The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
A magnificent account of Kerry’s independence battle
FREQUENTLY those who did most in various wars talked least.
There were, of course, a couple of exceptions to that maxim in Ireland — Dan Breen and Tom Barry. They never stopped talking about what they did, and Barry often seem to take umbrage at anyone who dared to claim that they had done anything, unless they gave him most credit.
Dan Breen has frequently been credited with starting the War of Independence at Solheadbeg in January 1919. Tom McEllistrim Sr could have made an even stronger claim but he was one of those people who never really talked about his involvement, even though he became a politician.
He was phenomenally involved but spoke little about his involvement. In over forty-five years in the Dáil, he made no reference to his involvement in the struggle for independence. He was a unusual politician in that talked so little.
It used to be said, facetiously, that the only thing he ever said in the Dáil was, “close the window, we’re in a terrible draft!” We can be sure he never said it, because there are no windows in the Dáil.
The ambush at Soloheadbeg took place on the same day as the formation of Dáil Éireann, but there was no connection what-so-ever between them. In fact, Dáil leaders were furious with Breen and his colleagues, because they upstaged the establishment of Dáil, as the big news next day was the killing of the two policemen at Soloheadbeg.
The argument could just as easily be made that Tom McElllistrim and his colleagues really initiated the War of Indepedence when they raided the Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks at Goratlea for weapons on April 13, 1918 at the height of the conscription crisis.
In the process two volunteers were killed, and Tom McEllistrim led an attempt the avenge their deaths on June 14, 1918 when he shot one of the two RIC men involved in killings at Gortatlea.
He shot Constable Patrick Fallon in the Mall, Tralee, at the height of the business day. Fallon was wounded but made a complete recovery.
Although Tom McEllistrim had planned to take part in the Easter Rebellion, it was called off following the Aud fiasco in the wake of Roger Casement’s arrival in Banna. McEllistrim was arrested, anyway and interned in Frongoch, Wales, with most of those who took part in the rebellion.
Martin Moore has brought out a very thorough, well-written book on Tom McElllistrim part in the events in Cork and Kerry during the War of Independence.
The book gives a very good insight into the various events. It clearly shows that it was not all action. Most of the time was preparation for actions, and waiting for the right opportunity. More ambushes and attacks were actually called off for various reasons than ever went ahead.
One ambush that would have involved around one hundred members of the IRA waiting around for almost a week had to be called off when the British Army took a different route. But McEllistrim was involved in the ambush at Clonbanin in which Brigadier-General Hanway Cummins was killed. He was the most senior British Officer killed in the conflict.
McEllistrim was also prominent in the ambush at Headford Junction on March 23, 1921. “Headford ranks among the larger scale actions of the War of Independence,” according to Martin Moore, who quotes extensively from both IRA and British reports of the attack, which lasted for over fifty minutes.
It was actually the largest Irish engagement in which the British Army was involved since the Easter Rebellion, but it was virtually ignored in the history books.
Dorothy Macardle does not even mention it in her magnificent chronicle of the War of Independence and Civil War. Maybe this should not really be that surprising when the IRA Chief of Staff Richard Mulcahy and his deputy, Eoin O’Duffy both suggested that very little had happened in Kerry during the War of Independence.
Martin Moore’s book, which features a painting of the funeral of the Royal Fusiliers killed at Headford Junction on its cover, is beautifully illustrated with rare photographs of many of the people mentioned in the story.
It is a magnificent account of many of the events in Kerry and the part played by Tom McEllistrim, who believed that eighteen British soldiers died at Headford Junction, while the British claimed that their casualties were one officer and six enlisted men.
Although this book concentrates on the activities of the Kerry No. 2 Brigade, it exposes deficiencies in relation to Kerry in broader histories of conflict.
Martin Moore’s book, ‘The Call to Arms: Tom McEllistrim and the Fight for Freedom in Kerry’, is being launched at Ballygarry Hotel in Tralee on Friday, September 23.