Kildare features in new book about Irish Civil War

Kildare features in a new book about the Irish Civil War.

The Irish Civil War ended in 1923 and 80 years on, author and documentary-maker Tom Hurley wondered if there were many civilians and combatants left from across Ireland who had experienced the years 1919 to 1923, their prelude and their aftermath.

What memories had they, what were their stories and how did they reflect on those turbulent times?

In early 2003, he 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 twenties during the civil war.

The chronological approach he has taken to his book spans fifty years, beginning with the oldest interviewee's birth in 1899 and ending when the Free State became a republic in 1949.

Portarlington native Ellen Troy née Maloney was among the people that Tom spoke to for his book in 2003. She was aged 102 at the time and was a mine of information on the 1919-23 revolutionary years and indeed the things she experienced and witnessed.

The topics Ellen discusses include her brother who died before she was born, her mother (who hailed from Co. Kildare) going abroad, her early life, communion, meeting Countess Markievicz, her husband, the British army, black and tans, IRA, Cumann na mBan women she knew and the customers who frequented her aunt's pub in Portarlington.

Another interviewee is Dan Keating from Kerry aged 101 who discusses being interned in Maryborough (Portlaoise) Gaol during the civil war. He recalled the execution of Thomas Gibson from Cloneygowan.

Dan was subsequently transferred to the Curragh and was interned there when Military Policeman Joseph Bergin from Camross was killed in 1923. William Geary, born in 1899, who joined the civic guard (Garda Síochána) in 1922 was also interviewed. He was based at Newbridge barracks during what became known as the Kildare mutiny. Jack Duff aged 100 spoke about joining the Free State Army in 1922 and being based in the Curragh Camp for periods in 1922 and 1923.

100 years after the Civil War ended, these 20 interviews recorded by Tom Hurley come together to create a unique oral account of the revolutionary period and the tensions that were brewing in the run-up and aftermath. Together, theirs are the Last Voices of the Irish Revolution.

Last Voices of the Irish Revolution by Tom Hurley is available in bookshops throughout the country and can also be ordered online. It is published by Gill Books.