Local history: Son of Kildare internee recalls 1921 release from Ballykinlar

Ireland is in the midst of a Decade of Commemorations to mark momentuous events in the history of the State which took place almost on a weekly basis 100 years ago.

One such anniversary related to Kildare took place last week.

The signing of Anglo-Irish Treaty in London on December 6 led to the release of IRA prisoners from internment camps in Ireland and the UK.

Three County Kildare men were being held at Ballykinlar camp in Co Down and they were freed 100 years ago last week — on December 9, 1921.

Old IRA members Richard Murphy, Joe May and John ‘Bapty’ Maher were met with a hostile reaction when they made their long journey home.

Richard later died in 1950 but many family members are still alive and his son, also Richard, contacted the Leader last week to inform us of the centenary of his release.

Following Bloody Sunday in November 1920, hundreds of people were arrested by British authorities which opened several internment camps throughout Ireland.

In total, there were around 26 Kildare men in Ballykinlar at the time.

Ballykinlar Internment Camp was the first mass internment camp to be established by the British in Ireland during the War of Independence.

It became home to hundreds of Irish men arrested by the British — including several Kildare natives.

According to historian James Durney, three special trains brought the men to Dublin, from where the internees made their own way to their home counties.

The trains were attacked by loyalist mobs with gunfire, bricks and stones at several locations.

John ‘Bapty’ Maher was paraded shoulder-high through the streets by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters to his home in Leinster Street in Athy.

Richard said: “My father was never in good health after being released. Many people compared Ballykinlar to the concentration camps in terms of the harsh conditions. He talked very little about his experiences.

“He went back to work in Murphy’s Garage which was where Petitt’s supermarket is today.”

Tracing his family roots, he added: “My father was a native of Kilcrowe near Castlemitchell.

“He was married to my mother, Molly Dooley of Dooley’s Bakery in the town and there were five of us in the family - two boys and three girls. We lived in William Street in Athy.

“I joined the Air Corps and now live in Dublin. My brother Billy or Bill went into An Garda Siochana in 1954 and is still with us.

“My sister Bernadette or Berry Bowden still lives in Athy.”

Kildare County Council is currently considering a reecommendation from the Decade of Commemoration Committee about a memorial in Athy to commemorate local people and local events.