmallock success could be
replicated with an attack on the R.I.C. Barracks at Sixmilebridge, just north of Bunratty.
It was anticipated that a hole in the wall of the barracks could be blown by using
gelignite and a storming of the building, using hand grenades supplied from Dublin,
would follow.
On the Clare side of the Shannon, he and Frost stayed, along with Ernie O’Malley and
Seumas Robinson (O/C Mid Tipperary Brigade, O/C 1st Southern Division, 1921 ff.), at
the not insubstantial home of sympathiser Mr. Corbett of Bunratty.
The house, or rather mansion (now a hotel) was quite large and
he catered for the lot of us in a most princely manner.
What happened...was not without humour (if working with
explosives can be called humorous). I remember that we had to
thaw out a large quantity of frozen gelignite that we intended to
demolish a police barracks. The thawing operation took place in a
fisherman's hut on the banks of the river. A huge pot of water
simmered on the fire and into this we dipped sweet cans full of the
frozen explosive.
Corbett’s of Bunratty
Unfortunately, I.R.A. awareness of the workings of land mines, bombs and gelignite was
rather rudimentary at this stage of the guerrilla war. According to North Cork O/C
Sean Moylan:
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Our knowledge of explosives was so meager that it was only by a
continuing miracle that we escaped disintegration.
Dublin G.H.Q officer, Ernie O'Malley had
... warned the officers about the poisonous fume which nitro
glycerin exudes; they gave what we called a gelignite head, a
terrible roof splitting pain. When we came back to the house we
found a number of the men yellow green; their stomachs heaved in
dry spasms....
Lennon duly noted that "under such conditions...the proposed military operation had to
be called off at the last moment.”
Recrossing the Shannon River with others to the Limerick side, the two young rebels
rowed together in the leading boat as all lifted up their voices in song. "We were always
singing in those days of happy unquestioning youth," Lennon was to later observe.
Bruree, Co. Limerick
Continuing with the East Limerick Column, Lennon stayed with Johnnie Lynch and his
two spinster sisters, Minnie and Maggie, of Tankardstown. On Friday the 30th of July a
man rushed into the Lynch kitchen and announced that an enemy cycle patrol was
coming down the nearby Bruree-Kilmallock Road.
All rushed to arms and dashed across the intervening fields and there
was a sudden and headlong collision... with a tall frightened looking
constable; by mutual consent they drew off in opposite directions.
Lennon continued by noting that, in the subsequent engagement, “this was, one of the
rare occasions in which he distinguished himself as he captured two military bicycles
under fire.”
Per the New York Times of August 3, 1920:
Details of a fight which assumed the dimensions of a small battle at
Bruree, County Limerick... are given in an account issued by
(British) general headquarters.
Fifty armed men ambushed a patrol of military cyclists, consisting
of an officer and five men. One of the men was seriously wounded,
but owing to the intensity of the attacking party's fire, his comrades
were unable to assist him.
The raiders reached the wounded man, seized his rifle and used his
body as cover. This prevented the soldiers from firing effectively,
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and the struggle lasted for half an hour before they were able with
difficulty to rescue the wounded man and drag him to a cottage.
Surrounding the cottage the raiders poured in a heavy fire. The
soldiers' ammunition ran short, and one of them, disguising himself
as a civilian, ran for reinforcements, at the arrival of which the
raiders fled.
Pursued by the soldiers into the centre of the village, they turned
and resumed firing. A schoolboy who got into the line of fire was
killed.
Finally the soldiers got the upper hand. They searched the houses in
the town and discovered a man mortally wounded.
In all likelihood this was the casualty observed by Lennon to be a “young tin hatted
soldier, lying face downwards on the road, a dark ominous stain... spreading down over
the soldier's khaki clad buttocks.”
An incident to the south, 2 days later on 1 August, led British Intelligence to erroneously
note George as being a suspect in the Youghal, Co. Cork shooting of Constable Ruddock.
This attack was actually carried out by “Wild Bill” Foley, Jim Fitzgerald and Mick
Shalloe.
British Intelligence also had falsely reported George as a suspect in the earlier General
Lucas kidnapping of 26 June on the banks of the Blackwater. Most likely he had simply
been confused with Fermoy’s George Power who (with Liam Lynch and Sean Moylan)
was involved in the kidnapping.
Perhaps ironically, later the following year, George was to have a quite unanticipated
close encounter with Lucas’s successor, Major Neville John Gordon Cameron (p. 119).
Co. Cork
After the ambush at Bruree, the Volunteers, finding it, in Lennon's words, "necessary to
move a long ways off ... tramped very many miles, climbing the many ditches in their
path... and … barbed wire fences." The East Limerick Flying Column numbered thirteen
plus Lennon.The O'Hannigan led men joined forces with eleven members of a Cork unit.
The combined force ambushed, on 7 August 1920, a six man R.I.C. foot patrol near
Kildorrery, County Cork. All six policemen were wounded with one, Constable Ernest S.
Watkins, to die of his wounds. Watkins, a former British soldier, had only recently been
recruited as a Black and Tan to augment the Royal Irish Constabulary. Six revolvers
and 250 rounds of ammunition were reportedly taken from the enemy.
This engagement was sweet revenge for the three Crowley brothers of nearby
Ballylanders whose father's home had been blown up by Tans less than two weeks
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earlier. Tadhg O'Crowley may well have been an active participant in this engagement as
Lennon listed him as a reference for this period on his pension application form.
O'Crowley was a founding member of the East Limerick Flying Column, a friend of
Cork's Liam Lynch and, later, a Fianna Fail member of the Dail (1927 -1957).
Richard Abbott, in his book of 2000 detailing R.I.C. casualties, maintains that R.I.C.
Constable Watkins was to die at Fermoy Military Hospital. Lennon's on the scene
account, however, observed:
...Nurse Sullivan attended to the (enemy) wounded. He (Lennon)
supported a very youthful Tan (Watkins) while the nurse slashed off
the youth's pants with her surgical scissors and applied a
tourniquet. But the boy had lost too much blood and he began to
sink. Between sips of water of water the young Tan told him that he
came from Liverpool, where he had a wife and kid. He had been
unemployed for a long time and then he saw this advertisement for
policemen in the newspaper. Noticing his (Lennon's) distress and
seemingly wishing to console him the young Tan said, "it's all in the
game chum." They held clammy hands, the boy gave him a wan
smile and in a moment he was gone.
Shortly after the formation of the first two columns in Limerick, the far more draconian
Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (R.O.I.A.) of August 1920 was introduced with
martial law in the more “lawless” counties. This resulted in a greater number of
internments (e.g., Cork’s Spike Island and Ballykinlar in the North). Consequently, men
with civilian employment could no longer continue with their jobs. They were
incorporated, with others already on the run such as George, into small columns better
suited to ambushes of British military patrols and convoys.
In his 10 October 1935 (No. 11591) interview with the pension examiner, George stated
“I organised the first column in Cork (Cork No. 2 Brigade) for Liam Lynch.” Appointed
Commandant was Patrick Clancy with training to begin in mid August. This programme
was upset, however, with the death of Clancy and Lynch’s arrest. George’s 1930’s
pension application noted service with this, his third, column ( p.94).
The Deise Flying Column
March of 1920 had witnessed a dramatic change in the military situation with the
introduction of the Black and Tans to fill the depleted R.I.C. ranks. Lacking proper
uniforms, the men initially wore a hybrid uniform of R.I.C. (bottle green) and British
army (khaki). Sadly, some 577 Tans were native Irish. The name originally applied to a
hunting pack of beagles in County Tipperary. For the most part, the Tans were former
soldiers in the Great War who saw an opportunity to improve themselves financially in a
period of high unemployment.
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Earlier on in their deployment the Tans made their presence known to the Cullinanes on
the main street of Kilmacthomas. Hannah Power (nee Cullinane) noted “the first
military raid at home” when George and “the boys got away.” The raiding party
commenting, “the nest is hot, the birds have flown.”
Further military assistance for the embattled R.I.C. was forthcoming, in July of that
year, with the introduction of the Auxiliaries. These former British officers were placed
under the immediate command of General Crozier. By the standards of the day, when a
typical farm labourer was paid some 10 shillings a week, wages to these men were more
than generous at a guinea a day (21 shillings) for the Auxies; not for the likes of them the
common labourer’s pound (20 shillings). The Tans were reimbursed at 10 shillings/day.
On September 9th George journeyed with Comeragh’s Pat Keating to Dublin’s Vaughan’s
Hotel to meet with Mick Collins concerning Pat’s proposal to use “mud bombs” to
adhere to the walls of buildings attacked by the Volunteers. George’s interest in home
made explosive devices traced to his Na Fianna Eireann days when he and Barney
Dalton exploded an early twentieth century I.E.D. in the front garden of an elderly lady
at Dungarvan’s “Lookout.”
Back in Munster he was noted by British Intelligence Officer Colonel John Basil Jarvis
as being “in charge of a party” which “stole a motor car for the use of the I.R.A. near
Youghal” in County Cork on 12 September. The colonel observed, that George had
“made a bomb of gelignite at Dungarvan wrapped in clay for throwing purposes. It was
very successful.” Perhaps this was in reference to the I.E.D. of his Fianna Eireann days.
He arrived at Glenville, Co. Cork on 17 September to commence a lengthy officers
training course under Ernie O’Malley of Dublin G.H.Q. The course was reportedly
conducted in the Nagles just southwest of Ballyhooly. In attendance were the leading
men from Cork: Tom Barry, Sean Moylan, Lynch and his Vice O/C George Power.
After a hectic May to September period, the peripatetic twenty-year-old George was now
ready to assume operational commandof his own unit. He had served his apprenticeship
well: Na Fianna Eireann; internment in Waterford and Cork goals; the first attack on
British military in Co. Cork at Fermoy’s Wesleyan Chapel; engagements at Kilmallock,
Bruree, Kildorrery, Bunmahon and the theft of a vehicle in Youghal. In August he was
instrumental in establishing the soon to be famous North Cork Flying Column. Having
met with Mick Collins in Dublin on 9 September he helped plan the 18 September attack
on the R.I.C. Barracks in Kill. Attending the training camp in Glenville he benefitted
greatly from the practical advice of some of the most noteworthy guerrilla fighters.
The Waterford Flying Column was, most likely, established in the early autumn of 1920.
In the words of Jim (“Pender”) Prendergast (BMH ws1655):
About this period … many of us were going under the notice of the
police and military and it became impossible to remain at home; as
a result a Flying Column was formed which comprised mostly (of)
men on the run.
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Other witness statements give conflicting dates. Jim Mansfield was of the opinion
that the Active Service Unit was formed in August or September. Pakeen Whelan
corroborated the latter month. John Riordan (BMH ws1355) noted “a month or so
previous” to the Piltown Ambush of November 1, 1920.
Based on the Bureau of Military History witness accounts of Pakeen and Pender,
original Column members included:
George Lennon, Leader
Pat Keating
Paddy (Sonny) Cullinan
Jim Prendergast
Pakeen Whelan
George Kiely
Paddy Lynch
Eddie Kirby
Jim Bagnall
Joining a few weeks later were Mick Mansfield of Crobally, Old Parish and Nipper
McCarthy of Mitchell Terrace, Dungarvan. “Big Jim” Prendergast mentioned "two
brothers Barron from Kilmacthomas.” The Comeraghs: Gunfire and Civil War (Sean
Murphy) also listed John Riordan, Wild Bill Foley, Paddy Joe Power and Jim Lonergan.
Joining the A.S.U in November were two comrades who were on the run in County
Cork: Pat O’ Reilly and Mick Shalloe of Aglish. The latter sought for the shooting of
Constable Ruddock, inter alia. Other notables included Ned Power of Glen, brother of
Paddy Joe and former medical student, Benny McCarthy.
Corroborating what Lennon experienced during his stint in Limerick, Clare and Cork
was Pakeen Whelan's witness statement:
We were armed mostly with shotguns. There was one rifle, a police
carbine and a couple of revolvers, so far as I can remember.
Ammunition was very scarce indeed (italics added)
The Column with an initial compliment of some twelve full time members,
supplemented on an as needed basis by part timers, was continually on the move
through the Nier Valley, the Colligan Woods and the Drum Hills. The
Comeragh Mountains, in particular, were a huge I.R.A. asset for both the Deise men and
the Third Tipperary Brigade. The latter’s area covered the portion of County Waterford
through Rathgormack, down to Clonea Power and over towards Portlaw. The Waterford
men could slip over the Comeraghs to the Nire or into the Knockmealdowns.
Having experienced other Munster Columns, Lennon considered the Deise unit to be the
equal of any. The A.S.U. eventually grew to some “thirty men, some quite hard chaws,
the others innocent country lads.” Ultimately, “armament was by no means negligible:
we had twenty captured Lee Enfields, 2 Krag Jagersons, 1 service Mauser, 1 Marlin
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Repeater and one Winchester. In reserve were a Martini Enfield and an embossed
Turkish combine somebody had brought back from the Crimea. Total supply of
ammunition was 1,600 rounds, which could only be replaced by capture. We had a
number of side weapons but they were ineffective in a field action.”
It was not until May of 1921 that steps were taken to establish a Flying Column in east
County Waterford. Including O/C Paul, this unit was to number perhaps thirteen men.
Paul noted (BMH ws 877): "about eleven of the men... were from Waterford City - the
others were from the surrounding countryside...." This inactive Column was to be
quickly amalgamated with Lennon's active West Waterford unit.
The summer of 1920, coincided with the ending of the earlier primary tactic of extensive
reliance on R.I.C. barracks attacks which had given the I.R.A. crucial experience under
fire. The success of these attacks had led to a greater concentration of the constabulary
in heavily fortified less rural stations. Accordingly, the imperative became the
replenishing of scarce weaponry and ammunition via ambushes of military convoys.
The advantage of such tactics lay in the element of surprise possessed by a guerrilla
force. The men could choose the time and place of the attack. There were the
additional advantages of partisan units having familiarity with local geography and
knowledge as to the availability of safe houses. Hence, foreign military were compelled
to rely on the local constabulary, viewed by the I.R.A. as “police spies,” for information
of local conditions and likely rebels.
The British difficulty, as it had been for them in the Boer War and the American
Revolutionary War, was their inability to identify an enemy, as seen below, that did not
wear a uniform. A charge that was to be echoed by powerful nations involved in
subsequent guerrilla struggles.
This iconic depiction (lacking O/C Sean Moylan) of the famed Cork No. 2 Brigade
guerrillas (“Men of the South”) is on display at Cork’s Crawford Municipal Gallery.
Painter was Lennon family friend and Rathfarnham neighbour, Sean Keating RHA.
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Bunmahon, Co. Waterford
At some point in time, subsequent to his demobilisation from the British Army in
the "early part of 1919," Paddy Paul joined the Waterford City Volunteers and was
selected to superintend and direct the training of B Company. Paul's witness statement
mentioned
...very little activity for the Volunteer companies at this time except
their training parades. I had noticed that there chief activities and
the attention of individual Volunteers were directed more in
political than military lines. Perhaps the 1918 election had
encouraged this, but Waterford was still a strong Irish Party centre
and political opinion was even then more or less equally divided
between Sinn Fein and the Irish Party... Perhaps, in fact the Irish
party were a little stronger....
Paul noted that some time
…about May 1920, the Battalion Commander was arrested...and I
was nominated and appointed to the command of the Waterford
City Battalion...I proceeded to examine the situation to see in what
ways things might be livened up....
The Brigade Commandant, Liam Walsh, took Paul around to inspect battalions outside
the city in East Waterford "with the idea of seeing what we could do to improve their
training and to organize new companies." While in Bunmahon, Paul first came in
contact with men of the West Waterford Brigade, notably George Lennon who was back
again with the West Waterford unit after his sojourn in Limerick, Clare and Cork. Also
consulted, from the Comeragh area, was Pat Keating.
In August, just prior to the establishment of the West Waterford Column, the two Deise
officers sought Paul's advice and help "in a proposal they had to burn down the
Bunmahon Coastguard station.” The exact date of this incident of August of 1920 is
unknown in that Lennon never mentioned the attack; nor is it noted in the Sean Murphy
book. At the station the three men, per Paul’s account, after "having removed the
families - children and so on... sprinkled it with petrol and set fire to it.”
Keating and Lennon “wanted to make a quick getaway before any enemy party could
intercept them.” They therefore “commandeered a motor lorry - a one-ton truck - from a
local merchant.” As the only driver, Paul "drove right through the night into the
Comerghs..."to the Keating home.” Regarding co-operation between East and West
Waterford, Paul referenced "some friction between the officers of the two Brigade areas,
possibly due to the fact that there was little fraternisation between them...." However, he
felt that he "got on fairly well with the West Waterford officers..." and that he "got every
assistance, particularly from George Lennon...and...Pat Keating.” He described Pat, the
O/C of the Fourth West Waterford Battalion (Kilrossanty), as "a very good friend of
mine.”
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Kill, Co. Waterford
What O/C Paul termed “a further instance of…cooperation” between the two Waterford
Brigades was to occur in mid September when Keating and Lennon came to him to
arrange an attack on Kill R.I.C. Barracks on the Waterford-Bunmahon Road.
The description of the 18 September 1920 encounter, as described in the Murphy
book section dealing with reports of Deise Brigade engagements, is only three short
sentences and mentions an attacking force of "about twenty IRA...."
Whatever the exact number, according to Paul, "there weren't very many of us.” Lennon
having departed by this time to participate in the Cork training course of 17 September.
"Keating and the others went in rear of the barracks to endeavor to get some of
the slates off with explosives and, in that way, set fire to the place.” After this proved
unsuccessful, an attempt was made to intimidate the police and force them to surrender
by firing at the front door and windows. This prompted Verey lights being sent up to
summon assistance to the beleaguered barracks. Seeing headlights from the
approaching military lorries, and aware of the small amount of ammunition at their
disposal the attack was called off and the column retreated back to Comeragh.
The ever-present objective of securing arms and ammunition had failed. The secondary
objective of compelling the evacuation of the barracks was proven successful a few days
later.
Brown's Pike, Co. Waterford
Waterford targets for the just formed Deise Brigade (Waterford #2) Flying Column were
not lacking in that there were some thirty R.I.C. barracks plus Royal Marine stations at
Ardmore, Ballinacourty and Waterford. Also, the Black and Tans were stationed at
Church Street, the West Kents (the Buffs) at Dungarvan Barracks and, to the east, the
Devon Regiment in Waterford City.
The first opportunity for the newly formed Column came on 9 October when a group of
Tans, accompanied by two R.I.C. men in a Crossley Tender, emerged from Church Street
at breakneck speed up to Parnell Street (Main Street) and out O'Connell Street, past the
family home of O/C Whelan, to the countryside. These mad dashes had
become commonplace, stirring up the dust in the road and “leaving in their wake
mangled fowl and barking dogs.” Their only discernible purpose was to "show the flag"
and convince the inhabitants that the Kings Writ prevailed in the Deise.
News of their departure was duly conveyed to Lennon who promptly contacted, as
recalled by Column Vice O/C Mick Mansfield, "about eight Volunteers" including Ned
Kirby, Pat Lynch and Sonny Cullinan.
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The men, according to Pakeen Whelan, “went hurriedly to Coolnagower, about 2 1/2
miles west of Dungarvan, where there were eight rifles dumped in the house of a man
named Thomas Dreaper.” Rifles in hand, they "proceeded across country until we
reached the main Dungarvan-Clonmel road at a place known as Brown's Pike, a little
over two miles north west of Dungarvan" where the Master McGrath monument
now divides the Cappoquin and Clonmel roads. This was viewed as a likely spot to
mount an ambush upon the Crossley's return.
We had run the two miles from Coolnagower and were barely in
attacking positions when the tender with the R.I.C. came in sight,
travelling very fast towards Dungarvan. We opened fire, Lennon
firing at the driver and missing him. The R.I.C. replied to our fire....
Beyond perforating the body of the car, firing by rifles and revolvers proved ineffective.
A home made "cocoa tin bomb” was reportedly dropped into the Crossley; but Mick was
unable to "say with what effect.” The Tans did not stop but continued at full speed to the
shelter of the Church Street barracks. Mansfield observed:
Following the ambush, it was noticeable that British raiding parties
subsequently comprised more than one lorry load of troops. It was
rarely that only one lorry ventured out into the country.
Piltown, Co. Waterford
By the summer of 1920 the I.R.A. policy of attacking British administrative structures
was bearing fruit. Normal mail services were rendered ineffective, necessitating the use
of a light aeroplane for dispatches. The R.I.C. County Inspector reported in August that
there is hostility to the police everywhere and throughout a great
part of the county. I do not regard it as safe for a single police
vehicle to travel. We are losing men everyday from retirement and
resignations and getting practically no recruit. I see no alternative
to evacuating some of the stations that we still hold. At present we
run the risk of being weak everywhere and strong nowhere.
Outside of Dungarvan’s heavily fortified station, located within the castle’s walls, attacks
on more rural barracks continued. After the Ardmore attack in January, a force of
marines moved into the village taking up position at the Coast Guard Station. A further
attempt, in August, to take the barracks failed. Although expected to do so, the marines
did not come to the assistance of the beleaguered main street R.I.C. garrison. However,
a party of enemy soldiers did come out from Youghal, across the Blackwater in adjacent
Co. Cork. Based on this experience, another operation was planned for the Ardmore
area.
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Lennon and ex British soldier John Riordan went to select the most suitable locale for
the proposed attack. Selected was the Piltown Cross intersection in Kinsalebeg, on the
main Youghal-Dungarvan road, some four miles northeast of Youghal, roughly half the
distance to Ardmore. According to Riordan, the ground there was "the most likely spot
from our point of view... to engage the enemy as he came along the road from Youghal.”
The men were aware that to be hung on 1 November 1920, in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison,
was young Kevin Barry. In reprisal, it was reportedly agreed to hang any captured
British officer.
The main body of men, under the O/C, included from the Column, the Mansfield
brothers, Mick Shalloe, Jim Prendergast, John Riordan, Ned Kirby, Jim Lonergan plus
other "picked men from the Brigade.” Positions were taken up at night on 1 November
1920. Due to the rough road surface an attempt to trench the road was less than
satisfactory.
For the Third Battalion (Ardmore/Old Parish), this was a large undertaking; the largest
mounted in West Waterford to date. There were at least eleven positions manned at
various outposts up to a several mile radius of the Piltown Cross intersection
Volunteers, including Jim Mansfield, Pat Keating and Pakeen Whelan, undertook a feint
attack at Ardmore R.I.C. Barracks and the Marine Station. Seeking assistance, the
enemy sent up Verey lights. To facilitate enemy communication, "...the wires leading
from Ardmore to Youghal were left untouched."
Shortly after 11 P.M., enemy (2nd Hampshire Regiment) transport was reported leaving
Youghal for Ardmore. Reaching the uncompleted trench, which failed to stop it, the
military vehicle was fired upon and the driver killed.
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Piltown Cross Intersection
103
Volunteers then attacked from their positions. Riordan observed that
The suddenness of the attack seemed to have taken the wind out of
their sails...They surrendered without a murmur. The officer of the
British party... was disarmed and taken prisoner. Two R.I.C. men
from Youghal were also captured and disarmed. They were
apparently acting as guides for the British.
After being disarmed, Constables O'Neill and Prendiville (or Prenderville) were taken a
short distance up the Clashmore road and told they would be shot "unless they gave
their word that they would resign from the R.I.C.” This “they promised and were
thereupon released.” Prendergast stated, “as news of Kevin Barry's execution had not
reached us, we decided not to proceed with the hanging of the British officer.”
The I.R.A. listed two enemy killed and "about a half dozen wounded.” When all arms
had been collected and the wounded soldiers attended to by the local Volunteer
Company, the military lorry could not be restarted. The Volunteers procured donkeys
and carts and the British were allowed to take their wounded back to Youghal. They
were informed that the I.R.A. expected to be treated in a similar fashion in the event of
their capture. This most chivalrous action of the Waterford Column was not to go
unnoticed by the enemy. The men then withdrew towards the north and east where they
went into billets in the Comeraghs.
Pat Keating's poem "The Cross of Old Piltown” expressed his patriotic sentiments that
night:
At the cross of old Piltown at midnight,
We met them with rifle and steel,
The hirelings of Britain who boasted,
They'd trample our flag 'neath their heel
We fought as our fathers before us,
We rose at the word of command
To fight for the freedom of Ireland,
In a cause that is holy and grand.
Chorus:
I give you the brave I.R.A. boys,
The cream of our race and our sod
Whose lives they are willing to give, boys
For the sake of their land and their God
The roar of the guns it was glorious,
The bullets flew 'round us like hail,
From the rifles of cowards and of traitors,
'Mid the ranks of the sons of the Gael,
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And every rebel a hero,
From Piltown, Old Parish, Ardmore,
And down from the slopes of the Comeraghs,
With Dungarvan's true sons to the fore.
Constable O'Neill, true to his word, upon his return to Youghal "walked out" of the Royal
Irish Constabulary. Prendiville continued on in the force and, some weeks later, while
crossing the Youghal Bridge to bring a payment to the keeper on the Waterford side, was
fatally wounded and two other members of the patrol were injured. Responsible for the
shooting were “Wild Bill” Foley, his brother Bob, Bill Murray, Mick Healy and Bill Kiely.
The bridge was later positioned, after this shooting, so that no road traffic could enter
Youghal from Waterford. It reopened to traffic only after the Truce of 11 July 1921.
Prendiville's death of 3 December on the Cork-Waterford border, with the earlier
September killing of Sergeant Morgan in Kilmacthomas, marked a greater willingness of
the I.R.A. to seek out specific police targets. No longer would they be willing to release
native Irishmen after they had been warned to desist in acting as agents for the British.
Subsequent to the Piltown Ambush, Dungarvan Volunteers shot and killed two
constables in Cappoquin and Constable Duddy was shot dead at Scartacrooks on 3
March 1921. That same month, following his capture at the Burgery, Sergeant Hickey of
Dungarvan was executed (pp. 135 ff.) as a police spy. Also killed at the Burgery was
Constable Sydney Redman. Constable Denis O'Leary was ambushed while cycling to his
lodgings in Carrigbeg on 9 June 1921. Early July saw the machine-gunning death, near
Tallow, of Constable Francis Creedon.
Of the men killed, only two were Black and Tans with prior experience as British
soldiers: Armagh born Duddy had three months R.I.C. service and Redman, from
Kent, had joined the force two months before his death.
Walsh's Hotel, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford
Due to conflicting accounts, R.I.C deaths at Cappoquin are deserving of closer scrutiny.
Shot were Constable Isaac Rea on 21 November 1920 and Constable Maurice Quirk (or
Quirke) on 27 November 1920.
It appears that a Black and Tan member of the Cappoquin R.I.C. was in the sights of the
I.R.A. for “ill treating Sinn Fein supporters.” According to a much later account of the
Cappoquin Heritage group (Cappoquin: A Brief Guide to an Area’s rich Heritage):
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Main Street, Cappoquin
It is understood that this policeman had been under sentence of
death for a little beforehand by the I.R.A. and that the Cappoquin
men were reluctant to kill him, so three men came in a car from
Dungarvan and shot him.
The Cork Examiner described the first incident, on coursing day (23 November) as
follows:
Constable Isaac Rea, aged 19 years, a native of West Cork and only
eleven months service, was shot at Cappoquin at 5:15 last evening
on the public street. The constable was speaking to Miss Camelia
Russell, daughter of Mr. James Russell, merchant, at her own door,
and this lady was also shot. There were two other ladies in the
company who fortunately escaped.
Six shots were fired from a passing motor, and one bullet passed
over the left shoulder blade of the constable and through the pleural
cavity of the chest. He lies in precarious condition…. Miss Russell's
left shinbone was shattered by a bullet....
Volunteer John Riordan's witness statement noted, with respect to a Cappoquin
shooting, that, along with the Nipper McCarthy and Mick Mansfield, he went
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...to shoot a couple of Black and Tans who were stationed with the
R.I.C. in Cappoquin. At any rate when we arrived in Cappoquin
and were driving slowly through it, we spotted two R.I.C. men in
the street. It was most likely they spotted us too and knew we were
strangers and up to something. We opened fire on them with
revolvers and they replied also with revolvers. One of the R.I.C. men
dropped. We later heard he was killed in the exchange of shots.
"Nipper” McCarthy then put on speed and drove us quickly out of
town and towards Dungarvan where we left the car.
This eyewitness statement clearly corroborates the newspaper article that shots were
"fired from a passing motor.” Echoing this is Richard Abbott (Police Casualties in
Ireland: 1919 - 1922) who noted that "the Constable who was twenty and single was shot
and wounded from a passing car as he walked in the village of Cappoquin.” Rea was
taken to the Military Hospital in Cork and died on the 28th of December. The former
farmer had "ten months prior police service" which would have placed him in the R.I.C.
prior to the arrival of the Tans in March 1920.
It has been stated elsewhere that the coursing day shooting of Rea was carried out by
Lennon, Mick Mansfield and Pat Keating. Witness statements, newspaper accounts, the
Cappoquin Heritage Group publication and the Abbott book on R.I.C. casualties do not
support this contention.
The following week, on the 27th of November, Constable Maurice Quirk(e), a thirty
four year old, thirteen-year police veteran, was shot, outside Walsh's Hotel. His date of
enlistment clearly identified him as not being a Black and Tan.
Mick Mansfield noted in his witness statement that
...about the month of December (sic) 1920...with George Lennon, the
Column O/C, and Pat Keating of Comeragh, I went into Cappoquin
one evening to shoot an obnoxious Black and Tan. We went by
motor, all of us armed with revolvers. When we arrived outside the
town, we left our car and came in by foot. There were a group of Tans
on the street at the time when we had to pass. We did so and saw that
the Tan we wanted was not among the group (italics added). It was
decided to wait a while so we went into Walsh’s Hotel for tea. After
tea we rose to leave the hotel and, in the doorway, blocking our entry
to the street was a uniformed R.I.C man. We immediately came to
the conclusion that our presence in the town had been noticed and
that we were trapped. We drew our revolvers and fired, killing the
R.I.C. man. Running out to the roadway, we ran into a party of Tans
on whom we opened fire. They replied with revolvers and grenades.
We made with all haste to where our car was located and with good
luck managed to evade our pursuers and get back to Comeragh and
safety.
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As to the identity of the slain constable, Mick was uncertain but thought it was
either "O'Rourke or Quirke.” Death was not to occur, however, until two days later with
the Constable being buried in Cappoquin.
Mick made no mention of the driver of their vehicle. In the opinion of military historian
Terence O'Reilly, Nipper McCarthy "almost certainly...was the driver - this was a very
rare skill in Ireland in 1920.”
The account given in the publication of the Cappoquin Heritage Group confirms Mick's
account regarding locale, officer's name and the manner in which the men eluded
capture:
...Another Cappoquin R.I.C man, Constable Maurice Quirke, died in
an attack on the street outside Walsh's Hotel, when he was hit by
four bullets and the attackers escaped, running in the Barrack Street
direction, probably to board a waiting motorcar (italics added).
The 27 November Walsh's Hotel locale was also confirmed in a Munster Express article
dated 4 December 1920:
Constable Maurice Quirke was fired at and wounded by three
armed men on the street outside Walshe's (sic) Hotel, Cappoquin,
Co. Waterford...The Constable succumbed to his wounds Monday
night.
Clearly, there were obvious differences in the circumstances surrounding the two
incidents. The initial Rea killing occurred at the door of Miss Camelia Russell (not at
Walsh's Hotel) and involved "a passing motor car" (Cork Examiner) as confirmed by
Volunteer John Riordan who noted "driving slowly through...” Cappoquin.
The later Quirk(e) shooting involved men leaving their car, entering Walsh’s Hotel,
exiting, firing on the enemy, and then proceeding "to where our car was parked.” This
was corroborated by the Heritage Group publication which noted the Volunteers
“running... probably to board a waiting car.” The hotel locale on that day was also
confirmed by the Munster paper, which noted, "three armed men on the street (italics
added) outside Walshe’s (sic) Hotel...."
In summation, an assumption of the veracity of contemporary newspaper and
Volunteer accounts leads to the conclusion that John Riordan, the Nipper and
Mick Mansfield were involved in the earlier incident with Rea who was not
the "policeman who had been under sentence of death.” Recognizing the Volunteers as
"strangers" and realizing they were probably "up to something," he was fatally wounded
by shots from the "passing motor" car, driven by the the Nipper, outside the home of
Camelia Russell.
It would seem logical that Mick then returned the following week to accomplish what
had not been done on the 21st. - i.e., the killing of a specific Black and Tan member of
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the R.I.C. This time he was accompanied by the two most experienced Column men -
Lennon and Keating. The fatality at Walsh's Hotel most definitely was not a "drive by.”
The trio’s narrow escape facilitated by driver Nipper awaitng their return well off the
Main Street.
In Mick's words, "as the Tan we wanted was not among the group" in front of Walsh's, a
third attempt was made, some seven months later, as described by then training officer
Paddy Paul:
When a certain amount of training had been completed, the
question of active operations was discussed. Some of the West
Waterford men mentioned that there was an R.I.C. Sergeant in
Cappoquin, which was nearby, that he was a particularly offensive
character and was very active in spying on the Volunteer activities.
Paul anticipated that once the shooting occurred, the body would be brought "out to a
selected suitable ambush position where it would be laid on the road to draw British
forces into the ambush position." When the Volunteers went into Cappoquin, "the R.I.C.
Sergeant, for some unknown reason, did not make an appearance out of the barracks,
and so the whole operation had to be abandoned.”
These three attempts are not listed in the engagements of the Brigade as contained in
the Murphy book. Lennon's memoir made no mention of his involvement and he did not
list the encounter in his 1935 pension application. In light of his later pacifist beliefs, it
may very well have been that he had no inclination to dwell on certain fatal
confrontations involving his youthful commitment to physical force. Perhaps preferring,
as he later reminisced, to relegate such matters “to the dustbin of history.”
Aborted Ambushes, Co. Waterford
For native fighters, faced by the overwhelming power of a colonial occupier, one of their
trump cards is the ability to catch the enemy unawares at a chosen site likely to afford
cover and a ready means of escape into a familiar and supportive environment.
Guerrillas were to be described years later by Mao tse Tung as being “like fish in the
sea.”
Per Pakeen Whelan: "At that time - November, 1920 – the Column was about a dozen
strong, with George Lennon in charge. We lay in ambush many times during November
and December, 1920, but were not lucky enough to contact any enemy forces.”
Moses Roach’s BMH statement described one such incident when, expecting British
soldiers to raid the home of Ned Power of Glen
We reached a spot at Kilminnion Bridge, which is about eight miles
east of Dungarvan and on the coast road, late at night... O/C Pax
Whelan, and Vice O/C George Lennon and about 15 men armed with
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rifles. "Nipper" McCarthy was there...Andy Kirwan of Boat Strand,
Bonmahon, the Column motor driver, together with Ned Power of
Glen... were also there... We were all set to give the British a hot
reception, but, although we waited until after 2 o'clock in the
morning, the enemy didn't turn up and we got orders to disperse.
What had reportedly occurred was that the British, in their search for Ned
Power, had confused him with Eddie Power of Kilmacthomas. Consequently, it was
to Kilmac that the soldiers had gone and, in their search, "brought the inhabitants of the
village out on to the street in their night attire.”
At about the same time in November, Roche, Jim “Pender” and Mick Shalloe went out to
"have a go" at a military lorry expected to pass through Kilmac. Lennon and Shalloe
were armed with grenades to drop into the lorry. Although they waited for more than
two hours on the railway bridge under which the road ran, no lorry came along.
December reportedly witnessed another failed attempt from a wood "overlooking the
main road at Whitfield.” The I.R.A. engagement report attributed the failure of the
ambush to materialise to "several civilians with horses and carts on the road which
prevented party from firing on enemy.”
Andy Kirwan in his witness statement (BMH ws 1179) mentioned another aborted
engagement, sometime in February 1921, at Carrickmourn, some 2 miles west of
Lemybrien. There were also numerous other such unfruitful efforts mounted by local
battalions. Ardmore’s Tommy Mooney has chronicled these and other more successful
battalion forays in his definitive Cry of the Curlew.
Rockfield Cross, Cappagh, Co. Waterford
On 31 November 1920, six members of the Column (Lennon, Shalloe, Pender, Pat
Keating, Pat O’Reilly and Pakeen Whelan) "were moving across country" according to
Shalloe, "when, in the distance, we spotted a lorry-load of military approaching on the
main Cappoquin - Dungarvan road.” Hurriedly taking up positions, the men opened rifle
fire on a British military force of approximately twenty men.
Pender and Lennon threw bombs into the lorry. Severely wounded were two
soldiers. Firing lasted for “upwards of half an hour" when Shalloe observed that
"Lennon ordered us to retreat, as we were badly outnumbered and were fighting from a
very disadvantageous position.”
A 1970 article in the Capuchin Annual written under the name of James Mansfield of
Old Parish (in actuality, written by Mick Mansfield's eldest son, Father Micheal
Columba, as confirmed by Tony Mansfield) concluded:
Looking back over 1920 it is clear that there was plenty of action in
County Waterford. The R.I.C. were rendered ineffective, heavy
110
military force had to be drafted into the country, the majority of
enemy barracks were destroyed, the mail service was not allowed
to function, and a Flying Column and four battalions were in
constant action against the enemy. Of course, 1920 did not see the
end of fighting in the Decies. 1921 was to see ambushes...on crown
positions, and many daring exploits including the capture of an
enemy plane.
Cappoquin, Co. Waterford
The following account of what has been referred to as the Bealica Ambush was gleaned
from the I.R.A. report of the engagement as contained on page 183 of the Murphy book.
It is probably unlikely that the O/C referenced was the Column’s commanding officer.
Perhaps tellingly, no mention was made of the incident in George’s pension application
or elsewhere.
This first ambush of 1921 was planned for Sunday the 2 nd of January at an intersection
on the Cappoquin to Mt. Mellary road, about one mile northeast of Cappoquin. The
purpose was to intercept and disarm a patrol of Black and Tans and R.I.C. who
usually patrolled the area about Sunday mid-day. Having received a report that
the police were confined to barracks "and that there was no likelihood of any patrol that
day," the likely local O/C ordered the men of the Column to disperse.
Four or five men who were going back by a secluded route took
their guns with them. The balance of the weapons were put into a
bag to avoid observation and were taken charge of by a Volunteer.
The O/C took charge of two revolvers and all ammunition.
Obviously, great care was given to the protection of what limited weaponry and
ammunition the local unit possessed.
Upon leaving their position at the vee intersection of the road, an enemy patrol was
spotted. Ordered by the O/C to take cover, the men hurriedly entered an adjoining
wood. Per the I.R.A. official report of the engagement:
The O/C went on to the Clonmel Road and in an endeavor to save
his men and himself from being captured, opened fire on two
members of (the) enemy force…. This had the effect of checking their
advance, but the enemy on the upper or Mellary Road succeeded in
getting into the wood and rounded up two members of the unit.
They also captured the guns in the bag, which was dropped by (a)
Volunteer in his endeavor to get clear. The exchange of fire lasted
about fifteen minutes. With the exception of the two men referred to,
the unit made good their retreat.
111
Cappoquin Monument
112
Situated at the fork in the road is a monument erected in the 1960's by some of the men
of the West Waterford Brigade "to commemorate the people who had fought and
died locally during the Troubles..."
Pickardstown, Co. Waterford
The basic tactic used at Piltown in early November was used at Pickardstown, outside
Tramore, on 7th January 1921 - i.e., a feint attack at Tramore would hopefully draw the
military out from Waterford to be ambushed.
Three carloads of experienced men of the Deise Column, including one driven by Nipper
McCarthy with Mick Mansfield, Pat Keating, Pax Whelan and George Lennon
travelled to the area to assist Paddy Paul’s East Waterford Brigade (Waterford No. 1).
The combined force of Volunteers was a significant number perhaps approaching fifty in
number.
Per UCD Archives (Mulcahy Papers), as dictated to Whelan by Lennon:
We had several mishaps on the road and didn't get to (the) place of
ambush until near 11 P.M. I met Commdt of No. 1 (Paul) and went
to a position he allotted us on Glen Road. Our position commanded
113
the Railway Bridge and road up from it. A barricade was placed on
road about 30 yards from bridge. I placed an outpost of 2 shotguns
and 1 rifleman down near barricade to protect our right... I gave
Commdt. No. 1 Brigade two men to help in attack.
The two Deise men, Pakeen Whelan and Pat Keating, joined Paul to commence a feint
attack on the Tramore R.I.C. barracks. The threesome, per Pakeen
...fired with revolvers at the windows of the R.I.C. barracks.
Immediately the garrison replied with rifles and grenades. Verey
lights were fired off. Having accomplished our mission we returned
to the main body of the men at the metal bridge.
According to a contemporary observer of the tactics used that day: "It was a disaster
waiting to happen. Far too complex, three groups without contact with each other...."
Furthermore, the ambush site, even in daylight, could not be seen from the Glen Road.
Sometime before midnight, as the British military lorries from Waterford approached
the bridge, someone fired before the vehicles reached the barricade. Jeremiah
Cronin of East Waterford maintained that fire came from the men under Whelan's
command on the Glen Road. Mick Mansfield and Pakeen Whelan contradicted this.
Mick observed, in a statement to writer Sean Murphy, that the East Waterford
"crowd opened up only after one lorry had passed through so the whole thing was a
fiasco.”
The rest of the lorries stopped and the plan went astray as the British engaged Paddy
Paul's men. The soldiers exited the lorries, opened fire, injured two and, per some
accounts, killed East Waterford Volunteers Thomas O'Brien and Michael McGrath.
Volunteer James Power, however, believed that McGrath and O'Brien were taken
prisoner and shot. This is corroborated by writer/historian Terence O'Reilly who notes
that "it seems pretty conclusive that the Devons (British Regiment) murdered O'Brien
and McGrath after capturing them.”
The West Waterford group "heard plenty of shooting but could see nothing.” Pax
Whelan then sent up a flare, which revealed a British lorry pulled up at the metal
bridge. Sean Riordan's men opened fire but they "saw no other military in the lorry.”
They then held their fire
for the very good reason that we saw nothing to shoot at. We were
all puzzled by the turn of events, but one thing was pretty plain and
it was that our planned attack had gone all wrong. We remained in
position on the Glen Road for at least half an hour.
The West Waterford officers, Whelan, Lennon, Mansfield and Keating, were, per
Mick Mansfield’s account, "at a loss what to do.” By firing across the bridge
114
we stood a good chance of killing our own men. The night was very
dark and the terrain was quite unknown to us...We decided it was
advisable to retreat...westwards across country on foot, having been
cut off by the British military from our cars.
Fearing encirclement, the order was given to abandon the cars. Although unfamiliar
with the locality and the terrain, the men were successful in avoiding the enemy and
eventually reached Glen near Stradbally, some ten or twelve miles to the west, where
they went into billets on the morning of 8 January. After a rest, the Column then moved
northward to the more familiar terrain of Kilrossanty and Comeragh.
Martial law was declared the following week in County Waterford and a round up of
known Republicans took place in Stradbally on the 21st of January. In Dungarvan,
Pakeen Whelan and John Riordan were arrested by soldiers from the Dungarvan based
Buffs Regiment. Both men were then used as hostages with raiding parties of soldiers
and Black and Tans. Subsequently taken to Belfast by boat, they were attacked by mobs
of Belfast shipyard workers who threw iron bolts and rivets (“Belfast confetti”) at them.
The men were interred at Ballykinlar Camp, County Down until the general release of
prisoners in December 1921, some five months after the Truce of 11 July 1921.
A subsequent I.R.A. enquery concluded that such a large-scale operation was badly
coordinated and probably doomed from the start. Allegedly, the East Waterford O/C
was unsure as to the number of West Waterford men present; he was not even sure of
Pax Whelan’s presence. It was stated in a report to the I.R.A. Chief of Staff that
the "ambush position was far from being a suitable one.” Moreover,
Waterford No. 1 Brigade should not have undertaken such a large-
scale operation for the following reasons: (a) Operation too big as
men had never before fired a shot. (b) Men had neither discipline,
morale nor arms for such a fight, especially night fighting.
On a positive note it was stated that George Lennon, “Waterford No. 2 Vice O/C showed
his qualities as a leader.”
Paul later discovered that his own men were sabotaging his efforts to organise
ambushes. Regardless of his leadership, anyone would have had their work cut out for
them in attempting to create an active brigade in a region which, outside of Loyalist
Ulster, was arguably the most hostile to the I.R.A. In Paul's own words the East
Waterford Volunteers "lacked any kind of belligerent spirit.”
The episode did not bode well for any future combined engagements between the two
Waterford Brigades. On the contrary, it served to hasten demands for a consolidation. It
was also to have a tragic consequence for two Comeragh natives (p.139) when
emigrated Sean Fitzgerald, after having been erroneously informed of the Pickardstown
death of his childhood friend Pat Keating, returned to join the Column.
115
It was also around this time, in late 1920 or early 1921, that the St. Mary’s Parish Priest
saw fit, during Sunday mass, to excoriate the guerrilla leader, son of the widowed Nellie
Shanahan Lennon (pp. 62-63).
Robert's Cross, Ring, Co. Waterford
As in the case of other engagements, no mention of this incident of 11 February 1921 was
made by the O/C of the Active Service Unit, either in his 1935 pension application or
memoir. Drawn upon for the following account were the BMH witness statements of
Mick Shalloe and the Mansfield brothers plus Tommy Mooney’s exhaustive history of
the Deise Brigade.
No doubt the men of the Column were frustrated because of the autumn and winter
experiences (1920-1921) of aborted ambushes (e.g., Kilminnion Bridge, Kilmac Village,
Carrickmourn, Whitfield, inter alia); plus the somewhat less than successful outcomes
at Rockfield Cross, Cappagh and the "fiasco" at Pickardstown.
Acting Vice O/C of the A.S.U. Shalloe (BMH ws 1241) noted that
... the Column ...was anxious to have a crack at the British regiment
known as The Buffs...but we knew from experience that it was
useless entering Dungarvan and firing at the barracks. The British
never ventured out on these occasions; they just stayed put. Lennon
and I decided on a ruse to draw the military out (to) the country
and give them a hiding.
Mobilised, along with the Column, were local Volunteer companies. A message was sent
to the Dungarvan barracks notifying them that revolutionary leader, and member of the
Dail, Cathal Brugha (Charles Burgess) was in hiding at the Irish College in Ring.
The men of the Column under Lennon and Vice O/C Shalloe, along with some men of
the Ardmore/Old Parish Company, were moving into position, marching in file on either
side of the road near Robert's Cross, when “to our amazement, a military lorry came
tearing out from Dungarvan laden with soldiers en route to Ring College.” Shalloe stated
that the men were taken by surprise not knowing the British would come on the scene
so quickly after receiving the bogus message.
There was nothing we could do but scramble over the adjoining
hedges and take cover - a rather inglorious end to what promised to
be a second Crossbarry...The soldiers went on towards Ring... The
Ring men were also taken by surprise and scattered from a volley
by the British.
The I.R.A. report of the engagement observed that, further along the road, the Ring
contingent "... took cover, replied and retreated after some time as their arms were not
effective against superior enemy fire. One Volunteer was severely wounded in hand,
and had to be carried, under severe fire, by his comrades to safety.”
116
While the British military engaged in a futile search for Brugha at Ring College, Lennon
"disgusted with the turn of events," according to Jim Mansfield, “moved the Column to a
more favourable position for an attack on the returning British convoy.” However, aware
of the I.R.A. presence on the Ring road, the British elected to return to Dungarvan via
Old Parish.
As a result of this and similar experiences, Mick Mansfield noted a change in British
tactics:
From this period onwards, the British rarely went out without
carrying at least one hostage in the lorry. This made the question of
ambushing more difficult for us as we were naturally reluctant to
open fire when civilian hostages were about.
This was made evident when, one Sunday, while leaving Mass, Mansfield and the
Column men opened fire on passing military lorries but "had to cease fire and run for it,
otherwise the hostage would almost certainly have been killed in the exchange of
shots...."
Approximately a fortnight later, Southern Brigade leaders convened at Glenville, Co.
Cork. Agreement was made to set up a 1 st Southern Division with Liam Lynch as O/C.
Reportedly of primary concern, however, was the ever dire arms situation with plans for
a possible Cork arms landing.
Durrow/Ballyvoyle, Co. Waterford
Due to constant intimidation of jurors and Republican attempts to replace foreign with
Sinn Fein Courts, the British found it increasingly difficult to get people to serve on
juries. Accordingly, on 3rd March 1921, a special Duke’s Line (Waterford, Dungarvan,
Lismore Railway) train was chartered by the authorities to take jurors from Dungarvan
to court duty in Waterford. The Column planned to stop the train and force the jurors
off. It was anticipated that their non-arrival would be a means of "enticing the Buffs (the
West Kents) again out of Dungarvan.” At that point, the Column, augmented by about a
dozen men from the local battalion, would ambush the military.
The train carrying the jurors was allowed to proceed about a half mile beyond Durrow
Station where it was stopped at Millarstown between 7 and 8 A.M. The jurors were
taken off and left standing on the railway embankment in the charge of a few I.R.A.
men. The train eventually proceeded on to Waterford.
Among the jurors was Charles Nugent Humble whose Clonkoskeran home was used by
the British miltary. Mick Mansfield would not agree to sho0t him on the spot and
successfully argued for his release.
117
Durrow Train Station
An ambush site was then set up at Ballyvoyle, on the coast road about a mile south of
Durrow. The men were not very long in position when another train, containing
passengers and British soldiers, came in sight from the Dungarvan direction. Fire was
exchanged as the train continued on, entered the tunnel and out of range.
Michael Cummins noted (BMH ws 1282):
George Lennon then held a conference as what was best to do in the
circumstances, whether we would hold on and wait for the military
we expected to come out along the coast road from Dungarvan or
whether we would follow up the train we had just attacked and
hope it would pull up at Durrow, when we might come into contact
with the military who would, possibly, detrain at Durrow.
The latter course was decided upon with two groups proceeding towards Durrow - one
group along the ground west of the railway and the other, including Lennon, Mansfield
and Keating, east of the line. Reaching the Durrow area the men learned that the train
had not stopped as hoped but had continued on to Waterford.
The military for which the ambush had been set on the coast road at Ballyvoyle had, in
fact, passed through the vacated ambush position and arrived in the Durrow – Millars-
town area to release the jurymen. These troops, both Shalloe and Mansfield agreed, had
returned to Dungarvan by the same route. Michael Cummins recollected, however, that
118
these men did not return to Dungarvan but were used to reinforce the detrained
soldiers.
About midday the Column split into small groups to look for food. A group with Mick
Shalloe encountered a “large force of military at the railway station.” The
Mansfield/Keating group while "having some grub" heard the firing going on in the
direction of Durrow. Running on to the roadway they "commandeered" a jennet
and dray for the short ride to Durrow Station where they too came under fire.
The enemy force enjoyed a numerical advantage, in Shalloe's "conservative estimate,” of
"at least fifteen to one." The battle went on intermittently well into the afternoon until
the British forces were forced to take up a position in the Co-operative adjoining the
railway station.
Further enemy reinforcements arrived at about 4 P.M. on a train from the
Waterford side of the station. According to the I.R.A. report of the engagement:
A sortie was then attempted by the enemy with heavy covering fire,
which was again met with well-directed replies from our forces.
This again compelled the enemy to return to the cover of the
Railway Station and the adjoining Co-operative ... where they got
their machine guns into action.
Cummins continued:
The question...arose as to whether the Co-operative store could be
rushed and taken by assault. The enemy was securely entrenched
there and it would seem difficult to dislodge them, or force
surrender, when we hadn't as much as one grenade to throw at
them. In addition, the terrain over which we would have to advance
for a close quarter attack was altogether unsuitable. It was flat
ground offering little cover.
George Lennon decided to pull out and break off the engagement. It
was a sore blow to us, as we knew the soldiers hadn't much stomach
for continuing the fight, but we also knew that our lack of
ammunition would undoubtedly tell heavily against us in the final
assault. On the orders of our O.C. we, therefore, retired westwards
towards the Comeragh Mountains where we obtained some badly
needed food and rest....
Mick Shalloe observed that the men pressed the O/C
...to have a last go at the British...he was adamant in his decision.
Having regard to all the circumstances, I think his judgment on
that occasion was sound, so we lived to fight another day.
119
That other day wasn't too far distant, although that we could not
foresee this at the time, nor were we to know that we were soon to
lose two of our best and truest comrades in action.
The "other day" referred to the traumatic events to occur at the Burgery Ambushes two
weeks hence.
Regarding the Durrow engagement, local press accounts reported four British casualties
and two I.R.A. wounded. Cummins mentioned Andy Kirwan of Bunmahon as being not
seriously wounded in the leg. The I.R.A report of the engagement listed no casualties
and that the "enemy had two killed and a number wounded.”
Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford
The next day, 4 March, Lennon was summoned to meet with Liam Lynch in Cork.
Before departing he had received word of a “boat train” ultimately bound for
Rosslare. Accordingly, approximately twelve men, including the Mansfield brothers, the
Nipper and Ned Kirby, hastened, on 4 March, in Jim Mansfield's words, to take "up
firing positions in the vicinity” of the Duke’s Line railway in Kilmac and “put the signals
against the train as it approached the station.”
When the train pulled up, the men rushed the platform and ordered the Tommies out.
Searching for weapons, the I.R.A. found all the men to be unarmed.
Lined up on the platform, the captured soldiers were marched up and down the Kilmac
train platform as Jim Mansfield, acting Column O/C, played, according to one
unconfirmed account, a marching tune on his fiddle. Kirby enquired: "Who wants to die
for England," eliciting the response, "Not me Paddy!"
Three of the military, upon producing evidence that they were homeward bound to visit
sick relatives in England, were put back on the train. The rest were formed up and
marched out of the station and up the street of the village reportedly to the delight of
nationalist minded Kilmac residents. The I.R.A. billeted them in the homes of Unionist
sympathisers. The following day the military from Waterford came out to collect them.
This chivalrous treatment of captured British soldiers was in accord with similar
treatment afforded the Hampshire Regiment at Piltown Cross. Unfortunately, similar
handling of Captain Thomas of the Buffs Regiment (pp. 134, 146-147) was to have tragic
consequences in the waning days of the struggle (pp. 161-162).
120
Ballyhooly/Cappagh: Train Station Escapes
It was in early 1921 that organisers were sent out of Dublin, on a large scale, to
what G.H.Q. uncharitably viewed as "backward regions.” Most notable among them
were Ernie O’Malley and George Plunkett, brother of Easter Week martyr and poet
Joseph Mary Plunkett. In the summer of 1920 O’Malley had overseen the men with
George in Bunratty, Co. Clare when they nearly poisoned themselves from gelignite
fumes. Plunkett, from past visits, was noted as a friend by Pax Whelan. The arrival of
staff officers, however at times, made for acute tensions with local men and, in some
cases, proved counter-productive.
Arriving in the Deise, in very early March, was G.H.Q. staff officer Plunkett who insisted
upon his identity not being revealed. He was quite explicit that his nom de guerre was to
be "Captain Murphy.” No longer were the men to be "on active service" but rather "on
command.” The “Captain's” reliance on a military text from the Great War found
no appeal among the men of the Column. In the words of the O/C, "it was hard to relate
its content to our little guerrilla war.”
Moving from the Kilrossanty area the Column of some thirty-one men passed to the
north of Crohaun arriving at Kilbrien. From there they proceeded southward "in a series
of mad rushes and finally arrived at the foot of the Drum Hills with everybody in a
very bad state of humour" due to the insistence of Captain Murphy that the
"commandos" follow "a correct order of march.”
The “urgent message” for George to meet with Commandant Lynch in Glenville was
received while billeted at Ballymulalla on 4 March. George, based upon past contacts,
had a great deal of respect for Lynch as a leader of men. It was only a week previous (27
February 1921) that he had attended a convention of Southern Brigade Officers. Just
prior to the establishment of the Deise Column he had participated in a Lynch training
course (17 September 1920 ff.) in the Nagles. Moreover, George’s first combat
experience had occurred with Lynch in the successful September 1919 attack on British
forces at Fermoy’s Wesleyan Church.
To visit with "The Real Chief" however,
...posed quite a problem as it might take days to travel such long
distance cross country, the roads being out of the question owing to
their continuous patrol by the police and the military. Lynch, which
was typical of him, did not mention such a minor detail but merely
gave the address of a contact in the village. After mulling over the
matter with the others it was agreed that I might take the risk of
going by train after adopting a suitable disguise.
In a pony and trap he proceeded to Cappagh train station on the Duke’s Line:
121
My dress was an expensive tweed overcoat, a deerstalker hat and
my boots were nicely polished. In addition I carried a copy of the
letter to the faculty of Cork University in my pocket that would
explain my identity in case I was picked up.
He took his first class seat with the other carriages occupied by newly arrived soldiers
from England in full field equipment. Disembarking at Ballyhooly,Co. Cork he bluffed
his way through a convoy of four Crossley Tenders "full of Tans on the prowl.”
Lynch was one of the few men I ever met whose authority while
under command I accepted without question. He was also my
friend or I liked to think so. How can he be like a military man but
have the appearance of a responsible superior of a great religious
order? He was by nature most abstemious and he never raised his
voice, which was gentle. If he ever smiled, I have no recollection of
the occasion. Like many people of settled conviction he had his blind
spots.
Liam Lynch
Historian Peter Hart described Lynch as "the archetypal evangelical republican….
possessed by a sense of mission and revolutionary ardour.” To his comrade Liam
Deasy he
...was to the very end an idealist with the highest principles as his
guide and it was not in his nature to surrender or compromise. He
ultimately gave his life for those principles.
122
At the meeting Lynch "came quietly into the farm parlour smelling strongly of a
disinfectant ointment we used for scabies, an unpleasant itch we all suffered from due
probably to infrequent changes of underwear.” After a discussion of military matters,
Lynch "not being the kind of person to waste time in idle conversation...dismissed me
and became immediately immersed in his notebooks."
Lennon was then placed in the hands of a young lad of sixteen who scouted the road
ahead and saw him back on the train for the return journey. On the southeast
bound train when it came into the Fermoy Station, Lennon
... thought that he was taking leave of his senses. A tremendous
commotion was going on along the platform. An officer smartly
opened the door of his compartment (1st class) and came briskly to
attention. A number of English-looking ladies were waving
regimental colours (and) the three buglers to their front blew a
tattoo salute. Then the Brigadier General and his two staff officers
stepped most importantly in and took their seats.
The General looked like a character out of Punch. He had a walrus
mustache, a beefy look and he glared at everything in his
immediate vicinity.
In actuality the “Brigadier General” noted by George was Major Neville Cameron.
George imagined the Major’s reaction had he known the identity of his fellow traveller:
Damnable inefficiency, putting me into a carriage with a dangerous
Shinner- fellow might have shot me, might have murdered the three
of us!
The reason for the overwhelming military presence at Fermoy and on the train was quite
clear:
The Brigadier's predecessor, one General Lucas, had been taken
prisoner and carried off to an unknown destination. Generals are
not expendable and they were taking no chances with this one. The
train pulled out filled with soldiers and a plane was flying around
overhead.
Matters further degenerated when, at the Tallow Station,
Constable Neery, who knew him from childhood, and two other
R.I.C. men got into the next compartment... Then he realised that
he had made a vow not to be taken alive. Nurse Kent (Katie
Cullinan) had given him a slim tube of morphine tablets as the idea
of wounds and torture always filled him with terror- but he was not
going to have recourse to them this time...Still he could not allow
himself to be taken, he would have to make a dash for it
123
His one chance was to get off at Cappagh and make a dash for it.
The next station beyond that was his own town where every
constable knew him and he would be dragged off. At any rate he
was unarmed and he would not be tortured... Coming to Cappagh
station he pulled all his mental and physical resources together.
One of the officers most politely helped him with the door and
quaking inwardly he stepped out. By some miracle the platform
appeared to be deserted.
Cappagh Train Station
Exiting his compartment Lennon caught the eye of the Constable who "appeared
astounded for a bare instant and quickly averted his eyes.” A feeling of gratitude nearly
overwhelmed the young rebel:
Oh good and darling man ... May the heavens bless you.
Neery’s motivation may have been somewhat less than benign in that he was no doubt
aware of the untimely deaths of other police spies who had informed. To have done so
in the case of the O/C of the local A.S.U. would have been quite damning.
Safely back in Ballymulalla, Lennon found Captain Murphy to have been in a stew
during his absence.
The local battalion commandant had been complaining for quite a
long time about a bridge (Tarr's Bridge) in his area much used by
the military and which he was anxious to have destroyed. Having
124
agreed to the necessity of destroying this particular bridge, we all
retired to bed.
CHAPTER XI
TRAUMA AT THE BURGERY (1921)
Accounts
In a 1966 lecture, Pax’s son, schoolmaster and Republican activist Donal O’Faolain
(involved in the 1973 smuggling of arms on the “Claudia” off the Waterford coast), noted
the difficulty in getting members of Oglaigh na hEireann in the Deise area of County
Waterford to talk of the War of Independence period:
Situated as they were at the time, it was difficult for them to keep
records of any description, as they were subject to raids and
searches, and, as a result, they did not commit much to paper. Some
other areas seemed to have been fortunate in having amongst its
Volunteer personnel someone of a literary turn, who was able to
write up the various things that happened and put them down on
record. We were not so lucky. (1)
Even in later years, those relatively few men who had been on active service with
the Deise Flying Column were generally not ones to dwell on the events of 1919-1923.
Fortunately, in the early 1980’s, Sean and Sile Murphy took statements, from a number
of the aging men of the West Waterford I.R.A. (The Comeraghs, Refuge of Rebels).
Notably and perhaps understandably absent were the writings of the man who
commanded these men. This was to be rectified by the 2003 release of an enlarged
version of the Murphy work (The Comeraghs: Gunfire and Civil War: The Story of the
Deise Brigade IRA 1914-24). Included, at that time, were the writings of George Lennon,
hailed by East Waterford Commandant Paddy Paul as “number one” in terms of I.R.A.
“activities” in the County. (2)
In this treatment of the events and aftermath of the night and morning of 18 –19 March
1921, I have relied on the following source materials:
Trauma in Time: An Irish Itinerary (unpublished, 1970’s) by George Lennon
Down by the Glen Side (unpublished, 1962) by George Lennon
Bureau of Military History: Witness Statements of Mick Mansfield, Jack
O'Mara, James Prendergast, Mick Shalloe and Paddy Paul
Death certificate of Sergeant Hickey
Survivors (1980) by Uinseann MacEoin.
“The Keatings of Comeragh” (unpublished) by Lena Keating
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1921 newspaper accounts: The Waterford News and Munster Express
The Comeraghs: Gunfire and Civil War (2003) by Sean and Sile Murphy
Illustrated History of Dungarvan (1924) by Edmond Keohan
The Waterford News, “The Burgery Ambush” (September 5, 1924),
by “an officer who took part in the combat” (George Plunkett)
Personal correspondences: Tom Mooney of Ardmore, Fr. O’Mahony of St.
Mary’s, and Margo Lordan Kehoe, the daughter of Sergeant Hickey’s fiancée
Deserving of further investigation are the following documents:
British Military Report
Royal Irish Constabulary Report
George Plunkett’s Report to Dublin G.H.Q.
Of Waterford families involved in the physical force Republican movement and the
events of mid March 1921, none were more active than the Mansfields of Old Parish and
the Keatings of Comeragh. Mick Mansfield’s witness statement is readily available.
Missing, of course, are the statements of slain brothers Pat (d.1921) and Tom Keating
(d.1923). I was, therefore, most fortunate to obtain, from the late Maureen Kent
of Kilmacthomas (daughter of nurse Katie Cullinan Kent, aka “Mother Kent”), a copy of
the remembrances of Lena Keating Walsh. Her family’s tribulations and friendships
with the most active of the Column men, including my father, gave her a unique
perspective from which to record her observations. Particularly moving is her account of
the trauma of finding a final resting place for brother Pat at what is today the
Republican Plot in Kilrossanty.
Lennon never spoke of the events of that night and morning even when his son
prompted him by mentioning the bullet scarred gate at the ambush site, which had so
impressed him in 1950 and 1954 when he and his mother visited the Mansfields at their
Burgery home. As noted in Lennon’s Dungarvan Leader obituary:
When the engagement was over and backs were being slapped,
George would quietly slip away, for he had no time for such
frivolities. There were other jobs to be done. (3)
Lacking, for whatever reason, is a Bureau of Military History witness statement from
George. He had, in his own words, relegated the matter of "our tuppence ha'penny”
revolution to "the dustbin of history;” describing what little had been written of the
period as largely "lies." As to the identification of these, perhaps unwitting, writers of
what he perceived to be mistruths, one can only speculate. (4)
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In the early 1960's he completed a play entitled Down by the Glen Side, which dealt with
issues, raised when a captured enemy combatant is to be shot in reprisal. The later
memoir, Trauma in Time, dealt with many of the ambushes in Waterford as well as
earlier engagements in Limerick and Cork. The trauma in the title refers to the effect on
the trajectory of his life of his revolutionary experiences; including, in addition to the
Burgery events of March 1921, his numerous “hair breadth escapes;” most traumatically
at Grawn (pp.149 ff.) and the Civil War shelling of his Ballybricken redoubt (pp. 180 ff).
With respect to the ambush at the Burgery, he noted simply that "we destroyed the two
enemy vehicles and took some prisoners whom we released, all but one.” He did,
however, include in the memoir a brief one-act play entitled “I and Thou” from the title
of Martin Buber’s 1923 book of the same name which denotes a relationship when two
or more people are “totally immersed in their situation embracing each other in some
total un-self-conscious way.” Involved in such relationships is the concept of spirituality.
A search for a spiritual inner peace was to occupy George for the remainder of his life.
The "thou" in the title being the "all but one": an executed Dungarvan childhood police
acquaintance to whom a coup de grace to the temple was administered by the 20 year
old Column leader. In keeping with his unwillingness to draw attention to himself, his
brief account lists the participants as a partisan officer, a subordinate partisan officer, a
constabulary sergeant, a priest, and a firing squad. (5)
These individuals, clearly, were Lennon (partisan officer), Pat Keating or Mick Mans-
field (subordinate officer), Michael Joseph Hickey (constabulary sergeant), and Father
Tom Power (priest) of Kilgobnet. A reference to "Stackpoole" is to Dublin G.H.Q. Staff
Captain George Plunkett.
Although I did not have access to Plunkett’s report to Dublin G.H.Q., it would be in
agreement with the most detailed description available of the encounter at that time.
This may be found in an unsigned letter to The Waterford News, some two and one half
years after the ambush. The editor simply noted that it was “written by an officer who
took part in the ambush.” Those most familiar with the Burgery events and the character
of its participants are in agreement that this officer was clearly George Plunkett. (6)
Background
With the approach of St. Patrick's Day 1921, Brigade Commandant Whelan and Column
O/C Lennon could look back on a very active, and generally successful, period of
revolutionary activity in the Deise; limited, however, by a lack of adequate arms and
ammunition. Moreover, guerrilla insurgency, involving men "on the run," away from
their homes, is inherently stressful, both emotionally and physically.
These young men were, for the most part, idealistic and Roman Catholic educated; in
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some cases, schooled by the generally nationalistic County Waterford founded Irish
Christian Brothers. The possible spiritual price of their actions was not an irrelevancy.
The human costs must have weighed heavily. Deaths to March of 1921 included
Limerick/Cork engagements for George at Kilmallock, Bruree, Kildorrery and Fermoy.
Waterford fatalities occurred at Piltown, Cappoquin, Pickardstown, and Durrow. The
list included native Irishmen and English born Tans/soldiers. Of immediate and
practical daily concern was the overriding necessity of securing weaponry and
ammunition. This was forcefully demonstrated earlier that month at the Durrow train
station and Co-op when the Volunteers were forced to prematurely withdraw from
the engagement when ammunition ran low. A guerrilla force, by definition, cannot
depend on a central storehouse, but must rely upon its acumen to supply itself
with foodstuffs, clothing and military equipment. Primary reliance for the I.R.A. was
placed upon the generally supportive native populace and, for military supplies,
seizures were forcibly made from the enemy.
This constant need to re-supply was to have dire consequence at the Burgery. Native
Irishmen were to have their lives tragically intersect. For the Flying Column O/C, the
stress of the likelihood of execution if captured with a weapon was to impact his later
physical and mental well being. The arguably unnecessary deaths of men under his
command were to cause him to ultimately question his philosophical and political
underpinnings while remaining sympathetic to nationalist aspirations directed against
fascist or foreign foes.
R.I.C.
There are no police heroes of the Irish Revolution - at least none as
defined by songs, statues, memorials, or collective memory. At best,
a few have acquired the sort of posthumous notoriety that comes
with Michael Collins having ordered your death. This anonymity
has been...harmful to our understanding of what happened between
1916 and 1923.... (7)
The Royal Irish Constabulary had been placed in an untenable position; on the one
hand, attempting to provide a necessary police function and, on the other, acting as the
military representative of a 750-year foreign presence. In the words of writer and
revolutionary Ernie O'Malley:
The R.I.C. had ceased to be a police force; they pointed out houses,
localities and short cuts to the Tans and soldiers; they identified
wanted men from arrested suspects and they guided punitive
expeditions. Some of the older R.I.C. were nearing their retiring
pensionable age. If they retired before their pension they would lose
it. In divided mind they remained on. Police had to give a month's
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notice before they resigned; a few who had left the force had been
killed or beaten up by Tans. (8)
For reasons of security and discipline, police policy dictated that constables be stationed
in barracks away from their home counties. Nonetheless, the R.I.C. was not generally
resented as an alien body, except during periodic outbreaks of political or agrarian
tension. Like their countrymen, the majority of the R.I.C., excepting the highest ranks of
the force, were arguably, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, nationalists (albeit largely
constitutional). It, however, became an organisation under intense pressure from the
physical force movement, which identified the policeman, at least in the initial phase of
the struggle, as its principal enemy during the guerrilla war. (9)
Dungarvan R.I.C.
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Even in the modern Ireland of the "Celtic Tiger”, to use certain terms reveals an implicit
bias. In some quarters, the neutral sounding "Anglo- Irish War" has come in to favour.
Yet Irishmen fought and died as members of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The British
initially relied chiefly upon the armed native police force to quell the “criminal” I.R.A.
Lacking sufficient native recruits, the R.I.C. was augmented, in March of 1920, by the
Black and Tans, not all of whom were British. Shortly thereafter, a group of
former British military officers, known as Auxiliaries, were introduced under a separate
command.
The struggle beginning in January of 1919, in addition to being an early twentieth
century colonial guerrilla war, arguably had, at British insistence, elements of a civil war
( i.e., native Irish Volunteers vs. native R.I.C.) This internecine nature of the conflict
and the later Free State vs. I.R.A. “Irregulars” struggle (1922-1923) were responsible for
many of the divisions to be found in Irish society for the rest of the twentieth century.
For some, in Dungarvan and elsewhere, it remains a palpable presence. (10)
In early twentieth century Ireland, police constables, quite naturally, formed friendships
with their countrymen in the communities they patrolled. Limerick born (18 March
1885) Constable Michael Joseph Hickey was engaged to Dungarvan girl Nellie Kelly.
Early on in his posting at the local barracks he had befriended, as had Constable Neery,
George Lennon, a local youth. By some accounts, Hickey was “very popular” and, with
an impending marriage, no doubt entertained thoughts on this, the day of his 36th
birthday, of raising a family in his adopted community. (11)
The newly promoted Sergeant Hickey, the son of a R.I.C. father, was a fifteen-year
veteran of the police force. The role of a sergeant was an important one involving
substantial prestige and authority. He was in charge of the constables and the barracks
on a day-to-day basis and the symbol ("Royal" since 1867) of the government in his
district.
According to Sean Moylan, who was Lennon's counterpart with the North Cork Flying
Column (1920 -1921) and O/C Cork No. 2 Brigade (April 1921), men of the R.I.C.
...were of the people, were inter-married with the people, and were
generally men of exemplary lives and of a high level of intelligence.
They did their oftimes unpleasant duty without rancor and oftimes
with a maximum of tact; therefore, they had friends everywhere
who sought the avoidance of trouble for them. (12)
However, this was not always possible. For example, in August of 1920 Hickey and a
number of other constables had been disarmed while accompanying a mail delivery at
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the railway station in Dungarvan. According to Mick Mansfield, “the Sergeant showed a
reluctance to surrender and only did so on being threatened to be shot.” Subsequently,
he was “warned on a number of occasions to refrain from certain activities and he failed
to do so.”(13)
No doubt he was aware of his precarious position. He had to have known of the deaths
in the area of other R.I.C. Constables; most notably Maurice Prendiville who had
reneged on his promise to quit the force subsequent to the Piltown ambush. Other
R.I.C. deaths in Waterford were at Kilmacthomas (Sergeant Morgan), Cappoquin
(Constables Rea and Quirk) and Scartacrooks (Constable Duddy). The two Cappoquin
shootings in November of 1921 had involved at least four Deise men - Lennon, Keating,
Mansfield and driver McCarthy – who were with the Column at the Burgery. (14)
As to Hickey's nationalist beliefs, one can only speculate. The reported presence of a
green, white and orange tricolour, sewn to the inside of his tunic, was indicative of, at
least, constitutional nationalist sympathies. (15)
Regarding a conflicted R.I.C., Sean Moylan observed:
Even if they understood and sympathised with the motives of the
I.R.A. it would have been most difficult for them to realise that any
success would attend the efforts of the handful of men putting their
puny strength against the might of Empire. It was expecting too
much of them to expect that they would resign.... (16)
Lennon later intimated that Hickey may very well have been torn when in his play he
wrote of a fictional, albeit married, “Sergeant Dunne, of the Constabulary” who initially
refused (unlike Hickey) to guide a British force and declared:
I must look after my family. What do you think I am wearing this
uniform for? I am wearing it only because it gives...a living, not for
any love of it! (17)
A newcomer to the area was Constable Sydney Redman, a thirty five year old single man
from Kent, England. He only had two months police service, having been a motor driver
and a British soldier. His motivation for crossing to "John Bull's Other Island" as a Black
and Tan was, in all probability, the same as that of many English ex service men who
saw an opportunity to better their lives economically. For some, there was the added
incentive of putting “in their place” the minority Irish Volunteers who had actively
opposed Irish support for Great Britain in the 1914 – 1918 war.
Volunteers
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Irish Volunteer, athlete and poet Pat Keating of Comeragh, according to younger sister
Lena, "had a simple and homely manner that endeared him to all ... and was a great
favourite wherever he went.” George Lennon related an incident in which he and Pat
were walking along a road somewhere in West Waterford. George
said to Pat, “Where will we stay tonight?” and Pat pointed to a light
in a house upon a hill and said, “We will go there.” They arrived at
the house and when they went in the family were saying the rosary.
George and Pat knelt down and Pat said the next decade. The
people in the house were in no way frightened and made them more
than welcome, chatting about farming and other matters of
interest. This was just one example of Pat’s friendly approach. (18)
He was a lover of all things Irish. He was a member of the Gaelic Athletic Association
and represented the County Waterford team. According to Pax Whelan:
I never knew a more diligent footballer...I saw him star for
Kilrossanty on many occasions... a forward of outstanding merit,
rarely beaten for a ball in the air and with a great aptitude for
exploiting the open spaces. He was one of the most prominent
players in the Kilrossanty team that won the 1919 Waterford senior
football title defeating Ballymacaw in the final. (19)
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Pat Keating
He was also a member of Connra na Gaeilge and a full time organiser and Secretary for
Sinn Fein. Like his O/C, he was, as a founding member of the Column, wanted “dead or
alive” with a four hundred pound award for his capture, per the R.I.C. publication Hue
and Cry a.k.a. The Police Gazette. (20)
He felt a personal responsibility for all aspects of the lives of the men of the Column and
worried about reprisals against his family as a result of his fight for Irish freedom. Pat
attended to the men's spiritual needs by arranging with Father Sheehy of Kilrossanty "to
regularly hear their confessions at John Power's farmhouse in Coumahon and especially
before going into battle.”(21)
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His humanity also extended to his employers at the Durrow Co-op. As a wanted man, he
knew that if the authorities were to learn of his employment, reprisals would have
followed and "the store would have been burned to the ground.” He, accordingly,
resigned from his position. (22)
The Keatings of Comeragh were totally involved in the struggle. Pat's father, Michael
(1857-1931) and uncle John did dispatch work. Sisters Margaret and Marcella took
charge of the laundry for many of the men in the Column. Mother Margaret mended
their socks and "looked after the repair of their shoes, taking them to Tom McGrath in
Kilmacthomas” who "carried out all the repairs free of charge saying that it was his
contribution to the cause.” Brother Willie participated in the Durrow train ambush and
another brother, Tom, was to die in 1923 as leader of one of the three Waterford
Columns organised during the Civil War. Some have also mentioned a reputed
attraction between younger sister Lena and the young Column leader. (23)
Pat was imbued with a revolutionary idealism, which was reflected, in his poetry. With
thoughts of emigrated Comeragh friends, including John (Sean) Fitzgerald, he penned
the following in his poem Comeragh's Rugged Hills:
It's long years since I bade farewell
For it is my sad fate
Our land oppressed by tyrant laws
I had to emigrate...
When on my pillow I recline
On a foreign land to rest
The thoughts of my dear native home
Still throbs within my heart
When silence overcomes me
My dreams they seem to fill
Of my dear native happy home
Nigh Comeragh's rugged hills (24)
Less well known than other men with longer active service was Sean Fitzgerald. Lena
Keating remembered that "in his youth he was a very quiet unassuming fellow who was
never one to seek the limelight.” Like close childhood friend Pat, he joined the
Volunteers but, due to scarcity of work, he was forced to emigrate.
Being a good letter writer he kept in touch with his Deise friends. He was aware of how
the fight was progressing and "longed to return to give a helping hand.” Informed
of Pat's reputed death at the Pickardstown ambush, his response was prophetic:
I was saddened to hear of Pat Keating's death and I'm sorry I was
not alongside him. (25)
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Relieved to hear, upon returning home, that the rumour was false, he joined Pat with the
Flying Column and took a very active part in the prolonged early March engagement
at Durrow Station and the adjoining Co-op.
Other individual Volunteers of note among the men that night were Mick and Jim
Mansfield, Nipper McCarthy, Paddy Joe Power, Jim Prendergast, Ned Kirby, Mick
Shalloe,“Kelly” Donovan, Fox Greany, and returned U.S. Army soldier Jack O’Mara. In
overall command was G.H.Q officer George Plunkett along with Pax Whelan, and
George Lennon.
If anyone could be said to have an Irish Republican pedigree it was Plunkett, a son of
George Nobel Plunkett, the Papal Count. He had been in Waterford a lot; coming “first
in 1917 to help re-organise Sinn Fein.” (26) With his brother Joseph he had fought with
distinction during Easter Week and, with another brother, had been sentenced to death.
The home of his parents had been ransacked and they had been locked up in different
prisons awaiting deportation.
Plunkett was reckoned by Lennon to be a "thoroughly conscientious man.” His
humanity was in evidence during Easter Week, 1916 when he dashed out of the Dublin
G.P.O. to go to the assistance of a wounded British officer. A stickler for detail, he was
the "personification of military efficiency.” In the words of the Brigade O/C, he “was
very punctilious, always insisting that every rank in the company be filled, on paper
anyway.” He did not countenance sloppy habits. As a believer in military protocol, he
was not one to enquire as to the nature of Lennon’s just completed trip to confer with
Commander Liam Lynch at Ballyhooly, County Cork. It was not unusual, however, for
there to be suspicion between Dublin G.H.Q. officers and rural units. Lennon remarked
upon
a wearing tension between the two of us and there were times when
we circled politely around each other while seething inwardly. (27)
Plunkett' professional appraisal of the Deise Brigade was less than laudatory. He viewed
it to be "in a really poor state of organisation" and the Flying Column, "in its present
condition...not fit to go into action for a long time to come." (28)
Pax Whelan, second in command that night, was a man with deep O Faolain roots in the
Deise. Born to native Irish speakers in 1893, his wife to be, Cait Fraher, attended
Padraig Pearse’s St. Ita’s. Her brother, Maurice, was the first boarder at St. Enda’s at the
Oakley Road, Ranelagh locale. Part of the “element of opposition to Parliamentarianism
around Dungarvan,” Pax was an early member, in the autumn of 1913, of the
Volunteers and a member of the secret oath bound Irish Republican Brotherhood.
He was well acquainted with members of the Dublin G.H.Q. Staff and other
leaders throughout the country. Included in this group were Rory O’Connor, Liam
Mellows, Gearoid O’Sullivan, Harry Boland, Liam Lynch and Cathal Brugha. He noted
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“particular friend” George Plunkett and “a strong friendship” with Mick Collins. He, like
George, had been active since Easter Week and the two were subsequently, in early 1918,
jailed in Waterford for “taking a rifle from a soldier.”(29)
George Lennon, third in command that night, was the youngest Flying Column leader in
the War of Independence and, most likely, one of the youngest to serve as a Brigade Vice
O/C. Dungarvan born, the youthful member of the IRB was proud of his Ulster Crolly
ancestors of a “military caste” who had been aligned with Owen Roe of the Catholic
Confederates and later with Niall O'Neill at the Battle of the Boyne. Also of significance,
in light of his later philosophical and religious outlook, were the more numerous family
members of a “priestly caste;" including Dr William Crolly, nineteenth century
Archbishop Primate of the Irish Roman Catholic Church.
Ambush
Seeking to keep active what Plunkett perceived to be an "unfit” A.S.U., the Column O/C
acceded to a request by “the O/C, Dungarvan Company that the Column should afford
protection for a party of local I.R.A. men engaged in demolishing Tarr’s Bridge,” also
known as Old Pike Bridge. It was felt by doing so it would serve to disrupt
communications between the military post at Cloncoskoran and Dungarvan as the
bridge “was in constant use by troops coming east from Fermoy or Cappoquin.” Perhaps
more importantly, “its demolition would force the enemy to use by-roads, thus leaving
them open to constant ambushing.” (30)
The Column duly left Ballymulalla, just north of the Drum Hills, and proceeded to
Carriglea, Ballymacmaque and then moved east on the Cappoquin Road to Ballycoe
House to rendezvous with the local demolition squad from Abbeyside. The local
company was to "provide twelve pick and crowbar men and eight shotgun men for its
protecting party. In case of unforeseen trouble, the curate's (Father Tom Power of
Kilgobnet) house, two miles back was to be a rendezvous.” (31)
While “the demolition operation may not appear to have warranted cover from the
Column,” Mick Shalloe noted “that those engaged would be open to attack from (1) a
British garrison stationed half a mile away to the north-east at Cloncookerine (sic) in the
house of Charles Humble Nugent, a pronounced loyalist, (2) the military in Dungarvan...
and (3) the Marines in Ballinacourty coastguard station, three miles to the east.”(32)
Earlier that day, the 18th of March, members of the Column had gone to Dungarvan “to
have a crack at a military patrol if it was out.” Meeting a group of some “twelve to fifteen
strong,” shots were exchanged and the men, as had previously been arranged, left to
take “positions on the Ballycoe road, adjacent to Tarr’s Bridge.” (33)
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The Volunteers found the bridge
to be a tougher proposition than we had bargained for and we had
no explosives. The working party failed to make any appreciable
dent in the solid structure, which must have been over a hundred
years old and very solidly built. The headlights of a night raiding
party were now observed coming towards us from the direction of
the town.... (34)
These vehicles were headed east at about 8 P.M.; reportedly to Clonea on the Ballyvoyle
road to make an arrest of John Murphy. Mick Mansfield noted “two lorry loads of
military accompanied by a private car.” Other accounts only mention two vehicles – a
car and a Crossley Tender. In the motorcar, to identify the Murphy residence, was
Sergeant Hickey. (35)
The Volunteers informed Plunkett that the vehicles could return to Dungarvan by one of
two routes once they passed Tarr's Bridge. It was the custom, in such circumstances, for
R.I.C./British forces not to return by the same route.
After a conference among the officers (Plunkett, Whelan, Lennon and Mick Mansfield):
It was decided to attack the British on their return to Dungarvan
and to divide the column into two groups. One, under Plunkett, was
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to cover the Ballycoe road, which leaves the main Waterford road
at Tarr’s Bridge. (36)
In this group, near Mrs. Dunlea’s at the crossroads, were Mick Mansfield, Shalloe,
O’Mara, Keating “and 8 or 9 others of the Column.” Included also was the demolition
party, with tools and no arms. The balance of the men, some 10 in number under
Lennon, took up positions at the Burgery on the main Waterford -Dungarvan road. (37)
Meanwhile, having taken Murphy into custody, the motorcar, followed by the tender
containing the soldiers guarding the prisoner, set out for Dungarvan via Cloncoskoran.
Crossley Tender
Jim Prendergast recalled the attack on the second vehicle:
We were armed with rifles and I had, in addition, one Mills
grenade. About 11:30 on the night 18th March 1921, the first British
lorry came along... Lennon, Kirby and Paddy Joe Power opened up
on it with rifles and I threw the grenade, which failed to explode.
The military drove on for about three hundred yards in the
direction of Dungarvan and then stopped. The soldiers then got out
and came back (on) the road towards us. We...opened rifle fire on
them. (38)
In position, for about an hour, were the men on the seemingly more likely return route
on the Cappoquin (Ballycoe) road when they
heard a bomb explosion and rifle fire coming from the direction of
the Burgery. We knew then that Lennon’s party was in contact with
the British. We struck across country towards the Burgery. (39)
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In the lead Ford car, in addition to Hickey, was at least one soldier, Lieutenant Griffiths,
and, in command of the force, Captain Thomas, O/C of the Buffs Regiment stationed in
Dungarvan, Hearing the shots directed at the lorry by Lennon et. al., the motor car
pulled up at the Burgery and Thomas instructed the Lieutenant to proceed to
Dungarvan for reinforcements while his group returned to assist the men in the
ambushed military lorry near Mr. Fives' public house.
The Mansfield party from Ballycoe “came under heavy fire from the enemy” as they
crossed the fields “ to get out on to the road at the Burgery”. Before reaching the
Dungarvan-Waterford road they “met Lennon and some of his lads.” Others in this
reconstituted group included Plunkett, Shalloe, Prendergast, O’Mara, Fitzgerald and
Keating. Hearing the noise of men walking on the road, they were ordered to “halt.” A
man with an English accent replied that he was Captain Thomas. (40)
Ignoring the request to surrender, the enemy sought to retreat back to the car in the
Dungarvan direction. The Volunteers gave chase with “Captain Thomas...captured and
taken prisoner by Plunkett and Lennon”. (41)
According to Shalloe:
Thomas was searched and any documents on him taken. I was
strongly in favour of shooting this fellow whom I knew to be a bitter
opponent of ours, but Plunkett wouldn’t hear of it. He, Plunkett,
extracted a promise from Captain Thomas that, if released, no
reprisals would be carried out by the troops under his command.
Thomas, too glad to escape the fate he deserved, gave the
understanding. (42)
Also captured were Hickey and at least one private from the Buffs regiment. Ambush
participant O’Mara believed there to have been two captured privates of the Buffs;
while Prendergast believed there to have been five. All witness accounts are in
agreement, however, that Thomas did not escape. In the words of Brigade O/C Whelan:
“We let them all go, except the policeman.” O’Mara’s witness statement notes bringing
the captured enemy “to a nearby cottage” where “they were ordered to remain...until
daylight, while Sergeant Hickey was taken away by us.” (43)
With the captured Hickey in tow, the men moved off in the direction of Dungarvan
along the Burgery road. Finding a box of grenades on the front seat of the
abandoned motorcar, Pat Keating used one to destroy the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Mansfield “and 5 or 6 of the boys”, when they got out on the Burgery road,
had “moved after Lennon, Plunkett, O’Meara” (sic) and the others. They only had “gone
a short distance down the road” when they “came under fire from British military who
had got off the road and were in behind a hedge.” Eventually, the enemy ceased firing
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“and made their escape in the darkness.” In this group was the prisoner Murphy who
was taken to the barracks and, ultimately, Spike Island, County Cork. (44)
“Scattered all over the place” were the unarmed Abbeyside, Dungarvan Company, who
had been involved in the demolition work. Rounded up by Mansfield, they were ordered
“to disperse to their homes.”(45)
In the darkness “intermittent firing was going on” and it was difficult “to pick out
friends from foe as the British Tommies had left their lorries on being attacked and were
running helter-skelter through the fields.” (46)
...Shooting was going on all over the district. The British were
running here and there like cornered rats, shouting and yelling in
terror, while our lads “flaked” into them for all they were worth.
(47)
In the words of the Column O/C:
Impromptu night engagements are likely to have unforeseen results
and this one proved to be no exception. In the general melee that
followed most of our lads panicked and scattered. The main body of
the military lost contact with their officers and retreated in the
opposite direction.
The night action has been indecisive on all sides. Both the partisans
and the enemy soldiers ...got mixed up in the night's darkness and
have scattered in all directions. (48)
The men returned to Ballycoe with “a few rifles, some ammunition, a quantity of Mills
bombs and a couple of revolvers...captured from the British.” There, Plunkett directed
Nipper McCarthy, Kelly Donovan and Fox Greany to return and burn the Crossley
Tender, which had been abandoned by the retreating British. (49)
The lorry burnt, the men, including Plunkett, Lennon, Keating, O’Mara and others re-
assembled to the northwest at the agreed upon rendezvous at Father Power’s Kilgobnet
Presbytery. Arriving at that locale at “about 2 or 3 A.M.” were the men under Mick
Mansfield. The remainder of the Column, it was subsequently learned, “had moved
further to the west into the hilly country in the neighbourhood of Bohadoon.” (50)
Execution
What followed next was a scene that has occurred numerous times when Irish rebels
were faced with the question of what to do with an informer. Irish Republican history
140
and literature are replete with references to this scourge of failed rebellions. Frank
O’Connor described an eerily similar situation to that of Sergeant Hickey in
his acclaimed 1931 anti war short story “Guests of the Nation." As pre 1916 Dungarvan
Fianna Eireann scouts, George Lennon and Barney Dalton had seen their I.E.D activities
effectively ended by a young informant.
Volunteer O’Mara stated that after the capture of the sergeant, a party of ten or twelve
men held “a council of war to decide the fate of sergeant Hickey. The time was now very
early on the morning of March 19, 1921. (51)
A court martial ensued and “because of his activities in assisting the British to hunt
down I.R.A. men he was sentenced to be shot...” Damningly, Mansfield noted that
Hickey “had, apparently, been acting as a spotter for the British raiding party the
previous night.” (52)
As to specific locale, an account written in 1924 noted simply that "Sergeant Hickey was
taken away by others up the boreen... and was never afterwards seen alive." (53)
Lennon’s memoir noted “a sharp turn in the by road.” (54) Even more specific was the
Deise Brigade engagement report, which pinpointed the shooting of an R.I.C. man
at a point in a field at the “full stop” after CAS. Over Kilgobnet. 10.
E. (55)
An ordnance survey map reveals such a “full stop” intersection at Carrowncashlane or
Castlequarter. This area is immediately east of Kilgobnet, adjacent to the castle (CAS).
Save for what was written in the George’s memoir, there is, to the best of my research,
no other account of what actually transpired at the court martial or the firing squad
execution. The larger question of the moral dilemma involved in the ultimate fate of a
captured enemy was dealt with in the 1962 play Down by the Glen Side (56)
The Trauma in Time memoir noted that the "partisan officer" (Lennon) anxiously
waited, outside the agreed upon assembly (Kilgobnet Presbytery). When the men of his
squad arrive with the prisoner (Hickey) a “glance of recognition” was exchanged
between the two and the partisan officer, perhaps hopefully, stated: "it would be hard
for us to release him?" This was a quite understandable response in that Lennon
had known the constable since childhood days. Moreover, it had only been days earlier,
at the Cappagh train station, that he had narrowly avoided capture. An
escape made possible by another childhood R.I.C. acquaintance (Constable Neery) who
chose to hurriedly look the other way as the rebel leader made his escape under the nose
of high ranking British military officers. (57)
A "subordinate officer" replied to the possibility of releasing the prisoner in the
following words:
141
Of course not, it would be the end of us all and our homes. (58)
In light of Pat Keating's oft-expressed concern regarding possible reprisals, it may very
well have been Pat who so forcefully stated the need to execute the just turned thirty six
year old sergeant. Nonetheless, life was not to be taken lightly as had been evidenced
some two weeks earlier, at the Durrow train ambush, when Mick Mansfield had
persuasively argued for the release of British sympathiser Charles Nugent Humble, a
civilian. But Hickey was not a civilian or a member of the British military. He
was viewed as an Irish traitor by the I.R.A. and as a likely informant who could bring
down arrest upon the men and reprisals directed at their families and others who were
sympathetic to them.
The experience after the Piltown ambush, when freed Constable Prendiville failed to
abide by his pledge to leave the R.I.C., made it less likely that such an opportunity would
be accorded the Dungarvan constable. Earlier shootings of R.I.C. men had demonstrated
the willingness of the I.R.A. to move beyond securing promises.
That Hickey was aware of his fate if captured was suggested in Lennon's play, in which
"Constable Sergeant Dunne" responded to a British officer:
If they take you, they will treat you like an officer and a gentleman,
but if they capture me they will shoot me like a dog - like the police
spy I am! (59)
Lennon described his appearance:
The police sergeant is a powerfully built man but he seems to have
shrunk into his bottle green uniform. He looks by no means ill
natured but his face now has a sallow, yellow tinged and his lips
are white. He has a look of the deepest sadness, if not despair. (60)
Called upon by his friend, the young Father Power opened his door "with a frightened
look" and came “out into the forbidding morning wearing a stole and carrying a prayer
book." Instructed to give the sergeant a "full glass of whiskey," he re-entered the house
and returned with the spirits. (61)
Lennon then, “not unkindly”, said:
Drink this. The police sergeant takes the glass unsteadily and gets
the liquid down in a number of gulps. Then the priest takes him
gently by the arm and leads him to his doorstep where they both sit
down. The priest places his hand affectionately on the sergeant’s
arm and hears his confession. When they have finished the others
142
wait uneasily for the moments are pregnant. The officer makes a
sign and the priest takes the prisoner’s arm to assist him up.
As they pass the officer, the prisoner looks appealingly at him but
the officer averts his eyes. They all force themselves into motion.
The clergyman is holding the prisoner’s arm and he is speaking
words of consolation into his ear. They walk back to the boreen with
the partisan officer bringing up the rear. He is very disturbed but
he conceals his unhappiness.
A sharp turn in the by road. A gateway leading into a field. The
partisan officer goes ahead, opens the rusty gate and they all file in.
The officer leads the prisoner out into the field and affixes a label on
to the front of his tunic. Written on the label are the words police
spy.. (62)
Pleadingly, the prisoner stated: “George, I knew you as a child, you used to play with the
head constable's children in the barracks... You are the one person in the world that can
save me." Lennon replied: "I would give anything, anything in the world to save you, but
I cannot...." (63)
A "glance of understanding and deep affection passes between them” (See Martin
Buber’s I and Thou). The sergeant “squared his shoulders” as a bandage is tied over his
eyes. The officer
steps back, drops his arm and calls “fire.” The morning silence of the
glen is shattered. The dead man sways on his feet an instant, slowly
inclines and falls rigidly on his left side, his head amongst the ferns.
(64)
Drawing his Luger, Lennon approached the prostrate man, looked down "at the erst-
while enemy who is now an enemy no more" and fired into the man's temple.
The priest (Fr. Power) claps his hands before his face and runs back
towards his house, his shoulders shaking with sobs. (65)
At sometime around 6 A.M. (19 March) the Column O/C made “a sign to his men and
they go quickly off,” while “the police sergeant lies peacefully amongst the withered
ferns.” (66)
143
Front: Tommy Boyle, George
Lennon, Michael Foley
Rear: John Power, Fr. Tom
Power, Dr. Joe Walsh
Sequel
On the morning of the 19th, Plunkett, aware of earlier withdrawals due to want of
ammunition, recommended a return to the ambush site to secure material possibly left
from the night action.
As it was now getting light, “all of the officers were very much against this proposal.” It
was argued that the British would be out in strength and that it was simply asking for
trouble to approach the Burgery ambush position again. Notwithstanding the
representations made to him, “Plunkett was determined to go ahead with the idea.” (67)
Plunkett set off from Kilgobnet with a party of men which, based on the individual
witness statements, included Pax Whelan, George Lennon, Pat Keating, Mick Mansfield,
Nipper McCarthy, Sean Fitzgerald, Jim Mansfield, Mick Shalloe, Kelly Donovan and
Jack O'Mara.
As the men crossed an open field, about 8 A.M. towards the Burgery road, a small group,
including Whelan and O’Mara, were “placed in position behind a ditch along by this
field.” Another group of men, with Plunkett in charge, advanced.
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It soon became obvious that the enemy had seen our men advancing,
because when our boys were about midway in the field, heavy rifle
fire was opened on them by troops lining the ditch on the Burgery
road. (68)
Fitzgerald was shot and Keating, per Plunkett, “only concerned for his good friend” (69),
went to his assistance. As stated in the poem which begins “down from the Comeragh
hills he came”:
At dawn in the morning Fitzgerald fell
Never to stand on his feet again
Brave Pat went out to bring him back
But a British bullet found its mark (70)
Reportedly, per one later account, Keating “dashed back under cover but returned a
second time to get Fitzgerald. He was shot again.” While the witness statements were
silent with respect to the matter, such heroism would certainly have been in character
for the rebel poet. Had not Fitzgerald expressed regret that he had not been “alongside”
Pat at Durrow prompting him to return to Comeragh?(71)
Having run out of ammunition, Plunkett secured some from the prostrate Keating and
“just as he got a round into the breech and the bolt home,” he saw movement “at the side
of the gate-post.” Aiming carefully, “perhaps a bit high in the rush – and fired.” The
Black and Tan Redman “dropped.” (72)
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Burgery Gate
Firing continued for ten minutes or so, when our lads began to
retreat as their position was most dangerous. They eventually
got back to where we were stationed.
Plunkett then called for Volunteers to bring back Pat Keating, but
Jim Mansfield objected and said it was suicide to attempt to rescue
Keating. We pulled out then, but Plunkett and another man, whose
name I cannot recall, stayed behind to see what could be done for
Keating. (73)
George later “confess(ed) that I did not conduct myself with any great show of bravery.”
As to Plunkett, he “behaved with amazing coolness and courage.” He “took over” and,
under heavy fire, “crawled over to where Pat Keating lay and carried him on his back to
the cover of a fence.” His conduct was reminiscent of his heroism at the Dublin G.P.O.
during Easter Week, 1916.
Plunkett, at this point, “had no option but to carry out a…retreat…returning to
Kilgobnet....” The retreating men “held their fire all this time so as not to betray our
position.”(74) The injured Pat, while fully conscious, was carried away by Plunkett and
another man of the Column. Arriving at the home of an elderly man named Maurice
Morrissey, Birdie Hanley of Gliddane was contacted and came immediately with horse
and cart to the Morrissey home.
The body of Sean Fitzgerald lay where he had been shot. His body to be taken, in an ass
and cart by the British military, to the town square where it was exhibited before being
taken to the barracks. The body of Redman was removed at sometime between 9 and 10
A.M. of the same day, the 19th of March.
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Pat Keating and Sean Fitzgerald Burgery Memorial
In retrospect, many years later, Lennon maintained that it was not a mistake to go back
"as we badly needed what munitions might have been left behind by the military when
they fled." The error was his, he felt, for not having reconnoitered prior to returning.
(75)
147
Retreating "sadly across the grey fields" and "unable to face the fact that Pat Keating was
dead", Lennon fell behind the main body of Column men. He "was weary, unspeakably
unhappy and quite dispirited." He was approached by Plunkett, who slipped his arms
into his as they and the Column moved off to the hilly country around Kilbrien, just
north of Bohadoon. (76)
Lennon wrote that soon afterwards, Plunkett
left us to return to G.H.Q. with his report. As he was fixing his
bicycle clips he said coldly that he was recommending that I take
responsibility for all activities in the county. As we were still a bit
stiff with each other we did not offer to shake hands. He rode away
and soon disappeared around a bend in the road. (77)
Regarding the discovery of the slain sergeant, it was written by Keohane in 1924, that
“for two days British military forces scoured the countryside to find him, and it was Mr.
Beresford on whose land the body lay that (sic) discovered it lying in the glen” at Castle-
quarter. (78). If correct, this would have been Monday the 21st.
It was noted in an earlier newspaper account that
...the body of Sergeant Hickey R.I.C. has been found. On Saturday
evening (the 19th) acting on information received, a lorry of
military proceeded to a district called Castlequarter, some two
miles from the scene of the ambush and there in a bog they found
the dead body of the missing sergeant. On his breast was a card
bearing the word “Executed”. His body was riddled with bullets, no
less than 14 bullet wounds being counted, some through the back
and others through the chest. (79)
The bullets “through the back” observation was later retracted when Dr. John Hackett
(“The Beeches,” Dungarvan) examined the body finding “two bullet wounds in his chest
and one in his head…Death was instantaneous.” The fact that only two bullets were
found in the torso may have necessitated the final coup de grace to the temple by the
Column leader. Perhaps the “instantaneous” death observation may be attributed to a
concern for local sensibilities. On the other hand, Lennon noted upon being shot by the
firing squad, that “the dead man” swayed on his feet and fell rigidly “amongst the ferns.”
Also in dispute: the date the body was located (the 19 th or the 21st) and the “Executed”
notation on the card. The latter contradicted Lennon who noted the far more likely
police spy inscription.
148
Confusion may also exist as to the exact location of the execution and where the body
was found. Keohan’s 1924 book and 1921 newspaper accounts mention Beresford land at
Castlequarte while I.R.A. eyewitnesses mention a Kilgobnet field. This is readily
explained in that Castlequarter is a townland located astride the Dungarvan – Kilgobnet
border and is shown on contemporary maps as Carrowncashlane - the “quarter
(catharun) of the castle (caislean).” The Castlequarter/Carrowncashlane area includes
the area immediately east of Kilgobnet, between Ballyknock Upper and Ballyknock
Lower. In this area is the “point in a field at the full stop after CAS.” The CAS in
the I.R.A. engagement report referring, in all probability, to the ruined adjacent castle to
the north. Apparent incontrovertible corroboration is that 231 acres of Carrowncashlane
land were, at the time, per a listing of County Waterford landowners, in the possession
of the Beresfords (80) containing “an botharin dorcha” - the dark boreen (road).
Burials
The authorities took Hickey’s remains to the Dungarvan R.I.C. Barracks where the body
of Sean Fitzgerald lay. Hickey was duly conveyed, on Tuesday the 22nd, to the new
section of the cemetery at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Dungarvan. No civilian,
except for his brother from Limerick, accompanied the cortege of soldiers and R.I.C.
men. Among the latter was his policeman father. An order that all shops be closed
during the funeral was observed.
Grave diggers initially refused to perform their task. It was only at the instigation of
"one of the Catholic Curates" that the grave was dug. The body was interred at St. Mary's
thanks to the generosity and concern of Hickey's fiancée, Nellie Kelly. To this day, his
remains lie unmonumented in the Kelly-Lordan-Kehoe family plot (p.155). Nor is his
presence noted on the church office's schematic drawing of the burial sites.
Knowledge of the exact locale of his grave remains known but to a few. According to
Margo Lordan Kehoe, the daughter of Nellie Kelly, memories of such troubled times
"still linger on in little pockets in Ireland in families...." (81)
Also not noted on the burial schematic, anecdotal and newspaper accounts to the
contrary, are the whereabouts of the remains of the parents (George and Nellie
Shanahan Lennon) and grand parents (James and Mary Anne Crolly Lennon) of the
Flying Column Leader. The parish priest maintains that "no records of burials were
kept.” (82)
Reportedly, Hickey's fiancée never "ever forgave in connection with (his) death.”
149
Ironically, her eventual husband, Michael Lordan, a former R.I.C. constable, became, in
later years, a "great friend” of Mick Mansfield. (83)
Having been "removed... with great caution" by the military from in front of the bullet
scarred gate, the body of Black and Tan Redman was subsequently returned to Kent,
England for burial. (84)
Although the family of slain Volunteer Sean Fitzgerald made application for his remains,
they were not given up until after the Hickey funeral. Regulations, not always adhered
to, limited to forty the number of mourners. Later, when the coffin was removed from
the church, soldiers with bayonets were posted to keep the crowds back. On the way to
Kilrossanty on Wednesday:
The remains were carried on the shoulders of young men from the
town, who bore it all the way to the church. They were followed by
members of Cumann na mBan, who carried several wreaths of
natural flowers. No military or police took part in the funeral. On
reaching the church there was an immense gathering of persons.
The regulation that only forty persons would be allowed to follow
the remains of Fitzgerald was not rigidly enforced. (85)
In light of the “wanted dead or alive” status of Pat Keating, the path taken by the
mortally wounded Volunteer involved a rather indirect route to his ultimate May
repository in, what is today, the Republican plot in Kilrossanty. Shortly after he had
been conveyed to the Morrissey home, Keating had asked if he could be taken to Whyte’s
of Monarud. Assisted by Mike Heafy, Birdie Hanley put Pat into a horse and cart
Covering him with hay. If they were stopped, the story was they
were going to feed cattle. Pat directed them the whole way even
describing the house as being newly plastered on the roadside. (86)
Attended by Lennon family physician Dr. Hackett of Dungarvan, “the Whytes were most
kind to him and did everything they could to make him comfortable.” Always most
solicitous of others, Pat
... spoke about his father and mother and of how heartbroken they
would be at the news of his death. He spoke of the bravery of the
men of the Column and of the great battle that morning and finally
to tell Mary Cullinan that he was thinking of her.
...Pat knew that he was dying, he asked the Whytes not to let the
Black and Tans get his body...If Pat’s body was found in the house,
severe repercussions would have followed for the Whyte family.
150
(87)
Sean Moylan, North Cork Commandant, echoed the likelihood of such reprisals:
The capture of a wanted man in any house meant imprisonment or
worse for all the male members of the household. It meant the
destruction of home and property, the unbridled licence of un-
disciplined gangsterdom. (88)
“Owing to the extent of his wounds and loss of blood, nothing could be done for him.”
Father Power administered last rites. Death came “at five o’clock that same evening”. In
a letter to Anastasia Keating Mooney, Jim Mansfield noted Pat’s last words: “goodbye
we’ll meet in heaven.”
Per his wishes, his body was moved to a field across the road.
For the Keating family
to find the body in the corner of a field was a heart breaking
experience.... Then there was the panic of not knowing what to do
with the body before the Tans arrived and took it away as they
surely would, knowing of the reward for his capture dead or alive.
(89)
The body was laid on a cart for the journey to Kilrossanty School and, for “safety
reasons,” it was decided to bury the body that night. His blood stained uniform was
removed and the body was placed in a coffin by Dr. Joe Walsh and nurse Katie Cullinan
of Kilmacthomas. On Saturday night the 19th of March, the doctor took the remains in
his car to Newtown cemetery where a grave had been dug in the Cullinan plot. However,
by Monday, news of the death and burial had reached Kilmac and it was
decided to have the body removed from Newtown and re-interred
in a ploughed field on John Power’s farm in Coumahon. This was a
quiet place and the grave would not be noticeable in a freshly
ploughed field.... The body was taken out of the coffin and Katie
Cullinan put on a habit, which had been specially made by the
sisters in the Convent of Mercy, Kilmacthomas. The body was then
taken to Coumahon and buried that same night. (90)
In the words of the poem:
When Patrick fell he was taken back
To the hills and valleys he loved so well (91)
Aftermath
Prior to the firing squad death of Hickey, there appear to have been few reprisals
151
for I.R.A. ambushes - with the notable exception of the Hampshires running amok in
Youghal after the November 1920 Piltown Cross engagement. This may very well have
been attributable to the general chivalry displayed by Lennon’s Column. Writer O’Reilly
noted that the execution of Hickey arguably resulted in the breaking of an unspoken
agreement that Crown forces in Dungarvan would abstain from reprisals.
Ballycoe House
Reprisals were undertaken near the initial I.R.A staging position, some one half mile
from the ambush, at Dunlea's of Ballycoe. The widow Dunlea and her daughters were
evicted and the soldiers then set about destroying the house and its contents. On the
walls of the partially demolished home was written:
Hickey and Redmond (sic)
Up the Buffs
Remember
God save the King
Virtually destroyed, near the ambush site, was a thatched cottage belonging to Mrs.
Morrissey. A similar fate was afforded Miss English's house at Abbeyside. (92)
Not unlike Constable Prendiville, the released Captain Thomas was, in the words of
Mick Shalloe, to prove “his untrustworthiness by burning and looting shops and houses
in Dungarvan the following night.” In tandem with the Tans the British military broke
up furniture of the Maloneys of Bridge Street, Boyles of O'Connell Street and Fuges of
Mary Street. In cases where levies had been imposed, owners escaped reprisals by
152
paying the fines. April the 12th witnessed the Tans running amok by torching Fahey's of
Abbeyside and the Strand Hotel. (93)
The ambush at the Burgery was not to go unnoticed at Dublin G.H.Q. where the release
of Captain Thomas was not viewed kindly. Pax Whelan reportedly was threatened with a
court martial for "allowing" Captain Thomas to go free after being captured.
You bloody fool, Collins said to me afterwards in Dublin. You should
not have let them go. You are a disgrace to the movement. Don’t
blame me, I said. It was the decision of George Plunkett. (94)
Whelan observed that “everyone knew George was very humane.” This was in reference
to Plunkett’s chivalrous conduct at the G.P.O., the heroism he displayed upon returning
to the ambush site and his release of Thomas based on a reported no reprisals pledge.
Cork O/C Sean Moylan referenced the unwritten policy:
No British prisoner falling into the hands of the I.R.A. anywhere
was ill-treated. Irishmen with arms in their hands captured by the
British were always executed. The British soldiers so captured had
always been freed. (95)
Dublin G.H.Q took no further action against Whelan. Sadly, the release of Thomas was
to have deadly repercussions at Kilgobnet (pp. 161-162), days prior to the 11 July 1921
Truce.
Leaving a sour taste, no doubt was when, on the 28 April 1921, “Captain Donald Victor
Thomas, the Buffs” was awarded the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) “in
recognition of gallant conduct in the performance of military duties.” The gallantry most
likely occurred at Durrow (March 3) or on the frontline during the Great War.
Reportedly, at that time, it was possible for officers to nominate themselves for the
award. Due to downsizing, he was compulsorily retired, in early 1922, from the British
Army. Leaving, it has been reported, without paying his officers mess bill. He was also
pursued by Merry’s of Dungarvan for a drinks bill of five pounds. Emigrated to South
Africa, he died there, circa 1930. (96)
In mid May, Jack O’Mara, left his rifle and revolver with the Column before he set off for
a change of clothes at his Knockboy home. He
…did not know that there was...a raiding party of troops from
Dungarvan...hidden in a graveyard opposite my house. As I entered
my home I was immediately taken prisoner...The house was
searched most carefully and a Volunteer membership card of mine
discovered. I was taken in to Dungarvan barracks, where I was
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kept for two days, during which time I was closely examined as to
my Volunteer activities.
Taken to the military barracks in Waterford, he was “examined” by an officer who
was notorious for his ill treatment of Republican prisoners. This
man hurled abuse at me for being, as he said, concerned in the
murder of a decent man, Sergeant Hickey of Dungarvan. This
blackguard, Yeo, then proceeded to beat me savagely with a stick on
the head, face, neck, back and arms. Following the beating, I was
thrown into a cell, where I had to lie on the floor on my stomach, it
being impossible for me to lie on my back because of the beating I
had received.
He was informed that he was to be held at Ballybricken gaol in anticipation of the arrival
of a military witness who would testify as to his presence at the time when Hickey was
captured and taken away to be executed. Before the witness turned up, the Truce of
11 July 1921 was signed. Some five months later at Christmas, 1921, O’Mara was
released. (97)
Killrosanty Burial
Two months after the Burgery Ambush, on the 18th of May, the body of Pat Keating was
dis-interred, at the request of the family, for burial in Kilrossanty.
Lena Keating remembered:
My father, Willie, Thomas and Michael, accompanied by members
of the Old I.R.A., Mick Mansfield, George Lennon, Ned and Paddy
Joe Power and local Volunteers took up the remains which they
carried across the Mahon river, through Crough Wood and on to
the Crough road where Fr. Sheehy C.C., Marcella, Bridget,
Margaret, my mother, Willie’s wife Mary, Tom Cunningham and
myself were waiting. (98)
The mourners reached Kilrossanty where the grave had been already prepared in a new
plot.
Fr. Sheehy blessed the coffin and led the prayers for the dead. The
grave was then covered over with gravel so that it could not be
distinguished from the surrounding gravel paths. Finally, a volley
of shots was fired over Pat Keating’s last resting place by members
of the Old I.R.A. ...The family went back home to Comeragh that
night a little happier that Pat was safely back home”(99)
The family had fulfilled the stated wish of Pat’s childhood friend, Sean Fitzgerald, to be
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"alongside” him. The two Comeragh rebels were now, in the words of Pat’s poem, joined
forever at “the village Church close by...Comeragh’s rugged hills.” (100)
Kilrossanty Republican Plot
The two month effort to maintain secrecy regarding the location of Pat's remains must
have reminded Lennon of the Kilmallock death of Liam Scully (pp. 86-87) who similarly
had secretly been buried at midnight. (101)
Grawn Ambush
As described by Mick Mansfield, the burial, however, did not signal the end of this long
ordeal:
Immediately after the interment, we got word that one of our men
belonging to the Kilmacthomas Coy. had been shot in the village.
George Lennon, Paddy Joe Power and I decided to go to
Kilmacthomas to investigate the occurrence. We travelled in a pony
trap with two Cumann na mBan girls named Cullinane (sisters)
from Kilmacthomas. Lennon, Power and myself carried rifles. (102)
Aware of a British presence in the area, four unarmed scouts on bicycles were sent
ahead. Unknown to the main party, the scouts had run into the enemy and been
155
captured. The Mansfield party approached to within two miles of Kilmacthomas near
Faha Bridge (Grawn) and
drove right into a column of British soldiers, about 200 strong, who
were advancing in file along the road from Kilmacthomas...The
military surrounded the trap with bayonets fixed and, realising our
predicament, we made a break for it. (103)
George’s application for a wound pension (27 August 1937) made it clear that
he was well aware of the price on his head and his wanted status as published
in Hue and Cry. He recalled: “I was captured with a number of others…by a
round up party of the Devon Regiment. Realizing that I would be executed as
soon as my identity was revealed I…succeeded in fighting my way through the
military.” He recalled “lying at the bottom of a ditch some time after but do not
remember how I came to the farm house some miles away where I arrived in a
dazed and shaken condition.”
Mansfield, followed by Lennon, jumped out of the trap and over a fence. Initially taking
George for a pursuer, Mansfield only narrowly avoided shooting his friend. George
sustained being “head battered with rifle butts” as he made his escape. Mick then
“clubbed a soldier with ... (his) rifle butt and made off in the darkness into a boggy field”
where he was soon up to his waist in bog-water. At that point
The soldiers seemed to be panic stricken and commenced firing
wildly in the darkness. Lennon and I waded through the bog until
we reached the railway line about 200 yards inland from the road.
Meanwhile, the soldiers tried following us through the bog, having
failed, they doubled around and up to the railway line hoping to cut
us off. However we succeeded in escaping them in the darkness.
(104)
Power was not so lucky as he “got stuck in the bog on the far side and was captured.” A
prior neck wound, sustained at Ballylynch when “he was brutally beaten up,”was
reopened. He developed a fever, which “strangely enough saved his life” as, being in
possession of a weapon under R.O.I.A, he had been sentenced to death. Execution was
reportedly avoided by being placed in a British military hospital to recuperate.
Mary Cullinane was caught in the pony and trap with a rifle hidden under her coat and
arrested along with her sister Katie, Ned Power, Willie Keating with his wife and Tom
Cunningham. Mary was sentenced to six months imprisonment and the others were
released after being held for approximately a week. (105).
With the Truce less than two months in the future, this was the last of George’s War of
156
Independence “hair breadth escapes.” Little did he realise that his next escapes would be
from native Irish soldiers of the newly constituted Free State Army. (pp. 181-183).
Seeds of Discord
In that Paddy Joe and others were being held in Paddy Paul’s East Brigade area, Lennon
in late May summoned Paul to Cutteen House, at the base of the Comeraghs, to ask
him to organise a rescue attempt. Paul promised to do what he could but noted that
“until I had examined the possibilities I could not say how we would operate.” Once he
had established “a means of communication with the prisoners inside,” the East
Waterford men were duly informed of the times allotted to the prisoners for exercise.
Based on this information, a plan was formulated to throw a rope over the prison wall at
a designated time. But “something had gone wrong on the inside” and after “having
waited a reasonable time,” the men on the outside “had to go away as...their activities in
daylight would be observed....” (106)
Paul, many years later, referred to “this incident as another example of co-operation
between the two Waterford Brigades....” Tellingly, he further commented: “Even though
it was unsuccessful, it showed that we were willing to co-operate as far as we could.”
(107)
Due in part, to the perception that Brigade #1 (East Waterford) “hasn’t done much...,”
the two Waterford Brigades were combined, as part of the First Southern Division, after
the Truce of 11 July 1921. Lismore Battalion was handed over to Cork #2 Brigade.
Retained were three West Waterford Battalions (Dungarvan, Comeragh and Ardmore)
plus three redesignated East Waterford Battalions (Waterford City, Tramore and
Dunmore East). A 7th Battalion was organized in the Nire Valley under Jack O’Mara.
The combined Brigade had a definite West Waterford leadership bias with O/C Whelan,
Vice O/C Lennon and Adjutant Phil O’Donnell. Paul was appointed Co. Waterford
Deputy I.R.A. Liaison Officer under Lennon. (108)
Earlier, in June, in accordance with Plunkett’s recommendation, (109) Lennon’s Flying
Column had been augmented by some dozen East Waterford men, including “training
officer” Paul.
In conjunction with other factors, the reorganisation, with its demotion of East Water-
ford officers, was to have repercussions when, as noted by Lennon:
Early in 1922, after the elapse of 750 years, it was our proud
privilege to enter the city with native troops and take it back for the
Irish nation. (110)
157
****************************************
1. Domnail O'Faolain, "The Struggle For Freedom In West Waterford"
(Dungarvan Lecture, 1966).
2. Letter from Paddy Paul to Florrie O’Donoghue (circa 1953).
3. Brian Coulter, "George Lennon: A Quiet Warrior," Dungarvan Leader
(5 April 1991).
4. Author’s conversation with George Lennon ( circa 1985).
5. George Lennon, Trauma in Time: An Irish Itinerary (unpublished, 1970’s), p.44.
6. The Waterford News, “The Burgery Ambush” (September 5, 1924).
7. Richard Abbott, Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 – 1922, (Dublin: Mercier Press,
2000), Foreword by Peter Hart, p. 9.
8. Ernie O’Malley, On Another Man’s Wound, (Dublin: Anvil Books, 1936), p. 162.
9. Ibid. Sean Moylan, Sean Moylan in His Own Words, (Aubane: Aubane Historical
Society, 2004). Michael Hopkinson, The Irish War of Independence (Montreal:
McGill – Queens University Press, 2002).
10. Personal correspondence of Ivan Lennon (2007).
11. Ibid. Lennon, op.cit., pp. 43, 46.
12. Moylan, op. cit. p.28.
13. Mick Mansfield Witness Statement 1188 (Rathmines: Cathal Brugha Barracks, 14
June, 1955), p.11. O’Faolain, op. cit.
14. Mansfield, op. cit. p.15.
15. Personal Correspondence of Ivan Lennon with Margo Lordan Kehoe (2007).
16. Moylan, op. cit ., p. 31.
17. George Lennon, Down by the Glen Side (unpublished, 1962), p. 50.
18. Lena Keating, “The Keatings of Comeragh” (unpublished).
19. Pax Whelan, “Pat Keating, Comeragh: A Tribute (unpublished).
20. Keating, op. cit.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid. Lennon, Trauma in Time, pp. 67 – 68.
Lennon, Down by the Glen Side, p. 27.
24. Keating, op. cit., p. 6.
25. Ibid.
26. Uinseann MacEoin, Survivors (Dublin: Argenta Publications, 1980), p. 137.
27. Ibid., p. 138.
Lennon, Trauma in Time, pp. 34 ff.
28. Ibid., p. 34.
29. MacEoin, op. cit., pp. 135 - 137.
30. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p.43.
31. Ibid.
32. Michael Shalloe Witness Statement 1241 (Rathmines: Cathal Brugha
Barracks, 31 August 1955), p. 12.
33. Ibid,. pp. 12 – 13.
34. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p. 44.
35. Edmond Keohan, Illustrated History of Dungarvan (Waterford: Waterford
News Limited, 1924), p. 32.
158
Shalloe, op. cit., p. 13.
Mansfield, op. cit., p.22.
James Prendergast Witness Statement 1655 (Rathmines: Cathal Brugha
Barracks, 24 July 1957), p. 11.
Jack O’Mara Witness Statement 1305 (Rathmines: Cathal Brugha
Barracks, 6 December 1955), p. 22.
36. Mansfield, op. cit., pp. 22 – 23.
37. Ibid.
38. Prendergast, op. cit., p. 11.
39. Mansfield, op. cit., p. 23.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Shalloe, op. cit., p. 14.
43. MacEoin, op. cit., p.138.
O’Mara, op. cit., p.5.
Mansfield, op. cit., p. 24.
Prendergast, op. cit., p. 11.
44. Mansfield, op. cit., p. 23.
45. Ibid., p. 24.
46. Ibid.
47. Shalloe, op. cit., p.14.
48. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p. 44.
49. Mansfield, op. cit., p. 25.
50. Ibid. p. 24.
O’Mara, op. cit., p. 6.
51. O’Mara, op, cit., p. 6.
52. Mansfield, op. cit., p. 24.
53. Edmond Keohan, op. cit., p. 34.
54. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p. 46.
55. Sean and Sile Murphy, The Comeraghs, Gunfire and Civil War
(Kilmacthomas: Comeragh Publications, 2003), p. 188.
56. Lennon, Down by the Glen Side, p. 49.
57. Lennon, Trauma in Time, pp. 43, 45.
58. Ibid.
59. Lennon, Down by the Glen Side, p. 49.
60. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p. 45.
61. Ibid.
62. Ibid., pp. 45 - 46.
63. Ibid.
64. Ibid.
65. Ibid.
66. Ibid.
67. Mansfield, op. cit., p.25.
68. O’Mara, op. cit., pp. 6 - 7.
69. The Waterford News, “The Burgery Ambush” (September 5, 1924).
70. Michael Walsh. “The Poet of the Comeraghs”.
71. Murphy, op. cit.,p.82.
159
Keohan, op. cit., pp. 34 – 35.
72. The Waterford News , op. cit.
73. O’Mara, op. cit., p. 7.
74. Lennon, Trauma in Time., pp. 46 – 47.
Shalloe, op. cit., p. 17.
Prendergast, op. cit., p. 12
Mansfield, op. cit., p. 25.
75. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p. 46.
76. Ibid., p.47.
77. Ibid.
78. Keohan, op. cit., p. 37.
79. The Waterford News, “Dungarvan Ambush” (Thursday, March 24, 1921).
80. Property Owners of County Waterford,
www.cmcrp.net/Waterford/Landowner1.html
(circa 1870).
81. Munster Express, “Another Day of Tension in Dungarvan” (Saturday,
March 26, 1921).
Personal correspondence of Ivan Lennon with Margo Lordan Kehoe(2007).
82. Personal correspondence with Fr. Nicholas O’Mahony (24 April 2005).
83. Personal correspondence of Ivan Lennon with Margo Lordan Kehoe (2007).
84. Murphy, op. cit., p. 189.
85. Munster Express, op. cit.
86. Keating, op. cit.
87. Ibid.
88. Moylan, op. cit., p. 83.
89. Keating, op. cit.
90. Ibid.
91. Walsh. op. cit.
92. Murphy, op. cit., pp. 91 - 92.
93. Ibid.
Shalloe, op. cit., p.14.
94. MacEoin, op. cit., p. 138.
95. Moylan, op. cit., p. 136.
96. The London Gazette, “Central Chancery of
the Orders of Knighthood” (Tuesday, the 31st of May, 1921).
97. O’Mara, op. cit., pp. 8 – 9.
98. Keating, op. cit.
99. Ibid.
100. Ibid.
101. Lennon, Trauma in Time, p. 23.
102. Mansfield, op. cit., p. 26.
103. Ibid.
104. Ibid., pp. 26 - 27.
Murphy, op. cit., p. 103.
105. Mansfield, op. cit., p. 27.
Murphy, op. cit., p. 103.
106. Paddy Paul Witness Statement 877 (Rathmines: Cathal Brugha
160
Barracks, 13 July 1953), pp. 30 – 31.
107. Ibid., p. 32.
108. Murphy, op. cit., pp. 105 – 106.
O’Malley, op. cit., p. 212.
109. Lennon, Trauma in Time., p. 47.
110. Ibid., pp. 50 – 53.
Murphy, op. cit., p. 106.
St. Mary’s Unmonumented Hickey Gravesite
161
CHAPTER XII
FINAL MONTHS (1921)
Ballyvoyle/Ballylynch, Co. Waterford
A measure of recognition for the Deise Flying Column was to occur when Harry Boland,
Dail special envoy to the United States, speaking to the American Association for the
Recognition of the Irish Republic (A.A.R.I.R.), referred to this engagement as being
indicative of the effectiveness of the guerrilla campaign.
On the morning of the 29th of April, returning from a meeting the day before with
Paddy Paul, Lennon and Mickey Morrissey learned that a troop train would be travelling
at 11 A. M. from Waterford towards Dungarvan and Fermoy. Joining up with Michael
Cummins, they took up positions on high ground overlooking the railway line at
Ballyvoyle.
As the train approached from the northeast it was seen that it contained British
troops in the carriages. The train was fired upon with automatic pistols but did not stop.
Anticipating the return of the train sometime around 4:30 P.M., a proper ambush was
planned at the Ballylynch level crossing, some three miles to the north, beyond Durrow.
On their way, the men were joined by brothers Ned Power and Paddy Joe (Glen,
Stradbally), brothers Michael and Thomas Walsh, Jack Harris also from Stradbally
and Billy Gough, all armed with rifles and shotguns.
Michael Cummins elaborated in his 1950’s statement:
On reaching Ballynch level crossing, George Lennon split the party
in two on the east and west sides of the railway line. He placed
myself and Billy Gough about 150 yards on the level crossing on the
162
north side of the railway. We closed the gates at the level crossing
and tied on a red flag to stop any train coming along and lay
concealed in ambush.
Cummins recollected that, unknown to the I.R.A., the Buffs had come out from
Dungarvan after having heard of the earlier attempt on the train at Ballyvoyle. Crossing
country they boarded a train at Durrow and were proceeding northeast towards
Waterford. Therefore, the train that was about to be attacked was arriving "early in the
afternoon" and not at the anticipated time of 4:30 P.M.
Before the train had actually reached the level crossing gates some
of our lads fired on soldiers who were on the coal box at the engine.
One of the Tommies was wounded, his rifle dropping from his
grasp. The train came to a halt at the gates and fire was opened by
our lads on the far side of the train to where I was. Most of the
soldiers got out of the carriages and took cover under them on the
side of the train nearest to me.
The ensuing conflict lasted for about an hour at which point the I.R.A. was forced to
withdraw, as at Durrow and elsewhere, for want of ammunition. Not having heard the
whistle blast given by the O/C as the signal to retreat, Cummins remained at his position
for another five minutes before he “had a feeling that our lads had pulled out as the
shooting had stopped.” Making cross-country to nearby Lemybrien, he eventually met
up with the men near Kilrossanty at the foot of the Comeraghs.
The I.R.A. Engagement Report noted that "at least two of the enemy were killed and six
seriously wounded.” For the I.R.A., Paddy Joe Power suffered the neck wound, which
was to re-open, less than three weeks later, when his party was ambushed returning
from the Keating burial ceremony at Kilrossanty.
Another attack on the Buffs in the area of the Duke’s Line between Durrow and
Ballyvoyle was scheduled for Sunday the 5th of June when an ambush of a cycling
column was planned at Kilminnion, near Durrow. Hearing that the Buffs, instead, were
taking the coast road to Ballyvoyle and Dungarvan, the I.R.A., under Tom Keating, Pat's
brother, hurriedly made their way to Ballyvoyle. As they were taking up their positions,
they were spotted and John Cummins of Balllyvoyle was fatally shot on the railway
embankment. He was the last Deise Volunteer to die in the War of Independence.
An ensuing gun battle lasted about one half hour and two Volunteers were injured
including John Mansfield of Kilmacthomas who suffered a facial injury. The I.R.A.
Engagement Report report noted nine enemy wounded.
163
Brigade Reorganisation, Co. Waterford
The Deise Brigade (Waterford No. 2) was far more active than its eastern counterpart
(Waterford No. 1) in terms of the number of engagements with R.I.C., Black and Tan
and British military forces. On a practical level, the western part of the county had the
suitable terrain, the leadership, the manpower and was willing to take the initiative in
securing arms.
The “fiasco," in Mick Mansfield's word, of the combined East Waterford-West Waterford
ambush at Pickardstown on 3 January 1921 served to fuel criticism of East Waterford
O/C Paul. There was an innate suspicion of returned British soldiers such as he and
Cork’s Tom Barry. Further criticism alluded to a rumour that Paul had voted for Willie
Redmond, the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate in the 1918 Waterford by-election.
Paul denied this, noting in his BMH witness statement that when he was in the British
Army his parents “indicated their sympathy for the Sinn Fein movement which they
supported to the end. Later they instructed me how to register my vote in the 1918
election for the Sinn Fein candidate, Dr. White.”
For his part, Paul claimed that he had never wanted the job and that
All I did was to try and make an inactive Brigade become active
and eliminate those who tried to impede or hold up operations.
There was also a certain amount of jealousy to overcome.
What Lennon viewed as "the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Waterford No. 1 Brigade"
was reflected at Dublin G.H.Q., which attributed the reason for the inactivity to a lack of
leadership. Also, according to the journal of the I.R.A., An t-Oglach, there were too
many Volunteer "slackers" who "share in the reflected glory of achievements elsewhere,
while themselves neglecting to do their own share of work."
This point of view was shared by the officers of the newly organised First Southern
Division (Cork, Kerry, Waterford and West Limerick). Attempts were reportedly made
by Sean Hyde and others to sort out the matter.
The 28 April 1921 meeting, likely at Cutteen House, between Lennon and Paul had dealt
with possible further cooperation between the two Waterford Brigades. Earlier, Lennon
and Pat Keating had consulted with the East Waterford O/C regarding joint operations
at Bunmahon Coastguard Station (August 1920) and the Kill R.I.C. Barracks attack (18
September 1920).
Liam Lynch, called a 7 May 1921 meeting in Glenville, west of Fermoy. The final
appointment of officers and staff of the newly formed First Southern Division were
made at this time. Each Brigade representative outlined his own situation with all
emphasizing the lack of arms and the need to capture ammunition supplies from the
enemy. Failing this, Paul noted that "we had no hope of continuing operations.”
164
The late May meeting at Cutteen House with Paul, in addition to discussing the
Ballybricken Prison rescue of prisoners seized 19 May at Grawn, initiated steps to
establish a Flying Column in East Waterford. Paul
hoped to have a few little fights in which the Column would become
seasoned...Both because of the smallness of our numbers and the
unsuitability of the terrain in the East Waterford Brigade area, I
felt it would be unsuitable to carry out any operations on our own
at first and therefore I made contact with George Lennon.... I
proposed that we should join forces with the West Waterford
Column and that together we might pull off something worthwhile.
Paddy Paul
Reportedly, at this time there was also a mutiny in which Paul was briefly deposed.
Richard Malcahy (I.R.A. Chief of Staff) and Liam Lynch then sacked Jim Power and
Micheal Bishop while reinstating Paul. In the words of writer historian Terence O'Reilly:
In fairness to Paul...nothing happened in East Waterford before he
took over and very little happened after he left to join the column.
On the 5th of June 1921, Lynch, as Commandant, First Southern Division, came out
from Fermoy to Currabaha, near Kilmacthomas. At a meeting with the West Waterford
officers, arrangements were made to meet the East Waterford leaders at Ballylaneen.
Darkness fell while the officers awaited the East Waterford Officers. Brigade O/C
Whelan and Lynch took watches. Never had such high-ranking officers done sentry
duty, according to writer Sean Murphy.
Arriving the next day, the East Waterford men were "grilled and questioned.” The
decision, announced some time later, was that Waterford #1 was to be incorporated into
one Waterford Brigade under Commandant Pax Whelan. The amalgamation would
quickly increase the manpower of the West Waterford Flying Column to more than forty
men at the time of the July Truce. August was the most likely anticipated date for full
Brigade implementation.
165
Per George Plunkett's recommendation, made subsequent to the mid March Burgery
engagement, “operational command” of the men on active service, subject to Divisional
Commandant Lynch and Brigade O/C Whelan, was to be in the hands of George
Lennon, Brigade Vice O/C.
The highest officers of the reconstituted Brigade reflected a Dungarvan bias with
Whelan, Lennon and Adjutant Phil O'Donnell. Whelan had the unenviable task of
removing and demoting some of the officers in the new seven-battalion Brigade. Paddy
Paul was relegated to the position of "training officer." The former East Waterford
Adjutant was appointed "Intelligence Officer” and the East Waterford "Quartermaster”
moved over to the same position in the combined Brigade.
The operational area of the original two Brigades was modified with the single Water-
ford Brigade. Paul noted that "part of what had been the West Waterford area, Lismore-
Ballymore (sic) Upper District” (likely Ballyduff Upper, just north of Lismore) went in
with one of the Cork areas, and “part of County Waterford also went into the South
Tipperary area."
While amalgamation of the Deise Flying Column with what there was of an operational
column in East Waterford effectively took place before the early July engagement at
Cappagh train station, Paul noted that Brigade "reorganisation...in fact, took effect
after the Truce."
Another point I would like to make clear...is the temporary nature
of the amalgamation.... It has been stated since... that at the time of
the Truce there was only one Column in existence in Waterford.
This statement is based upon the fact that the two Columns were
acting as one in the training camp I have referred to, and thus was
not intended to be a permanent arrangement but only for the
purpose of training and giving some confidence to the men.
He optimistically anticipated that "as soon as arms were available... each would act on
its own within its own area."
Cappagh Station, Co. Waterford
The newly reorganised Column, while stationed at Comeragh in late June, received, via
Cappoquin intelligence officer Thomas Lincoln, information that a Waterford bound
train from Fermoy would be conveying British forces. It was decided to ambush the
train at Cappagh station, situated some six miles northwest of Dungarvan on the main
Dungarvan - Cappoquin road. This was same Duke’s Line train station from which
George had eluded capture in March thanks to the “beneficence” of R.I.C. Constable
Neery (pp.119-120). Per Mick Mansfield:
The night previous, I was engaged laying mines on the roads in the
neighbourhood of Cappagh. I remember we were at this work all
166
night; the purpose being to prevent British reinforcements coming
up from Fermoy or Dungarvan while the ambush was proceeding.
All the men on the Column together with some men from the local
company were engaged. There were upwards of thirty men or
perhaps more. This included scouts and those on outpost duty a
distance from the ambush position.
The men travelled to Cappagh around 6:30 on the morning of the 4th of July 1921. The
attackers were "divided into two groups in position on high ground on both sides of the
station and within about 50 to 80 yards of the railway line." Paddy Paul noted, that
while getting into position to remove the rails, a pilot train, travelling ahead of the troop
train to ensure that the tracks were intact, made an appearance. Paul maintained that it
crashed through the gates at the level crossing although the I.R.A. Engagement Report
stated that "the pilot engine was allowed through...." No mention was made of a first
train by either Mick Shalloe or Mansfield.
In any event, the signals were put against the troop train and the crossing gates closed.
The Mansfield and Shalloe accounts were in agreement that, at the appointed time, the
train pulled into Cappagh, stopped, and was attacked by heavy rifle and shotgun fire.
Firing continued for some ten to perhaps fifteen minutes at which point the train
crashed the gates and moved off in the direction of Waterford. Paul, however, disputed
this, stating that while fire was exchanged, "the train did not stop."
This was to prove to be the final ambush in West Waterford prior to the Truce of 11 July
1921.
Kilgobnet, Co. Waterford
Optimism prevailed among the men on active service during an exceptionally pleasant
May, June and July of 1921. While the "arms situation was by no means good," Lennon
felt there were encouraging signs "that at last this was going to be rectified." In fact,
Dublin's Robert Briscoe (later Lord Mayor) had visited Kilmacthomas on the 9th of June
with regard to the landing of arms along the coast. Hopefully, premature withdrawals
from engagements for lack of arms and ammunition, as had been the case at Ardmore,
Durrow and Ballylynch, would prove to be a thing of the past.
The Column, augmented by the twelve riflemen from East Waterford, turned northward
to their retreat on the south slope of the Knockmealdowns in the Ballinamult area. In
that area a column of perhaps one hundred British soldiers was observed by Paddy Paul
to be “moving toward our area in battle order” with what looked to be an eighteen-
pound field gun. Being more than double the number of the I.R.A. Column and
possessing superior armament, an engagement was out of the question. To have
attacked their rear was also “out of consideration” in that “other garrisons of military,
police and Black and Tans were moving along the surrounding roads, acting as flank
guards and scouts....”
Lennon noted “we had just missed them coming through the Lickey position where we
167
would have had a decided advantage” but to engage them now, would have been
foolhardy in light of the “open country” nature of the terrain. His “well disciplined force
of forty two men,” in Lennon’s view, was not unlike
Indians on the trail of covered wagons... As we had no sleep for two
days running we let our enemies go and moved for rest to a place …
at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains,
Plans were drawn up for the Column to directly engage a bicycle contingent of the West
Kent Buffs near Cappagh.
Visiting Lennon in the Colligan Wood area, Jim Kirwan was questioned as to the
trenching of the area roads to impede the British military and Tans. Kirwan explain
that they indeed were trenched but, at Kilgobnet, one had been partially filled in to allow
for passage of a funeral cortege. Lennon ordered Kirwan to retrench, not knowing that
British forces, under the command of Captain Thomas, earlier released by Plunkett at
the Burgery, had buried explosives at the site.
Accordingly, Kirwan directed Jack Power of Ballymacmague to execute the order.
Gathering a party of local civilians, he set out to do the job. As the Brigade staff was
moving over to Cappagh, they heard, at dawn, a large explosion from the Colligan side.
Going to investigate they encountered the grim aftermath of the booby trap mine. Three
men had been killed outright, three died shortly afterwards and three were badly
injured.
168
Kilgobnet Memorial
Two days later on 11 July 1921, "a dispatch carrier came running across the fields waving
a paper. Quite unexpectedly a Truce had been declared."
There would be no ambush of the Buffs
The Truce
The Column was likely billeted in the Ballynamult/Sleady Castle area (some miles north
of Pat and Gertie Ormond’s present day Kilcannon House B and B) when the news of the
Truce was received. Lennon’s memoir specifically noted “a place called Collagortuide
(the place of the yellow fields) at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains.” Waiting
for a car to pick him up on 12 July at Sleady he noted being “overcome with sadness”
unable to “shake off a dread premonition” in that “everything had seemed to be going
exceptionally well recently.”
The news came "came like a bolt from the blue" to men who were resentful of the fact
that Dublin G.H.Q. had failed to consult with them. Moreover, it was the American born
169
de Valera, a "marginal figure during much of the war,” who had led the negotiating team
to London in July and it was Dev’s advocacy of the May 1921 Customs House attack that
resulted in the decimation of the Dublin Brigade leading some in Dublin G.H.Q. to
conclude that the guerrilla struggle, suffering from a lack of firepower, was not
sustainable. Others such as Cathal Brugha believing, as was later confirmed by French
and American experience in Indo-China, that a guerrilla force can be ultimately
successful in winning the war without winning the battles
Many skeptical Republicans were all too aware of England's duplicity with the 1691
Treaty of Limerick, the passing of the 1800 Act of Union and the most recent “perfidy”
of a Home Rule Bill which had passed both Houses of Parliament and been placed in the
statute book.
In Munster, a meeting of the Irish Republican Brotherhood was held in Cork. It was
attended by the three highest-ranking Deise Brigade Officers: Whelan, Lennon and
Mansfield. In Mick Mansfield's words "they were convinced there was a sellout.” Lennon
commented: “was it by deliberation or through incompetence that our G.H.Q. had failed
to arm the Volunteers?”
According to Liam Deasy, in Cork the news of the Truce
was received in silence. There was no enthusiasm. The feeling
seemed to be that this was the end of an epoch and that things
would never be the same again...My personal feeling was one of
disappointment and I must admit I foresaw defeat and trouble
ahead.
In Waterford, Lennon observed:
How good it was that the sun shone (it had been a wonderful
summer), that peace reigned and that the people were working
happily in the fields -- yet, something indefinable had gone away
forever.
He wondered, "if accepting a premature truce was not a grave error."
With no let up in hostilities our political leaders could have
negotiated from a position of strength. Bargaining from a position
of weakness they would have to accept the best terms they could
get. At no other time in our unhappy history had things seemed to
be going so well. The people were all with us as we were with our
people and we had the enemy apparently on the run.
I was moving about with a well-disciplined force of forty-two men.
Our enemies had retreated into the towns and they were now only
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venturing out in large mobile columns complete with mounted
officers and a field kitchen... British intelligence ... was convinced
that all the hills were crawling with insurgents.
Regardless of the wisdom of the Truce, it benefitted the general populace who were able
to return to a normal life as much as possible. The I.R.A., however, could not let its
guard down in the event of a breakdown of the peace.
To keep the men on the ready, the men were brought into training camps including
locales at Aglish, Kilmacthomas and an officers' camp at Comeragh. Former British
soldier Paddy Paul, as the training officer for Whelan's Waterford Brigade, conducted a
course for the men at Graiguerush near the Comeragh Mountains.
Also under Paul's command was a force at Ballinacourty. Sonny Cullinan of Abbeyside
was serving on guard duty one night when he heard Paul approaching. He called for him
to identify himself and to raise his hands above his head. Paul ignored the request and
Cullinan fired a shot over the former O/C's head. Furious, Paul charged him, Tom
Mooney of Ardmore and Sean Riordan with attempted murder. Reportedly, Riordan
was so angry "he would have killed Paul," who, in Cullinan's estimation, for a small man
was "too big in himself." Cullinan, Mooney, and Riordan were sent to Fermoy “to wait
the outcome of the charge....”
Through the intercession of Pax Whelan, the matter was resolved. This incident, in
combination with the ill feeling created by the merging of the two Waterford Brigades
with its demoting of East Waterford officers, plus the Redmondite presence in
Waterford City with its numerous “separation women,” did not auger well for comity in
post Truce County Waterford.
With an inactive Column in camps, George was appointed County Waterford I.R.A.
Liaison Officer billeted at Dungarvan’s Devonshire Arms Hotel. He bore responsibility
for the ensuing occupation of abandoned R.I.C., Tan and British barracks. For the first
time he was to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred. Serving as his deputy was
deposed East Waterford O/C Paddy Paul with whom he maintained a cordial
relationship.
CHAPTER XIII
END OF THE ROAD (12 July 1921-1923)
What Frank O'Connor referred to, as that “perfect summer” of 1921 was a wonderful
time to be a young I.R.A. man. As historian Peter Hart observed:
You were saluted and cheered in the streets, work could be put to
one side, dances were held in your honour, and your word held
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apparently undisputed sway in your part of the world...A few
dedicated men had indeed changed history.
In west County Waterford, the men came down from their billet in the Sleady Castle
area. Mick Shalloe noted a relaxing of discipline when the Volunteers "were allowed into
the town and to dances and such like, without much restraint."
Their former minority physical force position no longer viewed as “political heresy,” the
men found “victory has a thousand fathers…” as accolades and complimentary drinks
ensued. It was at this time that “other Irishmen sought to bask in the "reflected glory" of
the few. Having been “conspicuous by their absence in the struggle, they now found it
expedient to belatedly join in support of the revolutionary movement” as "Post Truce
Republicans,” derisively dismissed by many as "Trucileers."
There were clouds on the horizon during the period from 12 July 1921 to the acceptance
of the Treaty on 7 January 1922. Revolutionary firebrand and elected Dail member from
County Waterford, Cathal Brugha, echoing Lennon’s sentiments, argued vehemently
against the Truce and against sending a delegation to London observing that "you don't
go into your enemy's house looking for a fair settlement." If talks were to be held at all,
he maintained, they should be at a neutral site, such as Paris, which would indicate the
sovereign status of the Irish Government, under the Dail, to the rest of the world.
Brugha refused to go to London as a "plenipotentiary.”
Sent to London were Mick Collins, Arthur Griffith, George Gavan Duffy, Robert Barton
and Eamon Duggan. Notably absent was Eamon de Valera, labeled the “cute hoor” by
Collins.
Instructions were given to the delegates that any decisions on a treaty had to be referred
to Dublin for ratification. Lloyd George and Winston Churchill reportedly told the
delegates to sign the treaty or be responsible for "immediate and terrible war." Faced
with the ultimatum, the treaty was signed, without recourse to Dublin, on 6 December
1921. Collins observed that he had just signed his death warrant. For a month the
national political stage was dominated, both in and out of the Dail, by a spirited debate
over the Anglo- Irish Treaty. Surprisingly, scant discussion was accorded the matter of
the 1920 established Northern statelet composed of six of the nine Ulster Counties.
Cheekpoint/Ballinagoul: Arms Landings
In light of the constant complaint of Active Service Units regarding the lack of arms, a
Dublin meeting had been held in July of 1920 with attendees including Liam Lynch, Pax
Whelan, Liam Deasy, Mick Collins, Dick Mulcahy, Rory O'Connor and Cathal Brugha.
Negotiations were undertaken to purchase a shipload of arms on the Continent and a
landing site was to be selected on the West Cork coast. A December meeting was held at
Barry's Hotel, Dublin to arrange for the importation.
Subsequent to the Liam Lynch called meeting at Glenville on 7 May 1921, Florrie
O'Donoghue, in a letter to Paddy Paul, mentioned Pax Whelan attending an earlier
Meeting “at G.H.Q. which concerned the changing of the landing place in West Cork to
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Helvick."
Pax cited the G. H.Q. meeting, attended by Cathal Brugha, Mick Collins, Rory O'Connor,
Sean MacMahon, Liam Lynch, Liam Mellows and others, at
... a house on the quays about February 1921.... I pointed out to
Liam Lynch that any landings around the west coast were always
failures. Once you round Lands End, if you make a straight line
across, you strike Waterford. You have a good chance of avoiding
the naval patrols, which do not enter close to the Waterford coast.
Also in favour of a Deise landing was the fact that Waterford had yet to attract an
overwhelming British military or Auxiliary response.
Robert Briscoe and Sean MacBride made arrangements in Bremerhaven for a shipment
of arms on the Anita to land off Helvick Head early in the summer of 1921. MacBride
duly brought instructions about meeting the vessel, under the command of Charles
("Nomad") McGuinness, to Pax Whelan. These plans were negated for obscure reasons
perhaps due to sabotage by British intelligence or, others maintain, by Collins having
become preoccupied with the possibility of a truce. Whatever the reason, the Anita was
confiscated by the Allied Reparations Commission. Captain McGuinness was arrested
and let off with a small fine of 2000 marks or about ten pounds.
McGuinness then acquired, in his own words, "the sturdy tug Frieda, a larger craft than
the Anita, and much better suited to the rigours of the North Sea and the English
Channel." He stated a cargo of "1,500 rifles, 2,000 Lugar Parabellums, and 1,700,000
rounds of ammunition."
McGuinness noted a Helvick, Ring arrival of Saturday the 12th while Pax said that the
"Frieda arrived here off Helvick on November 11, 1921. There was a fog at Helvick, so
she moved … up the Suir…." In Pax's words,"at Cheekpoint...we unloaded most of the
cargo.” He made no mention of returning to Helvick, to unload the balance of the cargo.
Jim Mansfield in his BMH statement noted simply "the vessel did not put in at Helvick."
His brother Mick corroborated this stating "guns were landed at Cheekpoint, Co
Waterford, and were brought by us to dumps in the Comeragh Mountains."
Confirming the above Volunteer statements is the death bed declaration, certified to its
veracity by author Nicholas Whittle, of Dr. White, the losing 1918 Sinn Fein candidate
against Willie Redmond. The Doctor stated that McGuinness had contacted him in
"that shortage of food and water had compelled him to run for Waterford Harbour.... off
the Island in the Suir." After rushing off "to attend the last mass of the day," White
returned to his home where he awakened the sleeping McGuinness and the two then
"glided down the river in the darkness..." and, upon reaching "the Island ... a few
moments later... were hauled aboard the Freida” (sic) where
the night's work for us began in earnest...and the entire cargo (italics
added) was gradually carried off until the Freida (sic) was left with an
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empty hold. As I watched the last lorry climb up the hill with its
precious load, destined for the Comeragh hideouts, I was a satisfied
and happy man.
George Lennon simply stated in his pension application that he was involved in "gun
running operations terminating at Cheekpoint." No mention was made of McGuinness.
Later, correspondences between Lennon and McGuinness (pp.193-194) are to be found
in the "Una Troy Collection" at the National Library in Dublin. The peripatetic
McGuinness, at the time of the letters (1931-1932), had transported himself to the Port
of Leningrad where as an “Inspector” he was involved with "introducing, where
necessary, foreign and modern methods to speed up dispatch."
In Survivors, O/C Whelan mentioned that, after the off loading, the Frieda needed
repairs, which were done on the spot. Per Pax, the boat then moved to Boatstrand just
west of Annestown on the East Waterford coast. McGuinness, in his autobiography,
however, noted another locale further to the west when he
...steamed down the river (Suir) and round the coast to the little
village of Bunmahon. There was a small stone pier extending
seaward from the shore, and under the lee of this we made the
restless Frieda fast.
McGuinness then set out, in a commandeered motorcar, to sell the craft to a Captain
Collins from Cork. This occasioned, in Pax's words,
a bit of a hullaballoo because they were both missing for a few days
and his wife wondered where he had got to. This was not
surprising, because McGuinness was a hard man for the drink, and
once he came ashore he usually buried himself in some tavern.
Arriving in Cork, McGuinness commented that he
painted a beautiful picture of the Frieda. Her speed, sea worthiness,
rugged strength, even her attractive appearance were laid on the
canvas of my imagination in generous daubs. This nautical
treasure I would sacrifice for a mere thousand pounds. (I had paid
five hundred for her a month previous!).
The “ancient mariner" Collins from Cork agreed to accompany him to Dungarvan "to
inspect and purchase the vessel."
At this point in time, there is the slim chance that the Frieda was brought in
to Ballinagoul, Ring Harbour to off load any possible remaining armaments. However,
the witness statements of the participants filed at the Bureau of Military History
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contradict this. A plaque, installed in 2006 at Ballinagoul Harbour, erroneously notes
the November offloading of the cargo at that locale. There is the possibility that it was
moored there days after Cheekpoint simply to be inspected by the prospective owner;
resulting in the false report of an arms landing
At the Devonshire Arms Hotel in Dungarvan, Paddy Paul "was called on to witness the
signatures of Collins and McGuinness to a deed of sale...." Also present were Liam
Mellows and Robert Briscoe when McGuinness, never loath to toot his own horn,
received a cheque for one thousand pounds and without a regret
washed my hands of the Frieda. And so ended happily an incident
which might have proved extremely awkward for the Irish envoys
negotiating with Lloyd George in Downing Street....
It was then that I conceived the idea of inaugurating an Irish
mercantile marine to render us independent of foreign shipping.
Liam Mellowes (sic) gave me, for my own personal use, the
thousand pounds I had received for the Frieda. I therefore paid the
sum over as deposit in the purchase of the S.S. City of Dortmund,
the vessel I selected as pioneer of the Irish Merchant Navy.
Pax commented that the deal with the Frieda
"worked so well that MacBride and McGuinness
immediately decided they would go back
again, buy another boat and bring it over...;" It
was renamed the Hannah, reportedly in
honour of the mother of the Mansfield brothers of nearby Old Parish.
McGuinness reported "after the voyage of the Frieda, I got in touch with my German
agent for the shipment of a second cargo of munitions. The purchase was not difficult."
The ship was loaded with ballast of barrels of cement plus five hundred pistols, two
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hundred rifles and some one million rounds of ammunition. The owner, according to
the customs docket, was one "P. Whelan" of Dungarvan.
McGuinness remarked that "all went well and we brought her into Ballinagoul (Ring) on
2nd April 1922." Representing the 1st Southern Division, I.R.A. to receive the cargo was
Dick Barrett (executed by the Free State on 8 December 1922). This was the largest
military shipment ever to reach the I.R.A. The arms were transferred to a squadron of
small vans bearing Derry and Tyrone licence plates. Pax lamented
Had we been preparing for a civil war we would have held them
here. Not a gun remained with us.... While our future enemy was
being armed to the teeth by the British, we were divesting ourselves
of hard-needed weapons.
Such a movement of arms was part of a larger strategy supported by Michael Collins,
Frank Aiken and other Northern I.R.A. leaders. It was felt that a civil war in the south
could be forestalled by mobilising the I.R.A. against the fledgling Northern Ireland
State. Reportedly, a full-scale campaign in the North was planned for 19 May 1922.
Accordingly, a series of attacks were carried out in mid and west Ulster. For reasons that
remain unclear, Aiken's division centred in Armagh, Louth and Down, took no action.
However, on the night of 17 June 1922, his division allegedly was involved in a reprisal
killing in which six Protestants were killed in Altnaveigh.
Dunkitt, Co. Kilkenny: Arms Seizure
Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Black and Tans, R.I.C. and the British
military were to evacuate all posts held by them. In late February, or the first days of
March of 1922, word reached Dungarvan, likely from a friendly Tan, that a Waterford
City convoy was proceeding to Gormanstown, County Meath for disbandment. A
meeting was held in the Dungarvan Town Hall on St. Augustine Street and plans were
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discussed to hold up the convoy just north of the River Suir in County Kilkenny.
According to Moses Roche the men were
given details of what was to be done and told that on no account
were shots to be fired, as it was expected that the job could be
carried out without incident, according to what the friendly Black
and Tan told us. Besides the Truce was on and no shooting was the
order of the day.
Informed by Lennon that Liam Lynch, O/C First Southern Division, was willing to take
by force "any arms they could get hold of." Training Officer Paul, perhaps typically,
sounded a cautionary note regarding
the difficulties surrounding such an undertaking. First of all it
would be a breach of the Truce and, if the R.I.C. resisted and
someone got killed or wounded, there was liable to be a very
awkward situation created.... Another point was that, as the British
military were still in occupation of Waterford City, the operation
would have to be conducted well away from there.
Although an “unofficial” undertaking, the possibility of seizing a large cache of weaponry
was considered to be an opportunity "not to be missed." Transportation was a problem
until Nipper McCarthy mentioned the existence of a van parked at the back of a
Dungarvan hotel where the driver was staying. Upon seizure of the vehicle, Michael
Cummins noted that George Lennon gathered, "about ten of us" and proceeded
northeastward to the appointed place at Dunkitt where a barricade was erected, some
two to three miles from Waterford on the main Waterford- Kilkenny road.
The convoy from Waterford City stopped at the barricade and, encouraged by a Tan who
yelled "stop boys, they are too many for us," they readily surrendered. In all likelihood,
this was the same Tan who had reportedly tipped off the Volunteers. The Black and Tans
and R.I.C. were then taken across Fiddown Bridge to Portlaw. Paul observed:
As the Tans were inclined to be friendly at this stage… we were
quite friendly with them... and they did not want any trouble
either. We stood them several glasses of whiskey before we sent
them off in the (commandeered) truck.
According to Roche, at the previously seized Portlaw Barracks,"all the enemy cars were
manned by our own drivers and driven up to Comeragh in the mountains where the
captured stuff was carefully hidden." Seized was a Lancia armoured car, three "Crossley
Tenders with cases of ammunition, rifles, machine guns, revolvers and grenades."
The Treaty/Barracks Seized
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In early January 1922 George met, at Vaughan’s Hotel, Dublin (29 Parnell Square West),
Liam Lynch and Kerryman Charlie Daly (pp. 80, 186), the former O/C Wing No. 10 at
Cork Male Prison where the two were incarcerated in April-May 1919. Along with a third
man, noted simply as “Fitz,” they were present at the Mansion House when the Dail
voted, 64 to 57 on 7 January, to accept the Treaty. In his memoir George remarked: “the
four of us are silent and depressed;” a sentiment shared by most of the members of the
Deise Column.
In the first months of 1922 R.I.C. and British military installations throughout the
country were being taken over by both the Free State Government under Mick
Collins and the I.R.A. anti-Treatyites. In County Waterford, this responsibility fell to
George Lennon as I.R.A. Liaison Officer. His assistant, Paddy Paul, had
the responsibility of "the training of what we called maintenance parties, to be fit and
capable of taking over the various installations, barracks and the like from the British...."
Tans Leaving Dungarvan
In early January of 1922, the first Waterford barracks to be taken over was at Portlaw.
Moses Roche and a party of men from the 2nd battalion area accomplished this. Jim
Prendergast, accompanied by an I.R.A. contingent, took over the Ballinacourty Coast
Guard station.
With respect to the Cappoquin Barracks, there was a particularly contentious
relationship between the Dungarvan I.R.A. and the R.I.C./Tan garrison. As previously
discussed in Chapter X, Dungarvan men were sent, in November 1920 and June 1921, to
deal with the matter of a Tan whom the local Volunteers were seemingly reluctant to
confront. Killed in November were Constables Rea and Quirk(e). Joseph Duddy, a Tan
from Armagh stationed in Cappoquin, was killed at nearby Scartacrooks on 3 March
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1921
Therefore, when Volunteers under Paddy Lynch and George Lennon took over the
Cappoquin facility, they proceeded most warily for fear that the barracks may have been
booby trapped in reprisal for the deaths of the three men.
By early March, both the Black and Tans and British military were no longer in the
Dungarvan area and the local barracks was occupied solely by the sixty-five men of the
R.I.C. under the command of Great War veteran Captain Sheehan. On the 4th of March
the policemen walked through the town to take the Waterford train. A few hours later,
the men of the Deise Brigade, under Mick Mansfield, entered the Dungarvan Castle
Barracks and, for the first time in history, flew the Irish tricolour over the ancient
fortress.
Mick Mansfield (left front)/I.R.A. at Dungarvan Barracks
To the east of the Deise, in the city of Waterford, the Devonshire Regiment (the Devons)
marched down to the quay and boarded a ship opposite Reginald's Tower. The
significance of this historic event, per a Munster Express retrospective many years later,
"was lost on the ordinary citizen. There were no crowds, no flag-waving - everything
proceeded in a normal manner."
The vehicles just seized at the nearby Dunkitt ambush were used to convey the I.R.A.
into the city. Also possessed was a “Buick touring car” driven by the “young and small in
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stature” Nipper McCarthy. George noted being seated “in the back of the car, with my
driver and my batman in front. I must have looked like a twenty-one year old brass-hat
and if at this tender age I had a mild case of swelled head who would blame me.”
The Military Barracks was handed over on 9 March. Lennon was to note the historic
significance of this act in that “after the elapse of 750 years it was our proud privilege to
enter the city with native troops and take it back for the Irish nation.”
With 82 men in “our maintenance party” he "became a kind of military governor,
without the benefit of any civil advice or instruction." This was corroborated by Eoin
Neeson (Civil War in Ireland) who took the position that when the I.R.A."took up the
threads of military administration they completely overlooked those of civil
administration and it was this, which led to their downfall. If they had wooed public
support instead of flaunting it, the outcome of the war might have been affected.”
Waterford Barracks: George Lennon (rear), Moses Roche, Jim “Pender” and Paddy Power
How successful they would have being in wooing public support was problematic in
light of the reality of the political situation in Waterford. Hostility towards the I.R.A. was
reminiscent of the earlier animosity directed at Sinn Fein in the two elections of 1918 in
which Willie Redmond, the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate, was elected.
In May, former East Waterford O/C Paddy Paul was sent down from Dublin to take
command of the Waterford area in the name of the Free State. Arriving alone, he was
promptly arrested. In protest, he went on hunger strike and, after ten days of hunger
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strike and three of thirst, was moved to the county infirmary for medical attention. Two
supporters of the Treaty from Cumann na mBan, with the approval of Monsignor
Kearney, Dean of Waterford, were provided with complete nun's outfits. Donning the
habits they visited the infirmary and made their way to Paul's room. The door
was locked and Paul exchanged clothing with one of the women. With the other "nun" as
a companion he made his escape, reportedly blessing the guard at the door, to a waiting
car, which took him to New Ross and, ultimately, the pro-Treaty stronghold of Kilkenny.
The Murphys stated in their 2003 book that "the influence of the Redmondites was so
strong that the I.R.A. had great difficulty in policing the streets.” Sonny Cullinan
observed that “the locals hated us” and when the men went to play football in Walsh
Park, “the old women would hiss and boo us.” No doubt included in this group were the
“Ballybricken crowd” and family with ties to the British military, including recipients
of military payments (“separation women”).
Lennon reported a "number of trying incidents" for which guerrilla fighters are ill
equipped to deal. For the I.R.A., attempting a police function, in the face of a non-
receptive populace, was proving as futile, as had been the Irish Constabulary’s earlier
un-popular attempts to act as a military surrogate for the British.
Situations, as described by Lennon, also involved I.R.A. “Irregulars” themselves:
Towards the end of our occupation...our own side... presented the
manager of the Bank of Ireland with a demand that nearly gave the
poor man a heart attack. On another (occasion) they stripped the
ships in the port of their wireless sets...It was almost a relief when
the pro-Treaty forces attacked us.
In the words of the Murphys:
Waterford City and East Waterford were held in name only by the
I.R.A. But the Comeraghs and West Waterford were solidly behind
them. The black clouds of division were gathering....
Mick Collins in Dungarvan
While George was attending the 26 March 1922 Liam Lynch led Volunteers meeting at
the Mansion House in Dublin, there arrived on that day in County Waterford the head of
the Provisional Government, the “Big Fella,” Michael Collins. Eamon de Valera,
dismissed by Collins as “the cute hoor” had addressed an earlier Dungarvan meeting
and ominously predicted that the January Dail acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
would produce bloody strife.
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Mick Collins
En route from Waterford, Collins encountered delays resulting from obstacles placed in
the road. Arriving an hour late, he ate lunch at the Devonshire Arms. According to
Edmond Keohan's account, there was anxiety in the community as to the opposition he
would encounter. It was unknown as to what the reaction would be from Mick
Mansfield’s men at Dungarvan Castle.
A large lorry drove into the square to be used as a platform from which to address the
crowd. Accompanying Collins on the platform were four journalists, a lady, Urban
Council Chairman Michael Brennock, Fr. “Gleeson” (likely Gleason of Aglish), Fr.
Flavin, Fr. J. Rea, from Abbeyside, and local historian Keohan. As Brennock began his
introductory remarks, the lorry was commandeered by three young men and taken out
Bridge Street towards Abbeyside.
The vehicle was stopped when a gun was held to the head of the driver by one of
Collins's bodyguards. The driver then jumped out and ran back to town. A shot was
reportedly fired at him at which point tricolour flags, which decorated the lorry,
were taken by members of the local I.R.A. Collins and his party then walked back to the
square where he addressed the crowd from the balcony of the Devonshire Arms Hotel.
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Collins found himself heckled from the crowd by anti-Treatyites. Not one to suffer fools
gladly, he gave as good as he got. He questioned the hecklers as to where they were
when the Tans initiated reprisals after the ambush at the Burgery.
Fr. Rea asked the crowd how many of them were actually at that engagement. His
position in apparent contrast to the earlier hostility of the Dungarvan parish priest
whose remarks resulted in Ellen Shanahan Lennon walking out of Sunday Mass.
Someone called out at the crowd "post Treaty Republicans!"
The Collins departure for Waterford was later delayed when it was found that persons
unknown had disabled his motorcar.
Pax Whelan had known Mick Collins for many years and when they later met in Dublin,
Whelan remarked that "he was as friendly as ever, although he knew I was on the other
side." Referring to the Dungarvan incident, Collins commented to Pax:
You have a right pack of blackguards in Dungarvan. They wanted to
run me and my lorry over the quay.
The “Unmentionable” Civil War
The huge task of taking over the administration of the country was on the shoulders of
Michael Collins as Chairman of the Irish Free State Provisional Government. A key
question was control of the I.R.A.
The I.R.A., at the insistence of Cathal Brugha, had taken the oath to the Republic and
not to any government. After the affirmative 7 January Dail vote on the Treaty, a
demand was made, on the 12th, for an army convention to discuss the Treaty and the
allegiance of the I.R.A. The meeting was eventually held on 26 March 1922 at the
Mansion House, Dublin.
The meeting attended only by dissidents (Liam Mellows, Cathal Brugha Liam Lynch,
Pax Whelan, George Lennon, Sean Moylan, etc), elected Lynch as the chief of staff of the
anti-Treaty I.R.A. who were labeled in press accounts as "Irregulars." Ill at the time,
George apparently did not appear for the iconic photo taken of the men on the steps of
the Mansion House.
Clashes with the army of the Free State, clad in new green uniforms, occurred as both
groups attempted to take over facilities abandoned by the R.I.C., Tans and the British.
Included in this army were men derisively categorised as “Post Truce Republicans.”
The Irregulars refused to recognise the Dail. This, in effect, meant that the I.R.A.
constituted an illegal army within the Irish Free State. In an action reminiscent of Easter
Week 1916, Rory O'Connor, a leader of the anti-Treaty forces, led the 13 April 1922
occupation of the Four Courts and other Dublin buildings. Included in the Four Courts
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garrison were many of those men most active in the struggle of 1919-1921, including
Ernie O'Malley, Sean O'Hegarty, Tom Hales, Florrie O'Donoghue, Sean Moylan and
Peadar O'Donnell.
In the Dail election of 16 June, announced on the 24th, only 36 Sinn Fein Republican
were elected out of 128 seats. Pro-Treaty candidates won 58. DeValera resigned and his
Republican supporters, in the tradition of abstention, boycotted the Dail.
Four Courts, Dublin
The 22 June 1922 assassination by the I.R.A., in London, of Sir Henry Wilson, military
advisor to the Six Counties government in the North, led to a British demand to end the
Republican occupation of the buildings in Dublin. Not unlike the threat of "immediate
and terrible war" during the Treaty negotiations, Winston Churchill threatened Collins
unless the men were removed.
An ultimatum was sent to O'Connor to surrender. Getting no response, Collins
reluctantly ordered the morning attack of 28 June from across the Liffey.
A measure of relative peace, which had begun to unravel in January with the vote to
accept the Treaty, now came to an abrupt end with the bombardment and resulting
destruction of historical materials in the adjacent Public Records Office (PRO).
What George Lennon referred to as the "unmentionable” Irish Civil War had begun.
Attack on Waterford City
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At the onset of hostilities in Dublin, Liam Lynch met with his senior officers at the
Clarence Hotel in Dublin. A proclamation was duly issued to stand fast in the defence of
the Republic and to resist by force the Provisional Government's attack on the Four
Courts. Sixteen members of the Army Executive including Commandant Pax Whelan
signed it. After the meeting, immediate preparations were made by the members of the
executive to return to their respective Brigade areas. On 11 July national army troops
opened fire on Republicans holding the ordnance barracks in Limerick.
In Waterford, citing an "authoritative source,” a pro Free State Dublin
newspaper reported that the "rule of the gun" prevailed:
Irregulars are in possession of the military and police barracks,
drawn principally from Dungarvan, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir.
Consequent upon frequent depredations the people have become
completely hostile. Goods and provisions are being seized
wholesale, motors commandeered and the hotels regularly called
upon to provide meals for fifty or sixty men. No money is paid for
anything – sometimes an IOU is given. The newspapers are burned
at the railway station and the news supply is maintained by a
civilian announcing Irregular successes and crushing defeats of
national troops. Desertion is frequent and every precaution is taken
to stop it.
As assistant in command to Major General John T. Prout, Paddy Paul submitted plans
to recapture his native city from which he had fled his Republican captors in May.
The Free State Army was moved from Kilkenny southward to Kilmacow where some
four hundred soldiers, according to Paul, "were all brought into a field and given
absolution" in preparation for the assault on the city.
By this time, in mid July, the principal military posts, except for the west and most of
Munster, were in the hands of the pro-Treaty forces. Discussing the period, Eoin Neeson
remarked that the Republicans were not equipped for a conventional war.
Lack of heavy equipment hampered the anti-Treatyites and should
have made them all the more reluctant to fight pitched battles along
fixed lines, which was a type of fighting in which they had no
training; moreover it lost them the initiative and forced them on the
defensive. But they manned the "line" of the "Munster Republic" and
waited.
Neeson continued:
In Waterford, just before it was attacked, hotels, boarding houses,
and barracks were seized and occupied and stores commandeered.
The approaches to the city were enfiladed, mined and blocked. City
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transport, telecommunications and the ships in the harbour came
under military control. Ballybricken jail, in the heart of the
Redmondite district, was heavily defended…The northern approaches
To the city were mined and barricaded and defence posts established
In “strategic” positions while the defenders waited attack
Redmond Bridge, Waterford
Paul had hoped to move swiftly on the city and get across the River Suir before the
cantilever bridge was raised. Failing in this endeavor, the army set up their forces atop
Mt. Misery (Mercy) with an eighteen-pound gun of the same type that had attacked the
Four Courts. Seized by the anti-Treaty forces were the G.P.O on the quays, the Infantry
and Cavalry Barracks, the County Club, the Adelphi Hotel, Reginald's Tower, the
Granville Hotel, the Munster Express newspaper offices and Ferrell's Corn Stores. A
detachment of fifteen men, led by George Lennon and Jim Power took possession of the
jail at Ballybricken, which commanded the quays and the Redmond Bridge.
At 6:30 P.M. on the evening of Tuesday the 18th of July a small group of Free State
soldiers were seen on the skyline of Mt. Misery. Machine gun fire was directed at them
from the jail directed by former Royal Scots non-commissioned officer Power. A man
described by Lennon as “most competent and quite indispensable” not wanting “to be
too far from my right elbow.” George Lennon's unit being the source of the first shots of
the battle for Waterford. Ironically this was the site of Lennon’s first incarceration as a
seventeen year old (p.73) in early 1918. Firing continued until 10 P.M when darkness
began to fall and halted the engagement. Former comrades in arms Lennon and Paul
were apparently unaware that they were actually firing at each other.
At daybreak on the 19th, sniping at pro - Treaty targets across the river re-commenced,
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including bursts of fire from the jail. At 10:40 A.M. the first shells were fired into the city
from atop Mt. Misery. The initial barrage lasted until after midday. Once the artillery
barrage ceased, small arms fire intensified. The most dangerous position for the anti-
Treatyites being the post office, which was the main target of the Staters from their
position across the Suir.
Tea time saw renewed artillery firing concentrating on the two military barracks. Once
abandoned, the Infantry Barracks was looted by crowds of desperately poor civilians. By
late evening the Cavalry Barracks was afire and a huge explosion, around midnight,
ripped through the Infantry Barracks, injuring four looters, one fatally.
By the morning of Thursday the 20th, pro-Treaty forces had taken the buildings on the
east end of the quay without firing a shot and the abandoned military barracks were still
ablaze. A great pall of smoke, visible for many miles, hung over the city. Anti-Treaty
units still held the post office, some sniping positions along the quay. George Lennon's
group held Ballybricken jail. To the dismay of the I.R.A. there was no sign of the planned
supportive counter attack from Clonmel. Local priests afforded general absolution.
Paul viewed the object of the army as being to break the guerrillas morale.
Regarding the Irregulars:
They had no experience of shellfire and the effects of high explosives
on men who had never known them can be imagined. Once their
morale was gone, our objective was nearly gained.
Throughout the day pro-Treaty forces consolidated their gains and captured the post
office with some of the occupiers escaping to the Granville for a brief respite before it fell
to an assault. The result of the shelling of the post office is revealed in the photo.
The morning of Friday the 21st saw the only remaining anti-Treaty positions at the
Ballybricken jail, a few nearby houses and sniper posts near the quay. Shellfire from the
eighteen pounder was accordingly directed at the jail redoubt.
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Retreat from Waterford
According to the Munster Express it was
a striking tribute to the heroism of those engaged in the defence of
the jail that notwithstanding that the building was struck at least
five times on Wednesday with accurately directed shells, the
garrison did not vacate their position until Friday afternoon when
the holding of the post became an utter impossibility. The machine
gunner in the jail was the first to open fire on Tuesday evening and
kept up incessantly during the siege and was the last of the
strongholds to cease-fire on Friday afternoon.
Informed by Power that the Staters were getting closer, George noted that his men
crossed the road outside ... peppered by rifle fire, but ...soon got to
the comparative safety of Barrack Street. Some irresponsible
person or persons had set fire to the fine barracks during our
absence. John, the chef, was waiting outside the main gate weepily
surveying the remains of our former home. He called out to us
plaintively The galley is burned, the galley is burned.
The men from the outposts had already arrived so we fell them in
and marched away, almost casually, followed happily by the
barrack dogs who were delighted to be with the company again.
188
Everybody felt disgusted.
Obviously affected by the “accurately directed shells,” George observed years later (2
February 1944) in a letter to the Army Pensions Board: “Two days afterwards I had a
complete nervous breakdown and was laid up for six months. I have had a series of
nervous breakdowns ever since.”
Lennon’s unit had barely departed from the jail when a large crowd of men, women and
children rushed in and looted the building. Ironically, the civilian looting of the jail was
sought to have done more material damage (5000 pounds) than the eleven shells from
the eighteen pounder had caused during the entire battle.
The anti-Treatyites retreated to new positions outside of the city. The Dunhill men
returned to their own village while Lennon and his men marched to the Kilmeadan area.
Others made their way to Butlerstown and various other locales. Former R.I.C. Barracks
in Tramore, Dunmore East and Portlaw were set on fire and abandoned.
Calton Younger, in his study of the Civil War, observed:
It seemed that the Republican policy...was to get into the country so
that they could employ the old familiar guerrilla tactics which had
succeeded so well against the Tans.... There was among many Re-
publicans a lack, not of conviction or courage, but of heart in the
fight...They did not want to take life if they could avoid it, and
neither did most of the Provisional Government troops.
It was his contention that "flights of bullets hurtled through the air harmlessly as
migrating birds. The air above Ireland criss-crossed with busy bullets with no particular
object in view."
With respect to the view that the low number of casualties incurred in the battle of
Waterford was attributable to a reluctance of both sides to fight each other, military
historian Terence O'Reilly concluded:
It was doubtful that the combatants on either side would
subscribe to such a view, particularly not the 18 pounder
crew nor the garrisons of the jail or post office. The low
casualty figure was far more likely due to thick walls and
the artillery piece's armoured shield.
In defence of the anti -Treaty occupiers of the city, Eoin Neeson's appraisal was
that "the Cork and Tipperary men failed to effectively support the Waterford
forces." On 24 July the "Republican Intelligence Officer" reported:
189
A Cork Column under P. Murray was delayed deliberately in
Dungarvan, on their way to Waterford. When they reached the
suburbs...they were not allowed to advance into the city, in spite of
the fact that the fight was raging at the time.... All ...of the
Waterford Bde. consider they have been let down by the O/C and as
a result great unrest exists among them.
Pax Whelan complained that the requested machine guns and ammunition had not
arrived and that "the first Column from Cork came up as we were just evacuating, but
they didn't want to fight.” The Cork Columns retreated westward when they observed
the Waterford men evacuating the city.
Reaching Mt. Congreve near Kilmeadan, the quartermaster found sufficient provisions
"to feed eight men for three days, but no more." Lennon noted "the good" Doctor Walsh
(p. 203) to be "something of a demoralising influence” as he kept pacing the floor,
cursing the Civil War and whoever was responsible for it. As reports came in from
runners with regard to "the front" they "were immediately chased out." Lennon noted a
solace of sorts was afforded by the wine cellar's ample stock of "mostly vintage brandy
and, in a session that lasted three days and three nights, we drank it out completely."
One night of the stay I was shaken awake to consult with a pale,
delicate looking man who said his name was Erskine Childers, in
charge of publicity; he wanted an interesting account of "the siege"
for a Republican paper he was printing in the field.
Less than four months later, English born Childers, Republican propagandist, noted
author and Howth gun runner with his wife Molly, was executed by the government for
possession of a firearm, ironically given to him by Michael Collins.
After leaving Mt. Congreve, the men, some fifteen in all, walked in the direction of
Kilmacthomas.
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Mt Congreve
After discarding their “uniforms” on the way, they walked wearily through Kilmac
and on up to Comeragh where the group took a well deserved rest. At Barnankile
(Barnakill), Kilrossanty the men were surrounded by the Staters but managed to escape
to Dungarvan where, according to Sonny Cullinan, they "could not stay as the Staters
were on our tails."
On or about 1 August 1922, the twenty two year old Lennon resigned as Vice O/C in a
letter to Liam Deasy, O/C First Southern Division. He cited a “difference of opinion with
H.Q. of First Southern Division.” Specifically, in his later (10 October 1935) interview
with the Irish Pension Examiner, he maintained that “…it was a question of tactics. I
wanted to confine the fighting to the towns.”
As an experienced guerrilla leader he had come to the conclusion that his partisan force
could not be successful "swimming in the sea" of a populace, which apparently had
enough of violence and disruption.
O/C Deasy appeared to be of like mind when, years later, he referenced the "taking (of)
people as hostages because of the acts of their sons or brothers." The “difficulties in
discriminating between an active person and a non-combatant" ran the risk "of deve-
loping a war between families rather than armies.” Tellingly, Deasy noted that the
191
decrease in I.R.A. strength was
not confined to the rank and file but also among senior officers in
our best brigades. In the south of Ireland where I had an intimate
and personal knowledge of those who were taking part in the anti-
Treaty side there was no enthusiasm for this war. At most we could
only say we were protesting in arms. The tragedy was that our
protest did not end with the fall of the Four Courts.
In a correspondence with Deasy, Pax Whelan requested that the Southern Division O/C
come to the area as quickly as possible because of the "serious situation" in the brigade.
Two most important officers have sent in their resignations and I
cannot see my way to carry on. Bring capable man or two to take
charge...Reasons for resignations: won't take part in civil war.
Dated 1 August in a dispatch to Adjutant General, G.H.Q. Fermoy:
...Organisation in the Brigade is in a very poor state.... The Div.
Engineer (M. Mansfield) is the only officer capable of filling the post
of Brigade Vice Commdt.... None of the officers I met in Waterford
would be capable of filling the post and I would suggest that
Mansfield should be appointed to temporarily fill the post for at
least a few weeks....
Legion of the Rear Guard
In early August 1922, with the resignation of Lennon and others on active service,
the I.R.A. garrison at the former R.I.C. Barracks in Dungarvan Castle consisted of the
Deise Brigade augmented by Cork No. 1 Brigade men who had retreated from Waterford
City. Relations between men from the two counties appear to have been less than
cordial. Having little regard for the local populace, the Cork men were reportedly
involved in looting and the seizure of goods. This eroded support for the I.R.A., turning
some in favour of the Free State. Learning that their own area in Cork was being
threatened they retreated westward. Mick Mansfield, accordingly, "cut their railway line
and blew up the railway bridge when the Corkmen had crossed over to their own
territory.”
With the approach of the National Army, the I.R.A. made preparations to evacuate the
Dungarvan Barracks. Rendering Dungarvan less accessible from the east was the
destruction of the Ballyvoyle viaduct by Mick Mansfield. On the evening of 8 August,
smoke and flames rose from the barracks and "the place was a mass of ruins by the
morning." Also burned was the Coast Guard station at Ballinacourty. Commanded by
Paddy Paul, troops of the Free State Army entered the town in mid August. The
192
Chairman and members of the U.D.C in an address of welcome extended to the “gallant”
Paul “a hearty Cead Mile Failte...and we pray that the God of our destinies may protect
you and those who serve you until Ireland enters upon freedom.”
Dungarvan Barracks
An August meeting of the anti-Treaty forces at Modeligo led to the formation of three
Columns of around fifteen men each. Pax recalled:
There was Jack O'Mara's Column around the Nire Valley, a very
good crowd. There was Tom Keating's Column on the east side of
the Comeraghs.... Finally, there was Paddy Curran's Column.
On the 10th of October 1922 a joint pastoral letter from the bishops was read at all
masses in the country, including St. Mary's, Dungarvan. The letter remarked that the
struggle for total independence was “morally only a system of murder and
assassination.” The I.R.A. was accused of being the ruination of the country.
Excommunication was ordered for all who continued to fight. Popular support waned.
The Mansfields Old Parish home was continually raided by government troops and
when their father died, Mick found
193
it ...necessary for me to go to my home, heavily armed, with an
armed escort of men of the column to see his remains. I wish to
record the fact that my father's body would not be allowed into the
Church by the Parish Priest, neither would mass be said for the
repose of his soul, simply because he was my father.
Pax Whelan was captured in early December and remanded to Dublin's Mountjoy Gaol
where he noted:
The atmosphere then was more somber one than in the early days
of the Civil War. The Free Staters had been executing people since
mid November. They intended winning the struggle. There was
going to be no pussy footing. Although I must say we did not expect
the reprisals they embarked upon. Sure Hitler must have learned
something from them.
The Staters in Waterford shot Patrick O’Reilly and Michael Fitzgerald of Youghal on 25
January 1923. They were allegedly charged with responsibility for a mine explosion that
killed several boys during the War of Independence.
John Walsh of Kilmacthomas, a member of the Keating Column, was captured and
remanded to gaol in Kilkenny. He was beaten and shot for refusing to reveal his name.
He died on 14 March 1923.
Also on that date, Charlie Daly, George’s friend and fellow inmate at Cork Male Prison,
who had accompanied George and Liam Lynch to the Dail’s acceptance of the Treaty at
the Mansion House (7 January 1922), was executed by the Free State Government along
with three others collectively known as the “Drumboe Martyrs.”
On the tenth of April, accompanied by Jack O'Mara, I.R.A. Chief of Staff Liam Lynch
was shot on the northern slope of the Knockmealdowns in South Tipperary. Before he
died he expressed his wish to be buried at Kilcrumper alongside his friend from the
Fermoy attack, Michael Fitzgerald of Cork.
The next day Waterford Flying Column Leader Tom Keating (brother of Pat) was fatally
shot. Mick Mansfield later recalled the circumstances:
Although he was so seriously wounded, Keating was dragged
around in a horse and dray all the day by the Free State soldiers
without receiving any medical attention whatsoever. Later that
same day the Free State military were congratulated by a priest
in Cappoquin on getting one of the "irregulars." Poor Keating
received no spiritual attention from the priest in question and he
died that evening.
Lena Keating, sister of Pat and Tom remembered what happened next:
194
The following evening the body of Thomas Keating was taken to the
Parish Church in Dungarvan. A guard of honour was mounted by
the newly formed civic guards who regarded him as a soldier. The
priests in Dungarvan were very hostile to the I.R.A. who opposed
the Treaty and would allow only one mass to be offered for Thomas
in the Church. This decision by the priests was very hurtful to my
parents and all of us in the family, feeling we did not deserve this
type of treatment at a time of great sorrow. It was however,
accepted by us as one more cross from the hands of God. The
funeral took place the next day to (sic) Kilrossanty with burial in
the Republican Plot.
The Keatings ordeal was not over:
Shortly after Thomas's death, it was our turn to hold the Station in
the house in Comeragh; but, when the stations were announced, the
Priest said, "the Station for Comeragh will be held in the Church".
Marcella (sister) told the Parish Priest that it was our turn to hold
the Station and he informed her that he could not hold the Station in
a house used for harbouring rebels. We were very disappointed at
this decision especially my parents who expected a little more
sympathy and consideration after the ordeals they had been
through.
Not unlike the reaction of George’s mother to priestly excoriation (pp. 62-63), Lena’s
mother continued steadfast in her faith and
still sent the breakfast to the Priest, as was the custom where people
were unable, through age or illness, to hold the Stations in their
homes. She said she would do her duty even though she was deeply
hurt by this decision.
Seeking to deplete the ranks of the insurgents, the government offered incentives. Mike
Shalloe was reportedly offered a high position in the Free State Army and Paddy Cashin,
who had been a national teacher, was offered his school back plus one hundred pounds.
Mick Mansfield said he "was promised the post held by Major General Prout of the Free
State Army in Kilkenny.” Morale, Pax observed:
Was good up to the end, but the trouble was that the people were
afraid or had been turned against them. They had no clothes, they
had nothing; they were outcasts.
The Columns, nonetheless, slogged on with engagements against government forces at
Twomilebridge, Grange, Villierstown, Halfway House, Ballmacarberry Mullinahoorka
and elsewhere. Their numbers, however, were reduced "from wounds received in action
and from the hardships of tough fighting in the winter." For Shalloe:
195
We kept going as best we could until the order to cease fire.... We
dumped our arms, as instructed, but were still harried here and
there by Free State troops who were determined to capture us at all
costs. About six of us kept together, being repeatedly fired on
(although we were unarmed) by the 'Staters until, at last we
decided that there was nothing for us but quit our native land.
From Helvick, Mick Shalloe wrote, "about five of us put to sea in a small boat not much
caring where we were going or what was to happen." Near Dungarvan they were picked
up by the 140 foot Lady Belle which conveyed them to England. Making their way to
Liverpool, passage was secured on the Cunarder Antonia, which left for Quebec on 10
November 1923. Listed on the ship's manifest were Michael McCarthy (Youghal),
Michael Mansfield (Ballymacart), Patrick Smith (Abbeyside), Richard Mooney (Old
Parish), John Boyle (Dungarvan) and James Mansfield (Ballymacart).
James Fraher also noted leaving for England "in company with other men of the
Waterford Brigade." Shalloe, Mansfield, Cashin, Mooney and Boyle secured jobs in the
winter of 1924 as loggers in the unaccustomed biting cold of Quebec.
Related by Mick’s son Tony is perhaps an apocryphal tale of the emigrated men
resorting to earlier Civil War patterns when, seeking operational military funds, they
had robbed financial institutions. A successful Quebec bank robbery reportedly occurred
and, having buried the bulk of the loot in a nearby field, the men went off to a local pub
to celebrate with a portion of their haul. Unfortunately, a snow storm intervened and
they were subsequently unable to locate their cache.
The men ultimately entered the U.S.A. illegally where they met up with in the New
York City area among others, George Lennon, James Butler, Augustine ("Kelly")
Donovan, John Whelan and John Stack. Having served in the U.S. Army, Jack O'Mara
was able to enter the States legally.
In the Free State, Pax Whelan was released from goal “about April 1924.” His
disillusionment and treatment were not dissimilar from that of his Vice O/C’s
experience upon entering Waterford City some two years earlier.
Life was a struggle when I came home. You were trying to get
A job to pay a load of old debts, to get going again. Everybody
was boycotting you. At least the people who could give you-
and I am a plumber as you know- were boycotting you. Many
of the lads who had done the fighting were getting out. They
were frozen out, were being forced to go. It was suggested to me
by a clergyman that I should emigrate. No, I said, I will stay
here and see this thing out.... The few people I could get work
from here were the Protestants; they did not mind my politics.
A fitting epilogue was penned by Liam Deasy (O/C First Southern Division):
196
It had become clearly evident to me that we were not prepared for
this war... we were driven underground and the most distressing
feature of all was the ever-increasing knowledge that we had lost
the support of the people...the real backbone of the struggle… I
could not help feeling that for the most part we were being tolerated
because of who we were…because of our success in earlier times.
CHAPTER XIV
EMIGRATION (1926-1936)
The years after George Lennon's abandonment of the Republican struggle in the Deise
197
reveal something of his character and how he was shaped by the revolutionary period
from his days as a young member of Na Fianna Eireann to the events of 1916-1922.
Having left school Easter Week 1916, one month shy of his sixteenth birthday, to devote
himself to the independence movement, he lacked the educational background to
pursue a profession. The closing of the gas works precluded a career as a third
generation participant in that enterprise. Assuming the circa 1922-1923 emigration of
older brother James, George, with year younger sister Eileen, would have borne
responsibility for the two dependent younger siblings (John, born 1908 and Sarah
Frances, born 1910).
After the siege of Waterford, suffering from “neurasthenia” or what is today referenced
as PTSD, he sought care under Dr.White of Cappoquin in the seaside town of Ardmore
where he remained for two months from August to October 1922. Seeking “a complete
change” he “went over to England and remained there about three months” (October –
December 1922), presumably with brother James. Returning to Ireland he stayed a
week with Dr. White.
Sufficiently recovered by February 1923 he got a “temporary job” with the Waterford
County Council, likely with the help of Republican friend Tommy Boyle. The following
winter of 1923-24 saw him under the care of Dr. Moloney, who, four years earlier after
the Fermoy ambush, had tended the injured Liam Lynch.
Somewhat atypically, in light of his unassertive nature, he etched at this time, “G.
Lennon” into the “Tea Flag” cliff just up from the Ardmore Round Tower. Chiseled
below his name was “R Keating,” the brother of Anastasia Keating (Mooney) and uncle
to local historian Tommy Mooney.
In the summer of 1923 he wrote a short poem, immediately prior to her westward
emigration, in Anastasia’s “memory book.” The sentiments he expressed might be
viewed as the beginnings of an evolution away from physical force Republicanism
towards pacifism which he eventually embraced in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Be kind to little animals
Wherever they may be
And give the stranded jelly fish
A push into the sea
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Tea Flag Inscription
Anastasia Keating Mooney’s “memory book”
199
7 November 1924 saw the death of the widowed Ellen Shanahan Lennon of liver cancer
at Richmond Hospital, Dublin. Transported to Dungarvan she was buried alongside her
husband at their parish church.
The following November of 1925, listing the family’s #3 Western Terrace address, he
noted in his initial disablement application that he was “unable to get continuous
employment” resulting in being “only able to earn a precarious livelihood.” However
“living out doors as much as I could,” his “health seemed to improve …up to 1927.”
With George’s “private resources…now exhausted,” remaining monies may have
included some of their father’s belatedly probated estate from 1924 of seven thousand
pounds (credibly divided amongst the five offspring) as well as the 100 pounds obtained
in 1926 from the sale of the family’s interest in the town park. George's younger siblings
preceded him in emigrating westward. Sisters Eileen (“domestic”), Sarah Frances
(domestic”) with brother John Michael (“mechanic/fitter”) left from Cobh on the
Cunard Liner Samaria, arriving in New York City on May 10, 1926. Their destination
was listed as Newark, New Jersey. The ship's manifest noted George Lennon of the “Gas
House, Dungarvan” (surprisingly not the family home on Western Terrace) as
the nearest living relative.
Cunard Liner Ascania
The newly built 14000 ton Cunarder Ascania with a top speed of 15 knots departed
Southampton on 20 January 1927 bound for Cobh, Irish Free State. Boarding with
American visa #5611 was George Lennon, a 26 year old “accountant.” Listed was an
arrival date of 1 February 1927. In that processing at Ellis Island had basically ceased in
1924, the Ascania proceeded directly to the Hudson River docking facilities.
A millennium after their family’s presence was identified in Gaelic Ulster, the
200
Dungarvan Lennons joined their Shanahan uncles in the New York-New Jersey area.
New York City
Upon his arrival, on 1 February 1927, George joined his brother and two sisters at 78
North 15 Street in East Orange, New Jersey for the years 1927 to 1928. He secured
employment at the Prudential Insurance Company in Newark, commencing 14
February.
Leaving Prudential on 15 December 1928, he took a position as “night auditor” at Man-
hattan’s Pennsylvania Hotel beginning 4 January 1929.
How did I exist through those seven Depression years? Being fairly
capable and having a genius for survival I clung to the job. Twelve
hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. I was being ground in
the white satanic mills of America. In the rare moments of blessed
relief from office slavery I lay in Central Park, read Marx and
became an ardent communist.
In New York he joined the American League Against War and Fascism, which reputedly
was a Soviet Comintern affiliated organisation formed in 1933 by the CPUSA and
pacifists united by their concern as Fascism spread in Europe. As expressed in the
ALAWF manifesto of 1933:
The Four Power Pact is already exposed as nothing but a new
maneuver as position in the coming war between the imperialist
rivals, and an attempt to establish a united imperialist front
against the Soviet Union.
For the ALAWF, Japanese militarism and European Fascism “greatly increased the
danger of a war of intervention against the Soviets”. For them, Fascism
sets the people of one country against the people of another, and
exploits the internal racial and national groups within each country
in order to prevent them from uniting in joint action to solve their
common problems.
Discouraged by the Hitler - Stalin Pact of 1939, the League dissolved with communist
elements then becoming influential in the establishment of the American Peace
Mobilization (APM) organisation.
During the winter of 1931 –1932, George was in contact with Cheekpoint gunrunner
Charles “Nomad” McGuinness who was in Leningrad serving, in his words, as “Inspector
of the Port of Leningrad.” McGuinness was “thoroughly enthused with the Socialist
201
system of Russia” and echoed Lennon’s anti-clericalism noting that the “people have got
wise to the tyrannical racket” and that freedom for the “Irish slave” does not lie “in the
hands of a bourgeois republic with the Roman gent pulling the strings.” He noted an
earlier visit to George in New York City where he had apparently met brother John and
sisters Eileen and Frances. He mentioned the possibility of a visit to the U.S.S.R by John
and extended to George “a hearty welcome and a flop” should he “come over this way
this year or next year.”
The United States Census taken in April of 1930 listed the four Lennon siblings living in
Manhattan at apartment number 324 at 410 West 75 th St. George’s occupation was
noted as hotel cashier; John, a clerk at a “gas store;” Sarah Frances, a waitress. No
employment was listed for Eileen who was shortly to marry George H. Sherwood. A later
residence, prior to 1936, was listed ast 518 Will Street, New York City. Whether or not
his brother and sister(s) resided with him at this locale is unknown.
George Gerard Lennon obtained his American citizenship on April 22, 1934 in U.S
District Court, New York. In that his birth certificate made no mention of the middle
name Gerard it was likely appended at his Christening. The passport listed a Manhattan
address of 14 West 74th Street.
The Irish Review
With brother in law George H. Sherwood, George became involved with a very short-
lived "magazine of Irish expression" by the name of The Irish Review. Unfortunately,
only three issues were published in April, May and July of that Depression year 1934.
The April and May issues retained in the author’s possession were forwarded, in
December 2016, to Fordham University where magazine founder Joseph Campbell had
established, in 1928, a school of Irish Studies. Like the short lived school, the magazine
was ahead of its time. It was not until 1985 that the periodical Irish-America sought to
re-establish an Irish ethnic identity through the same medium in the United States.
Sherwood was managing editor and Lennon was business manager. Campbell (1879-
1944) was referred to, in Whittle's book on Waterford (The Gentle County), as "the
gentle Northern poet" (“My Lagan Love”). Like George, he had been involved for Sinn
Fein, in the Waterford general election of 1918.
Campbell may have consulted on the matter of issuing a literary magazine with Ernie
O'Malley on the occasion of O'Malley's 1933 visit. Author Richard English (Ernie
O'Malley: IRA Intellectual) wrote that both men
shared many similar tastes and influences in their reading, were
both committed Republicans…were both obsessed by Ireland during
their American exile, and also shared similar hobbies....
O' Malley tended to be direct and to say what he thought of people regardless of their
sensitivities. English observed that
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O'Malley's demanding attitude led him to dismiss Campbell for
being insufficiently lean and hungry: "I went to see Joe Campbell
once. It was a shock. Fat, gross, and cushioned, living I thought on
an Irish background; sentimental in retrospective and untrue to
what might have been himself....
Campbell described himself as "Ulster born ...though of unplanted (i.e., native)
stock..." In the spirit of Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen, he stated, in the
magazine's first issue:
The Irish Review knows no party lines... Party spirit has been the
bane of our race from the dawn of history... to make the Orangeman
of Ulster see the point of view of the Republican of Munster, and vice
versa...Why not make an approach towards friendship and lay plans
for the eventual bridging of the Boyne?... Ireland divided is Ireland
on the ground.
Of interest is the genesis of the name of the publication, which involved the brother of
George Plunkett (commanding G.H.Q. officer at the March 1921 Burgery ambush). Slain
martyr, poet and signer of the 1916 Proclamation, Joseph Mary Plunkett, was editor of
an earlier Irish Review, published in Ireland.
The board of advisory editors of the American magazine included such note worthies as
Padraig Colum, Daniel Corkery of University College, Cork, L.S. Gogan of the National
Museum, Dublin, T.B. Rutmose-Brown of Trinity College and painter Power-O'Malley.
Included in the April and June issues were articles by future Taoiseach Sean Lemass, a
Corkery short story, "John" Keating's iconic portrayal of the Lennon established North
Cork Flying Column ("Men of the South") and portraits ("Five Types From The
Gaeltacht") by Michael Augustine Power-O'Malley (1877 - 1946).
In addition to Lennon, the magazine's content evidenced a connection to the Deise in
that painter Keating's wife, May, was the sister of Deise Flying Column Doctor Joe
Walsh of Bunmahon and Power-O'Malley was born Michael Augustine Power in
Dungarvan.
Peter Murray, Curator of the Crawford Municipal Gallery in Cork, on the occasion of an
O'Malley exhibit in 2002-2003 at Iona College, New Rochelle, New York, observed:
In many ways Power O'Malley is one of the forgotten artists of
Ireland in the twentieth century...The capacity of Ireland to so
easily forget those who have emigrated is perhaps unsurprising in
a country that saw millions emigrate to the United States in
the nineteenth century, only to witness a similar, if less desperate,
mass exodus in the twentieth.
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To some, paintings of O'Malley are evocative of Paul Henry, Charles Lamb and even
Monet ( e.g., River Liffey, Dublin). Murray further commented:
Having...sustained an image of Irish life and landscape essentially
based on nineteenth century European Academic Realist principles,
Power O'Malley failed to appreciate that this style of painting,
while finding a ready and appreciative audience amongst the
general public and amongst Irish-Americans, was
considered outdated amongst art connoisseurs of New York.
The Gooseherd by Power O'Malley
Likely indicative of tight economic times, the second edition (May) of the magazine
contained an article by managing editor Sherwood (“The Irish Wolfhound”) and another
entitled "An Irish Volunteer Army" by "George Crolly." In light of the unassuming
nature of George, the subject matter, and the family connection with that name, "George
Crolly" was clearly George Lennon writing under a nom de plume. Upon returning to
Ireland he later penned a similar article, under his own name, in Ireland To-Day
(January, 1938) entitled "National Defence.”
The pen name drawn from his Ulster forebearers: the Anglo Norman Baron of Ulster,
the noted poet (b.1780) and the Reverend writer (b.1813) at Maynooth. Also bearing the
name was George’s father, George Crolly Lennon, the son of Mary Anne Crolly Lennon.
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Military Service Pension
Preceded by the other West Waterford men, George found a community of Irish
expatriate anti-Treatyites on the Upper West Side of New York.
From his address of 14 West 74 th Street, the "West Waterford Old I.R.A. Men's
Association" laboured to secure military pension benefits under the Military Service
Pensions Act of 1934. Prior Free State Army Pensions Acts of 1923, 1927 and 1932 had
not made provision for the I.R.A. "Irregulars” due to their anti-Treaty stance. Listed
on the letterhead of the organisation were
James Fraher, President
Patrick Cashin, Vice Pres.
George Lennon, Secretary
John Whelan, Treasurer
Committee members were:
James Butler
Augustine (Kelly) Donovan
Richard Mooney
John Stack
It was necessary for each potential applicant to complete an "Application To The
Minister For Defence For A Service Certificate." This was a lengthy 16 page document
which broke the revolutionary period down to ten periods:
Week commencing 23 April 1916
1 April, 1916 to 22 April /30 April 1916 to 31 March 1917
1 April 1917 to 31 March 1918
1 April 1918 to 31 March 1919
1 April 1919 to 31 March 1920
1 April 1920 to 31 March 1921
1 April 1921 to 11 July 1921 (Truce)
12 July 1921 to 30 June 1922
1 July 1922 to 31 March 1923 (Civil War)
1 April 1923 to 30 September 1923
The Free State Civil Service did not view the issuance of pensions lightly. Onus rested on
the applicant who went before a three-member board of assessors, one of whom was a
practicing barrister or serving judge.
These original pension documents provide a detailed listing of the revolutionary
activities of men of the Old I.R.A. For each period, the applicant was required to provide
"Particulars of any military operations or engagements or services rendered." Also
required was a listing of "references who can testify as to your statements."
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In addition to West Waterford O/C Pax Whelan, Lennon listed many of the most active
and notable Oglaigh na hEireann: Sean Finn (O/C West Limerick Brigade), Donnchadh
O’Hannigan (O/C East Limerick Flying Column), Taghd Crowley (East Limerick
Column), Cork's Liam Lynch (eventual I.R.A. Chief of Staff) and Liam Deasy (O/C First
Southern Division). Other rebel associates, noted elsewhere by George and East
Waterford O/C Paddy Paul, were Mick Collins, Sean Wall, Ernie O’Malley and George
Plunkett of Dublin G.H.Q., “Sean Forde” (Tomas Malone of East Limerick), Seumus
Robinson of Mid Tipp, Kerry’s Charlie Daly and, from Cork, Tom Barry, Michael
Fitzgerald, George Power and Sean Moylan.
Listed on his application (received and stamped by the government on 10 January 1935)
was a crossed out American address of 14 West 74th Street replaced by a Dungarvan
address of 11 Mitchell Terrace, the family home of brother in law Paddy Duggan married
to George’s youngest sister, Sarah Frances.
Apparently still suffering from PTSD and the after effects (T.B. or “consumption”) of
his two incarcerations in Waterford and Cork and of years of being on the run, George,
in a letter dated September 13, 1935 to the Secretary, Pensions Advisory Board, wrote
that he was about to take "advantage of a sick leave to go to Ireland... to have an
opportunity to go before the Board on a hearing on my own claim and also to testify on
the claims of all the active Waterford Brigade men who were compelled to emigrate...."
He duly arrived in Liverpool on the 29th of September 1935 and remained in England
for two weeks. At this time he may very well have again made contact with older brother,
James. In early October he was admitted to Saorstat Eireann (Irish Free State).
He was successful in his 10 October 1935 appearance before the pension examiner and
returned to the United States, as listed in his passport, January 14, 1936. Accordingly,
per the award certificate dated 10 December 1935 with the Dungarvan address, he was
granted, "in accordance with the terms of the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934,” a
pension of ninety three pounds, six shillings and eight pence per annum. This is the
equivalent of some $10,000 in 2016. Perhaps indicative of an intention to move back to
Ireland was the 11 Mitchell Terrace address.
Credit for pension purposes was extended, in full, for seven of the ten periods of time.
The exceptions being the first period (Easter Week 1916) and the last period involving
the Civil War (1 April 1923 to September 1923). For the period 1 July 1922 to 31 March
1923 credit was extended for "1/9 of the entire period" in that he had tendered his
resignation on 1 August 1922 to O/C Liam Deasy. (Additionally on 8 August 1944, under
a separate application process, a wound pension (pp. 216-217) was to be permanently
awarded).
Medals
Lack of pension credit for Easter Week, 1916, when George and Pax had stopped a train
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outside Dungarvan in a futile search for arms (pp. 71-72) was to have repercussions:
As the Referee, who examined such applications, did not award ...
any service for pension purposes during that particular period he
did not qualify for the award of the 1916 Medal.
Such was the 12 March 1984 response of the Irish Department of Defence when this
writer made an enquery as to the reason for the denial of the coveted Easter Week 1916
Medal, which had been awarded to either 2411 or 2477 recipients. A similar denial was
the result of an application of 14 August 1941 by Brigade Commandant Whelan.
On the occasion of the twenty fifth anniversary of the Easter Rising, the government
announced, in addition to the awarding of the 1916 Medal, the creation of the Irish War
of Independence Service Medal (“Black and Tan”). Pensioners with actual armed
service, like George Lennon, were issued this medal with the prestigious “Comrac”
(combat) bar. Recipients totaled some 15,000 plus. Unfortunately, circa 1944, the
author threw this original medal from his pram into Rathfarnham’s Owendoher River. A
replacement was secured in 1984. The Truce Commemorative Medal was issued in 1971.
In 2013 the smaller 1959 Na Fianna Eireann medal was obtained.
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Black and Tan Medal /Truce Commemorative Medal /Na Fianna Eireann Medal
CHAPTER XV
RETURN OF THE NATIVE (1936 -1946)
Church Controversy
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Less than seven months after his return to the States on January 14, 1936, George
decided, in part due to his physical and mental condition, to come home again “to live in
the country” near the Dublin Mountains in Rathfarnham. Likely playing a role was the
modicum of financial independence provided by the just acquired Military Service
Pension. He accordingly resigned from his position at the Pennsylvania Hotel effective 3
July 1936. With a Cobh entry dated 4 August 1936, the stamp of the Irish Immigration
Officer stipulated that he not remain in Ireland beyond 4 November 1936 and that he
“not enter any employment, paid or unpaid, while in Saorstat Eireann.”
George’s views of the Church may be viewed as a logical outgrowth of his experiences
during the 1916--1922 period. There were, he observed, many supportive priests “in
every parish we moved into.” These included Father Gleason of Aglish, Father Sheehy of
Kilrossanty and, most notably, Father Tom Power of Kilgobnet who “fed us, gave us
cigarettes, played the Victrola...and held himself in readiness to perform the last offices
for the dying.” That said, “he considered his religious functions ended right there. He
was a holy little man....”
While on the run, seeking shelter and food from a supportive populace, the rebels were
more than willing participants in saying the Rosary. Before a planned engagement it was
not uncommon for the Rite of Absolution to be performed. Educated in Roman Catholic
schools, the Volunteers took seriously the teachings of Mother Church and were loath to
participate in any action that might endanger their immortal souls.
However, there was a Church hierarchy and many parish priests not in sympathy with
the struggle. On 12 December 1920 Bishop Cohalan of Cork denied the sacraments to
those men of the I.R.A. who persisted in their attacks on the British presence in Cork.
Cohalan’s edict had probably emboldened the parish priest in neighbouring
County Waterford to attack from the pulpit, George Lennon and the men of the
Deise I.R.A.
To occur later, on 10 October 1922 during the Civil War, was a countrywide denial of
sacraments to I.R.A Republican insurgents. Earlier, prior to the onset of hostilities in
June, Waterford’s Monsignor Kearney had facilitated the escape of Free State officer
Paddy Paul who had been arrested by the anti-Treaty forces (pp. 173-174).
As discussed in Chapter XIII (“Legion of the Rearguard”), the anti- Republican stance
of some in the Church was reflected in the treatment accorded the remains of Tom
Keating (d.1923) and the father of Mick Mansfield. In the words of Pat and Tom
Keating’s sister, Lena Keating Walsh, the priests in Dungarvan and Cappoquin “were
very hostile to the I.R.A.”
In light of such experiences, some members of the I.R.A. became violently anti-clerical;
yet, for the most part, spiritual consolation remained profoundly important to them. It
was felt that one could remain a good Catholic while contravening specific political
teachings of the Church. Most thought the whole greater than the part and that a Church
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should be judged by its spirit rather than its ministers.
Reflecting this conciliatory attitude was the reaction of the mother of the protagonist
John Davern in Una Troy Walsh’s novel, Dead Star’s Light, who, in the face of priestly
condemnation of her son, commented: “if every priest that ever was a rogue incarnate –
and the Pope himself the biggest rogue unhung – it wouldn’t affect my religion”. In her
estimation “it’s a religion that’s grand enough even to get over the priesthood it has….”
Born in Fermoy, Co Cork writer Una Troy was to become embroiled in controversy with
her Parish Church in County Tipperary. In 1931 she married Joe Walsh of Clonmel who
had served the men of the Deise Flying Column as medical doctor.
Six years later, in 1937, the new Irish Free State Constitution recognised
the special position of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman
Church as the guardian of the faith as professed by the majority of
citizens.
Choosing to write under the nom de plume of Elizabeth Connor, she began her writing
career at age 26 when she published her first novel, Mount Prospect which was banned
in Ireland. Two years later, in 1938, she published Dead Star's Light. While not banned
it was to elicit censure from the local parish priest. The book was later adapted as the
Dark Road (1947) for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Its preliminary title, later discarded,
was Tyger,Tyger from the William Blake poem. The dark road title arguably from the
Irish “an botharin dorcha;” perhaps in reference to the locale of the Sgt. Hickey
execution on Beresford land above Dungarvan.
The stage adaptation was ironically presented in 1947, the year of the adoption of the
new Irish Constitution. Not surprisingly, the play, per author Terence O’Reilly, was
noteworthy for “the almost complete absence of any criticism of the Catholic Church.”
Being married to Dr Walsh, Una was well aware of other idealistic Republicans such as
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Cork’s Liam Lynch and West Waterford’s Mick Mansfield and George Lennon. The
latter’s character was used as the template for the revolutionary idealist John Davern
in Dead Star's Light. The fictional town of "Kilvane" (Church of the vain?) is
not unlike Dungarvan and nearby "Fordstown," in the estimation of military historian
Terry O'Reilly, likely refers to Waterford in that
The account of the Civil War battle is almost a perfect retelling of
the Waterford battle (Davern commanding the garrison in the city's
jail) and the description of the retreat afterwards to an occupied
stately home, only to be annoyed by the “Cumann na Monsters" is
almost identical to the account in Trauma in Time.
At the National Library of Ireland are to be found the "Una Troy Papers" collected by
Ann Butler. They provide a fascinating insight into the control the Catholic Church
sought to exercise over its congregants. A letter to Una Troy Walsh, dated 18 March
1938, from the pastor of Saints Peter and Paul's, Clonmel, stated in regard to Dead Star's
Light:
I am truly appalled and grieved by the anti- religious and anti-
clerical spirit which the...book reveals. I was utterly unprepared
to find that such views as, for instance, are set forth on p. 244 and
following would be propounded as the views of the
hero and heroine of the book....
Specifically, this page included the following observation:
Our patriotism...our religion...The shadows of our two illusions...
We are so completely cynical in our acceptance of both. Patriotism -
our new Irish synonym for jobbery; our Church - the best run and
most powerful business institution in the country....
The Davern character remarks on page 245 of the book:
I had a dream...I saw a country of beauty and courage...and I saw
a people wandering in the darkness of the two shadows...blinded by
a wrong conception of national pride ...blinded by superstition and
ignorance...Ireland must take her place in the sun... I must fight… I
must change it.
Although he did not see fit to comment on the matter, the Clonmel priest, assuming he
had read the book in its entirety, certainly must have encountered, the offending book's
description of when Davern’s mother (Nellie Lennon) defended her son (pp. 62-63):
Himself called your name off the altar... He preached a whole
sermon on you - and he warned the people against you ...I wasn't
going to stand for that! Not from him I wasn't! So when he was
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worked up to the hottest pitch - prancing and fuming about like an
old billy- goat there before God's altar, may God forgive him! - I
just up and out of the chapel with me!
No doubt alluding to Walsh's immortal soul, the pastor went on to plead in his letter
that the author "consider the terrible course on which you have entered and the most
serious responsibilities in which you are involving yourself.”
Not desirous of harbouring individuals of such political and religious leanings, the priest
effectively removed, by refusing to accept their dues, the Walsh family from the roles of
Saints Peter and Paul's. Later, daughter Janet Walsh Helleris mentioned to researcher
Ann Butler that, when she came of First Communion age, her parents took her to Dublin
for a private ceremony. Ann also noted that "Janet did not participate in the
Church...and she is buried with her husband in the grounds of the Church of Ireland,
Rossmire."
Una’s husband Joe, according to George Lennon, rejected entreaties "to come back to
the Church." Joe replied, to a dying Old I.R.A. veteran’s (perhaps Ned Power) request to
do so, that he "would have to think twice about that...." Ironically, his last wish "was to
be buried with the lads…”at Kilrossanty. With Joe’s grave in consecrated grounds
abutting the Republican monument, George observed: "one of the consoling things
about Ireland is that everybody apparently goes to heaven, including atheists.”
Joe Walsh
by
Sean Keating
In historical context this was the time of the
Spanish Civil War when General Franco
sought the overthrow of the legitimate government of the Republic. The Roman Catholic
hierarchy’s support of the rebel Franco was in complete contrast to the earlier position
of the Irish Bishops when, in their joint pastoral letter of 10 October 1922, they had
attacked I.R.A. rebels who persisted in the struggle against the Free State Government.
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The Clonmel priest replied to a letter from Una Troy Walsh in which she had criticised,
the silence of the Roman Catholic Church with respect to Fascist atrocities in Spain,
including, most notably, the Luftwaffe bombing of the civilian population of Guernica:
...I suggest you have come under the influence of the "Red”
propaganda so largely spread in England and nearer home. Are you
aware this "Red" account is simply...complete falsification by
numbers of those who have given the matter thorough investigation?
George Lennon was also concerned with Spain. Some two weeks after landing at Cobh,
his letter to the Irish Times (18 August 1936) noted, apropos of the Spanish Civil War,
that it was “… in reality a Fascist revolt against a lawfully elected democratic
government.” Fascists were “composed of the landlords, the nobles, the militarists….”
He maintained that the Catholic Church had
suffered because its ministers in Spain, as in other countries, have
thrown in their lot with the powerful, the monied, the privileged,
and turned a deaf ear to the just demands of the toiling masses. The
real danger to Christianity does not come from the workers, but
from the un-Christ like practices of its ministers in allying with the
powerful against the poor.
Perhaps “blinded by the light of a dead star” (i.e., the failed potentialities of a post
revolutionary Ireland), he sounded not unlike the fictional John Davern when he
continued:
If the churches and particularly the Catholic Church, wish to retain
the respect and support of the world they will have to respect the
fundamental truth that you cannot serve God and Mammon.
Comments of this nature did not make it easier for George, as a “pre-mature anti-
Fascist,” to secure employment in a Free State where the “special position” of “the one
true Church” was to be shortly recognised in the 1937 Constitution.
Years later, adding credence to the charge that Ireland did indeed have "Rome Rule,"
was the 1950-1951 controversy over Dr. Noel Browne's "Mother and Child Scheme"
under which all mothers and children, up to the age of sixteen, would be eligible for free
health care. The Catholic hierarchy, led by John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of
Dublin, regarded the proposal as communist in nature and an invasion of "family
rights." Most feared was what might flow from such family planning (e.g., contraception
and abortion). George’s opposition to this Church position was evidenced when he
dedicated his memoir to Dr. Browne.
The post World War II period saw Walsh writing under her maiden name of Una Troy.
All fifteen novels were published in London and America. Her 1955 novel We Are
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Seven was adapted as a film entitled She Didn't Say No for which she was the co-writer.
The film was England's official entry in the Brussels World Film Festival in 1958. No
effort was made to show the film in the Irish Republic as the studio assumed it to be a
given that it would have been banned by the Irish censors as being immoral in its
portrayal of illegitimacy. Una Troy Walsh died in 1993 survived by her daughter Janet
Helleris of Bunmahon, County Waterford.
Like family friend George Lennon, Fordham School of Irish Studies founder and poet
Joseph Campbell, adventurer “Nomad” McGuinness and painter Michael Augustine
Power-O’Malley, she remains largely forgotten in her native land.
Pre–War Rathfarnham
In September of 1936, one month after his return, a Dublin newspaper noted
George’s position, representing County Waterford, on the executive of the "All Ireland
Old I.R.A. Men's Association,” later becoming the association’s secretary. Officers were
President Liam Deasy, and Vice Presidents, Roger McCorley (Ulster), Thomas Crofts
(Munster), Frank Thornton (Leinster) and Mathew Davis (Connacht). The organisation,
in the late 1940’s, was renamed the 1916-1921 Club.
At the association's conference that month a demand was made "that no public
representative attend the Coronation of Edward VIII of England, in London next year.”
Further:
It was agreed that in moving towards the establishment of the
Republic proclaimed in 1916 the full weight of the old I.R.A. would
be thrown into the field to prevent any further growth of
imperialism.
A resolution deplored "the extent to which alien interests have been permitted to secure
control of our industries" and called upon the government to take steps "to prevent
further foreign penetration, and to bring all existing industries under complete national
control within ten years."
Of more immediate and practical concern, an I.R.A. deputation was to be sent to
President de Valera regarding
alleviating distress among old I.R.A. men, providing free hospital
and sanatoria treatmentcare..and giving preference in the various
spheres of employment for men with national records
With respect to the duration of George’s stay beyond the original deadline of 4
November 1936, extensions were made by the Irish Government (dated 11
November 1936) to 30 April 1937 and then (dated 1 April 1937) to 30 April
1938. The American Foreign Service in Dublin granted a visa extension to
September 16, 1938. Noted on his American passport was the statement that
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"this passport is not valid for travel to or in any foreign state in connection
with entrance into or service in foreign military or naval forces." This no doubt
prompted by the continuing strife in Spain.
As to residences, George led a somewhat itinerant lifestyle centered on Ivy, Geoffrey and
son Niall Coulter at Rosebank, Rathfarnham. The Coulters had moved there, replacing
tenant Joyce Roper, from Ballyroan House in early 1937. George listed, upon arrival, in
his August 1936 letter to The Irish Times, a temporary address of convenience with the
Duggans at 11 Mitchell Terrace, Dungarvan. Based on a wound pension application
letter, January 1937 found him on Ballyboden Road in the small gate lodge at Rosebank.
The lodge (just past the gate on the right) and the larger Rosebank cottage (seen in the
distance in the photo) are accessed by a small bridge over the narrow Owendoher River.
A well provided water and the stream disposal. He also lived, at some point, to the north
in a terrace house on Beaufort Court near the R.C. Church. In early 1938 he was at
O’Byrne House, Bray with a later listing of a mailing address “c/o American Express” on
Grafton Street. The end of the year he was in Bermuda at the Princess Hotel returning to
Dublin at 28 Pembroke St (June-July 1939).
Circa 1937 he had met, through Ivy, Eveline May Sibbald, of Kingstown (Dun
Laoghaire). Like George, May was of Ulster stock. However she was of Dissenting
Presbyterian (father) and Church of Ireland (mother) background. She was a younger
half sister of Ivy (nee Cromie Sibbald) who had been born in 1903 to Sam Sibbald and
his first wife Sara Anne (nee Rodgers) who died subsequent (5 May 1904) to a stillborn
215
child (April 1904). Born to Sam’s second wife (married 21 February 1906), Annie (nee
Harrison), were (Richard) Victor (1907), May (1909) and Olive. Per Ivy’s youngest son
Brian, Annie Harrison Sibbald had a less than amicable relationship with Ivy, the only
child of her husband’s first marriage.
Ivy married in 1929 former Irish Volunteer Geoffrey Hugh Coulter (b.1900) of
Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone. Numerous friends and associates in the arts community.
included such luminaries as Charles Lamb, Muriel Brandt of Strand Road, Harry
Kernoff and Rathfarnham neighbour Sean Keating, RHA. May and George knew the
Keatings through Sean’s wife May Walsh, the sister of Dr. Joe Walsh of the Column.
May Walsh Keating by Sean Keating RHA
Not one for the limelight, George, on more than one occasion, turned down an
opportunity to sit for Sean as a subject in one of his paintings.
Sean’s work as a “romantic realist” adopted the cause of a distinct Irish consciousness
as shown in the works of Jack Yeats (brother of W.B.), Paul Henry and Charles Lamb. In
the historically significant year of 1916 he returned to Ireland from the London studio of
his mentor William Orpen. During the post Truce period he portrayed the men of the
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North Cork Flying Column (p.94) - the A.S.U. organised in the summer of 1920 with the
help of George Lennon.
The Keatings with son Justin, later Irish T.D. and government minister, had vacated
Rosebank in 1935, building, across the road closer to the Ballyboden-Ballyroan
intersection, a bungalow (“Ait an Chuain”) and studio currently occupied by Kitty
Keating, wife of Justin’s brother.
On the Left
In April of 1939, after Barbara’s September 1938 birth, the Coulters moved once again;
this time to a commodious and drafty west facing Beachfield House, Strand Road,
Sutton, Co. Dublin.
Parties at Beachfield included people in the left leaning Republican and arts
community. Friends and acquaintances were affiliated with such organisations as the
Republican Congress, the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), “Irish Friends of the
Spanish Republic,” and the leftest (e.g., Peadar O’Donnell) wing of the I.R.A. Geoffrey,
noted as “IRA Trotskyite propagandist” served as deputy editor, under Frank Ryan, of
the Republican newspaper An Phoblacht .
The Coulters spent occasional summer holidays at Donegal’s Bruckless House, owned by
Thomas Rodrick Fforde, retired Royal Commander and member of the Soviet
Communist Party who had influenced two sons of the local landlord family to become
involved in communism in England and the Soviet Union. One son (Brian Goold-
Verschoyle) was sent by the Soviet Comintern to assist the Spanish Republicans. He
subsequently fell afoul of his Soviet masters and died in a gulag. A “stunning
fictionalised portrait” of the family is to be found in Dermot Bolger’s acclaimed The
Family on Paradise Pier.
Earlier, in the War of Independence, the owners of Bruckless had provided shelter for
Republicans such as Peadar O’Donnell and Geoffrey.
Barred years later from Beachfield for unbecoming drunken behaviour was writer
Brendan Behan (1923-1964). There was also talk of an act towards youngest son
(b.1940) Brian (named perhaps in honour of Brian Goold Verschoyle) that was
indicative of Behan’s alleged proclivities from his days in a British borstal. He was
unceremoniously ejected by Armagh family relative and ship’s captain Ronnie Grey.
A sign in book, maintained to this day by Niall, lists many of these political and artistic
notables. Included in such listings, on occasion, were individuals bearing gift bottles of
“vodka” – actually water- to gain entre to Beachfield House parties; assuming, at a late
hour in the party, that no one would be any the wiser.
Ryan, with George Gilmore and Peadar O’Donnell, had led the inter war Irish
Republican Congress which espoused a “Republic of a united Ireland…through a
struggle which uproots capitalism on its way” (Brian Hanley in The IRA 1926-1936).
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Writing in 1937, Stephen J.M. Brown described the organisation’s publication as “the
product of the definitely communist wing of the IRA” being “against Imperialism and
Fascism and for the Irish Republic.” It was “anti-clerical” with “outspoken attacks on
Bishops.” As a result it was “frequently suppressed.”
Largely defunct by 1936, the ideals of the Congress nonetheless remained active on the
battlefields of the Spanish Civil War where the “Connolly Column” fought, alongside
other members of the International Brigade (e.g., the American Abraham Lincoln
Brigade), for the Spanish Republic against the Fascist General Franco.
George’s 1936 letter to the editor (p.204) clearly reflected his sympathies with the aims
of the Republican Congress as they related to the Spanish Civil War. On the domestic
military front, he wrote of Irish preparedness. As cited in Ireland To-Day (January
1938) "Notes on Contributors" he was
…identified with (a) system of Flying Column organisation, Anglo
Irish conflict, and engaged in action against British forces;
associated in United States with League Against War and Fascism
and Irish Cultural movement; secretary Nat. Assoc. of Old I.R.A.
In the article entitled “National Defence,” he eschewed the former “George Crolly”
nom de plume, and wrote under his own name. He elaborated upon the earlier 1934
Irish Review submission, "An Irish Volunteer Army:"
... Today for the first time we are in a position to arm our people in
their own defence...to the point where it would make it a very costly
business for any foreign power to again attempt a conquest of our
liberated territory.
He was of the opinion that military expenses are "at all times a burden and at best a
necessary evil." Nevertheless, he found such outlays necessary to "deter the approach of
deigning imperialisms.” This was in stark evidence in late 1930’s Spain. Later in the
United States, George became, in contrast to liberal orthodoxy, a firm advocate of the
“right to bear arms” as codified in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
He noted that the Irish government “is today lacking in a defence policy, in a defence
force of any consequence and in experienced military leadership.” Regarding the army’s
“modern armament,” he dismissed it as “negligible” and the air force as “Lilliputian.”
Reviewed in 2009 by a former Commandant of the Irish Military College, the article
elicited the observation that his “mature assessment” has withstood the test of time. He
was right in his thesis but “it was not until years later that the Defence Forces did
eventually get such a policy.”
Lennon's analysis led military historian Terence O'Reilly to speculate as to the
possibility that he wrote the article on behalf of an Irish Army officer (perhaps Paddy
Paul) in that the army was effectively muzzled by the governments of the time. His
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suggestion of a nationwide militia was actually implemented in 1940 in the form of the
Local Defence Force. The LDF volunteer Force did prove to be invaluable
in expanding the regular army in 1940. Its original name was to have been the National
Guard.
While opposing offensive military endeavors, his guerrilla experience in Ireland,
fighting against a dominant colonial power, led him to support similar wars in which
people sought to establish their own national identity (e.g., in Africa, India and French
Indo China).
Marriage
Irish permission for George to remain in the Free State expired on 30 April 1938 but his
American visa was not to lapse until 16 September. The latter was then extended
belatedly on 26 September by one month to 16 October. This deadline may very well
have been the impetus for his departure from Ireland. Perhaps another reason, was the
advice of T.B. specialist Dr. Abrahamson that he “spend the winter abroad if possible.”
Listing a Rosebank address, he secured passage on the Cunarder Georgic landing in
New York City, en route to Bermuda, on 9 October.
The winter of 1938-39 found him employed at the Princess Hotel as a cashier in the
more benign southern climate. Resident in Bermuda at the time was Dungarvan born
artist and Irish Review contributor Power-O’Malley.
Returning to the States from Bermuda, he had removed from his passport, in
Washington D.C. on 9 May 1939, the “prior restriction with regard to travel in Spain.”
Added as place of birth was “Ireland” not, as previously noted “Irish Free State.” The
U.S. Department of State visa stamp noted an expiration date of 16 September 1939.
Continuing on to the New York World’s Fair he viewed the works of friends Harry
Kernoff and Sean Keating at the Irish Pavilion. Also visited was the U.S.S.R. (“a socialist
state of workers and peasants”) exhibit with his picture taken under that mural.
He landed at Cobh on 23 May. This time the Irish authorities made no notations
regarding the duration of his stay nor of any prohibitions regarding Irish employment.
With the onset World War II any questions by Irish or American authorities regarding
the length of his stay, were rendered moot. Noted on his passport, by the American Vice
Counsel, was “at Dublin, Ireland, February 21, 1941.”
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On 14 July 1939 George (“cashier”) married “Evaline”(per marriage
certificate) May Sibbald. George’s address was listed as 28 Upper Pembroke Street,
Dublin (the site of the “Cairo Gang” assassinations of British agents in November 1921).
“Spinster” May resided at “Glenageary Park”, Dun Laoghaire located at the southeast
corner of the Glenageary Road Upper and Glenageary Road Lower intersection. This is
the present day site of the roundabout approaching Sallynoggin. Her father, Samuel,
was listed by both the 1901 and 1911 census as “land steward” at the Glenageary
demesne. Witnesses to the ceremony in the Presbyterian Church of Dun Laoghaire were
May’s younger sister Olive and uncle Joe Kyle. The “blanket ban” of the time forbade
Roman Catholics from attending the ceremony.
May had previously worked for Dublin’s Cahill Printers and was obliged to resign, per
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Article 41.2 of the 1937 Irish Constitution, from her government position as secretary to
Fianna Fail T.D. (member of Parliament) Sean MacEntee.
The newlyweds took up accomodations at Beachfield House in Sutton in the two ground
floor rooms with Geoffrey, Ivy, Niall and infant Barbara above; Brian born in 1940.
With the German attack on Poland in September, the men of the Old I.R.A., including
former Belfast O/C Roger McCorley and George Lennon, gathered in the centre of
Dublin and marched to Collins Barracks to offer their services in the fight against
Fascism. McCorley, the great grandson of the famed Roddy of ballad fame, had been
responsible for the Lisburn, Armagh reprisal killing of Constable Oswald Swanzy who
reportedly assassinated Lord Mayor Tomas MacCurtain of Cork in March 1920.
What is referred to in Ireland as "The Emergency” (1939-1945) had begun.
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1939: George Lennon and Roger McCorley
Employment: The Emergency
In light of May’s required homemaker status and that George’s position with the Old
I.R.A. organisation was probably unpaid, the matter of employment was, no doubt,
particularly to May, of more than passing import. George ultimately secured a position,
perhaps in late 1939 or early 1940, as an inspector with the Irish Tourist Board (I.T.B.).
Former anti-Treatyites such as George were able, reportedly in light of the Republican
sympathies of certain Fiannas Fail administrators, to secure pensionable national
government positions.
With George’s employment, he and May left Sutton and moved to “Fairbrook
Bungalow,” near the Owendoher, just off the Ballyboden Road, south of the Tuning
Fork Pub and immediately north of Rosebank and the Riversdale home of poet W.B.
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Yeats (d.1939). A tiny bridge over the river (still extant) provided access to the lane. Just
over the bridge was a small gate lodge ( since demolished for housing, as was Fairbrook
Bungalow), not unlike the one at Rosebank. The Keatings home and studio were located
on the other side of Ballyboden Road to the south.
In his capacity as I.T.B. inspector, George was taken to the University Club by British
Poet Laureate to be John Betjemin (1972-1984) who gave George “most useful advice.”
Listed as a British Embassy press attache, Betjemin was viewed by some in neutral
Ireland as a spy –albeit “low level” - and slated for assassination by the I.R.A. The to kill
order was subsequently rescinded at the behest of an “unnamed Irish Republican” with
a favourable view of his work. Betjemin later most notably wrote a poem to “Greta
Hellstrom,” his Deise love interest; each stanza ending with “Dungarvan in the rain.”
As part of the initiative to encourage tourism, the agency responsible for domestic
tourism, the Irish Tourism Association (I.T.A.), undertook, on a parish basis within each
of the twenty-six counties, a “Topographical and General Survey.” Information was
gathered, during the Emergency World War II years, relating to natural features,
antiquities, historic associations, sports and games, holiday amenities at seaside resorts,
accommodations/catering and general information for towns and villages.
This project was directed by George and, in the view of County Waterford Head
Librarian Donal Brady, was “one of the most important and lasting national projects
carried out at that time.” George drew attention to the lack of indoor tourist facilities,
which were needed as “our enemy is the weather and…we could defeat this bogey by
having every form of indoor amusement….” He further commented, “we had many
ambitious schemes.” Included were New Grange and Cashel.
As noted in The Irish Times, in mid March 1943, ITB, "the Irish Tourist Board ...just
getting down to work when the war began ... suspended its activities for the duration"
while “the older body, the Irish Tourist Association continues to operate.” Although his
son’s birth certificate (14 June 1943) notes George’s occupation as “Inspector I.T.B.” he
likely was made redundant at the earlier date in light of an April letter to de Valera.
In June 1942 a Dublin conference had envisioned an organisation
to arouse an interest in and encourage a movement towards
national planning, to create a planning conscious public, to support
the Government in a post war scheme of development...
The main object of the conference was "the appointment of a body of men…. to organise
an exhibition next year in Dublin, to collect data and plans, and, through lectures and
conferences, educate the public to the necessity and importance of national planning.”
In a letter dated 8 April 1943 to the Private Secretary of An Taoiseach de Valera, "Geo.
Lennon, Acting Hon. Secretary" of The National Planning Conference, forwarded an
agenda from the "organisers of the national planning exhibition, 1943."
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A 21 March 1944 letter was forwarded to de Valera in which George conveyed "the
request of the Executive Committee that An Taoiseach should formally open the
National Planning Exhibition which will take place in the Mansion House from the 25th
proximo until the 5th of May."
Newspapers on Tuesday 15 April 1944, duly noted the official opening of a "National
Planning Exhibition" scheduled for the 25th. Addressing the opening conclave, the
Taoiseach "Mr. de Valera assured the meeting that every suggestion made by the
Conference would be most certainly considered by the Government, and, when
practicable, put into operation.”
The Mansion House exhibition, per writer Terry O’Reilly, “was a lavish affair involving a
wide group of enthusiastic people offering proposals as to how postwar Ireland might be
developed.” DeValera appeared non-committal while Minister Sean MacEntee
“dismissed the whole affair out of hand.” It was later charged that Fianna Fail’s
adherence to a policy of self - sufficiency and “frugal comfort” condemned Ireland to
poverty and massive emigration.
While this initiative, in the estimation of librarian Brady, “seemed to offer some post-
war promise of concerted and collective endeavor, it would appear that the government
suddenly developed serious concern about the potential of external or non governmental
policy initiatives and promptly disowned the Conference….”
Presaging a subsequent national lack of interest in the matter was a 30 January 1944
letter from the Conference’s 32 Nassau Street address to The Irish Times, entitled
"Towards Tomorrow.” George wrote
...about popular indifference to issue which are of deep and
pressing importance in the lives of this and coming generations of
Irish citizens. If you can do anything to dispel the current lethargy,
your efforts will measure the gratitude of an indolent public, who
are more disposed to indulge in destructive criticism of official
activities than to contribute … to constructive thought and action.
Parenthood
Born during the Emergency, at the time of GGL’s transitioning to working for the
Conference, was only child Ivan. Birth occurred at the Rotunda birthing facility - “the
oldest continuously operating municipal hospital in the world.” Perhaps of some
symbolic significance is the fact that, thirty years earlier, it was at the adjacent Rotunda
Rink that the 1913 Volunteers were formed, just north of the site of the 1916 Rising at
the G.P.O.
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Unlikely as a matter of any concern to George, in contrast to May, was Ivan’s baptism,
arguably in violation of the Church’s Ne Temere Decree, at May’s family church.
Dun Laoghaire Presbyterian Church
Bishop Cohalan of Cork had been quite explicit regarding the offspring of such “mixed
marriages.” He repudiated the “doctrine that one religion is as lawful and good as
another.” Catholics were not to bring up their children outside of the “one true Church.”
Those Christians, outside of the Church of Rome, were seemingly excluded as valid
practitioners of the Faith.
Curiously, although always referred to as Ivan by everyone including his parents, the
baptismal cert. reportedly notes a Christian name of “Ian Sibbald.” This “double
barreled” moniker likely being a nod to Granny Sibbald and her family’s Ulster
Presbyterian/C of I antecedents.
The name Ivan, not uncommon in Ireland at the time (e.g., musician/singer “Van”
Morrison), attributable to the popularity of the Soviet Union after the seminal 1942-43
Battle of Stalingrad. Of some relevance was George’s 1930’s attraction to Communism as
an antidote to the seemingly failed western capitalism of the period. Perhaps of some
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bearing was the earlier naming, arguably in honour of Brian Goold Verschoyle, of the
youngest son of “Trotskyite propagandist” Geoffrey Coulter.
As a new father and aware of the short term nature of his Conference
employment, an additional and more permanent stream of income was sought
via reapplication for the previously denied wound/disability pension.
Wound Pension
With regard to George’s numerous disability pension applications, a close
reading of documents (1925-1944) obtained via a freedom of information
request (FOI), reveals the numerous mental and physical breakdowns he
experienced subsequent to the Grawn ambush of May 1921. Breakdowns,
which gave meaning to the word trauma in the title of his memoir.
While neither family members nor May and George spoke of such matters and
Trauma in Time never specifically addressed the nature of his trauma, it
became clear to me, upon researching his revolutionary past, that there were
specific 1918-1922 incidents that led to subsequent breakdowns and an
inability to cope with the exigencies of modern life. These initially traced to
uncertainties from being on the run, essentially homeless, as a soon to be
eighteen year old. He was well aware of likely execution, if caught with a
weapon, under the terms of the 1920 Restoration of Order in Ireland Act
(R.O.I.A.). It was a most narrow of escapes at Cappagh Station followed, two
months later, by the “battering” at Grawn. Moreover, he held himself at least
partially responsible for the deaths of Fitzgerald and Keating at the Burgery.
Most traumatic was the incessant shelling of his Ballybricken redoubt which
led to a breakdown and six months recuperation in Ardmore, England and
Cappoquin.
1923 civilian employment was followed by a relapse resulting in a September
1925 application for a “disablement pension,” denied 1 January 1926.
Emigrating in 1927, he was to suffer recurring breakdowns,“lack of
concentration, memory lapses and an intense desire to escape.” Treatments
occurred in Stamford, Connecticut at Resthaven and Falcon Manor and as an
outpatient at New York City’s Vanderbilt Clinic.
Having re entered Ireland on 4 August 1936, he reopened his application, from
Rosebank, for a pension based upon “progressive neurasthenia” (PTSD)
attributable to military service.” It was denied 26 January 1937. Another
denial, dated 30 March 1938, was noted on the grounds of not meeting” the
minimum required… 80% in the case of disease.”
His 16 May 1938 application from Rosebank additionally cited “tubercular
involvement of the lungs;” no doubt attributable to his two incarcerations and
sleeping rough while “on the run” 1918-1921. This was perhaps, although not
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stated in the application, exacerbated by exposure in prison to the pandemic of
1918-1919. Doctors seen at this time included O’Donnell of Rathfarnham and
T.B. specialist Dr. Leonard Abrahamson of Richmond, Whitworth and
Hartwicke Hospitals who noted “tuberculosis involvement of the left lung…
confirmed by x-ray examination.”
On behalf of George’s application, May Sibbald drafted a letter (some eleven
months prior to their marriage) in June 1938 to Sean MacEntee, T.D. Sean
duly appended the letter in a “Dear Frank” letter to the Minister for Defence,
Frank Aiken. Requested was a “special effort…to have Mr. Lennon’s claim
disposed of as expeditiously as possible.”
Once again (e.g., Waterford employment in 1923 and then with the I.T.B.)
contacts with prominent anti-Treaty Republicans, in this case May’s secretarial
position with MacEntee, were to seemingly prove of value. Accordingly, a
wound pension of 80 pounds per annum was granted forthwith, commencing
September 1938, with George departing the next month for Bermuda,
returning May 1939 to be married 14 July 1939.
Due to the stability of employment and “increased well being,” the wound
pension terminated on 30 September 1941. What George termed his “placid
period” ended sometime mid to late 1943. Playing a role, in addition to
becoming a father, was the financial instability attendent upon the 1943 loss
of the tourism position followed, in the next year (May 1944), by the
completion of his work with the Planning Conference.
Anticipating the end of the temporary Planning position, George reapplied (4
February 1944), likely once again at May’s instigation, for a reinstitution of the
wound pension. His application noted that “employment troubles began to
bring me down again in 1943…Loss of confidence in myself has now
manifested itself to an extreme degree…caused by my war experience….”
8 August 1944 saw reinstatement, in perpetuity, of the 80% disability at 120
pounds per annum, retroactive to 3 February 1944. The nature of the
disablement was described (12 January 1944) as “Reactive Depression
(Psychasthenia) and Pulmonary Disease attributable to Military Service.”
He was to remain unemployed for the remaining 21 months of his time in
Ireland. With May relegated to the role of homemaker, the only sources of
income were the two small pensions: military service and wound.
CHAPTER XVI
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1946 ff.)
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Family Emigration and Citizenship
In the estimation of Donal Brady, Director of the County Waterford Library, it was
“surely no coincidence” that George, in light of his 1936-1946 experience in the Free
State, chose to permanently emigrate. In late 1946 he secured a booking for the 20th of
February 1946 on Pan American Airways flight No. 101, Shannon to New York City, via
Gander, Newfoundland.
In that flights had been suspended at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, this was one of
the earliest civilian flights westward out of the just opened (October/November 1945)
Shannon Airport. The Lockheed Super Constellation had a likely origination point at
Heathrow. Listed on the manifest were a total of eleven passengers, significantly less
than its carrying capacity of sixty.
Reflecting his overweening desire to leave the Free State, despite the family’s precarious
financial position, George chose the extremely expensive $249 one-way air fare
(equivalent to some $3300 in 2016). As an unemployed male, George was a most
unlikely flier; air travel at the time limited but to a few, largely wealthy, individuals. Less
expensive Cunard ocean liners were unavailable, being used at the time to transport
troops back to North America, Australia, etc.
As the flight took off George “wanted to shout higher, higher, faster, faster.” The plane
experienced mechanical problems over the Atlantic and was delayed at Gander before
proceeding on to the United States. Later in the year, after two crashes, all such aircraft
were temporarily grounded.
He originally listed a 285 Riverside Drive address with married sister Eileen Sherwood.
The following month he moved to nearby 180 Riverside Drive, apartment#7.
Some time after George’s re-emigration, likely the autumn of 1946, May and Ivan moved
from rural Rathfarnham to May’s native Dun Laoghaire in South Dublin. They took up
residence at 8 Tivoli Terrace South in a one window, drafty, turf warmed basement flat
occupied by Granny Sibbald (nee Harrison) and May’s spinster sister Olive. Financial
exigencies, exacerbated by the presence of a three year old child, George’s expensive
“flight” and the cost of the impending emigration, were obvious reasons for the move.
This was the time of the “Big Snow” of early 1947 when horrendous winter weather
struck Europe and the possibility of famine was once again raised in Ireland. Not unlike
earlier food related disasters, this is a matter largely relegated to folk memory.
May was granted immigration visa #41 as a Section 6(a) non-quota immigrant on the
basis of her marriage to George, a naturalised U.S citizen.
With respect to their son, attempts were made to categorize him as a "derivative citizen.”
However, the U.S. State Department allegedly made a determination, according to
George, "that he (George) did not have sufficient time (10 years) as a naturalized U.S.
citizen to pass on United States citizenship to the subject (son)."
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This was contradicted by a registered U.S. Department of Justice letter to George at the
Riverside Drive address, dated March 21, 1947: "It appears that your son is a citizen...."
A letter to May from the American Vice Counsel in Dublin dated April 22, 1947 noted re
…appropriate documentation for your son, it is suggested that you
contact the Citizenship Section of the Consulate General.
With some six months time, prior to departure, to act upon this matter in Dublin,
seemingly no contact was made by May and the author was granted immigration visa
No. 3532 and unnecessarily labeled as a quota (based on the discriminatory national
origins system instituted in the 1920’s) Irish immigrant on his mother’s Irish passport.
Leaving Tivoli Terrace South, May and Ivan took the Dun Laoghaire mail boat (the
“mercilessly rolling” Princess Maud) arriving at Holyhead, Wales on 12 October 1947.
Coincidentally (and arguably symbolically) in May of that year the Una Troy Walsh
novel was portrayed, with muted Church criticism, on the Abbey stage with the
protagonist, John Davern, described as “a gunman, anti-cleric and communist.”
Princess Maud
Journeying to war ravaged Southampton, mother and child boarded the newly
revamped Cunard Liner Mauretania (II) on the 15th of October, arriving New York City
on the 20th. An earlier westbound passenger on the then troop carrier Maurie had been
U.S. soldier Ray Wagner of Buffalo, father of Susan Rae, future wife of the author.
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Cunard Liner Mauretania (II)
Interestingly, the Mauretania's manifest notes Ivan’s nationality of "U.S.A.” crossed
out and “Eire” written in. Also written in the formerly empty space for race or people is
“Irish.” No doubt an assertion of Irish independence on the part of reluctant emigre
May.
Effective October 20, 1947, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940, May was given a
“green card” or alien registration number 6787802. Ivan was number 6793340.
It was not until 1968, approaching age 25, that the author determined that he was, in
fact, a “natural born citizen” of the U.S.A. by virtue of his father’s 1934 naturalization.
The disillusioned former rebel, who had come to eschew Irish nationalism, considered
it, no doubt, a matter of absolutely no import; while May considered it of paramount
import. Having left Ireland only in a physical sense, no more scathing comment could
utter from her lips than to accuse her son of being “so American!” For her, Irish life was
superior, reality to the contrary, in all respects.
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Ivan Lennon: 1947 Irish Passport
Rochester, New York
The reunited three members of the family resided temporarily in New York City with
George's younger brother John. For the first time May and Ivan were exposed to people
of different racial hues. Ivan loudly noticed the presence in New York of a nearby
African American who had a “dirty face.” In Ireland “exotic” people were largely limited
to the proprietors of fish and chips and ice cream shops. Blacks were unknown (save for
an occasional African at Trinity College) in an insular and homogeneous Ireland.
A cottage type home was rented in the seaside community of Beachfield, New Jersey,
adjacent to Toms River. Despite having endured Ireland’s near cataclysmic weather of
January to March, the great American blizzard of Christmas 1947 proved quite a shock
to the newly arrived emigrants who lacked the proper clothing for life in such a climate.
A move was made, a few months later, to a somewhat larger nearby cottage.
In New York City, George was employed, using an erroneous birthdate of 26 May 1907,
as a cashier for $38/week at the Lexington Hotel. He was fired, effective April 19, 1948,
after losing a National Labor Relations Board election to secure union representation.
The hotel preferring to note, to a F.B.I. agent in 1959 (p. 229), that “he would not be
rehired because of continued tardiness.” With a daily expensive round trip rail commute
to NYC from Toms River of some 150 miles highly unlikely, George may have sought
work week accomodation in the New York area with his brother John.
Beginning 10 May he obtained a position as “machine operator” at the Federated Eggs
Producers Cooperative in nearby Toms River. The business was allegedly controlled by
the Communist Party of the United States. He left FEPCO shortly after Ivan began
kindergarten in the former yacht club in Beachfield. An October 1948 move was made
to western New York. The instability occasioned by these numerous 1946 ff. moves no
doubt confirming May’s initial skepticism of George’s return to the States.
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The City of Rochester had a vibrant industrial base including Bausch and Lomb,
Eastman Kodak and a locally owned Haloid Corporation. Residing at that time in what
has been referred to as "Smugtown, U.S.A," were (Richard) Victor Sibbald, older brother
of May and estranged husband of Kate (Horan). Vic and Kate were the parents of Jack
and Gary Sibbald. Kate, her mother and the two teen aged boys lived at 116 Palm Street
adjacent to Kodak Park and #41 School.
This, by all accounts, this was not a pleasant experience (definitely not from Ivan’s
vegetarian perspective), due, in part, to the culinary experience being largely limited to
large slabs of unappealing inexpensive cuts of meat from the nearby Skip’s Market.
Kate’s outspoken wheelchair bound mother was derisively described by George as
“Sitting Bull.” The Lennons finding the family’s forthrightness to be vulgar - certainly
not in the more reticent Irish mode. Kate returned the favour by noting George, to son
Gary, as an “old drunk.” A wary distance was maintained in subsequent years with the
author, unaware at the time of the animosity, inviting Kate to his 1970 wedding.
Nonetheless, a friendly relationship was established in the late 1960’s between the
Lennons and Gary Sibbald’s (d.2016) family in Charlotte.
Initial Rochester accommodation at the Sibbalds' home was to exhaust, to May’s chagrin
and undying enmity towards Kate, the few remaining dollars the family possessed.
Rental housing was then obtained at an unfurnished second floor one bedroom walkup
apartment on Ashland St. at Gregory behind the local "mom and pop" corner store.
Lacking central heating, a kerosene stove provided a measure of warmth and an icebox
provided refrigeration for perishable food items. Ivan continued kindergarten across the
street at #13 School and George secured an entry-level position as a janitor (15
November 1948) at the Eastman Kodak complex (Kodak Park) in northwest Rochester.
Initially lacking work to do, he was told to “just go hide.”
The next move in 1949 was to the seventh family accomodation since 1946. Acquired
was a more commodious, albeit unfurnished, one bedroom first floor apartment at #210
Lexington Avenue on the northwest corner of Tacoma and Lexington. The Tenth Ward
apartment building had central heating via a manually fed coal burning basement
furnace and was located equidistant between the Lake Avenue bus line to the east and
the Dewey Avenue route to the west. Also, beyond Dewey Avenue, was the recently
enlarged #34 School with a substantial Italian student enrollment.
In the late 1940's the Lennons attended Sunday meetings of the Society of Friends
(Quakers) located downtown on Eagle Street in Rochester's historic Third Ward. There
they made the acquaintance of Kenneth Holcomb of Scottsville whose family hosted the
Lennons for early 1950’s Thanksgiving dinners. A close friendship ensued with
Ernestine Klinzing, an original faculty appointee (piano) of Kodak founder George
Eastman at the Eastman School of Music on East Main Street. The love of her life was
the handsome nephew of deported "Red Emma" Goldman, David Hochstein. His life
was tragically cut short in the waning months of the Great War of 1914-1918. Many felt
his talent was potentially the equal of any violinist in the world including Heifitz. Today
the noted Hochstein School of Music on Plymouth Avenue bears his name. After David’s
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death, Ernestine never saw fit to marry. She maintained an interest in Eastern religions
journeying to Nara, Japan and other Asian locales. She lived the tenets of her Quaker
faith and became involved as a peace activist in Women's Strike for Peace and the
Fellowship of Reconciliation. No doubt influenced by Ernestine, May contributed to the
support of a South Vietnamese orphan (Nguyen–Thi-Hong-Van) born in 1967.
Seeking a measure of peace within himself, George began, in the early 1950’s, a
personal journey of sorts via his study of religion and philosophy. Of particular interest
to him were the writings of Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and the philosophy of Zen Buddhism.
Through his interest in the latter, he made the acquaintance of Chet Carlson, inventor of
"electrophotography.” Along with Haloid's Joseph Wilson, Chet was struggling to make
what was to become known popularly as "Xerography" a viable commercial enterprise.
Chester Carlson
Despite George’s meagre income, the summer of 1950 saw May and Ivan returning, after
an absence of less than three years, to their last Irish residence at #8 Tivoli Terrace
South. Living there were Granny Sibbald and her soon to be married daughter Olive.
The more than four month sojourn began with a RMS Georgic departure on 17 May.
A tender brought the passengers in to Cobh Harbour from the Cunard/White Star
(including the 1912 ill fated Titantic) mooring just off Roche’s Point. Ivan’s seventh
birthday was celebrated by a trip to the Dublin zoo with neighbour Ivan Smith.
Time was also spent at the Co. Waterford home (the Burgery, Abbeyside) of Mick and
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Mary Mansfield. The 23 September Cobh departure was on the Georgic arriving NYC on
30 September. Reportedly the last White Star liner, this was the same vessel George had
taken on October of 1938, en route to employment at the Princess Hotel in Bermuda.
Lacking appropriate “American" clothing (i.e., long pants), the author found himself
attired, for 2nd grade at #34 School, in items (shorts and knee socks) more suitable for
the Irish cultural and climatological environment.
In 1951, another northward move was made to a converted first floor apartment at 180
Augustine Street, between the bus lines on Dewey Avenue and Lake Avenue. A source of
some mild embarassment was George’s cavalier disposal of bottles of cheap spirits
(muscatel) in the backyard shrubbery. Located two blocks away was the highly regarded
Lakeview #7 School which became Ivan’s fourth school in three years. A couch, chair,
lamp and small wooden round table were purchased to furnish the tiny living room.
In this neighborhood, at that time, was a largely working class 100% white population
which included a federal judge, the family of a noted television performer on the Arthur
Godfrey Show (LuAnn Sims), doctors, dentists, factory workers and Kodak professionals
with advanced degrees. Most noteworthy among the latter was immediate Augustine
Street émigré neighbor, chess player extraordinaire and world famous Kodak
researcher, Dr. Max Herzberger, who had secured his high laboratory position at Kodak
upon the recommendation of his mentor, Albert Einstein. Dr. Herzberger would, on
occasion, journey in the early morning hours, to the nearby Kodak research lab clothed
in his pajamas and overcoat to pursue a potentially rewarding line of research. Security
guards were instructed to admit him regardless of the time of night.
Growing up in the Tenth Ward were youngsters destined perhaps by their childhood
behaviour patterns, to play a prominent role in the local mob in the 1970's. Attica Prison
eventually became their destination. One noteworthy “green card” holding Irish émigré
balladeer and JMHS student, Liam Magee, having eschewed U.S. citizenship, reached a
deal with local district attorney Donald Chesworth to accept deportation in lieu of
possible other forms of punishment. Liam died in his native land. His brother, Cathal,
was one of the earliest soccer style kickers in American football at Aquinas Institute.
Many of the children of the largely Roman Catholic population in the Ward attended
elementary school at Holy Rosary or Sacred Heart and then went on to Aquinas (boys)
or Nazareth (girls). Despite the family’s more than one thousand year involvement with
Christianity in its Irish variants, George was heard, on more than one occasion, to say
that faced with the choice of a Catholic parochial school education or none for his son,
he would opt for the latter. Influencing such a remark no doubt was his knowledge of the
Irish theocracy’s corrosive/abusive educational system plus the scandalous slave like
conditions found in the Magdalene Launderies and “industrial” schools. Of some
relevance would have been his personal experiences: the Church’s anti I.R.A. position;
the “Elizabeth Connor” book controversy in the 1930’s and the Church’s opposition to
Dr. Noel Browne’s mother and child scheme of the early 1950’s.
Despite their distinctive accents and May’s visceral connection to Ireland, not America,
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the family maintained a healthy distance from Irish-American organisations; no doubt
equating them with the likes of “super patriots” of the ilk of Senator Joe McCarthy,
Father Coughlin, Cardinal Spellman, Fulton Sheen and the Ancient Order of Hibernians
(AOH). The latter organisation was viewed, more accurately based upon its conservative
positions, as the “Ancient Order of Hypocrites.” However, any Irish émigrés in
Rochester, regardless of religious affiliation, were accorded a very warm cead mile failte
at the Lennons. A strong friendship was maintained with recent emigres including the
O’Duffy’s of Tait Avenue in Greece, Doris Ward and Joy Finnegan.
Joining the family at their two bedroom apartment on the ground floor of 180 Augustine
Street, in late 1951, was Barbara, the only daughter of May’s half sister, Ivy Sibbald
Coulter (p.207). George unexpectantly noted to daughter-in-law Susan, in the late
1980’s, that Barbara’s father was not Geoffrey but a Jewish academic intimate of Ivy’s.
Thirteen-year-old Barbara emigrated out of Dublin on a small tramp steamer which
passed, outward bound on its lengthy journey, in front of her Sutton home. Unescorted,
she was the only female on board. No doubt, in the twenty-first century, such an
arrangement would be viewed with skepticism in certain quarters. Brothers Niall and
Brian “thought Barbara would be back in a few years.”
Certainly no preparatory, or subsequent, explanation to 8 year old Ivan for the
unexpected appearance of a less than full cousin in his bedroom was forthcoming from
his close-mouthed parents. They may have felt a commitment to Barbara’s parents for
accommodation provided in 1937 for George at Rosebank gate lodge and then, as 1939
newlyweds, at Beachfield. There is also the possibility that George, in light of his own
lack of a fixed abode from his 1936 return until housing was secured, at Fairbrook
Bungalow, felt a degree of empathy for the “daughter” of an equally peripatetic former
Volunteer with his own addiction problem. Arguably more likely it may have been solely
May’s idea, during the 1950 visit, in that she was always desirous of having a daughter.
Geoffrey, at the time, had “lost his job…due to drug addiction” (benzedrine) and
removed himself from the family’s home. He lived a somewhat nomadic 1950’s existence
with the itinerants (“Tinkers”) in the area above Dun Laoghaire. Eventually returning to
the family home he was to be observed, with flowing silver mane, protesting in the
Dublin streets against the apartheid policies of the S. African government. Despite his
service in the Troubles, like Peadar O’Donnell, Pax Whelan and George Lennon, he did
not file a Volunteer witness statement with the Bureau of Military History, Rathmines.
With assistance from the Rochester City School District’s “Childrens Memorial
Scholarship Fund,” Barbara graduated in 1956 from John Marshall High School and
later attained a chemistry degree at the downtown campus of Rochester Institute of
Technology. Subsequent employment resulted at Eastman Kodak’s research lab on Lake
Avenue. Barbara married Felipe DeChateauvieux (d.2016) and had one child Philip.
As one Sutton émigré family friend in Canada noted: Barbara’s ultimate fate, had she
not emigrated, might very well have been quite different; perhaps “selling sweets at
Sutton Cross.” In those post war days of de Valera’s frugal comfort, discretionary income
was minimal. At the Coulters, as for others in Ireland, knickers (underwear) and shoes
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were reportedly in short supply. Nonetheless, Ivy maintained a ferocious nicotine habit;
lighting one “coffin nail” from the other. She was to die, age 67 in 1970, of emphysema.
Beachfield House continues (2017) to be occupied by Niall and his wife Ann with an
additional home tucked in at the back for their daughter’s family. Adjoining property-
including the grass tennis court - having been sold over the years. The valuable property
affords a magnificent view of Dublin harbour and towards Wicklow.
In Rochester, life moved to an Eastman Kodak cadence: omnipresent chemical odors,
three daily factory whistles, the Kodak Park Athletic Association boys’ softball program,
the Eastman Dental Dispensary; the Eastman School of Music, Eastman Savings and
Loan, the weekly Kodakery newspaper, the March Kodak "bonus," Durand-Eastman
Park, and a 1936 built Kodak Park High School, newly named John Marshall.
Most importantly, the community benefited from the secure non – union jobs stemming
from the "fat cow" provided by Kodak's near monopoly of flexible film. These jobs, in
large measure, effectively excluded members of certain ethnic and racial groups.
In those halcyon days, it was quite common for 18 year old John Marshall High School
graduates to walk across nearby Ridge Road to begin a lifetime of employment; later
to retire with very attractive buy outs as Kodak began to downsize when it faced the very
less profitable digital revolution begun in no small measure with Kodak holding the
appropriate, but unacted upon, patents. Also eschewed were Carlson’s
“electrophotography” invention and Polaroid’s land camera proposal.
Having reached a 1980's peak of some 60,000 employees, Kodak, with its present work
force of some 2500 workers (2017), is no longer Rochester's largest employer. The
industrial area formerly known as Kodak Park has been largely demolished.
To supplement her husband's wages May, upon her return from Ireland in 1950, began
assisting a woman on nearby Mason Street. This led to work helping the young family of
Ted and Doris Holmes at the western end of Lakeview Park. House cleaning jobs
followed at nearby homes on Kislingbury Street, Lakeview Park and the apartment of
Gannett newspaperman Hamilton Allen. Around 1954 May obtained part time
employment, as a clerk/typist, at Grinnell's Kalbifleisch Travel Agency, initially located
on South Clinton Avenue near Main Street and then on the mezzanine level of the new
1962 Midtown Plaza. Unable to drive, this entailed for May a daily round trip on the bus
with grocery purchases at Sibley’s downtown made in the P.M.
Circa 1953, George ultimately passed his driver’s examination; a skill he previously had
no need for with his own chauffeur- cum -“batman” during the Troubles (pp.74, 103 ff.,
173). After the family had purchased (from Doyle Studebaker) its first automobile,
another move was made: two blocks southward to 60 Lakeview Park at the Pierpont
corner; diagonally less than 100 feet from #7 School. This owner occupied building
consisted of an upper and a lower apartment. The Lennons and Barbara occupied the
upper floor which contained a small kitchen, adjacent “dinette,” bathroom with shower,
a living room with two full sized bedrooms and a closet sized bedroom, off a large front
room for Barbara. Overlooking Pierpont Street was a small rooftop area with
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accompaning chaise lounge. Lakeview Park, like nearby Seneca Parkway, traced its
origins to the firm of urban architect Frederick Law Olmstead.
With May at work during school hours, the convenient school location provided Ivan the
opportunity to make his vegetarian lunch (scrambled eggs/toast, peanut butter/jam,
cheese or banana on toast) during the lengthy hour and quarter school lunch dismisal.
Writing of his native land at this time, George commented, echoing Una Troy, on the
“two snakes” that St. Patrick had failed to expunge from Ireland: “religious intolerance
and tribal insularity.” This disdain for certain aspects of Christianity and its adherents
could be multi national and ecumenical as was witnessed on a snowy evening in 1955
when the local Presbyterian minister visited the Irish emigres whose son was a Sunday
school attendee. The discusion veered to America’s treatment of the Negro and the
rampant McCarthyism of the period. Not encountering the convivial atmosphere he no
doubt expected, the Reverend Warfield made an abrupt exit leaving his winter galoshes
which were subsequently put to use by the, of necessity, frugal Lennons. Coincidentally,
the author was never invited to class parties hosted by the Reverend’s son.
The old Lakeview #7 School featured, on its Dewey Avenue side, a dusty playground and
small wooden "shanty” (perhaps from the Irish sean tig). Largely unsupervised, urban
youths formulated their own games, such as "Over the Line" and "Hotbox.” The wire-
meshed playground facing windows of #7 School were utilised to make up baseball like
games. The rat infested shanty offered a haven on rainy and wintry days.
#7 School as viewed from 60 Lakeview Park
Playground directors at #7 included the seemingly elderly spinster Miss Larkin and
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noted Sacred Heart basketball coach “Packy” McFarlane. To the south, Edgerton Park
featured as directors future NBA Hall of Famer Bobby Wanzer and former Boston Red
Sox and Rochester Red Wing third baseman Tommy Carey. Living nearby during the
baseball season were a handful of baseball players, employed by the St. Louis Cardinals
organisation, who played at Red Wing Stadium across the river to the east.
Close by were Maplewood Park, the Genesee River gorge with the Lower and Middle
Falls and the Maplewood YMCA. To the west was Aquinas Stadium, the “Sisters Woods”
behind Aquinas Institute, the “subway” to downtown and Brighton, and railway tracks
which afforded the dangerous pleasure of “hopping” slow moving freight trains which
supplied local factories. To the south was the Liberty Theatre on Driving Park Avenue,
Herman’s Hobby Shop, the Liberty Sweet Shop, and Edgerton Park, home to the 1951
NBA champion Rochester Royals. Also located at Edgerton Park was “Building 6” which
hosted a Saturday morning Playground Basketball League. To the north, closer to
Kodak, was the Riviera Theatre, Kodak Park Athletic Association (K.P.A.A.) fields at
KPX and DPI, John Marshall High School, and across the river, the Seneca Park zoo and
swimming pool. Readily accessible, via a Lake Avenue bus ride northward, was Ontario
Beach Park on the lake.
Shopping downtown was a short 2-mile ride on either the Lake Avenue or Dewey
Avenue bus line. The Dewey-Driving Park shopping area contained two supermarkets
(Wegman’s and Loblaw’s), plus numerous other restaurants and businesses catering to
the Tenth Ward community. Further north, larger stores (e.g., Sears, Neisners), a
bowling alley, bakery, etc were to be found at the Dewey/Ridge Road intersection.
1954: Ivan at Leinster House, Dubln
A 1954 trip by May and Ivan, of some three and one half months, leaving Lakeview on
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Ivan’s birthday of 14 June, was made on the Mauretania (II). May likely having mixed
feelings returning on the same Cunarder that had borne her westward, less than seven
years earlier. Landing at Cobh, they were picked up by former RAF mechanic Alfie
Patten, husband of May’s sister Olive. Residence was taken at the #8 Tivoli Terrace
South basement flat. Having died in April, Granny Sibbald was buried, with husband
Sam and his first wife, Sara Anne, at Dean’s Grange. Also in the plot (space 55, lat.
south, R2), but not noted on the gravestone, is Sara Anne’s stillborn male infant. No
mention was ever made by the family of Sara’s marriage to Sam and postpartum death.
Returning to the States via Cobh, the requisite stay, en route, was made with Mick and
Mary Mansfield at their Burgery home across from the ambush site with its bullet
scarred farmer’s gate still intact. May and Mary having established, despite their
differing religious backgrounds, a close relationship. Like most in Ireland, the
Mansfields lacked a car and transport to the local bus station was made by Tommy
Keating’s donkey and cart. The liner Britannic arrived in New York on 2 October.
Returning by New York Central train to Rochester, Ivan continued his education at
Lakeview #7 for grades six and seven and then at John Marshall High School. A nod to
modernity was duly made at 60 Lakeview Park with the installation of a “party line”
phone in 1955. Due to cultural considerations and financial constraints, necessitated by
saving for a significant down payment on a home and trips back to Ireland, no thought
was ever given to the purchase of a television.
The fall of 1956 witnessed the end of a somewhat nomadic decade when the family
moved to its 10th and final residence. Purchased ($14,500) was a three bedroom 1920's
built “Dutch Colonial” home at 31 Grassmere Park, just off Lake Avenue, in the
seemingly remote, to Ivan, Charlotte or 23rd Ward neighborhood. A second floor
laundry chute provided May with a convenient locale to hide intoxicating spirits from
George.
Obtaining a mortgage, even with the considerable down payment, proved a minor
inconvenience in that the family's habit of paying all bills in full, in cash, meant that
they lacked a satisfactory "credit rating" with the Rochester Credit Bureau.
The Charlotte locale necessitated a daily ride for the author, from 1956 to 1961, to John
Marshall via city bus, or, more commonly, by hitchhiking ("thumbing"). Surprised by
the move out of the old Tenth Ward neighborhood, Ivan avoided attending nearby
Charlotte High School by the simple expedient of not notifying the school authorities.
Due to after school sports activities, a typical school day, portal to portal, often stretched
from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. returning at times to play pick up basketball in the JMHS gym.
With their stated left of center political opinions, at least by American standards, George
and May had earlier incurred the ire of former Quaker friend Kenneth Holcomb who
reported George as a communist to the F.B.I. A 9 April 1959 visit from an agent resulted
with May initially denying him entry to the Grassmere Park residence.
In the mid 1960's, George’s portrait (p.239) by local artist Ruth Carver, was exhibited at
Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery. Included in his group of Rochester artiste/intellectual
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friends was acclaimed R.I.T. photographer Minor White. George became, in the mid
1960’s, one of eleven founding members of the Rochester Zen Center and a member of
its original Board. Included in this group were Chet and Dorris Carlson, Harriet
Gatwick, Audrey Fernandez and Ralph Chapin. In 1966 the group invited the noted
Sensei Philip Kapleau, who lived in Japan and had authored The Seven Pillars of Zen, to
visit Rochester. So impressed were they that he was invited to be the resident teacher,
ably assisted by youthful Hugh Curran.
The group of stunning structures of the Zen Center is located on Arnold Park just off
East Avenue. Initial funding for the building, with a stipend for Kapleau, was made
possible by Carlson generosity. Reportedly, Dorris Carlson had a strained relationship
with Kapleau who resented her interference with Zendo matters. Chet withdrew his
financial support and was to die prematurely, at age 62, in 1968. Although a Forbes
magazine article in 1967 listed his assets in excess of $100,000,000, he maintained, in
private conversations, that it was much closer to $50,000,000. Regardless, by the time
of his death he had not realised his philanthropic goal of exhausting his wealth. This was
in the Rochester tradition of giving established by Eastman, Strong, Joe Wilson and,
most recently, Paychex's Tom Golisano. Chet’s wife (d.1998) and adopted daughter
Catherine continued his philanthropic and humanitarian endeavors (e.g., Carlson
Metrocenter YMCA, Chicago’s Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, etc.)
Last Years
Skeptical of what little was written and aware of the lack of reliable first hand
information regarding the revolutionary period in the Deise, George saw fit, upon
retirement in 1965, to begin work on a short memoir entitled Trauma in Time.
Undertaken, no doubt, in lieu of filing what he would have perceived to be a self serving
witness statement with the Bureau of Military History. Nonetheless, his fellow
comrades’ statements paid, in writer Terry O’Reilly’s words, “full tribute to his role.”
He did deign however to return, in April 1966, to Ireland for the first time since 1936, on
the occason of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Week Rising. The author,
having graduated in 1965 from St. Lawrence University, was at this time attending, on a
Carnegie Fellowship, New York University’s Graduate School of Public Administration
in Washington Square. George made no mention of nor did he write of the
commemoration events held in Dublin which he may very well not have attended; likely
preferring the company of friends in Bunmahon (Walshes), Comeragh (Keatings) and
Kilmacthomas (the now married rebel Cullinane sisters).
Upon receipt in 1983 from Mick Mansfield of the paper back Sean Murphy book on the
War of Independence in West Waterford (The Comeraghs: Refuge of Rebels), he
atypically dismissed it as “lies.” Although unstated, there was a sentiment, on George’s
part, that his revolutionary endeavors were largely unappreciated. Attributable perhaps
to a perceived “premature” laying down of arms in August 1922, an unacknowledged
PTSD, a “mixed marriage,” two emigrations and what were at the time, unpopular yet
prescient positions.
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He wrote of the Hickey execution at the Burgery in an earlier unpublished 1960’s play,
Down by the Glen Side, which was similar to Frank O’Connor’s iconic 1931 short story
“Guests of the Nation.” The subject was a captured British officer who was to be shot in
reprisal by an Irish Commandant. The protagonist, a “boyish” Column O/C Rogan,
choosing “a dramatically different course of action” than that taken by twenty one year
old GGL upon the capture of childhood acquaintance Sergeant Hickey.
His memories of the 1916 -1922 period in Waterford were refreshed by a Rochester visit,
circa 1970, of former Civil War foe and E. Waterford O/C Paddy Paul. Attending what
they anticipated to be a film murder mystery, “The Killing of Sister George,” the two
former rebels were mildly shocked by its portrayal of an love interest involving two
women. A photo was taken of George with Paddy holding George’s memoir.
It is not surprising that George would have been a vocal and early opponent of the war
in the former French Indo-China. The local morning Rochester newspaper, in a column
by Henry Clune (October 21, 1967), was headlined “Ex Rebel Holds Viet War Futile.”
George noted similarities between the Irish guerrilla struggle and the war of national
liberation in Viet Nam. Commenting that “decency and magnanimity never severely
harmed any great nation and it cannot harm ours - we will have to withdraw from Viet
Nam sooner or later, so why not now?” This may be viewed in the family’s tradition of
forthrightly speaking out regarding matters yet to gain popular acceptance. Witness the
outspokenness of RC Primate Dr. Crolly; Nellie Lennon moving beyond obeisance to the
priests; George as an early twentieth century proponent of guerrilla warfare against a
colonial usurper and a “premature anti-Fascist” critic of the Irish Free State theocracy of
de Valera and McQuaid. He also had the foresight – some 50 years before the successful
Irish-America - to see the need for “a magazine of Irish expression.”
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George made another visit, this time with May, to Ireland with recently married (June
1970) Ivan and Sue and infant daughter Kristin occupying 31 Grassmere Park. This visit
in 1971 -1972, included, for George, a stay in County Waterford where he contacted,
most notably, former youthful love interest Lena Keating Walsh, sister of the slain Pat
and Tom Keating. Others included Katie Cullinane Kent ("Mother Kent") in
Kilmacthomas and, in nearby Bunmahon, writer and widow Una Troy Walsh and her
daughter Janet Walsh Helleris. Atheist Dr. Joe Walsh’s remains (d.1969) had been laid
to rest immediately adjacent to his Roman Catholic Republican comrades in Kilrossanty.
He also visited the burial site of great granduncle Archbishop Crolly at Armagh's St.
Patrick's Cathedral. Searching for the burial site of Niall O'Neill, with whom a Crolly
forebearer of a “military caste” had been allied at the Battle of the Boyne, he was
surprised to find his resting place at Waterford's Greyfriars Church.
His return to Rochester preceded that of May who, not surprisingly, elected to stay
longer. As George had observed of May as they departed on this sojourn: “She knows
there are other countries in the world, but May is quite cool to them. She is going back
to Ireland; in fact she never left.”
On his last trip back, in 1976, he and May resided in Rathgar on Palmerston Park where
the author, Susan, Kristin and Colin visited that summer.
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Returning to 31 Grassmere Park they lived more than adequately, accustomed to the
Irish lifestyle of “frugal comfort” (in the words of Taoisech Eamon de Valera) as
practiced by May. Income included savings, a small Eastman Kodak pension cheque,
two Social Security cheques and the I.R.A. military service and wound pension cheques
(undeclared on income tax forms). Suffering from memory loss (e.g., seeking the Dun
Laoghaire bus from in front of downtown Sibley’s) and cancer, May died, age 74, on the
13 November 1983 and was buried in Rochester’s historic Mt Hope cemetery, not far
from the family’s first Rochester apartment at the corner of Gregory and Ashland.
George remained alone in the Charlotte home until 1987.
Accustomed from his youth to having his needs, in large measure, tended to by others: a
tutor; a household servant; mother and sisters; driver “Nipper;” military subordinates of
the likes of Jim Power; people in “safe houses” such as the Whelans of Ballyduff, the
Keatings of Comeragh and the Cullinane/Kents of Kilmac; highly placed anti-Treatyites
in the government; the Coulters in Rathfarnham and ultimately, May, Susan and Ivan,
George was ill suited, in his eighties, to the mundane tasks associated with maintaining
a home. His idealism and intellectualism conceivably making him better suited to a life,
not unlike his Ulster monastic and priestly forebearers, of a “superior of a …religious
order,” as he had observed of his friend IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch.
In declining health, due to the lingering effects of tuberculosis (exacerbated by a low
level of smoking), he entered Beechwood Nursing Home on Culver Road. Monies
dutifully saved by May bankrolled the greater part of his stay until they were exhausted
and government funded assistance was provided. Legal assistance was successfully
sought when the nursing home attempted to have him removed at the time of the
implementation of the much lower Medicaid reimbursements. George died in his 91 st
year on 20 February 1991. No ceremony was held.
His ashes were placed under a tree at the Maine home of former Rochester Zen Center
members Hugh and Susan Curran. Hugh had been the head monastic for the first five
years of the Rochester Zen Center’s existence. He had earlier emigrated with his family
to Canada from Donegal. Hugh curently teaches courses on early Irish literature and
Celtic spirituality at the University of Maine. He is also a peace activist and father of
Oisin, Brown University graduate and author. In that the tree was showing “serious
signs of rust”, a neighbouring potter, Dennis Riley, designed clay pots to hold the ashes.
One now resides on a ledge in Hugh and Susan’s sunroom. Others may be found at the
Lennon’s Beresford Road home and in the possession of the Rochester Zen Center
alongside those of Roshi Philip Kapleau. A scattering of ashes occurred in the waters of
Casco Bay, Maine, adjacent to the Falmouth-Foreside home of grand daughter Kristin
Lennon Cohen.
Belated Recognition
Realising, due partially to a lack of fecundity in the family, that the Lennon story would
be largely forgotten unless I made the effort, application was made in 1983 for a
replacement of the 1941 Black and Tan medal so unceremoniously jettisoned during the
Emergency years from my pram into the Owendoher. Also received was the “Truce
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Commemorative Medal” of 1971, which apparently had not been sent to George. The two
medals, along with a later acquired Na Fianna Eireann medal, were duly framed.
Of far greater import was the inclusion with the medals of a copy of George’s military
service pension application (pp. 196-199) as received by the pensions branch of the Irish
government on 10 January 1935. This detailed recital of 1916-1922 events was to serve
as the basis for my investigation..
Entertained at 242 Beresford Road in the mid 1980’s was Billy (“Buses”) Kenneally,
Remembrances of days past occurred when the former “Irregular” and Waterford
“military governor” of 1922 was introduced to the reigning Lord Mayor.
Thanks to Peter A. Korn, Beresford Road neighbour and Rochester City Manager, my
wife and I in 1987 were part of a Sisters Cities delegation to the “twinned” city of
Waterford. After a thirty-three year hiatus, a reconnection was made with Mick and
Mary Mansfield at their Burgery home. Sadly, the bullet scarred gate across the road at
the ambush site had been removed. Contacted, just prior to his death, was Volunteer
Sonny Cullinan, father of émigré author Jimmy (Arses and Elbows and Imagine).
For the most part, no one in 1987 Waterford City remembered the twenty one year old
who led his I.R.A. forces into an apathetic Waterford City, claiming it as part of an Irish
nation. Scant interest was shown in my attempt to garner a wider audience for George’s
Trauma in Time. Accordingly, I resolved to move beyond his memoir and pursue my
own investigation into the matter of my family’s past; blissfully unaware of the
significance of the operative word “trauma” in the title.
Fortunately there were people such as Kilmacthomas writer Sean Murphy, Tony
Mansfield (son of Mick) of Sexton Street, Abbeyside, Eddie Cantwell of the Museum, Dr.
Pat McCarthy and Ardmore’s Tommy Mooney who maintained a lively interest in the
years of the “Troubles.”
In September of 1998 I led a group of triathletes on a bicycling tour of Ireland. Cycling
eastward out of Dungarvan, I viewed for the first time the Kilrossanty Republican Plot
where the remains of Pat Keating, Sean Fitzgerald, Tom Keating and others lay near
those of Dr. Walsh. Resolved, with time newly made available by my 1996 retirement,
was the intention to put pen to paper regarding Waterford’s largely forgotten I.R.A.
commander.
In March of 2006 a Jim Memmott article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
regarding the Lennon-Sergeant Hickey relationship (pp.133-138) was reprinted by
Waterford’s Munster Express (see Appendix E). This caught the attention of Deise
military historian and writer Terence O’Reilly. Terry’s preliminary research (e.g., the
availability of George’s memoir on the County Waterford Museum website) regarding
the War of Independence in Waterford had led him to conclude that the history of the
period was encapsulated in the personage of George Lennon.
Seeking a measure of government recognition for my father in 2008-2009, I was
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denied, on the specious grounds that a funeral had been held upon George’s 1991 death,
a Department of Defence presence at a proposed scattering of his ashes at the
Kilrossanty Republican Plot. Additionally, in exercise of its remit, the Waterford Old
I.R.A. Memorial Organisation noted the “sacred” nature of the plot and that a dispersal
would constitute ”penetration of the soil.”
Further controversy was engendered in that same year when it came to my attention
that the Waterford Republican Sinn Fein (RSF) Cumann had adopted the Whelan-
Lennon name. The Cumann was notified that George, in his later years, had eschewed
violence. As a result, the organisation renamed itself in honour of Northern hunger
striker (d. 8 August 1981) Thomas McElwee.
In September 2009 a talk and exhibition entitled “The Road to Independence” was held,
under the auspices of of the Waterford County Museum, on the ground floor of the old
Dungarvan Town Hall. Prominently figuring in the discussion, by Dr Pat McCarthy,
Sean Murphy, Terence O’Reilly and the author, was the role of George Lennon. This
event coincided with the completion of my Ulster to the Deise: Lennons in Time and,
O’Reilly’s Rebel Heart: George Lennon Flying Column Commander.
Following talks and a discussion a crumpled up British newspaper was prominantly left
discarded on the 2nd floor auditorium floor. Highlighted was a prominent article and
photo regarding the dispersal of the ashes controversy. Some in the contemporary
Republican movement in County Waterford were seemingly not pleased by the airing of
details regarding their organisation’s denial of the author’s request.
St John Fisher’s newly opened Skalny Welcome Center witnessed, for six weeks from 15
March to 30 April 2010, an art exhibit entitled “Forgotten Ireland” featuring artist
friends of George including Harry Kernoff and Charles Lamb. Displayed were the works
of Power-O’Malley and renditions of the Lennon and Shanahan Dungarvan homes by
Blawnin Clancy, daughter of Tom Clancy of the famed Clancy Brothers.
In 2011 a documentary (From War to Peace: The Life of George Lennon), was shown in
the Dungarvan film theatre, on the Irish language TV station TG4 and at an Irish Film
Feis in Rochester, N.Y. It is currently available on YouTube.
November 2012 saw the presentation of four performances, at the old Town Hall
auditorium, of Muiris O’Keeffe’s play Days of Our Youth. The subject was George’s
revolutionary days centered on the Piltown and Burgery ambushes. The former town
hall was a most appropriate locale as it was in the front of this building that George had
received a “massive reception” upon his February 1918 release from Ballybricken prison.
Along with a window display entitled “Irish Rebel to Zen Buddhist,” shown at
Rochester’s Winton Road Library on 18 March 2013, was Cormac’s TG4 documentary.
In 2013 a headstone was erected at the grassy Shanahan family plot located immediately
behind the St. Mary’s Church office. Interred in that plot, in 1954, was the last surviving
Dungarvan Shanahan - school teacher Josephine, sister of Nellie Shanahan Lennon.
245
On 22 March 2014, at Albany’s Irish American Heritage Museum, SUNY Professor
Donald Masterson and the author led a presentation and discussion on George Lennon,
1913-1922. This was followed the next year by an Albany exhibit, from 23 January to 22
March, entitled “The Art of Michael Augustine Power O’Malley.”
With the impending centenaries, a number of books were published in the Deise.
Tommy Mooney of Ardmore, son of Volunteer Tom Mooney, released his 358 page
study of Waterford’s revolutionary period month by month from 1913 to June 1922.
The Siege of Waterford, a “graphic novel” suitably written and illustrated by Eamon
Cowan, “based on the photographic archives of Waterford County Museum,” was
released regarding the July 1922 Free State attack of Paddy Paul on his former
comrades. Another 2015 work on the 1912-1923 period was Dr. Pat McCarthy’s
Waterford. There was also a Park Hotel Dungarvan exhibit (31 October 2015) entitled
“Waterford’s Revolutionary Decade Roadshow.”
The summer of 2014 saw the installation of a plaque on the cemetery wall at St. Mary’s
parish church. Noted are the nearby presence (pp. 64-65) of the remains of George’s
parents (George Crolly Lennon/Nellie Shanahan Lennon) and grandparents (James
Lennon /Mary Anne Crolly Lennon). Also enscribed were the names of May and George.
A PowerPoint presentation entitled “George Lennon: I.R.A. Rebel to Zen Pacifist” was
shown at St. John Fisher College (16 April 2010), Tramore’s Old Coast Guard Station
(28 August 2015) and at Rochester Institute of Technology’s OSHER Institute (2016).
246
Chapter XVII
CONCLUSIONS
Waterford Didn't Do Much?
It has been written that Munster, with the exception of Waterford, was the heartland of
the I.R.A. campaign. However, was it true that upon crossing the Youghal Bridge
eastward from "Rebel Cork" or the River Suir at Carrick, the domain of the Third
Tipperary Brigade, that one entered a peaceable domain in 1919 -1921? Originally posed
by Ernie O’Malley, this is the question that Dr. Pat McCarthy set out to answer in a
Deise article entitled "Waterford Hasn't Done Much Either? Waterford in the War of
Independence, 1919-1921 -- A Comparative Analysis.”
At the time of the Volunteer split in 1914, the Redmondite National Volunteers
(constitutional nationalists) in County Waterford vastly outnumbered the physical
force Irish Volunteers (anti- parliamentarians). The latter, according to police estimates
in 1915, were down to some 73 men with only two rifles. With such paltry numbers it is
not surprising that the oath bound Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.) did not seem
to have included Waterford in their plans for the Easter 1916 Rising. What national plan
there was reportedly envisaged the Volunteers from the county and city linking up with
the South Tipperary Volunteers and continuing to Limerick where the anticipated arms
from Germany would be distributed. With the cancellation of the general mobilization,
all that took place in Waterford was the abortive search for arms by Pax Whelan and
George Lennon.
Nonetheless, Volunteer training, gun running and the search for arms, both in The Deise
and as far away as Dublin, continued through 1918 and 1919. Lennon and Whelan were
arrested for theft of a British soldier’s weapon and were incarcerated in January 1918 in
Waterford gaol. Later re-arrested, after being “on the run” for nearly a year, Lennon
spent April – May 1919 in Cork Male Prison.
The first violent enemy encounter involving men from Waterford occurred out of the
county. On 7 September 1919, Mick Mansfield and George joined forces with Volunteers
of Liam Lynch's 2nd Cork Brigade and ambushed members of the Royal Shropshire
Light Infantry outside of the Wesleyan Church in Fermoy. Subsequent Volunteer
activities in West Waterford, in early 1920, involved raids on income tax offices, the
R.I.C., the postal service and courts in Dungarvan, Lismore and Ardmore.
In May 1920, West Waterford Brigade Vice O/C Lennon journeyed northward and
joined the East Limerick men in the successful attack on the Kilmallock R.I.C. Barracks.
George was with these men when they went “on the run” and formed the first I.R.A.
active service unit or Flying Column. After Kilmallock, he was involved with Ernie
O’Malley and Sean Moylan in making gelignite at Bunratty, County Clare and planning
247
for the subsequently aborted attack at Sixmilebridge. Engagements followed at Bruree
and Kildorrery, Co. Cork. At the request of Liam Lynch George helped set up the famed
North Cork Flying Column later portrayed in Sean Keating’s iconic painting,” Men of the
South.”
With Pat Keating, he journeyed to Vaughan’s Hotel, Dublin to meet with Mick Collins to
discuss Pat’s “mud bombs” proposal. He and Pat also planned, in conjunction with East
Waterford’s Paddy Paul, attacks at Bunmahon and Kill, County Waterford.
After attending a three-week September training camp, organised by Lynch and
conducted by O'Malley, he returned to West Waterford to lead the men on active service.
As detailed in Chapters X through XIII, West Waterford men were involved in many
encounters with the R.I.C., Black and Tans and British military forces. Lennon
personally noted his involvement in seventeen engagements. In actuality, this is
probably a conservative figure. There were also ambushes, which were set up but did not
come to fruition. Additionally, beyond the scope of this study, were the activities of the
four West Waterford Battalions. Subsequent to the Truce, Waterford barracks were
seized, weapons captured at Dunkitt and guns landed at Cheekpoint and Ballinagoul.
In terms of revolutionary violence, County Waterford (east and west) fell between the
quiescent east coast (outside of Dublin) and "Rebel Cork.” On a population basis I.R.A.
operations in County Waterford, per 10,000 of the population, numbered 1.7; more than
double that of Wexford (.8) and about one half of Tipperary (3.8) and Cork (3.5). Were
West Waterford treated in isolation from the entire County, this figure, of course, would
have been much higher in that east County Waterford more closely resembled, in level
of activity, nearby Kilkenny and Wexford.
Working against an active campaign to the east was the strong Redmondite presence
and what Paddy Paul termed “the unsuitability of the terrain....” In contrast, to the west
the Knockmealdown, Nire, Comeragh, Drum Hills terrain afforded a far more hospitable
environment for guerrilla fighters. Additionally, the Deise populace, with a relatively
higher proportion of native Irish speakers, was far more sympathetic to the I.R.A.
As discussed earlier in Chapter XII ("Brigade Reorganisation"), I.R.A. G.H.Q., aware of
the greater involvement of the Deise Brigade, saw fit, most likely in August of 1921, to
combine the two Waterford Brigades with an enlarged and better armed active service
unit operating under George two months earlier.
McCarthy's analysis concluded:
By the summer of 1921 West Waterford was heading towards a more
active part in the War of Independence. The West Waterford Brigade
had demonstrated its ability to mount relatively large-scale
operations such as the ambushes at the Burgery and Ballyvoile. It
had the leadership, the manpower and the arms.
248
Seoirse O Leannain
George Lennon by Ruth Carver
In a 1967 letter to Rochester Democrat and Chronicle columnist Henry Clune, George
Lennon compared the situation in Viet Nam to that faced by the British in revolutionary
Ireland:
When in the early months of 1920 it was decided to resort to
guerrilla warfare...commandos in the field numbered no more than
150 men in opposition to an occupation army of 25,000 troops plus
an armed police force...of 10,000. At the termination of hostilities
the armed Irish... did not far exceed 1,000 trained guerrillas
and the British troops were holding only the towns and cities....
249
Others have estimated the number of men in the field at the time of the Truce
as approaching 2000 with 4500 internees. Regardless of the actual number, as
Hopkinson noted, “a surprisingly small proportion of the young were I.R.A.
members and the actual fighting was done by relatively few.”
How was it that such a small force could have succeeded against a mighty Empire?
Lennon observed that the only way to defeat an indigenous guerrilla force "is by a policy
of genocide." Hopkinson remarked:
IRA fighting did not need to be that widespread or that continuous:
individual actions on a comparatively small scale had profound
effects on British opinion and morale. The British military had a far
higher opinion of IRA Intelligence in the provinces than the IRA's
own GHQ did. The success of a guerrilla force is partly built on
myth: from a British perspective it was a sinister, shadowy,
intangible and ubiquitous presence threatening them anywhere and
at anytime
Looking back upon that troubled period, what most struck me, upon a closer reading of
George’s Trauma in Time and his I.R.A. pension application, was my father's unbroken
(save for two incarcerations and resulting “ill health” during the summer of 1919)
involvement in the Republican struggle. This began as a teenage member of Na Fianna
Eireann when he gathered the Dungarvan gorsoons and "drilled them up and down the
street using their hurleys as mock rifles.” Also, with Barney Dalton, exploding an early
“improvised explosive device (I.E.D) at the Dungarvan waterfront. Involvement which
ended late July 1922 with the I.R.A. retreat from the Free State Army.
At age fourteen he was appointed Adjutant in the newly formed (October 1914)
Dungarvan Volunteers. He was only fifteen years of age during Easter Week 1916 when
he set off with Pax Whelan on an abortive attempt to seize arms from a train. He was
incarcerated in Waterford Gaol at age seventeen and marked his nineteenth birthday in
solitary confinement in Cork Gaol. Earlier, he was sworn into the secret oath bound
Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.). He was militarily active in Limerick, Clare and
Cork, prior to the formation of an Active Service Unit in his native An Deise. Returning
to Dungarvan, he likely became the youngest O/C of an A.S.U. Additionally, he was
probably one of the youngest, if not the youngest, Vice O/C of an I.R.A. Brigade.
Like many of the more active men, such as Pat Keating and Mick Mansfield, he was a
person who did not dwell on his accomplishments and his numerous “hair breadth
escapes.” The latter included: Using fire extinguishers as a ruse in Kilkenny with the
Nipper (February 1918); “living rough” as an eighteen year old on the run for 11 months
(1918-1919); Fermoy (9 September 1919); escaping with others from a billet at Mother
Kent’s in Kilmac (Spring 1920); Ballyhooly and Cappagh Train Stations (March 1921);
Walsh’s Hotel, Cappoquin (27 November 1920) and, lastly, during the War of
Independence period, at Grawn/Faha Bridge (19 May 1921). Two further escapes
ocurred involving Free State soldiers in July 1922: at the shelled Ballybricken jail and
at Barnakil.
250
He was quite ready to admit, as at the Burgery, when his actions were less than heroic.
Many of these men of the 1919 -1923 period were revolutionary idealists motivated, not
by personal gain, but by a desire to rid their native land of a 750 year colonial presence.
George Lennon moved beyond mere patriotism. It was the Lennon/Davern character in
Dead Star's Light who saw "a people wandering in the darkness of the two shadows" of
patriotism and "our Church - the best run and most powerful business institution in the
country." He rejected a parochial Roman Catholicism in favour of a more universal
humanitarianism that respected "the fundamental truth that you cannot serve God and
Mammon."
George, like many nationalists including Pearse and Lynch, according to Richard
English in his study of Ernie O’Malley, "celebrated the spiritual and the anti-
material quality of Irish Republicanism." English noted:
...Romantic conceptions of Ireland contrasted its supposed
spirituality with the materialism held to be characteristic of
England. Ireland was, in the eyes of the Revolutionaries, to play a
role in rescuing people from materialism. The Pearsean Terence
MacSwiney, the Republican Lord Mayor of Cork who died on
hunger strike in 1920, argued that, "We shall rouse the world from
a wicked dream of material greed".
Under his leadership, the Flying Column was ultimately successful in making West
Waterford ungovernable. The morale of the Royal Irish Constabulary was undermined,
recruitment impaired, barracks destroyed and individual constables forced to leave the
service. Those Irish policemen (e.g., Prendiville and Hickey) who persisted in the
performance of their duty faced an untimely death.
I.R.A. targets were always the enemy (R.I.C., Tans, and British military) and the foreign
governmental apparatus. Life was not taken indiscriminately. By the standards of this,
or any other day, I.R.A. behaviour was most chivalrous toward their foe. It is difficult,
for example, in the light of subsequent twentieth century conflicts, to imagine a
combatant going to the aid of a wounded enemy, as did George Plunkett at the Dublin
G.P.O. Captured British military were always treated humanely and released as was
shown at Piltown and the Burgery.
Volunteers struggled with the fate of captured native Irishmen who were furthering
British objectives. At Durrow, they had released, at Mike Mansfield's insistence, Charles
Nugent Humble whose home had been made available to the British military. Also
released, in November of 1920 at Piltown Cross, were the two constables who had
pledged to leave the R.I.C.
It was with the greatest reluctance that the Column O/C faced the necessity of executing
his childhood acquaintance, Sergeant Hickey. This was understandable in that, only
251
days earlier, Lennon had his presence at Cappagh station ignored by Constable Neery of
Dungarvan.This arguably “beneficent” reaction avoided incarceration, interrogation
and quite possibly, a death sentence for the leader of the Waterford rebels.
Deaths at engagements in which he was involved included Volunteer Liam Scully
at Kilmallock, Constable Watkins at Kildorrery, two enemy at Piltown, Constable Quirk
at Cappoquin and two I.R.A. men shot following the Pickardstown engagement. March
of 1921 saw the death of a British soldier at Durrow and of Constable Redman at the
Burgery. That same morning the arguably avoidable fatal shootings of Sean Fitzgerald
and Pat Keating occurred. Although he was not directly involved, the 5th June 1921
witnessed the death of John Cummins. Lennon's order to reopen the trench at
Kilgobnet, days before the Truce, led to the death of six civilians.
He held himself at least partially responsible for the deaths of Keating and Fitzgerald.
He was deeply moved by the necessity of the firing squad death of police spy Hickey and
by the subsequent coup de grace, which he administered to the temple of the policeman.
A shot perhaps necessitated by the fact that the autopsy revealed only two firing squad
bullets in Hickey’s torso. Even more traumatic, being acutely aware of his likely
execution if caught, was his May 1921 Grawn escape with Mick Mansfield. This was
followed, the next year, by the effects upon him of the “accurately directed” Free State
bombardment of his Ballybricken command.
Disillusionment occurred with what he viewed as the "sellout" of the 11 July 1921 Truce
at a time when "things seemed to be going so well":
... Our enemies had retreated into the towns and they were now
only venturing out in large mobile columns complete with mounted
officers and a field kitchen.
A further blow to his revolutionary ardour was when the I.R.A. entered Waterford City
and claimed it for the Irish nation for the first time in some 750 years. A significance
apparently not appreciated by the citizenry who were generally less than receptive.
Retreating westward after the Free State attack on Waterford, the Column was to find a
not always hospitable reception by the country people who, in the past, had sustained
the men on the run. In his words, "we were not going to live off the good country people
again." Inevitably, this marked a low point in his young life.
Shortly after the end of what he termed that unmentionable Civil War, his short poem
("be kind to little animals...") on the occasion of Anastasia Keating's "American Wake"
in Ardmore, was indicative of evolving political, philosophical and religious
underpinnings.
He later observed that St Patrick had been unsuccessful in banishing two “snakes:”
namely “religious intolerance and tribal insularity….” His disenchantment with the
conservative nature of the Church traced to personal experiences beginning with the
antipathy of the Dungavan clergy towards the I.R.A. when his parish priest excoriated
252
him as the leader of the men in the surrounding hills. In May of 1922, the local
monsignor in Waterford abetted the escape of Free State officer Paddy Paul from his
imprisonment by the I.R.A. garrison. Later that year, the Irish Bishops denied the
sacraments to members of the I.R.A. during the Civil War. Not allowed to bury the
father of the Mansfield brothers, the I.R.A. was forced to take over the Grange Church.
George’s close friend, Lena Keating Walsh noted that the Cappoquin priest denied
“spiritual attention” to her dying brother Tom What Lena termed the “hostile” clergy in
Dungarvan permitted only one mass to be said for him.
Later, in the 1930’s, the Clonmel parish priest reacted strongly to the contents of Dead
Star’s Light and effectively expunged author Una Troy Walsh and her husband Dr. Joe
Walsh from membership in that church. George objected to the “special position”
accorded the Church in the Free State Constitution of 1937 and supported the
Republicans in their struggle against the Church backed Fascist General Franco in
Spain.
Reportedly, not viewed favorably in some quarters was his 1939 marriage outside the
“one true Church” and the 1943 baptism of his son, in seeming violation of the Ne
Temere decree. In the early 1950’s he favoured Dr. Noel Browne’s health scheme, which
was vociferously opposed by the Church hierarchy who viewed it as an attack on family
and Church values. He may have been aware of the “disappearance” of his family’s plot
at St. Mary’s. Perhaps he also wondered as to the whereabouts, in that same cemetery, of
his erstwhile enemy and childhood acquaintance, Sergeant Hickey.
His motivation for returning to Ireland in 1936, after a decade in New York City, is a
matter of conjecture. Certainly his health was a factor as was the receipt in 1935 of a
military service pension. As to the likely duration of his stay, insight may be gleaned
from “Elizabeth Connor’s” (Una Troy Walsh) 1947 Abbey play in which the
Lennon/Davern character states: “…Well, here I am now at home again- at home for
good…” Followed by the words “I hope.”
When questioned as to why he didn’t “think so much of the country you fought to
make…,” he replied: “Not quite. I’m looking for that country – still.” Likely “blinded by
the light of a dead star.”
As to the practical matter of employment, he rejected the notion that he might cash
in on Fianna Fail’s (anti-Treatyites) assumption of power by becoming a T.D. (member
of the Dail). This prompted his antithesis in the Walsh book, the lawyer Ross, to
comment that Davern had “left the returned hero stuff rather late.” In that “heroes are
out of fashion,” perhaps he “could be an inspector…I’m sure they’d think up something
for you to inspect.” Ironic in that this was the position George eventually did secure.
Working against government employment, however, was the fact that, save for some six
months, he lacked formal schooling and hence, was deficient in the language of his
forbearers. Also, his outspokenness against the Church did not serve him well in this
regard. However he was not loath to draw upon his Republican contacts in securing
employment and the wound/disability pension.
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Reportedly viewed by some as a “communist, an anti-cleric, an agitator, a gun-man,” his
decade long sojourn in the Free State ended with unemployment, relying upon the two
government pensions for his last twenty one months in the Free State. Nonetheless, so
anxious was he to leave that he chose the only available option at that time - a very
expensive flight out of the newly opened Shannon Airport.
In the former “burnt over district” of western New York State, centered on Rochester
(home to the Mormons, the Fox Sisters, the Shakers, Frederick Douglass, Susan B.
Anthony and “Red Emma” Goldman) he was attracted, by the non - violent tenets of the
Quakers, Unitarians and the Eastern philosophy of Zen Buddhism.
Reflecting in the 1950's, and 1960’s, he wrote a play (Down by the Glen Side) dealing
with an "Irish Commandant" who had forged a brief, albeit unlikely, friendship with a
captured English Captain who was to be shot in reprisal. As the Commandant pointed
his Luger at the officer’s temple, the British Captain reached up and pulled the blindfold
Down around his neck and gazed directly into the eyes of his executioner who now
has only split moments to make a decision. His humanity and his
generosity are in wild conflict with what he conceives to be his duty.
But, in spite of his youth, he is a person with an understanding
beyond the ordinary - A deeply rooted instinct, an instruction, as it
were, pulls him out of his dilemma.
He chooses to take a different path than that taken by the twenty-year-old Column O/C
immediately after the first Burgery ambush. He “picks up his rifle and goes toward the
rear exit” declaring, “goodbye, English Officer.” He then “runs forward into a hail of rifle
fire...throws his arm over his head and staggers in the opposite direction...trips and
pitches heavily on his face.” The spared British Captain then declares:
We must all perform our duty as we see fit.... Fighting! Killing! It
has been going on and on and there is more to come - but it cannot
go on forever. I take it upon myself to refuse – to say NO!! It is my
personal choice!
Written in an obituary entitled "George Lennon: A Quiet Warrior" by Brian Coulter, son
of former An Phoblacht Assistant Editor Geoffrey Coulter, it was observed:
He was reserved and determined and had little time for trivia or
trivial people. Yet in his time he was a giant. Pax Whelan... was
said... to have spoken of him in hushed, reverent tones as befits a
true leader. Whenever there was a "job" to be done, George Lennon
was always there, organising, leading, quite ruthless and extra-
ordinarily brave. He shirked nothing.
254
Most notably, Brian continued, "when the engagement was over and backs were being
slapped, George would quietly slip away, for he had no time for such frivolities.”
APPENDICES
As noted on page 5, what follows (as in Chapter XVII) are, for the most part,
summations of matters contained in the body of this work and, in some cases, written
earlier.
APPENDIX A
LENNONS IN TIME
226-268 A.D.......... Cormac MacArt, King of Tara (254 A.D.)
(Drove the Desii from Tara to "South Desii")
6th Century............ Colman macLeinin (Monastery at Cloyne)
606 A.D. ................ A "Lenin" (Annals of Innisfallen)
780 A.D. ................ MacLeinne, Abbot of Innis Bairein (Annals of Ulster)
896 A.D. ................ A "Lonain" ( Annals of Innisfallen)
898 A.D.................. A County Clare Lennan (Annals of Inisfallen)
898 A.D.................. Lennain macCathrannach succeeds brother Flann mac Cathrannach
as King of Corcu Bhaiscinn (Kilrush, Co. Clare)
900 A.D.................. Abbot Flannagain O Lonain
913 A.D................... Death of Lennain MacCathranagh, Erenagh of Inis Cathaig
1064 A.D................. Death of O Lonain, blind poet of Munster
1119 A.D.................. Death of Diarmait Ua Lennain, Bishop/Erenagh of Inis Cathaig
1380 A.D................. Death of Domnail O Leannain, Prior of Lisgoole
1396 A.D................. Death of Matha O Luinin, Herenagh of Arda
1430 A.D................. Death of Giolla na Naomh Ua Lennain, Prior of Lisgoole
1434 A.D. ............... Death of Lucas O Leannain, Prior of Lisgoole
1441 A.D................. Death of Piarus Cam O Luinin, Erenagh of Arda
1445 A.D................. Death of Tomas O Leannain, Prior of Lisgoole
1446 A.D. ............... Death of Eoin Ua Leannain, Prior of Lisgoole
1446 A.D................. Death of Adhamh mac Matha mhoir hUi Luinin
255
1466 A.D................. Death of Donnall O Leannain, Canon of Lisgoole
1477 A.D.................. Death of Matha O Luinin, Erenagh of Arda
1470-1516 A.D......... Matha macBriain mhicCormaic Oig O Luinin, scribe
1478 A.D................. Death of Tadhg Fionn O Luinin, Maguire historian
1528 A.D................. Death of Ruaidhri O Luinin, scribe of the Annals of Ulster
1529 A.D................. Death of Cormac macDeinis mac Phiarusa OLuini
1540 A.D................. Neime O Luinin family dies of the plague
1571 A.D.................. “Bretha Nemed” manuscript by Matha O Luinin
1579 A.D................. Matha O Luinin complains regarding a manuscript allegedly by O
Cassaide
1586 A.D................ Matha O Luinin pardoned by the Crown
1588 A.D................ Death of Matha O Luinin, Maguire historian
1630's A.D.............. Giolla Padraig O Luinin, Maguire, scribe, Annals of the Four
Masters plus a new edition of the Book of Invasions
1647 A.D................. Reverend O'Crilli
1649 A.D................. Abbot Patrick Crolly, emissary between Lord Antrim and Charles
Cromwell
1676 A.D. ................ Conchubhar Caoch O Luinin, wrote "G129" manuscript and later
brought the Fermanagh Genealogies up to date
1690 A.D................. James Crolly (Crilly) with Niall O'Neill at the Battle of the Boyne
1712 A.D.................. Cormac O Luinin (aka Seurlas O Luinin and Charles Lynegar),
Professor of Irish, Trinity College, Dublin and "chief antequary
of the Kingdom of Ireland"
1813-1878 A.D......... Reverend George Crolly, biographer, journalist
1782-1849 A.D........ Dr. William Crolly, Roman Catholic Archbishop Primate of Ireland
1780-1860 A.D....... Reverend George Croly, preacher, poet
1842 A.D................. Pol O Longan, transcribes Fermanagh Geneaologies
Late 1700's ............. Birth in the Deise of James Shanahan (maternal great grandfather
of George Gerard Lennon)
1811……………………..Birth of William Walsh (maternal great grandfather of GGL)
1831........................ Birth of James Shanahan (maternal grand father of GGL)
1823...................……Birth of James Lennon (paternal grandfather of GGL)
1825.........................Birth of Mary Anne Crolly (paternal grandmother of GGL)
1845.........................Marriage (22 September) of William Walsh to Ellen Agnes Power
GGL’s maternal great grandparents)
256
1846 ………...............Birth (18 October) of Sara Eliza Walsh (maternal grand
mother of GGL) to William Walsh and Ellen Agnes Power Walsh
1873.........................Marriage (7 September) of James Shanahan/Sara Eliza Walsh
1875 ………… Birth (August 4) of Ellen Shanahan (mother of GGL) to
James Shanahan and Sarah Eliza Walsh Shanahan
1870...............Birth (January 23) of George Crolly Lennon (father of GGL)
to James Lennon/ Anne Crolly Lennon (paternal grandparents of GGL)
1889… ……… Death (March 29) of James Lennon (GGL’s paternal grandfather)
1898…………..Death (16 September) of Mary Anne Crolly Lennon (GGL’s paternal
grandmother)
1891………… Death (20 December) of William Walsh (GGL’s maternal great grand
father (Preceded by wife Ellen Agnes Power Walsh)
1894………… Death (11 Oct) of Sara Eliza Walsh (GGL’s maternal grandmother)
1897..............Marriage (9 September) of George Crolly Lennon to Ellen Shanahan
(parents of GGL)
1900…………..Birth (25 May) of George Gerard Lennon to George Crolly Lennon/
Ellen Shanahan Lennon
1900...............Death of James Shanahan (GGL’s maternal grandfather)
1914................Death (June 11) of George Crolly Lennon (GGL’s father)
1916 -1923..... The "Troubles:” War of Independence and Civil War
1924...............Death (7 November) of Ellen Shanahan Lennon (GGL’s mother)
1927...............George G. Lennon (20 January) emigrates from Cobh, County Cork
1934……………Naturalization of George Lennon (22 April)
1936...............George Lennon returns (4 August) to Ireland
1939...............Marriage (14 July) of George to Eveline May Sibbald
1943...............Birth (14 June) of Ivan Lennon
1946...............George G. Lennon returns (20 February) to the United States
1947…………… Eveline May Lennon and Ivan Lennon emigrate (14 October)
1966…………… George Lennon returns (April) for 5oth Easter Week Commemoration
1970…………… Marriage (27 June) of Susan Rae Wagner to Ivan Lennon
1970…………… Birth (11 November) of Kristin Maureen Lennon
1974…………… Birth (11 February) of Colin Michael Lennon
257
1983…………… Death (13 November) of Eveline May Sibbald Lennon
1991…………… Death (20 February) of George G. Lennon
APPENDIX B
IRISH VOLUNTEERS: A REVOLUTIONARY CHRONOLOGY
# PLACE EVENT DATE
1 Ballynamuck Train ambush 24 April 1916
2 Dungarvan Gun theft 9 January 1918
3 Waterford Gaol Incarceration Jan/Feb 1918
4 Dublin/Kilkenny Collecting arms/eludes capture February 1918
5 Waterford City Parliamentary Election March 1918
6 Dungarvan Court House Riot April 1918
7 Co. Waterford “on the run”/eludes capture 11 April 1918 ff.
8 Lismore Court Caught/sentenced March 1919
9 Cork Male Prison Incarceration March - 28 May 1919
10 Whelans of Ballyduff Recuperation (‘in ill health”) June - August 1919
11 Wesleyan Church, Royal Shropshire Light 7 September 1919
Fermoy, Co. Cork Infantry ambush/Escape
12 Dungarvan Petty Sessions Clerk raid 1 January 1920
13 Ardmore R.I.C. Barracks attack 17 January 1920
14 Dungarvan (Church St.) R.I.C. Inspector King’s car 2 February 1920
15 Dungarvan, Lismore, Ring Tax offices etc. raided Spring 1920
16. Kilmacthomas Eludes capture Spring 1920
17 Kilmallock, Co. Limerick R.I.C. Barracks attack 28 May 1920
18 Corbetts of Bunratty Gelignite manufacture June 1920
Co. Clare Aborted attack at Sixmilebridge
19 Bruree, Co. Limerick Ambush 30 July 1920
20 Kildorrery, Co. Cork Ambush 7 August 1920
21 North Cork Formation of N. Cork Column August 1920
22 Bunmahon, Co. Waterford Coastguard Station burned August 1920
23 Vaughan’s Hotel, Dublin Mick Collins meeting 9 September 1920
24 Youghal, Co. Cork Stolen motorcar 12 September 1920
25 Glenville, Co. Cork Lynch Training Camp 17 September 1920 ff.
258
26 Kill, Waterford Planned R.I.C Barracks attack 18 September 1920
27 Dungarvan, Co Waterford W.Waterford Flying Column Sept./Oct. 1920
28 Brown’s Pike Ambush 12 October 1920
29 Piltown Cross Ambush 1 November 1920
30 Cappoquin (Walsh’s Hotel) Constable Quirk killed 27 November 1920
Eludes capture
31 Kilminnion Bridge, etc. Aborted ambushes Autumn/Winter 1920-21
32 Rockfield Cross, Cappagh Ambush 31 November 1920
33 Pickardstown (Tramore) Ambush 7 January 1921
34 Robert’s Cross, Ring Ambush 11 February 1921
35 Glenville, Cork Officers Convention 27 February 1921
36 Durrow/Ballyvoyle Ambush (jurors) 3 March 1921
37 Glenville, Cork Liam Lynch meeting called 4 March 1921
38 Ballyhooly/Cappagh Eludes capture March 1921
39 Burgery, Abbeyside Ambush 18-19 March 1921
40 Carrowncashlane Sgt. Hickey executed 19 March 1921
41 Glenville, Co. Cork Officers Convention 28 March 1921
42 Cutteen House (?) Meeting w/ O/C Paddy Paul 28 April 1921
43 Ballyvoyle/Ballylynch Train ambush 29 April 1921
44 Glenville, Cork Officers Convention 7 May 1921
45Kilrossanty Pat Keating funeral 18 May 1921
46 Grawn (Faha Bridge) Eludes British ambush 19 May 1921
47 Cutteen House, Comeragh Paddy Paul meeting May 1921
48 Cappagh Station Train ambush 4 July 1921
49 Kilgobnet Trench explosion 9 July 1921
50 Sleady Castle area Truce news received 11 July 1921
51 Devonshire Arms Hotel I.R.A. Liaison Officer Aug./Nov.1921
52 Cheekpoint, Waterford Gun running 11-12 November 1921
53 Mansion House, Dublin Dail accepts treaty 7 January 1922
54 Dunkitt, Co. Kilkenny Arms Seizure 3 March 1922
55 Cappoquin Barracks seizure March 1922
56 Waterford City I.R.A. occupation 9 March 1922
57 Mansion House, Dublin Army Convention 26 March 1922
58 Waterford City Free State attack 18 July 1922
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59 Ballybricken redoubt Escapes after artillery fire 21 July 1922
60 Barnakill, Kilrossanty Eludes Free State ambush July 1922
61 Co. Waterford Resignation 1 August
APPENDIX C
A DEISE TALE: THE BURGERY AMBUSH
In Limerick, Michael Joseph Hickey, the son of a Royal Irish Constabulary officer, had
to choose a career path from the few available to an Irishman at the dawn of the 20th
century. Cleric, farmer or emigrant seemingly had no appeal. He elected to follow in the
footsteps of his father; although it meant adherence to the R.I.C. policy of stationing
men outside their home county, away from immediate family and friends.
The recently promoted Sergeant, at the time of the Burgery ambush, was a fifteen-year
veteran of the police force. This position was an important one involving prestige and
authority. He was in charge, on a daily basis, of the constables and the police barracks at
Dungarvan Castle. According to some, Hickey was "very popular" and, in all probability,
with an impending marriage, entertained thoughts of raising a family in his adopted
Dungarvan. Men of the police force, as North Cork I.R.A. Commandant Sean Moylan
observed:
Were of the people, were inter-married with the people and were
generally men of exemplary lives of a high level of intelligence.
As native Irishmen, they were, with the exception of Dublin Castle officials, generally
sympathetic to a degree of national independence for Ireland. As to the extent of
Hickey's nationalist sympathies one can only speculate: "physical force" Republican
or, the more likely, moderate constitutional Home Ruler? Indicative of his sympathies
was a green, white and orange tricolour flag reportedly sewn to the inside of his tunic,
according to Margo Lordan Kehoe, daughter of his fiancee Nellie Kelly.
The men of the R.I.C were in an untenable position, in that, as natives, they
represented a 750-year foreign presence in Waterford, which traced to the arrival in of
the Norman Strongbow in 1170 A.D.
Regarding a conflicted R.I.C., Moylan continued:
Even if they understood and sympathised with the motives of the
I.R.A. it would have been most difficult for them to realise that any
success would attend the efforts of the handful of men putting their
puny strength against the might of the Empire. It was expecting too
much of them to expect that they would resign.
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Hickey had been repeatedly warned by the I.R.A. to do just that or, at least, desist, in the
performance of his duties, from furthering the objectives of Crown forces. Surely he was
aware of the fate of other R.I.C. constables in County Waterford and adjoining Youghal,
County Cork. At Piltown, O/C Lennon had released Constable Maurice Prendiville in
return for a promise to leave the force. Failing to do so, he was fatally shot (3 December
1920) near the Blackwater Bridge outside Youghal. Killed in Kilmacthomas (3
September 1920) was Sergeant Morgan. March the 3rd witnessed the death of Constable
Duddy in Scartacrooks. Late November 1920 saw two constables (Rea and Quirk) fatally
shot in Cappoquin. Involved in the Cappoquin incidents were at least four Dungarvan
men George Lennon, Pat Keating, Mick Mansfield and the “Nipper” McCarthy - who
were to play prominent roles at the Burgery.
Stationed at the West Waterford Dungarvan Barracks, Hickey and other constables
had befriended the gorsoons who came to play with the children of the Chief Constable.
Among them was a young lad, George Lennon, the son of the manager of the local gas
works. This police - child relationship, in the face of physical force, nationalism, was to
place both the officer and Lennon in a conflicted position.
Another childhood friendship which was to intersect at the ambush was that of I.R.A.
Volunteers Pat Keating and Sean Fitzgerald. At the beginning of hostilities their paths
had diverged when Sean emigrated to find work and Pat joined the men on active
service with the West Waterford I.R.A. Brigade under the command of twenty-year-old
Lennon.
Pat was a poet, Irish footballer, member of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Sinn Fein
organiser and lover of all things Irish. "On the run" as a member of the Deise Flying
Column, he was wanted "dead or alive" with a reward of four hundred pounds for his
capture per the police publication Hue and Cry.
Like others including Liam Lynch, Cathal Brugha, Mick Mansfield and Pax Whelan, he
was imbued with a revolutionary idealism. This was reflected in his poetry. With
thoughts of emigrated friend Sean Fitzgerald he included the following in his poem
Comeragh's Rugged Hills:
It's long since I bade farewell
For it is my sad fate
Our land oppressed by tyrant's laws
I had to emigrate...
When on my pillow I recline
On a foreign land to rest
The thoughts of my dear native home
Still throbs within my heart
When silence overcomes me
My dreams they seem to fill
Of my dear native happy home
Nigh Comeragh's rugged hills
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Pat felt a personal responsibility for all aspects of the lives of the men of the column. He
was concerned about the possibility of reprisals, not only against his family but also
against others who provided assistance to the guerrilla fighters. This concern extended
to his employers at the Durrow Co-operative. As a wanted man he knew that if the
authorities were to learn of his employment "the store would have been burned to the
ground." He, accordingly, resigned from his job.
Sean Fitzgerald kept in touch with his friends and family in the Deise. He was well aware
of how the national struggle was progressing and "longed to return to give a helping
hand.” Informed of Pat's reported death at an ambush outside Tramore (Pickardstown),
his response was prophetic: “I was saddened to hear of Pat's death and I am sorry I was
not alongside him." Relieved to hear, upon returning home, that the rumour was false,
he joined the active service unit and participated in the encounter against British forces
at the Durrow train station and adjacent Co-operative.
George Lennon was cut from the same cloth as fellow Volunteers Fitzgerald and
Keating. He was reared on tales of Cuchulainn, the Red Branch Knights and Sarsfield at
Ballyneedy. His ancestry traced to medieval church monasteries where his antecedents
served as erenaghs or lay abbots. His Crolly ancestors were aligned with Owen Roe
O'Neill and later, at the time of the Battle of the Boyne, with Niall O'Neill who lies
buried at Greyfriars Church in nearby Waterford City. In the nineteenth century,
uncle George Crolly worked with Gavan Duffy of the Young Ireland Movement. His
great grand uncle was William Crolly, Archbishop Primate of Ireland who had cautioned
against Church involvement in County Roscommon landlord matters during the 1840’s.
As an Irish Volunteer, at age fourteen, he chose to go with the minority of physical force
nationalists rather than the constitutional Redmondites (National Volunteers) who had
placed their faith in British promises while Irish men were sent to the Great War's
killing fields. The Irish Volunteers opposed conscription in the British cause and saw
Britain's difficulty as Ireland's opportunity.
The Easter Sunday 1916 uprising was cancelled; yet Easter Monday witnessed a blood
sacrifice on Sackville (O'Connell) Street with fourteen in Dublin, excepting Countess
Gore Booth Markievicz and the American born de Valera, to face the firing squad. In
Dungarvan, as one of only a few members of the local Volunteer brigade, he made an
abortive attempt with Pax Whelan to seize weapons from a train. He left school in that
year, not yet sixteen, to devote himself to the cause of an independent Irish Republic.
The following years found him gun running and disrupting British administration in
West Waterford. He was incarcerated at age seventeen in Waterford Gaol and later in
Cork Gaol where he celebrated his nineteenth birthday. He was active in the first
Flying Columns in East Limerick, West Limerick, and Cork. After training under Ernie
O'Malley, with Liam Lynch, George Power and others, he returned to West Waterford to
lead the Column under Brigade Commandant Whelan. Just turned twenty, he was the
youngest of all the Column O/Cs throughout Ireland. He was also chosen Vice
Commanding Officer of the West Waterford Brigade and inducted into the IRB.
262
There appeared in the Deise, in February of 1921, the "Count" or, as he preferred to be
known, "Captain Murphy." In actuality he was George Plunkett, a G.H.Q. staff officer on
a tour of inspection. If anyone could be said to have an Irish Republican pedigree it was
he, having fought with distinction at the Dublin G.P.O. Easter Week. He had been
sentenced to death and his brother, Joseph Mary Plunkett, was an Easter Week martyr.
The home of his father, the Papal Count, had been ransacked and both parents had been
incarcerated awaiting deportation. Viewed by Lennon as a "thoroughly conscientious
man,” his humanity was in evidence when he ran out of the besieged G.P.O. to aid a
wounded British officer.
On the night of 18 March, the day of his 36th birthday, Sergeant Hickey
accompanied a force of Black and Tans and British soldiers to apprehend a suspect
sought by the authorities. Hickey's role was to identify the individual.
While the Deise Flying Column was engaged in a fruitless attempt to blow up Tarr's
Bridge, near the Burgery outside of Dungarvan, the military convoy was spied on its
outward leg. The men of the I.R.A. rapidly deployed to ambush the convoy upon its
return.
Returning to Dungarvan with the identified prisoner, the enemy force was attacked by
the Column at the Burgery. Captured British soldiers were eventually released. Hickey
was not set free, as his knowledge would have endangered the lives of the Volunteers,
their immediate families and others who would have been subject to reprisals at the
hands of the Black and Tans.
The O/C of the Column faced a dilemma: did he not perhaps owe his own life to
Dungarvan Constable Neery? Earlier that month, returning from a Ballyhooly, Co. Cork
meeting with Liam Lynch, he had found himself seated next to British Major Neville
Cameron on a Dungarvan bound train. In an untenable situation, he sought to make his
exit at Cappagh Station. Spying the departing rebel leader, the Constable averted his
eyes allowing George to make his retreat.
Life was not to be taken lightly as had been evidenced at the Durrow engagement when
Mick Mansfield had successfully argued for the release of a British sympathiser. Hickey,
however, was not a civilian or a member of the British military. He was viewed as an
armed traitor and likely informer.
A "subordinate officer," either Pat Keating or Mick Mansfield, expressed the reality of
the situation faced by the I.R.A. men: "It would be the end of us all and our homes!"
Last rites were administered by Father Power of Kilgobnet with the Constable pleading
for his life to the former gorsoon:
George, I knew you as a child. You used to play with the head
constable's children in the barracks... You are the only person in the
world who can save me.
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A label "Police Spy" was affixed to his tunic; the O/C yelled "fire" and Hickey fell to the
ground. Approaching the prostrate Sergeant, Lennon looked down "at the erstwhile
enemy who is now an enemy no more" and administered a coup de grace to his temple.
In a futile attempt to secure armaments possibly left behind after the ambush, a force
under Plunkett, contrary to advice, returned to the ambush site early that morning. The
men were surprised by an ambush and Sean Fitzgerald was mortally wounded. Pat
Keating was shot attempting to go to the aid of his childhood companion.
Hickey’s body was eventually conveyed to the Dungarvan parish church, St. Mary's,
where gravediggers initially refused to perform their task. It was only at the instigation
of a local curate that the unmarked grave was dug. The plot belonged to the family of the
Sergeant’s fiancée.
To avoid likely reprisals by Crown forces, Pat’s body of was placed in a coffin by Dr. Joe
Walsh and interred, to avoid detection by the authorities, at two locales before finally
resting, two months later, on the night of 18 May, in Kilrossanty where he rests "nigh
Comeragh's rugged hills" alongside his lifelong friend, Sean Fitzgerald, for whom he
had heroically given his life.
Returning from the belated Kilrossanty burial, the I.R.A. pallbearers and other civilians
were, likely based upon an informant, ambushed at Grawn near Faha Bridge. Making
their escape from the horse and trap, Mick Mansfield managed at the last moment to
refrain from shooting his friend Lennon who had landed on top of him. Sentenced to
imprisonment were the civilian members of the party who were caught with weapons.
Hospitalised, reportedly awaiting execution, was Paddy Joe Power. Had the armed
Column leaders been caught, their fate would, no doubt, have been that accorded
Hickey.
Widowed some seven years earlier, Ellen Shanahan had sought to keep her young family
of five intact despite the closure of the Lennon operated Dungarvan Gas Works and the
loss of her second eldest son, George to the allure of the Republican movement.
Attending daily mass she found solace in her abiding faith.
At Sunday mass, some months before the Burgery incident, she had walked out in
protest as the local parish priest attacked from the pulpit, her son and the men "on the
run." She simply transferred her allegiance to a nearby church declaring "...it's a
religion that's grand enough even to get over the priesthood it has -- and that ought to
be enough to make any one believe it's the true one." (Dead Star's Light by "Elizabeth
Connor", p. 303).
Succumbing to cancer in 1924, her body was taken from Richmond Hospital, Dublin to
that same parish church. After the ceremony her remains were moved to the adjacent
cemetery where her husband, George Crolly Lennon and Sergeant Hickey lay.
264
Newspaper and family accounts reported her burial there along the wall to the right of
the church entry; yet, as in the case of Hickey, no parish records exist to reveal her
presence nor does a schematic drawing of the plots reveal a family presence. Civil
authorities report no exhumation requests and the current parish priest observed that
"no records were kept."
George Lennon’s character was to form the basis for Una Troy Walsh’s s protagonist
(John Davern) in her novel Dead Star's Light, written under the nom de plume of
"Elizabeth Connor." The author, wife of Flying Column doctor Joe Walsh and sister in
law of painter Sean Keating ("Men of the South"), was severely criticised by her parish
priest who effectively expunged Una, her husband and daughter from the roles of their
Clonmel church.
The novel was adapted as The Dark Road, and performed on the Abbey stage in 1947.
Alluding to the William Blake poem it was initially titled Tyger, Tyger with the ultimate
title arguably referencing “an botharin dorcha” (the dark road) adjacent to the Sergeant
Hickey execution site.
Coincidentally, 1947 was the same year that the wife and young son of George elected to
emigrate; joining George who had taken, on 20 February 1946 one of the earliest civilian
flights (Pan American Airways) to leave Ireland for the States after the end of World
War II.
Speaking at the Dungarvan Library in 2006, Willie Whelan of the Waterford Museum
spoke of the Lennon/Sgt. Hickey nexus and was approached by a woman who knew the
whereabouts of Hickey’s remains in the Kelly-Lordan-Kehoe family plot at St. Mary’s.
The family's wish that the grave remain unmonumented continues to be honoured
(p.155).
265
APPENDIX D
“Down From the Comeragh Hills He Came”
Down from the Comeragh hills he came
To join his comrades on the plain
His eyes were on the castle walls
Guerilla tactics in his thoughts
When the Column assembled, the O.C. spoke
We're going to ambush the Saxon foe
The Buffs are out on a hunting miss
Now is our chance to teach them a lesson
That night at eleven the guns stared blazing
For the men in green were very daring
The action continued throughout the night
And the enemy suffered a heavy defeat
At dawn on the morning Fitzgerald fell
Never to stand on his feet again
Brave Pat went out to bring him back
But a British bullet found its mark
When Patrick fell he was taken back
To the hills and valleys he loved so well
Men of the West be proud of the past
And say an Ava for those men in that plot
And when those men died they left
One in orange and three in green
If they survived they would have tried
266
To get that field for dark Rosaleen
Re Pat Keating at the Burgery by Michael Walsh (“The Poet of the Comeraghs”)
267
APPENDIX E
Friday, March 17th, 2006
Unmarked Dungarvan grave pushes man to act as his father’s son
By Jim Memmott, Senior Editor, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Wrapped in sorrow and silence, this pre-Saint Patrick’s Day story seems to linger in
time, haunting, unresolved.
It has a Rochester angle, certainly. But it focuses on a grave in Dungarvan, County
Waterford, Ireland.
Ivan Lennon, 62, a retired Rochester schoolteacher who was born in Ireland, would like
to put a marker on the grave.
In a sense, he is acting as his father’s son in desiring to do this. But Lennon’s father is
not in that grave. Resting there is a man his father had executed 85 years ago.
The details of that execution and its consequence are anchored in the Irish War of
Independence, the uprising against the British that lasted from 1919 to 1921.
Lennon’s father, George, who later became a pacifist, was an officer then in the West
Waterford Brigade of the Irish Republican Army, the force committed to disrupting and
supplanting British rule.
On March 18, 1921, he led a group that ambushed some Black and Tans, members of the
British paramilitary force.
Men on both sides died, and the IRA forces captured Sgt. Michael Hickey, an Irish police
officer who was with the Black and Tans.
Hickey was well known and well liked, a respected community police officer. He was
Catholic, he was Irish, but, at least technically, he worked for the British.
War has its own logic, and the IRA members decided Hickey had to be killed because he
knew their identities.
Right before he was shot by a makeshift firing squad, Hickey turned toward George
Lennon.
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“George, I knew you as a child,” the policeman said. “… You are the only person in the
world that can save me.”
“I would give anything in the world to save you,” Lennon replied. “But I cannot.”
As George Lennon later recalled in a memoir, Trauma in Time, the two men exchanged
a “glance of understanding.”
Hickey, who had turned 36 the day before and was about to be married, squared his
shoulders. Lennon tied a bandage around Hickey’s eyes.
Stepping back, he called, “Fire.” Shots rang out. Hickey slumped to the ground, dead.
Lennon walked over to his body and fired one shot into Hickey’s head, a coup de grace.
His killers put a tag on Hickey’s body that said “Police Spy.”
Gravediggers at first refused to dig a grave for his burial. They relented, but Hickey’s
fiancée asked that no marker be put on the grave for fear that it would be defaced.
George Lennon laid down his arms in 1922. Eventually, he immigrated to the United
States, only to return to Ireland in 1935.
Eleven years later, he came back to the United States. His wife, May, and his son joined
him a few years later.
George Lennon, who never talked to his son about his time in the IRA, became a
Quaker, an opponent of the war in Vietnam. He helped found the Rochester Zen Centre.
He died in 1991.
But starting with a trip to Waterford in 1987, Ivan began to pick up on clues to his
father’s past. Eventually, he understood his father’s role in Hickey’s death.
And eventually, he came to believe that he should put a marker on Hickey’s grave.
It has proved to be a sensitive issue. A contact at the Waterford Museum in Dungarvan
has told Lennon that there is some opposition to a marker, some concern that it could
raise old grievances against Hickey.
But Lennon says that he’ll persist.
“It’s 85 years later,” Lennon says. “The guy (Hickey) wasn’t a hero, but he was a victim.
of circumstance.”
* This report originally appeared in the March 11th edition of the Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle, Rochester, New York - www.democratandchronicle.com
269
APPENDIX F
IN SEARCH OF A FORGOTTEN I.R.A. COMMANDER
In the summer of 1969, as I departed the United Arts Club in Dublin, accompanied by
Sean O’Driscoll of the Irish Department of External Affairs, the possibility of
undertaking a research project on the subject of my father, George Lennon, former
Commanding Officer of the West Waterford Flying Column, Irish Republican Army
(I.R.A.) was raised. Married the subsequent year and with the birth, in the early 1970’s,
of daughter Kristin Maureen and son Colin Michael the matter was put, to use an Irish
expression, “on the long finger.”
However, developments in the 1980’s led me to belatedly delve into the matter. Initially
there was the publication of a work by Sean and Sile Murphy in which my father’s
central role in the independence struggle in West Waterford was not dealt with fully.
Secondly, in 1984, along with receipt of a replacement Black and Tan Medal, I received a
copy of my father’s 1935 pension application which detailed his whereabouts from
Easter Week 1916 to 1 August 1922.
In 1987, thanks to neighbour and Rochester City Manager Peter Korn, my wife and I
journeyed to Ireland as members of the first Rochester Sisters Cities delegation to our
“twin” city of Waterford (Portlairge). At that time a visit was made to the Burgery,
Dungarvan home of Mick Mansfield, an old I.R.A. comrade of my father’s.
Conspicuously missing at the Burgery ambush site was the bullet-scarred gate, which
had so impressed me as a youth in 1950 and 1954.
Over the years I accumulated some thirteen “scrapbooks” of material regarding my
family in Ireland from pre Norman (1170 A.D.) times to reluctant emigration. In 2002 I
donated some of that material (e.g., Trauma in Time by George Lennon) to the
Waterford County Museum in Dungarvan. Posted on the Museum’s web site, it drew the
attention, along with an article on the Lennon –Hickey nexus in the Waterford paper, of
military historian Terence O’Reilly. He subsequently published, in September of 2009,
Rebel Heart: George Lennon Flying Column Commander.
Seeking an underlying thread in the material I had collected, I wrote of the matter in a
2009 work entitled Ulster to the Deise: Lennons in Time. It was only upon completion
of that work, in the spring of 2009, that I realized the significance of that long since
removed gate: i.e., in a sense a metaphor for the seemingly forgotten I.R.A.
Commandant and the West Waterford I.R.A. guerrillas.
As a youth of thirteen, George Lennon drilled Dungarvan youngsters “up and down the
street using their hurleys as mock rifles.” During the Easter Week Rebellion of 1916, at
270
age fifteen, he undertook a futile search for armaments from an ambushed train. He left
the Abbeyside National School before his sixteenth birthday to devote himself to the
“physical force” struggle for an independent Irish Republic. He was incarcerated at age
seventeen in Waterford for stealing a rifle from a British soldier. On another charge,
(illegal drilling etc.) he celebrated his nineteenth birthday in Cork Male Jail. He was
released prematurely, perhaps suffering from “Spanish Influenza” a contagion that
killed untold millions from 1918 to 1919.
After a highly successful attack on a police barracks in Kilmallock, County Limerick, he
served with the men of the East Limerick Flying Column, the first active service unit
composed of men “on the run.” Having trained under Ernie O’Malley and Liam Lynch,
he returned to West Waterford where he served as the youngest commanding officer
(O/C) of the active service unit of the West Waterford I.R.A. Brigade. Additionally, he
was Vice Commanding Officer of the Brigade.
Under his leadership the guerrilla fighters made West Waterford “ungovernable.” His
pension application listed seventeen engagements against British forces, the Royal Irish
Constabulary and the Black and Tans. Not listed were gunrunning activities, arms
seizures and planned ambushes, which never came to fruition.
Disillusionment began with what he viewed as a “premature” truce declared 11 July
1921. Entering Waterford City in March of 1922 his men, dismissed by some as
“Irregulars,” claimed the city, for the first time in 750 years, in the name of the Irish
nation. A significance apparently not appreciated by the generally less than receptive
citizenry. In the ensuing battle against the Irish Free State forces under Prout and friend
Paddy Paul, his men fired the first and last shots from their redoubt at Ballybricken
Prison. Retreating westward he realized “we were not going to live off the good country
people again.” He duly resigned as Vice Commanding Officer of the West Waterford
Brigade on or about 1 August 1922.
Having being “on the run” from the authorities since age seventeen, he lacked the
educational background to pursue a profession. The closing of the family run Dungarvan
Gas Works having precluded a career as a third generation participant in that
enterprise.
His revolutionary idealism shattered by the truce, an” unmentionable” Civil War, a
Jansenist Church and a conservative Free State Government, he emigrated to the United
States along with other embittered comrades.
Residing for ten years (1927-1936) in New York City, he served with brother in law
George Sherwood and editor Joseph Campbell, as “business manager” of the Irish
Review , a short lived “magazine of Irish expression.”
Returning to Ireland in 1936 he represented County Waterford on the executive of the
“All Ireland Old I.R.A. Men’s Association” in Dublin. After his marriage to Eveline May
Sibbald, Secretary to Government Minister Sean MacEntee and sister in law of the
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deputy editor of An Phoblacht, he secured employment with the Irish Tourist Board
(I.T.B.). Under he oversaw the issuance of the “Irish Topographical Survey,” noted as
“one of the most important and lasting national projects carried out at that time.” It
“involved the compilation of historical, geographical and other information relating to
every county in the Free State.”
His return to Ireland in was fictionalized in a 1938 novel, Dead Star’s Light written by
Una Troy under the nom de plume of “Elizabeth Connor.” While the book was not
banned, as was an earlier work, it nonetheless elicited a less than enthusiastic response
from the Irish Roman Catholic Church, which, per the Constitution of 1937, occupied a
“special position” in Ireland.
Reportedly viewed by some as a “communist, an anti-cleric, an agitator, a gun –man”
his decade long sojourn in Ireland ended with a booking on one of the earliest civilian
flights out of post World War II Europe. Nearly two years later, his wife and son joined
him in New York City. This was the same year that the book was adapted for the Abbey
stage as The Dark Road. Originally titled Tyger,Tyger alluding to the William Blake
poem of the same name. The ultimate title perhaps referencing “an botharin dorcha”
(the dark road) adjacent to the execution site of Sergeant Hickey
In America George was attracted to the pacifist tenets of the Society of Friends
(Quakers). With Chet Carlson, inventor of “Xerography,” he became a founding member
of the Rochester Zen Center. His views were set forth in a short memoir Trauma in Time
and a play, Down by the Glen Side, both unpublished. The latter work dealt with the
issue of a captured enemy combatant; a matter with which he had dealt with personally
when faced with the necessity of executing childhood acquaintance and member of the
armed Royal Irish Constabulary, Sergeant Hickey.
Upon his 1991 death in Rochester, N.Y., he was cremated, per his wishes, without
ceremony. In 2009, the author sought to have George’s ashes dispersed, alongside his
comrades, at the I.R.A. Republican Plot in Kilrossanty, County Waterford. Curiously, the
local I.R.A. Memorial Association refused permission and the Irish Department of
Defence denied a military presence. A possible ceremony at the family’s parish church in
Dungarvan was complicated by an inability to locate the remains of his parents,
although newspaper accounts note their presence at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic
cemetery.
Accordingly, a plaque was mounted on the Church wall in 2014 noting the presence of
George’s grandparents (James Lennon and Mary Anne Crolly Lennon) and his parents
(George Crolly Lennon and Nellie Shanahan Lennon). Also mentioned on the plaque are
George and his wife (Eveline May Sibbald Lennon). May’s remains are located at the
southern end of Rochester’s historic Mt. Hope Cemetery. George was cremated.
It also came to light in 2009,in apparent ignorance of George’s later pacifism, that an
Irish Republican Sinn Fein (RSF) Cumann (organization) in Waterford had seen fit to
name itself after George Lennon. His name was removed at my request.
272
Belated recognition was to occur under the auspices of the Waterford County Museum
when a talk and exhibition, entitled “The Road to Independence” was held on 19
September 2009 in the old Dungarvan Town Hall. Prominently featured by speakers
Ivan Lennon, Sean Murphy and Terence O’Reilly was the not insignificant role played by
George Lennon in securing a measure of Irish national independence. A Nemeton Irish
language documentary, directed by Cormac Morel, (“From War to Peace: The Life of
George Lennon”) was shown on Irish television TG4 and in Dungarvan in 2011. The
Dungarvan Dramatic Club presented Muiris O’Keeffe’s “Days of Our Youth” over four
days in November 2012. The author’s PowerPoint presentation “IRA Rebel to Zen
Pacifist” has been shown at Rochester’s St. John Fisher College, during Tramore’s
Heritage Week and at Rochester Institute of Technology’s OSHER Institute.
A number of books have also been published including Terence O’Reilly’s 2009 work,
Rebel Heart: George Lennon Flying Column Commander, Dr. Pat McCarthy’s
Waterford, Eamon Cowan’s The Siege of Waterford and Tommy Mooney’s exhaustive
Cry of the Curlew. All preceded in 1983 by Sean and Sile Murphy’s The Comeraghs:
Refuge of Rebels, subsequently expanded, with original material on George Lennon, in
the 2003 publication The Comeraghs: Gunfire and Civil War.
273
Appendix G
PLAYS
THE DARK ROAD (May 1947): An Abbey Theatre presentation as adapted by Una Troy
Walsh from her 1938 novel DEAD STAR’S LIGHT. “John Davern” (George
Lennon) is a returned and disillusioned former revolutionary.
DOWN BY THE GLEN SIDE (unpublished, circa 1960’s): By George Lennon in
which the protagonist (“Henry Rogan”) ultimately eschews the path of Irish
Republican “physical force.”
“I and Thou” (late 1960’s): A one-act play as contained in George Lennon’s unpublished
memoir TRAUMA IN TIME which briefly describes the court martial and execution
of childhood acquaintance R.I.C. Sergeant Michael Joseph Hickey. The title is
taken from the 1923 Martin Buber book of the same name in which Buber
dealt with the meaningfulness of relationships.
DAYS OF OUR YOUTH (November, 2012): A Muiris O’Keeffe play presented
by the Dungarvan Dramatic Club in the old Town Hall. The subject is George’s
life as a youthful revolutionary idealist impacted by events during the War
of Independence.
274
APPENDIX H
ESCAPES
Kilkenny (February 1918) - Arms delivery with Nipper McCarthy en route from Dublin
Co. Waterford (18 April 1918 - March 1919) - “On the run” from authorities
Fermoy, Co. Cork (9 September 1919) - Returns on foot to Dungarvan with Mick Mansfield
Kilmacthomas (Spring 1920) - Black and Tan raid at home of “Mother Kent”
Cappoquin (27 November 1920) – Walsh’s Hotel shooting of Constable Quirk
Ballyhooly, Cork/Cappagh Train Stations (March 1921)– Visit with Liam Lynch
Grawn (19 May 1921) – British ambush after the Kilrossanty funeral of Pat Keating
Waterford City (21 July 1922) – Evacuation of Ballybricken Prison redoubt
Barnakill, Kilrossanty (July 1922) – Free State ambush
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APPENDIX I
“LAST MONDAY”
A Poem in Honour of George Lennon
The doors of the jail are again thrown wide
And once more with bearing of conscious pride
Not in sorrow or tears, but with sunny smile
Our little soldier has left us a while
Fearless in the court he stood today
A child ‘gainst the power of a tyrant’s sway
Facing the minions of England’s might
Caring only for honour and Ireland’s right
And now alone in his narrow cell
He fights for the cause he loved so well
In the gloom of a prison dark and drear
Without the help of his comrade near
Without the grasp of a kindly hand
He has answered the call of the motherland
For the fire of a patriot’s love may glow
In the heart of a child if God wills it so
But we who are left to do and dare
Though his burden of sorrow we may not share
We will work for the cause with a fiercer joy
To show we are proud of our soldier boy
As our Captain has told us – Fall in today!
Nor think ‘tis a time for idle play
Yet be sure victory shall yet be won
If you play a man’s part as George Lennon has done
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By Michael Walsh (“Poet of the Comeraghs”) as published in the Dungarvan Observer
(February 16, 1918)
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George Lennon (b.1900), Eileen Lennon (b.1901) James Lennon (b.1898)
281
George Lennon (back row, right) Clonea (1926)
282
SONS OF IRISH GUERRILLAS
Ivan Lennon (George), Cormac O’ Malley (Ernie), James Cullinane (Sonny)
283