I Hope You Dance - Thurles Information

National Famine Commemoration Ceremony In Strokestown, Co. Roscommon

An Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin informed a National Famine Commemoration ceremony today in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, that there was no more devastating or traumatic an event in Irish history, than the Great Famine of 1845-1849.

Today’s ceremony also included military honours and a wreath-laying ceremony by ambassadors to Ireland, in remembrance of all those who perished, during this, the last great famine in Europe, caused by the failure of the potato crop over successive years.

Addressing the crowd today, An Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin said, “It is impossible for us to imagine the feelings of hopelessness, anger and loss experienced by those who suffered through the Famine years.
Famines do not happen in democracies. In fact, there is no recorded account of a famine in a country where the government is freely elected and there was free speech.
I think if you want to know why Ireland didn’t have another famine you will find it in our commitment to self-determination and building a democratic state”.

There was no mention of the Thurles Great Famine Double Ditch demolished by his Fianna Fáil colleagues on the Mill Road, here in Thurles despite several emails sent to his government.

This evening we sent an email to An Taoiseach’s office, asking him to send a copy of today’s address to local Fianna Fáil TD Mr Jackie Cahill and current government supporter Independent TD Mr Michael Lowry.
We trust Mr Cahill will share this address with Fianna Fáil Councillors Mr Sean Ryan and Mr Seamus Hanafin in due course.
[Well, as we are already aware elected Fianna Fáil reps. share everything. View HERE.]

Dublin singer-songwriter Mr Declan O’Rourke also took part in this event, singing two songs from his 2017 album ‘Chronicles of the Great Famine’, namely ‘Poor Boy’s Shoes’ and ‘Go Domhain i do Chiumhne’.

Meanwhile, let’s have a listen to Mr Declan O’Rourke.

Declan O’Rourke – “Poor Boy’s Shoes”

When he met her at the dance, she had flowers in her hair.
There was no girl in this land that could have stood next to her there.
And there everyone could see, how he loved her instantly,
Though he had nothing to give her but his poor boy’s hopes and dreams.

Well he danced with her that summer till it showed on her sweet face.
As she was taken by the warmth of him and all his gentle ways.
Then he swore his love was true
And he married her in poor boy’s shoes.

Well not many years had passed through the grip of his strong hands,
When a great unyielding hunger drew its veil across this land.
His young love soon took ill and with two little mouths to fill,
It took all he could to keep them from the poor house on the hill.
But when his pockets had run dry from crying tears that rang like bells
And their home drew in the wind like an old sea shell.
Then he gathered everything he had to lose,
And he walked them up in poor boy’s shoes.

First God took the little boy,
Then he took the little girl.
And soon their little souls were free from all the sadness in the world.
Their father lifted up his love,
She could no longer walk alone
And from the poor house on the hill,
He took her on the long walk home.

There he felt the cold upon her as he laid her down to rest,
And so he knelt down by her bed and drew her feet up to his chest.
There he tried to warm her cold feet through
And they found him there in poor boy’s shoes.
END

Jane Austen & Thomas Lefroy – An Affair That Never Blossomed.

In 1795, Mr Thomas Lefroy, a Judge in the North Riding of Co. Tipperary, enjoyed a whirlwind romance with none other than the famous English novelist Jane Austen.

Jane Austen is best remembered primarily for her famous novels, e.g. “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility”, latter which commented on the British middle and upper classes, at the end of the 18th century.
Judge Lefroy served with distinction on the Munster Court circuit for many years and took ‘Silk’ in 1816.
[Note: A Silk lawyer is the colloquial name given to a Queen’s Counsel (QC), who is selected by an independent panel committee, due to their experience, knowledge and skill.]

In 1849, it was the very same Thomas Lefroy, (then Lord Chief Justice of Ireland), who elevated MP (Athlone) and Judge William Nicholas Keogh to Queen’s Counsel. Same Judge Keogh would anger nationalist opinion in Ireland with regard to his conduct in the trial of the Cormack brothers at Nenagh assizes, in March 1857, which was considered a most brutal denial of natural justice.
Later, Judge Keogh’s deteriorating mental health would see him cut his own throat, at a sanatorium in Bingen-on-the-Rhine, Germany, on Monday September 30th 1878, before being buried in Bonn, on the banks of the River Rhine, in Westphalia, Germany.

Novelist Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on December 16th 1775, in the village of Steventon near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, England, where her father, Rev. George Austen, was then Rector. The family would continue to reside there for the next 25 years until her father retired.
It was here that Jane Austen drafted her first two novels which were eventually published as “Pride and Prejudice” (1813) and “Sense and Sensibility” (Published in 1811 but begun between 1793 and 1795).
Later would come “Mansfield Park” (1814), followed by “Persuasion”; “Northanger Abbey” and “Emma” (1815) latter novel dedicated to the Prince Regent, (later who would become King George IV), an admirer of her work.

[Note: This was the same Prince Regent who had visited the Mathew household in Tipperary and during his visit impregnated Lady Elisha (Elizabeth) Mathew, before heading back to England].

Sadly, the Steventon rectory house itself was demolished soon after the Austen family moved to Bath in Somerset, England in 1801.

After the death of Jane’s father George, in 1805 Jane, her sister Cassandra and their mother moved several times eventually settling in Chawton, near Steventon.

All of Jane Austen’s novels were published anonymously. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ was published as “By a lady” and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was published as “The author of Sense and Sensibility”

In 1816, Jane began to suffer from ill-health, leading her to travel to Winchester to receive treatment, and it was here she sadly died on July 18th, 1817. There are many theories as to as the primary cause of her death; Addison’s disease (adrenal insufficiency); Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; tuberculosis passed on through exposure to cattle or unpasteurized milk, latter an illness far more common in Jane Austen’s time than it is in more modern times.

Two more novels, ‘Persuasion’ and ‘Northanger Abbey’ were now published posthumously and a final novel ‘Sandition’ had been left incomplete. In 2011, this unfinished novel was sold to a ‘The Bodelian Libraries’ on Oxford, at a purchase price of £993,250 (including sales tax).

A grave slab on the floor of Winchester Cathedral where she was buried, mention her birthplace, Steventon. The inscription reads:

“In Memory of Jane Austen, youngest daughter of the late Revd George Austen, formerly Rector of Steventon in this County. She departed this life on the 18th of July 1817, aged 41, after a long illness supported with the patience and the hopes of a Christian.
The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her mind obtained the regard of all who knew her and the warmest love of her intimate connections.
Their grief is in proportion to their affection. They know their loss to be irreparable, but in their deepest affliction they are consoled by a firm though humble hope that her charity, devotion, faith and purity have rendered her soul acceptable in the sight of her Redeemer”.

Note: Her tombstone makes no mention of her writing as same, during her lifetime, since as already stated, they were published anonymously. However, later commemorations, on a brass plaque and a stained-glass window, do make brief references to her writing.

Inscription on the brass wall plaque reads:

“Jane Austen known to many by her writings, endeared to her family by the varied charms of her Character and ennobled by Christian Faith and Piety, was born at Steventon in the county of Hants (abbreviation of Hampshire) Dec. xvi mdcclxxv, and buried in this Cathedral July xxiv mdcccxvii – She openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness Prov xxxi. v. xxvi”.

Thomas Lefroy

The Lefroy Family had initially fled from Flanders to England, in around 1580. Anthony Peter Lefroy, Thomas Lefroy’s father having entered the English army as an Ensign, was posted to Co. Limerick, Ireland. While still a very junior officer he met and married, in 1765, Ann Gardner of Doonass in Co. Clare. Five girls were born to them before, in 1776, a son arrived and was baptised Thomas Langlois Lefroy.

Thomas Lefroy, would serve as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Dublin University in 1830–1841. [Same constituency today currently elects three senators to Seanad Éireann].
He would become a member of the Privy Council of Ireland (1835-1869); Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (1852-1866) and had a noted outstanding academic record at Trinity College Dublin, (1790-1793), winning three gold medals. Having become exhausted from his studies, on advice, he took time away to relax over Christmas (1796), at the Rectory of his Uncle Rev. George Lefroy in Hampshire, some two miles distant from the Rectory home of Miss Jane Austen.

Thomas Lefroy began a flirtation with Miss Jane Austen, who wrote two letters to her sister Cassandra mentioning “Tom Lefroy”.

In a letter dated Saturday January 9th 1796, Jane Austen makes mention:- “You scold me so much in the nice long letter which I have this moment received from you, that I am almost afraid to tell you how my ‘Irish friend’ and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together.
I can expose myself however, only once more, because he leaves the country soon after next Friday, on which day we are to have a dance at Ashe after all.
He is a very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young man, I assure you. But as to our having ever met, except at the three last balls, I cannot say much; for he is so excessively laughed at about me at Ashe, that he is ashamed of coming to Steventon, and ran away when we called on Mrs. Lefroy a few days ago.”

In further correspondence, Jane Austen writes:- “After I had written the above, we received a visit from Mr. Tom Lefroy and his cousin George. The latter is really very well-behaved now; and as for the other, he has but one fault, which time will, I trust, entirely remove; it is that his morning coat is a great deal too light. He is a very great admirer of Tom Jones, and therefore wears the same coloured clothes, I imagine, which he did when he was wounded”.

[Tom Jones above – Refers to a comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding]

In a letter begun on Thursday January 14th 1796 and completed on the following morning, Lefroy gets yet another mention:
“At length the day is come on, which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this, it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea”.

Jane Austen’s surviving correspondence contains only one other possible mention of Tom Lefroy. In the letter to her sister, November 1798, Jane writes that Tom’s aunt Mrs. Lefroy had been to visit, but had not said anything about her nephew.

Jane Austen writes:- “I was too proud to make any enquiries; but on my father’s afterwards asking where he was, I learnt that he was gone back to London in his way to Ireland, where he is called to the Bar and means to practise.”

His great-uncle, Benjamin Langlois, would now sponsor his legal studies at Lincoln’s Inn, London.

In 1797, Thomas returned to Ireland to be called to the Irish Bar, where he would request permission to ask for the hand of Miss Mary Paul, from her father Jeffry Paul. This was duly granted and they both became engaged.

With the outbreak of the 1798 Rebellion the position of the Paul family at Silverspring in Co. Wexford became, to say the least, perilous. Jeffry Paul decided to send his family to Wales, while he himself joined the Yeomanry and fought at New Ross and Wexford.
Silverspring, their home became occupied by the insurgents and was destroyed.
Jeffry Paul wrote to his wife in 1798, “The house, I am told, is standing, but every article of furniture, beds, wine, etc., taken away or destroyed, mostly by the women of the neighbourhood.”

Now having no home with which to return, the Paul family stayed temporarily in Wales and it was at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, in the year 1799, that Thomas and Mary were eventually married.

So what if Thomas Lefroy had married Jane Austen? If Jane had come to Tipperary as the wife of an ambitious Munster Court circuit Judge, would we have lost a romantic novelist? We will never, ever, know.

“Men make plans and God laughs”.

St. Patrick’s Borstal Institution Tipperary.

Jail *(Gaol)* Gate, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Recently (April 20th 2022) we here at Thurles.Info featured an article entitled “Official Opening Of New “Horses of Hope” Equine Centre At Castlerea Prison”, which is expected to play an important part in the rehabilitation of prisoners, thus preventing same from reoffending on their eventual release. Read article HERE.

History recalls the setting up of a rather similar type of institution here in Co. Tipperary, same first established back in 1906.

Ireland’s first and indeed only Borstal institution, known as St. Patrick’s Borstal Institution was located in the centre of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, as a place of detention for young male offenders, aged between 16 and 21. Most of whom were detained for offences including larceny, house-breaking, assault, animal theft and a low number of sexual crimes.

This Clonmel borstal institution provided boy inmates with continued support, same affected by the then existing “Borstal Association of Ireland”.
Following on from their release, the aforementioned association provided help and advice in finding employment, with this aftercare proving to be extremely successful, demonstrated by the small numbers of boys relapsing back into crime, following on from their release.

The Clonmel Borstal was first established following the recommendations of the 1895 “Report of the Departmental Committee on Prisons”, latter more generally known as the “Gladstone Committee”.

The institution was modelled on an innovative approach to young-offender reform, then being developed at a similar facility in the town of Borstal near Rochester, Kent, England, then begun in 1901.

This Clonmel, Co. Tipperary institution was designed to be “educational rather than punitive (intended punishment)”, but it was highly regulated, with a focus on routine, discipline and authority during its early years. However, in cases of mutiny or assaulting a prison officer, corporal punishment was officially available in the form of a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient’s bare buttocks, but only with the consent of a magistrate in attendance.

In Clonmel, to establish this borstal it was necessary to acquire all of the old prison grounds, with older or adult prisoners then serving sentences, transferred to other existing prison institutions.

The Prevention of Crime Act 1908 envisaged that youths aged between 16 and 21, who were charged with serious offences could undergo a programme of discipline intended to rehabilitate them, while segregating minors from the influence of adult prisoners.

The average number of inmates at Clonmel Borstal, at any given time, is understood to have been about 50 in number. Only about half of these had been sent directly by a court. The others were transferred by Ministerial order from their ordinary prisons. The regime in Clonmel allowed a level of trust to develop between the staff and detainees. At the discretion of the acting Governor, the boys could be allowed out into the town to seek employment.

The Clonmel borstal was an obvious recruiting ground for the British army. Magistrate Mr Justice Thomas Moloney, while attending the Spring 1919 Court of Assizes in Clonmel, paid tribute to some 424 inmates that he estimated were enlisted to fight. He further claimed that around seventy of these boys had made the “supreme sacrifice”.

In 1922, when the civil war began in Ireland, the institution was commandeered for military purposes and inmate boys were moved to Clogheen workhouse, Co. Tipperary.

By the mid-1950s the numbers of inmates had declined and with fewer coming from Dublin, it was decided to close the facility in Clonmel.
On December 1st 1956, 50 years after its initial foundation, the Irish borstal institution vacated Clonmel for the last time.

Justice Sector Programme Of Commemorative Events Launched For 2022-2024.

Minister McEntee launches justice sector programme of commemorative events for 2022-2024 as part of the Decade of Centenaries’ Programme.

The year 2022 marks centenary of establishment of An Garda Síochána, occupation of Four Courts and enactment of Irish Free State constitution.
‘Justice in Ireland 1822-2022’ symposium to take place on 22nd November this year.
Programme outlines range of commemorative initiatives and events taking place across the justice sector over the coming years as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has today launched the justice sector programme of commemorative events for 2022-2024, as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

The Minister stated: “Over the past decade, we have collectively reflected on many of the formative events in the history of our State as part of the Decade of Centenaries. The period which we are now considering saw the foundation of the State and the establishment, or, in some cases, the handing over of many of the institutions and administrative pillars which have served us since then.

Central to this was the justice sector. Indeed, 1922 was a particularly significant year. It saw the foundation of our national police service, An Garda Síochána. It was also, of course, a year which tragically saw the advent of the Civil War and this was reflected in the occupation of the Four Courts, and with it the destruction of the Public Records Office.

Both 1922 and the years that followed saw many developments and transitions, including the end to the revolutionary Dáil Courts regime and the establishment of the Courts system of the new State. These were tumultuous years as the new State came into being. Both the Department of Justice, its forerunner, the Department of Home Affairs, and the various other parts of the justice sector were central to that time and that work.

I hope that the Decade of Centenaries Justice Sector Programme 2022-24 will capture some of the importance of this work, and help bring some new insights and understanding to those years. This must be an open and honest discussion, and throughout we will attempt to consider all aspects of our history – those that are well known, and those which may not have received enough discussion in the past.

I would encourage all those with an interest in these events to join us in that spirit and participate.”

An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service are leading comprehensive programmes of events over the course of this year, to mark the key events of the establishment of An Garda Síochána, the occupation of the Four Courts and the impact which this had on the operation of the Courts at the time, and the development and enactment of the Constitution of the Irish Free State. Details of these events are available in the programme.

A justice sector symposium, titled Justice in Ireland 1822-2022, will take place in the Printworks of Dublin Castle in partnership with an academic institution, on November 22nd.
Falling on the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the County Constabulary and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of An Garda Síochána, the symposium will provide an opportunity for a consideration by academics and practitioners of the development of both policing and justice institutions more broadly over that time, including the evolution of the prison and probation services. Further details will be announced over the coming weeks.

The Decade of Centenaries Programme provides a critical opportunity to focus on the development of access to historical records and primary sources from this key period. To this end, the Department intends to commence a number of projects to provide access to records from the early decades of the State. This will include the cataloguing of early 20th century departmental files for release to the National Archives and the commissioning of a written history of the first fifty years of the Department.

In addition to those being announced today, the programme of events and initiatives will continue to develop over the life of the programme. Additions will be announced by the Department or relevant agency via their traditional and online channels.

The Minister concluded: “I would like to thank Dr. Maurice Manning, Chair of the Expert Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations and the Group, for the guidance in developing this programme of events and initiatives. I also want to thank theJustice Sector agencies for engaging with my Department to produce a diverse range of sectoral commemorations and to congratulate An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service on their commemorative programmes for this year.
I would encourage members of the public to participate in the Justice Sector commemorations over the coming years and hope that they will find the programme informative and enjoyable in equal measure.”

The programme can be accessed via portable document format (pdf) from the Department of Justice website from HERE.

Lest We Forget A Woman From Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Tipperary County Council officials & councillors, since the foundation of the Irish State, have managed successfully to destroy/eradicate a massive amount of local Thurles history e.g. the Thurles Workhouse, Larry Hickey’s pub (Griffin’s newsagents Liberty Square), the Thurles Moat on Parnell Car Park, Bridget Fitzpatrick’s family home at the Turnpike, Two-Mile-Borris, Moat Lane on Parnell Street and soon (if they get their way), the 175 year old Great Famine Double Ditch on Mill Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

If Thurles town centre is to be preserved as a thriving place for business, its history must now be heavily underscored; brightly highlighted and marketed properly, as a tourist attraction incorporating the other villages and towns, part of the Thurles town hinterland.

[Note: In this factual piece of text hereunder, three hamlets and one town, namely Two-Mile-Borris, Littleton, Upperchurch, and Templemore, in Co. Tipperary, are important to those lovers of heritage wishing to visit within Tipperary and Thurles area.]

A special thanks to Mr Gerry Bowe and Mr Michael Dempsey, both of whom provided historical facts. To Mr Dempsey also, our thanks for allowing us use pictures taken by his own family, some of which are included in the video slide-show hereunder.

So how important historically is Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary? I will allow our 2 thousand to 8 thousand daily readers to decide.

Bridget Fitzpatrick (1892 – 1977)

After the Easter Rising of 1916, Bridget Fitzpatrick admits her political sympathies were wholeheartedly aligned with the Irish Volunteers and with Sinn Fein. At that particular time, Bridget was employed, holding a clerical post at the premises of Mr. Bernard Fitzpatrick on Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. A working colleague also employed at that premises was Mr. John McCormack, who later became the Quartermaster of the Irish Republican Army’s 2nd Mid-Tipperary Brigade.

Máire Aoife (Mary Eve) Comerford (1893-1982), an Irish republican born in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow and who resided for some time at an address in Courtown, Gorey, County Wexford, came to Thurles from Dublin in 1918; her purpose, to organise “Cumann na mBan” [latter translated from Irish as “The Women’s Council”], in the Thurles area.

Miss Comerford had volunteered to aid Constance Georgine Markievicz (née Gore-Booth) in St. Stephen’s Green, and was put to use carrying despatches for the General Post Office (G.P.O.) garrison. She would later return to Gorey, Co. Wexford, following the 1916 rising and worked alongside Sinn Féin politician Sean Etchingham [latter who died in prison in 1923 from natural causes].

Bridget Fitzpatrick was instructed to help and assist her locally, becoming herself a member of the local Cumann na mBan branch. In 1918 Bridget was named as the Executive and Courier for Richard Mulcahy and Michael Collins, entrusted with the responsibility of receiving undercover communications in Thurles. Immediately she began receiving a steady stream of dispatches from General Head Quarters (G.H.Q.), same to be distributed to Volunteer Officers for the major portion of the south of Ireland.

Video: Courtesy G. Willoughby

The chief central headquarters for dispatches was another business premises, situated on the southside of Liberty Square, Thurles, with all activities being directed by an employee Mr. James (Jimmy) Leahy and Michael (Mixie) O’Connell; latter the proprietor of that establishment. Thurles would now become a dispatch centre for a major portion of the south of Ireland.

It was in a storage room at the back of Mixie O’Connell’s shop on Liberty Square, that crudely manufactured mines were made, packed with gelignite and concealed in boxes which had contained cart wheels. Same explosives were used to attack the R.I.C. Barracks on the Holycross-Cashel road.

Dispatches from G.H.Q., Dublin, were sent by post to Miss Fitzpatrick, and she in turn handed them over to Mixie O’Connell who, in turn, arranged to have them forwarded to their intended destinations. Dispatches were being carried at night as the volunteers involved could not be observed as being missing from their daytime employment. Later this work would be undertaken by members of Cumann na mBan.

The dispatches were invariably from Michael Collins. Those pertinent to local Volunteer Officers were delivered by Miss Fitzpatrick herself, while those which had to be sent some distance, were handed over to John McCormack at her place of work or taken directly to Mixie O’Connell, latter who arranged to forward them to their ultimate destination.

Miss Fitzpatrick lived indoor on her employer’s premises, so post addressed to ‘Miss B. Fitzpatrick’, could have easily been opened in error by her boss, Bernard Fitzpatrick, whose political views were known to be different from those of Sinn Féin.

Later, Miss Leslie Price (who later married Mr. Tom Barry of Cork) came to organise other dispatch centres and lines of communication, and Miss Fitzpatrick became associated with her also in this work, while the former resided in the Thurles area.

On the morning of 19th May 1919, Miss Fitzpatrick received a postal dispatch from Michael Collins with a covering note addressed to her personally. The note informed her that the dispatch she had received was extremely urgent and requesting her to have it forwarded to its destination immediately.

This dispatch concerned the arrest of Sean Treacy. She learned that Sean Hogan, who was wanted by the Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.) in connection with the Soloheadbeg ambush, had been arrested in the early hours of that morning at Maher’s of Annfield, Thurles and that Sean Hogan was a prisoner in the R.I.C. Barracks in Friar Street, Thurles. She learned from John McCormack that it was expected that Hogan would be sent to Cork Prison, under escort on the train during the day, and that arrangements must be made to watch the barracks.

If Sean Hogan was being sent to Cork it had been decided that Mixie O’Connell would send a coded telegram with the wording, “Greyhound on train”, giving the time of the departure of the train to brothers Tom and Mick Shanahan at the Coal Stores, in Knocklong, Co. Limerick.

John McCormack sought permission to use Bridget Fitzpatrick’s name as the sender of this coded telegram, which she willingly gave.

Throughout that day the barracks in Friar Street Thurles was constantly watched by an elderly lady named Mrs. McCarthy, her daughter Margaret and a Miss Maher of Annfield (later Mrs. Frank McGrath of Nenagh) at whose house Sean Hogan had been arrested and who had followed the police into Thurles.

These women had made several efforts to secure a visit to the prisoner, but without success. Mrs. McCarthy at different times during the day brought fruit, tea and fresh socks to the barracks for the prisoner, each time pleading to be allowed to see him for a few minutes, but was refused by the R.I.C. .These visits, however, provided Mrs. McCarthy with the excuse which she needed to remain in the immediate vicinity for long intervals. Eventually, that evening Mrs. McCarthy due to her persistence, secured information from an R.I.C. officer that Hogan was being taken to Cork by a train, which left Thurles around about 6:00pm. This information was immediately reported to Mixie O’Connell, who would send the coded telegram, “Greyhound on train”.

While the rescue of Sean Hogan on that evening, May 19th 1919, was a success, Bridget Fitzpatrick was informed by Mr. O’Carroll, (latter a Supervisor at Thurles Post Office), that the R.I. C., in the course of their investigations, had taken possession of the original copy of the telegram to Tom and Mick Shanahan, which bore her name as the sender.

About three weeks later, the aforementioned Tom and Mick Shanahan; Patrick Maher; Edmond Foley; (all of whom were from the Knocklong district), together with another man named Murphy, latter a porter at Knocklong Railway station; and Mixie O’Connell from Thurles were all arrested by the R.I.C. on suspicion of being involved in the rescue of Sean Hogan.

On the morning of Mixie O’Connell’s arrest, Bridget Fitzpatrick was also honoured by a visit from the R.I.C., led by District Inspector Michael Hunt, who interrogated her, taking a statement.

Inspector Hunt questioned her about the telegram, of which she denied having any knowledge. He then proceeded to question her about Mixie O’Connell and what she knew about his Sinn Féin and Volunteer activities. She informed Inspector Hunt that she knew him only as a neighbour in business, but beyond that she had no idea of his other activities or interests. Meanwhile, the six prisoners arrested by the R.I.C. were taken to Limerick Prison.

Within a few weeks of his taking that statement from Bridget, District Inspector Michael Hunt, (son of a Co. Sligo father, Mr. Martin Hunt), was murdered; shot dead on Liberty Square, Thurles on Monday evening, June 23rd, 1919. Two first cousins “Big Jim” and Tommy Stapleton from Finnahy, Upperchurch, Thurles and Jim Murphy (latter known as “The Jennett”), from Curreeney, Kilcommon, Thurles would later be named as responsible for the killing of R.I.C. District Inspector Michael Hunt; [Note: all three assassins are named in a statement made by James Leahy, Commandant, No.2, Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.) (Mid) Tipp-Brigade. Jim Stapleton was also named for the killing of District Inspector William Harding Wilson outside Templemore post office, leading to the newspaper headlines, “Night of Terror” and “Templemore Attacked by Police & Military”.]

Acts of savagery country-wide, would now continue on both sides. Note one gruesome picture in the attached slide-show refers to the brothers Pat and Harry Loughnane, Co. Galway who were arrested, beaten, tied to the tailgate of a lorry, dragged along country roads, then further assaulted, wrists and legs broken, letters `’I.V.’ cut in their flesh, before being shot, hand grenades put in their mouths and exploded, and finally set on fire, before being dumped in a pond because they didn’t burn.

The Knocklong incident appeared to be a closed book, until the following January (1920), when Bridget Fitzpatrick was notified by the R.I.C. that she was obliged to appear as a witness in the case, at the trial of the prisoners in Limerick. The R.I.C. spoke about sending transport for her but she informed them that she would find her own way as she would be publicly ostracised by the Thurles Community, if observed in their company.

Bridget Fitzpatrick went to the railway station to take the train bound for Limerick on the day of the trial, to find a number of R.I.C. personnel were already in place; entering into the same carriage with her. On arriving in Limerick, they escorted her to William Street, R.I.C. barracks. There she was taken to a room to be further interrogated by three British Military officers who took a fresh statement from her. She had already been well briefed in advance by James (Jimmy) Leahy and by working colleague John McCormack; told to say exactly what she had told Inspector Hunt.

With a new statement given, she was taken to another room, the occupants of which were R.I.C. men and here she waited to be called into the Courtroom to give evidence.

In being escorted into the Courtroom by the R.I.C., she had to pass close to the six prisoners. As she passed, she remarked to Mixie O’Connell “Poor show from Ballyhooly”, which was his favourite saying. Same led to some laughter and excitement and orders were shouted not to allow Miss Fitzpatrick to speak to the prisoners. Giving evidence she stuck to her story adding that she knew none of the prisoners except Mixie O’Connell with whom she only knew as a business man residing in Thurles.

The final decision of the Court was to remand all six prisoners in custody for trial at a later Court. Miss Fitzgerald was held at William Street Barracks until 6:00pm that evening, until she insisted that she had to call to see a friend in Limerick. The R.I.C. then allowed her to leave, on the undertaking that she would be back at Limerick Railway Station, in time to catch the 7:00pm train back to Thurles.

She returned to the station in time to catch the 9:00pm train, in the vain hope that the R.I.C. would have left by an earlier train, but they had awaited her return and she had to endure their company back to Thurles, which was reached about midnight.

Meanwhile, Bridget had an interesting visitor in Thurles in the person of Mrs. Ethel Snowden (née Annakin), socialist, human rights activist, and feminist, the wife of Sir Philip Snowden, who later in 1924, became Chancellor of the Exchequer in a British Labour Governments. She had come to Ireland as a member of the British Labour Party’s Fact Finding Commission and when she arrived in Thurles, she had a letter of introduction to Bridget from Cumann na mBan Headquarters in Dublin. On the night prior to her visit, the R.I.C. and Black and Tans had run amok in Thurles and had done considerable damage to business premises. She showed Ethel around and let her see the havoc wrought by the Crown forces and she took her to visit the relatives of James McCarthy. [James McCarthy, Thurles, Co. Tipperary had been shot dead by an R.I.C. murder gang, after they had sent him a death threat on Dáil notepaper in an effort to incriminate Sinn Féin]. Bridget reported that Ethel Snowden appeared to be most sympathetic, making notes of all she had seen and heard.

The next trial date for the six Knocklong prisoners took place at Armagh Assizes in July of 1920 and the R.I.C. now served Bridget with a summons to attend as a witness. To avoid travelling with an R.I.C. escort she left Thurles a few days in advance of the trial, travelling to Armagh via Dublin and Dundalk.

In accordance with the instructions on the Summons, she called to the Courthouse in Armagh on the day before the trial opened and after waiting for some hours, she was interviewed by an official who just took her name and address. Accommodation was provided for her in a hotel with other witnesses.
The trial lasted for two days in front of a Judge and Jury with Bridget conveying similar evidence as imparted in Limerick and in the statements taken by D.I. Hunt. Cross-examination lasted about 15 or 20 minutes by the Counsel for the Prosecution. The two Shanahans and Murphy were found not guilty and acquitted, but the Jury disagreed in the case of Mixie O’Connell, Foley and Maher, with the latter three remanded in custody to Mountjoy Prison, to await a new trial.

Mixie O’Connell secured his release by going on hunger strike. He returned to Thurles but was only a few minutes back in his house, when he learned that he was likely to be re-arrested. He then left Thurles and went on the run. Edmund Foley and Patrick Maher did not take part in the hunger strike with O’Connell. Being innocent of the charges which had been preferred against them, they felt confident that they would not be found guilty when their next trial took place.

In January 1921, Commandant Jerry Ryan (later who would become Bridget Fitzpatrick’s husband) was arrested in Thurles by the R.I.C. and taken to Limerick Prison. In a letter to Bridget, which was smuggled out of the prison, he told her to warn Commandant Small not to carry out two planned ambushes at two points, which were marked on a map found on his clothing by the R.I.C.. Having warned Small she tore up that portion of the letter but retained the remainder of it, as it contained some instructions regarding money matters which Jerry Ryan wanted fixed up between the Quartermaster and the battalions Vice-Commandant.

Shortly afterwards, Bridget travelled to Limerick to visit Jerry Ryan and on her way back she was met at Oola railway station (Limerick/Tipperary border) by Miss McCarthy (daughter of the Mrs McCarthy previously referred to), latter a teacher in Oola. Miss McCarthy had received instructions from Bridget’s fellow worker, Mr John McCormack, to meet Bridget to prevent her from returning to Thurles, as the R.I.C, were searching for her. During her absence the R.I.C. had raided her accommodation in Fitzpatrick’s and had found in her trunk the portion of the letter from Jerry Ryan which she had retained. She stayed that night in Oola with Miss McCarthy and then went on the run, staying with friends in various places until after the ‘Truce’ in the following July.

In February 1921, the two remaining members of the Knocklong prisoners, namely Edmund Foley and Patrick Maher, were put on trial again, this time by court martial in Dublin. Before going on her visit to Limerick Prison, Bridget had received the usual notice from the R.I.C. to appear as a witness, but as she was on the run when the court-martial took place, she did not appear. Both men were found guilty and sentenced to death with both being executed by hanging in Mountjoy Prison on 30th May 1921.