Clare and the Great War

by Joe Power

  The Citizen Army of ill omen, with its attendant mobs of ill-conditioned and vicious followers … was only too ready to join in the insurrection, and it was these mobs which on the opening day of the insurrection, started on their old game of looting and pillage.

  The Saturday Record editorial distinguished between the leaders and men of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who fought ‘with splendid bravery and reckless enthusiasm’ by contrast with the forces of the Citizen Army led by James Connolly, ‘of ill omen, with mobs of ill-conditioned and vicious followers … looting and pillaging … ’. Clearly, there was an anti-socialist tone in this description, with memories of the Dublin ‘lock out’ in 1913.

  The Clare Journal was denounced by the Clare Champion as a unionist paper for using the sub-heading; ‘EXIT CASEMENT!’ to describe the execution of Roger Casement, who, the Clare Champion writer said, ‘would be remembered by Irish history as a patriot! His death was a tragedy, what a contrast to Carson and other traitors!’ The Saturday Record, just like the Irish Independent, also seemed to be calling for the execution of James Connolly, judging by the following paragraph: ‘Connolly still lies in Dublin Castle Hospital mending slowly from his wounds. His leg has been fractured below the knee joint. His ward of the castle has been guarded by half a dozen men with fixed bayonets. In the grounds of the castle are many graves, where have been buried soldiers and civilians killed during the fighting’.21

  Sackville (O’Connell) Street, Dublin after the Easter Rising. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

  In the weeks following the Easter Rising, many Sinn Féin activists and others were arrested throughout Clare and some, such as Michael Brennan of Meelick and Art O’Donnell of Tullycrine, were deported to England. Others who were deported around this time included the following Claremen: H.J. Hunt and W. Hunt, Corofin; W. Byrne, Cloyne South, Ennistymon; Martin Crowe, Corofin; Denis Healy, Bodyke; Eamon Waldron, Gaelic teacher, Ennistymon; Pat Comer, Gaelic teacher, Killaloe; M.J. Shannon, Quin, formerly of Fountain, Thomas Kierse, Corofin, and Colman O’Loughlin, a prominent Irish Volunteer and Sinn Féin leader from Carron, who had been one of the four signatories, along with Pearse, MacDonagh and O’Rahilly, of the document in which the Irish Volunteers were set up in September 1914. One county councillor, Denis Healy of Bodyke was also arrested. The paper noted that the young men were sent from Ennis to Limerick, that there was ‘no excitement over the arrests and only a few people watched their departure from the station’. The men were deported to England. The Saturday Record noted sarcastically that all those who had been arrested were farmers’ sons!

  A military flying column of about seventy to eighty men of the Leinster regiment camped in the Fair Green, Ennis and carried out searches for arms in Corofin and Crusheen. They had previously been in the Newmarket-on-Fergus area. The government ordered that all weapons should be handed up to the authorities but only two shotguns were handed up and no arrests were made. It seems that the two illegally-held shotguns were handed in after the parish priest in Carrigaholt persuaded the owners to hand them over to the police. About 150 extra police were brought to Ennis from counties Longford, Fermanagh and Down and they were billeted around the town. Eventually Martial Law was introduced which banned all public meetings, parades, sports meetings, fairs etc. All legally held shotguns and other guns were temporarily confiscated by the authorities.22

  ‘A Terrible Beauty is Born’

  Over the following months and for the rest of the year the Sinn Féin rebellion and its consequences transformed the political landscape in the county. A new charity was born when the Irish National Aid Association was founded to collect funds for the Irish Volunteers dependants’ funds. Collections were held after Masses on Sundays in many places throughout the county, such as at Barefield, Kildysart, Kilchreest, Clondegad and Liscannor.

  Charity of a different kind was promoted through an appeal by Sir Michael O’Loghlen, HML for County Clare, and Mr Thomas O’Gorman, DL, of Cahercalla, who initiated the fund from the Banner County to relieve the distress, with which the poor of Dublin, and thousands of deserving working men are faced with as a result of, what the Saturday Record of 20 May, called ‘the insane outbreak of Black Week’.

  The activities of the recruiting committees for the British Army seemed to have been greatly hampered and recruitment dropped off very sharply after the Rising. Mr C.E. Glynn was advised by Capt. R. Kelly, Department of Recruitment, Dublin, ‘much has happened since your letter of 24 April … civilian recruitment was temporarily suspended’. Col Barrington wrote to C.E. Glynn: ‘I am sorry, but I can do nothing at the moment due to the general upset.’ Capt. Kelly also wrote to Mr Glynn on 8 May: ‘I congratulate you on all you have done and are doing; I agree that it was of the utmost importance that you have been able to commit the local leading men and the clergy to loyal work.’ In another letter written in early June, Capt. Kelly thanked C.E. Glynn in connection with ‘your timely efforts on behalf of recruiting, which I am sure, had an important influence during the disturbed time’. C.E. Glynn also made some representations about Art O’Donnell, the young republican from Tullycrine, who was arrested in Kilrush during the Easter Rising; ‘I have written to the provost marshal about young O’Donnell and I hope the result will be that the wishes of yourself and your friends will be met’.

  The Battle of the Somme, 1916. (Photo by Geoffrey Mallins, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

  H.R. Glynn, DL, wrote to David Lloyd George, who had recently succeed Asquith as prime minister: ‘As an employer of labour in this county I beg to state that it will give me the greatest pleasure if I can be of assistance to you in any way and wishing you every success’. Early in July Glynn wrote to Mr Birrel, the Chief Secretary of Ireland, ‘Dear Mr Birrel, owing to the action of some men in the north of Ireland it is an anxious time, but you can rely on the Irish people and I trust in the interests of Ireland and the empire you will retain the wise policy of friendship towards Ireland this and every year … if I can be of assistance to you at any time do let me know.’ In October of that year Glynn contacted the Ministry of Munitions in Ireland, seeking information about munition contracts, as he was interested in investments in this work, ‘as there was money in it’. Glynn did not open a munitions factory in Kilrush, but he secured a contract to supply flour to the British Army.23

  Following some changes to the Home Rule Bill in Westminster, with more guarantees to unionists, an editorial of the Clare Champion in July signalled a sea change in the political allegiance of this paper away from allegiance to John Redmond’s policy and the Home Rule Party towards the new Sinn Féin party:

  Strange things happen, saddest of all Mr Asquith’s desertion of the Irish race. Now he is the betrayer of the living and dead. There is many a whitening bone in Flanders today, silent gruesome, but eloquent testimony of how Ireland kept the pact. These men were deceived, these men, even in death, have been betrayed. We feel sore in Ireland just now; we feel and rightly feel that we have been very dishonourably duped and callously betrayed, the British cabinet dishonestly and guiltily broke faith, a terrible act of treachery and deception.

  Col Arthur Lynch, MP, also denounced the Rising, but he did not break away from the Home Rule Party. Addressing a public meeting at Miltown Malbay in July, he condemned the executions, ‘These cold-blooded shootings were the worst action that a British government perpetrated for a long time … Those executed will take their place in the gallery of Irish heroes and martyrs beside Emmet and Tone … We should put in a stronger claim for Home Rule, the spirit of Home Rule must be enlarged.’ However, in May 1917 Lynch deplored the Rising, describing it as a ‘reckless scheme that miscarried’.24

  Meanwhile, the Great War continued and men were fighting and dying on the Western Front and indeed several other fronts. One Clareman, Lt Col C.J. O’Gorman, Royal Army Medical Corps, DSO, brother of T.A. O’Gorman, DL, of Cahercalla, was with the British forces in a campaign against the Germans in East Africa under the command of Gen. S
muts. He wrote to his brother:

  On the 11 March we had a big fight on the borders of German East Africa, when we beat the Germans towards their own railway, Tangamanschi. After taking this town I had to make arrangements to have all our sick and wounded transported to the base. The rains may stop active operations, but as soon as they are over, the pace will go on, as General Smuts is splendid. We had 186 wounded on the 11th. Fighting started at 12 noon and went on all the afternoon and most of the night. All the work had to fall on one field ambulance until the morning of the 12th, when I got a second field ambulance to assist. The field ambulance that did all the work was the one that I came out in command of from India in October 1914. Some of my field ambulance I cannot move from want of transport, so I am carrying on with what I have, but will be pleased when they get their transport, as it is a very unhealthy country, and lots go sick as well as the wounded. You will see more accounts of the war now that General Smuts has got a move on. The great thing about General Smuts is that he says nothing and does a lot …25

  There was little mention of recruitment during the year, especially after the Easter Rebellion. However, the Clare Journal of 4 December proclaimed that Councillor P. Kennelly, chairman of Ennis Urban Council, had enlisted after two years of promoting recruitment and encouraging others to enlist. He said that it was his ‘duty to enlist, following Willie Redmond’s example’. Also, the Saturday Record of 26 February noted with pride that four members of the Ennis Post Office staff joined the army telegraph section in February.

  Prisoners of War at Limburg

  By now, there were many Irish prisoners incarcerated in German, Turkish and Austro-Hungarian prisons, but the majority were held in German prisoner-of-war camps. In the middle of February eight Clare prisoners in Limburg, Germany sent letters of thanks to the ladies from the Prisoners Association of Clare for sending them very welcome parcels of food and other products. Most of the prisoners were from the Royal Munster Fusiliers. The food parcels included products such as half a pound of tea and sugar; tins of meat, salmon and beans; a dozen cigarettes; soup, cheese, bread; soap; golden syrup; mustard and biscuits. Meanwhile, a Kilrush man, Mr William Poole of Cappa, a captain in the Mercantile Marine Company enjoyed the hospitality of the Austro-Hungarians after his ship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean. He was reported to be ‘in splendid health’.

  One Irish prisoner, Pte Patrick Burke, who served about three years as a prisoner in Germany told a harrowing tale of his experiences as a prisoner of war and how Sir Roger Casement tried to recruit him and other Irish prisoners to form an Irish Brigade to fight against the British in the Easter Rising.

  He was already a soldier in the British Army when the war broke out and was in the Second Munster Division. He was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force and took part in the first Battle of Mons. However, during the army’s tactical retreat the Munsters were surrounded by the Germans at Etreux and were forced to surrender because their position was hopeless, when their ammunition ran out and when casualties were high.

  First they were kept in an old mill. One loaf of bread, weighing about 2lbs, was divided among each group of thirteen men. They were also given a bucket of cold coffee without milk or sugar, again to be divided among thirteen prisoners. For ‘dinner’ they got a bowl of thin, watery vegetable soup, without any more bread. They slept without mattresses on the cold floor of the old mill and there was no fire or any heat in the building. They were beaten regularly by the prison guards.

  After twelve days they were ordered to march for a day and that night were kept in a Belgian church and given some watery soup. On the next they marched again for a day without food. Even the wounded prisoners had to march if able, or else were carried by their comrades. Then they were put on to four wagons of a train and given a pound of black bread each, which was to last for the four days’ journey.

  While on the train journey they were shouted at and abused by the German civilians, who called them ‘Schweinhunds!’ and made gestures of cutting their throats. The wounded received no attention for these four days on the train.

  When they arrived at Sowenlager they were put into a field. The wounded were placed on a ‘sop of straw’. When it rained they were put into a tent, but there was only standing room. Some of ‘the poor chaps who were wounded had to lie down in the mud and water, while others stood up to their ankles in mud’.

  While in this camp they were put to work in constructing their own accommodation. They spent six months cutting and transporting timber from a wood, which they called ‘Siberia’. Each pair of able-bodied men had to carry six 20-foot planks for a distance of about 2 miles. They worked about twelve hours a day, from dawn to dusk. After their work they were fed a ‘drink of soup and a mouthful of black bread each’.

  Some of the men, ‘dying for a fag’, used to gather up the waste coffee thrown out of the cookhouse. They dried it and used to put it into their pipes. Others gathered withered leaves and cut strips of newspaper to make ‘cigarettes’.

  Then in November, some German officers came and sought detailed information from the prisoners. After this all the Irish prisoners were put into a separate group and not put to work for a few weeks. They were then transferred to another prison at Limburg, where they were told that there were some Irish ladies who would take care of them. At Limburg they were treated much better for a while. They were given knives, forks and spoons for the first time. Each man was given a fresh shirt and a 2lb loaf of bread.

  The men soon discovered the reasons for the sudden improvement in their prison regime. About a month after their arrival at Limburg they were visited by Sir Roger Casement, though they only found this out afterwards. Sir Roger tried to persuade them to join an Irish Brigade to fight with the Germans against the British. They were also given propaganda leaflets highlighting the history of British misrule in Ireland. They were told that England was losing the war and that Germany would win. Despite all these efforts to turn them from their allegiance to Britain, most of the prisoners did not wish to join; some who did were beaten up and almost killed by their fellow prisoners.

  On his second visit to the prison camp Casement offered each man a ‘bribe’ of £10 if he would join the Irish Brigade. He also told them that they would be joining about 10,000 Americans who would also fight for Germany. However, as there were no volunteers to join the Irish Brigade, they noticed that their rations were cut to ‘a small cut of bread and black coffee without milk or sugar’. Dinner consisted of vegetables or broad beans and there were no potatoes.

  On the occasion of his third and final visit to Limburg prison one of the prisoners threw an old boot at Casement and struck him in the forehead. Sir Roger Casement did not return again as he clearly failed in his mission to form an Irish Brigade amongst the Irish prisoners of war to fight for Germany against Britain.

  Their conditions deteriorated again and the men were put to work on the prison farm, sorting potatoes. If they were caught concealing even a small potato they would be punished by being put into solitary confinement for three days without any food! Or else they were put into a ‘hot press’ for a few hours. (A hot press was a small container in which prisoners were left four hours at a time, in cramped conditions and with no food or water.) Some of the men gathered up the potato skins that were discarded by the cooks. Other men were put to work in factories or in mines, where they were treated like slaves.

  Pte Burke stated that the food parcels sent from Ireland, irregularly at first, were a godsend. The men eagerly gathered around hoping that their name would be called out. Sometimes parcels were tampered with and straw or mouldy bread was put in the parcels.

  One factor that raised their spirits and did most to help them endure the harsh conditions of prison life was the occasional visits of an Irish priest, Fr Crotty, and a Belgian Christian Brother, who brought some religious consolation, ‘only for them all of us would be dead’. Fr Crotty ‘kept their spirits up and was always cheerful and most
helpful.’

  Then, in July 1916, Pat Burke and about thirty other prisoners were taken to Mannheim, where they were examined by German and Swiss doctors. Eventually, Pte Burke was sent to Switzerland, where he was examined by doctors. After about a week he was informed that he was being sent home to Ireland. Before that he was sent to recuperate at a place called Chateau D’Oey near Bern. He left Switzerland on 11 September, reached London on 15 September and arrived back in Ennis on 18 September.

  The newspaper reported that he was in poor health. ‘He was a well set-up young man, who looked very well despite the treatment he received. He was rapidly regaining his old health and spirits, but at times showed signs of the strain which he underwent in his soul-trying experiences.’

  Pte Burke’s recollections of the visits of Sir Roger Casement have been corroborated in several publications. Apparently Casement arrived at Limburg on 4 December 1914 as part of his mission to form an Irish Brigade from among the Irish prisoners of war at the camp to fight in the forthcoming rising being planned by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He addressed an audience of NCOs and ordinary rank and file, most of whom had been in the British Army for years before the war. However, he found them to be hostile to his mission. He told them that the German Government had made a promise of Irish independence, but he could not shake their loyalty to the British Army. A corporal named Robinson described how Casement was struck and pushed by the prisoners, after which he walked out of the camp. They greeted him with cries of ‘three cheers for Redmond!’ and they taunted him with questions such as ‘How much are the Germans paying you?’ He visited the camp on at least three occasions between 4 and 9 December, but his overall mission was a failure, as he only managed to persuade about 50 men to join ‘Casement’s Brigade’. He observed to one friend that he might be able to bribe them: ‘These men are mercenaries, pure and simple!’ The Irish prisoners were not moved by Casement’s republicanism and they insulted him.26