Tipperary Studies
2nd Tipperary Brigade (Mid)
James Duggan, Templemore, Captain, A. Company, 2nd Battalion, (W.S 1510)
Patrick Kinnane, Upperchurch, Commandant, 3rd Battalion, (W.S 1475), ASU
see THJ 1995/96
James Leahy, Thurles, Commandant, (W.S 1454)
Thomas F. Meagher, Templemore, Brigade Quartermaster, (W.S. 1541), ASU
Edward McGrath, Templemore, Brigade Vice-Commandant, (W.S 1522)
Seamus Ó Néill, Cashel, Clonmel, O/C, 2nd Battalion (W.S 1557)
Jerry Ryan, Moycarkey, Thurles, Commandant, 1st Battalion, (W.S 1487)
Sean Scott, Templemore, Commandant, 2nd Battalion, (W.S 1486)
P. Haicéad also has a book about this brigade – Keep Their Names Ever Green (Author, 2003), which like his account of the 1st Brigade is non-critical and episodic in treatment but for those reasons accessable. Moyne-Templetuohy A Life of its Own (Templetuohy, 2001) vol ii covers the War of Independence in that parish.
The witness statements of Duggan, McGrath and Scott are interesting with respect to the history of the Volunteers in the Templemore area. Ryan and Scott are good with respect to organization, how companies were distributed and formed battalions. As mentioned earlier, topics need to be focused rather than a student attempting “a history of the IRA in Templemore and district”.
Possible topics include:
- The development of the Volunteers in the district
- Relations with the military and police
- The “Miracles” of Templemore (this concerns bleeding statues and would be a fascinating topic for a committed student who did not mind peering into what a local community might prefer left alone) Re. this see also J. Leahy (W.S. 1454)
- The killing of D.I. Wilson in Aug 1920 and the consequent reprisals
- The Killoskehane Ambush in Sept 1920
- The Poynstown Ambush in Jan 1921
In his autobiography, Patrick Shea deals with his father’s role as Head Constable in Templemore during this difficult period – Voices and the Sound of Drums an Irish Autobiography (Belfast, 1981)
Information from newspapers such as Tipperary Star provide additional information.
Three points about newspapers:
- Where there are different editions, all should be looked at
- Newspapers were subject to military censorship
- When researching a topic, students should look at more than one newspaper e.g. as well as Tipperary Star, Guardian and/or Nationalist
Students may find it of interest that evidence from a Witness Statement gives inside information which the press reports obviously won’t have.
A practical consideration is that microfilm readers in Tipperary Studies facilitate photocopying.
For no obvious reason, Thurles appears to be the town least researched in the county (a challenge anyone?). James Leahy’s witness statement is especially useful with respect to that town. The town clerk J. Kennedy who as the local IRB Centre was influential, figures very much in the various accounts. An interesting Thurles topic is the killing of D.I. Hunt in June 1919, regarding which see also R. Abbott, Police Casualties in Ireland 1919-1922 (Mercier, 2000).
The witness statements of Jerry Ryan (W.S. 1487) and T.F. Meagher (W.S. 1541) describes how the Volunteers obtained arms by robbing them from Molloys, a hardware shop in Thurles, in April 1918. (See also P. Fitzgerald [W.S. 1262] of the 3rd Brigade, who took part.) Ryan’s account deals with the Poynstown Ambush and tells how a few days later he was captured in Thurles.
In November 1920, the chairman of Thurles UDC gave evidence in Washington before “The American Commission on Conditions in Ireland” (an Irish-American pressure group) about violence in that town the previous January. Finding Tipperary has a reference to the American material.
Clearly there are plenty of sources for a range of Thurles-based topics.
Only two of the Tipperary witnesses were female and Mrs Bridget Ryan (W.S. 1488) refers to events in Thurles. (She was married to Jerry Ryan (W.S. 1487). [Note: The other female witness from Tipperary was Mrs M.A. McGrath (W.S. 1704)].
last updated on: Wednesday, 09-Dec-2009 08:04:09 GMT