by Meda Ryan
I have seen all the written evidence submitted on behalf of Tom Barry’s appeal and there is no doubt that it is conclusive, but moreover I have met the men who also testified on oath in Tom’s case after they had been to the Board and from what they told me of the evidence they had to give I am satisfied that the evidence on oath was equally conclusive. Strange to say that despite all this Barry is again to go before the Board and bring more witnesses and furthermore, the Board themselves have called witnesses to testify as to (A) Barry’s pre-Truce Service; (B) Barry’s Rank 1st Critical Date: (C) Barry’s Rank 2nd Critical Date and (D) Barry’s Civil war service. The extraordinary fact about this is that the latest two men to be called by the Board – Maurice Donegan and Florence Begley – can have very little or no knowledge on the four points they have been called to give evidence on. Maurice Donegan was a member of the Bantry battalion staff in the early part of Tan War and was arrested early on. ‘He was not released until after the Treaty’. Barry’s activities were around the Bandon battalion area which was about thirty-five miles from Donegan’s area so he could give no information about Barry’s activity during that period and he could hardly swear what Barry’s rank was in July 1921 considering that he (Donegan) was in jail about nine months at that time and for about six months afterwards. Again, Flor Begley was a very minor officer attached to the Brigade Quartermasters and Adjutants staff and he cannot have any idea of Barry’s Rank and very little of his Service.
Why has Barry been treated like this? That is the question that every officer who is aware of Barry’s humiliation is asking. There is the further humiliation to all of us senior officers who testified in writing and on oath as to Barry’s Rank and Service. We now see the Board calling very junior officers, who could not possibly testify in such a manner as we were able to do, as witnesses as to whether Barry and all of us were swearing falsely or not.
You will I am sure be the first to admit that Barry’s case has been handled in a totally different manner to that of any other prominent officer. I would like to know if there is any truth in the suggestion that because Frank Aiken and Tom Barry are and have been bad friends in the recent past, certain members of the Board have taken up a hostile and unfair attitude in Barry’s case.
We know that you personally are anxious that Tom like all others should get his due and a square deal. I recall your statement in a conversation with me in Cork last Easter Sunday twelve months, when you told me that you were extremely anxious to see Tom fairly treated regarding his pension. Therefore you will understand that there is nothing personal meant when I state that Barry and all of us who knew him are determined to see his case to the bitter end if certain members of the Board persist in their hostile attitude and do not give him the award he is entitled to on this appeal.
He has had a rotten deal and his claim is open and above Board if there was ever was one. Will you please examine his file and if you do I am sure that you will at once take the proper steps to see he gets a fair deal.
I shall be glad to hear from you as soon as possible. I hope that you are keeping quite well.
Mise le meas,
____________
Tom Crofts
(The following appears to be a letter from Mrs O’Driscoll to Mr Cornelius O’Driscoll, who forwarded it to Tom Barry. It is handwritten, with Number 34.S.P./55115 scribbled across it.)
c/o D Keohane
Gurtacrue
Midleton
August 25th [1943]
Dear Mr Barry,
I am in West Cork at present, but expect to see you when I return to the City.
The above address is permanent while in Ireland. This is a copy of the letter which was forwarded to [me] early January 14th 1943.
I am directed to inform you that in accordance with the terms of the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934, the Minister for Defence has granted you a Pension of £15, Fifteen Pounds – Per annum, which is Payable as from the 1st October 1934 and which will be subject to deduction under section 20 (1) of the Act in respect of receipts by you from Public Moneys.
I have also to state that it is your duty to inform the Minister at once of any receipts by you of any Public Moneys as defined by sections 2000 of the act.
To Mr Cornelius O’Driscoll
43.09 – 53 Street,
Woodside,
New York
Sincerely
Mrs O’Driscoll
APPENDIX VII: Ballads
THE BOYS OF KILMICHAEL
(Original words written by John F. Hourihane)
While we honour in song and in story
The memory of Pearse and MacBride;
Whose names are illumined in glory
With martyrs who long since have died.
But forget – not the boys at Kilmichael
Those brave lads so firm and true,
Who fought ’neath the green flag of Erin
And conquered the red white and blue.
The cold winter’s morning was dawning
O’er mountain and valley and hill;
And the winds of November were wailing
Through woodland and fast rippling rill.
With a sharp ringing blast of the whistle
That rang out in the clear morning air;
The column rose up from their slumber
As quite as a fox from his layer.
With Barry their gallant commander
Through a country side slumbering still;
By Kenneigh’s round tower famed in story
They marched over moorland and hill.
The rugged cliffs now rose before them
And onward they moved very light;
Then into their ambush crept slowly
Awaiting their glorious fight.
The sun o’er Mount Owen was descending
’Twas the eve of a cold winter’s day;
When the Tans we were wearily waiting
Drove into the spot where we lay.
Then over the hills rang the echo
Of the peal of the rifle and gun;
And the fire of their lorries gave tidings
That Barry’s famed column had won.
As the storm of battle was raging
And the bullets sprayed rapidly round;
Three shots from the enemy’s muzzles
Dropped our brave gallant three to the ground.
They died as they lived for their country
No cowards were they for her cause;
Their blood they were willing to shed
’Gainst England’s cruel hellish laws.
When the smoke of the battle had ended
And the enemy’s guns were secure;
We set out o’er the hills and the valleys
To the far distant camp at Granure.
The men in their triumph marched onward
And a prayer for their heroes they said;
A line in that march was now vacant
O’Sullivan, McCarthy and Deasy were dead.
Three Volleys at Castletown-Kenneigh
Gave a last proud salute to the dead;
As three heroes were buried at midnight
By the light of the stars over-head.
O’Sullivan, Deasy, McCarthy,
Their glorious names will live on;
’Till the goal of their triumph is reached
And the ultimate victory is won.
Their banners were ours before sunset
And high over Dunmanway town;
Our battle-soaked colours were waving
O’er the foes of our land that were down.
The cool winter’s evening was casting
Its shadows o’er bogland and moor;
As our men marched wearily southwards
Through a countryside rough and obscure.
Then onward by Manch and Kilkaskin
Around by O’Hurley’s great hold;
The Third Brigade Column kept moving
Through a night wet and bitterly c
old.
Then we gave three long cheers for old Ireland
And prayed for our comrades now dead;
Picked up our guns and our sabres
And started our long march ahead.
But now that the battle is over
And the smoke of the bombshell is passed;
Again we march forward to victory
And fight down the foe to the last.
For we’ll in the end be triumphant
With our tricoloured banner, unrolled;
With the names of Tom Barry’s Flying Column
Inscribed in bright letters of gold.
John F Hourihane wrote the above ballad, which originally contained three verses, after the famous battle of Kilmichael in November 1920. Hourihane of Grilough, Ballinacarriga, Ballineen, a member of C Company, Third Bat., Third Cork Brigade, who later emigrated to Boston Massachusetts, USA. In order to perpetuate and preserve the above event, Mr Hourihane has lately completed the full version as it appears here. In doing so he has made it that generations yet unborn, will have a more vivid understanding and better knowledge of the famous episode and its participants – Tom Barry
THE MEN OF BARRY’S COLUMN
When British Terror failed to win
Allegiance from our people then,
The Black and Tans they were brought in,
They thought they’d teach us manners;
But instead of teaching they were taught
A lesson which they dearly bought,
For when Kilmichael’s day was fought,
Low was their bloody banner.
They sought to wipe the column out,
From east to west, from north to south,
’Till at Crossbarry’s bloody rout
They woke from their day dreaming.
Though ten to one they were that day
Our boys were victors in the fray,
And over the hills we marched away
With bagpipes merrily screaming.
The Essex brutes who tortured Hales,
They scoured the land to fill the jails,
They thought their foul deeds would pale
The cheeks of Irish mothers.
Paid dearly for their deeds were they
When passing by Toureen one day,
We dearly made the Essex pay
And well avenged our brothers.
When Barry saw the Tans efface,
The spirit of his fighting race,
Right through his soul did madly chase
His blood went boiling over.
He marched his men to Rossa’s town
And burned that famous fortress down,
And never again will Britain’s crown
Her foothold there recover.
Chorus:
So piper pay a martial air
For the gallant boys who conquered there,
No merry tune to banish care,
Or mournful or solemn.
The grander tune of all is played
By the fighting squad of the Third Brigade,
Whose glorious deeds will never fade,
The men of Barry’s Column.
THE THIRD WEST CORK BRIGADE
We’ll raise our voice in Ireland’s praise
Glad are our hearts today,
For Ireland’s sons have proved their worth
In the good old IRA
All parts fought well for Roisin Dubh
But we a record made.
In good old Cork, in famed West Cork
The Third West Cork Brigade
At Newcestown we struck a blow
For Ireland and Sinn Féin.
At Ballinhassig next we proved
Our right we would maintain
The English foe we twice laid low,
We faced them undismayed
In good old Cork, in famed West Cork,
The Third West Cork Brigade.
The Black and Tans to Ireland came
To send us to our doom.
Their toughest warriors sallied forth
In lorries from Macroom.
But at Kilmichael’s bloody fight
Their conquering course was stayed,
By good old Cork, by famed West Cork,
The Third West Cork Brigade.
Then at Crossbarry’s battlefield
Tom Barry’s boys saw red.
For ten to one the Saxon host
Before our onslaught fled.
And o’er the hills we made our way
Whilst our gallant piper played.
In good old Cork, in famed West Cork
The Third West Cork Brigade.
Rosscarbery’s barrack strong and grim
Next fell before our fire
For Black and Tans and RIC
Had gone down to the mire.
The echo of our fierce attack
Was heard through glen and glade,
In good old Cork, in famed West Cork
The Third West Cork Brigade.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Manuscript Sources
University College, Dublin, Archives
Frank Aiken Papers
Ernest Blythe Papers
Desmond Fitzgerald Papers
Sighle Humphreys Papers
Seán MacEntee Papers
Mary MacSwiney Papers
Richard Mulcahy Papers
Ernie O’Malley Papers & Notebooks
Moss Twomey Papers
Trinity College, Dublin, Records Office
Erskine Childers Papers
National Library of Ireland, Archives
Michael Collins Papers
John Devoy Papers
Joseph McGarrity Papers
Kathleen MacKenna Napoli Papers
Leon O’Broin Papers
Florence O’Donoghue Papers
Annie O’Farrelly Papers
Dr Dorothy Price Papers
Irish Republican Army & Sinn Féin Comhairle Ceanntair Papers
Irish Military Archives
Coppeen Captured Papers
Michael Collins/IRA Papers
Brigadier G. O’Connor Notebook
Gougane Barra Captured Papers
A Series – Captured Documents
CW Series – Captured Documents
G2/X series – IRA activities
National Archives, Dublin
Records of the Ministry and Cabinet of Dáil Éireann in the State Paper Office.
Department of Justice Records
Sinn Féin Papers
Cork Archives Institute
Seamus Fitzgerald Papers
Donal Hales Papers
Siobhán (Creedon) Lankford Papers
Riobárd Langford Papers
Terence MacSwiney Papers
Liam de Róiste Papers
Madge Twomey Papers
Cork County Museum
Michael Leahy Papers
Terence MacSwiney Papers
Tomás MacCurtain Papers
Miscellaneous Papers relative to Tom Barry
Cork County Library
Pádraig Ó Maidín Papers
RTÉ Radio Archives
Tapes – Titles:
AA1947; AA1996; AA2782; AA3472; BB2063; D00738; Kerry Radio (1998 Tape)
RTÉ TV Archives
Kilmichael Ambush, 1966
Documentary with Tom Barry – not transmitted, 1966
Seven Days, 1969
Documentary Kilmichael Ambush 2000
Ballyseedy Ambush
Public Record Office, London
Colonial Office files
RIC Weekly Summaries, 1920-21
RIC Inspector General and County Inspectors’ Monthly Reports
Irish Office Press Statements
War Office, London
Military Courts of Inquiry Reports
Imperial War Museum, London
Sir Hugh Jeudwine Papers
A. E. Percival Papers
Sir Peter Strickl
and Papers
Private Recordings
John Browne, UCG Lecture Recording
Jean Crowley, Cork Talk Recording
Eamonn Moriarty, army officers’ Location Lecture Recording
Dave O’Sullivan, Video Recording
Private Manuscripts
Dr Gerard Ahern Papers
Tom Barry Papers
Sheila Barry Irlam Papers
Dan Cahalane Papers and Notebooks
Michael Collins (Waterford) notebooks/diary.
Liam Deasy Papers
Jim Kearney Papers (Letters)
Liam Lynch Papers (Letters)
Edward (Ned) O’Sullivan Statement
Dr Ned Barret Papers
Bill Hales Papers
Donal Hales Papers
D. V. Horgan Papers
Jim Hurley Statement & Notes
Liam O’Regan Collection
John Pierce – Mary Collins Pierce Letters
John Young Papers
Yvonne Purcell Papers
Newspapers, Periodicals and Journals
Irish Times; Irish Independent; Freeman’s Journal; Cork Examiner; Cork Co. Eagle; Cork Weekly Examiner; Cork Constitution; Cork Free Press; The Times; Sunday Express; Daily Sketch; Daily Mail; Daily News; Sunday Review; Sunday Independent; Sunday Press; Clare Champion; Limerick Leader; Southern Star; Kerryman; An tÓglach; An Phoblacht; Boston Globe; Boston Herald; Irish Echo (New York); Irish World and American Industrial Liberator; Gaelic American; Detroit News; Pittsburgh Post Gazette; Irish World; The Advocate (American).
Bandon Historical Journal; Church of Ireland Gazette; Mungret Annual; Irish Historical Studies; Capuchin Annual; Irish Sword; Kerryman Supplements; The Month; Southern Star Centenary Supplement; Northern Star: Irish Political Review.
Oral Testimony
My reliance has been on the many people who gave unselfishly of their time, some of whom allowed themselves to be quizzed rather vigorously on their observations of, and participation in, events; their contribution has been essential. (Dates of interviews given in footnotes.)
Interviews
Flying column Participants
Third Cork Brigade: Ned Barrett, (Kilbrittain), Tom Barry, Pat Buttimer, Nudge Callanan, Danny Canty, Dan Collins, Liam Deasy, Miah Deasy, Jim Doyle, Jerh Fehilly, John (Jack) Fitzgerald, Nelius Flynn, Ned Galvin, Bill Hales, Dan Hourihane, Tom Kelleher, Jim Kearney, Denis Lordan, Minie Manning, Paddy O’Brien, Tadgh Ó Cáthasaigh, Dan O’Callaghan, Denis O’Callaghan, Tim O’Connell, Charlie O’Donoghue, Pat O’Donovan, Jack O’Driscoll, Charlie O’Keeffe, James O’Mahony, Denis O’Neill, Jack O’Sullivan, John L. O’Sullivan, Ned O’Sullivan, Patrick O’Sullivan, Dan Cahalane, Sonny O’Sullivan, John Whelton, Ned Young.