Larry Lardner
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Larry Lardner, a native of Athenry, County Galway, was a Brigade Commandant for the Irish Republican Army in his locality. He was by trade a publican and a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) Supreme Council for Connacht in 1917. [citation needed] He, along with Liam Mellows and Pádraig Ó Fathaigh, travelled to Limerick where they were informed by Patrick Pearse at an IRB meeting that a rebellion would take place at Easter 1916. [citation needed]
Following Ó Fathaigh's arrest, Lardner and Mellows led some hundreds of local men in occupying Moyode Castle on 26 April. Within days they were informed by a local priest that the rising had failed. He is believed to have accompanied Mellows into hiding in the Slieve Aughty for some months afterwards. [citation needed]
In 1919 he was captured and imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs, and was one of a group of I.R.A. men who went on hunger strike. Early in January 1920, he was part of a group of local men (including Bill Freaney) who approached Frank Shawe-Taylor on behalf of some local people who were requesting a road to travel to Mass. Shawe-Taylor himself was amenable to their demands but the landlord refused via Shawe-Taylor, who was later killed. Lardner died in Athenry in April 1936. [citation needed]
References[edit]
- Athenry: A Local History (1850-1983), Aggie Qualter, 1984.
- Athenry: A Brief History and Guide, Ann Healy, 1989.
- The Lamberts of Athenry, ed. Finnbarr O'Regan, Galway, 1999.
- Pádraig Ó Fathaigh's War of Independence: Recollections of a Gaelic Leaguer, ed. Timothy G. McMahon, Irish Narratives series, Cork University Press, 2000. ISBN 1 85918 1457
- The Fields of Athenry: A Journey Through Irish History, James Charles Roy, Westview Press, 2001