With hindsight we know that in April 1923 the Irish Civil War was nearing its end. On 10 April 1923 IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch died in Clonmel, County Tipperary after being wounded attempting to evade National Army forces in the Knockmealdown Mountains. On 30 April 1923 his successor Frank Aiken would order an end to IRA offensive operations to be followed on 24 May by the ceasefire and dump arms order. However in the meantime the conflict went on. As did the executions. In April 1923 ten further anti-Treaty prisoners were executed at Tuam, County Galway, Tralee, County Kerry and Ennis, County Clare. By the end of the month the total of Civil War executions had risen to seventy-seven. The Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection (MSPC) has files relating to eight of the ten executed that month.
11 April 1923
Military Barracks, Tuam, County Galway
On 11 April 1923 James O’Malley, John Newell, Michael Monaghan, Martin Moylan, Francis Cunnane and John Maguire/McGuire were executed at Tuam Military Barracks in County Galway. All except James O’Malley, who was reported in the press reports of the time as being captured at Knocklahard, County Galway, were reported as being among eighteen members of an IRA unit captured at Cluide, County Galway on 21 February 1923 during a National Army sweep of the area.
According to those newspaper reports all six were charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for being in possession of arms and ammunition without proper authority. These were the first executions to take place in County Galway or indeed the province of Connaught.
James O’Malley’s file relates to the receipt by his mother, Bridget O’Malley, of a partial dependents’ gratuity of £112.10.00 (one hundred and twelve pounds and ten shillings sterling) in 1933 under the Army Pensions Acts. A farmer’s son who had also worked and served with the IRA for a time in Liverpool, James O’Malley’s home address was given as Bridge Street, Oughterard, County Galway. The Military Service Registration Board (MSRB) certified O’Malley as having served with the Irish Volunteers and IRA in Britain, Connemara and the Headford area of County Galway from 1917 onwards. On her application form Bridget O’Malley also claimed that James had been arrested and imprisoned for a time in England.
John Newell’s file relates to unsuccessful applications by his brothers Michael Newell and Thomas Newell under the Army Pensions Acts between 1933 and 1986.
A farmer from Winfort, Headford, County Galway, the MSRB certified John Newell as having served with the IRA in the North Galway/Tuam Brigade area from 1920 onwards – during the War of Independence as well as the Civil War – and as serving at the rank of Lieutenant at the time of his capture.
One of the most interesting aspects of John Newell’s file relates to the dependent’s application from his brother Thomas Newell. In late 1980 Thomas Newell submitted an application under the Army Pensions Acts in respect of his brother John. Thomas Newell was living in New York and his case was investigated through the Irish Consul General in New York. Following this investigation and given Thomas Newell’s age – said to be about 82 years old – and his poor health, the Department of Defence decided to recommend the granting of an award to him. On 4 September 1981 the Secretary, Department of Defence wrote to his counterpart at the Department for the Public Service for the necessary consent of the Minister for Public Service and his Department for this award.
And then nothing. For nearly five years the Department of Defence, despite repeated reminders to the Department for the Public Service, did not even receive what one official referred to as the courtesy of an acknowledgement.
Finally, following another letter from Defence on 2 April 1986, Pensions Section of the Department of the Public Service wrote to Finance Branch, Department of Defence on 7 April 1986 to inform them of the decision of the Minister for the Public Service, Ruairi Quinn TD, to reject the Department of Defence’s recommendation. Possibly as shocking, to the present day observer at least, as this lack of communication between two Government departments, is the handwritten note from a Department of Defence official on the letter from the Department of the Public Service that “No purpose would be served by writing to Mr Newell at this stage (even if still alive)”. There is no evidence on the file that any attempt was made to contact Thomas Newell, to ascertain whether he was still alive or not, or to communicate the result of his application. It would seem that Thomas Newell also did not deserve the courtesy of an acknowledgement.
It is impossible to know from the material on this file what was behind the repeated failure of the Department for the Public Service to even acknowledge the communications from their counterparts in Defence. It must also be pointed out that there is no evidence from the material on the file that anyone in Defence picked up the phone to call their colleagues at the Department of the Public Service to see what was going on. This, although not absolving the officials and/or Minister for the Public Service of their responsibilities, also seems strange.
The early 1980s was a period of political turmoil and relatively frequent changes of Government with, for example, three different politicians – Liam Kavanagh of the Labour Party, Gene Fitzgerald of Fianna Fail and John Boland of Fine Gael – holding the position of Minister for the Public Service during 1981 and 1982. One could understand this turmoil possibly having some affect on the workings of Government. However John Boland’s appointment coincided with a return to stability and he held the position from December 1982 to February 1986 when he was replaced by Ruairi Quinn, on whose behalf the Department finally replied to Defence. Does it reflects a relative weakness on the part of the Department of Defence that it’s communications could seemingly be ignored in such a manner, or was there some animosity between the Departments and/or their ministers? Whatever the cause, probably only access to the records of the two Departments will shed some light on what seems an extraordinary failure, or refusal, by the Department of the Public Service to communicate with another Government Department.
Michael Monaghan’s file relates to the receipt by his mother, Kate Monaghan of a partial dependents’ gratuity of £112.10.00 (one hundred and twelve pounds and ten shillings sterling) in 1933 under the Army Pensions Acts. There is also material on the file relating to an unsuccessful application from his sister, Winnie Dooley, and the awarding of a posthumous Service (1917-1921) Medal for Michael Monaghan to his brother Seamus.
A farmer’s son from Clooneen, Headford, County Galway, Michael Monaghan also received occasional employment as a road worker. The MSRB certified him as having served with the Irish Volunteers and IRA in the North Galway/Tuam Brigade area from 1918 onwards and as being a member of an IRA ASU at the time of his capture.
Martin Moylan’s file relates to the receipt by his mother Honor Moylan of a partial dependents’ gratuity of £112.10.00 (one hundred and twelve pounds and ten shillings sterling) in 1934 under the Army Pensions Acts.
A farmer’s son from Farmerstown, County Galway Martin Moylan was certified by the MSRB as having served with the Irish Volunteers and IRA in the North Galway/Tuam Brigade area from 1918 onwards and as having served as a Company Captain and with an IRA ASU when captured.
25 April 1923
Tralee, County Kerry
On 25 April 1923 Edward Greany, James McEnery and Reginald Walter Stenning were executed at Tralee, County Kerry. All three were part of the IRA group which had unsuccessfully attempted to fight its way out after becoming surrounded by National Army troops at Clashmealcon caves. Private James O’Neill and Captain Henry Pearson of the National Army and Timothy (Aeroplane) Lyons, Thomas McGrath and Patrick O’Shea of the IRA were all killed in the incident. There was considerable controversy around these events. It was claimed that the IRA men had fired on Red Cross members attempting to reach Henry Pearson after he was wounded. It was also claimed that after surrendering, Timothy Lyons was being lifted from the cave by rope when the rope broke and that he was killed by National Army soldiers firing on him as he lay injured from his fall.
According to contemporary newspaper reports both Stenning and McEnery had previously been captured by the National Army and released having signed undertakings not to take up arms again against the Government. At their trial, possibly in an understandable effort to save their lives, Stenning, McEnery and Edward Greany all claimed they had been forced to serve with Timothy Lyons’ unit, having been threatened, by senior Kerry IRA officer Humphrey Murphy , with being shot if they did not do so. Newspapers also reported that at their court-martial the prisoners claimed Lyons had been responsible for firing on the Red Cross members.
Undoubtedly the most unusual aspect of these executions relates to Reginald Walter Stenning. English born with no obvious connection to Ireland, Stenning had deserted from the British Army while stationed in Kerry and then joined the IRA. He was not the only British serviceman to desert from the British forces to join and fight with the IRA – Charles Chidley also deserted from the British Army, served with the IRA during the Civil War, was seriously wounded, captured by the National Army and interned until December 1923. Nor was he the only former British serviceman to be executed during the Civil War – Erskine Childers being just the most famous of the other examples while Patrick Mahony, executed later in the month in Ennis (see below), is another example.
Edward Greany’s file relates to an unsuccessful application under the Army Pensions Acts by his adoptive mother Elizabeth Quinlan who was found not to have been dependent on Edward Greany.
From Beenduff, Ballyduff, County Kerry Edward Greany, who worked on the farm of his adoptive parents, was certified by the MSRB as having served with the Irish Volunteers and IRA in County Kerry from 1918 onwards.
James McEnery’s file relates to the receipt by his widow, Hanna McEnery of a dependent’s allowance under the Army Pensions Acts from 1933 to her death in 1954. An allowance was also paid to her in respect of their son Henry McEnery from 1933 until his reaching the age of eighteen. There is also material on the file relating to an unsuccessful application from Hannah O’Halloran, sister of James McEnery.
A farmer from Slieveadara, Ballyduff, County Kerry, the MSRB certified James McEnery as having served with the Irish Volunteers and IRA from 1918 and as holding the rank of Lieutenant in 3 Battalion, 1 Kerry Brigade at the time of his capture.
Reginald Walter Stenning’s file relates to unsuccessful applications under the Army Pensions Acts from his parents Walter Stephen Stenning and Edith Stenning. These applications were unsuccessful as his parents were deemed not to have been dependent on Reginald Stenning.
According to material on file Reginald Stenning joined the British Army in 1920 and appears to have been serving in County Kerry with the East Lancashire Regiment when he deserted. Probably to avoid the authorities Reginald Stenning went under assumed names. At the time of his capture he was named in the press as Walter Stephens and at the time of his execution as Reginald Hathaway.
It’s unclear from the file exactly when he deserted or joined the IRA. The MSRB certified him as having served with the IRA from September 1922 onwards while newspaper reports stated he had been serving with the IRA from August 1922. As already mentioned above Stenning had previously been arrested and detained by the National Army but released after signing an undertaking not to take up arms again.
26 April 1923
Home Barracks, Ennis, County Clare
On the night of 21 April 1923 National Army soldier Private Stephen Canty was killed while carrying out a follow up search after an IRA attack in Ennis earlier the same night. Patrick Mahony and John O’Leary were among those arrested following the attack and on 23 April both were tried and convicted by court-martial for possession of arms and ammunition without proper authority and for involvement in the attack which led to Private Canty’s death. Both were found guilty, and both were sentenced to death. John O’Leary’s sentence however was commuted to ten years penal servitude but Patrick O’Mahony was executed in Home Barracks, Ennis on 26 April 1923.
Six days later, on 2 May 1923, Christopher Quinn and William O’Shaughnessy would also be executed in Ennis, having been convicted of Private Canty’s killing and taking part in the attack in Ennis.
Patrick Mahony’s file relates to the receipt by his mother, Jane Mahony, of a partial dependents’ gratuity of £112.10.00 (one hundred and twelve pounds and ten shillings sterling) in 1933, and a dependents’ allowance between 1940 and her death in 1953. There is also material relating to an unsuccessful application from Anthony Mahony, Patrick’s brother.
An ex-British soldier who had served during the First World War, Patrick Mahony had also been employed as a motor mechanic in Ennis, County Clare where he was from. The MSRB certified Mahony as having served with the IRA from January 1922 in 1938 and from January 1921 when the case was reinvestigated in 1972. In both cases Patrick Mahony was certified as serving as a Motor Driver and Machine Gunner with Mid Clare Brigade, IRA. It was also claimed that during the War of Independence he had provided intelligence to the IRA while working in a civilian capacity at Cork Military Barracks.
These execution in April brought the total executed in the Civil War to seventy-seven (77). Despite end of IRA offensive operations announced on 30 April the executions were not over yet. The following month, May 1923, would see four further such deaths.
Further Reading:
For a full list of all the Civil War executed with related files in the MSPC click here
For a searchable listing of all Civil War fatalities with related files in the MSPC click here
Military Service Pensions Collection 