George O'Shea: Difference between revisions
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O'Shea was born to Anne and John O'Shea in [[Fahavane, County Kerry|Fahavane]], a [[townland]] of Kilflynn, [[County Kerry]]. He lived at No.1 Fahavane. His father was a farmer.<ref name="University of Leiden/Orson McMahon 2020">{{cite web|url=https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/134011?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=11374a4fdbca58745589&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0|title=Civil War Violence In Kerry: A Necessary First Principle|website=studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl|access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref><ref name="1901 census">Kerry/Kilflyn/Fahabane/Residents of a house 2 in Fahabane (Kilflyn, Kerry) [n.b. the spellings/door number are as recorded]</ref><ref name="1911 census">Kerry/Kilflyn/Fahavane/Residents of a house 1 in Fahavane (Kilflyn, Kerry)</ref> |
O'Shea was born to Anne and John O'Shea in [[Fahavane, County Kerry|Fahavane]], a [[townland]] of Kilflynn, [[County Kerry]]. He lived at No.1 Fahavane. His father was a farmer.<ref name="University of Leiden/Orson McMahon 2020">{{cite web|url=https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/134011?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=11374a4fdbca58745589&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0|title=Civil War Violence In Kerry: A Necessary First Principle|website=studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl|access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref><ref name="1901 census">Kerry/Kilflyn/Fahabane/Residents of a house 2 in Fahabane (Kilflyn, Kerry) [n.b. the spellings/door number are as recorded]</ref><ref name="1911 census">Kerry/Kilflyn/Fahavane/Residents of a house 1 in Fahavane (Kilflyn, Kerry)</ref> |
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In May 1920, he was nominated for and elected to the [[Tralee]] Rural District Council for the Ratass area.<ref name="Kerry Reporter 1">{{cite news|work=Kerry Reporter|title=Tralee Rural Council Elections|date=8 May 1920|page=6}}</ref><ref name="Kerry Reporter 2">{{cite news|work=Kerry Reporter|title=Pledged to Dail Eireann. First Meeting of Tralee Rural Council and Board of Guardians. Election of Chairmen|date= 19 June 1920|page=4}}</ref> He served in the Kilflynn IRA during the [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]] as captain of the Kerry No.1 Brigade, 2nd Battalion.<ref>All documents except one count O'Shea and Kilflynn colleagues in the 2nd Battalion. His tombstone was engraved '3rd Batallion'. See Military Archives citation.</ref> After the [[War of Independence]], he continued to fight against [[Irish Free State|Free State]] forces thereafter. Military Archives from the 1930s show his name amongst hand-written notes regarding state pension provision.<ref name="Military Archives">{{cite web|url=http://mspcsearch.militaryarchives.ie/docs/files//PDF_Membership/8/RO1%20-%20150/MA-MSPC-RO-90.pdf|last= Military Archives|title=Military Service Pensions Collection|accessdate=18 October 2017|website=militaryarchives.ie}}</ref> |
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He was found by [[Irish Free State|Free State]] troops hiding in a dugout at Loughnane's quarry, Kilflynn, in 1923, along with [[Stephen Fuller]] and John Shanahan - both lifelong Fahavane neighbours and friends - and Timothy Tuomey. They were put in [[Ballymullen Barracks]], [[Tralee]] by the recently-arrived [[Dublin Guard]] where, reported by Fuller, they were tortured by the intelligence section (under the command of [[David Neligan]]) and later moved to the workhouse of the other barracks in Tralee. Shortly after, on 6 March, five Free State soldiers were killed by a booby-trapped bomb at Baranarigh Wood, [[Knocknagoshel]]. Amongst the dead were long-standing colleagues of Major General [[Paddy Daly|Paddy O'Daly]], G.O.C. Kerry Command. Prisoners had been beaten after the killings and Daly ordered that republican prisoners should remove mines. On the morning of 7 March, O'Shea, Fuller, Shanahan, Tuomey and five other prisoners from Ballymullen Barracks - all selected by Neligan - were taken in a lorry to [[Ballyseedy]] Cross. There, they were secured to each other by legs and hands in a circle round a landmine whose construction was supervised by two senior Dublin Guard officers. The prisoners continued their prayers and goodbyes as the troops retreated. According to the sole survivor, Stephen Fuller - his lieutenant - O'Shea uttered the group's final words "goodbye lads" before the mine was detonated remotely at some time past 3 a.m. The majority of the remains were put in nine prepared coffins. The event was witnessed by a local, Rita O'Donnell, who also saw the uncleared remains later that morning, spread about the greenery. More reprisals followed soon after Ballyseedy.<ref name="irishtimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/stories-of-the-revolution-ballyseedy-and-the-civil-war-s-worst-atrocity-1.2462070|title=Stories of the revolution: Ballyseedy and the Civil War's worst atrocity|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |accessdate=21 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="RTE Ballyseedy">{{Cite episode|series=Ballyseedy|title=Ballyseedy|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC8-CcUJDNY|access-date=17 October 2017|last=Ballyseedy|network=RTE|date=1 Jan 1997|language=English}}</ref><ref name="Harrington">{{cite book|last1=Harrington|first1=Niall C.|title=Kerry Landing: An episode of the Civil war|date=1992|publisher=Anvil Books|location=Dublin|pages=148–9}}</ref><ref name="Horgan">{{cite book|last=Horgan|first=Tim|title=Dying for the Cause: Kerry's Republican Dead|year=2015|publisher=Mercier Press|location=Cork}}</ref><ref name="Dictionary of Irish Biography">{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/neligan-david-a6150|title=Neligan, David|website=www.dib.ie|access-date=3 September 2022}}</ref> |
He was found by [[Irish Free State|Free State]] troops hiding in a dugout at Loughnane's quarry, Kilflynn, in 1923, along with [[Stephen Fuller]] and John Shanahan - both lifelong Fahavane neighbours and friends - and Timothy Tuomey. They were put in [[Ballymullen Barracks]], [[Tralee]] by the recently-arrived [[Dublin Guard]] where, reported by Fuller, they were tortured by the intelligence section (under the command of [[David Neligan]]) and later moved to the workhouse of the other barracks in Tralee. Shortly after, on 6 March, five Free State soldiers were killed by a booby-trapped bomb at Baranarigh Wood, [[Knocknagoshel]]. Amongst the dead were long-standing colleagues of Major General [[Paddy Daly|Paddy O'Daly]], G.O.C. Kerry Command. Prisoners had been beaten after the killings and Daly ordered that republican prisoners should remove mines. On the morning of 7 March, O'Shea, Fuller, Shanahan, Tuomey and five other prisoners from Ballymullen Barracks - all selected by Neligan - were taken in a lorry to [[Ballyseedy]] Cross. There, they were secured to each other by legs and hands in a circle round a landmine whose construction was supervised by two senior Dublin Guard officers. The prisoners continued their prayers and goodbyes as the troops retreated. According to the sole survivor, Stephen Fuller - his lieutenant - O'Shea uttered the group's final words "goodbye lads" before the mine was detonated remotely at some time past 3 a.m. The majority of the remains were put in nine prepared coffins. The event was witnessed by a local, Rita O'Donnell, who also saw the uncleared remains later that morning, spread about the greenery. More reprisals followed soon after Ballyseedy.<ref name="irishtimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/stories-of-the-revolution-ballyseedy-and-the-civil-war-s-worst-atrocity-1.2462070|title=Stories of the revolution: Ballyseedy and the Civil War's worst atrocity|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |accessdate=21 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="RTE Ballyseedy">{{Cite episode|series=Ballyseedy|title=Ballyseedy|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC8-CcUJDNY|access-date=17 October 2017|last=Ballyseedy|network=RTE|date=1 Jan 1997|language=English}}</ref><ref name="Harrington">{{cite book|last1=Harrington|first1=Niall C.|title=Kerry Landing: An episode of the Civil war|date=1992|publisher=Anvil Books|location=Dublin|pages=148–9}}</ref><ref name="Horgan">{{cite book|last=Horgan|first=Tim|title=Dying for the Cause: Kerry's Republican Dead|year=2015|publisher=Mercier Press|location=Cork}}</ref><ref name="Dictionary of Irish Biography">{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/neligan-david-a6150|title=Neligan, David|website=www.dib.ie|access-date=3 September 2022}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 20:22, 9 February 2023
George O'Shea | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 January 1897 Kilflynn, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Died | 7 March 1923 (aged 25) Ballyseedy, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Service/ | Kerry No.1 Brigade, 2nd Battalion |
| Rank | captain |
George O'Shea (1897 - 1923) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who fought with the Anti-Treaty side during the Irish Civil War. He was one of eight men killed by Free State forces in the Ballyseedy Massacre, a defining event in Irish history.
Biography
O'Shea was born to Anne and John O'Shea in Fahavane, a townland of Kilflynn, County Kerry. He lived at No.1 Fahavane. His father was a farmer.[1][2][3]
In May 1920, he was nominated for and elected to the Tralee Rural District Council for the Ratass area.[4][5] He served in the Kilflynn IRA during the War of Independence as captain of the Kerry No.1 Brigade, 2nd Battalion.[6] After the War of Independence, he continued to fight against Free State forces thereafter. Military Archives from the 1930s show his name amongst hand-written notes regarding state pension provision.[7]
He was found by Free State troops hiding in a dugout at Loughnane's quarry, Kilflynn, in 1923, along with Stephen Fuller and John Shanahan - both lifelong Fahavane neighbours and friends - and Timothy Tuomey. They were put in Ballymullen Barracks, Tralee by the recently-arrived Dublin Guard where, reported by Fuller, they were tortured by the intelligence section (under the command of David Neligan) and later moved to the workhouse of the other barracks in Tralee. Shortly after, on 6 March, five Free State soldiers were killed by a booby-trapped bomb at Baranarigh Wood, Knocknagoshel. Amongst the dead were long-standing colleagues of Major General Paddy O'Daly, G.O.C. Kerry Command. Prisoners had been beaten after the killings and Daly ordered that republican prisoners should remove mines. On the morning of 7 March, O'Shea, Fuller, Shanahan, Tuomey and five other prisoners from Ballymullen Barracks - all selected by Neligan - were taken in a lorry to Ballyseedy Cross. There, they were secured to each other by legs and hands in a circle round a landmine whose construction was supervised by two senior Dublin Guard officers. The prisoners continued their prayers and goodbyes as the troops retreated. According to the sole survivor, Stephen Fuller - his lieutenant - O'Shea uttered the group's final words "goodbye lads" before the mine was detonated remotely at some time past 3 a.m. The majority of the remains were put in nine prepared coffins. The event was witnessed by a local, Rita O'Donnell, who also saw the uncleared remains later that morning, spread about the greenery. More reprisals followed soon after Ballyseedy.[8][9][10][11][12]
Seriously injured, Fuller escaped into hiding. Later the same day as the murders, Paddy Daly authorised the release of the coffins. Angry relatives came with carts and placed the remains in their own coffins while a band was reportedly playing. On 8 June, an army statement was released claiming two mined barricades (a similar event happened at Countess bridge, Killarney) exploded while being dismantled by prisoners accompanied by Dublin Guard troops and that all prisoners were killed and five troops injured. The dead prisoners' names were published as part of the cover-up. The story was then hastily changed when it was realised Fuller was missing. O'Shea's death record, reported by his mother, cites the cause as "Shock and haemorrhage, fractured skull caused by mine explosion. No medical attendance." Subsequent contrary reports to the official line about the killings came from Cumann na mBan, Free State Lieutenants Niall Harrington and W. McCarthy and the Garda Síochána, but were all ignored; the latter report was only made public in the 1980s.[13][9][10][8][14][1][11]
O'Shea was buried in a Republican plot at Kilflynn Church (now St. Columba's Heritage Centre) with two colleagues, Timothy Tuomey (of Gortclohy) - also killed at Ballyseedy - and Timothy Lyons (of Garrynagore) who was killed at Clashmealcon Caves a few weeks after Ballyseedy.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "Civil War Violence In Kerry: A Necessary First Principle". studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ Kerry/Kilflyn/Fahabane/Residents of a house 2 in Fahabane (Kilflyn, Kerry) [n.b. the spellings/door number are as recorded]
- ^ Kerry/Kilflyn/Fahavane/Residents of a house 1 in Fahavane (Kilflyn, Kerry)
- ^ "Tralee Rural Council Elections". Kerry Reporter. 8 May 1920. p. 6.
- ^ "Pledged to Dail Eireann. First Meeting of Tralee Rural Council and Board of Guardians. Election of Chairmen". Kerry Reporter. 19 June 1920. p. 4.
- ^ All documents except one count O'Shea and Kilflynn colleagues in the 2nd Battalion. His tombstone was engraved '3rd Batallion'. See Military Archives citation.
- ^ Military Archives. "Military Service Pensions Collection" (PDF). militaryarchives.ie. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ a b "Stories of the revolution: Ballyseedy and the Civil War's worst atrocity". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ a b Ballyseedy (1 January 1997). "Ballyseedy". Ballyseedy. RTE. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ a b Harrington, Niall C. (1992). Kerry Landing: An episode of the Civil war. Dublin: Anvil Books. pp. 148–9.
- ^ a b Horgan, Tim (2015). Dying for the Cause: Kerry's Republican Dead. Cork: Mercier Press.
- ^ "Neligan, David". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ Galvin, Anthony (2013). Ring of Death: Famous Kerry Murders. London: Mainstream Publishing.
- ^ Hopkinson, Michael (2004). The Irish Civil War. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 241.