PART 5
BY JOHN FITZGERALD
Concluding the Story of that memorable day on Friary Street in 1921… If you missed the previous parts you can read these on the our website…
Phil Dillon, who was in the bottling store yard off Friary Street with the horse and trap that was to convey the weapons, realised that the ambush had misfired. He calmly abandoned the transport and walked out of the yard. He ambled into the nearest pub and sat down to have a drink.
All the members of the ambush team escaped, with the exception of the two men who had been shot. The soldiers moved along Friary Street with rifles cocked. They examined the two rebels lying on the ground. Both had loaded revolvers that had not been fired.
Tom Hennessy was dead. A bullet had struck his heart. Michael Dermody was alive, but had sustained a grievous head wound. Further down the street, the soldiers searched Tom Dullard, whom they assumed to be another member of the ambush team. He was lying in a pool of blood. They found no weapon on him.
As the soldiers patrolled the street, Dr. John Mitchell rushed out of his nearby dispensary and began to bandage the wounds of the two rebels. Soldiers ran up to him and struck him with rifle butts, leaving him stunned and scarred. They later claimed they mistook him for a civilian.
Fr. Pat emerged from the Friary to anoint the three men that lay bundled on the street. It transpired that he had been tipped off the night before that he might be needed that morning.
An army ambulance conveyed the three injured men to Kilkenny’s military hospital. Tom Hennessy was already dead. Tom Dullard died an hour or two later. Michael Dermody remained unconscious until his death at the hospital on March 4th 1921.
32 year-old Tom Hennessy was a farmer and dedicated Irish speaker. He had learned the language at night classes in Threecastles run by a Master Power. His family felt proud of the fact that he had died confronting his foes without drawing his gun.
Huge crowds attended his funeral at Tallow Church, Threecastles, on February 22nd. Among those who carried his tricolour draped coffin were Ned Dunne and Dick McEvoy, who had been warned for their own safety not to be seen at the funeral. But there was no stopping them, fear being a word unknown and unheard of in their vocabulary.
After the funeral, Tom Hennessy’s brother, Tim, was arrested by Black and Tans and driven away in a Crossley Tender.
25 year-old Michael Dermody’s send-off was equally well attended. On March 5th, his body was taken to Tallow Church. Friends placed a Tricolour on his coffin and he was buried in the same grave where Tom Hennessy had been interred. At the graveside, his four brothers sang “Wrap the Green Flag Around Me”, a favourite song of his.
Just days prior to the ambush, Michael had booked a ticket to America. He had intended to go and live there with his girlfriend. A new life “across the Broad Atlantic” had been his dream. His sweetheart broke down and had to be consoled at his funeral.
The body of Tom Dullard was interred at St. Patrick’s burial ground. 37 year-old Tom had lived in Walkin Street. He had worked for both the Corporation and the Fire Brigade. He left behind him a wife and five children, the youngest a six month old baby. A deeply religious man, he had given his wife the bulk of his weekly wages.
Members of Kilkenny Corporation were among the throng of local people who turned up to say goodbye to a friend and a neighbour…a good father and a caring husband…to the man who got caught in the crossfire on that terrible day in Friary Street.
Honouring our heroes…
The late author/historian Jim Maher, of the South Circular Road, Kilkenny, did more than most to chronicle the War of Independence in these parts.
Following retirement from his reaching position Jim devoted much of his time to researching the subject. He interviewed scores of former local IRA men and women. His first book The Flying Column-West Kilkenny and East Tipperary (1987) became an instant classic, and a runaway best-seller locally. He also wrote a biography of Harry Boland, and the definitive account of how Ireland finally abolished the Oath of Allegiance to Britain.
When Jim was honoured with a Mayoral Award at City Hall in 2022 he told the huge assembly that his dearest wish was to see the creation of a monument to the local men and women of the War of Independence.
This immediately struck a chord, not only with those listening to him on the day, but across the county. The call was soon taken up nationwide and globally by people with Kilkenny connections.
Monuments to Kilkenny soldiers who fell in the Great War have, aptly, been erected in the City and in Callan and indeed memorials exist recalling a range of other aspects of local heritage…but this one has yet to materialize.
Unfortunately, Jim did not live to see his dream realized. He died last year.
However, I’m delighted to say that his quest has since been taken to heart by a growing lobby of groups and individuals countywide. I note that one group alone has a social media following of more than 800 people on its Facebook/What’s App pages, with many others availing of these forums to support the campaign…adding their voices to the call for a War of Independence Monument in Kilkenny.
Perhaps in the run-up to the local elections in June people who feel strongly about the issue will contact the candidates and ask them to back the necessary funding for a monument.
After all, it’s thanks to the sacrifices of those brave Irish men and women that we have the measure of freedom and independence we’ve got today.
Hopefully, Jim Maher’s heartfelt call for a monument to our heroes will soon be answered…
Let’s have that monument!
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My novel, Invaders, tells the story of how a small band of men and women in 17th century Ireland took on one of the most powerful armies in the world. It’s available from Amazon and Kilkenny bookshops.
