Glenbeigh Historical Society

29/04/2021

The Glenbeigh Ambush, April 26th 1921

The Irish War of Independence began on 21st January 1919 and ended on 11th July 1921, a total of two years five months two weeks and six days. The first Dáil met on 21st January in the Mansion House Dublin and coincidentally on that day the opening shots of the War of Independence were fired when the Irish Volunteers ambushed and murdered two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary at Soloheadbeg, Co.Tipperary. This led to a guerrilla conflict between Britain and its forces in Ireland, and the Irish Volunteers/ Irish Republican Army.

Violence intensified in the early 1920s with frequent attacks and raids on RIC barracks for weapons and ammunition resulting in a large number of RIC personnel resigning. Due to the escalation of violence and the burning of most rural barracks, the RIC were reinforced by a deployment of about 10,000 ex British army soldiers, known as the Black and Tans, in March 1920. These again were strengthened by another 2,500 soldiers - the Auxiliaries better known as "The Auxies". These dogs of war were unleashed by British Secretary of State for War Winston Churchill. Both were associated with brutality, murder, reprisals and were a symbol of terrorism who did everything but keep the peace. Every city, town, village and parish in Ireland suffered intensely through the presence of these psychopaths.

The first six months of 1921 saw a lot of activity in Kerry, which was under martial law along with Cork, Limerick and Tipperary following the Kilmichael Ambush on 28th November 1920. This ambush was led by Killorglin born Tom Barry, who wiped out a patrol of seventeen Auxiliaries which resulted in immediate repercussions. Most towns and villages throughout Kerry witnessed some form of attacks in the lead up to the truce which came into effect on July 11th 1921. Places like Listowel, Ballylongford and Tralee in North Kerry, Lispole near Di**le, Headford Junction and Rathmore all witnessed ambushes on Crown Forces. The murder of Major John McKinnon, commander of the Auxiliaries in Tralee, on April 15th 1921 resulted in vicious repercussions from the British military on the town and the people of Tralee.

Nearer home, Killorglin saw unrest and the famous ambush of Ballymacandy, a townland between Milltown and Castlemaine, on June 1st where five members of the Crown Forces were killed, and a large amount of rifles and ammunition confiscated. The Glenbeigh Ambush occurred a few weeks earlier on April 26th 1921 at Glenbeigh railway station, where a detachment of British troops were to board a railway train on their way to Tralee to pick up food rations, as they usually did on that particular day each week. Prior to this planned attack a scout was sent to Glenbeigh to scope out the area and report on the military's movements. Glenbeigh was a garrison town with both Military and RIC in residence. Winn’s castle had been used as a barrack to house the Black and Tans at the start of the War of Independence but was burned down in June 1920 by local Volunteers. As a result the Tans now shared living arrangements with RIC officers in the RIC barracks which was situated near the present football field (now Seefin Grove). The night before the ambush, battalions from West Kerry met at Inch strand and boarded two boats and crossed the waters to Dooks. They proceeded to march on to Glenbeigh where they met up with Volunteers from Killorglin, Milltown and of course local men from Glencar and Glenbeigh under Paddy Cahill’s command. On the morning of April 26th volunteers were in position by 7am in time for the 7.45 am train coming from Cahirsiveen when their targets would embark on their weekly journey. Two volunteers were sent to Mountain Stage to delay the train so as that the ambushers could carry out their attack without compromising the safety of the passengers on board. As expected minutes before their departure time the military, comprising fourteen soldiers and one officer, marched into the station oblivious to the welcoming party who were awaiting their arrival in the railway station. Some volunteers were in the waiting room, some in parked wagons, some in the signal box and more on outpost duty. There are some conflicting accounts of what happened in the railway station that day. But according to the Bureau of Military History statement by witness Daniel Mulvihill of Castlemaine who was present that day gives the definitive account:

"The whole crowd jumped out on them. They dumped all their stuff on the ground and ran for the barracks. A couple of shots were fired to hurry them up. No shots were fired from the barracks."

The volunteers got what they came for, an amount of weaponry. The big prize was a Lewis automatic gun and nine rifles with two thousand rounds of .303 ammunition. Three members of the military were wounded, no casualties reported from the volunteers. When the train eventually arrived, they gathered the rifles dropped by the military and commandeered the train to Dooks Halt, where the men dismounted with their acquisitions. This was the last train for some time as they shut down the line for a month as a result. Some local volunteers who took part in the ambush that day were Bertie and Chris Scully, William Taylor from Glencar, Frank O'Grady and Michael Cahill from Glenbeigh.

The Glenbeigh ambush was followed by the aforementioned Ballymacandy Ambush on June 1st, 1921. This was the last of the big ambushes before the truce was called on July 11th same year.
The Anglo Irish Treaty was signed on December 6th 1921, establishing the Irish Free State. Unfortunately, but as expected, this war claimed the lives of some Glenbeigh natives. On 28th May 1920 Liam Scully of Glencar died when shot by British Crown Forces in Killmallock while on active duty. Joe Taylor was shot in his home at Lyranes, Glencar on 27th February 1921 by the Black and Tans. Another Glenbeigh man, Constable Timothy Horan, who was a member of the RIC was shot dead in Castledaly Co. Galway while on patrol on 30th October 1920 and is buried in Ballinakilla graveyard. Not a local man but worth a mention was Cornelius "Corny" Crean member of the RIC and brother of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean who came from Annascaul Co. Kerry. Sergeant Crean was shot dead while on duty near Upton Co. Cork on April 25th 1920 and is buried in St. Fin Barre’s Cemetery Cork City.

The RIC was disbanded in August 1922, and the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries finally withdrawn back to England, leaving Ireland relatively at peace at last.

23/04/2021

Our man has been out and about with his camera again😊. Can you identify these locations around the parish?

26/03/2021

Here's a few more photos snapped around the parish. Can you identify these locations?

16/03/2021

Evening all. If you're at a loose end, see if you can identify the locations of these photos snapped recently around the parish. Some are easy, some are a little cryptic. Can you identify them all?

15/11/2020

In view of the news this week about the approval of the South Kerry Greenway, we thought it would be interesting to re-share this old TV feature on the Valentia-Farranfore railway line, along whose old route the greenway will pass on its way from Glenbeigh to Caherciveen.

Joan O'Sullivan reports on the line from Farranfore to Valentia harbour in Co Kerry. The railway to Valencia Harbour was opened in 1893. It was the most west...

14/10/2020

Pat O'Shea Droum 17/2/1939 to 6/8/2010.

Glenbeigh is a region of great natural ragged beauty and charm which has attracted holiday makers from the four corners of the world over many years. The last ice age left a legacy of rugged grandeur that has carved out its many lakes and sculpted the jagged mountains that surround us. This alone does not define Glenbeigh entirely, the other great ingredient that Glenbeigh possesses are its people. It is said that people are a country's greatest asset, and that is definitely true for Glenbeigh. Some of the local families living here today can trace their ancestors back numerous generations to when records began. Their forefathers have endured great hardship over time, surviving attacks, famines, disease, evictions, and even the fight against the elements of nature. But they survived generation after generation some with great difficulty but with dignity and pride of place. They have preserved our cultures our traditions our language, music, sports and passed them on for posterity. It is impossible to mention all those men and women that have contributed to life in Glenbeigh. So, over the next while we will focus on a few people from the parish who have contributed significantly without they realising their input. Ordinary people who have left their footprints on the sand of time. So, we begin with a man who unfortunately is no longer with us but was such a huge part of life in Glenbeigh for over seventy years, that is Pat O Shea.
Pat O'Shea, affectionally known as Pato or Pate was born, bred and lived his entire life in Droum Upper, Glenbeigh. He was born on 17/2/1939 to Paddy O'Shea formerly of Reenallagane and Catherine O'Sullivan from Curraheen who met while working in America. The year 1939 was a turbulent one as Germany invaded Poland on Sept 1st resulting in the start of World War 2. Other famous personalities born in 1939 were poet Seamus Heaney, musicians Barney McKenna and John Sheahan of the Dubliners , singer Joe Dolan and Irish rugby international Tom Kiernan. When Pats parents returned home to Ireland from America they married and temporarily set up home in one of the lodges overlooking Rossbeigh beach. After purchasing a home and farm at Droum Upper they went on to have three children Maureen, Pat and Catherine in that order. Pat and his siblings attended the old Glenbeigh spelled Glanbeg national school where one of their teachers at that time was the well-remembered Jimmy Doherty. As Pat was the only son in the family it was inevitable, he was to take over the running of the family farm from his father. Farming in those days was laborious, as all work was done by hand such as cutting the hay with a scythe, cutting turf with a sléan, milking cows by hand or walking their animals to the fairs in Killorglin or Cahirsiveen and sometimes back home again if they failed to sell. The tractor had not yet reached South Kerry so the horse acted as the farmers support in agriculture and the only mode of transport up to the 1950's. In those days permanent work was hard to come by as there were very few opportunities about. Pat supplemented his farm income by entering the building trade along with his good friends and neighbours John and Mike (Dry) Riordan. At that time a number of cottages were being built by Kerry County Council which gave welcomed work to the local builders. The 1950's was a time of huge emigration to both England and America, some never returned home again. In the mid 50's the ESB power station was built in Deelis, Cahirsiveen resulting in rural electrification where poles and power lines were laid supplying power to private house in Kerry. Pat was one of the men selected to join the ESB's transmission department installing the electricity to almost all homes in the Glenbeigh area. The man in charge was Willie Musgrave from Cahirsiveen who with Pat formed a lifelong friendship. Pat had a great affinity with people and saw the best in everyone making an indelible impression on everyone he encountered. Pat didn't play much football but he played a lot of music, his instrument of choice was the button accordion. In his younger days he teamed up with Johnny and Patrick the Mason, Johnny Coffey and front singer Bridie Moriarty to form a dance band called "The Glenside". They supplied the music for cross road dancing as well as ballroom dancing at the Emir ballroom and other venues throughout Kerry. It was in the Emir dance hall he met his intended wife Noreen Courtney from Keeldubh around 1970. This woman of great looks and intelligence operated one of the first local bed and breakfasts at Rossbeigh known as Nora Foleys. They were married on the 11th October 1972 three days before Kerry's greatest footballer Mick O'Connell and Roselene married. Noreen’s bridesmaids were Bridget Horan and Eileen Griffin (Stevens), Pat choose his first cousin Batt (Skipper) Murphy as best man and groomsman was his nephew Mike Horan. Their wedding reception was held in the Gleneagle Hotel Killarney with music supplied by Pat Doyle Killorglin and Seán Hurley ( Radio Kerry) who was reared in the station masters house at Mountain stage. The following Sunday both newly married couples were in Croke Park for the replay of the All Ireland football final when unfortunately, Kerry were beaten by Offaly. Pat, Noreen and Roselene in the Hogan stand, Mick at centre field. Pat and Noreen returned to normal life and within a few years they doubled their family number to four with the arrival of daughter Doreen followed by James better known now as Pato. Later on, in life Doreen's daughter Shaun, Pats granddaughter when young were his pride and joy travelling the country with him in the big white van. Pats reputation in the parish was created by his humble and gentle demeanour which left a lasting impression on all those he met on his walk of life. He had the wonderful ability of integrating the stranger into local society. He was a people's person and a great ambassador for Glenbeigh, always had a great welcome for visitors and holidaymakers to the village. He always offered them great advice especially if they were potential house buyers and at the same time helping the locals to sell their house or site at a good price. As a neighbour he was always available day or night whether it being a problem with a cow calving in Chris Courtney's, helping Jim Speed to move cattle or bringing Mick O'Neill home safe from a night in the village. He was also a great man to attend funerals all over South and Mid Kerry often accompanied by his old friend Tim Tim. Pat had great love for Rossbeigh almost every Sunday he walked the beach with his trusty canine companion Myles before retreating to his car to read the Sunday paper, then a quick call to Paddy or Tim Crone to catch up with the news of the parish. Pat was a man that never drank as such but loved a few nights a week in the local pubs where he enjoyed the music and a chat with his many friends. He often provided the music himself sometimes accompanied on vocals by Liz Shea who he refers to as Susan McCann. No matter where he was socialising, he would always end up at the "Ross Inn" bar for a chat with John Barton or Martin Griffin. He had a strong allegiance to the Cahill family, their politics and their business since Tommy first opened in the 1960's and a great friend and adviser to Mike. Pat a proud bearer of tradition, preserved the old custom of men meeting and discussing local topics outside the church gate after Sunday mass. With men like his two first cousin’s local historian and Memory Man Pat Murphy and Humphrey Shea, his nephew Padraig Horan and friend Seán O'Connor (former Foilmore football star), there was no need to buy the weekly Kerryman. Johnny Mahony would often arrive then the banter would begin in earnest. Pat was always generous with his time and had time to chat to everybody, he brightened up the darkest of days for a lot of people. He was an exponent of positive thinking and lived life to the fullest. His first mobile phone was a great sense of amusement to him and to others when he got it first. He might be in the bog or at Milltown mart when his phone rang, he'd always answer jokingly "how did you know I was here". On a fine summer Sunday, you could find him at the regatta in Valentia, the races in Cahirsiveen, the cattle show in Glencar or at a drag hunt in Kells. He followed the local Gaa and could recall Kerry teams going back for years. It was on his way home from the regatta in Valentia on the 6th of August 2010 he unexpectedly fell ill and was rushed to hospital to undergo emergency treatment. Pat did not survive the operation he did not get the time to say goodbye to his family. A cold wind of sorrow blew through the parish of Glenbeigh when word of his sudden death filtered through. It was like the death of Michael Collins or President Kennedy a great man was gone without explanation. His popularity was truly reflected in the huge number of people young and old, far and wide that came to pay their last respects. His requiem mass will be remembered by the large crowds, the fitting eulogy and the haunting music. He was a great mentor, friend and guiding influence on all who knew him. His wit and wisdom are sadly missed. After he passing away a photograph of Pat playing his accordion was hung on the wall of Peaders pub and another at the Ross Inn and are still in place. That showed how respected, admired and appreciated he was in his own parish of Glenbeigh. Very few people have got or will get that honour.
He was the quintessential Glenbeigh man. Pat O'Shea has earned the right to immortality. Pat O'Shea 12/2/1939 to 6/8/ 2010. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís.

25/09/2020

Pride in your county colours - and when the Kerry footballers stepped out in the red and white of Cork!

The national flag of Ireland - green, white and orange - is better known as the tricolour. Green symbolising the Roman Catholics, the orange representing the Protestant minority and the white of peace uniting both. It was first introduced in 1848 by Waterford’s Thomas Francis Meagher, leader of the Young Irelanders but not formally confirmed as our national flag until the Constitution of Ireland in 1937. It was first flown from the GPO in 1916 along with the old Irish flag which was all green in colour with a gold harp emblazoned. The tricolour was the flag of Ireland used in the War of Independence 1919 - 1921 and was adopted by the Irish Free State up to 1937.

But what is equally important are the flags and colours adopted by each county in Ireland. We usually associate our county colours with the formation of the GAA back in 1884. As the counties took part in the first All-Ireland championships, they were represented by their club teams that had won the county championship the previous year. Kerry was no different, and for the first ten years Laune Rangers and Ballymacelligott dominated Kerry football, both wearing blue jerseys. Laune Rangers were the first club to represent Kerry in an All-Ireland football final in 1892, wearing the club blue but unfortunately losing to Dublin. However when Kerry won their first football final in 1903, it is uncertain what colours they wore. Some say that it was a combination of green and red at the start of the championship, but that when they played London in the "Away" final they wore the green and gold for the first time. These were the colours at that time of the John Mitchels team from Tralee, and as they were then the dominant football team in Kerry, it was decided by the county board to adopt the green and gold for the county team.

Like all other counties, Kerry embraced with pride their adopted colours. There was once or twice when the county was made to change their strip to avoid a colour clash. In the mid-1930s, the Cork County Board commissioned a drapery in the city to prepare a full kit of the traditional red and white for the county team. But a dispute between the board and the drapery erupted, resulting in the jerseys not being collected. At that time, a man from Di**le by the name of Jimmy McKenna was working in Cork in the clothing business or the rag trade as it was alluded to then. When he became aware of the unclaimed Cork jerseys, and as Di**le colours were also red and white, the cute Kerryman made off home with the kit! Lucky gear it was for Di**le as they went on to win their first county championship in 1938 wearing the iconic Cork gear. Kerry qualified for the 1939 All Ireland final with Meath, with a team fortified by five great Di**le players including their captain Tom "Gega" O'Connor. Due to the similar geansaí Kerry were asked to wear the Munster blue. However, Di**le, the reigning county champions, refused to wear the customary blue and presented the Kerry board with an ultimatum: if they weren't allowed to wear the Di**le colours, they would withdraw their five men from the Kerry panel. After much deliberation, the board conceded to the unprecedented request (if not a threat). Kerry lined out wearing the red and white, and went on to beat Meath 2:5 to 2:3 to claim their thirteenth All-Ireland title. Kerry supporters on the day recognised the Di**le colours but few were aware that these jerseys were made specifically for the Cork football team - the Kerrymen dressed up as rebels! Dan Spring, father of former politician Dick Spring, scored both goals for Kerry that day. On the following Monday night, the county board president, Canon Thomas Lyne, who was also parish priest of Di**le, welcomed the victorious Kerry team to a Di**le town bedecked with red and white flags. Every man, woman and child attended the celebration which went on for a good few days and nights. Canon Lyne was brother of Kerry great Jackie Lyne, uncle of Pat Spillane and great grand uncle of present Kerry panelist Jonathan Lyne. In these modern times, we expect that the chances of a Kerry team winning another All Ireland while wearing the Cork jerseys will probably never be repeated!

Another slightly less dramatic occasion was when Kerry changed their colours for the 1972 All Ireland football final, when they wore the blue of Munster. The reason being that their opponents were Offaly sporting their traditional green, white and gold. It took two games to decide the outcome, with the Kingdom well beaten in the replay after the first match was drawn. They lost by nine points, which was Kerry's biggest loosing margin ever in an All Ireland final and it was also Mick O'Connell’s and Mick Dwyer’s last game in Croke Park. Maybe they should have worn the Cork jerseys again.
Kerry have worn blue tops sponsored by Kerry Group in the 2017 semi-final when beaten by Mayo and they now wear a gold colour shirt for away games. Only two counties in Ireland wear jerseys with three different colours, Offaly wear green, white and gold and Carlow wear green, red and yellow, with all the rest having only two colours. Galway and Westmeath both wear maroon. Cork wore dark blue with a big yellow letter 'C' boldly displayed on the front up to 1919, when the kit was destroyed by the British authorities. They were then replaced by the red and white, often referred to in Cork as the blood and bandage. Dublin once wore royal blue and white but switched to blue and navy, a stronger colour for television viewers. In the 1931 All Ireland final Kerry beat Kildare 1:11 to 0:8 led by their captain Con Brosnan from Moyvane. Kildare were known as the Lillywhites since their entire outfit was white, but on that occasion Kildare players wore their club socks instead of their usual white socks. Maybe some day when Kerry line out behind the Artane Band it would be nice to see some of the players wearing the socks of the Glenbeigh, Cromane or any other small clubs in the county.

The Glenbeigh club team now wear red and black but it said that the original colours of the club was once black and amber similar to what Glenbeigh national school wear at the moment. Nowadays people are taking great pride in their county of their birth and so proud to wear their colours. Whether you are in Dublin or Cork for the weekend or anywhere in the world on holidays you will encounter Irish county colours worn with pride by avid supporters of their respective county. You may recall that immortal phrase from the Waterford hurling star John Mullane after they won the Munster final in 2004 " I Love Me County".

02/09/2020

Here are a couple of lovely old photographs, courtesy of Patrick Clifford of Keelnabrack Lower. The first one is of the Rossbeigh horse racing committee of 1957, and the second is of the Glenbeigh-Glencar football team from around the same time.

How many of the people in the photos can you recognise?

30/08/2020

When we looked back into the pages of The Kerryman for this week's extract from 100 years ago, we found that there was little reference to Glenbeigh for this particular week. Perhaps the sun was shining in the last week in August back then! There were a couple of follow-ups to articles previously reported, such as the letter explaining why a number of Justices of the Peace had recently resigned, to which Thomas Evans of the Towers Hotel was a signatory, and a report of a rejected compensation claim after the RIC barracks in Glencar was destroyed by fire.
The rest of the selection below are from wider afield across Kerry, and show the impact of the escalating military activity during the War of Independence on the local population. The fire in Tralee mentioned in the extract was the burning by the 'Black and Tans' of the printing press used to publish The Kerryman, amongst other journals. This was the precursor to what became known as the Siege of Tralee in November 1920, when the town was subject to severe reprisals after the assassination of several police constables in the area.

When we looked back into the pages of The Kerryman for this week's extract from 100 years ago, we found that there was little reference to Glenbeigh for this p

21/08/2020

In our ongoing series of extracts from the pages of The Kerryman from 100 years ago, we have a really mixed bag of stories this week, ranging from the mundane to the sad and serious matters of the ongoing War of Independence, including the tragic death of a Kells man, apparently from fright, after his house was invaded by a group of masked men. This week’s Glenbeigh notes shows the owner of the Towers Hotel, Thomas Evans, resigning as a magistrate. The paper reports that several other magistrates also resigned that week, and we can only guess that this was probably related to the military situation. It is also reported that the Glencar house of John Taylor, reported last week to have been damaged in recent disturbances, has been restored with the help of local volunteers. Alongside these stories, we can see that "normal" life still carried on, with the circus due to arrive shortly in Tralee. It's also interesting to see that John Ross Jeweller in Tralee was operating then as it still does today, as can be seen in its advertisement for the latest technology in its "Traly" watch.

In our ongoing series of extracts from the pages of The Kerryman from 100 years ago, we have a really mixed bag of stories this week, ranging from the mundane t