Fingal Old IRA

Corsendonk

Anyone know anything about there activities in the War of Independence and Civil War? There is a website but its under construction for years and they don't seem to have a good reputation for answering mails. I have found accounts of the Battle of Ashbourne but I couldn't find too much on the Fingal Brigade outside their Easter Rising actions.

Thanks in Advance

The Scientician

I did an account of the Battle Of Ashbourne for my LC (I got a . I don't recall hearing of much other activities other than it. Here's a page on Vol. Richard Coleman , a participant in that battle, who I believe in buried in St. Colmcille's graveyard in Chapel Lane, Swords.
Your best bet that I can think of for more information would be to drop Bernadette Marks a line (apparently the number is 01 840 0080) or email in Swords Museum (Carnegie Free Library, North St. Swords). She's a font of local historical knowledge.

Luca Brasi

Corsendonk wrote: »

Anyone know anything about there activities in the War of Independence and Civil War? There is a website but its under construction for years and they don't seem to have a good reputation for answering mails. I have found accounts of the Battle of Ashbourne but I couldn't find too much on the Fingal Brigade outside their Easter Rising actions.

Thanks in Advance

Check out the Witness statements in the Bureau of Military History website. There is a bit of work in it. Check the entries for the Dublin volunteers annd you will eventually find individual accounts for the North Dublin area. I'm not sure which Battalion covered the Fingal area but a bit of research should reveal same.
I have read several accounts and they are very good and informative.
The accounts do not cover Civil War activity

Just did a quick check. See the statement of Charles Weston Lusk about his 1916 activity and stay in Frongoch. There are plenty others just to source them. Best of luck

Jesus.

Just read a book on the Battle of Ashbourne (Field of Fire: The battle of Ashbourne 1916 - Paul O'Brien). It was written recently and is a small book of around 80 pages or so. Great little account for anyone that might be interested.

One thing that cropped up was the accusation (in the House of Commons) that the Volunteers had used explosive rounds during the engagement. Commonly called "Dum Dums", these bullets were outlawed at the time by Geneva. O'Brien suggests that any dumdums they may have had were captured from the RIC barracks in Swords earlier that week. He also uses reports from medical officers in WW1 who describe how Mauser rifles at close range can cause huge exit wounds. The encounter at Ashbourne was fought at very close range and the Fingal battalion also made use of American Winchester shotguns. Up close, shotguns are known to cause horrific wounds.

He concedes that there may have been a few dumdum rounds used but he can't be sure. He also noted that Pearse said some of the ammunition brought in at Howth was useless because they were explosive rounds and they were not legal in civilised warfare and that they were probably gotten rid of. The reason the RIC in Swords might have had them, he suggests, is because when that type of ammunition was outlawed, the British army and RIC had piles of the stuff so they used to use them for target practice and training purposes just to make use of them.

Anyway, its a great little book for anyone that's interested. You'd read it in a couple of hours.