Curragh Camp - Civil War Executions

Civil War Executions

In December 1922 seven men were executed in the Curragh Military Prison. The Leinster Leader of 23 December 1922 reported that a column of ten men had operated against railways, goods trains and shops in the vicinity of Kildare for some time. Five of them had apparently taken part in an attempt to disrupt communications by derailing engines on 11 December. Two engines had been taken from a shed at Kildare and one of them had been sent down the line into an obstruction at Cherryville, thereby blocking the line. It was also alleged that goods trains had been looted and shops robbed in the locality. The same column was also reported to have taken part in an ambush of Free State troops at the Curragh siding on 25 November.

On 13 December the men were surprised in a dug-out at a farmhouse at Moore’s Bridge, on the edge of the Curragh plains, by Free State troops. In the dug-out were ten men, ten rifles, a quantity of ammunition, and other supplies. The men were arrested and conveyed to the Curragh. The proprietress of the farmhouse was also arrested and lodged in Mountjoy Prison.

Controversy surrounds the circumstances of the death of Thomas Behan, one of the men. One version has it that his arm was broken when he was being apprehended and he was subsequently killed by a blow of a rifle butt on the head, at the scene of the raid when he was unable to climb on the truck that conveyed the men to the Curragh. The official version was that he was shot when attempting to escape from a hut in which he was detained in the Curragh Camp.

Those that were executed:

• Stephen White (18) Abbey St., Kildare
• Joseph Johnston (18) Station Rd., Kildare
• Patrick Mangan (22) Fair Green, Kildare
• Patrick Nolan (34) Rathbride, Kildare
• Brian Moore (37) Rathbride, Kildare
• James O’Connor (24) Bansha, Co. Tipperary
• Patrick Bagnall (19) Fair Green, Kildare

A memorial to the executed men can be found in Kildare Town.