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Tag Archives: Limerick Prison


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Birth of Robert Byrne, Trade Unionist & IRA Volunteer

Robert “Bobby” Byrne, Irish trade unionist, Republican and member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), is born at 5 Upper Oriel Street, Dublin, on November 28, 1899. He is the first Irish Republican to be killed in the Irish War of Independence (1919-21).

Byrne is born to Robert Byrne and Annie Hurley as one of nine children. His cousin Alfred “Alfie” Byrne later becomes Lord Mayor of Dublin. Shortly after his birth his family moves to Town Wall Cottage, near St. John’s Hospital in Limerick, County Limerick.

After experiencing the political and social turmoil in Ireland after the 1913 Dublin lock-out and the 1916 Easter Rising, Byrne becomes an active member of the Postal Trade Union. In 1918 he loses his position as a telegraph operator in Limerick’s general post office because of his political activities, his attendance at the funeral of John Daly and an anti-conscription meeting at Limerick Town Hall in 1918. In 1919, he holds the rank of battalion adjutant of 2 Battalion, Mid Limerick Brigade of the IRA.

After a raid on Byrne’s home by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), Byrne is arrested and charged for the possession of a revolver with corresponding ammunition and binoculars in front of a court-martial. Because he does not recognize the legitimacy of British Officers holding court over an Irish citizen, he denies entering a plea or even participating in the trial itself. Ignoring his protests, the court finds him guilty and sentences him to twelve months in prison and hard labour. Directly after the verdict is spoken, he is transferred to Limerick Prison to start his sentence.

As a prisoner, Byrne and sixteen other republican prisoners started a campaign, demanding status as political prisoners. As this is denied, they began barricading themselves in their cells, singing republican songs and damaging the interior and furniture of the cells. These protests are so loud that after a short while, onlookers and supporters start gathering outside the prison in support of the prisoners. The RIC reacts to these developments with physical violence and solitary confinement. As a last resort, in February 1919, the prisoners go on hunger strike to continue their protest. After his health deteriorates because of the hunger strike, in mid-March 1919, he is transferred to the Limerick Union Hospital, where he is placed in an ordinary ward under armed guard.

On April 6, 1919, two IRA companies under the lead of John Gallagher (D Company) and Michael Stack (E Company), the only two who bring arms to the rescue attempt, go into the hospital disguised as ordinary visitors and attempt a rescue operation. Around twenty volunteers go to the station on which Byrne is lying and after a signal whistle is blown, attack and attempt to overwhelm the two RIC officers that are posted as guards. The RIC officers quickly realize the attempt and RIC constable James Spillane shoots at Byrne, who wants to stand up from his bed, from close range, hitting him in the lung. Michael Stack, in response, shoots at constable James Spillane, injuring him, and his colleague constable Martin O`Brien, killing him.

The volunteers leave the hospital with the gravely injured Byrne, but the escape car and driver have in the meantime been ordered to another IRA operation. Instead, they stop a horse carriage at Hasset’s Cross. The occupants of the carriage, John Ryan and his wife of Knockalisheen, Meelick, County Clare, bring the bleeding and injured Byrne to their house, put him to bed and call for medical and clerical assistance. Dr. John Holmes arrives and examines Byrne, finding a large bullet wound on the left side of his body, which has perforated his lung and his abdomen. Byrne dies from his wounds in the evening of April 7, 1919.

After Byrne’s body is discovered by the authorities, the RIC place Limerick under martial law and declare it a “Special Military Area.” In response, the trade unions in Limerick start a “general strike against British militarism.” This strike is called the “Limerick Soviet” by foreign journalists who report from Limerick.

On the evening of April 8, 1919, Byrne’s funeral is held. He is not able to be buried in his IRA uniform, because the RIC had removed it from him. Nevertheless, the funeral procession is accompanied by huge crowds and his remains, which lay in state in front of the high altar in St. John’s Cathedral, are visited by thousands from Limerick and surrounding areas.


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Birth of Dan Breen, IRA Volunteer & Fianna Fáil Politician

Irish republican Dan Breen (1967)

Daniel “Dan” Breen, volunteer in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, is born in Grange, Donohill parish, County Tipperary, on August 11, 1894. In later years, he is a Fianna Fáil politician.

Breen’s father dies when he is six, leaving the family very poor. He is educated locally before becoming a plasterer and later a linesman on the Great Southern Railways.

Breen is sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1912 and the Irish Volunteers in 1914. On January 21, 1919, the day the First Dáil meets in Dublin, Breen takes part in the Soloheadbeg Ambush. The ambush party of eight men, led by Seán Treacy, attacks two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men who are escorting explosives to a quarry. The two policemen, James McDonnell and Patrick O’Connell, are fatally shot during the incident. The ambush is considered to be the first incident of the Irish War of Independence.

During the conflict, the British put a £1,000 price on Breen’s head, which is later increased to £10,000. He quickly establishes himself as a leader within the Irish Republican Army. He is known for his courage. On May 13, 1919 he helps rescue his comrade Seán Hogan at gunpoint from a heavily guarded train at Knocklong station in County Limerick. Breen, who is wounded, remembers how the battalion is “vehemently denounced as a cold-blooded assassins” and roundly condemned by the Catholic Church. After the fight, Treacy, Séumas Robinson, and Breen meet Michael Collins in Dublin, where they are told to make themselves scarce although they do not necessarily agree.

Breen and Sean Treacy shoot their way out through a British military cordon in the northern suburb of Drumcondra (Fernside). They escape, only for Treacy to be killed the next day. Breen is shot at least four times, twice in the lung.

The British reaction is to make Tipperary a “Special Military Area,” with curfews and travel permits. Volunteer GHQ authorises entrerprising attacks on barracks. The British policy forces Breen and Treacy to retreat to Dublin. They join Michael Collins’ Squad of assassins, later known as the Dublin Guard, and Dublin becomes the centre of the war.

Breen is present in December 1919 at the ambush in Ashtown beside Phoenix Park in Dublin where Martin Savage is killed while trying to assassinate the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount John French. The IRA hides behind hedges and a dungheap as the convoy of vehicles drives past. They have been instructed to ignore the first car but this contains their target, Lord French. Their roadblock fails as a policeman removes the horse and cart intended to stop the car.

Breen utterly rejects the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which makes him, like many others, angry and embittered. In the June 1922 elections Breen is nominated as a candidate by both the pro- and anti-Treaty sides, but is not elected.

Breen is elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1923 general election as a Republican anti-Treaty Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary constituency. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Breen joins the Anti-Treaty IRA in the civil war, fighting against those of his former comrades in arms who support the Treaty. He is arrested by the National Army of the Irish Free State and interned at Limerick Prison. He spends two months there before going on hunger strike for six days followed by a thirst strike of six days, prompting his release.

Breen writes a best-selling account of his guerrilla days, My Fight for Irish Freedom, in 1924. He represents Tipperary from the fourth Dáil in 1923 as a Republican with Éamon de Valera and Frank Aiken. He is defeated in the June 1927 Irish general election and travels to the United States where he opens a prohibition speakeasy. In 1932 he returns to Ireland and regains his seat as a member of Fianna Fáil in the Dáil at that year’s general election. During World War II he is said to hold largely pro-Axis views. He represents his Tipperary constituency without a break until his retirement at the 1965 election.

Breen dies in Dublin on December 27, 1969 and is buried in Donohill, near his birthplace. His funeral is the largest seen in west Tipperary since that of his close friend and comrade-in-arms Seán Treacy at Kilfeacle in October 1920. An estimated attendance of 10,000 mourners assemble in the tiny hamlet, giving ample testimony to the esteem in which he was held.

Breen is the subject of a 2007 biography Dan Breen and the IRA by Joe Ambrose.


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Death of Dan Breen, Irish Patriot & Politician

Irish republican Dan Breen (1967)

Daniel “Dan” Breen, volunteer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, dies in Dublin on December 27, 1969. In later years, he was a Fianna Fáil politician.

Breen is born in Grange, Donohill parish, County Tipperary, on August 11, 1894. His father dies when he is six, leaving the family very poor. He is educated locally before becoming a plasterer and later a linesman on the Great Southern Railways.

Breen is sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1912 and the Irish Volunteers in 1914. On January 21, 1919, the day the First Dáil meets in Dublin, Breen takes part in the Soloheadbeg Ambush. The ambush party of eight men, led by Seán Treacy, attacks two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men who are escorting explosives to a quarry. The two policemen, James McDonnell and Patrick O’Connell, are fatally shot during the incident. The ambush is considered to be the first incident of the Irish War of Independence.

During the conflict, the British put a £1,000 price on Breen’s head, which is later increased to £10,000. He quickly establishes himself as a leader within the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He is known for his courage. On May 13, 1919 he helps rescue his comrade Seán Hogan at gunpoint from a heavily guarded train at Knocklong station in County Limerick. Breen, who is wounded, remembers how the battalion is “vehemently denounced as a cold-blooded assassins” and roundly condemned by the Catholic Church. After the fight, Treacy, Séamus Robinson, and Breen meet Michael Collins in Dublin, where they are told to make themselves scarce although they do not necessarily agree.

Breen and Sean Treacy shoot their way out through a British military cordon in the northern suburb of Drumcondra (Fernside). They escape, only for Treacy to be killed the next day. Breen is shot at least four times, twice in the lung.

The British reaction is to make Tipperary a “Special Military Area,” with curfews and travel permits. Volunteer GHQ authorises entrerprising attacks on barracks. The British policy forces Breen and Treacy to retreat to Dublin. They join Michael Collins’ Squad of assassins, later known as the Dublin Guard, and Dublin becomes the centre of the war.

Breen is present in December 1919 at the ambush in Ashtown beside Phoenix Park in Dublin where Martin Savage is killed while trying to assassinate the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount John French. The IRA hides behind hedges and a dungheap as the convoy of vehicles drives past. They have been instructed to ignore the first car but this contains their target, Lord French. Their roadblock fails as a policeman removes the horse and cart intended to stop the car.

Breen utterly rejects the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which makes him, like many others, angry and embittered. In the June 1922 elections Breen is nominated as a candidate by both the pro- and anti-Treaty sides, but is not elected.

Breen is elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1923 general election as a Republican anti-Treaty Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary constituency. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Breen joins the Anti-Treaty IRA in the civil war, fighting against those of his former comrades in arms who support the Treaty. He is arrested by the National Army of the Irish Free State and interned at Limerick Prison. He spends two months there before going on hunger strike for six days followed by a thirst strike of six days, prompting his release.

Breen writes a best-selling account of his guerrilla days, My Fight for Irish Freedom, in 1924. He represents Tipperary from the Fourth Dáil in 1923 as a Republican with Éamon de Valera and Frank Aiken. He is defeated in the June 1927 general election and travels to the United States where he opens a prohibition speakeasy. In 1932 he returns to Ireland and regains his seat as a member of Fianna Fáil in the Dáil at that year’s general election. During World War II he is said to hold largely pro-Axis views. He represents his Tipperary constituency without a break until his retirement at the 1965 election.

Breen dies in Dublin on December 27, 1969 and is buried in Donohill, near his birthplace. His funeral is the largest seen in west Tipperary since that of his close friend and comrade-in-arms Seán Treacy at Kilfeacle in October 1920. An estimated attendance of 10,000 mourners assemble in the tiny hamlet, giving ample testimony to the esteem in which he was held.

Breen is the subject of a 2007 biography Dan Breen and the IRA by Joe Ambrose.