When Tom Barry said ‘down in the mire we had to go’ he wasn’t being poetic.May God bless ALL the men who went down in the mire, to die they were willing. To die for OUR sake, not money, not rank, not glory. They certainly got no reward. I recall reading about a German spy to be shot in Tower of London. Alone and unsupported he said to the governor, “I don’t suppose you would shake the hand I’d a spy?” The reply was, “a spy, no; a brave man, yes.” Their faithful souls are on the right hand of God.
I enjoy your videos, I think you suggested that Paddy O'Daly had no idea about the Ballyseedy incident, that's false. There are records of telegrams from Dublin between Richard Mulcahy and O'Daly authorising the Dublin guard in Kerry to use prisoners to clear out any of their own road blocks encountered after the Knocknagashal landmine the night before Ballyseedy.
Just for the record Ned Breslin was not a member of the Squad, He was a member of the ASU. That mistake is mentioned in the terrible RTE documentary on Ballyseedy which is full of errors. Neither were Charlie Dalton or Sean Lemass members. Charlie took part in Squad operations as an intelligence officer, Lemass took part in Bloody Sunday as a shooter, but was never a member of the Squad.
I think some care needs to be taken in the pronouncement of the involvement of these historical figures in controversial aspects of the War of Independence and Civil War. Particularly the civil war. For example, the details in this report about my grandfather, Charlie, are not completely accurate and rather too many blanks have been filled in to draw all the conclusions that it does. That he suffered mentally from his experiences is documented, with some evidence to support some antecedents of what we would now probably see as PTSD, but we will never know the whole story and - like that whole generation - there was neither a willingness or a strong public expectation that they should talk about what they saw or did.
i have utmost respect for your grandfather and grand uncle Emmett , very few could state as a fact how they would react under the same circumstances. The civil war was a curse on the island and it's future and It has to be true that good men suffered PSTD afterards. It is a extremely tricky subject to document objectively, however I don't think it was portrayed poorly , just the basic facts. You are right though we will never for sure ,but it is vital to keep everything in perspective.
He is a wicklow man Leo Cullen the Leinster manger is his grandson . They had a butcher shop in wicklow town .His was born on a farm around east wicklow.He was very good friends with Michael Collins and fought in 1916.I think he was more intelligence in the war of Independence.
