A stones throw away from a US Embassy is an odd location for a memorial to a revolutionary guerrilla army.
But this is the case for the plaque and celtic cross at the corner of Herbert Park and Clyde Road in Ballsbridge dedicated to the memory of the officers and men of the IRA’s 3 Battalion, Dublin Brigade.
Significance and context
On the 13 May 1973, in one of his last public appearances in office, President Éamon de Valera unveiled the IRA memorial in front of a crowd of several hundred people. A little over a month later, and at the grand age of 90, De Valera retired from political office. Commandment of the Third Battalion in the lead up to and during Easter Week 1916, De Valera died in the Linden Convalescent Home, Blackrock on 29 August 1975 aged 92.
During the 1916 Rising, the Battalion saw action at nearby Boland’s Bakery on Grand Canal Street, Haddington Road Railway Bridge, Clanwilliam House on the north side of Mount Street Bridge, St. Stephen’s School and the Parochial Hall on the south side of bridge and No. 25 Northumberland Road. After their surrender, De Valera and his men (infamously he allowed no members of Cumann na mBan to serve with him) were held in horse-boxes in the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) just a few minutes from the present day memorial.
The main focus of the Third Battalion during the post-Rising revolutionary period was the area around Northumberland Road, Mount Street Bridge, Pearse Street, Bolands Mills, Dame Street and the district known as the Dardanelles, including Aungier Street and Wexford Street.
The timing of the unveiling is obviously significant. It took place during the height of the conflict in the Six Counties – in the shadow of 1972, the bloodiest year of the ‘Troubles’ in which nearly 500 people lost their lives.
A memorial to the IRA, unveiled by the President of Ireland, during the summer of 1973 has serious implications. On the day of the ceremony, two members of a British Army foot patrol were killed when a remote controlled bomb hidden in a disused factory was detonated by the IRA on the Donegall Road, West Belfast. While in The Diamond, near Coagh, County Tyrone,an IRA member was shot dead as he drove through an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) check point.
Broe Family
The memorial was fashioned by sculptor Dermot Broe. A second generation sculptor, his father Leo Broe (1899–1966) was an IRA veteran who saw active service in the Camden Street area with C Company, 3 Battalion IRA during the Tan War. A well-known monumental sculptor and artist, he was responsible for many IRA monuments including the sixteen foot Phibsborogh Volunteer opposite the Library on the North Circular Road unveiled in 1939.
Another sculptor son Desmond, who died suddenly in 1968, was responsible for the commemorative plaque over the birthplace of Patrick and Willie Pearse at 27 Pearse Street (known as Great Brunswick Street until 1924) and the Kevin Barry memorial in Rathvilly, Carlow (unveiled in 1958).
Daughter Irene (1923 – 1992), another sculptor, produced busts to Donogh O’Malley and the Masalsyian prime minister Abdul Rahman.
Memorial and unveiling
On 13 May 1974 De Valera, in heavy rain, first inspected the guard of honour which was drawn from the Second Battalion, Cathal Brugha Barracks and the Eastern Command Training Depot under commander Captain Peter Archibald.
Liam Kavanagh, who served as a volunteer in Bolands Mill in 1916, gave a brief address to the crowd. He paid tribute to the “courage, endurance and devotion to duty of deceased members, some of whom died in action, others from imprisonment, and other hardships and some on the scaffold.”
The Army Number One Band then played the Last Post as a small group of veterans of his Brigade saluted their dead comrades. Later De Valera inspected the memorial with Mr. Kavanagh and Mr. Leo Kelly, secretary and treasurer of the Old Dublin Brigade. Finally, the cross was blessed by the chaplain of the Old Dublin Brigade, Fr. Tom Walsh, O.P.
The memorial has been diligently described by Michael Pegum as a:
“Stone Celtic cross on oblong plinth. Plinth width 69cms, depth 48cms. Total height approx 240cms. A black marble panel on the base of the cross records the unveiling. Behind the cross are three black marble slabs with inscriptions in Irish and English. Height 99cms, width of each side panel 95cms.”
Interestingly it is dedicated to men of the 3rd Battalion who ‘died for Ireland in 1916 and since’. This is interesting wording as it encompasses members of the battalion who fought and died in the Tan War, Civil War and possibly in later military action.
The United States embassy was constructed between 1962 and 1964 on a triangular site at the intersection between Elgin Road and Pembroke Road.
So at the time of the IRA memorial unveiling, they had been there for a decade while the nearby British embassy was opened just six months afterwards.
The British Embassy has been based at 29 Merrion Road, Ballsbridge since December 1974. They were forced to relocate after their previous premises, 39 Merrion Square, was besieged for three days and attacked for 24 hours by thousands of people in response to the Bloody Sunday murders in Derry on 30 January 1972.
Hi I’m wondering if yous know about the I.R.A memorial in Killester,its on Killester Avenue(previously Killester Lane) and is a small memorial on the old Killester Graveyard wall.The memorial on the wall of the old Killester Graveyard relates to Michael Neville of Lisdoonvarna, County Clare who was an anti treaty supporter and was killed in September 1922. He was a barman in Mooneys Pub on Eden Quay and was taken from there by three men This was supposedly connected to a bomb attack on Eden Quay on th 22nd September 1922 in which James Kennedy from Dublin, a Free State Soldier was killed. He was travelling in the back of a vehicle along Eden Quay with other soldiers when a bomb was thrown from one of the roofs along Eden Quay. The photo attached is the graveyard sorry but i could not find a photo of the actual memorial. More information can be found on the ”Killester Historic Page” Facebook Page or at http://www.warmemorialproject.com Regards,Aaron
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2014 10:20:45 +0000 To: aaroncrampton@live.ie
Failure to shoot DeValera was the real tragedy
ROB……care to expand on that insightful contribution?
Great post — I love the strategically placed little girl with the holy communion veil.
Thanks for this, I used to walk by it allot and was always curious. Keep on writing these great articles!
There are four monuments across the city in honour of the four IRA Dublin batillions.
1st Battalion, north west, Phibsboro,
2nd Battalion, north east, Customs House,
3rd Battalion, south east, Ballsbridge,
4th Battalion, south west, Harolds Cross
6th Battalion, south county, Ballybrack
FAO Aaron. Thats a memorial to a victim of the (officially sanctioned, know as the Free State Army CID) death squad that operated out of Oriel House and Griffith Barracks. The kidnapped and murdered at least 26 republicans in just over a year. The information on this wiki page is mostly spot on and verifiable. These seems to be a mistake with Michael Neville being called ‘Michael Neville’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Intelligence_Department_–_Oriel_House#Republican
Another victim of the Oriel She mob was Frank Lawler and there a good account given here…..
http://www.theirishstory.com/2014/03/25/just-released-peace-after-the-final-battle-the-story-of-the-irish-revolution-by-john-dorney/
I’ve a photo of the nice memorial stone on Orwell Rd but I don’t kno how to upload it to this posting or who to send it to.
Sorry, that was meant to read he is called ‘Pat’ Neville on the wiki page.
“…the Battalion saw action at nearby Boland’s Bakery on Grand Canal Street, Haddington Road Railway Bridge, Clanwilliam House ”
I believe the old Clanwilliam Hse was levelled by the British at 1916 and the body of Vol Patrick Doyle was never recovered. I’m guessing that post- independance the rebuilt building maintained the name Clanwilliam and without any reference to the Volunteers at the behest of the insurance company.
There is a nice memorial holy water font for Vol Patrick Doyle at St Colmbanus and St Gall church Milltown
( http://www.milltownparish.ie ) and a local road named after him (public authory housing, of course).
Interestingly, Doyles son was killed in Free State army uniform a few years later during Civil War and is buried in St Nathi’s (pre reformation CoI) Dundrum.
QUESTION: Many articles referring to Volunteers imprisoned in UK record 375 members of the “Ballsbridge Party” were despatched to Wakefield Prison on 6th May 1916. (My Grand Uncle, Edward Cranwell) is recorded as a prisoner. Is the “Ballsbridge Party” the name of Dev’s 3rd Battalion – if so where can I research further. Thanks PB
Hi – I’s still struggling with the above request ….any information, advice or research suggestions would be appreciated PB
I am ashamed to say that I only noticed this memoriam today-thank you for the history behind it=My grandparents came from Derrynane Gardens well before it became the expensive place it is now they were both born in 1900-and my Granda used to bring me up to Herbert Park-l remember a train for kids there