3rd Battalion, Fingal Brigade & Leixlip Flying Column

[kristof]

Hello Kristof,

I am new to rootschat and I have seen quite a few of your posts. I am afraid that I cannot help you with your enquiries. However, I think we might be distantly related - we certainly have ancestors in common.

I think Francis Brennan you mentioned must have been "Terry" Brennan who was married to my Aunt "Nan". She was really my mother's Aunt and lived on  McKee Avenue in Finglas. I remember her from my childhood days. She died when I was still very young.

Maybe you can help me though. I am looking for information on James "Jimmy" O'Brien who married the daughter of Francis' brother Patrick. I looked at the census of 1911 and there are both O'Briens and Brennans from Finglas East recorded there but I am not sure if they are relatives. Would you have any knowledge of O'Briens from that area or from "Dubber".

I think i might be able to get something on James O'Brien later when i get home (at work now).
Will be back soon.

[kristof]

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[kristof]

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[kristof]

Article on the Collinstown arms raid of March 1919:

http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/32129

[kristof]

Thanks everyone, i think that i've managed to find most of what i needed.
C

[watchman1]

I'm hoping that someone can tell me a little more about either the 3rd Battalion, Fingal Brigade or the Leixlip Flying Column ; they are both mentioned in the obituary of my wife's grandfather, Francis Brennan, as he was a member of both.  He was a resident of Finglas.
 
Can any one tell me when either of these units were active, where they were active and what, if any actions are attributed to them? Also, has anyone come across any other members of either unit?

We are waiting on his pension records but that may be some time away.  We are sure that he didn't give a witness statement. 

Finally, being in australia, we're unable to actually visit the relevant archives or libraries and have been relying upon what is available online.

Hi. I have just come to know about this site and I can give you some information on the Leixlip Column. This was a unit of the IRA that operated in three counties-KIldare, Meath and Dublin during our civil war of 1922/23. It was commanded by a Mayo man Paddy Mullaley, who was a teacher in Leixlip.The unit was very active up to December 1922, when they were captured between Leixlip and Maynooth. Five of the captured column were executed in January 1923. I can give you a full account of the units activities, if you would like it.

[kristof]

Hi,

Since my last post i've managed to find a great deal of information.  I've got my hands on a couple of papers written about the column and their activities, including a couple of detailed descriptions of the column's "last stand" at the battle of Pikes Bridge.  I was given a full list of the members of the column as well as some other documents.  The five who were executed were not original members of the column but joined after the abortive planned attack on Baldonnel, they were free state deserters and as such they were shot as deserters rather than republican's. The rest of the column narrowly escaped a similar fate and instead most of them ended up in Mountjoy and then later some of them were sent to Tintown, many of them involved in the big hunger strike. 
Message me and we'll see if we can help each other out; be great to compare notes.

[watchman1]

Hi,

Since my last post i've managed to find a great deal of information.  I've got my hands on a couple of papers written about the column and their activities, including a couple of detailed descriptions of the column's "last stand" at the battle of Pikes Bridge.  I was given a full list of the members of the column as well as some other documents.  The five who were executed were not original members of the column but joined after the abortive planned attack on Baldonnel, they were free state deserters and as such they were shot as deserters rather than republican's. The rest of the column narrowly escaped a similar fate and instead most of them ended up in Mountjoy and then later some of them were sent to Tintown, many of them involved in the big hunger strike. 
Message me and we'll see if we can help each other out; be great to compare notes.

Hi Kristof, You appear to have plenty of info on the 'Leixlip Column. Just to change the subject and go to another topic that you have an interest in - Jimmy O'Brien. If we are talking about the same Jimmy,I knew him. Back in the 60's I came into his acquaintance. We swopped many a story and he enlightened me of his generation. He had been interned in the Curragh during WW2. He came to live on the North Road, Finglas and was indeed married to a Brennan woman. He was a very big, handsome man and I think that he may have worked in one of the factories on Jamestown Road. It's a small world indeed. Cheers Watchman1

[shanew147]

RootsChat is primarily for researching details of your ancestors. Bear in mind that people with relatives from all sides in these relatively recent events may be posting, or reading these posts, which are easily found (Google searches turn up Rootschat posts in a very short time). Please avoid any politics and discussion of blame, or opinions on who might have been right or wrong during these events.

thank you,


Dublin Moderator