New book shines light on experiences of Civil War

THE experiences of a combatant from Bantry in the Civil War are part of a new book which has been published on the painful chapter of Irish history.

Last Voices of the Irish Revolution features interviews by author and documentary-maker Tom Hurley recorded 20 years ago, and now put in print.

In early 2003, Tom Hurley recorded the experiences of 18 people, conducting two further interviews abroad in 2004. Tom spoke to a cross-section (Catholic, Protestant, Unionist and Nationalist) who were in their teens or early 20s during the civil war.

The chronological approach he has taken to his book spans 50 years, beginning with the oldest interviewee’s birth in 1899 and ending when the Free State became a republic in 1949. Many of the people featured for the book had West Cork connections. Daniel O’Donovan was born in Bantry in 1903.

He spoke to Tom about his early life in the town where his parents ran a pub, right through to his War of Independence and Civil War experiences. It includes accounts of joining the Free State Army, coming under fire in Bantry, leaving the army and joining the gardaí in 1925.

Longford native Patrick Greene, born in 1900, tells the story of how he came to meet Johnny Collins (brother of Michael) in Westmeath in 1921. It was Johnny who advised him to learn the Irish language, thus instigating Patrick’s arrival in Ballingeary in 1922. Patrick discusses the people he met in Ballingeary including Scottie McKenzie-Kennedy who was later killed during the Civil War.

Kathleen Noonan née Charles was born in 1902 in Kanturk and joined Cumann na mBan. She related memories of visiting her aunt who operated a post office in Rathbarry and was married to an RIC man. She could remember helping to deliver telegrams to Castlefreke Castle before part of it was destroyed by fire in 1910.

There are many other stories pertaining to West Cork and its people in the book also. Last Voices of the Irish Revolution by Tom Hurley is available in bookshops throughout the country and is published by Gill Books.