Diarmuid Begley, only son of Flor and Ann Ita nee Deasy, was born in Bandon 1936 and educated at St. Patricks Primary School, Hamilton High, and Rockwell College. Married to Elsie nee Lehane, they have one son and one daughter. 

After the death of his father in 1979 he continued with and expanded the family business in Bandon. Diarmuid is involved in many community activities, being a founder member and Chairman of The West Cork Heritage Centre. He was also closely associated with the formation of the Bandon Gramophone Circle and other local activities. 

Like many other close relatives of those who took an active part in the War of Independence he has avoided discussion on aspects of that war. We are now privileged that in order to dispel some romantic myths and inaccuracies he has decided to put the record straight. 

 Foreword

I first attended school in 1940 at St. Fintan's National School, Bandon. At that time, Ireland, through the efforts and sacrifices of the previous generation of men and women, was free and independent, had its own government and its own Department of Education for almost 20 years. Yet, I can honestly say, that the Department of Education then, and up to the mid to late fifties, when I left secondary education, seemed either ashamed or unable to sanction any school history book which dealt with the men and women of 1919 to 1921 and their final victory over the forces of the Crown.

There were of course many teachers whose outlook was nationalistic and it was because of their pride in our independence, that my generation was first introduced to the Easter rising of 1916 and to the War of Independence, but even then there were very meagre chapters, if any, in the school history books now produced and published by Irish firms and sanctioned by the Department of Education. By 1950 Grants History of Europe was on our history course at secondary school and it dealt with England's victory over Germany and Japan in the Second World War of 1939 to 1945 but to my knowledge we still did not have a history book which dealt with our War of Independence of 1919 to 1921.

In the late forties I first read "Rebel Corks Fighting Story" published by the "Kerryman" newspaper in 1947.  Then on to "Limericks Fighting Story" and "Dublin's Fighting Story" and any article or book that dealt with that significant chapter of Irish History that I could lay my hands on. I read of the men and women who fought, suffered and in many cases died so that Ireland could take its place among the Nations of the World with pride and realised that many of them were men and women coming into my fathers shop week after week I saw them in a whole new light, how proud I was of these quiet unassuming men and women who had left their homes and families to take on the best trained, battle hardened soldiers in the world and won!. I knew those wonderful men and women and I often spoke to them in our shop, but as yet, in 1950, I would not dare to question them of their contribution to our Independence. All of that was to change in a couple of years.

By 1952 I was no longer a "boy", I could ask questions about the "trouble" times of my parents and their contemporaries and though some of the answers were a little guarded, I learned more and more of what it meant to live in Ireland, prior to, and during the War of Independence and the pride of being Irish and free grew in me. The answers to some of my questions were a long time coming because the questions would have been deemed sensitive, but, those answers came too, with the passage of time.

I read of the fight for freedom up and down the country ; of Dan Breen, Sean Tracey, the Kents, Austin Stack, Liam Deasy, Tom Barry and Liam Lynch; of the Brigade Officers, the Battalion Officers, the Company Captains, the Lieutenants, the active service men, the scouts, the key men at the river crossings, the young boys and the postal arid railway employees, who contributed so much and of the women who carried so much of the load, most of the grief, and without whom there could not have been a War of Independence.

I could not read and learn enough about the time that was in it. Thank God most of what I have read was written prior to the arrival of the revisionists on the scene, with their apologetic accounts, so much at variance with what I had heard from participants. (They are really the "spur" that made me agree to write this appreciation of the gallant men of the Battle of Crossbarry, the members of the Third (West) Cork Brigade, and the wives and sisters who supported them.)

I want my children, my grandchildren and their generations to read of Crossbarry as it happened. To pass on to them a pride in the men and women, their grandparents and great grandparents, who gained for my generation, this generation and generations to come, the right to live and work in our country, independent and free. I want them to read of what really happened before the revisionists come up with their further apologies for our history and for those men and women who made it happen.

To do this, it is very necessary to fill in the background to the War of Independence and to introduce the reader to the way things were in Ireland prior to July 11th 1921 when the mighty British Empire called for a truce.

To deal properly with the Battle of Crossbarry, the final great chapter of the War of Independence, it is necessary first, to give the young readers a brief synopsis of the events which brought this about. In doing so, I will deal very briefly with the main events of the period from 1858 to 1916 in chronological order and hope that my efforts will stimulate a desire in them for more detailed knowledge of that period of our history. At the end of this story I will list some of the sources where the quest for further knowledge will be satisfied