William O’Grady: Wicklow revolutionary republican — Stan O’Reilly

WICKLOW TOWN – Stan O’Reilly

William O’Grady: Wicklow revolutionary republican

Sinn Féin’s growth in Wicklow, 1917–18

From May 1917, Sinn Féin flags were flying from sailing vessels in the harbour and openly displayed in Wicklow and district. The local police were quick to remove them, but they were just as quickly replaced. Nationalist sentiment was growing across the country. William O’Grady was at the heart of the Sinn Féin and revolutionary movement in Wicklow. In August 1917, the Wicklow Sinn Féin Club came into existence at a meeting in the Town Hall. Local officers were chosen, and O’Grady was elected Chairman. He and his fellow club members were placed under surveillance by the authorities, subjected to raids and searches of their homes and businesses, and frequently imprisoned. O’Grady, who fathered over 20 children, never faltered in his conviction. The price he and his family paid was considerable.

Well-known republicans from Wicklow and district attended meetings in the O’Grady home, including William Kennedy of New Street, and his brother-inlaw Arthur Fitzpatrick. While plotting revolution, O’Grady and his republican colleagues were also kept busy organising dances in their clubroom on Sunday nights. Mr. L. Daly and Arthur Fitzpatrick, later a prominent figure in the War of Independence, were among the organisers. Fundraising, collecting donations and maintaining subscriptions kept the movement solvent. The Wicklow club was named Major McBride Sinn Féin Club. At its AGM in January 1918, the Chair was ‘taken by the President Mr. Wm. O’Grady and there were close on a hundred members present. William was re-elected President. Other local officers elected were James Brennan, L. Byrne, W. J. Cardin, J. Kilcoyne, John Byrne and J. Smullen.’ Sinn Féin held a public meeting in Greenane in February and set up a club there. William O’Grady spoke at a Sinn Féin rally in Barndarrig, and the party was generally active around the county. In September 1918, a public meeting was held in Ashford, at which the main speaker was Arthur Griffith. By November, Wicklow Sinn Féin had also established a Cumann na mBan. In December, a Sinn Féin dance was

organised at the Town Hall, and a large house (the old Wicklow Travel building) was rented on Main Street as club rooms.

Arrest of Tom Cullen

Conflict with the authorities was inevitable. On 7 April 1918, the arrest of Thomas Cullen of Abbey Street, Wicklow, on a charge of illegal drilling led to a major disturbance in the town. Tom was the organiser of the Volunteers for the county, as well as Commandant of the Wicklow Company of the IRA. He was arrested by the RIC having left Mass. He was then taken to a special court for trial, found guilty and sentenced to six months. A large crowd of supporters and sympathisers had invaded the court. Cullen declared, ‘I do not recognise the court, it is only a farce … I haven’t a dog’s respect for it.’ The resident magistrate, W. M. Sullivan, replied ‘We will see you again Tom, when the six months are up.’ Cullen riposted: ‘The Germans will be here before then.’ The police had a tough job removing Cullen and getting free of the crowd, which attacked the constables as they led Cullen away. In support of Cullen, Sinn Féin flags were flown in the town, including one at O’Grady’s house and one at the head of the crowd which followed the arresting party to the RIC barracks at Church Street.

Tom Cullen one of Michael Collins’ Apostles Squad during the Troubles and the Civil War period. Became a Commandant in the army and drowned in an accident in Lough Dan in 1926. Photo: Courtesy of John Finlay.

Riot

A mob of 400 had gathered by noon as the police were removing Tom Cullen to the train station. Things turned ugly. Stones and sticks were used and there was a baton charge. William O’Grady was in the middle of the fray. The crowd followed the police and Cullen to the train station at Wicklow, where they invaded the platform and threatened the train driver and fireman. Windows were broken and the air brakes cut. The Volunteers present tried to restore order and a standoff ensued. Cullen was briefly rescued by the mob but was retaken at Brickfield Lane. Constables were assaulted again, and the prisoner

was then taken back to the Barracks, which came under attack. A special train packed with soldiers arrived in Wicklow as reinforcement. The jeering crowd did not disperse, but now with military backup, the police got Tom Cullen on the 9:15 train to Dublin.

Although he was now wanted by the police, O’Grady attended anticonscription meetings over the next month, including one in Wicklow at Market Square, and one in Rathnew. O’Grady and four of his comrades were eventually arrested by armed police in a dawn raid in May 1918. They were all lodged in Wicklow Gaol under a heavy guard.

Trials

The prisoners were charged with unlawful assembly and unlawful disturbance of the public peace, assault of the police and causing ‘terror and alarm [to] His Majesty’s quiet and peaceable subjects’. At the Courthouse, there was a huge cheer from the locals assembled as the prisoners went to the dock. The chairman adjourned proceedings so the court could be cleared. The record shows Group outside Wicklow Gaol with republican that Henrietta O’Grady, ‘wife of one of the prisoner William O’Grady back row left with the fine prisoners, refused to go and was forcibly moustache. Image: Courtesy of John Finlay ejected by a couple of police.’ When order was restored the events of the arrest of Tom Cullen and the aftermath were outlined to the court, and William O’Grady’s role in the event was argued. One witness declared: ‘I saw him at one time telling the crowd to conduct themselves.’ Constable McGuinness claimed, on the other hand, that he ‘saw O’Grady striking Constable Griffin on the hand with the wooden portion of a golf stick—excepting O’Grady, I did not see any of the other prisoners use violence.’ In his testimony, Griffin stated that some of the crowd endeavoured to break through the police, amongst the number being William O’Grady In trying to keep the crowd back with drawn batons, O’Grady struck me a violent blow on the left hand with a golf stick The stick was coming on my head and I put up my hand to save myself

Sergeant Jones, under questioning by Mr. McCarroll for the defence, testified that he did not see O’Grady do anything. He was then asked: ‘Is it a fact that O’Grady in the main kept the crowd back?’ Jones replied: ‘At the Brickfield Lane he did.’ Constable McCormack also testified that he did not see O’Grady do anything. Mr. McCarroll stated: ‘No overt acts were really proved against anybody in the Former RIC Barracks, Church Street, Wicklow Town. case except Mr. O’Grady, and there was Photo: buildingsofireland.ie evidence that at Church Hill he was active in keeping the crowd back which was to his credit.’ The magistrates returned a verdict that even though four of the five prisoners had no overt act proven against them, they were nonetheless all guilty of unlawful assembly. William O’Grady had taken part in a violent affray but had helped at one point in the restoration of order. All five went to Mountjoy prison for two months.

In the aftermath of the riot, house raids and arrests continued in pursuit of the participants. On 18 May, caretaker of the Sinn Féin Club, James Smullen on the Murrough was arrested, remanded in custody and charged with unlawful assembly. He received a sentence of two months in prison. At the Wicklow Quarter Sessions in June of 1918, damages were awarded for the broken windows in the police Barracks on Church Street: ‘£12 compensation was awarded to be levied off the Urban District of Wicklow.’ Arrested in July 1918 for unlawful Assembly the previous April were William Goodman of Castle Street, John Byrne of The Mall and Thomas Dunne of High Street. All three appeared in court in August. John Byrne was sent to jail for four months with hard labour, William Goodman went to the cells for three months and Dunne went down for two months. The next to be arrested in August was sailor William Hanlon, who ‘by going to sea evaded arrest in the meantime.’ Within a week, William’s brother Michael was arrested in Greenock: The brothers were brought to Bray under a heavy armed escort and placed in remand to Mountjoy, joining William O’Grady and other comrades. The Hanlons were members of GAA clubs in Wicklow and William was perhaps the best handball player in the county. They

were both tried at Bray and found guilty. They were sentenced to two months of hard labour.

In December 1918, Sinn Féin won the general election by a landslide. The Wicklow Major McBride Sinn Féin Club held its AGM in January of 1919. William O’Grady was present and was re-elected President. Also present were L. Byrne and P. Brennan, Treasurers; John Byrne, Secretary; T. O’Connor and N. Quinn, Trustees. William O’Grady outlined the details of a successful year, especially Sinn Féin’s opposition to conscription. He also commended the members for their work. Towards the end of February, O’Grady proposed that money collected for anti-conscription funds, a total of £180, be used to fund a public hall in Wicklow. In March, Sinn Féin club, Cumann na mBan and Volunteers all turned out for the big St. Patrick’s Day parade in Wicklow Town. In September 1919, as violence escalated nationwide, a large police raid of the club took place. Armed military stood guard outside as many documents and papers were seized. Other properties were also raided in the district, including the business premises of William O’Grady.

Local elections 1920

The local government elections on 15 January 1920 in Wicklow’s Kilmantin Ward saw William O’Grady and colleague John Byrne take two of the nine seats, while in the Abbey Ward, their colleagues C. M. Byrne, James Middleton and Peter Byrne were elected. In April, William was among a thousand people who marched to the Market Square behind two Sinn Féin flags and a banner reading ‘The Workers of Wicklow.’ This event became known as the ‘Down Tools Day.’ Further election success followed for Sinn Féin in the County Council elections in June 1920. At the first meeting, the County Council pledged its allegiance to Dáil Éireann. At the next meeting, there was some excitement as ‘on the run’ C. M. Byrne of Glenealy, was warmly greeted as he put in an appearance. All the while, raids and house searches of Sinn Féin members continued and the home of William O’Grady was once again targeted. In August, William put forward a list of Irish street names which he proposed should replace the English street names throughout the town. The motion was passed, and a committee formed to progress and cost the project.

Spy shot

In October 1920, the Black and Tans, who had arrived in town the previous month, raided the Sinn Féin hall and caused a considerable amount of damage. Fearful locals could only look on. In December, William O’Grady was under arrest once again and lodged in Wicklow Gaol. P. J. Noonan, IRA intelligence officer, was lodged in Wicklow Gaol that same month. On his way to jail, O’Grady had been accompanied by a man wearing a fáinne, who later turned out to be a British spy. O’Grady would later claim: ‘I became suspicious of this man, and we held no communication.’ When Noonan was being removed from his cell on transfer to Mountjoy Jail, he spotted the fáinne-wearing agent ‘walking with an officer.’ The body of this spy was later found in a field.

Truce

In January 1921, William O’Grady was in some discomfort in his cell in Wicklow Gaol. Conditions were not good in the old, condemned building. He was one of twelve prisoners confined there. In his absence, he was elected Chairman of Wicklow Urban District Council (UDC). He was released in February. Five Sinn Féin candidates were elected to the Dáil on 24 May. Following the Truce in July, O’Grady and other Volunteers ensured that order was maintained in town. He also acted as a justice at the first sitting of the Republican Court in the Town Hall. However, life was about to get difficult for him again. In January 1922, the Treaty was signed. The Sinn Féin split followed, and the IRA in Wicklow moved armed units in to take over the Barracks and Old Gaol in March. O’Grady was elected as Vice Chair of Wicklow UDC at the 1922 AGM. Violence broke out in the town during March as pro- and anti-Treaty factions clashed. In September 1922, O’Grady was arrested again and once more thrown in Wicklow, now a Civil War prisoner. He remained opposed to any English rule in Ireland.

Primary sources

Under the Stairs, by Sheelah O’Grady.

The Wicklow People 25 February 1928, 11 January 1918, 23 February 1918, 20 April 1918, 27 April 1918, 11 May 1918, 18 May 1918, 25 May 1918, 22 June 1918, 27 July 1918, 3 August 1918, 31 August 1918, 7 September 1918, 14 September 1918, 21 September 1918, 18 January 1919, 22 March 1919, 20 April 1919, 4 June 1955.

Secondary Sources

Wicklow Historical Society Journal (WHSJ), Vol. 1, no. 6, July 1993, ‘Wicklow Rejects Home Rule for a Republic’, by John Finlay.

WHSJ, Vol. 2, no. 7, June 2001, ‘British Spy System 1920–21. Intelligence Chief’s Revelations – Incident in Co. Wicklow Recounted by P. J. Noonan’.

WHSJ, Vol. 5, no. 4, 2017, ‘Life in Wicklow a Century Ago’, by John Finlay.

Thank you to the Co. Librarian, County Library and Staff, Boghall Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow and to the director of the National Library, Dublin.

Fitzwilliam Square, Wicklow c. 1900. Photo: WA Green © National Museums NI Ulster Folk Museum Collection