The Volunteers Irish Citizen Army IRA Cumman Na mBan Photo File Part 2

As the Irish Bureau Military History have released War of Independence Records, here is my Mam’s Uncle Joe, “Statement” I remember hearing a few more “Stories” when he’d come to visit my Mam back in the 1970’s… ROINN COSANTA. BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21.
STATEMENT BY WITNESS DOCUMENT NO. W.S. 728
Witness
Joseph O’Carroll,
2 0’Daly Road,
Drumcondra,
Dublin.
Identity.
Member. of Irish Citizen Army, 1916 -;
Member of ‘C’ Coy. 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade,
1917 -.

Subject.
(a) National activities, Dublin, 1916-1921;
(b) Bloody Sunday, 21/11/1920.
Conditions, if any, Stipulated by Witness.
Nil
File No. S.2009
Form B.S.M.2

CONTENTS.
Page
1. Police disarmed at Three Rock Mountain
2. I.R.A. Guard for Executive Meeting of I.R.A Leaders.
3. Bloody Sunday
4.Active Service Unit
5. Attempted rescue of Seán MacEoin
6. Auxiliary Officers ambushed at Capel Street Bridge.
7. A.S.U. arrest I.R.A. with British Passports.

About October 1916 I joined the Irish Citizen
Army. I think it was a man by the name of Kelly was
Company Officer. I attended many weekly parades and
patrols at Liberty Hall. In November 1917 I transferred
from the Citizen Army to “C” Company of the 3rd
Battalion. Simon Donnelly commanded the Company at that
time and Joe O’Connor was in charge of the Battalion.
Up to 1919 things were very quiet in the Battalion. Our
activities were confined to drilling and manoeuvres
on Sundays. We raided houses for arms in the Fitzwilliam
Square area. We were successful in getting a few
revolvers and shotguns as a result of these raids.
At that time our Company was badly equipped in the line
of arms.
Police disarmed at Three Rock Mountain.
On a Sunday early in January, 1919, the whole
Battalion was on manoeuvres in the Three Rock Mountain
area. We were just stopped for a break for lunch
when three R.I.C. men approached us (a Sergeant and two
Constables). The Company Captain at that time was
Captain Flanagan. He told us to remain where we
were and permit the police to come right up to us.
When they reached us Captain Flanagan asked them what
they wanted and the Police Sergeant said “You are
under arrest”. Captain Flanagan said “I don’t recognise
your authority and I am placing you under arrest”,
and he disarmed them immediately. He sent cyclist
scouts to different points on the way home, when the
operation was over. Then we were ordered to disperse
and two men specially selected took the guns home.
I should mention that we tied up the police with their
suspenders and they were there for some hours before
they were released.
When we arrived at Rathfarnham on the way home
there were about six lorry loads of Police moving
out towards the Three Rock Mountains.

2. I.R.A. Guard for Executive Meeting of I.R.A, Leaders.
An Executive meeting of I.R.A. was held at
25, Parnell Square, sometime late in the year 1920.
Mick Collins, Dick Mulcahy and others were present.
I dont know what the purpose of the meeting was but
a number of us were detailed to do guard duty there.
We took up positions inside the hall and remained there
for about two hours. I cannot recall what specific
instructions were given to us but the general idea
was that we were there in the event of the place being
raided by the British Military or Police and we were
to use our arms against them if this happened.

3. Bloody Sunday.
About three days before Bloody Sunday I attended
a meeting at MeGees of Terenure. At that meeting only
selected men of the Company were present. Paddy
Flanagan told us that an operation had been planned for
the following Sunday, 21st November. It was the shooting
of a number of British Agents who were residing in
hotels or private houses throughout the city. He
further told us that those present at that meeting
were to proceed to 28 Upper Pembroke Street at 9 a.m.
on Sunday for the purpose of shooting British agents there.
He said that on Saturday night we were to assemble at
the Co-Operative Stores in Abbey Street where a Mr.
Connolly, the father of a member of the Company was
caretaker there. We went to this place as instructed
on Saturday night and remained there throughout the
night. On Sunday morning our party which consisted
of about 30 strong proceeded to 38 Upper Pembroke Street
with Paddy Flanagan in charge. He divided up the
party placing a number of outposts around the different
points adjacent to the house. About half the party
were detailed to enter the house and carry out the actual
shooting. I was one of the party which entered the
house. When we knocked at the door it was opened
immediately. I think there was an arrangement made
previously with the caretaker. However the caretaker
was put under arrest. Then the whole party filed in
through the open door and proceeded to the different rooms
in the house and questioned the occupants. We had the
names of the agents for whom we were looking and when we
located them one was shot in his room and the other
man was taken down stairs and shot. The reason the
man was shot in his room was because he had heard the
commotion and had got up and when we came in he fired
at us. The two men who were shot were Major Dowling
and Major Crookshanks. We took over the guns of the
dead men and our entire party got safely away. We
deposited our guns with Miss May Connolly who was a
Tobacconist’s assistant at Bridgeman’s, Butt Bridge.
Having done this we retired home.
As. a result of this operation I had to leave
my job and I was on the run for a while until the
Active Service Unit was formed. I was Rotary
Machinest at the time employed on the Evening Herald
Staff.

4. Active Service Unit.
Sometime about Christmas 1920, I was instructed
to attend a meeting at Oriel Hall. Here I was told
arrangements were being made to establish an Active
Service Unit. I attended the meeting which was addressed
by Mr. Oscar Traynor who was then O.C. of the Dublin
Brigade. He told us at that meeting that it was now
proposed to organize an Active Service Unit which would
be available day and night for operations against
enemy forces in the city. He said that Paddy Flanagan
had been appointed O.C. of this Unit. Oscar Traynor
also said that we would be paid soldiers and would
receive £4. 10. per week for life. Michael Collins
later told us that the survivors of this Unit would be
well looked after. Immediately the meeting was over
we were organised into four sections numbered 1, 2, 3
and 4. I was allotted to No. 3 Section with Michael
Stephenson in charge of our Section. Our Headquarters
was located at Mrs Brown’s of Crown Alley. This was a
small sweet shop and her husband was a member of the
A.S.U. We were constantly armed from the time we
became members of the Active Service Unit. Each of
us had a revolver and 20 or 30 rounds of ammunition
which we had with us continually. We reported to
Brown’s shop every morning. Whenever operations were
planned for the day an Intelligence Officer met us there
and gave us details of the job which was to be carried
out that day and we operated from Brown’s house.

5. I think one of the first operations I took part
in as a member of the A.S.U. was the ambushing of a
lorry of Auxiliaries in Dame Street. This was carried
out from the side of Jury’s Hotel. It had been known
for some time that it was usual for this lorry to
proceed from the Castle down Dame Street at a regular
time each evening. Paddy Flanagan took about
10 of us to ambush this lorry. He placed us at the
corner of a street running down by the side of Jury’s
Hotel. When the lorry came abreast of us we opened
fire with revolvers and Paddy Flanagan threw a grenade
Some of the occupants of the lorry were wounded.
Attempted Rescue of Sean MacEoin.
Information reached the Active Service Unit
that Sean MacEoin who had been arrested in his own area
was being conveyed by ambulance to Dublin, to stand trial
by Courtmartial.
Instructions were issued to two Sections. of
the A.S.U. that this ambulance was to be intercepted
in the vicinity of Lucan and MacEoin was to be rescued.
On the day that the rescue was planned we took lip
positions near Lucan and remained in them for about
five hours. Eventually word came through that the
rescue was off as it had been discovered that MacEoin
was conveyed to the city by a different route.

6. Auxiliary Officers ambushed at Capel Street Bridge.
Intelligence people reported that Auxiliary
Officers were in the habit of travelling in a small
car from Dublin Castle to the Depot in Phoenix Park
at about six p.m. each day. The route was down
Parliament Street, across the bridge and on to the
North Quay. Instructions were issued that this car
was to be ambushed. Early in the summer of 1921
Numbers 3 and 4 Sections took up positions on the Quay
on each side of Capel Street Bridge. We weren’t
long there when the car arrived containing four occupants
We opened fire on it immediately with revolvers and
grenades. We fired at close range and we were told
later that two of the occupants were vary badly wounded.
They swerved and accelerated and the occupants didn’t
return fire. Evidently they were totally surprised.

7. A.S.U. arrest I.R.A. Men with British Passports.
G.H.Q. Intelligence had information that a
number of men from the West of Ireland who had served
in the I.R.A. Units there were now stopping at the
Globe Hotel and a Hotel in Marlboro Street prior
to their going to England and that they had received
British Passports to travel. G.H.Q. decided that
these men were to be arrested by us and their passports
confiscated. The names and addresses of these men
were supplied to us. At about 5 p.m. on a date
early in 1921 members of the Active Service Unit raided
the Globe Hotel and the Hotel in Marlboro Street
where these men were staying. I was a member of the
party which went to the Hotel in Marlboro Street and
we found the two men for whom we were looking. We
questioned them as to their names and addresses and
having satisfied ourselves as to their identity we
asked them for their passports. They didn’t have
the passports in their possession and we then
discovered that some ladies were accompanying them.
As we could not search the ladies Michael Stephenson,
one of the party, left the Hotel and brought back
with him members of the Cumann na mBan, who carried
out the search and discovered the passports. The
men were then taken under escort to Harcourt Street
and later were taken to 100 Seville Place where I
believe they were to be courtmartialled. Evidently the
Castle Authorities got information about the unusual
activities around 100 Seville Place and they surrounded
it by Auxiliaries and raided it. Four of us were
arrested there with the prisoners. Fortunately
none of us had our guns on us but one revolver and
an old rifle was discovered on the premises. It
seemed the prisoners satisfied the authorities because
they were put in a separate car and we were taken in
another car to the Castle.

8. There we were interrogated
by Captain Hardy, British Intelligence Officer. I
should have mentioned tat when we were first brought
into the Castle we were badly bashed up by the Auxiliaries.
Captain Hardy having finished his interrogation with us
we were transferred to Arbour Hill. After spending
about a week or two there we were taken to the North
Dublin Union for. courtmartial. The charge as far as I
remember was concerned with being a member of an
illegal organisation and acting illegally in arresting
men whom we had no authority to arrest. We refused to
recognise the Court and we were sentenced to five years
penal servitude. We were then committed to Dartmoor
Prison and interned there for about nine months.
I refused to obey the prison rules and regulations
and I was regarded as a very badly conducted prisoner
by my jailors. The result was that I was transferred back
to Mountjoy and I was released the following January under
the General Amnesty.

Signed: Joseph O’Carroll

Date: September 15th 1952
Witness: Williams Ivory Comdt

A MEssage fro Rory McGinley,
Hi Rory,
My grandfather was William (Liam) McGinley, your grandfather’s brother, who was in ‘F’ Company 2nd Battalion GPO Garrison.
I would be very grateful if you could contact me, with a view to sharing family history. The only living son of William is Joseph, with whom I have regular contact. He has his father’s medals from that time.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Dominic McGinley