Military Archives

smcalister

Recently, I have been tracing my family history on the off chance that I can finally discover what happened to my paternal grandfather, William Cooke McAlister (b: Feb 28th 1896 d: June 28th 1922), who was shot dead in Dublin.

I have been advised that the Military Archives at Cathal Brugha Barracks might be the authority to approach concerning the matter of
the Battle of Dublin. However, they don't answer their phone and their fax machine has 'gone west'. They do, however, point out that they do not do individual searches and that you have to visit them in person to scour the archives.

I have poured over reproductions of the papers of the day/the following week looking for police or coroners reports, only to find nothing, only that he had been shot and taken to Meath Hospital where he died. Neither the Irish Times nor the Independent carry anything, not a dicky bird.

It is worth pointing out that he was not part of the fighting, but had traveled up from Delgany to Dublin in order to rescue his disabled sister from her flat in the Merchant's Quay area, where she was a virtual prisoner due to the fighting in the streets outside. He is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery and on his tombstone are the words “shot in Dublin whilst on an errand of mercy”.

Naturally, I would like to find out if there are any military/police notes that record the incident on June 28th 1922.

I should point out that I am not in Ireland, so a personal visit isn't that easy ...

If anyone can point me in the right direction, then I would be forever grateful.

Stuart

tac foley

Sir - I'm very sadddened to read that your grandfather was shot whilst trying to help a sick relative - there is no justice of any kind to be found in that.

Sadly, the lack of any notice might be for any number of reasons. If he was shot by the Free State Army, then there MAY have been a duty action report on the day - but those were troubled times indeed, and such a document may not actually exist now in any shape or form. Even war diaries carry no more than generalities of the day's actvity, let alone the KFS of an action involving the shooting of an innocent civilian. Remember that the opposition were also dressed in civilian clothing for the most part. Add to that that many of the military units of that time no longer exist in their own right and you can see that you are onto a loser from the word 'go'.

As for any record of the event from the POV of the IRA, it would be very surprising if the event even got noticed, especially if they did the shooting. They were not overly keen on documenting their day-to-day activities at the time. Much of what we know from their side is based on accounts written long after the CW was over and done. This is understandable when you appreciate that although they called themselves an army, they were not actually organised in a manner conducive to keeping an accurate account of every shot fired, even when the target was an innocent civilian.

I think that you are going to have a terrible hard job finding out anything about this tragedy.

My $0.02

tac

smcalister

Thank you very much for your reply.

Yes, I realise that it's a highly time-consuming and difficult job. A friend of mine has been quite outstanding in digging around and finding little nuggets of interest and, thanks to a recently unearthed family document, we have been able to trace his last movements but fall short of the exact place where he was attempting the rescue.

I understand that a large part of Dublin has been rebuilt since the CW but although we have an electoral borough, the trail stops there as;

- there are many published coroners inquests but my grandfather's isn't among them
- although there are many published reports of deaths that week, my grandfather's was not reported
- we know that he went to the Merchant's Quay area but no sign of an address
- we're waiting for the next census to be put online (or find an inexpensive researcher) so we can narrow down the possible address

However, I'll carry on as you never know who/what you'll bump into!

Stuart

tac foley

smcalister wrote: »

Thank you very much for your reply.

Yes, I realise that it's a highly time-consuming and difficult job. A friend of mine has been quite outstanding in digging around and finding little nuggets of interest and, thanks to a recently unearthed family document, we have been able to trace his last movements but fall short of the exact place where he was attempting the rescue.

I understand that a large part of Dublin has been rebuilt since the CW but although we have an electoral borough, the trail stops there as;

- there are many published coroners inquests but my grandfather's isn't among them
- although there are many published reports of deaths that week, my grandfather's was not reported
- we know that he went to the Merchant's Quay area but no sign of an address
- we're waiting for the next census to be put online (or find an inexpensive researcher) so we can narrow down the possible address

However, I'll carry on as you never know who/what you'll bump into!

Stuart

Sir - I'm sure that it is a project that might occupy you for a long time to come. However, in my experience, there is no such animal as a 'cheap researcher', unless you find an out-of-work student with a happy knack of knowing his or her way around the labyrinth of local Irish history.

OT, but a friend of mine up in Drogheda showed me the doorway where his great-uncle, a well-known IRA man, was shot dead during the CW. The mark left by the bullet is still there to see in the stonework, but that is as near as he has ever gotten to the event. Only the immediate family took any notice.

And in all the years I've been trying, I have yet to find out a single fact about my father's time in the FSA, during and after the CW. It seems that in spite of it being such an important time in Ireland's history, unless the history-writer has some kind of an ax to grind, and somebody's head to bury it in, there is little of the finer detail that you and I are seeking.

Best wishes

tac

smcalister

No, no axe to grind and no head to bury. Just a time and location would be fine.

tac foley

smcalister wrote: »

No, no axe to grind and no head to bury. Just a time and location would be fine.

I was not insinuating that you had any ax etc, only that it is very difficult to find an unbiased/unslanted POV from almost anybody writing about the CW.

tac

Doctor14

smcalister wrote: »

I have been advised that the Military Archives at Cathal Brugha Barracks might be the authority to approach concerning the matter of the Battle of Dublin. However, they don't answer their phone and their fax machine has 'gone west'. They do, however, point out that they do not do individual searches and that you have to visit them in person to scour the archives.

The Military Archives guys are the way to go. However there are a few issues you must understand - The guys in there are also working elsewhere in the Defence Forces so are only there 2 days a week (either tues & wed or wed & thurs). You should try ringing them on those days between 10 & 12 or 2 & 4. Given the cuts to the Defences Forces recently, it is likely they have had their staff cut even more and are probably now triple jobbing. I would keep trying to ring them. They probably have an e-mail but I can't find it.

Have you tried
http://www.military.ie/dfhq/archives/arch.htm