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JOINING THE VOLUNTEERS

It was not everyone the volunteers accepted into thier ranks and thier was an innate distrust of ex-British soldiers. Perhaps thy were afraid that some of these might still be loyal to thier old associations but most probably it was the fear of informers. Matt tells ul about how he , as an ex-British soldier came to be a member of the local company. 'When we were in the trenches in 1916 and heard about the Rising and also the serious of executions of the leaders the Irish fellows felt very strongly about it. One day we were talking about it and one chap, Nought-Eight Murphy - I can't remember his first name, and two others from Ennis in County Clare, anyway we made akind of a vow that if we got out alive from the war then we'd try to get our own back for what they did to the leaders. it might have been a childish kind of thing but that was how we were feeling. Three of us got back, poor Murphy was killed, I was wounded and the other two fought with the Clare fellows,the sad part of it was - I heard that one of them was shot in the Civil war. They remained in the I.R.A.'

Matt was approached to join the local unit by Jim Coss who said 'Matt, the lads were talking and they feel that you might want to come in with us'. Of course Matt's cousin Jim Flood who is buried in New York, was a member of the unit and Matt dose not know if this has anything to do with it. But when Jim Coss approached him he felt that there was a bit of a mixup, for he knew the feeling they had about ex-sldiers. 'I told him my fears' said Matt. ''What kind of bloody fear is that ?''Jim Coss said,''Never mind the public house I.R.A. They have nothing to do with it,''I'm asking you now''. Matt replied 'well if i'm any good,I'll do anything I can''.

When Matt accepted the invitation to join he was interviewed by Micheal Fitzgerald,who was later to die on hunger strike in Cork Gaol. Mick asked him many questions on all sorts of military subjects. It was not Matts first meeting with Fitzgerald as he knew him as a young fellow when Mick was playing hurling and football. Of course Matt looked on Fitzgerald as almost an old man, he was just over thirty at the time. It was in front of Mick Fitz that Matt took the oath of Allegiance. The whole Fermoy company was drawn up in the field across from the hospital, not far from the Castle, and Matt repeated the words after Mick Fitzgerald.

'I Matt Flood, do solemnly swear I will support and defend the Irish Republic, and the Government of the Irish Republic, which is Dail Eireann, against all enemys, foreign or domestic, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose or evasion, so help me God'.

Matt was now a member of the Irish Volunteers.

Training for the Volunteers had to be carried out in secret as it was a banned organisation. But still it continued even though members were arrested from time to time, Matt went back to at work Creedons but in his spare time he trained with the other men in the unit. The Fermoy company did thier training in the high field not far from the viaduct and the men there included John Cremin, Billy Roche, Bill Lillis, Lar Condon, he was Vice O/C to Fitzgerald. Mick Fitzgerald was head of the Battalion all the time. Earlier a Kikenny man named Denn was one of the Captains, he worked in Barry's Sawmills and was arrested several times. He had a sister who was a well known singer and used to appear in concerts. Johnny Fanning took over from Denn, Pa Gallagher was a 1st Lieutenant and there was Paddy O'Donoghue, who was also a Lieutenant. Than Johnny Fanning was arrested. 'It is strange thing about Fermoy',said Matt,'There were six company Captains appointed in one fortnight. Due to the position it was in, I suppose, and it continued until Jim Hackett was appointed early in 1921.'

'Those were tough times' says Matt,'because you were out half the night, you might be on anything, training or raiding for arms. But you had to show up for work bright and early the following morning because if you were missing or late for work they would suspect something'.