MAIRE CLEARY

ARRESTED IN UPPER DORSET STREET

Maire Comerford, the gun-toting Countess, the Clearys and Mrs Tom Clarke - they were all there.

In 1973 I met Maire and Nellie Cleary in the fire station across the road from 21 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin. I had no contact with them again and they both passed away in the 1980s. But I still remember the stories that unfolded in the kitchen. Brendan Behan, Liam Lynch, Michael Collins and a stream of famous republicans had taken refuge or passed through 21 Upper Dorset. Writer Sean O'Casey was born on 30 March 1880 in Upper Dorset Street.

The fire station where the Cleary women spent their last years and I was treated to one great historical journey.

EIGHT MONTHS IN GAOL

For nearly thirty years I've tried to piece together their experiences during the Irish Civil War. Both were gaoled in 1923; Maire on 20 February 1923 and Nellie some time after (she doesn't appear in a list in the Irish Daily Bulletin of April 6, 1923). Maire was released on 7 September 1923 and Nellie two days later, on 11 September.

Maire (Molly in the records) was held in Kilmainham from 20 February 1923 until being transferred to the North Dublin Union on 3 May 1923. It was a tradition for Republican prisoners to autograph each other's diary.

The first signing appears to be a little ditty about hanging in (1) Nellie Lambert's book, in June '23. It's followed by a poem (2) 'Oh boys who died for Ireland' on 7 June in Bridget Reid's book, an inscription (3) 'Irish Republican Prisoner of War' in Mary Twamley's book on 15 June and the same inscription in (4) Lily Gleason's (sic) book on 2 August 1923.

Nellie Lambert's book - June 1923

Oh Boys who died for Ireland, Maire Cleary - Republican Prisoner - Civil War - 11 June 1923 in Bridget Reid's book.

 

Maire Cleary's signature in Mary Twamley's book - 15 June. Note the use of the Irish language and the words 'Concentration camp'.

 

CELL 61 KILMAINHAM

Nellie appears to have spent her whole time - Cell 61 - in Kilmainham. According to the womens' niece, Joan Cleary, the Free State Army was looking for someone (a woman?) on the run, and when their mother wouldn't or didn't provide the information concerning the whereabouts, the army took the girls way. Nellie was released on the orders of a doctor, says Joan.

Sean MacEntee dressed as a women

But just how was Sean MacEntee involved? Joan Cleary told me mentioned that someone from Belfast had once taken refuge in the house. She must surely have been talking about Sean MacEntee who according to the Cleary womens' nephew Andy Howard (son of Alice Howard nee Cleary) wrote about the event in a book. Unfortuantely he didn't get all the facts right, which prompted Ellen to rebuke him. Evidently he subsequently visisted the women in Upper Dorset Street and even gave Nellie some work as a cleaner. MacEntee went on to become a minister in the Fianna Fail Government. His daughter Maire is married to Conor Cruise O'Brien and is famous in her own right as an Irish language poet.

On a list compiled from Kilmainham records are some fascinating vignettes of the civil war. Mary (sic) Comerford, from the famous republican family is listed as having escaped from the NDU on 5 May 1923, two days after Maire Cleary arrived there. Maire Comerford had reported to Countess Markievicz at St Stephen's Green during the 1916 uprising. She was turned away due to her age. After her escape from the NDU in 1923 she was re-captured and held in Kilmainham where she went on a hunger strike. The Cleary girls were in good company.

 

Maire's signature in Lily Gleeson's book - 5 August 1923.

Maire Cleary on the left and her sister, Nellie, on the right at the wedding of their niece, Alice Howard, in the 1950s.

Niece, Joan Cleary - at Nellie's left - and Mary McGee at the far right of photo.

 

Joan Cleary - daughter of John Cleary of Upper Dorset St - second from the left, middle row in a photo taken around 1947. John's brother Thomas served in the British Army. Photo provided by Marie Cleary - daughter of Daniel (b1916) and granddaughter of John. Marie is married to Paddy Fortune. Joan is in the wedding photo above.

 

NAMES OF OTHER PRISONERS I FOUND

On the same page that carries Maire and Nellie's names is recorded Peter Cassidy of 7 Usher Street, Dublin.

He was executed on 17/11/22 after being arrested in Thomas Street, Dublin on 26/10/22 in possession of a webley .45 . It was a brutal time.

Mrs Tom Clarke, widow of the executed Easter Rebellion republican, appears also. She was arrested and released on the same day, 12 February 1923. Too famous to be treated badly?

Records held at Cathal Brugha Barracks and kindly provided by Kilmainham Gaol in 2000. They are transcribed as they appear. Additional notes are mine.

http://larkspirit.com/hungerstrikes/forgotten_strikes.htm

In Feb of 1923, 23 members of Cumann na mBan (including Mary and Annie MacSwiney, Lily Brennan and Nellie Ryan, sister-in-law of the Free State's Commander-in-Chief and Defence Minister Richard Mulcahy) went on strike for 34 days over illegal arrest and imprisonment without trial of prisoners. The strike resulted in the release of the women hunger-strikers.

On 23 May 1923, the Irish Civil War officially ended, but the state continued to go after republicans, keeping 12,000 men and women in prison and persecuting and harrassing countless others. By October of 1923 tension was at an all-time high in the prisons and camps because of conditions and with no release in sight.

On 13 October 1923, Michael Kilroy, OC of the IRA pows in Mountjoy, announced a mass strike by 300 prisoners, and it soon spread to other jails, and within days 7,033 republicans were on hunger strike. The figures given by Sinn Fein at the time were Mountjoy Jail 462; Cork Jail 70; Kilkenny Jail 350; Dundalk Jail 200; Gormanstown Camp 711; Newbridge Camp 1,700; Tintown 1,2,3, Curragh Camp 3,390; Harepark Camp 100; and, 50 women in the North Dublin Union.

Good day,

where is the autograph book you refer to ?
Essie Snoddy was my mother, this is the first time we ever knew what cell she was in ,

mike purcell, kennedy street, carlow, ireland.

miceal puirseal [carlowmike@hotmail.com]

A Brutal Time

Peter Cassidy

On the same Civil War Prisoner List page that carries Maire and Nellie's names is recorded Peter Cassidy of 7 Usher Street, Dublin. He was executed on 17 November 1922 after being arrested in Thomas Street, Dublin on 26 October 1922 in 'possession of a full webley .45'. Cassidy was a member of the Dublin brigade of the IRA. It was a brutal time.

Patrick Clare

Patrick Clare, of 23 Heylesbery Street, Dublin, was arrested - 7 November 1922 - in possession of a webley.

Mrs Plunkett's cell in Kilmainham