30 April 1998 Edition
Remembering the Past: Death of Liam Lynch
By Wayne Sugg
In the early hours of the morning of 10 April 1923, over 1,000 Free State soldiers, under the command of Major General John Prout of Waterford Command, began a search and sweep operation of the Knockmealdown Mountains on the border of counties Tipperary and Waterford, looking to capture IRA leaders in the area.
One of the most fearless and dedicated republican leaders of the period, Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the IRA, along with IRA officers, Frank Aiken, Bill Quirke, Sean Hayes, Sean O'Mara, Sean Hyde, Sean Myles and Gerry Fermen had arrived in the area to attend a reconvened conference on the continuation of the war and what options were open to the IRA leadership.
The conference had begun on 23 March in a remote part of the Nire Valley near Ballynacarby, County Waterford, but was adjourned on 26 March because of the failure to agree on a common strategy. There were three options open to republicans: negotiate a settlement with the Free State regime; end the war and dump arms; or continue the fight.
General Liam Lynch pressed for a continuation of the struggle believing that the other options were not feasible. The Free State regime was not willing to negotiate an honourable and realistic end to the Civil War, and the idea of dumping arms was only putting off the struggle for another day. One thing republicans did agree upon was that surrender was not an option so it was decided to adjourn the conference for two weeks until 10 April.
Liam Lynch and his comrades arrived in the Newcastle area along the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains on the night of 9 April and billeted in farmhouses in the area. Guards were posted all along the routes to the farmhouse and at around 5am two republican soldiers, Ned Looney and Jim Burke, sighted around 60 Free State soldiers under Colonel Tommy Ryan and Captain Tom Taylor advancing towards the Newcastle area. The two Volunteers quickly made their way back to the farmhouses and alerted their comrades.
It was decided to head to Bill Houlihan's house and assemble there until the Free State troops passed by. Houlihan's was closest to the mountains. After Lynch and his comrades gathered in the house more republican scouts arrived to report a second Free State column approaching from the opposite direction towards the Newcastle area. It was decided by Lynch and about a dozen Volunteers to evade the Free State net by cutting across the windswept slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains.
Two hundred yards up the mountain, as they reached ground with no cover, a second Free State column under Lieutenant Larry Clancy opened fire on the exposed republican soldiers. Though only armed with side-arms the Volunteers returned fire, but their fire was ineffective against the heavy gunfire from the Staters.
When there was a lull in the fighting they set off but gunfire restarted. Liam Lynch fell to the ground, shot and mortally wounded. His comrades Bill Quirke and Sean Hyde picked up their chief and friend and attempted to carry him across the mountain slopes. But Liam Lynch, realising he was dying and not wanting to slow down his comrades' escape attempt, ordered that he be left where he was.
All documentation in his possession and his automatic were handed over to his comrades. Then, placing a heavy coat over his dying body, they bid farewell. When Lieutenant Clancy reached the spot where Liam Lynch was lying he asked him to identify himself (some of the younger Free State soldiers had been talking excitedly that they had captured DeValera). Lynch gave his name and rank, Chief of Staff Irish Republican Army.
The Free State soldiers dressed his wound and placed him on a stretcher made from rifles and coats and carried him down the mountain. A priest, Fr Hallinan, arrived on the scene and administrated last rites to the dying soldier.
Liam Lynch was then taken to a public house in Newcastle and an ambulance was sent for. While he was there a Dr Joseph Power attended to his wound. An ambulance finally arrived at around 3pm and he was then taken to St Joseph's Hospital in Clonmel. His last words were that he wished to be buried beside his friend and fellow republican Michael Fitzgerald of Fermoy. Fitzgerald had died in 1920 after 66 days on hunger strike.
At around 8.45pm that evening Liam Lynch, hero of the Tan War, Chief of Staff IRA and dedicated republican passed away. Ten days after his death the adjourned meeting which had been scheduled for 10 April took place at Poulacappla in east Tipperary. Frank Aiken was elected Chief of Staff. It was from this meeting, along with other meetings between DeValera and Aiken, that the order to suspend all offensive operations from 30 April and the ceasefire and dump arms order of May 24 came about. These events which resulted in the death of one of Ireland's greatest republicans took place 75 years ago this month.
In the early hours of the morning of 10 April 1923, over 1,000 Free State soldiers, under the command of Major General John Prout of Waterford Command, began a search and sweep operation of the Knockmealdown Mountains on the border of counties Tipperary and Waterford, looking to capture IRA leaders in the area.
One of the most fearless and dedicated republican leaders of the period, Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the IRA, along with IRA officers, Frank Aiken, Bill Quirke, Sean Hayes, Sean O'Mara, Sean Hyde, Sean Myles and Gerry Fermen had arrived in the area to attend a reconvened conference on the continuation of the war and what options were open to the IRA leadership.
The conference had begun on 23 March in a remote part of the Nire Valley near Ballynacarby, County Waterford, but was adjourned on 26 March because of the failure to agree on a common strategy. There were three options open to republicans: negotiate a settlement with the Free State regime; end the war and dump arms; or continue the fight.
General Liam Lynch pressed for a continuation of the struggle believing that the other options were not feasible. The Free State regime was not willing to negotiate an honourable and realistic end to the Civil War, and the idea of dumping arms was only putting off the struggle for another day. One thing republicans did agree upon was that surrender was not an option so it was decided to adjourn the conference for two weeks until 10 April.
Liam Lynch and his comrades arrived in the Newcastle area along the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains on the night of 9 April and billeted in farmhouses in the area. Guards were posted all along the routes to the farmhouse and at around 5am two republican soldiers, Ned Looney and Jim Burke, sighted around 60 Free State soldiers under Colonel Tommy Ryan and Captain Tom Taylor advancing towards the Newcastle area. The two Volunteers quickly made their way back to the farmhouses and alerted their comrades.
It was decided to head to Bill Houlihan's house and assemble there until the Free State troops passed by. Houlihan's was closest to the mountains. After Lynch and his comrades gathered in the house more republican scouts arrived to report a second Free State column approaching from the opposite direction towards the Newcastle area. It was decided by Lynch and about a dozen Volunteers to evade the Free State net by cutting across the windswept slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains.
Two hundred yards up the mountain, as they reached ground with no cover, a second Free State column under Lieutenant Larry Clancy opened fire on the exposed republican soldiers. Though only armed with side-arms the Volunteers returned fire, but their fire was ineffective against the heavy gunfire from the Staters.
When there was a lull in the fighting they set off but gunfire restarted. Liam Lynch fell to the ground, shot and mortally wounded. His comrades Bill Quirke and Sean Hyde picked up their chief and friend and attempted to carry him across the mountain slopes. But Liam Lynch, realising he was dying and not wanting to slow down his comrades' escape attempt, ordered that he be left where he was.
All documentation in his possession and his automatic were handed over to his comrades. Then, placing a heavy coat over his dying body, they bid farewell. When Lieutenant Clancy reached the spot where Liam Lynch was lying he asked him to identify himself (some of the younger Free State soldiers had been talking excitedly that they had captured DeValera). Lynch gave his name and rank, Chief of Staff Irish Republican Army.
The Free State soldiers dressed his wound and placed him on a stretcher made from rifles and coats and carried him down the mountain. A priest, Fr Hallinan, arrived on the scene and administrated last rites to the dying soldier.
Liam Lynch was then taken to a public house in Newcastle and an ambulance was sent for. While he was there a Dr Joseph Power attended to his wound. An ambulance finally arrived at around 3pm and he was then taken to St Joseph's Hospital in Clonmel. His last words were that he wished to be buried beside his friend and fellow republican Michael Fitzgerald of Fermoy. Fitzgerald had died in 1920 after 66 days on hunger strike.
At around 8.45pm that evening Liam Lynch, hero of the Tan War, Chief of Staff IRA and dedicated republican passed away. Ten days after his death the adjourned meeting which had been scheduled for 10 April took place at Poulacappla in east Tipperary. Frank Aiken was elected Chief of Staff. It was from this meeting, along with other meetings between DeValera and Aiken, that the order to suspend all offensive operations from 30 April and the ceasefire and dump arms order of May 24 came about. These events which resulted in the death of one of Ireland's greatest republicans took place 75 years ago this month.