Johnny Doyle: 2022

Tuesday, 10 May 2022

Post Rising Irish Volunteer casualties from Frongoch, Lewes etc prisons

Lyn Ebenezer's book "Frongoch and the birth of the IRA" gives details of the following casualties from Frongoch :

Maurice Fitzsimons : appendicitis at Frongoch but recovered after poor treatment. Survived and active in WoI.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99502184/maurice-fitzsimons

(Edward) Tierney (aka Edward Douglas Turnley) : Breakdown.

https://treasonfelony.wordpress.com/2018/08/31/but-eire-our-eire-shall-be-free-edward-tierney-belfast-and-1916/

Born London in 1890.

1901 census in Ashford, Staines.

Death as Edward Turnley December 1920 aged 30 :

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1920/05108/4403786.pdf

Married Sybil C Stewart in Lambeth, Q4 1911.

Christopher Brady from Dublin : contracted TB and died 2 months after release

Jack O'Reilly : suffered acute anaemia and died in 1917

Thomas Stokes of Enniscorthy : died of an illness caught at Frongoch

William Halpin of Dublin ; tried to slit his own throat; committed to Grangegorman where he later died

Daniel Devitt escaped 4th August 1916 and was found wandering the Welsh countryside. He had suffered a breakdown and walked out of camp unchallenged rather than trying to escape.

Mention is made of a Padraic O' Maille escaping with help from a girl but it appears he may have been moved to another location.

Dr Peters, the local doctor who visited the camp, took his own life on 14th December 1916.

Lorcan Collins book "1916 The Rising Handbook" lists :

Christopher Brady died from pneumonia 28th January 1917

Joseph Byrne, released July 1916; died 17th March 1917

Bernard Courtney. Imprisoned Frongoch; died 20th March 1917

John Cullen, imprisoned Portland and Lewes rather than Frongoch. Died 29th May 1918 aged 21

John Halpin. Suffered depression and died in Grangegorman Asylum in 1917

Bernard MacCormack. On hunger strike in Frongoch. Released Christmas 1916. Died 2nd April 1918 aged 21

Bernard Mackin. Shot at College of Surgeons. Died 22nd December 1919

William O'Brien from Galbally, Died Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital 28th November 1916. Released August 1916

Frank Sheridan. Died 20th November 1916 after ill treatment in prison.

Liam Staines. Wounded in the Rising. Imprisoned Frongoch. Died 2nd November 1918

Thomas Stokes. Released from Frongoch Christmas 1916. Died 29th September 1917 aged 24.

John Wallace, noted as died in Frongoch 14th March 1917. Need to follow up on this item as Frongoch would be closed for Irish prisoners in December 1916 and open again for German PoWs.

Bernard MacCartan Ward. Died in Wandsworth Prison, London 8th May 1917. Buried in Latlurcan Cemetery, Monaghan.

Eunan O'Halpin and Daithi O Corrain's book "The Dead of the Irish Revolution" list the following :

Jack O'Reilly from Tralee, Co Kerry. Arrested and held in Wandsworth and Frongoch. Released in July 1916. Died 30th September 1916 from "pernicious anaemia".

Christopher Brady. Imprisoned in Wandsworth and Frongoch. Released in November 1916 due to ill health. Died in Dublin 24th January 1917 from pneumonia.

Bernard Ward. A member of 4th Bn, Dublin. Imprisoned in Wandsworth. Died from prison related illness 8th May 1917. Buried in Latlurcan Cemetery, Co Monaghan.

William Partridge fought in College of Surgeons. Died two months after being released from Lewes prison on medical grounds.

Thomas Joseph Stokes, Enniscorthy. Died 29th Sept 1917. Imprisoned Stafford, Knutsford and Wandsworth before Frongoch. Released Christmas 1916.

William Staines (aka Liam, brother of Michael) died 2nd November 1918. Wounded in the Rising, his death was attributed by the authorities to influenza and septicaemia rather than imprisonment

Would be interested if anyone else has any more to add.

Monday, 9 May 2022

2nd (Garrison) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment

Formed in Dublin in March 1916, there doesn't appear to be too much information regarding 2nd (Garrison) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment. It appears to have been designated for Home Service.

The Long, Long Trail website indicates it remained in Dublin until April 1918 where it's name was changed and it went to France

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-irish-regiment/

Soldiers started joining the unit on the 11th March 1916 with a cadre of NCOs and soldiers, numbers being assigned with 2G/ as the prefix. Number 2G/1 went to CSM Arthur Marshall, a Londoner born on 29th April 1967, who joined from the Royal Irish Rifles. Most of the names listed below appear to have joined from the Royal Irih Rifles.

No	Rank	Forename	Surname
2G/1	CSM	Arthur Woodriffe	Marshall
2G/4	RSM	Joseph	Sullivan
2G/7	CQMS	Robert	Gamble
2G/8	Sgt	Patrick Joseph	Houston

2G/16	Cpl	Richard	Waide
2G/17		William	Neill
2G/18	L/Sgt	John	Crossley
2G/21	A/Cpl	Charles	Graham
2G/22	L/Sgt	William Richard	Young
2G/44	Pte	Patrick	Carroll
2G/47	Pte	Robert	Doyle
2G/51	Pte	William	Davis
2G/60	Pte	Robert	Flaherty
2G/73	Pte	William	Hughes

2G/7 CQMS Robert Gamble was a Dubliner. Killed during the Easter Rising near Beggar's Bush Barracks on the railway line.

We can assume that most of the above were in Dublin at the time of the Rising, though the Battalion is not listed in the various books that give details of the units present on 24th April.

Privates Waters and Flynn mentioned as injured/killed at the Magazine Fort do not appear to have been assigned 2G/ numbers.

Henry Agnew appeard to have joined the unit on the 15th April and assigned the number 2G/646.

2G/646

Henry

Agnew

It does raise the question of how many men of this unit were in Dublin at the time of the Rising, what were they doing on Day 1 and what did they do on subsequent days. Were there others like Flynn and Waters who did not have 2G/ numbers.

The unit Commanding Officer appears to have been

Lt. Colonel Sir Frederick W. Shaw, D.S.O. who made his way to Beggar's Bush Barracks at the start of the Rising (he had been in command of the Ulster Volunteer Force aligned 2nd Bn, Loyal Dublin Volunteers in the run up to WW1).

2nd Lt Edward Gerrard, Royal Field Artillery, arrived in Beggar's Bush Barracks on the 24th April and noted that 2nd (Garrison) Bn, Royal Irish Regiment men were there :

one or two ranker officers (promoted from the ranks)

4 NCO's

10 men (including 3 invalids)

I had read somewhere about the unit possibly being at Richmond Barracks - possibly in conjunction with the research on Flynn and Waters or re the death of 2G/213 Pte James Cavanagh, from Co Monaghan, who looks to have been killed in the South Dublin Union area (another former Royal Irish Rifles soldier)

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/899910/james-cavanagh/

The UK Soldiers Died in the Great War has Cavanagh as died in Gallipoli. More likely he was wounded in Gallipoli and that was the reason for his transfer in Dublin.

Officers identified as being with the Battalion at some stage are :

Rank	Forename	Surname
Captain	Thomas	Powell
Captain	Edward Francis Nathaniel	Burton
Lt		Morgan
Captain	F R	Robinson

A few details of their service but nothing re role in the Rising yet.

The 2nd Garrison Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers was also formed in Dublin around April 1916. This appears to have not been for Home Service - moved to Templemore in May 1916 and then sent overseas.

Private Joseph Cullen from this unit appears to have been killed in Dublin on the 25th April 1916

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/899969/joseph-cullen/

He appears to have been a pre-war soldier and entered France on 8th October 1914 with 2nd Royal Irish Rifles, number 4550.

Sunday, 8 May 2022

Magazine Fort Casualties, Royal Irish Regiment

During the attack on the Magazine Fort on the opening day of the Rising, Monday 24th April 1916, the sentry at the gate was overpowered without shots being fired.

This looks to have been Private John Waters, no 9901, 2nd (Garrison) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment.

His service records mentions the attack and notes his time in hospital.

He appears in a newspaper Roll of Honour from May 1916 but does not appear in the 1916 Rebellion Handbook among the list of wounded from the Royal Irish Regiment.

He appears to have joined up while in a spot of bother in Co Wexford (he had previous service in the Royal Navy so a surprise that he joined the Army)

He was discharged from the Army in June 1916 so may have had to face the above prosecution.

His number, 9901, does not appear to have been issued by the newly formed 2nd (Garrison) Battalion.

The attack happened on his birthday, 24th April. He was born 24th April 1876 in Duncannon, the son of John and Mary Waters.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1876/03053/2119472.pdf

Inside the Magazine Fort, one sentry was shot in the leg.

This looks to have been Private John Flynn, no 8786, 2nd (Garrison) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment. This number does not appear to be one issued by the 2nd (Garrison) Battalion.

Flynn died in June 1916 as a result of an issue with his femoral artery.

The Edward Quinn who appears a few lines down from Flynn is my Gt Gt Grandfather. This was an unexpected find while researching Flynn.

Flynn appears to have tried to enlist in the Army in 1915 but discharged as not likely to make an efficient soldier. He had a wife and a rake of kids sadly.

In the 1916 rebellion Handbook, Flynn appears in the list of Royal Irish Regiment soldiers killed and he is noted as being from Carrick on Suir. He is buried in Kilkenny

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/663032/john-flynn/