Event to remember seven men executed and woman imprisoned in Kildare in 1922

A local woman whose fiance was executed a week before their wedding in 1922 will be remembered later this month.

A sensitive and respectful series of events are being planned in Kildare to remember the execution of seven men of the Rathbride Column on 19 December 1922 at the Curragh Camp.

This event has very rarely been spoken of in public, and their men’s families grew up almost oblivious to the details of the tragic event.

Historians, Mario Corrigan and James Durney, will present the story of the Rathbride Column in the spectacular surroundings of the Curragh Racecourse on 12 December 2022 within a stone’s throw of the cottage at Mooresbridge where the men were arrested 100 years ago.  Doors open at 7.15 p.m. for some light refreshments and the talk will begin at 8.00 p.m. sharp. A special performance is also planned for the night.

‘On 12-13 December 1922 a detachment of National Army troops raided a farmhouse at Mooresbridge near the Curragh Camp. 10 members of the Rathbride Column were found in a dugout and arrested along with Annie Moore, who was armed with a revolver, 10 rifles, and a quantity of munitions were also captured. One of the men, Thomas Behan, Rathangan, was later shot dead when ‘trying to escape’ from custody. The Rathbride Column operated close to Kildare town, blowing up bridges, derailing trains, and wagons.

The seven men who were executed on 19 December 1922, and later buried, in the grounds of the Military Prison, Curragh Camp were Patrick Bagnell, Fair Green, Kildare, labourer; Patrick Mangan, Fair Green, Kildare, railway worker; Joseph ‘Jackie’ Johnston, Station Road, Kildare, railway worker; Bryan Moore, Rathbride, Kildare, labourer; Patrick Nolan, Rathbride, Kildare, railway worker; Stephen White, Abbey Street, Kildare labourer; and James O’Connor, Bansha, Co. Tipperary, railway worker. This was the largest (single day) official execution of the Civil War.’

Extracted from The Timeline of the Civil War in Co. Kildare 1922 – 1924 by Corrigan, Durney et al. The book is available to download for free via Kildare Library Services website.

What is important is not just the historic facts. People talk about what happened as if it ended with the terrible act of execution, when it tore families apart and traumatised those who remained behind for generations to come.

One of the saddest tales is that of Annie Moore who was arrested on the night of the 12 December and imprisoned for almost a year, first in Mountjoy and then in Kilmainham and the North Dublin Union. Annie lost her brother Bryan and her fiancé Patrick Nolan to the firing squad. They were to be wed on St. Stephen’s Day, 1922, just a week later. Margaret Buckley, later president of Sinn Féin, wrote an account of her own incarceration which was published as ‘The jangle of the Keys,’ in 1938. She had arrived in Mountjoy on Little Christmas Eve, 5 January.

“I was introduced to many I did not know, including an inconsolable looking girl­­-Annie Moore, from Kildare-whose brother had been executed a short time previously. This poor girl was in bad health, and was a tangible part of the shadow which hovered over the jail …”

James O’Connor from Bansha was also set to be wed to Esther Quirke. Paddy Mangan’s father could not deal with the grief and died some years afterwards in a Mental Hospital. Bryan Moore’s father died young, again according to family lore, of a broken heart. Family members left for England and the USA, never to be seen again. Their comrade, Thomas Behan was killed on the night of the capture in somewhat suspicious circumstances.

It is those stories that we must remember and lay bare.

Evan Arkwright, Racing and Sponsorship Manager of the Curragh, said “We are delighted to partner with Kildare County Council, the Decade of Commemorations Committee and the local Community and History Groups to offer these wonderful facilities for the occasion. Our focus has always been on the Curragh and the community. History, heritage and culture are tremendously important to us. We hope people, who may not have been here before, take the opportunity to visit the Curragh Racecourse on what will surely be an emotive evening,”

Parking is available at the new Curragh Racecourse entrance.

Presented by the Co. Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee, Kildare County Council, the Curragh Racecourse, Cill Dara Historical Society and Milltown Heritage Group.