In our first Westmeath County Council Decade of Centenaries podcast in April, we were joined by John Sheehan, a native of Moate and lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at University College, Cork, to explore the story of James and Joseph Tormey, officers in the Irish Republican Army’s Athlone Brigade, who died within weeks of […]
The years 1919-1921 were a dangerous time for Irish newspapers and this 20-minute film, written by Ian Kenneally, explores that history. The film gives an overview of censorship and propaganda, as well as discussing violence against newspaper offices and journalists; highlighting cases such as the destruction of the Westmeath Independent, based in Athlone. Content Last […]
In this Westmeath County Council Decade of Centenaries video feature, Brian Maguire talks about his father, James (Seamus) Maguire (1889-1960), a native of Glenidan, Co. Westmeath who in November 1920 was appointed OC of the Irish Republican Army’s Mullingar Brigade. Brian talks about his father’s family connections and involvement in IRA operations in Westmeath. He […]
In our third Westmeath Decade of Centenaries podcast, Historian in Residence Paul Hughes speaks to Marika MacCarvill, granddaughter of Eileen MacCarvill (née McGrane). Eileen McGrane went to UCD and became a leading officer in the Dublin university’s Cumann na mBan branch, but became best known for her close working relationship with Michael Collins as his […]
In our second Westmeath County Council Decade of Centenaries podcast, Dr Paul Hughes, Historian in Residence, talks to Dr Marie Coleman, Professor Marie Coleman of Queens University Belfast, about the advent of the Truce between the IRA and Crown forces 100 years ago this week (11 July 1921) in its national and local contexts. Professor […]
On 3rd July 1921 Moydrum Castle was burned in what was one of the key events of the closing stages of the Irish War of Independence in Westmeath. To mark the centenary Westmeath Historian in Residence Dr Paul Hughes wrote this mini-documentary intercut with stills from National Library of Ireland and featuring Frankie Keena Cathaoirleach […]
Ambush at Benown, 20 June 1921 The only serving British soldier killed by the I.R.A. in Westmeath during the War of Independence died one hundred years ago this week, when on Monday, 20 June 1921, the commanding officer of the Athlone-based 13th Infantry Brigade was shot dead by the IRA in an ambush at Benown, […]
Shortly before 8am on the morning of Sunday, 12 June 1921, fifty-three-year-old Royal Irish Constabulary head constable James McElhill was on duty at the local police barracks in Kilbeggan. McElhill (b. 1868), a Catholic and a single man from a farming family in Co. Tyrone, was the first of a number of policemen to leave […]
In the mid-to-late spring of 1921, as the Irish Republican Army’s guerrilla war against Crown forces continued, the British authorities mulled over a number of strategies through which intensify its military campaign in the country. The existing British military presence in Westmeath comprised the 13th Infantry Brigade headquarters and the over 600-strong 1st Battalion, Leicestershire […]
Historian Ian Kenneally continues his study of the intelligence war between the IRA and Crown forces in Westmeath (1920-21), with a special focus on south Westmeath and the fate of Baylin farmer George Johnston, who was identified by the IRA as a spy in 1921. As discussed in earlier blogs, the destruction of RIC barracks […]