Civic Guard Mutiny examined in new book

THE Civic Guard Mutiny is a newly published book, written by Brian McCarthy whose relatives are from Scariff, County Clare.

 

The book investigates a seven-week dispute in Kildare Barracks during which the first 1,200 recruits of Ireland’s new national police force broke ranks during the Commissioner’s address at General Parade on May 15, 1922. Incredibly, three senior members of the new force were serving TDs, two of whom were County Clare representatives, Assistant Commissioner Patrick Brennan and Superintendent Seán Liddy. Notwithstanding their senior positions, both men were directly involved during the course of the dispute on the side of the mutinous recruits.

The source of the dispute can be traced back to February 1922 when Michael Staines TD, was requested by the chairman of the Provisional Government, Michael Collins, to accept the commissionership of the Civic Guard and arrange its establishment with the assistance of Pro-Treaty IRA officers and ex-RIC men who had assisted Collins during the War of Independence. However, the subsequent decision by Collins to appoint ex-RIC men to the majority of the senior positions of the headquarters staff of the Civic Guard was unacceptable to the recruits who had almost been exclusively drawn from the IRA and defied the commissioner by refusing to acknowledge his authority as the most senior officer of the force.

“Prior to his appointment as Assistant Commissioner of the Civic Guard, Patrick Brennan had been a former IRA colonel commandant and brother to Michael and Austin Brennan, who between them effectively controlled the East Clare IRA battalion,” Brian McCarthy outlines. 
Born in 1893, Brennan was the eldest child of a farmer from Meelick and by 1915, he had moved temporarily to work in London and had joined the IRB.

“In preparation for the 1916 Rising, Brennan was sent to Carrigaholt to assist in the collection of arms from the ill-fated Aud at Banna Beach, County Kerry, and was to land the arms in Kilrush, before moving the arms on trains to Galway.  Following the Rising, Brennan and his brother, Michael, were sent to the internment camp at Frongoch in Wales. On his return to Ireland, Brennan was appointed IRA brigadier for County Clare but later resigned, citing as his reason interference from general headquarters. Following his departure, the IRA divided County Clare into three battalions and Brennan served temporarily under the command of his brother Michael in the East Clare Battalion,” the author explains.

Following Brennan’s involvement in organising security for Sinn Féin representatives at elections throughout the country, he was returned in the General Election of 1921 as a TD in County Clare alongside his fellow Sinn Féin colleagues, Seán Liddy, Éamon de Valera and Brian O’Higgins.
At the age of 32, Liddy joined his government colleague Brennan in the Civic Guard.

“Liddy had previously served as an IRA brigade officer during the War of Independence. He would display a particular distain for members of the RIC in County Clare as he claimed they had been ordered to shoot him on sight,” Brian said.

On entering the Civic Guard, Brennan was instructed to assume overall responsibility for the recruitment of pro-Treaty IRA men to the force. However, the enlistment of men proved difficult for his recruitment officers who were constantly threatened and arrested by anti-Treaty IRA officers as they were intent on preventing the establishment of the new force.

“In response to such difficulties, Brennan recruited one-third of the first 1,000 recruits from County Clare or neighbouring counties as he had little problem ascertaining the loyalty of men within his own native area. In April 1922, the recruits of Civic Guard were outraged that Brennan would not be appointed to the vacant position of Deputy Commissioner. Instead, the provisional government appointed Patrick Walsh to the second-highest position in the force notwithstanding the fact that he had only been disbanded from the RIC the day before he took up his new position in the Civic Guard,” Brian added.

Over the next month, Walsh, a native of County Monaghan and a cousin of General Eoin O’Duffy, was joined on the headquarters staff by more ex-RIC men. In response, the author said recruits signed an ultimatum demanding the immediate removal of Walsh and four other ex-RIC.

“Drastic action was threatened by the recruits if the authorities failed to respond. Unable to exercise authority in Kildare Barracks, Staines and his loyal headquarters staff evacuated the training depot. In their place, a committee representing the recruits transferred the authority of the depot to four senior members of the force who remained with the mutineers. Brennan was appointed as Commissioner, PJ Haugh, who previously served as an IRA officer in the West-Clare IRA brigade was appointed as assistant commandant, Martin Lynch (IRA, County Laois) and Liddy as adjutant.

The Civic Guard Mutiny outlines the series of events, which unfolded over seven weeks, including Liddy successfully negotiating the withdrawal of the National Army from the gates of Kildare Barracks, which had been sent by Staines to forcefully disarm the mutineers. 
After many unsuccessful attempts to conclude the mutiny, a commission of inquiry into the dispute was established by Collins. Its findings would have long reaching consequences for the future evolution of the Garda Síochána.

“Although Brennan transferred to the National Army after the mutiny, Liddy resigned his position as a TD and remained in the force and was responsible for opening numerous stations in 1922. Following his retirement, he founded and became the first president of the Garda Pensioners’ Association (later renamed in 2002 as the Garda Síochána Retired Members’ Association). He died following a traffic accident four years after his retirement.

In his memory, the GSRMA present the Liddy Medal to men and women who have served in the Garda Síochána but are obliged to retire from the force as a result of an injury sustained in the line of duty,” Brian concluded.