New book features ‘last voices of Irish revolution'

Eighty years the Irish Civil War ended in 1923, author and documentary-maker Tom Hurley wondered if there were many civilians and combatants left across Ireland who had experienced the years 1919 to 1923, their prelude and their aftermath. He wondered what memories they had, what their stories were and how they reflected on those turbulent times.

In early 2003, he recorded the experiences of 18 people, and conduct two interviews abroad in 2004. Tom spoke to a cross-section (Catholic, Protestant, Unionist, Nationalist) who were in their teens or early 20s during the Civil War. The chronological approach he has taken to his book spans 50 years, beginning with the oldest interviewee’s birth in 1899 and ending when the Free State became a republic in 1949.

Cork natives Kathleen Noonan, née Charles, and Patsy Holmes were among the people that Tom spoke to for his book in 2003. He also spoke to Patrick Greene of Ballinalee and Dan Keating from Kerry. All were centenarians at the time and were mines of information on the 1919-23 revolutionary years, and their own involvement. They all had connections to Westmeath, and those are discussed in the book.

Kathleen Noonan grew up in Kanturk and during the Anglo-Irish war was a member of Cumann na mBan. In 1920 she came to Mullingar for a period to work as a teacher. One of the boys she taught was later killed in WWII.

Patsy Holmes from Mallow was a member of the IRA. He spoke to Tom about being interned in Ballykinlar Camp in 1921, where he witnessed the deaths of Patrick Sloane and James Tormey. Both were from the Moate district and were killed by the same bullet in the camp.

Patrick Greene spoke about being a teacher in Horseleap in 1921. It was there that he met Johnny Collins (brother of Michael), who advised him to travel to west Cork, to learn Irish. Dan Keating spoke about meeting Tom Malone from Tyrrellspass in Maryborough (Portlaoise) Gaol in 1922. Both had been interned there during the Civil War.

A hundred years after that conflict ended, the 20 interviews by Tom Hurley recorded come together to create a unique oral account of the revolutionary period and the tensions that were brewing in the run-up to civil war and aftermath. Together, theirs are the Last Voices of the Irish Revolution.

Last Voices of the Irish Revolution by Tom Hurley is available in bookshops and online. It is published by Gill Books.