Dan Breen and the IRA (18 page)

Boland, Harry.
Worked with Michael Collins during the War of Independence. Went to the USA with De Valera as part of a campaign to raise awareness and support for Ireland. Boland was a widely respected figure within the republican movement. In 1922, he was shot by members of the National Army and died soon afterwards.

Blythe, Ernest
. Ulster Protestant active in the Volunteers but imprisoned at the time of the 1916 Rising. Rose to prominence as a Free State politician and cabinet member. Reduced the old age pension. Lost his seat in 1933. A prominent Blueshirt and founder member of Fine Gael. From 1941 until 1967 he was a controversial managing director of the Abbey Theatre.

Cúchullain
. Pre-eminent hero of Ulster in the mythological Ulster Cycle.

Fianna
. Warriors who served the high king of Ireland in the third century
ad
. Their last leader was Fionn Mac Cumhaill.

Gilmore, George
. Leader of south Co. Dublin battalion of the IRA from 1915 to 1926. Shot and wounded in 1932 by the gardaí. One of the founders of the Republican Congress. Active in 1936–39 as a supporter of the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.

Haggard
. An outhouse on a farm, usually located in a farmyard.

Irish Volunteers
. Founded in 1913 in Dublin by eleven prominent nationalists including Patrick Pearse and Seán Mac Dermott. On 25 November 1913, they had their first public meeting at the Rotunda in Dublin. The hall was filled to its 4,000 capacity, with a further 3,000 spilling onto the grounds outside. The movement soon spread throughout the country. The Volunteers were heavily infiltrated by the IRB but John Redmond from the Irish Parliamentary Party demanded they accept his appointments to their provisional committee, effectively placing the organisation under his control. Four of its members – the O'Rahilly, Roger Casement, Bulmer Hobson and Erskine Childers – organised a gun-running expedition to Howth. Almost 1,000 rifles were smuggled into the harbour and distributed to waiting Volunteers.

The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 provoked a serious split in the organisation. Redmond urged the Volunteers to support Britain and join a proposed Irish brigade of the British army. This was opposed by the founding IRB-orientated members. A majority backed Redmond and left to form the National Volunteers; these joined the British war effort. A minority, retaining the name ‘Irish Volunteers', were led by Eoin Mac Neill. This element brought about the 1916 Rising.

O'Duffy, Eoin
. Well liked but controversial, O'Duffy served as a general in the Free State army during the Civil War and was partially responsible for the Free State's strategy of seaborne landings into republican held areas. He was garda commissioner during the first Free State governments. When De Valera came to power he was dismissed and became leader of the Army Comrades Association. The ACA soon developed into the Blueshirts, a movement modelled on European fascist organisations. De Valera successfully saw off the Blueshirt threat and the organisation was subsumed into a new political party, Fine Gael, which thereafter represented pro-Treaty interests. O'Duffy was the first leader of Fine Gael. In 1936, he organised the Irish Brigade and went to Spain to fight on the fascist side in that country's civil war. Following his death, rumours began to circulate that O'Duffy had homosexual tendencies. Recent research has tended to confirm such rumours.

O'Higgins, Kevin
. One of the most able pro-Treaty politicians, O'Higgins was minister for justice and external affairs, as well as vice-president of the executive council, in the first Free State government. During the Civil War he ordered the execution of at least seventy-seven republicans and was very much seen as the ‘strong man' of the cabinet. He once described himself as one of ‘the most conservative-minded revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution.' Sympathetic to Italian fascist ideas, he was assassinated in 1927, in unsanctioned revenge for the Civil War, by individual members of the IRA.

Oisín
. The son of Fianna hero, Fionn Mac Cumhaill

Pony and trap
. Small open carriage pulled by a pony.

Ryan, Frank
. Joined the east Limerick brigade of the IRA in 1922, fought on the republican side in the Civil War, was wounded and interned. In 1929, he was appointed editor of
An Phoblacht
and elected to the IRA army council. A founder of the Republican Congress. He travelled to Spain late in 1936 with about eighty men to fight with the international brigades on the republican side. Ryan's men were known as the ‘Connolly Column'. Ryan eventually fell into fascist hands and ended his days in Germany where, it is alleged, he was involved in a number of Nazi schemes to invade Ireland.

Saor Éire.
Left-wing political organisation established in September 1931 by communist-leaning members of the IRA. Peadar O'Donnell, a former editor of
An Phoblacht
, was a leading member. Saor Éire described itself as ‘an organisation of workers and working farmers.'

Books:

Ambrose, Joseph G.,
The Dan Breen Story
(Mercier Press; Cork, 1981)

––––
Too Much Too Soon
(Pulp Books; London, 2000)

Breen, Dan,
My Fight for Irish Freedom
(Anvil Books; Dublin, 1964)

Brewer, John D.,
The Royal Irish Constabulary; An Oral History
(Institute of Irish Studies; Belfast, 1999)

Browne, Vincent (ed),
The Magill Book of Irish Politics
(Magill; Dublin, 1981)

Dwyer, T. Ryle,
Guests of the State; The Story of Allied and Axis Sevicemen Interned in Ireland During World War II
(Brandon; Dingle, 1994)

Garvin, Tom,
Nationalist revolutionaries in Ireland 1858-1928
(Clarendon; Oxford,1987)

––––
1922; The Birth of Irish Democracy
(Gill and Macmillan: Dublin, 1996)

Griffith, Kenneth and O'Grady, Timothy,
Curious Journey; An Oral History of Ireland's Unfinished Revolution
(Hutchinson; London, 1987)

Inglis, Brian,
Downstart: The Autobiography of Brian Inglis
(Chatto & Windus; London, 1990)

Ireland, Denis,
From the Irish Shore
(Rich & Cowan Ltd., 1936)

Laffan, Michael,
The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916-1923
(Cambridge University Press; Cambridge)

McCarthy, J. M. (ed.),
Limerick's Fighting Story
(The Kerryman; Tralee, 1947)

MacEoin, Uinseann
Survivors
(Argenta Publications; Dublin, 1980)

McInerney, Michael
. Peadar O'Donnell : Irish Social Rebel
(The O'Brien Press; Dublin, 1974)

Mulcahy, Risteard,
Richard Mulcahy (1886-1971): A Family Memoir
(Dublin; Aurelian Press, 1999)

O'Connnor, Ulick,
A Terrible Beauty is Born: The Irish troubles,
1912-1922
(Hamish Hamilton; London, 1975)

O'Dwyer, Martin,
A Pictorial History of Tipperary 1916-1923
(The Folk Village; Cashel, 2004)

O'Farrell, Padraic,
Who's Who in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War 1916-1923
(Lilliput Press; Dublin, 1997)

O'Malley, Ernie,
On Another Man's Wound
(Rich & Cowan; London, 1937)

––––
Raids and Rallies
(Anvil Books; Dublin, 1982)

––––
The Singing Flame
(Anvil Books; Dublin, 1978)

Ryan, Desmond,
Seán Treacy and the Third Tipperary Brigade
(Alliance Books; London, 1945)

Ryan, Meda
, The Real Chief; The Story of Liam Lynch
(Mercier Press; Cork, 1996)

Shelley, John R,
A Short History of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade
(Tipperary, 1996)

Townsend, Charles,
The British Campaign in Ireland, 1919-1921
(Oxford University Press; Oxford, 1975)

Valiulis, Maryann Gialanella,
Portrait of a revolutionary : General Richard Mulcahy and the Founding of the Irish Free State
(Irish Academic Press; Dublin,1992)

Articles:

Tipperary Historical Journal 1986

Ó Bric, Deaglán,
Pierce McCan MP

Tipperary Historical Journal 1989

Ó Bric, Deaglán,
Pierce McCan MP, Part 2

Tipperary Historical Journal 1991

Ó Duibhir, Eamonn,
The Tipperary Volunteers in 1916: A Personal Account 75 Years On

Ryan, Thomas,
One Man's Flying Column

Tipperary Historical Journal 1992

Ryan, Thomas,
One Man's Flying Column, Part 2

Tipperary Historical Journal 1993

Gaynor, Séan,
With Tipperary No. 1 Brigade in North Tipperary 1917–1921

Ryan, Thomas,
One Man's Flying Column, Part 3

Tipperary Historical Journal 1994

Gaynor, Séan,
With the Tipperary No. 1 Brigade in North Tipperary 1917–1921, Part II

Sharkey, Neil,
The Third Tipperary Brigade – A Photographic Record

Capuchin Annual; Dublin, 1969

Hayes, Michael,
The Importance of Dail Eireann

Kavanagh, Seán,
The Irish Volunteers' Intelligence Organisation

The Dublin Review, No. 12.

Ferriter, Diarmaid,
In Such Deadly Earnest

An tAthair Colmcille Conway provided me with a manuscript copy of his history of the Third Tipperary Brigade, and I have relied on his research, especially that part of it which covers the Civil War. He was an outstanding character, a regular visitor to my family home, and a significant historian of the IRA. An edited version of his work has appeared in the
Tipperary Historical Journal
and a copy of the full manuscript is available for inspection from Tipperary County Library, [email protected]. Extracts from the book appeared in the Clonmel
Nationalist
in 1957, credited to Pádraig Toibin, and titled ‘Come Weal or Woe'.

The
Tipperary Historical Journal
and Marcus Bourke, the guiding force behind that publication, have brought rigour and clarity to the study of Tipperary's past. A large part of this book deals with activities in that county; I hope something of the
Journal
's approach is reflected in these pages. They can be contacted at www.tipperarylibraries.ie/ths. Research first published in the
Journal
has informed this book. I've relied entirely on Deaglan Ó Bric's research on Pierce McCan.

I have enjoyed stimulating discussions concerning Dan Breen, and related matters, with many people. Ulick O'Connor was his usual urbane and forthright self; his perspective on the twilight years of the revolutionary generation was much appreciated. Frank Rynne pointed me in the direction of certain historians who've come on the scene since I quit Ireland and history. Prof. Liam Kennedy showed me how a true historian might tackle this matter. Des Farrell bought me a good lunch in the Shelbourne and shared his information and attitudes with me. Michael Murphy, in addition to chatting about Breen and Fianna Fáil, was kind enough to show me some of his research correspondence. Fintan Deere facilitated my first meeting with an tAthair Colmcille, and was also responsible for my meeting Mickey Joe Costello.

I'm grateful to my sisters Gerardine and Caroline, and to their husbands Eamonn O'Meara and Val Needham, for putting up with me (and putting me up) while I've been in Ireland researching this book. My brother Robbie was an excellent companion during the same trips, as was my nephew James Needham. Jocelyn and Lucy Bradell were kind enough to offer me Dublin accommodation – it's the thought that counts. Dr Declan O'Reilly gave me shelter from the storm and was a good historian to discuss this project with. Nick Szegda from Menlo Park Library tried to enthuse local historians on my behalf. Nicholas Allen marked my cards on the Talbot Press Archive in Ireland's National Archive.

While in Dublin I frequently met up with Daniel Figgis, Deirdre Behan, Shane Cullen, Shane O'Reilly, Gerry Ambrose and Frank Callanan. I hooked up again with old friends like Dennis McClean. Brendan Maher at the South Tipperary Arts Centre was, as ever, enormously helpful and constructive. Marie Boland and her staff at Clonmel Library made me feel right at home. They maintain a first-rate local history section. Martin O'Dwyer at Cashel Folk Village was, literally, a scholar and a gentleman.

Paul Lamont is responsible for my website, and for www.outsideleft.com. Mary Feehan at Mercier Press was with the firm the first time I wrote about Breen, and she is still there today. She has shown saintly patience. Mary subsequently passed the baton to Brian Ronan, freshly arrived at Mercier. I gave him a baptism of fire.I consulted the Bureau of Military History documents in Dublin's National Archive, where the staff are likeably reminiscent of James Joyce's
Dubliners
.

Seán Treacy, one of the most distinguished Tipperary parliamentarians, was kind enough to invite me into his home to talk about his Dan Breen adventures. Nancy Kersey did most of the research concerning Breen's time in America, and interviewed Mike Flannery. Nicky Furlong met in the grounds of the Montrose Hotel in Dublin and gave a glimpse into Breen's sunset years.

Many of the people who were around when I first wrote about Dan Breen are now gone. My old professor, R. Dudley Edwards, a lively old coot with a head full of history and mischief, once gave me a taste for the past. Captain Seán Feehan published my first book on Breen (also my first book) and taught me a few sharp lessons about life and publishing. Diarmuid Cronin was one of my best school friends. He burned briefly but brightly and had some hands-on experience of guerilla life. My parents, George and Mai, saw that I got the kind of education I needed, and provided me with much else besides.

Thanks go out to Tavis Henry, Tav Falco, Chuck Prophet, Hamri the Painter of Morocco, Elaine Palmer, Marek Pytel, Anne Foley, Seb Tennant, Spencer Kansa, David Kerekes at Headpress, Chris Campion, Malcolm Kelly, Eamon Leahy, Anna Lanigan, Seán Dowling, Pat Norris, Josie Heffernan, Jimmy Norris, Tom and Joan Ambrose, Michael and Deirdre Ahearn, Ernie Hogan, Kirk Lake, Carrie Acheson, Martin Mansergh, Margaret McCurtain, Brendan Long, Dave Barry, Martin Arthur, William Corbett, Bob Leahy, Eddie Bowe, Mike Flannery, John Ridge, and William Brennan.

The author and publisher would like to thank Martin O'Dwyer for his kind permission to reproduce some of the photographs in this work. Thanks also to Rena Dardis from Anvil Press for the use of photographs originally published in
My Fight for Irish Freedom.

Every effort has been made to acknowledge the sources of all photographs used. Should a source have not been acknowledged, please contact Mercier Press and we will make the necessary corrections at the first opportunity.