Revolutionary Years

Des Byrne 1 Table of Contents THE REVOLUTIONARY YEARS .................................................................................. 4 1. FAMILY FOCUS ................................................................................................. 5 1.1 The Pearses and the Brennocks ................................................................................ 5 1.2 The Malones and the Fitzgeralds ............................................................................ 10 1.3 Broader links ........................................................................................................... 15 1.4 Social contacts ......................................................................................................... 16 2. THE IMPACT OF THE GREAT WAR IN THE PARISH ........................................... 17 2.1 The Old Contemptibles ........................................................................................... 19 2.2 The Pals .................................................................................................................... 20 2.3 Weapons of Mass Destruction ................................................................................ 22 2.4 The Senior Service ................................................................................................... 23 2.5 Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines .................................................. 26 2.6 An Officer and a Gentleman ................................................................................... 27 2.7 Regimental ties ........................................................................................................ 29 2.8 They shall grow not old ........................................................................................... 30 3. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD ..................................................................... 32 3.1 The Old Guard ......................................................................................................... 32 3.2 The New Regime ..................................................................................................... 34 3.3 Last Post .................................................................................................................. 36 4. THE EASTER RISING ........................................................................................ 38 4.1 John O’Reilly - City Hall and Dublin Castle .............................................................. 40 4.2 Daniel Murray - College of Surgeons ...................................................................... 42 4.3 Peadar Macken - Boland’s Mills ............................................................................. 43 4.4 Michael Malone - 25 Northumberland Road ........................................................ 46 4.5 Willie Pearse - The GPO .......................................................................................... 51 4.6 Patrick Pearse - The GPO ......................................................................................... 54 4.7 The Walsh brothers - Clanwilliam House ................................................................ 58 4.8 Henry Williams - O’Connell St./Various Locations ............................................... 62 4.9 Final Roll Call ........................................................................................................... 63 4.10 Row Boys at the GPO ........................................................................................... 66 4.11 Word-of-Mouth Finds .......................................................................................... 69 4.12 Later Roll discoveries. .......................................................................................... 74 2 5. A WORD ON THE GREAT WAR PARTICIPANTS ................................................ 75 5.1 The Brennock’s - a happy ending .......................................................................... 76 5.2 Civilian Victims ........................................................................................................ 76 6 THE FINAL TALLY ............................................................................................ 78 6.1 Making their mark ................................................................................................... 82 FOOTNOTES .......................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX ‘A’ - List of pupils with Military Attachments - War Years ................. 85 APPENDIX ‘B’ - P.H. Pearse Court Martial Testimony ........................................... 90 APPENDIX ‘C’ - THE GREAT WAR DEAD - Victims from the Extended Parish ........ 93 3 THE REVOLUTIONARY YEARS In the second decade of the twentieth century, Ireland, and the world at large, witnessed change on a monumental scale. Inevitably, the roots of change had been festering for many years before that.(1) The shooting of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, in Sarajevo, triggered a chain of events which led to the deaths of almost ten million people and produced the overthrow of three empires (those of Russia, Germany and Turkey) and the undermining of a fourth, Britain. The turning of the tide against the British Empire was given a further nudge by events specific to Ireland - The Easter Rising and the War of Independence. In this essay, we focus on the impact of those three traumatic events in a single square mile of south central Dublin - the natural catchment area of Westland Row School. For ease of reference, we will refer to the area as the parish. In reality, it combines the parishes of Westland Row and City Quay and extends eastward to incorporate Ringsend, Irishtown and Donnybrook. There are many approaches one might take to a review of this kind. A statistical analysis has some merit - and we will try to provide some of that. However, we are all programmed to be more responsive to stories, individual case histories where we feel we can sense the humanity of the participants. For this reason, we will begin with a focus on the impact of the key events on a small number of families in the parish. This has the added advantage of demonstrating the complex cross-currents in our history. Following on from that, we will examine the scale of the disaster of The Great War in the parish, attempting to place that within the context of the international experience. We will see how all of the key elements of the conflict had their parallels and repercussions in this part of Dublin. From there, we will discuss what we describe as “the changing of the guard”, the move from engagement with the global conflict to one of disengagement from the British Empire. We will use the school roll records as evidence in this regard. Finally we will deal with the Easter Rising and its aftermath - with a special focus on participants from the parish. The more famous participants were given due attention in our 100th Anniversary booklet. We will draw on information which has become available in more recent years to expand on this, and to pay due attention to others who were involved but survived. 4 1. FAMILY FOCUS 1.1 The Pearses and the Brennocks To any past pupil of Westland Row CBS, the names Patrick and Willie immediately bring to mind the Brothers Pearse whose stories have been told and retold to generations over the almost 100 years since their deaths. To mark the old school’s sesquicentennial, the PPU have managed to gain access to the early school roll books. Looking back, it is slightly surprising to see how limited the references to the Pearse brothers are. William’s entry is clear and unambiguous. It shows the family address in the then Brunswick Street, and confirms the occupation of his father as a sculptor. Ironically, the more famous Patrick almost slips through the net. He is referred to only in an abbreviated class listing on page 303 of the records for 1888-97 - almost certainly 1891. He appears there as Patk. Pierce(sic). 5 We do also, of course, have some photographic evidence of Patrick with his classmates. (See section 4.6) We know also of other past pupils who played a prominent role in the Rising - Michael Malone who led the IRA unit at the Battle of Mount Street Bridge and some others who were active in Óglaigh Na hÉireann in those years. Less well-known however are the past pupils who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. Given what we know about the numbers of Irishmen who died in that awful conflict, it would be surprising if “Row” boys escaped the carnage. The Brennocks were a large family who, at the time of the 1901 Census, were living in 2 Island Villas, just off Pearse Street - behind the old National School there. The father, Michael, was then a 42 year old miller from Tipperary, who had married a Dublin girl (Mary Bolger, also 42). Given his occupation and address, I think it is fair to guess that Michael worked at Boland’s Mills which itself played an important role in these tumultuous times. Despite their youth, the Brennocks had eight sons and two daughters. We have established definitively so far that at least five of the sons were “Row” boys. Patrick, their eldest boy, who was born a year after Willie Pearse, was 18 at the time of the Census and working as a machinist. He had left home by the time of the next Census in 1911. We suspect he joined the Royal Navy. The next record we have of him was his death on board HMS Europa. He is remembered at the Portsmouth Navy Memorial. 6 De Rouvigny’s Roll of Honour (Vol.

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