Cyril Aloysius Keogh 1890 – 1964 Birth and Baptism

Cyril was born on the 5th of July 1890 and baptised on the 8th of July 1890. His sponsors were Joseph Augustine Keogh and Mary Jane Grady.

Baptism of CYRIL ALOYSIUS KEOGH at RATHMINES on 8 July 1890 Name CYRIL ALOYSIUS KEOGH Date of Birth 5 July 1890 Address 25 CULLENSWOOD ROAD Father JAMES KEOGH Mother MARY WALSH Further details in the record Sponsor 1 JOSEPH AUGUSTINE KEOGH Sponsor 2 MARY JANE GRADY Priest THOMAS CARBERRY 1916 The information, on the following pages, is taken from Cyril’s military pension claim form, in which he has to give details of his duties during his service. From 24th - 30th Apr 1916 - D Company, 4th Battalion, Brigade. Was in Dublin City, Stephen’s Green, Lesson Street Bridge and the College of Surgeons. On active duty, under re, in defence of occupied positions until surrender. His commanding ofcer was Michael Mallin, of the .

Michael Mallin (1 December 1874 – 8 ) was an Irish rebel and socialist who took an active role in the 1916 Easter Rising. He was a silk weaver and co- founder with Francis Sheehy-Skeffington of the Irish Socialist Party, was second in command of the Irish Citizen Army under in the Easter Rising of 1916 and commanded the garrison at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, with as his second in command.

The College of Surgeons Cyril gave the following names as Referees to verify his statement - Madeline French Mullen, Peader O’Brien, Frank Robbins and Harry Nichols. Also Peter Paul McGrath (Blind Manf.) Angier Street, Dublin, who was also in the College of Surgeons. Madeleine ffrench-Mullen (30 December 1880 – 26 May 1944) was a member of the radical nationalist women's organisation Inghinidhe na hÉireann. In 1913 during the Dublin Lock-out, she worked in the soup kitchen in Liberty Hall. She subsequently joined the Irish Citizen Army (ICA).[1] In the Easter Rising she worked in a first aid tent. She was arrested following the Rising but released the following month.[1] She joined Sinn Féin and was elected to Rathmines District Council in 1920.[1] Harry Nicholls, Captain 4th Battalion Irish Volunteers - On 24th April, Nicholls moved with the Citizen Army into the College of Surgeons. With Mallin and Countess Markievicz he patrolled the Harcourt Street and Camden Street area as far as the Jacob’s garrison. On Wednesday morning Nicholls, in command of a combined force of about sixteen Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army, took control of the Turkish baths on Grafton Street. Apart from some exchanges of sniper fire with British soldiers on the roofs of Mercer’s hospital and the Shelbourne Hotel, the position saw little action. On Saturday the post was evacuated and the men Cyril’s medal for 1916, brought back to the College of Surgeons where Mallin revealed now in the surrender order. http://eprints.dkit.ie/79/1/Studia_Hibernica_35_2008-9.pdf Post 1916 From 30th Apr 1916 - 31st Mar 1917 - A copy of a Newspaper cutting given to my Mother by Arrested as member of the forces, Finola, a daughter of Charles Leo Keogh. s e n t t o F r o n g o c h a n d t h e n Knutsford. Released 24th Dec 1916. Still in D Company, in service on regular company duties in Dublin City. Commanding ofcer Patrick M o r r i s s e y . R e f e r e e s - L i a m Kavanaugh of 16 Wolsely Road, Dublin and Michael O’Rielly c/o Irish National Insurance Company. Donal O’Hannigan, who was sent by the Military Council to take command of the Volunteers in Meath and Louth in the rising, is at the extreme right of this picture, taken in Philadelphia in 1918. With him are (from left): Cyril Keogh, G.P.O. Garrison, 1916; Michael McAllister, whose marksmanship helped the Fingal “flying column” to win the Battle of Ashbourne; and Michael O’Callaghan, Tipperary town, who shot his way to freedom in 1916. The four were on a special mission to the U.S.A. From 1st Apr 1918 - Nov 1918 - D Company, C.O. Captain O’Leary in Liverpool. Regular service in Dublin City and special dispatch duties to Frongoch interment camp and from New York and Liverpool. From 1st Apr 1917 - 31st Mar 1918 - D Arrested in Liverpool and sentenced Company, CO Patrick Morrissey. to 6 months in Walton Jail. Released Regular service in Dublin City and in November 1918. special dispatch duties to New York. Escaped arrest under De. O. R1. A. Apr 1917. Worked as a seaman on SS Carpathia carrying dispatches to and from New York and Liverpool.

RMS Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903 and became famous for rescuing the survivors of rival White Star Line's RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank with a loss of 1,512 lives on 15 April 1912; Cyril’s arrest in the Carpathia braved dangerous ice fields and diverted all newspapers. In the steam power to her engines in her attempt to aid the Liverpool Echo, 14 June ship, but sadly arrived two hours after Titanic had 1918 (left) and in the sunk; nevertheless, she was able to rescue 705 Birmingham Mail, 15 survivors from the ship's lifeboats. Carpathia herself June 1918 (above) met her fate in the Atlantic on 17 July 1918 during the First World War after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-55 off the Irish coast. Five of her crew lost their lives in the sinking. America From 1st Apr 1919 - Nov 1919 - D Not much more is known about Company, C.O. Patrick Morrissey. Cyril’s movements in America, Regular service in Dublin City and except for a list of different addresses Kildare. Election duties for Daniel found on letters to the military Buckley, at Robertstown, Kildare. service pensions department. He is Nov 1919 left for New York. said to have been involved in the war Daniel Buckley was a member of of independence and seemingly has the Irish Volunteers and on the a medal for such, but I have found no outbreak of the 1916 Easter R i s i n g h e w a l k e d t h e 2 6 record of him returning to Ireland un kilometres to Dublin to fight for til 1951. Irish independence. Like many Rising survivors, he joined Sinn The rst address we have for him is Féin. He was elected as a Sinn Féin MP for Kildare North at the in 1934, at Rockaway Beach, 1918 general election. He served Queen’s County, New York, USA. in the First Dáil (1918–1921), and This was known to be an Irish was re-elected to the Second Dáil in 1921 as a Teachta Dála (TD) ‘enclave’ at the time. Daniel Buckley M.P. for Kildare–Wicklow. In early 1939 we see he has moved In November 1919 Cyril left Ireland into New York City. On the 12th of for the USA. In his pension claim March of that year he wrote from form he mentions that he “worked in No.716-18 West 180th Street, to a Mr the Bond ofce 411 5th Avenue, New B l u n d e n a t t h e P e n s i o n s York City, until it closed” This is an Department. (Mr Blunden mentions interesting point, as James O’Mara in a memo to a collegue that he went ‘The Sinn Fein Millionaire’ also left to school with Cyril’s brother ! I Ireland for the USA in November of wonder which one ?) 1919 (did they travel in the same party ?). Eamon De Valera had By October 1940 he has moved to stowed away on a ship, in June of Broadway, and by 1942 moved again that year too, after arriving in New to 1213 Ogden Avenue, Bronx, New York he took an ofce at No. 411 5th York City. He is still there in March Avenue. 1943, which means that this is where he was living when his brother J.Augustus was killed in the car accident in Arkansas. I have a p o s t c a r d o f a n d s i g n e d b y From 1919 to 1921 J.Augustus, addressed to Cyril at t h e I r i s h this address, but never sent. government’s first bond-certificate drive in the United S t a t e s w a s orchestrated from this office, the headquarters of t h e A m e r i c a n Commission for Irish Freedom.

No.411 5th Avenue, New York Marriage Cyril married Margaret Quinn Callender in Manhatten, New York on the 19th of November 1920. Margaret was a widow with at least one daughter. She was 10 years older than Cyril. Her father was Michael (I assume Quinn, with the thought that Callender would have been the name of her rst husband ?), her mother was Margaret Cerler. I don’t know how long the marriage lasted but she did not return to Ireland with Cyril. She apparently lived with her daughter who supported her until her death in 1957. At some point Cyril was working for The Consolidated Edison Co. in New York. He ceased work in May 1949. I Marriage of CYRIL ALOYSIUS KEOGH am not sure if it was due to an and MARGARET QUINN CALLENDER accident or an illness, but he Date 19 NOVEMBER 1920 ended up in hospital, I don’t Groom’s Father JAMES Groom’s Mother MARY WALSH know for how long. Bride’s Father MICHAEL Bride’s Mother MARGARET CERLER

The last time Cyril writes to the Pension Department from A m e r i c a i s o n t h e 1 8 t h September 1951. He gives his address as No.676 W 178th Street, New York City 33, USA. But by 24th Nov 1951, he is back home in Ireland writing from, 31 Melrose Avenue, Faieview, Dublin. Giving his previous address as 560 W 179th Street, New York City, USA.

Back home he nds temporary The Consolidated Edison Co. in Manhatten, employment in Dec 1952 for New York. At this point in his pension claim the GPO in Dublin. form Cyril states that he was an electrician. By the 18th of June 1954 Cyril was suffering from Cardiac Debility and Deafness. The Doctor’s report states severe deafness, loss of weight, pulmonary tuberculosis and cardiac debilitus. A cronic invalid and unable to work (18th Nov. 1954) Death

Cyril died of pulmonary heart disease on the 15th of April 1964. He was 73.