Recruiting Sergeant Rory O’Cathain – 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
Sergeant O’Cathain is a long service career soldier joining up with the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot when he was only a young teenager: he had lied about his age. Rory came from a poor Catholic working-class family in Belfast. The army and the regiment have been good to him. He has travelled to places most have never heard of. He served with the regiment in Gibraltar in 1864, Mauritius in 1867, and the Cape of Good Hope in 1870. The regiment returned home in 1875 and then Rory found himself in Bermuda in 1880 before the unit was amalgamated.
The Royal Irish Rifles was formed in 1881, under the Childers Reforms, with the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was one of eight infantry regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland during this period. Its area consisted of Antrim, Down, Belfast and Louth, with its depot located at the Belfast Infantry Barracks (later renamed Victoria Barracks). The 83rd who were fighting in the Transvaal War (First Anglo-Boer War) at the time, became the new regiment’s 1st Battalion. The 86th became the new 2nd Battalion.
The regiment was then posted to Nova Scotia. In the early 1880s Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi (the Guided One) proclaimed a Jihad and led an uprising in the Sudan, known as the Mahdi Revolt, against the Khedivate of Egypt. Protection of the Suez Canal was of great strategic importance and the 2nd Battalion and a detachment of the 1st Battalion were sent to the region. In early 1888, now Corporal O’Cathain and the 2nd Battalion was stationed at Alexandria in Egypt. On 13 December, 10 officers and 450 other ranks were moved with only one hour’s notice to garrison Cairo. The Cairo garrison, together with a Royal Irish Rifles mounted infantry platoon of two officers and 37 other ranks, commanded by Brigadier Francis Grenfell, was hastily sent to Suakin in the Sudan were fighting ensued, where the military commander was Colonel Herbert Kitchener.
On 25 October 1899, the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles marched from Belfast Infantry Barracks* to the Great Northern Railway Station, Belfast and entrained for Queenstown Co. Cork. The image shows the men embarking on the White Star Liner, ‘Britannia’, at Queenstown (Cobh). Image: Black and White Budget, 11 November 1899.
In October 1899, the Second Anglo-Boer War broke out between the British Empire and the independent Boer states of the South African Republic (Republic of Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. This was a harsh conflict with tough conditions. The Boers fought using guerrilla tactics. Now Sergeant O’Cathain and The Royal Irish Regiment were mobilised on 9 October and some 695 reported out of a total number recalled of 704. The remaining nine never appeared and were assumed to have died. The unit suffered badly at the Battle of Stormberg in December 1899, and on 3 April 1900 the regiment was forced to surrender to Orange Free State Commandant-General Christiaan de Wet after a siege at Reddersberg. In October 1905, a memorial was erected at Belfast City Hall in memory of the 132 who did not return.
On the outbreak of the Great War the regiment’s two regular battalions and three Special Reserve battalions were mobilised. In August the 1st Battalion was stationed in Aden (now Yemen). It was recalled and landed at Liverpool on 22 October 1914, it was then dispatched to Le Havre as part of the 25th Brigade, 8th Division in November 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915, the Battle of Fromelles in July 1915 and the Battle of Loos in September 1915 before taking part in the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. In August 1914, Sergeant O’Cathain was with the 2nd Battalion garrisoned at Tidworth, Wiltshire in England. On 14 August it landed in Rouen with 1,100 men as part of the 7th Brigade, 3rd Division.
In a very short period, the 2nd Battalion were in action at the Battle of Mons, Battle of Le Cateau, First Battle of the Marne, First Battle of the Aisne, Battle of La Bassée and the Battle of Messines. By September 1914, only 6 officers and 200 men were fit for duty. By October its strength was further reduced to two officers and 46 men and by the end of 1914, some 97% of the battalion had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The 2nd Battalion recovered and went on to take part in the First Attack on Bellewaarde and the Actions at Hooge, defence of Vimy Ridge in May 1916; took part in the Battle of the Somme with 75th Brigade making a costly attack near Thiepval on the 3 of July 1916; the Battle of Bazentin, the Battle of Pozieres and the Battle of the Ancre Heights. In 1917 they were in action at the Battle of Messines attacking between the Wulverghem-Messines and Wulverghem-Wytschaete roads. In the Third Battle of Ypres the battalion took part in the Battle of Pilkem. On 13 November 1917 the battalion transferred to 108th Brigade, 36th (Ulster) Division, absorbing the 7th Battalion. On 8 February 1918 the battalion transferred again to 107th Brigade, 36th (Ulster) Division. The 2nd Battalion were in action again on the Somme in the Battles of the Lys and the final advance in Flanders. At Armistice on 11 November the battalion were at Mouscron, north east of Tourcoing, where it remained and was demobilised by June 1919.
For Sergeant O’Cathain the war ended in the Winter of 1914. For the rest of the war, he toured Ireland with recruiting parties encouraging men to enlist and serve their King and country in defence of the poor people of Belgium.
Recruiting party in Donegal circa 1914. Image courtesy of Donegal County Museum.
Please note Sergeant Rory O’Cathain is a fictitious character. This production was made possible with support from The Minstrel Boys Living History Group, the Dep. of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Donegal County Museum.
By Mal Murray – Gallipoli Association Forum Manager
Cover image: Members of the Royal Naval Division charging from their positions at Gallipoli. (World War I Illustrated)
Much debate and many pages have been written about Ireland’s involvement in the Great War. Mention of the war in Ireland is certain to focus on two significant events, the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme. Both events have, over time, been taken as representative of Ireland during the war. Here in Ireland both events have overshadowed a previous campaign; the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16.
The Gallipoli Campaign is seen in Australia and New Zealand as a defining moment in the history of their respective nations. The Irish involvement has all but been forgotten for many reasons. The decade 1913 to 1923 could be considered to be the most decisive and yet divisive decade in Irish history, and it is within this perspective that the Irish involvement in the Gallipoli Campaign should be considered.
In January 1919, Canon Charles O’Neill (Parish Priest of Kilcoo, Co. Down) attended the first sitting of Dáil Éireann. During the sitting the names of the men who had been elected during the General Election of 1918 were read out, but many were absent. For those absent their names were answered by the reply ‘faoi ghlas ag na Gaill’ meaning ‘locked up by the foreigner’. This had such an effect on him that some time afterwards he wrote the song ‘The Foggy Dew’. The song was written to tell the story of the Easter Rising but also attempted to show that Irishmen who fought for Britain during the war should have stayed home and fought for independence. It’s most significant elements with regards to this must be the following lines:
‘Twas better to die ‘neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sudh el Bahr’
How many who were taught that song, or indeed sing it, know where Suvla or Sud el Bahr are located or indeed their significance? These names were at the time on the lips of families all around the country and would leave deep scars and have a great effect on Irish attitudes towards the war. As Katherine Tynan wrote in 1919 in The Years of the Shadow: ‘So many of our friends had gone out in the 10th Division to perish at Suvla. For the first time came bitterness, for we felt that their lives had been thrown away and that their heroism had gone unrecognised. Suvla the burning beach, and the poisoned wells, and the blazing scrub, does not bear thinking on’.
Early Naval Operations in the Dardanelles
By late 1914 it was obvious all across Europe that the war on the Western Front for all intents and purposes had reached a stalemate. In attempting to break the deadlock new strategies were being reviewed. In January 1915, the Russians who were under great pressure on three fronts from the Germans, Austrians and Ottoman Empire requested that their allies (Great Britain and France) would conduct operations to divert attention away from them. The British First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, conceived a strategy which would, it was hoped, divert enemy attention and resources away from the Russians. The plan was to force a passage through the Dardanelles Straits with a force of battleships and level their guns on Turkey’s capital, Constantinople. The Dardanelles is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It was believed that the arrival of such a force at Constantinople would force the Ottoman Empire out of the war. It was also believed that by taking the Ottoman’s out of the war a new flank could be opened along with the opening of a two way all year round supply route between Russia and her allies.
The Dardanelles had been the subject of a Royal Navy blockade since late 1914. It was now envisaged that this naval force re-enforced by other ships would force the Dardanelles and complete the mission. Between February and March 1915, naval operations were conducted against the Turkish fortifications in the straits by the Royal Navy supported by the French Navy and elements of the Royal Naval Division. On 18 March, a major naval assault on the straits failed with three ships sunk and three badly damaged. At this time it was decided that the straits could not be forced with a naval only operation and that land based operations must be conducted in conjunction with naval operations.
The Gallipoli Campaign – Planning
Following the failure of the naval assault General Sir Ian Hamilton was tasked by Lord Kitchener to act in support of the naval operations. It was decided that in order to force the straits the Gallipoli Peninsula would have to be taken. Under Hamilton, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) was tasked with the operation. Hamilton had a mixed command which included the 29th Division (consisting of three Regular Army Irish Regiments: 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 1st Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers and 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers), the Royal Naval Division, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC, consisting of the 1st Australian Division and the New Zealand Australian Division (New Zealand Infantry Brigade and 4th Australian Brigade)) and the French Oriental Expeditionary Corps (initially one Division but subsequently re-enforced with a second Division). Irish born soldiers would play a part at all levels within all of these contingents (French included) and the Gallipoli Campaign is as much their story as any other nations.
With short notice and limited resources General Hamilton made plans for landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula. This required reorganisation of the 29th Division transports to facilitate the conduct of efficient military operations. In order to prevent the Turkish fortifying the position, the date for the Allied offensive operations were set for mid-April.
25 April 1915 landings.
The Gallipoli Campaign – April Landings
On 25 April 1915, the main assault took place. The strategic objectives were to secure the Achi Baba heights in order to dominate the straits. The British component landed at Cape Helles while ANZAC forces landed at Ari Burnu. These assaults were supported by a diversionary attack at Kum Kale on the Asian side of the Straits by the French. At Cape Helles the operational area assigned to 29th Division, were five beaches from east (inside the straits) to west (on the Aegean coast); S, V, W, X and Y. V and W beaches were the main landings at the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula, either side of Cape Helles. On land the Ottoman Fifth Army: comprising two army Corps; the III Corps which defended the Gallipoli Peninsula and the XV Corps which defended the Asian shore, the 5th Division was positioned north of the peninsula under the command of First Army, and the Dardanelles Fortified Area Command.
A French battleship firing at shore positions in the preliminary bombardment.(Imperial War Museum)
For the purpose of this article the main focus must be centred on V Beach at the southern tip of the peninsula. V Beach has been described as a natural amphitheatre. The beach was approx 300 yards (270 m) long and 10 yards (9.1 m) wide, with a low bank about 5 feet (1.5 m) high on the landward side. Cape Helles and Fort Etrugrul (Fort No. 1) were on the left and the old Sedd el Bahr castle (Fort No. 3) was on the right looking from the sea and Hill 141 was inland. The beach had been wired and was defended by about a company of men from the 3rd Battalion 26th Regiment. Much debate has gone on since the landings as to whether the Turkish defenders where equipped with machine guns, the official history of the campaign (Military Operations Gallipoli: Inception of the Campaign to May 1915. Aspinall-Oglander) reports that they were equipped with four Maxim Machine Guns. The task of landing and securing the area was assigned to the Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers (both part of 86th Infantry Brigade 29th Division). They were supported by two companies of 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment (88th Infantry Brigade 29th Division) and elements of the Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car Division acting as fire support. Other elements including naval fire also supported the landings.
In order to accomplish the task, the assaulting troops were allocated the Collier ship SS River Clyde. The ship had been converted into an ad hoc amphibious assault ship and was referred to at the time as the ‘Trojan Horse’ of the campaign. It was under the command of Commander Edwin Unwin Royal Navy; it was his idea to use the vessel for this role. The Clyde was to be filled with troops and run aground at V Beach. Sally ports were cut through the steel plates in her sides so troops could emerge on to gangways supported by ropes which ran along the sides towards the bows of the vessel from each side. These gangways then led down to two barges which were to form a gangway to shore. The plan was for three boats containing three companies of Royal Dublin Fusiliers to land on the beach and secures the beach for supporting landings from the Clyde when she was deliberately beached.
The converted steamer SS River Clyde, anchored at V-Beach, Gallipoli, Spring 1915. The SS ‘River Clyde was a 4,000 ton ex-collier turned Trojan Horse. (Imperial War Museum)
Disposition of troops:
Three companies of 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers in boats
On board SS River Clyde:
No. 1 Hold (upper deck).
X, Y and Z companies, Royal Munster Fusiliers
No. 1 Hold (lower deck)
W Company Royal Munster Fusiliers
W Company Royal Dublin Fusiliers
No. 2 Hold
Two companies Hampshire Regiment
One company West Riding Field Engineers
No. 3 and 4 Holds
Two sub-divisions Field Ambulance.
One platoon Anson Battalion Royal Naval Division
One signal section
All the troops aboard the Clyde were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Carrington Smith, Hampshire Regiment. Smith was killed in action during the landings and is named in the Irish Memorial Records.
Problems from the start
From the very start things went wrong. The boats containing the three companies from the Dublin Fusiliers were delayed by currents and came in thirty minutes late at 6:30am. The Turkish defenders opened fire just as the boats were landing. Guns in the fort and castle enfiladed the beach and killed many of the men in the boats, some of which were reported to have drifted away with no survivors. Many more casualties were suffered as the soldiers waded ashore and some wounded men drowned under the weight of their 60-pound packs. The survivors found shelter under the bank on the far side of the beach but most of the landing boats remained grounded with their crews dead around them. Two platoons landed intact on the right flank at the Camber and some troops reached the village, only to be overrun.
The SS River Clyde carrying the supporting troops had to slow down to avoid the boats containing the Dublin Fusiliers and therefore had not got the required speed to land high on the beach where it was originally intended (She would remain there throughout the campaign until re-floated in 1919). Because of this and the problems experienced by the Dublin Fusiliers, the boats which were to be used as pontoons to allow troops from the ship to disembark were not in position. Commander Unwin and members of his crew got into the water in the midst of the battle and attempted to form a bridge and assist some of the wounded. Six of them would receive the Victoria Cross for their actions that day.
Only the words of those who were there can truly describe what they experienced on the beach.
‘When my turn came I was wiser than my comrades. The moment I stood on the gangway, I jumped over the rope and on to the pontoon. Two more did the same, and I was already flat on the bridge. Those two chaps were at each side of me, but not for long, as the shrapnel was bursting all around. I was talking to the chap on my left when I saw a lump of lead enter his temple. I turned to the chap on my right, his name was Fitzgerald from Cork, but soon he was over the border. The one piece of shrapnel had done the job for two of them’
Private Timothy Buckley, 1st Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers
An article in the Leinster Leader on 7 August 1915, gave this account from Private William Harris, 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers:
‘On April 25th, before we got within 200 yards of the shore, we were under the heaviest shell and rifle fire that was ever known in the history of the war. When we came within 25 or 30 yards of the shore, our boats stopped. There was nothing for it only to swim ashore. Some got out all right, others were wounded and some never came out and may God rest them. It was only by chance anyone got out, for whichever way you swam that day you faced death. I will never forget when we got on land that morning at 5:30am in our wet clothes. Byrne and I, a chap named Keegan from Dublin and our officer were the only ones left of our platoon. We fell on our hands and faces and dared not move from that position for if we put up a finger we were shot. We lay there for 13 hours and I saw some of our brave friends, the Munsters, alongside me blown to pieces – heads, arms and everything off. Byrne was right behind me, his head touching my boots, yet near as I was I was afraid to twist my head to see if he was alive. The officer and Byrne got wounded later, I think I am the only member of the platoon who was not, but thank God’
‘The Dublin’s set off in open boats to their landing place which was the same as ours. As each boat got near the shore snipers shot down the oarsmen. The boats then began to drift and machine gun fire was turned onto them. You could see the men dropping everywhere and of the first boatload of 40 men, only 3 reached the shore all wounded. At the same time we ran the old collier onto the shore, but the water was shallower than they thought, and she stuck about 80 yards out. Some lighters were put to connect with the shore and we began running along them to get down to the beach. I can’t tell you how many were killed and drowned, but the place was a regular death trap’
Captain Guy Nightingale, 1st Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers
Such was the intensity of fire from the defenders that it was decided during the day that no further attempts should be made to land troops from the ship until the cover of darkness. Despite strong Turkish opposition the Allies managed to land sufficient troops to establish a beach-head at Cape Helles and ANZAC Cove.
Much has been written about the landings at V Beach and arguments have continued regarding the actual number of casualties for the Royal Dublin and Munster Fusiliers on 25 April. There are differences in statistics of the exact numbers killed between the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Soldiers Died Records. Current research would show that the reports of casualties were released in such a way as to down play the actual facts. Notwithstanding these casualties (including wounded personnel) sustained by the two battalions were sufficient enough for both battalions to combine into an ad hoc battalion nicknamed the ‘Dubsters’ for the period 30 April- 19 May 1915.
On 30 April, the respective strengths of the battalions were as follows: 1st Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers: 12 officers, 596 other ranks; 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers: 1 officer, 374 other ranks; from the normal strength per battalion of 26 officers and (approximately) 1,000 other ranks.
My research into the Irish at Gallipoli shows the following fatalities recorded for 25 April (Fig. A). They also show, particularly with regards to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the breakdown in the command structure due to officer and NCO casualties.
Fig. A.
Killed in Action 25 April Royal Munster Fusiliers/Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Regiment
Officers
NCOs
Privates
Total
Munster Fusiliers
2
10
43
57
Dublin Fusiliers
7
6
52
65
Irish fatalities in the initial landings on 25 April, were not restricted to just these two battalions. Approximately 19 Irish born were killed during the landings at ANZAC Cove while serving with the ANZACs and approximately another 19 Irishmen were killed while serving with other British Regiments such as the Hampshire Regiment, Lancashire Fusiliers and the Essex Regiment.
A 60-pounder battery in action on a cliff top. (Imperial War Museum)
As with all statistics, there is a personal story behind them. For some families the soldier killed at Gallipoli would be the first loss during the war for that family, while for some families there would be double tragedies suffered by them during the initial landings at Gallipoli. The Mallaghan family from Newry, Co. Down would receive word that their two sons who served in 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers had been killed at V Beach. 10372 Private Samuel Mallaghan (aged 21) was reported as killed in action on 25 April, and his brother, 10741 Private John Mallaghan (aged 19) was reported as killed in action on April 30th. The Smyth family from Glendermott, Derry would also lose two sons. 10696 Private Samuel Smyth (aged 28) and 10058 Lance Corporal William John Smyth (aged 31) were both killed in action on 25 April.
Early in the land campaign it was realised that the hoped for breakthrough and success of the Gallipoli Campaign had been denied to the Allies by the tenacity of the Turkish defenders. The stalemate and trench warfare of the Western Front had all too painfully set in at Gallipoli. Success was measured in feet and yards, the Allies never advanced more than three miles up the Peninsula, with opposing trenches no more than 15 feet away from each other in some case.
The Gallipoli Campaign – May and June
Throughout May and June 1915, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers, though badly mauled, would continue to serve in the frontline at Gallipoli. They would, alongside the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (who also sustained heavy casualties), took part in the second and third battles of Krithia and sustain further casualties and lost many of their pre-war regular soldiers with whom they had started operations.
The battalion history of 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers (Neil’s Bluecaps Volume II), describes the ‘scanty reinforcements’ that reached the battalion at Helles, comprising 3 officers (Captains C.B. Riccard, W.F. Stirling and Adrian Taylor), 1 Sergeant, 2 Corporals and 43 Privates from the battalion reserves at Mudros, along with another officer from the 3rd Battalion and 4 officers from the 9th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. A total reinforcement of just 54 officers and men. After receiving these meagre reinforcements, the 1st Battalion was reconstituted as a separate unit on 19 May.
A Royal Irish Fusilier teasing a Turkish sniper by holding his helmet above the trench on his rifle. The 6th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers landed with the 10th (Irish) Division at Suvla on August 6th. (Imperial War Museum)
During the Battle for Gully Ravine (Third Krithia) the Dublin Fusiliers suffered enormous casualties when on 28-29 June, they lost approximately 236 officers and men killed, wounded and missing. The old regular army battalions were being bled to death at Gallipoli and the black ribbons were being hung on doors all across Ireland. The true reality of the war was being brought home to these families and the Irish as a nation.
By mid-June 1915, plans were made for large scale re-enforcements to the MEF and a new offensive was planned for August to break the dead-lock. The Irish involvement in the new campaign would increase with the inclusion of the 10th (Irish) Division, which would include Service Battalions of almost all the existing Irish regular regiments. The 10th (Irish) would be the first of the three raised divisions in Ireland which would see active service during the war, and its use and treatment would affect Irish attitudes to the war much deeper than any other Irish units engagement.
The 29th Division, the only regular division in the MEF, remained at Gallipoli until January 1916. It was used as the ‘Fire Brigade’ Division throughout the campaign and during the August offensive served for a period of time at Suvla Bay before returning to serve at Helles until the final evacuation. It earned the title ‘The Incomparable 29th’ due to its service. The 10th (Irish) Division and its role in the August campaign will be discussed in Part 2.
There is more to be told about the Irish at Gallipoli, the Irish graves that stretch from the Gallipoli Peninsula, through Egypt, Malta, the depths of the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, and across the UK and Ireland have their own story to tell about the effect they had on Ireland and it’s people and should no longer be considered as ‘Lonely graves by Suvla’s waves’.
The phases of the Gallipoli Campaign April to October 1915.
Mal Murray is a former member of the Irish Defence Forces. He is currently the Gallipoli Associations Forum Manager. For more information see: www.gallipoli-association.org
25 April marks the national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to commemorate all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations and to mark the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. The day is observed on 25 April each year, originally to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign. It is estimated approximately 6000 Irish born men served in the Australian Imperial Force during WWI. The Dawn Service, symbolically links commemorations with the dawn landing by the ANZAC at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey on 25 April 1915.
In accordance with Covid-19 restrictions the Australian Embassy, Ireland, and New Zealand Embassy in Ireland will be commemorating a second ANZAC Day without the ability to come together in person. As a result, the annual ANZAC Day and Dawn Service commemoration at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin will not go ahead. Instead, a wreath will be laid on behalf of Australia and New Zealand at a private ceremony at Dawn on Sunday 25 April 2021.
With the help of Dún Laoghaire Library the Australian Embassy, Ireland are running an ANZAC Day Quiz on Sunday 25 April at 19:30 pm, you can join the quiz here – https://www.crowd.live/ANZAC there will be some Australian and New Zealand goodies as prizes.
You can watch ANZAC Day Commemorative Dawn Service live on ABC Australia.
Annual Somme Commemoration – National War Memorial Gardens
Every year a commemoration ceremony organised by the Royal British Legion Republic of Ireland is held at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin 8. The ceremony takes place coinciding with the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916) in which the 36th (Ulster) Division and 16th (Irish) Division took part.
The ceremony commemorates those who lost their lives in the two World Wars, in particular the estimated 60,000 Irish men and women from all parts of the Ireland who served and died in both world wars. The event brings together representation from all parts and traditions of the island of Ireland .
Traditionally the ceremony commences with a parade of the standards of Royal British Legion, regimental, ex-services organisations and commemorative associations. This is followed by an ecumenical service of remembrance, recitals and music and the laying of official wreaths by government and civic leaders, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Service and veterans representatives. Music is provided by the bands of the Irish Defence Forces and the Royal Irish Regiment.
The Ceremony is open to the public.
The ceromony takes places in the beautiful Irish War Memorial Gardens. The Gardens are dedicated to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died in the Great War. The name of every soldier is contained in the sumptuously illustrated Harry Clarke manuscripts in the granite bookrooms.
The Gardens were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Construction began in 1932.
Special Annual Ceremony of Remembrance and Wreath Laying, 11 July 2020
Annual Ceremony of Remembrance and Wreath laying, National War Memorial Gardens, 13 July 2019
Annual Ceremony of Remembrance and Wreath Laying, National War Memorial Gardens, 7 July 2018
Annual Ceremony of Remembrance and Wreath Laying, National War Memorial Gardens, 8 July 2017
At the beginning of World War I tank warfare was not in the manuals of the day. To break the deadlock of trench warfare however, the belligerent nations began to develop armed armoured tracked vehicles. These were crude machines. By Autumn 1917, the tank had made its appearance on the battlefield. Clement Robertson, from Delgany in Wicklow, was one of the first to volunteer for the newly established Tank Regiment – and the first tank Victoria Cross recipient. Robertson Family
Captain Clement Robertson VC, circa 1916. (Image from author’s collection)
Clement was born on 15 December, 1890, in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa as his father was serving there at the time. He had four brothers, three older and one younger. His great grandfather was William Robertson who married Margaret Jameson in 1801. She was the daughter of John Jameson the founder of the John Jameson and Sons Distillery and Margaret Haig (daughter of John Haig the original proprietor of John Haig and Sons). His father John Albert Robertson was born in 1851; he was in the Royal Artillery and served in South Africa. He retired after the Boer War and settled more permanently in Delgany in County Wicklow. The five sons were all involved in serving King and Country in one way or another. William Cairns Robertson (1882-1950) DSO Royal Artillery, Albert John Robertson (1884-1954) (My Grandfather) Royal Navy Rear Admiral and MVO, Sir Fredrick Robertson Kt Bach CSI CIE (1885-1964) was in the Indian Civil Service, Clement Robertson VC (1890-1917) KIA, and Charles Wyndham Robertson (1892- 1971) served with the Monmouthshire Regiment. Charles then joined the engineer firm John Jameson & Sons after the war.
William Cairns Robertson DSO, the eldest, became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Garrison Artillery like his father. He had joined at the end of the Boer War and served in the Great War. He was awarded the DSO in 1918 and was mentioned in Despatches. Albert John was my Grandfather. He chose the Royal Navy. He was born in 1884 and like his brothers was educated at Hill House, St. Leonards on Sea. He joined the HMS Britannia Royal Naval College in 1898 and went to sea as a midshipman in 1900. After his promotion to Lieutenant in 1905 he specialised in the navigation branch. Throughout the Great War he served with the Second Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet. He was navigator on HMS Achilles and was there during the engagement with the sinking of the disguised German Auxiliary Cruiser Leopold in March 1917, in defence of the armed boarding steamer Dundee, which the Leopold had attacked.
Albert was mentioned in dispatches following this engagement and noted for early promotion as ‘an exceptionally skilful and cool navigation officer’. From June 1918, he served on the armoured cruiser HMS Minotaur. These ships operated in the North Atlantic protecting merchant shipping. HMS Minotaur was involved in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. These two ships were Warrior Class Armoured Cruisers. Albert was thrown into the freezing Atlantic Ocean on a couple of occasions and this affected his health in later life. After the war, he worked at the Portsmouth Navigation School and from 1922 until his promotion to Captain he was navigator on the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert. He became Captain of Dockyard and Kings Harbourmaster at Portsmouth from 1931 to 1933 and became ADC to King George V. He retired on promotion to Flag Rank in 1936. He was also a member of the Royal Victorian Order.
Sir Fredrick, I don’t know that much about, except that he worked in the Indian Civil Service. He left Trinity College Dublin in 1908 with a BA. He was in the Indian Civil Service from 1909 to 1937. He had a number of different positions and clearly did well because he was knighted in 1945. He was awarded the Honour of ‘Companion of the Star of India’ in 1941, and the ‘Companion of the Indian Empire’ in 1935.
Charles Robertson, the youngest, studied engineering at Trinity College Dublin and hadn’t finished his degree when war broke out. He joined the Royal Monmouthshire Regiment and served during the war in Palestine and Egypt. The Monmouthshire Regiment were engineers and built bridges, roads and defence works. He was mentioned in Despatches. Following the war, he went to the Sudan on an irrigation project. His later life was spent as a director of John Jameson and Sons Distillery. His passion was golf and he won the Irish Close Championship in 1925 as a member of Delgany Golf Club.
‘Later that year at the end of September the push towards Passchendaele was in progress. By this time Clement had been promoted and was now Acting Captain and in command of a section consisting of five tanks.’
The five brothers were all fanatical golf players and were founder members of Delgany Golf Club. It is Fredrick whose name appears on the monument at the entrance to the Club as one of the founders in 1908. Clement won the Captain’s prize in 1908 and Charles won the Presidents Cup the following year.
Family photo taken at Struan Hill, Delgany, where they lived. Clement is on the back left, Fredrick beside him. Parents in the middle, seated, and Charles on ground in front, circa1904. (Image author’s collection)
Early Life
Although born in South Africa, Clements pent his childhood in Delgany. He went to Haileybury College in England and then to Trinity College Dublin to study Engineering. He graduated in 1909, and went to Egypt to work on the Nile Irrigation Project. With the outbreak of war, he returned to England and joined the 19th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. He applied for a Commission in the 3rd Reserve Battalion, Queen’s Royal (West Surrey)Regiment and was successful. This was 1916 and, in an effort, to break the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front they were secretly developing and testing a large, armoured, mobile vehicle with cannon and machine guns. This machine, they hoped, could travel through no-man’s land, crushing the barbed wire defences, cross the enemy trenches and fire sideways down the length of the trenches. The Heavy Machine Gun Corps was being formed. This would later become the Tank Corps and later styled the Royal Tank Regiment.
Clement volunteered, and with his engineering background, was accepted as one of the first officers appointed. He went to Belgium in January 1917 as a Tank Commander. He was in action in early June 1917, in the assault and taking of the Messines Ridge. His tank was part of X Corps and in support of units of the London Regiment of 140th (4th London) Brigade, part of 41st Division. I have walked the route he took that morning from Arundel House towards his objective at White Chateau Stables and on to Opal Reserve and have seen where his tank was hit by a 5.9- inch artillery shell. The left Sponson was badly damaged. Three of his crew were hit; Sergeant William Clegg was killed and two others were badly wounded. I have visited the grave of Sergeant Clegg in the Dikkebusch New Military Cemetery; killed in action 7 June, 1917, aged 32, from Burnley in Lancashire. The tank could not precede and had to limp back to base.
Passchendaele
Later that year at the end of Septemberthe push towards Passchendaele was inprogress. By this time Clement had beenpromoted and was now Acting Captain andin command of a section consisting of fivetanks. On October 4th, he was to take histanks into action at a small village calledReutel, a few miles east of Ypres, in supportof the infantry. The front line was on thesoutheast corner of Polygon Wood. Thetanks had to be brought safely in darknessand under heavy shellfire to that point first.
For three nights prior to this, Clement and Gunner Cyril Allen worked, without sleep, to reconnoitre and tape a safe route for the tanks to take. This was the Third Battle of Ypres and by now the ground was a bare sea of mud and craters. You will have seen the photographs showing just stumps where trees once grew, mud so deep that a man could drown in it. The hard ground of the damaged road was the only way. Eventually on 4 October, they were to move up to the start line. They crawled from Sterling Castle, through Black Watch Corner and along the south side of Polygon Wood. Constantly under shellfire and with the weather deteriorating, Clement and his assistant were not happy that they could follow the tapes safely from inside the tanks. They therefore got out of the tanks and Clement and Cyril Allen guided the tanks on foot. They reached the start point at 3am and rested for a few hours and at dawn they moved off. Clement knew that there was still a real danger of the tanks missing their way. So, with great determination he continued to lead them on foot. The small bridge over the Reutelbeek miraculously was still intact. It was the only way to cross the marshy ground to their objectives on the other side of the small valley. Captain Robertson was certain that if the tanks failed to see the bridge and follow the hard ground to it then action would be lost.
Image from the Illustrated War News report on Clement’s action.
‘The gunfire was intense by now and was concentrated on the leading tanks. The commander of the first tank was amazed to see Clement still untouched‘
The German barrage came down furiously, rifles cracked, machine guns spluttered, but the two lone figures went ever forward. They were well ahead of the infantry now, the only two living creatures to be seen. Bullets whistled by them, flattening with a dull sound against the thick hides of the following tanks, shell bursts flung showers of mud over them, but they walked on, unhurt and undeterred. At last they came to the bridge. Gunner Allen went back to guide the rear tanks and Clement guided the leading tank over and then the others one by one. The gunfire was intense by now and was concentrated on the leading tanks. The commander of the first tank was amazed to see Clement still untouched. The tanks were now safe to continue to their respective objectives and when Gunner Allen reached the bridge, he could not see his Captain. The fire was so intense that, in his own words he ‘had to crawl on my hands and knees’ eventually finding his brave Captain in a shell hole, shot in the head. Gunner Allen took maps and documents from Clement’s body and finally took shelter in one of the last tanks. Clement was 26 years old. The Tank Section went forward and successfully drove the enemy from their strong points.
For his actions on 4 October, Clement was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) and his medal was presented to his mother by Brigadier General C. Williams CB, Commanding Dublin District at the Royal Barracks in Dublin. It is sad that she did not feel up to the journey to London to have it presented by the King, as would be customary.
Acting Captain, The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, attached to A Battalion, Tank Corps
The citation reads:
On 4 October 1917 at Zonnebeke, Belgium, Captain Robertson led his tanks in attack under heavy shell, machine-gun and rifle fire over ground which had been ploughed by shell-fire. He and his batman had spent the previous three days and nights going back and forth over the ground, reconnoitering and taping routes, and, knowing the risk of the tanks missing the way, he now led them on foot, guiding them carefully towards their objective, although he must have known that this action would almost certainly cost him his life. He was killed after the objective had been reached, but his skilful leading had already ensured success.
Gunner Allen was awarded the DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal) for his splendid devotion to duty. It was unfortunately not long before death claimed him also. He was killed some seven weeks later in Cambrai where the tanks were next to go into action. His body was not found and his name appears in the Louvreval Memorial. Killed in action on 20 November, 1917. He wrote a letter to my Grandmother outlining the events leading up to Clement’s death. It is a moving a poignant letter, beautifully written in pencil and using wonderful English. The sadness is in the fact that he never got a chance to send this letter to my Grandmother. It only appeared a few years ago when a relation was looking through some of Cyril’s effects that had survived and been kept in an attic for 90 years.
Clement Robertson is commemorated on a plaque in Delgany Parish Church and on the Memorial in Trinity College Dublin. He is buried in Oxford Road Cemetery in Belgium near where he fell.
On 4 October 2017, the friends of the Tank Memorial Ypres Salient organised a special centenary remembrance ceremony dedicated to Captain Clement Robertson VC of the Royal Tank Corps. At this occasion the bridge at the Reutelbeek was officially named ‘Robertson’s Bridge’.
(Images: http://www.wo1.be)
This article first appeared in the Victoria Cross Journal in March 2014. Ian Robertson, Clément’s nephew, served with the Irish Guards and today is Chairman of the Irish Guards Association in the Rep. of Ireland.
Irish Volunteer, Dublin Fusilier, Patriot – Lieutenant Tom Kettle
By Brendan O’Shea
Lieutenant Tom Kettle, 9th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was killed in action on 9 September 1916, near the village of Ginchy in Northern France at about five o’clock in the afternoon of the 71st day of the Battle of the Somme. Initially buried on the battlefield by members of the Welsh Guards, the location of his grave was subsequently lost and his remains were never found thereafter. Today his name is inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial near the town of Albert together with those of 72,000 others who lost their lives on the Somme, and equally have no known grave. 100 years later, a constant stream of people from all over the world visit Thiepval every day to pay their respects to the fallen. Some remember Tom Kettle, but most never heard of him, notwithstanding the inclusion of his name on a stone tablet in the Island of Ireland Peace Park at Messines, Belgium when it was opened in 1998. And unfortunately, this also remains true in 21st century Ireland.
Tom Kettle. Image taken from ‘Ways of War’ (1917), published posthumously by his wife Mary (Sheehy) Kettle.
The only pubic memorial in Ireland to Tom Kettle can be found in Dublin’s St. Stephen’s Green directly across from the Shelbourne Hotel. Never unveiled properly, and following several objections by the Commissioner of Public Works to the inscription, in 1927 a bust of Kettle was eventually placed where it stands today without any reference to the facts that he was an Irish Volunteer, an officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers or that he died during the Battle of the Somme. It is hardly any wonder then that nobody gives this memorial a second glance as the citizens of Dublin go about their daily business but on the 100th anniversary of his death it is also nothing short of a national disgrace that nobody stops, nobody looks and nobody cares. Of course there are reasons for this not least amongst which is the manner in which history has been taught to successive generations prioritising one historical narrative over another and thereby effectively reducing the contribution of Kettle and others like him to the status of an historical footnote. This is deplorable and ignores the fact that Tom Kettle was a truly great Irishman of whom we should all be immensely proud.
Thomas Michael Kettle was born in Artane, Dublin on 9 February 1880. The seventh of twelve children, in his formative years he was influenced significantly by the Home Rule politics of his father Andrew who was a leading Catholic Nationalist politician, and together with Michael Davitt a founding member of the Irish Land League.
Educated initially by the Christian Brothers at O’Connell School, Richmond Street, Dublin he proved to be an excellent student. In 1894 he moved on to Clongowes Wood College in Co. Kildare where it was immediately obvious that the young Kettle possessed more than just an average intellect. Three years later he enrolled at University College Dublin, where in 1898, he was elected auditor of the Literary and Historical Society and became vocal on the legitimacy of the Boer War in South Africa, before obtaining a Bachelor in Arts Degree in 1902. Thereafter he was admitted to the Irish Bar and qualified as a Barrister in 1905.
Throughout this period, he also indulged in political journalism and was a determined supporter of John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party. He became president of the Young Ireland Branch of the United Irish League in 1904. In 1906, a vacancy arose in East Tyrone after the death of the sitting MP, Patrick Doogan. Not surprising Tom Kettle was offered and accepted the chance to stand for election to Parliament. In the by-election which followed he won the seat by 18 votes, thus becoming the youngest member of the Party and was immediately viewed by many colleagues as a future leader. In this regard his vision of where Ireland should stand in the world was critical and a fundamental component of his entire political philosophy. Together with Willie Redmond he passionately believed that an emerging independent Ireland must exist within a wider political context. For Redmond that context was colonial in a shared political jurisdiction with Canada, Australia and New Zealand. For Kettle it was Europe. In his article ‘Ireland’ he wrote: ‘My only programme for Ireland consists in equal parts of Home Rule and the Ten Commandments. My only counsel to Ireland is, that to become deeply Irish, she must become European’. Tom Kettle could see the big picture and that is precisely what set him apart from the majority of his peers.
By 1908, and still only twenty-eight years of age, he had become the new Professor of National Economics at University College Dublin, while simultaneously continuing his work as an MP. However, the burden became too great given the fragile nature of his health and prior to the general election of December 1910 he stood down and did not contest the seat. Nonetheless he retained his political connections and remained an active supporter of John Redmond welcoming the 3rd Home Rule Bill in 1912, and believing that Unionist fears could be overcome in due course.
‘So here, while the mad guns curse overhead, And tired men sigh, with mud for couch and floor, Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead, Died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor, But for a dream, born in a herdsman’s shed, And for the secret Scripture of the poor’. However other social and political factors were now also at play in Ireland and in 1913 Dublin became embroiled in a workers strike and subsequent lockout by management. Unlike many in the political establishment Kettle supported the locked out workers and wrote numerous articles describing the appalling poverty in which thousands of working class people were forced to live before intervening directly himself through the establishment of a peace committee in order to find a resolution.
1913 also saw the formation of the Irish Volunteers in Dublin’s Rotunda Rink on November 25th, and together with his brother Laurence, he immediately enrolled subscribing to the Volunteer Manifesto, which envisaged holding Ireland for the Empire and resisting the separatist intentions of the Ulster Volunteers formed the previous year.
Thereafter he was tasked by the Volunteer leadership with obtaining arms on the open market. In August 1914 he found himself in Belgium where he personally witnessed both the ferocity of the German invasion and the corresponding inability of the Belgian military to resist. Writing for the Daily News at this time he was unequivocal in his thoughts… ‘It is impossible not to be with Belgium in this struggle. It is impossible any longer to be passive. Germany has thrown down a well-considered challenge to all the deepest forces of our civilization. War is hell, but it is only a hell of suffering, not a hell of dishonour. And through it, over its flaming coals, Justice must walk, were it on bare feet’.
For Kettle the die was now cast and his continuing experiences in France and Belgium during September, particularly in relation to the plight of the civilian population, served only to confirm his view that this was a war of civilization against barbarians. He was also clear that Ireland had obligations to support Belgium in her hour of need… ‘In such a conflict to counsel Ireland to stand neutral in judgment, is as if one were to counsel a Christian to stand neutral in judgment between Nero and St. Peter. To counsel her to stand neutral in action would be to abandon all her old valour and decision, and to establish in their places the new cardinal virtues of comfort and cowardice. In such matters you cannot compromise. Neutrality is already a decision, a decision of adherence to the evil side’.
Not surprisingly then when Kettle returned to Ireland he had little difficulty subscribing to John Redmond’s belief that Ireland should play its part in the war effort notwithstanding that Home Rule had been suspended until hostilities ceased. True to his convictions he quickly applied for a commission but was turned down because of his fragile health. However, he persisted, and eventually obtained the rank of Lieutenant, albeit that he was confined exclusively to a recruiting role. Undeterred, he continued to apply for active service and with his health improving marginally, and a chronic need for replacement officers on the Western Front, in 1916 he received an appointment in the 9th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers and deployed to France.
However, within a short time his health deteriorated again and at Easter he found himself at home in Dublin on sick leave. As his former colleagues in the Irish Volunteers launched their ill-conceived insurrection, Kettle watched in fury believing that his dream of a free Ireland in a free Europe had been terminally damaged. That said he was also distraught at the manner in which the leaders were subsequently dealt with and he could not be consoled when his colleague at UCD, Thomas MacDonagh, was executed. Nevertheless, when his time came to return to the front Kettle understood what his duty required of him and on 14 July, he set sail once again for France. He was 36 years old and had a mere 58 days left to live.
Readjusting to life in the trenches Kettle did not find life easy. ‘Physically I am having a heavy time,’ he wrote, ‘I am doing my best but I see better men than me dropping out day by day and wonder if I shall ever come home… the heat is bad as are the insects and rats, but the moral strain is positively terrible’. Nevertheless, he carried on bravely and his leadership was very effective in the series of successful attacks on Guillemont, which began on 3 September. But the village of Ginchy still remained to be taken and writing to his brother the night before the main attack we get a very clear insight into his frame of mind. ‘I am calm and happy but desperately anxious to live. …the big guns are coughing and smacking their shells, which sound for all the world like overhead express trains at anything from 10 to 100 per minute on this sector; the men are grubbing and an odd one writing home. Somewhere the Choosers of the Slain are touching, as in our Norse story they used to touch, with invisible wands those who are to die’.
Tom Kettle did not want to die. He simply wanted to do his duty, survive the war, and go home. His numerous writings which survived him make this abundantly clear and any suggestions to the contrary are completely without foundation. However, the following afternoon, at about 5 o’clock, having made his way thought the stench of the dead in the forward trenches and progressed to within touching distance of his objective, which was the destroyed village of Ginchy. The Choosers of the Slain chose Tom Kettle notwithstanding that he had tried to outwit them by wearing a somewhat primitive bulletproof vest. Kettle was gone and Ireland had lost one of her most loyal and faithful servants.
In the intervening years Tom Kettle has often been criticised for supporting the war and serving in the British Army. Some commentators have even dared to suggest that if he wished to make a personal sacrifice in 1916, he should more properly have done so in the General Post Office with his former Irish Volunteer colleagues now turned insurrectionists. In fact, Kettle was acutely aware that this criticism would be made but firmly believed that: ‘the faults of a period or a man should not prevail against the cause of liberty’.
Writing a sonnet to his daughter Betty (his gift from God) on 4 September, just before the attack on Guillemont, Tom Kettle railed at the madness of his predicament and spelt out in detail why he had put country before family….
So here, while the mad guns curse overhead, And tired men sigh, with mud for couch and floor, Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead, Died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor, But for a dream, born in a herdsman’s shed, And for the secret Scripture of the poor’.
In recent times lesser poets and lesser people have seen fit to criticize this incredible poem without having made the slightest effort to understand the physical and psychological contexts within which it was written. This is Kettle’s epitaph crafted in a world of unimaginable horror with nothing save the stench of death for company and the cold sweat of fear soaking into every fibre of his body. Kettle’s dream was of a free, united and independent Ireland in a free Europe – of that there is no doubt whatsoever – and the secret scripture of the poor is what is always is – liberty, equality, and fraternity – or in modern parlance, Human Rights.
On 1 July 2016, I went to Thiepval to remember all Irishmen who died there 100 years ago. I took with me the first edition (1917) of The Ways of War by Lieutenant Tom Kettle, 9th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers which once upon a time was owned and treasured by Private Maurice Donovan, 1st Battalion The Durham Light Infantry. The very last words on the very last page have turned out to be quite prophetic:
‘History will write of us that we began nobly, but that our purpose corrupted. The Great War for freedom will not, indeed, have been waged in vain; that is already decided: but it will have but half kept its promises. Blood and iron will have been once more established as the veritable masters of men, and nothing will open before the world save a vista of new wars’.
Lieutenant Tom Kettle, Irish Volunteer and Dublin Fusilier, died courageously leading his men on 9 September 1916. He was, however, so much more than just another soldier who simply did his duty. He was desperately anxious to live and undoubtedly would have played a leading role in the development and evolution of our nation had he been spared. Alas, it was not to be – such are the Ways of War – and our Nation has long been the poorer as a consequence.
Bust of Thomas Kettle in St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. (Photograph by Brendan O’Shea)
Brendan O’Shea is a retired member of the Irish Defence Forces and holds a PhD in History. He is the author of numerous books. In 2010, along with Gerry White, he edited, A Great Sacrifice – Cork Servicemen who died in the Great War.
Sources for this article include: Tom Burke, In Memory of Tom Kettle Journal of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Vol. 9 Sept 2002; Tom & Mary Kettle, The Ways of War, Talbot Press, 1917; Desmond and Jean Bowen, Heroic Option, Pen& Sword, 2005; Gerry White & Brendan O’Shea, Baptised in Blood, Mercier Press, 2005.
Educated for War – The Story of Fingal’s Hely-Hutchinson Brothers
By Colm McQuinn, Fingal County Council
Dick (seated) and Coote Hely-Hutchinson circa 1880.3
In November 2011, Fingal County Council Archives received a donation of the papers of the Hely-Hutchinson family, originally of Swords. A branch of the Earls of Donoughmore of Knocklofty and later Palmerstown, they owned two big houses and estates in the Swords area, Seafield and Lissenhall. John Hely-Hutchinson, Deputy Lieutenant, Justice of the Peace, and County Sheriff for Dublin had two sons, Coote Robert and Richard George ‘Dick’, as well as three daughters. Both brothers were sent to boarding schools in England, including Harrow, which operated as feeder school for the British Military Academies. Both brothers served with distinction with the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) before and during the First World War. Through correspondence, official documents and photographs, their story can be extracted to illustrate how different they were from the many Irish Catholics who joined the British Army at this time, and how they had been prepared for life to someday serve as army officers.
The early years and the Royal Fusiliers
The Hely-Hutchinson brothers Coote and Dick were born in 1870 and 1871 respectively, into a privileged Irish family which had a long, distinguished military history. Their grandfather, Coote, had been a Captain in the Royal Navy, and it was he who brought the family to Swords, having inherited Lissenhall House and Demesne through marriage. His son Francis, the boys’ uncle, followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Royal Navy. Through marriage the family were related to many officers in the British Armed Forces.
While their father, John, may not have been a member of the armed forces, he was an enthusiastic huntsman, on foot and on horseback, as well as fishing. John was a keen shot and was an advocate of teaching boys to shoot from an early age. Among his papers is a collection of correspondence with a number of hunting gun manufacturers and hunting magazines in England, wherein he discusses the finer points of various aspects of the sport.
The two boys were sent to boarding school during the 1880’s. We can only assume that it was for financial reasons that only the eldest son, Coote, was sent to his father’s alma mater, Harrow. Dick was sent to a newly-opened school in Clifton, Bristol. Dick excelled at sports while in Clifton and represented the school at boxing. He went on to Sandhurst, but not as a cadet. It is likely that his elder brother Coote, graduated from Harrow into the Royal Fusiliers. Interestingly, there are Certificates in Musketry for both men from the School of Musketry in Hythe. They would have had no idea how significant this would be for them in the second decade of the next century. Dick qualified as a gymnasium and fencing instructor, while Coote became an instructor in Musketry.
Coote mounted on a white horse, at a ceremony in the Phoenix Park, Dublin 1897, with the caption “H.R.H. the Duchess of York presenting New Colours to the Royal Fusiliers, August 1897”.
Unfortunately, Coote was not as prolific a letter-writer as his younger brother, so we know little of his career and postings within the Royal Fusiliers. We know however that he spent most of his time with the 7th (Extra) Reserve Battalion as an instructor. A photograph, dated 1897, places Coote at a regimental colour ceremony at the Phoenix Park, Dublin.
Royal Fusiliers Officers, Moore Park, Fermoy, 1913.
From Dick’s writings we can trace his entire career. He was gazetted to the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers as a 2nd Lieutenant on 13 May 1891. he was in Portobello Barracks and the Curragh as Superintendent of Gymnasia, Dublin District until 1902. He spent the turn of the century in Aldershot as an instructor in fencing and gymnastics and was able to come home to Dublin on leave. In 1899 he got married, and his wife, Alice Cunningham of Belfast, travelled with him to India, where he held posts in Darjeeling and Bangalore, and attended hunting and gymkhana in Secunderabad, Decca, Hyderabad and Ootacamund. He was promoted to Major in 1907 and was in Malta in 1908. He was Superintendent of Gymnasia, Northern Command 1908-1911. In 1912, back in Ireland, he was posted with the 1st Battalion to the Curragh. Prior to the outbreak of war August 1914, his unit moved to Kinsale, County Cork.
Royal Fusiliers at Kinsale Barracks, County Cork c1912.
Outbreak of War and Ypres
The 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers formed part of the British Expeditionary Force, 17th Brigade, 6th Division. Dick left his wife, Alice, and their infant daughter Pamela in Dublin in the care of his family.
He wrote to his mother from Kinsale before leaving for Le Havre:
‘Dearest Mother,
Just a line to you all to say goodbye….. keep your spirits up. I hope Kaiser Bill will take it in the neck before this war is finished.
Your loving son,
Dick’
A month later on 3 October, he wrote about his experiences at Ypres:
‘My dearest Mother,
Many thanks for your last letter, we are having a bit of an easy, after ten days in the trenches at the front, it came very welcome as it is hard work & nobody gets very much sleep & there was a lot of digging & tin cutting to do…. the luxury of a bed now is beyond words; also having a real wash with hot water was nice…
There are no fences, great big bare plateaus, with very deep valleys & thick woods, ideal places for artillery fighting, as they get very long ranges & good concealment, both sides use aeroplanes for fire detection. The German spy system is marvellous; as they retreat they leave them behind to mark for their artillery. Two were caught near our position, concealed in a hay stack, with a telephone & enough food for six weeks. We caught one near here with a pair of glasses observing artillery fire.
I expect he will be shot… We have had very little rain lately; the mud in these parts when it does rain is something colossal’.
Writing to Alice on 8 November, he describes how so many officers and men get wounded:
‘…a Welch Fusilier was trying to get back to his trenches, with some tea, when he was hit by a sniper. The artillery observing officer saw him & went out to try & get him in. He was hit, & then two of our men went to try to get him in & they were hit too all badly, & the cause of all the trouble was only very lightly hit, & could have remained out quite well where he was till it was dark. There are an awful lot of officers & men wounded like that…
These new sharp nosed bullets make worse wounds than the old ones, as when they meet a bone they turn over, which of course is very bad for the bone’
A Regimental History of the Royal Fusiliers, by H.C. O’Neill, describes the situation in November at Ypres:
‘It was now freezing hard, and the men’s feet were beginning to suffer. At night on the 21st, Major Hely-Hutchinson arrived to take over command, with Captains Lee, Pipon and Magnay from the 1st Battalion. A draft of 300 special reservists arrived, and companies reorganised and given some training. But on the 27th, the battalion had to take over the trenches at Kemmel from the Norfolks. It was the last test to apply men so little accustomed to warfare; but the days were critical and such risks had to be taken. Major Hely-Hutchinson had to deal with some serious cases of nerves, but under his firm hand the unit settled down, and spent three days in the trenches’.
There is a letter in the collection to Alice Hely-Hutchinson from Captain Philip Magnay dated 1 December, which he wrote while on leave from the 4th Battalion in London for four days. He says her husband, ‘is well & of course delighted at commanding. I came in with him from the 1st Bn & I can safely say that he is better both in health & spirits than ever before in the war….I heard quietly from some of the NCO’s & men that they like the idea of Major Hely-Hutchinson commanding which means that they think him a worthy successor to Colonel McMahon. If you knew how they idolised Colonel McMahon you would know that this is praise indeed for your husband’.
Dick was promoted to Commanding Officer. He wrote to his mother again, in December:
‘We are just back from a short spell in the dirty old ditches & they were very dirty ones this time…Our company was practically wet the whole time. I know when I went round I was wet up to the knees, however they came through alright, & we had very small losses, which pleased me very much, as it was my first effort as a C.O. under fire. We got shelled a bit one day but fortunately no damage was done…..
The men get any amount of tobacco & cigarettes & woolleys now, people at home are very good about sending them out things & the authorities are also doing them very well in the way of clothes & equipment, even supplying them with goatskin fur coats, which are rather a white elephant, as it is quite impossible for a man to carry all the kit he has to, & when he gets it all on, he can’t fight in it…
The mud on the roads is beyond all words, most of these Belgian roads are paved in the middle & each side is mud about 2 feet deep in some places. Some of the heavy motors have great difficulty in keeping on the roads at all’.
In a letter to his father in December 1914, and did not hold back on any details:
‘My dear Father,
Many congratulations on your 78th Birthday, I had no idea you were that old, it is quite wonderful, & I hope I come home from this beastly country in time for your next birthday. We spend so many days wading in mud up to our waists & then so many days getting dry again. You would not believe the state of the trenches it worse than any mud you can imagine. We came out the night before last, & the men are not dry yet. It is beastly country as there doesn’t seem to be any stones, the roads go to nothing & the ditches have no bottoms whatsoever, whole boxes of ammunition disappear in to the mud & are lost. Our trenches are about 150 to 200 yds from the Germans & one place this was only 15 yds… They were so close we were throwing hand grenades at each other. The Germans snipe all day & all night & we have shots then whenever we can see them’.
The Western Front
Fighting resumed in Belgium in early 1915. In a letter to his sister on 29 January, he wrote:
‘My dearest Cissy, We came out of the trenches last night, we had rather more killed and wounded than usual, as we were in bad trenches, & bullets were very plentiful, especially at night. A shell came into one of the fire trenches the other day & wet into a dug out & blew one of the servants out right over the other trench towards the Germans, he crept back with only a broken leg, & he was lifted at least ten yards’.
In a letter to his father on 7 March, he writes again about the fighting:
‘We have had rather a trying time lately & were sent off rather suddenly to take up some trenches in a different part of the line. The trenches were very bad & the Germans were rather uppish & thought they could do what they liked with us. However, I think we have put them in their places now, & they are certainly damned careful how they show themselves.
The Blokes we relieved had got the wind up rather badly & thought they never could look out of their trenches. So, of course the Bosch gave them beans. The trenches were in an awful state, one trench we had to abandon & dig a new one, we filled in the old one with 26 dead bodies in it, some of them all swollen up & so churned into the mud & slush that we could not pull them out even with a rope. In another they had to take the bodies out in bits & bury them, as the arms etc came away if you pulled them. I should think we buried at least 120 bodies, all under heavy fire at night
Your affectionate son,
Dick
P.S. Send me a box of decent cigars’
On 30 March 1915, the brothers received word their mother had died. In June, Dick was stationed at Bellewarde Lake, near Ypres. The 4th Battalion had captured the nearby wood, and according to the Regimental Battalion History: ‘At 10am the brigadier of the 7th Brigade had taken command; and he ordered Major Hely-Hutchinson to go into the wood which had just been captured by the battalion and organise the men who remained. This was immediately done’. The battalion could not hold the wood however, and had to retreat: ‘All day the battalion was under heavy artillery fire, and during the afternoon gas shells were used freely. Of the 22 officers and 820 men who entered the battle some 15 officers and 376 men became casualties… Major Hely-Hutchinson was badly wounded’.
The telegram which arrived at Alice’s home in Foxrock on 19 June, states: ‘Have arrived at 16 Bruton St, West. Slight wound in the head from shell graze. Will probably come over tomorrow or next day.’ But a telegram from the War Office two days later informed Alice that: ‘Major R.G. Hely-Hutchinson was slightly wounded on June 16th, but is “remaining at duty” until further notice’
He was back at the ‘front’ by mid summer and on 26 July, he wrote to Coote:
‘My dear Cooty, I am fit and well but slightly fatigued, we came out of the line yesterday morning. After 16 days severe fighting; so of course we are what you call slightly depleted.
We went into the line on the 8th & did an attack on the 14th, a real good one, everything went A1, & it was a great success. I went down the night before to see where I would dig in before the attack & the place where we had to go to was alive with bursting shells, so I was a little nervous as to how many I would lose before I got dug in….The attack was most successful; our bombardment was terrific, & the 1st line trench of the Germans was completely blotted out…we also captured a village & a German General with his staff’.
Although there are no family records placing Coote in France we do know that the 7th (Extra) Reserve Battalion, with whom Coote served, were called up from their training and landed at Le Havre on 24 July, 1916. Three days later they joined the 190th Brigade, 63rd (Royal Navy) Division. On 8 August, Dick wrote to Cissy about Paris, where he had spent a few days on leave:
Richard George Hely-Hutchinson at Seafield, January 1915c.
‘I have just come back from 72 hours leave in Paris & I had a top notch time there, & lived at the rate of several thousands a minute; but got great value for it. We stopped at the Ritz who gave us beautiful rooms, with a bathroom attached for 10 francs… We ate of the best and a good deal more & we saw no kaki & my mind was free of all care & worry, & nobody wanted to know what I am to do about this and that, & all the French ladies all said, “vive les braves officers Anglais”, & the entente was very good’.
Dick was wounded again at the end of 1916 and seems to have been appointed to lighter duties for a while with a territorial battalion in Guilford, Surrey. He returned to France as Commandant, Reinforcement Camp, 3rd Army Corps, British Armies in France on 5 November 1917, until 22 March 1918, Dick was wounded again in March 1918. In a letter to Cissy on 29 March, from Acheson Hospital, London he wrote:
Richard in hospital with shell graze in 1915.
‘Just about this time some Boches suddenly appeared in the road & all the men wanted to leave, however I rounded them up & started them to return the fire, & at that moment I got the bullet in the foot, so I handed over to Davies & proceeded to hobble back…
My servant Kitson got his arm round me & I walked about 1 1/2 miles, I then felt rather like collapsing, however Kitson spotted a handcart & got a hand from another man to put me on to the road. There were a few shells falling around, however Kitson pushed like a man & took me nearly 2 miles more to a Dressing Station, where they sent me on a stretcher to the next (station) where I got an ambulance to a village…
Then I got into pyjamas & my things were all put in a sack & a list made of them & that is the last I saw of them. No train came till next morning & I was much relieved as I did not want to be caught in pyjamas by the Boche’.
On recovery Dick was appointed Administrative Commandant of the British Armies in France until 19 November 1918.
Lieutenant Colonel Coote Hely-Hutchinson
Richard George Hely-Hutchinson
The two brothers ended the war with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Dick retired from the Army on half-pay on 28 April 1920. He remained in England with Alice and Pamela. He seems to have kept in touch with some of his fellow former Royal Fusiliers and there is an interesting collection of Royal Fusiliers Christmas cards in the collection.
After the war, Coote returned to Swords to take over the family estate, the brothers’ father having died in 1919. In that year he was awarded an O.B.E for his services during the war. A year later he was appointed High Sherriff of Co. Dublin and was elected as a Councillor to Dublin County Council for the Balrothery Rural District. He served on a variety of Committees within Dublin County Council, including the first Libraries Committee, which included Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington, but his main focus seems to have been mental health services, particularly at nearby St. Ita’s Psychiatric Hospital, Portrane, and agricultural issues, where his opinion was often sought, as it was by the Royal Dublin Society. He continued shooting, and hunting with the Ward Union Hunt and the Fingal Harriers. On his death in 1930, the then President of Ireland Liam T Cosgrave sent his personal condolences to his wife Julia saying: ‘His country will miss the splendid public services and activities which he contributed to her welfare for so many years’.
Coote and his wife Julia had five children, one of whom, Michael, followed the family tradition and entered the British Army and served in the Second World War with the Royal Norfolk Regiment, and was a Prisoner of War in Malaysia. He returned to Broadmeadow Estuary for a while after the war and his daughter Caroline was one of the donors of the Hely-Hutchinson collection to Fingal Archives.
The full story of the Hely-Hutchinson brothers is told through an exhibition mounted at Fingal County Archives and Local Studies Library, Clonmel House, Swords where many more photographs and original documents from the HelyHutchison Collection will be on display. To visit the exhibition please contact:
LAST OUT – The Royal Munster Fusiliers on the Italian Front
By Pat Dargan
British regiment marching along a road near the Piave, on their way to take up their position in the allied line on the Italian front. (The Great War Vol. XI, 1918)
During the closing stages of the Great War, the 1st Garrison Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers served on the Italian theatre of war, the only Irish regiment in the British Army to do so. One member of thebattalion was Private Patrick Dargan, my grandfather from Rutland Street, Limerick. He served as a clerk in the Pay Sergeant’s office and in his own words, never fired a shot in action, beyond his basic training.
Pat Dargan prior to enlisting
At the beginning of the Great War in 1914 the Royal Munster Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army comprising of the 1st and 2nd Battalions. The regiment had its origins in India and this was reflected in the regimental cap badge, which consisted of a Bengal tiger mounted on a circular grenade burst. Over the period of the war, seven further battalions were raised and pressed into service in France, the Dardanelles and the Middle East. In around April 1917 the 1st Garrison Battalion was raised – one of a number of battalions formed specifically for home defence purposes. The rank and file members of the new battalion were made up of ‘C-Category’ men. That is men who were not appropriate for front line action, but more suitable for clerical or home guard duties. The battalion structure consisted of a headquarters unit and three infantry companies with the initial contingent drawn from other units of the Munsters, as well as from the Durham Light Infantry, the Leinster Regiment and the Connaught Rangers. The new battalion was initially based in Victoria Barracks in Cork, where its duties included guarding vulnerable points on the south Irish coast between the Shannon Estuary and Arklow, Co. Wicklow.
I am not sure exactly when my grandfather joined the 1st Garrison Battalion. He rarely spoke about the war except to say he saw little live action, as he acted as a battalion pay clerk. Prior to his joining up he had worked as a clerk in his father’s business in Limerick. When the army realised that, not only could he read and write, but he had experience of bookkeeping, he was posted to the Pay Sergeant’s office, where he served throughout the war. His one claim about his own war experience was that, other than during his basic training, he never fired a shot.
Highest trench in the war – ortler vorgipfelstellung 3850m (1917),
This initial tour of duty seems to have been uneventful except for two incidents in Arklow, where the battalion’s responsibility included guarding the vast Kynoch munitions factory and the town harbour facilities. In the early morning of 21 September 1917, the munitions plant suffered a massive and mysterious explosion which killed 27 workers. The soldier on guard duty was Private Richard Craig who gave evidence at the inquest on the following day. He stated that he could offer no explanation for the cause of the explosion other than to rule out an enemy attack from the sea. Curiously, the cause of the explosion was never satisfactorily explained. The same period also witnessed the death of Private Charles Reilly who was accidentally shot by a comrade while doing sentry duty at Porter’s Rock.
Figure 1: The Italian Front, November 1917, indicating the extent of the Austrian Caporetto Offensive
In November 1917 the 1st Garrison Battalion was posted to the military training camp at Prees Heath in Shropshire; where it underwent infantry and trench warfare training in preparation for front line action. Following this training period, the Battalion was ordered to Italy to join the Italian Expeditionary Force. A small number of troops remained behind in Prees Heath, where they formed the 2nd Garrison Battalion. This 2nd Garrison Battalion was subsequently moved to Portsmouth where it was involved in assembling drafts for service with the various Irish regiments for the remainder of the war, until it was disbanded in 1919.
By the end of 1917 the 1st Garrison Battalion had left Prees Heath for Southampton, from where they sailed for Le Harve. Here the battalion was transported across southern France by train. They passed through the Rivera and into northern Italy and by January 1918 joined the GHQ base in Arquata Scrivia. Along with two infantry battalions they were assigned to the lines of communication. The main duties of these troops were to act as a link between the GHQ and the main service troops and to provide a range of non-fighting services such as medical, engineering, and transport. They also provided guard and protection duties in areas such as the Base Headquarters, airfields and ammunition dumps, in addition to guarding prisoners of war.
The Italian Front opened in 1915 when Italy joined the British, French and Russian Allies against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria and Turkey. Between 1915 and 1917 the Italian and Austrian troops engaged one another in a series of eleven battles along the River Isonzo, which formed the frontier between the two countries, without either side achieving any significant advantage. In October 1917, as part of the Caporetto Offensive the Austrian and German armies finally broke through the Italian defences and advanced westwards into northern Italy, where they were halted at a line that stretched along the River Piave and swung westwards as far as the northern tip of Lake Garda (Fig1). At this juncture the Italians appealed to Britain and France for help to stem the advancing enemy. The Allies responded favourably and eleven divisions from both the British and French armies began the move to Italy from the Western Front. At the end of October two of the British divisions returned to France, at which point the Italian Expeditionary Force was made up of the 7th, 23rd and 48th Divisions, as well as the General Headquarters (GHQ).
Figure 2: The Italian Front, October 1918, indicating the extent of the Italian Vittorio Veneto Offensive, as well as the Arquata Scrivia, Cremona, Legnano, and Montecchio War Cemeteries.
In June 1918 the Austrians launched the Piave Offensive with the aim of advancing beyond the line of the Piave River. The offensive failed and Austrians retreated behind the river. In October the Italian army, including the British divisions, launched a successful two pronged counter attack against the enemy. By the beginning of November the Italian troops, with the French and British contingents had pressed northwards and into Austria. At the same time the allied army moved eastwards and crossed the River Piave, where the Austrian army fell back and totally collapsed within a few days (Fig.2). An armistice was signed on 3 November 1918, and hostilities were brought to a close.
Normally it is possible to trace the activities of British military units during the First World War from the Regimental War Diaries. These are the day-to-day records of the military events experienced by most battalions in the British army during the war. The diaries were completed in the field and were sent to the War Office in London on a regular basis. Today these diaries are housed in the National Archives in Kew, where they are accessible to the general public. Unfortunately, the diaries of the 1st Garrison Battalion have been lost, so very little detail of the Battalion’s activities on the Italian Front is available. Despite this it is possible to piece together some of the Battalion’s experiences from the limited range of publications that deal with the British Army’s involvement on Italian Front, such as the works of Barnett, Edmonds, McCance, and Barnsley, as well as from the details provided by the Commonwealth War Grave Commission internet.
As the British troops and GHQ moved eastwards across northern Italy, it must be assumed that some, at least, of the 1st Garrison Battalion moved with them, but it does seem that, at times, the battalion was split into different sections. For example Sir James Edmonds in the ‘Official History of the Great War’, notes that three companies of the 1st Garrison Battalion served with the ‘Lines of Communication’ at the beginning of 1918, but by June of the same year this number had been reduced to two. In another example, the War Graves Commission notes that Lance Corporal Paton served with the 63rd Anti-Aircraft Section. The War Graves Commission internet site provides information relating to the members of the Royal Munster Fusiliers who were killed in action in Italy and who lie buried in the war graves that lie between the Arquata Scrivia base and the River Piave (Fig.2). Eight members of the battalion were buried in Arquata Scrivia, two were buried at Cremone, two at Montecchio and a single member was buried at Legnano (Fig.3). This suggests that the 1st Garrison Battalion members served in that area of the war front between Arquata Scrivia and the River Piave.
Following the Italian armistice the 1st Garrison Battalion seems to have returned to the Arquata Base, where it continued to undertake guard and administration duties. On 11 November 1918, the General Armistice came into effect and the Italian Expeditionary Force began the slow process of returning home. Finally in 1920, it was the turn of the 1st Garrison Battalion and in April of that year it returned to England – the final British Army unit to leave Italy. It is interesting to note that just prior to this Private Daniel Corless died on 7 January 1920, and was buried in the Arquata Scriva cemetery. In April the 1st Garrison Battalion retuned to Plymouth and there it was disbanded on 4 May 1920.
On his return back to Ireland Patrick Dargan remained in the army, but as a civilian. He was based in the Artillery Barracks in Limerick where his duties consisted of checking the quartermaster’s accounts from barracks across the Munster area. Curiously during this period his sons were active members of the Volunteers. The older boy, John, was a member of the Limerick City Active Service Unit while the younger son, Thomas, was interned in Spike Island.
Help for Italy’s women and children: British reinforcements passing through an Italian country town. (The Great War Vol. XI, 1918)
After Thomas was arrested, Grandfather was accused of being a spy and he was dismissed from his post by the army. He immediately telegrammed the War Office in London explaining he had been dismissed by the army. The War Office telegrammed him back and instructed him to get back to work immediately as the army had no authority to dismiss him as he was an employee of the War Office – not the army. Later when the British Army withdrew from Ireland after the Anglo/Irish Treaty, the War Office offered him a similar position in Liverpool, but he declined and spent the remainder of his life in Limerick.
The only other reference I have of my grandfather and his war experience was that when he had a few drinks with his old army comrades in Limerick, they liked to sing the Munster Fusiliers, to the air of the British Grenadiers.
With the establishment of the Irish Free State the British Army disbanded six of their Irish regiments. In June 1922 the Royal Munster Fusiliers, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Connaught Rangers, the Royal Irish Regiment, the Leinster Regiment, and the South Irish Horse, were stood down. Their colours were presented to King George V at Windsor Castle and the Royal Munster Fusiliers as a British regiment ceased to exist.
County Donegal 1914 – 1918 Part 1 – The Homefront and Rebellion
By Donegal County Museum
County Donegal in the second decade of the 20th century was a very different place to what it is today. The 1911 Census put the population of county at 168,537 people, with 50% living in houses of just two rooms. Through the work of local authorities and the Congested Districts Board however, the standard of living was rising. Among the improvements were the beginning of social housing, the gradual development of clean water supplies and sewerage systems, the building of roads and railways, the development of cottage industries, and efforts to spread the control of disease and improve access to education.
The introduction of the Old Age Pension in 1908 and National Unemployment Insurance were also of benefit to many of the poorer people in society. By 1916, World War I had raged for almost 18 months and many normal state services had slowed or had stopped because financial and human resources were being directed towards the war effort. Politically only Home Rule candidates had been elected as Members of Parliament in Co Donegal since 1885. In the 1911 local elections, 26 of the 32 seats were won by Home Rule candidates. Unionists across Ireland, particularly in much of Ulster resisted the Third Home Rule Bill. This opposition led to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers which in turn resulted in the formation of the nationalist Irish Volunteers in 1913. Two fishermen, Patrick McGinley and Charles Duggan from Gola Island, Co. Donegal, were involved in smuggling arms and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers into Howth, on the Asgard, in July 1914.
Curing fish at Downings, c.1900s. (Courtesy National Library of Ireland)
The Home Rule Bill passed its third reading in May 1914, but the outbreak of war in August resulted in its postponement. With nationalist opinion divided over the war, the Volunteer movement split. The majority opted to follow John Redmond’s National Volunteers and support the war in Europe, while the remainder retained the name Irish Volunteers and were committed to securing independence for Ireland.
Donegal was far from unknown to the Irish Volunteer leaders of 1916. Patrick Pearse visited Co. Donegal a number of times between 1906 and 1914, to promote the spread of the Irish language, on behalf of the Gaelic League. The Gaelic League employed him to promote and encourage the spread of Irish as a medium of instruction by teachers. It was for this purpose he came to visit Coláiste Uladh in Gortahork. He first visited in SeptemberHe was met at Creeslough railway station and went on to Marble Hill, home of Hugh Law MP. He later gave a lecture at Coláiste Uladh. On his second visit on 3 July 1907, he attended the re-opening of the college and toured the Donegal Gaeltacht.
In 1914, a number of meetings were held to increase recruitment to the Irish Volunteers. On Sunday, 1 February 1914, a meeting was held in the Parochial Hall, Dungloe. The principal speakers were Patrick Pearse and James Boyle, a former MP and solicitor from Stranorlar. In Pearse’s speech he stated that: ‘A splendid opportunity was given to Irishmen now to realise themselves as men, and they could not call themselves men if they were not able, if need be, to fight in defence of their manhood, in defence of their homes, their women and children, in defence of their rights’.
Patrick and Willie Pearse at St. Enda’s School, 1914. (Courtesy of The Pearse Museum)
Pearse’s only legal case involved a Donegal man. Pearse was a Barrister-at- Law at the King’s Inns. He represented Niall MacGiolla Bhride from Creeslough, County Donegal in McBride v McGovern in 1906. The case was an appeal to the King’s Bench Division from a Magistrates’ Court in the Donegal Gaeltacht. A prosecution was brought against MacGiolla Bhride on the grounds that his horse and trap displayed his name and address in the Irish language and in the Gaelic font which did not comply with Section 12 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Act, 1851. Pearse contended that as the Act applied to a bi-lingual State such as Ireland and as the alleged offence happened in a Gaeltacht area Irish should suffice. MacGiolla Bhride however was convicted and fined because it was held that:
‘An Englishman . . . if knocked down by an Irish cart in any part of the country, whether Connemara or elsewhere, is entitled to have the name and address of the offender in characters that he can read, if Irish letters are used he may be powerless to identify’.
On their father’s death Patrick and Willie Pearse took over the family business of ecclesiastical and architectural sculptors. The firm made the pulpit and altar rails of the Cathedral of Saints Eunan and Columba in Letterkenny. The pulpit has within it carvings of the four Evangelists, Isaiah the prophet, and the Four Masters. Within the altar rails are carved symbols of the Passion of Christ. Two years before the Rising, in April 1914, Thomas MacDonagh visited Inishowen, on the invitation of the Donegal Irish Volunteers. He spoke at a large rally in Cruckaughrim, Carndonagh, where he appealed to young men to join the Volunteers. He praised the Volunteers as a national movement, made up of men ‘of all creeds and classes’. He declared that, ‘it was expedient for the Irish people to have a trained body of men to support and hold the Irish claim’.
Joseph Mary Plunkett attended Coláiste Uladh to learn Irish. There he met a girl called Columba O’Carroll, the daughter of a family friend. He wrote love poems for her, which he printed on what he called The Columba Press. Roger Casement also spent time in Donegal. He was committed to the revival of the Irish language and between 1904 and 1912 he spent much of his time in Ireland including visits to Donegal. In Fanad, he visited and corresponded with John Clinton O’Boyce, a school teacher in Portsalon. In a signed letter to O’Boyce, dated April 8th, 1905, from a London address, he wrote: ‘God bless you all in green Tirconaill – I hope and pray you will all fight and strive for the old tongue and never rest till you hear it coming back to hill and field and glen – fireside and Church too. It is the children we want to get it strong’. Casement also attended Coláiste Uladh in Gortahork. He gave £100 for the building of the college hall.
Roger Casement on Tory Island, c.1906. (Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland)
A prominent member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Donegal was Daniel Kelly, from Killygordon. For some years Kelly had worked on the railways in Scotland and while there, he and others had tried to organise a branch of Sinn Féin. After he returned to Donegal in 1912, he organised Irish Volunteer Companies in both Cloughaneely and Creeslough and spent some time trying to purchase arms and ammunition. By early 1915 the majority of those he had recruited had decided to stay with Redmond’s National Volunteers. The membership and morale of the Irish Volunteers was low. News of Eoin MacNeill’s order not to mobilise on Easter Sunday reached Donegal successfully. Nevertheless, a small group of about 30 Volunteers including Daniel Kelly met at Creeslough on Easter Sunday to await instructions. When there was still no word on Easter Monday, Kelly and his brother Joe decided to travel to Portadown to take a train to Dublin. However there were no trains running, and they returned home.
During the Rising itself men from Donegal were active on both sides throughout the country. One of the first people to die on Easter Monday was a County Donegal man, Charles McGee from Inishbofin Island, who was a Constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). He was based in Castlebellingham, County Louth. On Easter Monday a group of Louth Volunteers mobilised in Dundalk and set off towards Dublin. At Castlebellingham, they captured a number of policemen including Constable Magee, along with an army officer. In an incident, a Volunteer shot and wounded the officer and killed Constable McGee. He is buried in Gortahork graveyard in County Donegal.
Constable Charles McGee, Royal Irish Constabulary. (Donegal County Museum Collection)
Among those in the GPO in Dublin during Easter week was Joseph Sweeney, from Burtonport County Donegal. Sweeney was then an 18 year-old student in University College Dublin. He had been a pupil of Pearse’s at St. Enda’s School in Rathfarnham, and still lived there in 1916 acting as a courier and explosives maker. His account of his actions during Easter Week, later written in his application for a military pension, states that he was part of E Company, 4th Battalion Dublin Brigade, Irish Volunteers, and that his Officers Commanding were Pearse and Liam Clarke. His short account of events that week includes his statement that he ‘served during the entire week in the GPO and Moore Street, being engaged for the most part sniping . . .’ He was one of James Connolly’s stretcher bearers from the GPO following the surrender of the rebels. In 1929, Joseph Sweeney became Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces.
Two other students, with connections to Donegal were in the GPO during Easter Week. These were Conor and Eunan McGinley, sons of Cú Uladh (Peter Toner McGinley) and cousins of Dr. J.P. McGinley, of Letterkenny. In 1916, Conor McGinley was 19 years old and a former pupil of St. Enda’s. He was studying architecture. When Pearse surrendered, Sweeney and the McGinleys were among those arrested and jailed. Conor was held in Dartmoor and Lewes prisons before being released in April 1917. Eunan was the youngest of the St. Enda’s boys, aged 16. In Richmond Barracks, after the surrender, he refused to tell the military authorities his real age, which would have meant his immediate release, because he thought his St. Enda’s comrades might possibly be shot, and he intended to share their fate. He was held in Stafford prison before being released in July 1916.
Joseph Sweeney in later life. (Courtesy of The Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives)
Conor and Eunan McGinley with their mother Elizabeth. (Donegal County Museum Collection
By the end of Easter Week 485 men, women and children had been killed as a direct result of the fighting. Of these casualties, 184 civilians, 107 British soldiers, 58 rebels and 13 members of the police forces were killed between 24-29 April. Among the dead was Private Con Duggan from Annagry County Donegal. Con was a soldier in 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, and was killed in Dublin on 29 April.
Men from Donegal who were active during the Rising outside Dublin included Donnacha MacNiallghuis originally from Malinbeg, Gleann Cholm Cille. In 1916, MacNiallghuis lived and worked in Cork and was an active member of the Irish Volunteers. He was among a large number of the Cork City Battalion Volunteers who assembled in Macroom on Easter Sunday in anticipation of Roger Casement’s arms landing in Co. Kerry. However, the Cork Volunteers’ attempt to mobilise ended abruptly following the failure of Casement’s plan, and they were forced to return home. County Donegal was very far away from the action in Dublin during Easter Week. So much so that Wednesday’s edition (26 April) of the Derry Journal could only report that there were ‘rumours of disorder’ in Dublin. By Friday, news was still not getting through and the paper complained that the lack of telegrams was leading to ‘alarmist and exaggerated reports’ of the disturbances in Dublin.
When news of the Dublin events did eventually reach Donegal the public reaction was negative. In May, Inishowen Rural District Council passed a resolution condemning the Rebellion and loss of life. Following the Rising the British Government was determined to adopt a tough policy against the insurgents. Over the following weeks sixteen leaders of the Rising were executed, including all seven signatories of the Proclamation. In August, Roger Casement was hanged in London. A further 97 people had their death sentences reduced to imprisonment, including Éamon de Valera and Countess Markievicz. In total over 3,500 people were arrested; almost 1,900 of these were sent to internment camps and prisons in England and Wales.
A number of Donegal Volunteers were arrested as Easter Week ended. Daniel Kelly’s witness statement describes the events at his home on the Saturday after Easter Monday, when the RIC arrived to arrest him. As the police searched the house, Kelly’s wife hid a rifle in her nightdress and Kelly watched as the police searched a chest which contained not just baby clothes but 500 rounds of revolver ammunition. He also describes his lengthy journey with other prisoners, via Derry, to Wakefield and Frongoch prisons. Kelly was released from Frongoch prison camp in Wales before Christmas 1916. Joseph Sweeney and Eunan McGinley were sent to Stafford Gaol and then to Frongoch prison camp. Sweeney was released in July 1916 and returned to Donegal to reorganise the Volunteers in the county. Conor McGinley was sent to Lewes and Dartmoor prisons (along with Éamon de Valera) and was released in April 1917. The mass arrests, executions and martial law which followed the Rising, soon turned public opinion across Ireland.
In Donegal Town on 10 June, the Donegal Rural District Council protested against the continuance of martial law, ‘more particularly in this county where not a rebellious symptom was demonstrated’. Popular support for the rebels and their cause began to gather momentum. During their time in prison Donegal men had the opportunity to meet others, discuss their political ideals, educate themselves in the art of war and begin to plan the reorganisation of the IRB and the Volunteers. As men were gradually released from prison in late 1916, they were openly welcomed home. Joseph Sweeney later wrote in 1970 that:
‘I was greatly surprised and encouraged at the warmth of the reception given me on my return home following imprisonment in England and Wales’.
In September 1916 the RIC County Inspector wrote of his concerns about the growing number of young Donegal men who, unable to travel to Scotland and England to find work, were joining nationalist organisations: ‘These men and their families have become sullen and discontented… there is little doubt but that they will come together, discuss their grievances, form some societies, secret or otherwise. Extremists will hear of their discontent and will probably endeavour to utilise it for their own ends’. Sweeney, Kelly and others began reorganisation of the Volunteers in earnest in 1917. Greater numbers of young men than ever before now joined the Irish Volunteers and the struggle for Irish independence began in earnest.
Harvest time in Malin Head, c.1900s. (Courtesy National Library of Ireland)
Finner training Camp, Co. Donegal, during World War I. (Donegal County Museum collection)
When war was declared on 4 August 1914, there were already over 25,000 Irishmen serving in the regular British Army with another 30,000 Irishmen in the reserve. As most of the great European powers were drawn into the war, it spread to European colonies all over the world. Men from Donegal found themselves fighting not only in Europe, but also in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as in Africa and on ships in the North Sea and in the Mediterranean.
1916 was the worst year of the war, with more soldiers killed in that year than in any other year. By the end of 1916, stalemate on land had truly set in with both sides firmly entrenched on the Western Front. Gone was the belief that the war would be ‘over by Christmas’, and a new understanding of the price to be paid started to emerge.
Postcard from World War I. (Donegal County Museum collection)
Recruitment meetings were held all over Co. Donegal. In 1916, the Department of Recruiting in Ireland wrote to Bishop O’Donnell, in Donegal, requesting, ‘. . . that recruiting meetings might with advantage be held outside the Churches . . . after Mass on Sundays and Holidays’.
Men from all communities and from all corners of Donegal enlisted. For many the reasons for enlisting were a combination of unemployment, idealism and adventure. The pay was good compared to other employment and an allowance was paid to the spouse of the soldier while he was away on duty.
Irish chaplains of all denominations, volunteered for service during the War. In January 1916, a Circular was sent to the Bishops of Ireland, requesting their assistance in soliciting Catholic priests to volunteer. Fr. Seán McGlynn, Fr. William MacNeely, Fr. Thomas Molloy, Fr. Hugh Smith, Fr. William Devine, Rev. Dr. Barry Duggan and Fr. John McGlynn were among those who volunteered from the Donegal Diocese.
Recruiting in Co. Donegal. (Donegal County Museum collection)
Fr. Patrick Carr (also known as Canon Kerr) from Fanad, Co. Donegal, who volunteered in 1916, wrote from France, ‘Only those who have been subject to the withering breath of war . . . can catch a glimpse of the true extent of ruin and misery brought about by the ‘Great War’’.
Reverend J. Jackson Wright, a Presbyterian Minister from Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, served with the 36th (Ulster) Division and was awarded the Military Cross after the Battle of the Somme.
Women also played an important role in the war effort, at home and on the frontlines. They participated in recruiting and staffed volunteer hospitals, and they worked on the front as nurses. Sr. Catherine Black from Ramelton, Co Donegal, was sent to France in 1916, where she nursed shell-shocked soldiers. She wrote, ‘…at night, the cheerful ward became a place of torment, with the occupants of every bed tossing and turning and moaning in the hell of memories let loose’.
Sr. Catherine Black. (Image from ‘Kings Nurse, Beggars Nurse’, 1939, by Catherine Black)
In rural areas, women worked to gather sphagnum moss for surgical dressings which were in huge demand. In Dungloe, women could earn up to £2 per week knitting supplies for the war. Members of the Letterkenny based St. Eunan’s Cathedral Guilds working circles made garments for Irish Prisoners of War. The first instalment of Guild work was sent off in January 1916.
Although World War I was fought mainly on land, command of the sea enabled the Allies to transport the vital resources required on the Western Front and elsewhere. On 31 May 1916, the Battle of Jutland took place between the British Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy’s High Seas Fleet. It was the largest naval battle of the war and the only full-scale clash of battleships.
Lanty Gallagher from Carrickfinn, Co. Donegal, was a Gunner on HMS Lion during the Battle of Jutland. It is reputed that he fired the first shots which began the battle. Ninety-nine men were killed and 51 wounded on HMS Lion including Lanty, who was struck by a piece of shrapnel. He returned home after the war.
Gunner Lanty Gallagher, HMS Lion, Battle of Jutland. (Donegal County Museum collection)
Donegal men who were killed at the Battle of Jutland included: Alexander Hamilton, Laghey, Royal Marine Light Infantry, HMS Defence; George Robinson, St. Johnson, Engine Room Artificer, HMS Indefatigable; and John Todd, Rathmullan, Stoker 1st Class, HMS Defence.
Early in the War on the Western Front both sides dug lines of trenches that stretched from the Belgian coast to the border of Switzerland. A Battalion typically served time in the front line trenches, followed by a period spent in support, and then in reserve lines. A short period of rest would follow before the cycle would start again.
Lieutenant Hugh Francis Law, Irish Guards. (Law Family Private Collection)
Hugh Francis Law, 1st Battalion Irish Guards, from Marble Hill, Co. Donegal, described life in the trenches, ‘…as an endless labour of repairing collapsing ditches, filling sandbags, venturing out under darkness towards enemy lines through barbed wire. The dead were everywhere in no man’s land, and casualties had to be constantly tended to’.
In May 1916, Hugh Law heard news of the Easter Rising in Dublin but reported that, ‘no talk of it or its implications were apparent from his men’.
Soldiers waded through water-filled trenches alive with frogs and covered with red slugs and horned beetles. Rats fed on the multitude of corpses, contaminating food and spreading disease. Lice thrived in the seams of dirty uniforms and carried an infectious disease known as Trench Fever.
The smell in the trenches was a foul combination of rotting corpses, latrines, sweat, creosol and chloride of lime that was used to lessen the risk of infection and to drive away flies. The moist cold subterranean environment gave rise to a new set of ailments including Trench Foot caused by having to stand in wet slime for days and nights.
The 16th (Irish) Division was subject to a terrible gas attack at Hulluch in Northern France, between 27-29 April (Easter Week), 1916, which resulted in 1,980 casualties. Among those who died were men from Donegal including Michael Doherty, Letterkenny, 26005, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; Francis Hegarty, Frosses, 17009, Royal Dublin Fusiliers; and John Doherty, Fanad, 14507, Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
For many homes in Donegal, 1916 was remembered as the Year of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme began on 1 July 1916, when at 7:30 a.m., the whistles blew for the soldiers to go over the top. By midnight on that first day over 60,000 British soldiers had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Over 80 men from Donegal died on the first day of the Somme.
In the subsequent months, the Battle waged on and more men from Donegal were wounded and killed. Many are remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in France along with 74,000 other soldiers whose bodies were never found.
Private Hugh Mulhern, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. (Mulhern Private Family Collection)
Private Hugh Mulhern, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, from Baltoney, Gortahork, Co. Donegal, was wounded by a grenade during the Somme. He was rescued from No Man’s Land by his neighbour from Gortahork, who saved his life by carrying him to a Casualty Clearing Station. His right hand was amputated from above the wrist and he lost the first finger from his left hand.
Injury Notice relating to Acting Company Sergeant Major Hugh Foy, July 1st, 1916. (Foy Family Collection)
The Battle of the Somme eventually petered out in November 1916. It was a tragedy on a breathtaking scale. British forces lost 420,000 soldiers. The French lost 200,000 and the Germans nearly 500,000.
Private Joseph Andrew Armstrong was born in Ballybofey, Co. Donegal. He enlisted in 1915 with the 54th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. He was listed as ‘Killed in Action’ on 20 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. Later, on 7 December 1916, he was officially reported as a Prisoner of War (POW). In a statement Private Armstrong said:
‘We took part in an action against enemy position at 6 p.m. on 19th July 1916. Our instructions were to take the 2nd line of trenches. We captured the 2nd line. The enemy counter-attacked early next morning and recaptured position and made prisoners of us all. We were all severely wounded and had to be carried off the battlefield on a stretcher. I (Private Armstrong) was lying severely wounded between first and second line of German trenches, when Sgt. Wilson, 53th Batt, came out under heavy fire and assisted me into the first trench. After capture we were taken to a dressing station at Lille and then transferred to Valenciuis where we were all operated upon by a German Doctor. I (Private Armstrong) had 12 pieces of shrapnel taken from different parts of my body’.
(Witness Statement Official Circumstances of Capture, Australian Imperial Forces, December 1918). After the Armistice, Private Armstrong was repatriated to Australia.
For Donegal, and Europe, the war was far from over. For two more years the war dragged on costing millions of more lives. Soon after the end of the war Co. Donegal, along with the rest of Ireland, was pulled into a struggle for independence.
This article is part of a History and Education Pack, ‘County Donegal in 1916: From the Edge’ which was produced by Cultural Services Division, Donegal County Council as part of the Ireland 2016 centenary commemorations.
