New View

H.Q. Base Camp The Troops C. Roche N.Brunicardi Laird's Story Duties UDC Letter Letters Home War Songs B.Hammond Maps Interviews Final Leaving Photo Mêlée Quiz Biography Credits E mail

LIAM LYNCH DEAD

The dramatic headlines of the papers told the story in graphic form. "Leaders meeting surprised", irregular Chief taken near Clonmel","fight in the hills". The text went to say,"Liam Lynch was severly wounded and captured in a fight south of Clonmel yasterday. His death was announced in the following report, recieved from Army G.H .Q. this morning-"Liam Lynch died in clonmel at8.45 last evening". Futher down the page under the heading "Liam Lynch Dead " and "Mr. De Valea" Narrow Escape ", it gave further details and also a short biography of the dead leader. At the inquest in Clonmel on Wednesday the last wish of Lynch was told by a witness. " In conversation with me, deceased asked to be buried in Fermoy along with Fitzgearld, and told me he was Liam Lynch".
Liam Lynch had been shot in the right side of the body with the exit wound on the left side,siad Dr Reymond Dalton, military M.O. There was a fair amount of external and considerable amount of internal haemohage, and he was suffering severely from shock.
The press association siad that Mr De Valera and his Council of State requested relatives to allow Liam Lynch to be buried in Glasnevin.

Liam Lynch

But at the inquest General Prout had given his assurance that he be buried in Fermoy as it was his last wish.

"I remember hearing the news about Lynch being killed". I was Vice Commandant of our bunch in the Female Gaol and I used to hand over the parade to the Free State military. There was some fellow got paper that morning and bn killed. I remember it well. We were all downhearted. So this poor Free Stater came in - I met him after in civvy life. We were great pals after,he was O'Leary, later an Income Tax man, Sonny O'Leary. He came in and said ,"Matt, hat about the parade?". I said " There'll be no parade today"

"We were busy with a tunnel in that goal nd were nearly out in Blarney Street. A couple of hours would have done the job but it was discovered. We had gone to mass on Suday morning and there was this city fellow brought in. He wasn't one of us,just someone brought in for armed robbery or the likes. He was a bit upset and a young fellow we left in chargeof the rooms Don Hurley ,a brother of Jim Hurley the hurler said "Dont worry. They have a tunnel down in that cell there. You'll be out tomorrow night". That did it. The chap spilled to the prison officers and all our work went for naught.

"We weren't left there too long after that. We were sent to the Curragh to Tintown Number Two. It was there we did our hungr strike. There was a lot of our lads there. Many of them had been captured early in thing and there were in there for months. The OC of the Republican crowd there was a Ritchie Byrne from Dublin. There was a Free State Officer among those in charge. He was Captin Lynham,he was a bit of a hard man; he always came in with a revolver in his hand.

"The day in prison was like this. You got up sbout half past seven in the morning,made your bed ; it was three boards, an old matress and a few blanket. Brushed out the huts, they were really converted stables. The channel for the horses urine and all were there. The only thing was they put partition sheeting inside them. The lads cut out little parts to store their plate,mug and little possessions and they were a grand way for the rats to come out. You'd be lying on your bed and a rat would hop on top of you. You'd give him a box of of your hand and throw him on the gound".

"There were about 10,000 prisoners on hunger strike in all camps, Hare Park, Tintown 1, 2 and 3 and also in Newbridge and in Mountjoy. The whole lot went on hunger strike at the whole time. We took no food, just a drink of water,that's all. It was no joke. I wouldh't like to do it again. It was on for 12 days. The first few days were the worst. Then of course wee were doing bravado. We were four days on it when we took footballdown the compound and I can tell you we nearly came back on our hands and knees. We were so weak, and we over-did it. but we only wanted to let them see we were still there.

"They did one mean thing there, like. They stoped the parcels coming in. Well, they had to stop food coming in but they stopped the old smokes too, and that was the worst part. You were allowed salt with wrm wter - salt was good for the guts,but then they stopped the salt. All we had was luke warm water that was your breakfast dinner and tea. You could have the lot. we were just lying there. Some of them were able to move but some of them did nearly twenty days and refused to come of. Strange, after about four days you wouldn't mind it. But on those four days you thought of every decent meal you ever had in your lifetime. Then there'd be always some fellow with a bit of humour and he'd say. "Well a bit of roast beef and two nice roast spuds, that would be nice". There'd be jokes like that going on, they were a good old crowd. Well when we came off the strike they gave us a kind of egg-flip. You only had it down when you had to move smartly to the toilet. It went right through. After a bit they built us up like. The strike was called off. You see Oscar Trainer came down-they had some kind of promise that they'd release us but we should come off the hunger strike. It was all over after that. We, Bill Desmond and myself travelled to Mallow from Dublin. We had to stay in Mallow that night. There was no train. They got us digs and we came on to Fermoy the following morning.

It was Christmas Eve. But it was all over............

Besides Matt and those others whose names occour above we must also remember the men of Fermoy Company, 1st battalion, Cork No.2 Brigde, I.R.A. Liam Lynch, George Power, Mick Fitzgearld, Lar Condon, John Fanning, James Fanning, Moss Towmey, Bill Twomey, Patrick Coughlan, Tom Swaine, John Swaine, John Egan, Tom egan, Mark Egan, Thomas Moloney , Tom O' Neill, Bill O' Neill, Art Hallinan, Peter Hallinan, Jerry Power, W Clearly, Cal O'Callaghan, Sean O'Brien, James Barry, Sean Caey, William Desmond, Richard Desmond, Patrick Desmond, Patrick Collins, Moss Kenny, Jack Kenny, Bill Denn, Michael Dowling, Martin Keniry, Con Deay, James Barry Daniel Fitzgibbon, david Fitzgibbon, Mick Bowler, Jack Herlihy, Jim Leonard, Pa Gallagher, Paddy Casy, Bill Maguire, Paddy Cleary, Michael Sweeney, Dan Sweeney, Paddy Hussey, Paddy Fleming, Dan Fitzpatrick, Paddy Ahern, Jack Cullinane, Michael O' Keeffe, William Paye, Joe Paye, Charley Paye, George Paye, Jim Hackett, John Grace, Jim Flood, Jack Daly, David Sinott, Bill Sinott, Tom O' Sullivan, James Roche, Jim Coss, Tom Cavanagh, Ned Ronan, Redmond Donegan (Fr. Donegan), Jim Blake, (Fr. Blke), Jim Fenton, William Gowen, Dan Sheehan, Jack Sheehan, Jim O' Neill, Paddy O' Neill, Jim Magnier, Jack Sheehan Snr.,Garrett Roche, E. Taffe, David Houlihan, Jack Murray, Jack Power, John Fitzgearld, Dan Murphy, Jerry Lucy, Con Fitzpatrick, Tom Spillane, Sean Hennessy, John Joe Bullman, Paddy Donoghue, Michael Casey, Ted Heskin, Jim Sheehan, Bertie Sullivan, and also all those others, too numerous to mention who helped write those great pages of history.