REMEMBERING ‘THE CAPTAIN’, DENIS HICKEY
On Tuesday of last week, July 6th, a special programme of events was organised to commemorate the 100th anniversary of an event that took place in 1921. On that day, Captain Denis Hickey from Badger’s Hill, Glenville was taken by boat for detention on Spike Island in Cork Harbour.
Born in 1880, the sixth of nine children of Michael Hickey and Abby Dinan, Denis joined the Irish Volunteers and was appointed IRA Company Captain in 1919. He was on active service all during the War of Independence and involve in several armed conflicts with Crown Forces. In June 1921, he was arrested and sentenced to three months in jail for the offence of ‘giving a false name’. On July 6th of that year he was one of thirty-one prisoners transferred to Spike.
On Tuesday 6th, a group of his grandchildren, great grandchildren and other relatives went to Spike Island to find out all about the prison regime in 1921. Tom O’Neill, an expert on the history of the War of Independence and Spike Island itself, welcomed the group and explained the background to Denis Hickey’s incarceration there. Tom gave a guided tour to the group, which was brilliant.
The Spike Island ‘experience’ is fantastic with so many exhibits, audio visual displays, pictures and memorabilia from the 1920s. Denis Hickey’s relations got a true glimpse of what life was like for ‘the Captain’ in 1921.
Having left Spike in the afternoon, the group then travelled to Ardnageehy Cemetery in Watergrasshill parish, where Captain Denis Hickey was buried in 1956. Prayers were said at the graveside and the national anthem sung. Next on the agenda, was a visit to Doonpeter Cemetery and St John’s Well in Glenville. The group walked from the Doon road to Doonpeter and then on along the valley to the Mass Rock - a path that was oft frequented by their ancestor.
The party then visited the house where Denis Hickey was born in 1880 and also the ancestral home of his mother, Abby Dinan at Chimneyfield. A long and lovely day ended at the home of Denis and Eileen Hickey in Badger’s Hill - Denis is a cousin of the Captain.
It was day of nostalgia and pride also for all those lucky enough to attend. Men like Captain Denis Hickey played a major part in gaining Irish freedom and it’s right and proper that they should be remembered. Incidentally, two of Captain Denis Hickey’s family are hale and hearty, Joe Hickey and his sister Christine McQuaid, who lives in America.
The chief organiser of last Tuesday’s special day was John Fitzgerald of Farrahy, Kildorrery - now living in Dublin. John’s late mother, Ina, was a daughter of Captain Denis Hickey.