A tour of Clare with a difference

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

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Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

A tour of Clare with a difference

Post by Sduddy » Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:17 am

It’s probably not appropriate to say that I enjoyed the recent History Week talks, which related to a period of history that was difficult for all and tragic for some (https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/library/doc_info.htm), but I think it might be okay to say I enjoyed the talk by Ger Browne: “RIC Barracks, Huts & Protection Posts of Co Clare 1916-1923”, because I was taken on an interesting journey that brought me all over Co. Clare. The locations of the various barracks and huts are given in alphabetical order, so I was whisked at the speed of light from Ballinruan to Ballydoora; from Labasheeda to Lahinch; Mountshannon to Mullagh; from Rathorpe to Rinneen. It was most interesting and I suspect that this kind of tour of RIC barracks has not even been attempted in any other county.

One of the things Ger Browne marvels at is the numbers of policemen occupying each of the barracks, and so do I. How on earth did the head-constables keep all those young men busy every day?

The taking of Ruan Barracks, 18 October 1920, was assisted by one of the policemen there. Constable Bill Carroll, from Roscommon, was (literally) key to the volunteers getting in. An inset piece* tells us that [after the event]
Carroll, who had spent 16 years in the RIC, was made a staff sergeant in the IRA on the spot. He spent the next two years on the run. “His life afterwards up to the departure of the Tans appears to have been one long effort to avoid capture.” In support of Carroll’s application for a military pension, Comdt. Thomas Kinane of the Mid-Clare Brigade stated that Carroll was still on the run from the Black and Tans after the truce of July 1921 and they continued looking for him until February 1922, when they left Ireland.
Despite turning against the force, Carroll still claimed an RIC pension of £74 a year which he told the Pensions Board was “entirely inadequate” for his needs, as he was unable to work following an ambush at Monreal in December 1920, when he was shot in the leg. Carroll’s RIC pension was increased to £85. 16. 0 a year and he agreed to surrender his military service pension as a result.
Truly amazing!
Ger Browne mentions that Newmarket Barracks was taken in a similar way: Sergeant Patrick Buckley, from Co. Kerry, arranged to leave the front door unlocked. It would be interesting to hear what happened afterwards to Patrick Buckley.
* The source is acknowledged but I couldn’t make it out.

Sheila

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: A tour of Clare with a difference

Post by Sduddy » Fri Oct 28, 2022 10:50 am

I see now that there is a bit of information on the subsequent career of Constable Patrick Buckley in the witness statement made by Patrick Reidy, Carrigerry, Newmarket-on-Fergus (https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collect ... WS1112.pdf): “The capture of Newmarket-on-Fergus R.I.C. Barracks was really something in the nature of a gift from one of the garrison – Constable Buckley, a native of North Kerry, who was afterwards killed in that county during the Civil War.”

I think this must be the record of Patrick's death: 7 Mar 1923, at Ballyseedy: Patrick Buckley, married, aged 32, Ex-Constable, R.I.C.; cause: Shock and Haemorrhage. Fractured Skull by mine explosion; informant: Maurice Costelloe, Brother-in-law who caused the body to be buried (?) Street, Tralee: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/ ... 383428.pdf

Sheila

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