We have hand written / typed testimony from most of the Mid- Clare Brigade and the various maneuvers they carried out. I must dig out these two lads and compare the interview to the written word —
I didn’t see how anyone would be safe here after ye won the All-Ireland
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Are these different accounts to the ones in the Bureau of Military History?
That’s what we’ve yet to decipher … some are up, some are not.
If you havent heard it —
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Lol
https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/a-lonely-grave-the-life-and-death-of-william-redmond/
Sorry I missed your post. This is a good book on his life and times. I have it here if you want it. Just send me a pm. I visited his grave in Loeker in Flanders. It’s on its own on an island in a field away from the main British graveyard because John Redmond didn’t want the pr disaster of him being buried with the British.
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The death of Martin Devitt was a major blow to the Mid-Clare brigade. He was IRB and the sort of young aggressive leader that led the columns that were most effective.
It’s interesting how much of a difference one leader would make to the course of the war in a county. You had Dan Breens & Maurice Meades in most places, but there were only a handful of men like Tom Barry or Michael Kilroy.
I think Barry was spot on when he said that too much deference to weak leadership was a general weakness of Republican movements, and that they had to be shifted to let younger, more driven men take their place. That does start to happen towards the end of the war with the death toll rapidly rising as a result.
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The account was they were informed on, but that wouldnt have been surprising given how long they stayed there. There was a reason why columns had to endure the conditions you mention, they had to keep moving to keep safe. Stopping in one spot for that length of time seems very odd.
There was 6 alleged informers executed in the aftermath of the ambush.
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The best account of it I read was JP O’Connell’s statement to the Bomh. It was a mixture of bad decisions and bad luck. They had been warned by other companies in the brigade that they should move. But what really screwed them, apart from their long stay, is that they had no sentries posted because they were preparing to move. If they at least had armed sentries they might have got out of the house and with a bit of luck gotten away. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
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Just flicking through Tom Barry by Meda Ryan again this evening.
Crossbarry was phenomenal. For 104 guerilla fighters to destroy over 1000 British troops was incredible.
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Ah, it was a remarkable escape but only about ten in total were killed. Nobody was destroyed unlike Kilmichel.
Think what the op meant was that they were up against over 1100 troops coming in to surround them, finished the job and made their way to the far away camp,after practically no food/ shelter the whole day, trekking cross country to the ambush site,making good their escape- but most importantly making loud noises in London.
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They escaped, which was remarkable given the circumstances. Barry was military genius.
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They were tactically destroyed more than in terms of casualties. It was arguably the most important encounter in the whole war.
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Had the honour of meeting him and Tom Kelleher
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Correct
Correct what?
As in a good piece on TG4( replying to the op- cmontofuck)
Correct.
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