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]
Truly amazing!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.
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