The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
HOW A PRO ‘TAN’ PRIEST ENRAGED TRALEE TOWN
SIMON BROUDER EXAMINES THE STORY OF THE TRALEE DOMINICAN WHOSE OPEN SUPPORT OF THE BLACK AND TANS SAW A FELLOW PRIEST CALL FOR HIS EXECUTION
GIVEN Ireland’s staunchly Catholic culture, most priests and clerics would have had nothing to fear from the IRA.
However, at the height of the War of Independence, one Tralee priest had so raised the ire of local republicans and much of the community that his life was threatened.
What is particularly unusual about the incident, however, is the fact that his life wasn’t threatened by the IRA but by one of his own religious superiors. In 1920 The Dominican Order in Tralee had among their number a former British Army Chaplain named Father Edward Hyacinth Collins, who was known to the congregation by his adopted name, Fr Pius.
Given his experiences in the trenches of World War One, Pius had – unlike most other priests in Kerry – little sympathy for the IRA and the struggle for Irish Independence.
A notoriously thorny individual, Pius arrived in Tralee in the mid 1920 and his actions – such as locking the chapel gates at night, a previously unheard of practice – quickly earned him the animosity of the townsfolk.
While he was already extremely unpopular, its was the Youghal-born cleric’s support of the Black and Tans that turned him into something of a hate figure for his congregation and, unsurprisingly, for the Kerry IRA brigades.
Given the deference afforded to the church at the time, the level of open hostility to Pius shows just how much he had alienated his parishioners.
Soon after he took up his post in Tralee, Kerry IRA Intelligence Office Tim Kennedy began receiving reports about Father Pius and his pro-British leanings and actions.
Though a Priest openly supporting the Empire’s armed forces was a worry, of the most concern to Kennedy were Pius’ regular visits to the RIC Barracks, which were located just a stone’s throw from the Dominican Church Priory.
Kennedy and the IRA were told by numerous sources that Father Pius’ visits to the barracks were not in connection with his religious duties and, subsequently, the IRA approached the priest’s superior, the Domincan Prior Father Raphael Ayres – a supporter of the IRA and the independence struggle – to express their grave concerns about his subordinate.
The wildly unpopular priest prompted outright fury after the siege of Tralee in November 1920 when he backed the Black and Tans, who had just locked down the town; burned the County Hall to the ground; terrorised the entire community and shot several civilians, two of them fatally.
Of the vicious Tans who, only days before, had opened fire on Massgoers leaving a Tralee church, Pius had this to say.
“Tralee owes its safety to the protection afforded it by the military, which was as effective as it was courteous and becoming military discipline.”
If he was disliked before he was now utterly detested.
Matters finally came to a head in April 1921 when the Tralee IRA assassinated the brutal and reviled local Auxiliary officer Major John Allister McKinnon at Oakpark Golfcourse.
In the days immediately after McKinnon’s assassination, Father Pius – who was disgusted by the assassination of the ruthless officer – met a woman outside the Dominican Church, and in the course of the conversation he went out of his way to condemn the IRA men who had killed the Auxiliary commander.
It proved to be a grave mistake on the priest’s part, for the woman, while extremely devout, was a fervent republican.
Post-War testimony by Tim Kennedy stated that, in reply to Father Pius’ anti IRA comments, she said words to the effect that she “hoped God would bless the hands of the brave men who shot the tyrant down.”
Pius was shocked and incensed by her views, and the following Sunday he took to the pulpit to condemn the woman and her comments.
As the increasingly furious and stunned members of the congregation looked on from their pews, Father Ayres made his way onto the Alter and had a brief whispered conversation with his junior cleric.
An angered Father Pius said “My superior has forbidden me to preach”, stopped his sermon and continued the Mass.
A few days later, the woman’s home was attacked by Black and Tans, who threw explosives into the building.
The woman and her child only barely escaped with their lives.
The IRA soon learned that, immediately after his controversial sermon was halted, Pius had reported the entire incident to the Black and Tans and RIC men in the barracks across the road. This was a step too far and the IRA resolved to take action.
Kennedy contacted his mentor Michael Collins and explained the situation. Collins told Kennedy to meet with the Dominican Superior General in Ireland, Father Finbar Ryan, to ask that steps be taken to silence Pius.
After Kennedy explained the situation to Fr Ryan, a second elderly Priest, Fr Headley – a former Fenian who was also at the meeting – interjected with a startling question.
Fr Headley bluntly asked Kennedy what the IRA would have done were Fr Pius not a priest.
A surprised Kennedy answered that in such circumstances the IRA would have shot the person but that, given Fr Pius was a man of the cloth, such punishment was not acceptable in this case.
Fr Headley’s reply – as recounted by Kennedy – was unexpected to say the least.
“You are a brave man and this is no priest of God. Do your duty boy, and you need have no fear of the future,” Fr Headley reportedly said.
While the advice was not explicit, Fr Headley’s implication was clear: Father Pius should be shot.
Kennedy and Father Ryan were stunned, and Kennedy immediately assured Ryan that he would allow himself be shot before he would even consider shooting a priest.
“I don’t know whether it was Father Ryan or I was in the greater state of fright, but I think I recovered more quickly,” Kennedy said after the War.
“I said I would go back and consult again with my superior officers, but he may rest assured that I would submit to being put against the wall myself before I would do my ‘duty’ on a priest, no matter how bad the case was.”
Kennedy reported back to Collins – a man with few qualms about ordering executions – who was just as appalled by the notion of shooting Pius. A second meeting with Fr Ryan was quickly arranged, and at it an agreement was reached that Fr Ryan would summon Fr Pius to Dublin and offer him “some fatherly advice”.
Pius was moved to another parish in Newry, and it was only after the war that he would come back to Tralee. His years away had clearly given Pius time to reflect, and on his return he met with Tim Kennedy and expressed his deep regret that his actions had caused such distress to his order and to others.
He offered to make amends in any way possible and so he did.
Post-War, as Kerry County Council sought damages from the British for the burning of the County Hall during the siege of Tralee, Fr Pius took the stand and provided decisive evidence to prove that it was the Black and Tans and not the IRA who had burned the hall to the ground.
ALREADY DISLIKED, HE PROMPTED FURY WHEN HE BACKED THE BRITISH AFTER THE SIEGE OF TRALEE