Frank Moss - Look up?

[kristof]

Deleted

[kristof]

So, I've run into a bit of a brick wall. I can account for Frank until 1914, but the next record is his death in 1925. Can anyone think of any records that might be able to fill in the intervening years and tell me what he was doing or where he was? He doesn't appear in any of the 1916 related sources, witness statements, military archives, can't seem to locate him in WW1 service records, (though given what i can tell of his politics it's unlikely he would have enlisted in the British army unless he was very hard up for money, and that's very possible), there are no births or marriages associated with him for that time period that i can find. Any one have any suggestions?

[myluck!]

At the break out of WW1 the thoughts of republicans were confused by the thoughts of achieving Home Rule which was almost finalised. Many men, especially in Dublin following the lock-out, saw the army as a wage and means to achieving Home Rule; it was definitely not seen as an event going to take four years. They were fighting for the "little countries" of Belgium, etc. including ourselves.

When the war dragged on and Home Rule was not forth coming, 1916 and more radical republicanism began to appear. It was seen that the war was being used as an excuse for not granting Home Rule at the time.

My OH's grandfather was a staunch republican with a scantily documented history in War of Independence and Civil War; but we have his pension application and some other documents about him.
However, he served with the British Army throughout WW1 as he joined because of what was called "Redmond's Call", he joined in late 1914, at the very beginning of the war, believing that it "would be over by Christmas" as many others did. He travelled with the army through Europe and the Middle East for the full duration, returning to Dublin in late 1918.
Only his medal card survives in the British records as many records were destroyed.

I would not rule out that you Frank was not in the army for a period

[Hugo1211]

Hi,
I've just come across this. Frank Moss was an agricultural labourer who seems to have moved around the farmland districts of Meath/North Dublin during the harvesting seasons. By 1913 he was an organizer for the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and played a pivotal role in the farmworker's end of what is known as The Great Lockout of 1913.( It's the centenary so there's loads of stuff on this on-line. A bit too complex to go into here.) Secret Royal Irish Constabulary reports identified Moss as the chief instigator of trouble among North County Dublin Farmhands and he was targeted by them in order to restore peace. Moss was charged with intimidation at Swords Assize on 24th October 1913 and sentenced to 4 months hard labour. He immediately went on Hunger Strike and efforts to force feed him lead to massive protests and marches. On release he started to organize in others areas such as Finglas and shared platforms with both James Larkin and James Connolly among others. He also founded the Swords Company of the Irish Citizen Army in 1914 in which he served as Treasurer. During the reorganization of the ICA by James Connolly he was elected to the Army Council. As the Agricultural Strike collapsed Swords was still being identified by the RIC as militant and active and continued to have extra police drafted into the town to protect "Free" or Blackleg labour imported by the local landowners. At a guess I would say that Moss' health was broken by his prison terms in 1914 and after. It was fairly common as the treatment and conditions back then was fairly brutal.