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January 05, 2007

Civil War Memories and Anecdotes

An article on events relating to 1922 and the Civil War from the Grey Abbey Conservation Project's book, 'Church of the Oak,' in memory of Paddy Sheehan of Newbridge who passed away shortly after it was published. My thanks to Paddy for his generosity and time.
 
CIVIL WAR MEMORIES AND ANECDOTES
Paddy Sheehan, Newbridge
            The Sheehans were well known for their involvement locally in the pivotal events of the periods of 1916, the War of Independence and the Civil War. They not only kept documentary material relating to the period but because of their involvement and the involvement of other family members and acquaintances they have a fantastic local knowledge that they have willingly and generously shared with all and sundry. Paddy Sheehan was able recently to share some interesting anecdotes regarding Kildare Town in this troubled period which I would like to include here as a means of preserving them for the record.
            When lieutenant Wogan-Browne was killed in Kildare in February 1922 the local I.R.A. took those responsible into their custody. Those who had carried out the deed were themselves I.R.A. men but it seems that they had acted without the sanction of the I.R.A. (This may mean that the intended robbery was not sanctioned or the use of deadly force was not sanctioned). The three men were taken to Moran’s of Ballysax and housed there until a decision was made regarding punishment (official sources said that the men were eventually released without trial). While there, they escaped and left the locality. Apparently those guarding them were much relieved because they knew the men and did not want to be faced with the possibility of delivering them up or shooting them. According to Paddy Sheehan the men made their way out of the County, (possibly to Athlone) and joined the Free State Army, which was at that very moment scouring the countryside for them.
             When the local men were executed on the Curragh in 1922 they were buried there until they were re-interred at Grey Abbey in 1924. At the graveside a volley was fired by the I.R.A. and immediately all hell broke loose. ‘Plain Clothes men’ and soldiers rushed towards the grave and were confronted by friends and relatives of the deceased men, many of them women. The guns were never recovered and no arrests were made. Seemingly, many of the women brought umbrellas that day and the revolvers were hidden quickly in the umbrellas and never found.
            One account of the incident can be found in the Leinster Leader which says that after the burials the crowd went to Suncroft to the burial of Leo Dowling. According to Paddy Sheehan, they were met (although he seems to think it may have happened a day or two after the internments at Grey Abbey) by the local priest who warned them that a machine-gun had been positioned overlooking the graveyard and beseeched them not to fire a volley at the graveside as this would provoke a bloody response.
            Local tradition has it that the bodies were not allowed into the Church in Kildare but were waked in the Court-house. Newspaper reports and other accounts say they were waked in the Town Hall. Paddy Sheehan recounted that this happened also with the body of Thomas Behan in Rathangan. It may indeed have been official policy at the time.
            In 1935 a Republican monument was unveiled on the Market Square in Kildare to the memory of the executed men and a fiery oration was delivered on the occasion by Fr. Michael Flanagan. It seems that as the appointed time for the unveiling was approaching there was no sign of Fr. Flanagan and Paddy Sheehan and his brother got the idea that maybe he had disembarked in Newbridge because his visit was arranged with the help of the Sheehans and the correspondence was done through Newbridge. They hurriedly sped back to Newbridge and found Fr. Flanagan awaiting pick up at the side of the road. It seems he was mightily relieved when they introduced themselves for he had been a little uneasy to see a car hurtling along at high speed, screech to a stop nearby and some tall men in overcoats step down quickly to approach him! He was delivered safely, and in time, to his appointment in Kildare Town.
 
[these anecdotes are the result of conversations with Paddy Sheehan, in Sheehans Shop and on the phone, in Sep./Oct. 2005 – Mario Corrigan]
 

Below:- Photograph of Paddy Sheehan in Sheehan's Shoemakers shop in Newbridge - holding a cast-iron RIC sign from the old Constabulary Barracks in Newbridge. On the table is a folder of Sinn Fein Dail Court Reports - copies of these reports are now in Newbridge Library. My thanks to James Durney for the photograph.

P Sheehan.JPG

 

 

An article on events relating to 1922 and the Civil War from the Grey Abbey Conservation Project's book, 'Church of the Oak,' in memory of Paddy Sheehan of Newbridge who passed away shortly after it was published. My thanks to Paddy for his generosity and time.

Posted by mariocorrigan at January 5, 2007 09:56 PM