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Quote from: John Holland on Monday 06 May 13 03:36 BST (UK)

Came across this site by accident , Bill Corri brother of Hayden would have been my Grandfather, my mothers father, I remember the picture with De Valera from when I was growing up

Hi John Holland,

Did Hayden Corri live in Pearse Square? I recall coming across that name whilst researching another person.

Hayden (actually Haydn aka Aiden) Corri did live in Pearse Square. He was descended directly from the Scottish born Italian Haydn (the composer Joseph Haydn was his godfather) Corri who was the first organist at the pro-cathedral.
While not in the ASU Haydn was part of the extended Bloody Sunday crew stationed in the Mount Street and Canal area. He was one of the first to be identified along with Tom Whelan. They shared time in Ballykinlar. Tom naively accepted recall and executed. Haydn refused recall and adopted various  aliases e.g. Owen Slowey, Terry Rooney and permanently David Golden (after whom I'm named) within Ballykinlar.

Haydn and his brother Bill took opposing sides in the Civil War. Bill was the Governor of Kilmainham jail while Haydn was a prisoner.

To their credit they were reconciled after the war while maintaining their points of view.

An Old Role from B Coy 2nd Battallion

The following are quotes from Haydn Corri in regard to the his involvement in Bloody Sunday.

Is it possible to identify the the target or house from this.

Is there anything you have come accross to corroborate this.

He was in B Company 3rd Battallion & 5th Battallion. Engineers Dublin Brigade.


"My assignment brought me into the very centre of activities and when our work was finished we had a short unexpected delay which almost proved fatal.   Troops from Portobello Bks. were closing in on us from Lesson Street end while Tans and Auxiliaries were massing at the Mount Street end.   I had been given the use of 2 cars, one stationed at Baggot St. Bridge and the other stationed at Mount Street Bridge. I was given strict orders that those cars were only to be used for taking away wounded and if my party reached those points without casualties I was to dismiss them.   After dismissing the Baggott St. Bridge car we proceeded along the canal towards Mount St. Bridge, this was after the shooting in Mount St. and after Frank Teeling had been wounded and captured. The Tans were crowding into Northumberland Road getting out of their cars but making no attempt to cross the Bridge, just firing into the air and behaving like wild Indians.   The position from our point of view looked hopeless.   We had a short consultation and agreed that it no longer served any purpose to conceal our arms and that we could cross he road with guns at the ready.   We also decided that it was not to be everyman for himself and that if one fell we would all stand by and fight; this would have been a very short fight as at this time we had reloaded our guns and none of us had more than 3 or 4 spare rounds of ammunition.   However we reached the far side safely and here with all the milling, killing and shooting sat the driver of our second car calmly waiting for orders; this man deserves great praise as owing to our delay he could have reasonably concluded that we had all become casualties further up or had been forced to take another direction.   Just as I dismissed this car the Tans realized that something was happening.   They crowded over the parapet of the Bridge and fired volley upon volley after us.   We had no alternative but to return the fire and by the time we had emptied our guns we had reached the corner of Grand Canal St., from here it was obvious that the entire area was being quickly surrounded and as our guns were useless now owing to lack of ammunition I relieved my party of their arms and dismissed them and proceeded alone to find a safe temporary dump for them..   My own Coy. Capt. afterwards accused me of having deliberately delayed my retreat so that I could engage the enemy and if I had not been arrested so soon after I am sure I would have had to face a charge of exposing my party to unnecessary danger. "

"On our retreat we overtook a policeman who was making straight for Lad Lane Police Stations whether he was merely reporting for duty or was rushing to tell of something he had seen made little difference to us.   We just had to delay long enough to remove his bootlaces and tie him by the arms to a railing on Fitzwilliam Square. This policeman later failed or refused to recognise me in Kilmainham Prison.  The reason that they did not cross the bridge was that when the shootings started in Mount Street two Auxiliary Cadets were sent back on foot to Beggers Bush Barracks for reinforcements.   These two men were captured on Northumberland Road and taken into a garden and shot.   When reinforcements eventually left Beggers Bush this was the first incident that they met and thinking that it was the only scene of action they did not proceed further for some time, this certainly saved myself and party from destruction as otherwise we would have walked straight into the main body of reinforcements."

"I was arrested on Tuesday night and placed in a lorry with or 14 other prisoners, 3 of which were destined to give their lives for Ireland in a few short months time.  They were Tom Whelan who was executed, David Kelly brother of Tom Kelly, Lord Mayor of Dublin and Bernard Hanlon of my own Coy.  David Kelly was released owing to ill health and Bernard Hanlon was released owing to his extreme youth."

GoldenGirl61

I may have been named after your Grandad David Golden. If its the same person your grandad allowed my dad Haydn Corri to take on the permanent alias as David Golden in Ballykinlar Interment Camp. This saved my Dad's life as he was on a Capital charge for his part in the "Bloody Sunday" operation and was "on the run" within in the camp. It brought the identification system into disrepute. It also put David Golden into constant danger of discovery.

Could it be possible that your grandad was the same David Golden. The alias was so convincing that some of my Dad's friends referred to him as David decades after the war was over and I was named in honour of David Golden as late as the 50's.

David Corri