Death of Liam Lynch
By Wayne Sugg
In the early hours of the morning of 10 April 1923, over 1,000
Free State soldiers, under the command of Major General John
Prout of Waterford Command, began a search and sweep operation of
the Knockmealdown Mountains on the border of counties Tipperary
and Waterford, looking to capture IRA leaders in the area.
One of the most fearless and dedicated republican leaders of the
period, Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the IRA, along with IRA
officers, Frank Aiken, Bill Quirke, Sean Hayes, Sean O'Mara, Sean
Hyde, Sean Myles and Gerry Fermen had arrived in the area to
attend a reconvened conference on the continuation of the war and
what options were open to the IRA leadership.
The conference had begun on 23 March in a remote part of the Nire
Valley near Ballynacarby, County Waterford, but was adjourned on
26 March because of the failure to agree on a common strategy.
There were three options open to republicans: negotiate a
settlement with the Free State regime; end the war and dump arms;
or continue the fight.
General Liam Lynch pressed for a continuation of the struggle
believing that the other options were not feasible. The Free
State regime was not willing to negotiate an honourable and
realistic end to the Civil War, and the idea of dumping arms was
only putting off the struggle for another day. One thing
republicans did agree upon was that surrender was not an option
so it was decided to adjourn the conference for two weeks until
10 April.
Liam Lynch and his comrades arrived in the Newcastle area along
the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains on the night of 9 April
and billeted in farmhouses in the area. Guards were posted all
along the routes to the farmhouse and at around 5am two
republican soldiers, Ned Looney and Jim Burke, sighted around 60
Free State soldiers under Colonel Tommy Ryan and Captain Tom
Taylor advancing towards the Newcastle area. The two Volunteers
quickly made their way back to the farmhouses and alerted their
comrades.
It was decided to head to Bill Houlihan's house and assemble
there until the Free State troops passed by. Houlihan's was
closest to the mountains. After Lynch and his comrades gathered
in the house more republican scouts arrived to report a second
Free State column approaching from the opposite direction towards
the Newcastle area. It was decided by Lynch and about a dozen
Volunteers to evade the Free State net by cutting across the
windswept slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains.
Two hundred yards up the mountain, as they reached ground with no
cover, a second Free State column under Lieutenant Larry Clancy
opened fire on the exposed republican soldiers. Though only armed
with side-arms the Volunteers returned fire, but their fire was
ineffective against the heavy gunfire from the Staters.
When there was a lull in the fighting they set off but gunfire
restarted. Liam Lynch fell to the ground, shot and mortally
wounded. His comrades Bill Quirke and Sean Hyde picked up their
chief and friend and attempted to carry him across the mountain
slopes. But Liam Lynch, realising he was dying and not wanting to
slow down his comrades' escape attempt, ordered that he be left
where he was.
All documentation in his possession and his automatic were handed
over to his comrades. Then, placing a heavy coat over his dying
body, they bid farewell. When Lieutenant Clancy reached the spot
where Liam Lynch was lying he asked him to identify himself (some
of the younger Free State soldiers had been talking excitedly
that they had captured DeValera). Lynch gave his name and rank,
Chief of Staff Irish Republican Army.
The Free State soldiers dressed his wound and placed him on a
stretcher made from rifles and coats and carried him down the
mountain. A priest, Fr Hallinan, arrived on the scene and
administrated last rites to the dying soldier.
Liam Lynch was then taken to a public house in Newcastle and an
ambulance was sent for. While he was there a Dr Joseph Power
attended to his wound. An ambulance finally arrived at around 3pm
and he was then taken to St Joseph's Hospital in Clonmel. His
last words were that he wished to be buried beside his friend and
fellow republican Michael Fitzgerald of Fermoy. Fitzgerald had
died in 1920 after 66 days on hunger strike.
At around 8.45pm that evening Liam Lynch, hero of the Tan War,
Chief of Staff IRA and dedicated republican passed away. Ten days
after his death the adjourned meeting which had been scheduled
for 10 April took place at Poulacappla in east Tipperary. Frank
Aiken was elected Chief of Staff. It was from this meeting, along
with other meetings between DeValera and Aiken, that the order to
suspend all offensive operations from 30 April and the ceasefire
and dump arms order of May 24 came about. These events which
resulted in the death of one of Ireland's greatest republicans
took place 75 years ago this month.
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