Clare and the Great War

by Joe Power

  Lord Inchiquin, in addressing the council, said that the Home Rule Party and the clergy of all denominations were in favour of recruitment, and in fact, he thought that the people of the entire county were in favour of it. But he said that the farmers had done very little, while the people of the towns had done well in joining the army and navy. The Clare Recruitment Committee wanted the sympathy and support of the councillors and wanted them to canvass potential recruits in their electoral areas.

  Dr Edmund Frost, speaking about the Newmarket-on-Fergus district, said that seventy or eighty young men had enlisted, and with the exception of Mr McMahon of Knocknagun, they were all from the labouring classes. He stressed that it was proper and opportune that the farmers should come forward.

  One councillor, Mr Bart Crowley, from the Knockerra district, rejected the allegations that the farming class were ‘slackers’. He thought that the resolution, if carried, ‘would be a stepping stone towards conscription’. He said that sixty or seventy young men from his rural area around Knockerra had enlisted in the army, but because they joined in the towns, they were included as urban recruits.

  Sir Lucius O’Brien, the Right Hon. 15th Baron Inchiquin in his coronation robes, 1902. (Courtesy of the Hon. Grania R. O’ Brien)

  A motion to form a central committee comprising members of the county council and the recruitment committee to promote recruitment voluntarily was passed by thirteen votes to six. One of those who voted against the motion, Mr Bart Crowley, said that ‘he did not want to be a recruiting sergeant for the British Army!’

  Eight months later, another resolution was passed by Clare County Council after a heated debate in the council chamber. This resolution unanimously protested against conscription in Ireland.7

  ‘Freedom Begets Loyalty’

  Early in January the Clare Champion had an editorial, which reflected the opinion of its proprietor and editor on the war and Ireland’s role in it. It still supported the policy promoted by John Redmond and the Home Rule Party, though there were reservations about the question of Ulster exclusion from Home Rule. The editor rejected the old Fenian policy and by using the phrase ‘freedom begets loyalty’ was still accepting Redmond’s policy of support for the war:

  … Ireland’s position is that having got Home Rule, England’s difficulty is no longer Ireland’s opportunity.’ The Home Rule Act is now on the statute books and the majority of Irish people have accepted that as a guarantee of England’s good faith. The only cause for concern is the fact that an amending bill has been promised to Ulster, and a small minority of our people believe, or affect to believe, that this renders Home Rule uncertain. The vast majority of people, however, accept Home Rule as an Act of Irish settlement and they have shown in the present crisis that freedom begets loyalty …8

  Col Arthur Lynch returned to Clare early in the New Year, partly to redeem his reputation among the nationalists of the county and to support the cause of voluntary recruitment. He was, however, given a frosty reception by his constituents. An editorial comment in the Clare Champion of 12 February 1916 stated about his visit, ‘Never in political history has an Irish MP received such an icy reception by a body of representative constituents.’ His coming was not announced in the press. He arrived at Ennis and proceeded to Ennistymon by rail and though he notified some of his supporters of his visit, no one turned out to meet him. The Clare Champion editor commented, ‘He looked a lonely and desolate figure and the chilling nature of his reception must have brought home to him how much he had offended and annoyed nationalist opinion by his unnatural and unworthy literary effort, which some wags in the west re-christened, Ireland: Fatal Hour.’

  Dr Fogarty’s Lenten pastoral was issued in February and he made no comment whatsoever about the war, or recruitment. But, perhaps influenced by the frightful mortality of the war, he devoted the entire pastoral letter to the neglected condition of graveyards in the diocese. The Clare Journal may have been disappointed with his seeming lack of enthusiasm for the war, but they compensated for this by taking selected quotes from the Lenten pastorals issued by other members of the Irish hierarchy, who were pro-war with sub-headings such as ‘justice of the allied cause’, ‘unwarranted German aggression’, ‘cruelties and excesses of the Prussians’, the ‘desecration of Catholic churches in Belgium, France and Poland’, and ‘the Armenian massacre’. The Clare Journal published a speech by Revd John Mullan, Provincial of the Passionist Order at Mount Argus, Dublin, appealing for Irish men to volunteer ‘to fight for Ireland and their co-religionists in Belgium’.9

  Recruitment in West Clare

  Mr C.E. Glynn, Kilrush, controller of recruitment in West Clare, was tireless and enthusiastic in his efforts to promote recruitment in the area. He claimed to have persuaded more than a hundred recruits to enlist since he was appointed in November. However, he complained about the lack of a recruiting office in Kilrush, which was three-and-a-half hours’ journey by rail from Ennis and which did not have a recruiting sergeant. C.E. Glynn wrote to the Lord Lieutenant, Baron Wimborne seeking a roving commission in the army. In his letter Glynn states that he met Baron Wimborne at Limerick and at the coursing meeting at Clounanna,

  since my appointment over 100 recruits have been accepted … but I find I am greatly handicapped in recruiting … the recruitment office is three and a half hours railway journey to Ennis … When I ask a man to join it is awkward and unpleasant when he replies to me ‘why are you not in uniform yourself?’… It is hard to expect men to throw up their employment and go to Ennis and find that they are rejected, as happened in several cases.

  But he was advised that his civilian status gave him more freedom and flexibility and that he would be more useful as a civilian with his wide contacts than as a commissioned officer.

  C.E. Glynn wrote to Capt. Kelly at the Recruitment Office in Dublin to complain:

  Up to now the whole of West Clare has been neglected … it is hard to get recruits without a recruitment sergeant in the district since last September and no recruitment office … I hope you will take steps to have paid recruiters as suggested appointed immediately in the following towns of West Clare, Kilkee, Kilrush, Doonbeg, Miltown Malbay, Ennistymon, Kildysart, Knock, Carrigaholt, etc.

  On Saturday I called on a great many influential people in Ennis, Ballycorick, Ballynacally, and Kildysart, including some of the leading ladies, businessmen, JP’s, county councillors, district councillors etc. and most of them promised to assist me and act on the proposed local committees and to do everything in their power to forward recruiting. I hope to have seen all the principal people within a fortnight.

  May I have your permission to insert a short notice in the local papers for people who are desirous of helping in recruitment? It is advisable to hold recruiting meetings at different venues with a band in attendance and send down some good speakers. If John Redmond could be induced to visit and to address a meeting in Kilrush or Ennis, it would have a splendid effect.

  Mr Glynn secured two paid recruiting agents, one civilian and one military, in each of the market towns of West Clare, to be paid 14s per week and 2s 6d for each successful recruitment. However, Mr Glynn suggested that ‘the recruiting agents were not to be badly wounded and they were warned that they must not talk about the horrors of the war,’ in case they discouraged potential recruits. He claimed to have travelled more than 2,000 miles since his appointment, without receiving a penny in expenses. The West Clare Recruiting Committee recommended that the following people be employed as paid recruiters: Thomas Shannon, Ennistymon; Michael Bohannon, Kildysart; J. Cunningham, Kilrush; William Frost and Francis Keane, Kilkee.

  At a meeting in February, Kilrush Urban District Council unanimously passed the following motion:

  That we, the members of Kilrush Urban Council, have read with much interest the manifesto issued by Mr John Redmond to the Irish people, that we desire to express our unanimous approval and appreciation of his efforts to bring the war to a successful termination,
and we feel it is the duty of every Irish man and woman to do their best to assist him in every way by encouraging young men eligible for military service to come forward voluntarily at once and take their place in the Irish regiments, which are gallantly fighting in defence of our empire.

  This resolution was actually drafted by Mr C.E. Glynn, who asked the chairman of Kilrush UDC, J. Ryan, to propose it and the vice-chairman, B. Culligan to second the proposal. Mr Glynn also met the chairman of Ennis UDC and persuaded him to have a similar resolution proposed at Ennis Urban Council. A letter from John Redmond urging the Kilrush Board of Guardians to support recruitment was read out at a meeting of that board, seeking their support. Mr Carmody proposed a motion that the Kilrush Board of Guardians unanimously support the motion. However, two members dissented. Mr O’Brien stated that the Irish were slaughtered at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli. Another member, Mr Lillis, also objected to the motion, stating, ‘this is England’s war not Ireland’s war’. After a heated exchange between the chairman, Mr W.C. Doherty, JP, and the two objectors, the motion was passed by twenty-six votes to two.

  Meanwhile, Clare County Council passed another motion supporting voluntary enlistment, but rejecting conscription. Mr C.E. Glynn was instrumental in persuading Mr J. Kett, of Kilkee, chairman of Clare County Council, to call a special meeting of the council to facilitate an address by a delegation from the County Clare Recruitment Committee, led by Lord Inchiquin. However, not all of the councillors were enthusiastic about recruitment, for instance, members of Kildysart Rural District Council refused to allow the letter from John Redmond to be read at their statutory meeting in March.

  Lord Pirrie, chairman of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, a friend of H.R. Glynn, congratulated him for the successful meeting of Clare County Council, ‘I am glad such a successful meeting was held under your direction and that County Clare shows such a good fighting spirit’.

  Early in February C.E. Glynn advised Mr Dinneen of the Department of Recruiting:

  I am sending you a copy of a circular which we are sending out to all the parish priests in the district as well as several others … We are endeavouring to get all the local boards to pass resolutions in favour of Mr Redmond’s policy and manifesto … I hope the names of the men eligible for military service will not be published in the Clare papers at present, or at least until the time is ripe for same.

  It seems from Mr Glynn’s letter that the Department of Recruitment proposed to publish a list of all men of military age in the local papers. Presumably, the purpose of this tactic was that by highlighting their names there would be public pressure on them to sign up. Fortunately for many young men, the time for the publication of such a list was ‘not ripe’.

  Mr Dineen at the HQ of the Department of Recruitment complimented Mr Glynn for involving the clergy, which he said, ‘was a step in the right direction, and if you succeed, it will be all plain sailing in future as regards recruiting.’ Mr C.E. Glynn got the public bodies of West Clare, such as boards of guardians as well as rural and urban councils, to pass resolutions in favour of voluntary recruitment. Capt. Kelly of the Department of Recruiting, Dublin, thought it was ‘a capital idea to involve the public boards in the area to get their support’.

  Mr C.E. Glynn complained to Capt. Kelly of the Department of Recruitment in Ireland about the fact that many West Clare men were persuaded, by high wages and other inducements, to travel to England and Wales to work in munitions factories and in mines. He condemned this ‘leakage’, which was damaging to recruitment in West Clare:

  5 REASONS WHY IRISHMEN SHOULD JOIN THE ARMY

  The country is engaged in a just war.

  We were pledged to defend the sacred rights and liberties of Belgium.

  Had we not struck a blow for Belgium, our name would have been disgraced among the nations of the world.

  If the Germans come to Ireland and we should be at their mercy – what that mercy is likely to be can be judged by Germany’s treatment of Belgium.

  During the war thousands of Irish soldiers have upheld the reputation of Ireland as one of the great fighting races of the world. Never have Irish soldiers shown greater devotion, more splendid heroism, than they have displayed on the battlefields of Belgium.

  More MEN are wanted NOW!

  Enlist to-day,

  Join your gallant countrymen in Belgium

  GOD SAVE THE KING

  GOD SAVE IRELAND

  Clare Journal, 11 March.

  I wish to draw your attention to the fact that the following men have signed forms for Mr Blackhall, Clerk of Petty Sessions, Kilrush, and are leaving for England and Wales: Mark Coughlan, c. 20 years old; Dan Foley, about 35/40 years old; and Tom Kelly, 25 years old, all of whom left on 16 March. The following men have now signed to leave today or Monday for South Wales – Ed O’Brien, c. 22 years; John Grogan, c. 25 years, Michael Downes, c. 40; James Bourke, c. 23 years and J. Kiely, c. 20 years old. If all the men are taken out of this country by the English Labour Exchanges it will be difficult to get recruits in Ireland. Very high wages and other inducements are offered to encourage men to go.

  Some unknown recruits at Kilrush House, c. 1915.

  (Courtesy of Glynn papers, per Paul O’Brien)

  He wrote to Barrington at this time also to complain about the ‘leakage’. ‘I hear a great many men are at present leaving West Clare for England, where they have been offered very high wages and other inducements to work for railway companies and in mines, and that will prevent recruiting in the district. The Clerk of the Petty Sessions at Kilrush is filling up the forms and is sending these men away’. There was an implied suggestion in this assertion that if the men were unemployed in West Clare, then they might be more inclined to enlist, because of their poverty.

  Mr C.E. Glynn arranged a huge public recruitment meeting at Kilrush in February, ‘which was attended by a large and enthusiastic crowd’. At this meeting it seems that eleven men decided to enlist and a further fifteen men ‘agreed to think about it’.10

  The well-known nationalist Tom Kettle MP, sent a letter to the Irish people calling upon farmers’ sons to enlist and fight for Ireland. He wrote that there are masses of unemployed and under-employed labourers in Ireland. John Redmond issued an appeal to the farmers of Ireland to join up and help to sustain the three Irish divisions. Later in the year the viceroy, Lord Wimborne, appealed to the farmers to enlist and fight for Ireland. These letters were published in the Clare Journal of 24 and 28 February and 2 March and in the Saturday Record of 28 October and 18 November 1916.

  Besides the major propaganda and advertising campaigns seeking recruits for the British Army, anonymous poems were occasionally published in the local press urging conscription, such as the following:

  Onward to battle, ye brave men of Erin

  Fill up the gaps till victory be won

  Let each do his part till the final destruction

  Of Belgium’s despoiler, the race of the Hun.

  They may boast of the ‘Kultur’ their proud domination,

  Their Kaiser may rave about his ‘place in the sun’,

  But here is our answer, it can’t be mistaken,

  It lies in the bayonet that’s fixed in our gun.

  Then shoulder to shoulder, young men of Erin,

  Come forward and join, for there’s work to be done,

  Far better we died on the Altar of Freedom,

  Than live on as slaves of the bloodthirsty Hun.

  Rally, then, you men of Clare, ready to do or dare,

  Think of the honour the Munsters have won,

  Sons of old Brian Boru your country appeals to you,

  On then for Ireland and stick to your gun.

  ‘CLARE’

  Other letters to the local press attacked those who would not join as being cowardly. The editor of the Clare Journal thought that one letter, written anonymously by ‘Jack’, allegedly a private of the Leinster Regiment at Kilworth Camp, to his ‘old folks’ at home in Newmarket-on-
Fergus, ‘breathes a fine spirit, worthy of imitation’:

  Dear Old Folks … I was very sorry to hear of Patrick McMahon’s noble death, for after all, there is something noble and grand in dying such a death. What can be nobler than to die in defence of our homes, our loved ones at home? And to know that one is helping even in the smallest way from Belgium’s and Servia’s fate is consoling, even though we are living a life of comparative discomfort; the little sacrifice is worth it.

  To me it seems degrading and shameful that so many Irish boys can close their ears to the call. They must be devoid of every spark of manly courage, and to think that they are the descendants of the noble warriors whose deeds were daring and self-sacrificing for faith and home, and which has made Irish history the most soul-stirring reading in the world, is absolutely appalling.

  … With my love to all, I remain, always, your devoted son and brother,

  Jack’.11

  The Irish Volunteers

  The crime rate in Clare had greatly decreased because of the war. Addressing the Grand Jury at the Ennis Quarter Sessions, Judge Bodkin KC said that County Clare was at one with crimeless Ireland. There were only three cases before the court, none of any special character, two cases of larceny and one of burglary. The low level of crime may have been related to the enlistment of hundreds of young unemployed men from the towns of Clare.

  Judge Bodkin said that in the great crisis ‘Clare had done its duty, and no towns in any part of Ireland in proportion to their population had more distinguished themselves than Ennis and Kilrush. They had sent many brave soldiers to the front, men who had done their duty fearlessly to uphold the traditions of the Irish race as the finest and cleanest fighters in the world’.12