Hurling match cost White his life

WHAT began as a sports match by Republican prisoners at Spike Island Prison, Cork ended in tragedy when Clare man, Patrick White was shot dead by a British soldier during the War of Independence.
A native of Meelick, White was a carpenter by trade and was married with a young family. He played a leading role in the struggle for Irish independence between 1916 and 1921 and was a captain in the Meelick Company of the IRA’s East Clare Brigade.  He had been captured by the British Forces, with his neighbour Thomas Ringrose, in January 1921 and taken to William Street RIC Barracks in Limerick. After a few days they were transferred to the Ordinance Barracks, Limerick where they and others were used as hostages, who would be executed in the event of an IRA attack on the British troops.
Years later, Ringrose clearly remembered the orders of a British officer to execute the prisoners if they were ambushed.
“In the middle of the night, White and I were ordered outside and put into lorries. The lorry I was ordered to occupy was manned by an English machine gun regiment. The lorry Patrick White was put into was occupied by the hated auxiliaries. Next morning I found myself occupying a cell in Ballyvoanare Camp in Cork and White found himself in a police station in Limerick. I think it was Newcastle West. From there on, we were used as hostages for the forces going out on the roads night and day. After months of this we were returned to the ordinance barracks, now McMahon’s timber yard.
“When I again met White his face bore many scars handed out to him by the auxiliaries. I feel I was just lucky being with the military – they were English with no Scots amongst them. I was not bashed about. The commander of the regiment, Colonel Hope, periodically appeared to instruct his soldiers how to act in case of attack by the Shinners. ‘Immediately get rid of your mascot. Don’t lie behind cover firing shots. Fix your bayonets. Go after the Shinners and don’t forget one is never dead until you put the bayonet in him’.”
Ringrose met White again when he was transferred to Spike Island in May 1921. A few days after their reunion, White was shot dead on June 1, while allegedly trying to escape.
“On our unexpected landing on Spike Island, Patrick White came over to me, shook my hand and said, ‘We are now safe, we have got through.’ With our lives, he meant. We were the only Clare men among about 500 Cork and Kerry men. Our only comfort at the time was to go for a walk in the compound, a wired-in square outside the huts in which the Cork men used to bash a ball about with hurleys. On the particular day of White’s death, I had got the loan of a newspaper, a fortnight old, on the condition that I would have it back within a quarter of an hour. I sat on my bed to read and White came over and said, ‘What about our walk?’ I said wait, I have to give this paper back very soon. White then did something he never did. He looked around the hut and saw a hurley, picked it up and said, ‘I will go out and hurl, come out after, with the news.’ I said right.
“A few moments later, I heard a shot and on looking through the window I saw somebody throw up their hands and fall back. I dashed out hoping it was not White but indeed it was. I held him until he died. The only words he spoke were, ‘What will my poor people do.’ The circumstances were the hurling ball went near the wire and the players shouted to hit back the ball into play as he was nearest to it. The sentinel, a Scottish soldier, was evidently out to have a go and let him have it.”
Republican prisoners, who had taken part in the game with White, claimed that he had called out to the sentry to return the ball. The British sentry replied, ‘Come here and get it’ and shot White dead when he followed this order. White was buried at the Republican plot in his native parish.
Thirty-six years after his death, in June 1957, a plaque was unveiled at Spike Island to mark the spot where Patrick White had been killed. Sean Moylan TD, who had led the IRA’s North Cork Brigade during the War of Independence, gave the oration at the unveiling. Moylan paid compliment to the leading role that Patrick White and his fellow republicans in Clare played in the fight for Irish freedom.
“The man who we honour here today was one of those associated from his early years with patriotic endeavor, a pioneer volunteer, captain of the Meelick Company of the East Clare Brigade. Here where his body fell, we of the Cork Brigade pay our tribute to his memory. His spirit has gone back to Corca Baiscinn, to the stony hills of Clare, to become part of Clare’s tradition. That tradition that ensures that in the nation’s need, Clare will stand in her defence as stern as the Cliffs of Moher, as strong as the Shannon, as enduring as the sea.”
Spike Island remained in use as a prison until recent years and it was not possible to hold commemorations at the site. Following the reopening of Spike Island as a heritage site last year, members of the Meelick Ambush Commemoration Committee decided that a ceremony should be held at the spot where Patrick White was killed. On Sunday, June 5 members of the committee travelled to Cork to mark the 90th anniversary of White’s death. The weather was particularly good and a group of about 50 people who were visiting the Island also took part in the ceremonies.
Johnny White laid a wreath at the spot where Patrick White was killed and a minute’s silence was observed. This was followed by a brief historical oration on Patrick White’s death.
The Meelick committee hopes with the assistance of Cobh Town Council and Cork County Council that the anniversary of Patrick White’s death will be observed as an annual event.