Today in Military History

[groundhog]

10th October in Irish Military History

1918

The RMS. Leinster was sunk by U-123, commanded by Captain Robert Ramm, an hour out of Kingstown bound for Holyhead. There were 771 passengers aboard, 492 of whom were soldiers returning from, or going on, leave. She was hit by two torpedos and sank in 13 minutes with the loss of 501 lives. A family named Gould from Limerick was virtually wiped out in the sinking. The mother and five children died, one daughter survived. The man of the family was working in a munitions factory in England. 145 bodies of military personnel recovered are buried in Grangegorman Military cemetery. 142 persons whose bodies were not recovered are commemorated on the Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton. The 39 crew members are commemorated on the Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill, London. The Leinster remains on the seabed 12 miles from shore and 100ft down. One of her anchors was raised in 1990 and it stands in Dún Laoghaire, a memorial to one of Ireland’s worst maritime tragedies.

1914

5553 Pte Edward Murray, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Ballyduff, Co.Waterford.

1915

5779 Pte William Boland, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Clonmel and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

1916

70088 Pte Edward Sparks, 16th Bn Sherwood Foresters. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was born in Fermoy, Co. Cork.

1917

10362 Pte Martin Power, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Carrickbeg, Co. Waterford.

1918

41600 Pte Denis Conroy, 4th Bn South Staffordshire Regt. Died on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

88774 Pte Thomas Veale, 14th Bn King's Liverpool Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Kilgobnet, Co. Waterford.

Died in the sinking of the RMS Leinster

46134 Sapper Edward Carew, Royal Engineers. Waterford. Buried Grangegorman Cemetery.

G/22680 Pte Denis Driscoll, 3rd Res Garr Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers. Waterford. Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton.

7875 Pte Thomas Kearney, 4th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Clonmel. Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton.

SS/232 Pte Thomas Kelly, Royal Army Service Corps. Waterford. Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton.

24677 Pte Philip O'Brien, 6th Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Fethard, Co. Tipperary. Buried Portpatrick Cemetery, Scotland.

2738 Pte Michael Biggane, Canadian Army Service Corps. He is buried in Ballylaneen Churchyard, Co. Waterford.

1942

Nurse Kitty Prendergast-Murphy from Newcastle, Co. Tipperary. She was a nurse aboard the Merchant navy vessel SS. Orcades which was torpedoed and sunk by U-Boat . The lifeboat, on which she was escaping the sinking ship, capsized on being launched, and all aboard it drowned.

[groundhog]

11th October in Irish Military History

1649

The Siege Of Wexford ended

After the fall of Drogheda, the Royalist army under the Marquis of Ormond withdrew from most of Leinster. Ormond retreated to Kilkenny with his remaining forces, abandoning Trim and Dundalk. Cromwell, with the north-western approaches to Dublin secure, turned south while Colonel Venables advanced into Ulster. Cromwell wanted to capture the southern ports before the onset of winter in order to cut the Royalist lines of communication with France and Spain.

Cromwell's first objective was Wexford, a major port and a base for privateering raids on English shipping. Cromwell left Dublin on 23rd September and marched down the coast. A support fleet of twenty ships under the command of General-at-Sea Richard Deane shadowed his march with supplies and siege artillery.

Cromwell's army was now reduced to 9,000 men, three regiments accompanying Venables into Ulster and garrisons having been posted in Dublin and Drogheda. Apart from a Confederate raid south of Arklow, the Parliamentarians met with no resistance on the march south. Royalist garrisons at Arklow, Ferns and Enniscorthy surrendered and the Cromwell’s army arrived at Wexford on 1st October 1649.

Ormond had reinforced the garrison of Wexford with 1,000 men under the command of Colonel David Sinnott. A force also moved from Kilkenny to New Ross in order to protect Wexford's supply lines. Wexford is situated on the south side of the River Slaney. Its harbour is sheltered by two fingers of land to the north and south and at that time it was guarded by Rosslare Fort on the southern side. Cromwell crossed the Slaney at Enniscorthy and approached Wexford from the south. The speed of his advance took the garrison of Wexford by surprise and the Rosslare garrison, unprepared for an attack, abandoned the fort on 2nd October. Lt-Gen Michael Jones (recently rampging around Dublin and Rathmines) captured the fort without firing a shot. With Rosslare in Parliamentarian hands, Cromwell's support fleet was able to enter Wexford Bay in safety and unload the siege artillery on the south side of the town. Cromwell set up his batteries to concentrate their fire on Wexford Castle which dominated the south-eastern corner of the defences and which overlooked part of the town wall.

With his forces in place, Cromwell demanded the surrender of Wexford on 3rd October, offering lenient terms in the hope that he could secure the town intact and use it as winter quarters for his troops. The citizens of the town were anxious to surrender but Sinnott played for time. He knew that a winter siege would be hard on the Parliamentarians and that disease and exposure would lift the siege and fatally weaken Cromwell’s army. Meanwhile Ormond sent another 1,000 infantrymen to Wexford to strengthen the garrison. One drawback for the Royalists was the fall of Youghal when the Protestants of the town declared for Parliament. Ormond sent Lord Inchiquin with a regiment of cavalry to reoccupy the town, weakening his army at New Ross.

Meanwhile negotiations between Cromwell and Sinnott continued until 10th October at which point Cromwell's patience ran out and he ordered his artillery to begin bombarding the walls of Wexford Castle. The following day, Sinnott agreed to accept Cromwell's terms, by which the soldiers of the garrison would be disarmed and allowed to march away, the officers would become prisoners and the town would not be plundered. A delegation was sent to meet Cromwell to finalise the surrender. This delegation presented a further set of proposals to him for negotiation. seeking protection of the town's Catholic clergy, that the garrison be allowed to withdraw to New Ross with all their weapons and ammunition and that the privateers of Wexford could sail away with their goods and ships intact. Cromwell refused and negotiations broke down. All the while the Parliamentarian artillery continued to bombard Wexford Castle. By the afternoon of 11th, the guns had succeeded in opening two wide breaches in the castle wall. The commander of the castle, a Captain Stafford, agreed to surrender before an assault could be launched. Cromwell's troops occupied the castle battlements and turned its guns on the town whereupon, the Royalists guarding the south wall fled. The Parliamentarians launched an immediate attack, scaling the abandoned walls, opening the gates and storming into the town.

The Royalists attempted to make a stand in the market square, but they were quickly overwhelmed, Colonel Sinnott being among those killed. As at Drogheda, Cromwell and his officers made no attempt to restrain the soldiers, who slaughtered the defenders and citizens of Wexford alike and plundered the town. Hundreds of civilians were shot or drowned as they tried to escape the carnage by fleeing across the River Slaney. Cromwell expressed no remorse for the massacre in his report to Parliament. He justified it as a reward for Sinnott’s intransigience during the negotiations and regarded it as a judgment upon the perpetrators of the Catholic uprising of 1641 and upon the pirates who had operated out of Wexford harbour. His principal regret was that the town was so badly damaged that it was no longer suitable as winter quarters for the Parliamentarian army.

The loss of Wexford was a major blow to the Royalist-Confederate coalition. Around 2,000 Royalist soldiers were killed or fled, reducing Ormond's field army to less than 3,000 men, for the loss of between twenty and thirty Parliamentarians. Cromwell captured ships, artillery, ammunition and tons of supplies and a harbour to be used as a naval base in southern Ireland where further supplies from southern England could be received. The Irish privateering fleet was broken up, leaving Prince Rupert's small squadron at Kinsale as the only potential threat to Cromwell's ships and supply lines. Shortly after the fall of Wexford, Rupert broke out of Kinsale and escaped to Portugal.

1899

The Boers of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, declared war on Great Britain.

1921

The Anglo-Irish negotiations open with Griffith and Collins leading the Irish delegation.

1922

The Irish Free State Constitution was adopted. It was drafted by Thomas Cosgrove.

1915

7268 Pte Harry Cotter, 2nd Bn Irish Guards. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

6321 Pte Michael Cummins, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Kill, Co. Waterford.

1916

38322 Pte Martin Veale, 12th Bn King's Liverpool Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

1940

40638 Flying Officer Desmond O’Neill, 41 Squadron RAF, was killed when his Spitfire collided with another plane during a dogfight. O'Neill baled out, but his parachute failed. He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward O'Neill and Ethel O'Neill, Glasnevin, Dublin, and husband of Muriel O'Neill. He is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, Surrey.

[groundhog]

12th October in Irish Military History

1798

A French fleet was intercepted off Donegal. Theobald Wolfe Tone was captured when one of the ships, the Hoche, surrendered.

1914

The First Battle of Ypres began.

1916

Two men from Waterford City KIA on the Western Front

20744 Pte James O'Brien, 2nd Bn Yorks & Lancs.

16666 Pte Frederick Smith, 2nd Bn Hampshire Regt.

1922

Pte John Coonan, from Co. Tipperary. A member of the Free State Army, he was killed in action.

1984

The IRA bombed the hotel where Margaret Thatcher and members of her cabinet were staying in Brighton. Five people were killed.

[groundhog]

13th October in Irish Military History

1900

Maj Edward Brown of the 14th Hussars, born in India of Irish parents was awarded a VC for rescuing a wounded comrade under fire during the Second Boer War.

1918

15182 Pte John Cummins, 5th Bn Connaught Rangers. Died on the Western Front. He was from Fethard, Co. Tipperary.

Venice Hackett. She was a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment and she died at home in Ireland where she is buried in Ballycumber Cemetery, Co. Offaly. She was the daughter of Edward and Emilie Hackett, of Castletown, Ballycumber, King's Co. Her father had worked for South Tipperary County Council as an engineer and she and two of her brothers who were killed during WW1 are commemorated on a memorial plaque in Old St. Mary's, Clonmel

1980

Garda Seamus Quaid was murdered by the IRA. www.garda.ie/honour/Default.aspx?Filter=P%2cT

[groundhog]

14th October in Irish Military History

1318

The Battle of Faughart

Also known as the Battle of Dundalk, it was fought on October 14th 1318. It was a battle of the War of Scottish Independence and the Irish Bruce Wars.

With the war in Scotland at a stalemate. Robert Bruce, now King of the Scots, decided to open a second front in Ireland. To this end he sent letters and emissaries to the Gaelic chieftains of Ulster calling for a pan-Celtic alliance against the English. Domhnal O'Neil, king of Tyrone, took up Bruce’s offer and offered in return the High Kingship of Ireland to Robert’s brother, Edward Bruce. Domhnal of course ignored he fact that the High Kingship was not in his gift.

Edward Bruce landed with a Scottish army at Larne in 1315 and was joined by a number of local chieftains. They had some early successes against the Norman-Anglo-Irish aristocracy. Bruce won his first engagement at Moyry Pass and sacked Dundalk on 29th June. He defeated Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster at the Battle of Connor in Antrim on 10th September. On 1st Feb 1316 he defeated Edmund Butler, Justiciar of Ireland, at the Battle of Skerries. Edward Bruce was crowned High King of Ireland on 2nd May 1316. The Kingship was all pie in the sky however. His writ ran only in Ulster. In addition, the weather in 1316 was bad and the harvest failed. The peasants were starving and whatever food was available was stolen by the army. Things picked up in 1318 and following the harvest Bruce decided to march south. He marched through the Moyry Pass which was the only road out of south east Ulster and ended up on Faughart Hill near Dundalk facing an English host marching north. The Ulstermen were a tad nervous at the sight of the English army so Bruce placed them at the top of the hill with his 2,000 Scottish troops in the front line. Edward is supposed to have marched south without waiting for reinforcement from Scotland. If he did, he paid the price.

The English forces were led by John de Birmingham, Edmund Butler and Roland Joyce, Archbishop of Armagh. According to Medieval accounts the Scots attacked the English in 3 columns which were too far apart to be able to support each other. The English defeated the Scots piecemeal. Bruce himself fell in the battle and he was beheaded, his head being sent to King Edward II in London and his body interred in Faughart graveyard where a stone slab reputedly marks his burial place. The Scots-Ulster army was dispersed with unknown casualties. Carrickfergus Castle was recaptured on 2nd December by John de Birmingham who was created Earl of Louth by his grateful king.

The passing of Edward Bruce was greeted with relief in Ireland. The Annals of Loch Ce noted that Bruce:
was the common ruin of the Gaels and Galls of Ireland...never was a better deed done for the Irish than this...For in this Bruce's time, for three years and a half, falsehood and famine and homicide filled the country, and undoubtedly men ate each other in Ireland.

According to legend Faughart Hill is also the site of the death of Chucullain.


1633

James Stuart was born, son of Charles I. In 1685 he became King James II until deposed in 1688 by William of Orange.

1882

Eamon de Valera was born in Brooklyn, New York.

1899

During the Boer War Capt Charles Fitzclarence of the Royal Fusiliers earned a VC when he led his troops to relieve an ambushed train. Outnumbered and surrounded by the Boers they nevertheless overcame the enemy. Brig-Gen Fitzclarence was killed in action in the Ypres Salient, 12th Nov 1914.

1915

T4/ 043381 Driver Thomas O'Neill, Royal Army Service Corps. Died at Home and was Buried in Affane, Co. Waterford.

11481 Gdsm Martin Russell, 2nd Bn Grenadier Guards. Died on the Western Front. He was from Aglish, Co. Waterford.

1918

10634 Pte John Keeffe, 7th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny.

1918

Pte Martin Moffat of the 2nd Bn Leinster Regt, earned a VC when he single handed captured 30 Germans in a strongly defended house. Martin was a Sligo man and he died there in 1946.

In the same battalion, Sgt John O’Neill led 11 men in capturing a German artillery battery. John is on record as a Scotsman but with a name like that he is obviously of Irish ancestry.

1920

Comdt Sean Treacy from Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary was killed in action in Talbot St, Dublin. Treacy was a major IRA figure in Tipperary, a comrade of Dan Breen and a participant in the Soloheadbeg Ambush.

1939

U-47, commanded by Kapitan Gunther Prien, sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow. 833 sailors were killed, among them.

Stoker Thomas Murphy, Co. Tyrone.
Ordnance Artificer Thomas Mullen, Co. Sligo
Stoker William Ryan, Co. Cork

2001

A State funeral was held in honour of ten IRA Volunteers who were executed during the War of Independence. The ten men were Kevin Barry, Thomas Bryan, Patrick Doyle, Frank Flood, Patrick Moran, Thomas Whelan, Bernard Ryan, Thomas Traynor, Edmond Foley and Patrick Maher.

[groundhog]

15th October in Irish Military History

1690

The Duke of Marlborough took Kinsale for the Williamites, who now controlled all of Munster.

1763

Lord Edward Fitzgerald was born at Carton House in Co. Kildare.

1914

3824 Pte Michael Costigan, Dungarvan. 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. KIA France.

10901 Pte James Dunne, Dungarvan. 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. KIA France.

6153 Pte Thomas Hunt, Waterford City. 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. KIA France.

1915

7212 Sgt John Dalton, 2nd Bn Cheshire Regt. Died on the Western Front. He was buried in Etaples Mil Cem, France. He was the son of John and Margaret Dalton, Ballyrichard Rd, Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary.

1916

6619 Pte Michael Curran, 2nd Bn Irish Guards. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

1949

Eoin MacNeill, Irish historian and founder of the Irish Volunteers, died.

[groundhog]

16th October in Irish Military History

1890

Michael Collins was born in Co. Cork.

1914

10712 Pte Denis Kelly, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. KIA on the Western Front, he was from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary and is buried in Bethune Town Cemetery.

1976

Garda Michael Clerkin was murdered by the IRA.

1981

Ben Dunne, was kidnapped by the IRA.

[groundhog]

17th October in Irish Military History

1171

Henry II landed at Waterford with an army.

1600

Following a month of sporadic fighting Mountjoy marched through Moyry Pass unopposed.

The Battle of Moyry Pass



A battle fought as part of the Nine Years War. It began on September 20th and was fought intermittently for several weeks.


Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, had been appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1600, with the task of bringing the Irish rebellion to an end. With this in mind he first landed forces from the sea at Derry in the north and Carrickfergus in the east and then began an overland invasion of the O'Neill lands in central and western Ulster. The shortest way to Ulster was through the Moyry pass on the road from Dundalk to Newry and Armagh. Early in September Mountjoy moved from Dublin to Dundalk with the intention of re-establishing a garrison in Armagh, evacuated after the Yellow Ford in two years previously.


On 17th September Mountjoy marched from Dundalk towards the Moyry Pass which had been fortified by O'Neill with trenches and barricades. The Irish had constructed three lines of trenches, backed up with barricades of earth and stone in the pass and on the flanks had made further earth and stone works to provide cover for themselves and prevent the English occupying the heights on either side of the Pass. In these positions, they awaited the English assault.


The English force reached the pass on 20th September and set up camp at the southern entrance on Faughart Hill. On the 25th, an officer named Thomas Williams (who had commanded the Blackwater Fort during the Battle of the Yellow Ford) made a sortie into the pass, under cover of a heavy mist. He found the Irish defensive works and engaged ina skirmish before returning to camp with 12 dead and 30 wounded. Heavy rain prevented fighting for the next week, until the weather cleared on 2nd October, when Sir Samuel Bagnall led his regiment of infantry into the Pass followed by four other regiments. Bagnall’s men breached the first barricade and then Thomas Bourke's regiment took over the attack on the second and third lines of defence. Once the second line was crossed the English troops found themselves trapped under fire from three sides. For three hours they tried to dislodge the Irish from their remaining positions before retreating with the loss of at least 46 killed and 120 wounded.

On 5th October, Mountjoy tried unsuccessfully to bypass Moyry by sending two regiments over the hills to the west of the Pass. In addition he sent a regiment supported by horsemen into the Pass. Again this force was thrown back with reported losses of 50 dead and 200 wounded. Mountjoy retired to Dundalk on the 8th of October.


However, on the 14th, he received word that O'Neill had abandoned the Pass and retreated to Lough Lurcan. O'Neill's withdrawal was probably due to a shortage of ammunition and food and fear of an attack on his rear from Newry. Mountjoy marched into Moyry Pass unopposed on the 17th of October and dismantled the Irish earthworks. He then marched on to Carrickban, outside Newry. After a stay at Carrickban, Mountjoy marched to Mountnorris, which he reached on Sunday 2nd November. There he built an earthwork fort garrisoned by 400 men under the command of Captain Edward Blaney. Returning to Newry from Mountnorris, the English marched back to Dundalk via Carlingford. On 13th November, during this return march they were again attacked by O'Neill, close to the Fathom Pass, losing 20 men killed and 60 to 80 wounded.


Mountjoy claimed to have lost 200 men killed and 400 wounded in the battle for Moyry Pass as well as claiming to have killed over a thousand Irish. Historians think he dramatically understated his own losses and inflated those of O’Neill.


Moyry Pass has frequently been a strategic site in Irish history. Edward Bruce was killed there in 1318 and the Jacobites and Williamites fought a short battle there in 1690 before the Boyne.


1649

Cromwell laid siege to New Ross. The garrison surrendered on the 19th.

1803

William Smith O'Brien was born in Dromoland, Co. Clare.

1914

4338 Pte Michael Dagg, from Fethard, Co. Tipperary. KIA Ypres with the Irish Guards.

1916

7286 Pte Michael Dwyer from Kilmacomma, 1st Bn Royal Irish Regt. He died in Salonika.

1918

100418 Gunner Richard Griffin from Tallow, Royal Field Artillery. KIA France.

1920

Sgt Daniel Roche, RIC, was killed in Dublin. He was stationed in Tipperary and was in Dublin to identify Sean Treacy, killed three days before.

[groundhog]

18th October in Irish Military History

1854

Pte Thomas Grady from Galway wona Victoria Cross serving in the 4th Foot in the Crimea.

1915

4985 Pte James Murphy from Co. Waterford. He was serving in 2nd Bn Irish Guards and was killed in action on the Western Front.

1918

6940 Sgt Francis Crowe, 2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Cappoquin, Co. Waterford.

1920

Murdered at their home in Ballydavid, Co. Tipperary by the security forces

Vol Edward Dwyer, IRA.

Vol Frank Dwyer, IRA.

1982

A/Cpl Vincent Duffy, 51st Irishbatt, died in Lebanon.

[groundhog]

19th October in Irish Military History

1610

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond was born. He fought for the royalists in the English Civil War and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, three times.

1649

New Ross Surrendered to Cromwell.

Immediately after the capture of Wexford, Cromwell had turned his attention westwards. He left Col Cooke and his regiment to garrison Wexford and sent Ireton to take Duncannon while he marched to New Ross, arriving there on October 17th. The governor of the town was Gen. Taaffe, the future Earl of Carlingford. Taaffe ignored Cromwell’s call to surrender until the town wall was breached on the 19th and then surrendered the town on condition that the garrison be allowed march away with its arms. Cromwell agreed on condition that the artillery be surrendered and that the practice of Catholicism cease. Taaffe took 2,000 men out of New Ross and joined Ormond’s field army in Kilkenny. 500 of his men who were Protestant refused to march with him and defected to the Cromwellians. The Parliamentarians then set to building a pontoon bridge across the River Barrow. This job took 2 weeks, the river being 200 yards wide and swollen from the autumn rain.

Cromwell shortly fell ill with a fever at New Ross.


1914

The 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regiment was virtually wiped out when they captured and fought in the village of Le Pilly during an attempt to capture Aubers Ridge. The strength of the battalion was 20 Officers and 884 men on the 19th. On the 21st it was one Officer and 135 men. In the overall scheme, this action was part of the “Race to the Sea”, with the BEF attempting from early October to outflank the Germans to the North.

The assault began with an artillery barrage at 2pm, the Royal Irish advancing at 3pm, 2 companies in attack, one in support and one in reserve. By dusk the Irish were in possession of the village. However on their right flank a French attack on Fournes had failed and the 4th Bn, Middlesex Regt on their left flank were judged by their CO unable to close up with the Royal Irish. During the night 163 wounded were evacuated from the village.

Amongst the men from the Tipperary/Waterford area killed at Le Pilly on the 19th and 20th October 1914;

6017 Pte Daniel Barrett, Clonmel.

6615 Pte David Brien, Knockbeg, Co. Waterford.

6266 Pte John Burke, Clonmel.

10896 Pte Edward Byrne, Clonmel.

5723 Pte James Cahill, Waterford.

6690 Pte Michael Carberry, Waterford.

6767 Pte John Carey, Cashel.

6347 Pte Stephen Collins, Waterford.

6486 Pte James Comerford, Dungarvan.

7755 Pte William Connolly, Waterford.

6341 Pte Michael Connors. Waterford.

6622 Pte William Dillon. Waterford.

5917 Pte Patrick Fahey. Carrick on Suir.

4555 Pte Richard Fahey. Carrick on Suir.

10518 Pte Noel Fernie. Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny

6524 Pte James Flynn. Waterford.

6130 Pte Patrick Flynn. Abbeyside, Dungarvan.

5612 Pte Frederick Forsey. Waterford.

6775 Pte Thomas Furlong. Waterford.

4438 Pte John Gorman. Clonmel. Gorman was an alias. His real name was O’Brien.

4072 Pte James Green. Waterford.

4853 Pte James Griffin. Clonmel.

6212 Pte Michael Griffin. Tramore, Co. Waterford

6682 Pte Michael Hally. Clonmel.

5981 Pte Stephen Horrigan. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.

10750 Pte William Hunt. Waterford.

8186 Pte James Kiely. Waterford.

18196 Pte William Kiely. Waterford.

6073 Pte James Kinsella. Waterford.

6396 Pte Thomas Lawless. Tramore, Co. Waterford.

5940 Pte Michael Lukeman. Cashel.

10692 Pte Patrick Maddock. Portlaw, Co. Waterford.

5993 Pte Michael Malone. Waterford.

5925 Pte John McGrath. Waterford.

4226 Pte Peter McCarthy.

5873 Pte Michael Moran. Waterford.

4706 Pte William Morrissey. Carrick on Suir.

5089 Pte Cornelius Moynihan. Clonmel.

4931 Pte William O'Grady. Waterford.

8410 Pte Patrick Phelan. Waterford.

6061 Pte Edward Power. Stradbally, Co. Waterford.

6573 Pte Maurice Power. Clonmel.

6291 Pte Michael Power. Waterford.

6463 Pte William Power. Carrick on Suir.

10941 Pte William Roberts. Clonmel.

6674 Pte John Shaw. Clonmel.

6645 Pte Patrick Sweeney. Lismore, Co. Waterford.

5971 Pte James Swift. Waterford.

6156 Pte Edward Wall. Dungarvan.

4693 Pte Joseph Walsh. Carrick on Suir.

Most of these men have no known graves and are commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial. Some of them may have died in the further fighting on the 20th since at the time there was a lot of confusion over casualties.

Also died 19 October 1914

4020 Pte Joseph Barnett, 2nd Bn Connaught Rangers. Died of Wounds on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

[groundhog]

20th October in Irish Military History

1892

Eoin O’Duffy was born in Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan. He was a General in the Free State Army, Garda Commissioner and founder of the Blueshirts.

1914

The Germans discovering a British Battalion isolated in the village of Le Pilly, on Aubers Ridge, quickly surrounded the village and began an assault on it.

Actually the battalion was the remnants of the 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt, some of whom had arrived in a draft from England, just as the assault had begun the previous afternoon.

The fighting began at 0645 with a flanking attack on the Irish left. This was initially repulsed at 0730 by A Coy plus a platoon of the reinforcements mentioned above. When placing this platoon, the Adjutant, Lt Harrison was severely wounded. The attack recommenced on the right flank where the acting Bn O/C, Major Daniell took command until noon. The Germans managed to isolate the village from the main body of the British line and then commenced to shell it from Fournes, the village which the French had failed to capture on the 19th. At 1500 Maj Daniell sent a report to Bde HQ, just as the left flank was once more assaulted. Racing to take command he was hit and killed. The fighting had now been going on since dawn. Their were hundreds of dead and wounded. Ammunition was running low and the senior officers were out of action. Without support, the Irish position was untenable and at 1600 the Germans overran Le Pilly.

Irish losses were 177 killed or died of wounds. 302 were captured in the fall of the village of whom 200 were seriously wounded. 163 wounded had been evacuated before the village was surrounded.

1914

Serving with 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt on the Western Front

2/Lt John Ross Smyth, Son of Col. Ross Smyth (10th Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers) and Mrs. Smyth, Ardmore, Londonderry.

8191 Pte Martin Morrissey. Dungarvan.

6409 Pte James Power. Waterford City.

Serving with 2nd Bn Leinster Regt on the Western Front

5918 Pte Jeremiah Daly.

7246 Pte Martin Tully.

10001 Pte Patrick Walsh. Lismore, Co. Waterford.

10660 Pte John McGrath, 1st Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers. KIA on the Western Front. He was from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

1915

10051 Pte John Leckie, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Waterford City.

1917

40606 Pte Patrick Shanahan, 17th Bn Royal Scots. Son of Walter and Margaret Shanahan, 4 Upper Irishtown, Clonmel. He had transferred from the Scots Greys. Killed in action on the Western Front.

1918

4805 Pte G Farrell (served as Cummins). 1st Bn Irish Guards. Died at home and is buried in St Patricks Cemetery, Clonmel.

[groundhog]

21st October in Irish Military History

1803

Thomas Russell, a United Irishman, was executed in Downpatrick for high treason.

1805

The Battle of Trafalgar was fought off the Spanish coast. The British fleet under Lord Nelson thrashed the Franco-Spanish fleet and removed forever the threat of the French invasion of Britain. The victory also made the Royal Navy master of the seas until WW2. Of the 21,000 sailors who fought in the battle on the British side, an estimated 50% are thought to have been Irish. Among them Lt William Ram, son of Abel Ram, MP for Co. Wexford, who was killed on board HMS Victory, as was Nelson himself.

1914

Serving in 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt

8398 L/Cpl Patrick Jobe, from Clonmel. Died in England.

10731 Pte Thomas Barry, from Lismore, Co. Waterford. Died on the Western Front.

1915

7556 Pte Michael Fitzgerald, from Clashmore, Co. Waterford. He Died of wounds on the Western Front, serving in 2nd Bn Irish Guards.

10079 Sgt William Flynn, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

1917

5426 Gnr John Bourke, Royal Artillery. From Tipperary Town, he was Killed in action on the Western Front.

1918

230836 Pte John Connors, Labour Corps. He died at home and is buried in St Michael's Cemetery, Tipperary Town. He was a former member of the Royal Irish Regt.

1940

The SS Kerry Head, a collier out of Limerick, was sunk 5 miles south of Blackball Head, Co. Cork, by the Luftwaffe with the loss of 12 crewmen.

Capt Charles Drummond, Blackpool.
First Mate Richard Byrne, Wicklow.
Second Mate Stephen McMahon, Scattery Island, Co Clare.
Chief Engineer William Davidson, Carrickfergus.
2nd Engineer George Nicoll, Newtnabbey, Co Antrim.
Thomas Begley, Limerick.
Michael McMahon, Scattery Island, Co Clare.
George Naughton, 4 Hogans Terrace, Windmill Street, Limerick.
James Naughton, 4 Hogans Terrace, Windmill Street, Limerick.
Patrick O Neill, 89 Henry Street, Limerick.
John Tobin, 55 Distillery House, Limerick.
James Wilson Carrickfergus, Co Antrim

[groundhog]

Due to a bit of home decoration/DIY in my daughter's house I'm way behind with this thread. Catching up today. Thanks for your patience.

22nd Oct

1641

The Ulster Rebellion began. Over a 6 month period, 4, 000 Protestants were killed and Catholics were massacred in reprisal.

1812

The Duke of Wellington captured Burgos, Spain.

1914

In the First Battle of Ypres, the Germans captured Langemarck.

Fighting continued in the La Bassee area as the Germans continued to try to break through.

6725 Pte William Dwyer, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died on the Western Front. He was from Tipperary Town.

6639 L/Cpl William Hines, Coldstream Guards. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Waterford city.

1915

3780 Pte Patrick Geary, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

1917

7771 Pte John O'Connor, 2nd Bn Irish Guards. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Ballyduff, Co. Waterford.

1918

179 Pte John O'Keeffe, 5th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Fethard, Co. Tipperary.

7101 Pte Edward Stapleton, 7th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary.

[groundhog]

23rd October in Irish Military History

1914

799 Pte Edmund Keeffe, 2nd Bn The Welsh Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny.

6154 Pte William McGrath, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Waterford City.

1915

7714 Pte Patrick Cahill, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

5824 Pte Michael Power, 2nd Bn Irish Guards. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.

1943

The SS Kerlogue, an Irish merchant ship was attacked by RAF Mosquitos of 307 Sqdn, in the Bay of Biscay. Four men were wounded, including the Captain, Desmond Fortune, 2nd Officer, Samuel Owens, 2nd Engineer, James Carthy and Able Seaman John Boyce. She made it to Cork after the attack.

1970

Charlie Haughey and Neil Blaney were found Not Guilty of gunrunning for the IRA.

1993

The PIRA bombed a Chip Shop in Belfast, killing 10 people, including the bomber.

[groundhog]

24th October in Irish Military History

1642

Irish Confederate rebels establish a government in Kilkenny.

1914

Indian troops arrived on the Western Front near the French town of Bethune.

In the First Battle of Ypres,the Germans occupied Polygon Wood.

1916

6416 Gnr John O'Brien from Waterford. Killed in action on the Western Front serving in the Royal Artillery.