Name of soldier : Salvator Gavillet Name of descendent : Maria Smith Like many, Salvator Gavillet enlisted for the Great War in the belief that he was boosting the case for Irish independence and Home Rule. However, when he came home, the atmosphere had changed and a much more separatist movement led by Irish RepublicansContinue reading “Salvator Gavillet – Home Ruler who fought at the Somme but felt forgotten by Ireland”
Category Archives: Dublin
Thomas Morgan – A wartime horse handler from Mountjoy Square
Pictured above : Mary Morgan wearing the World War One medals of her son, Thomas. Elsewhere in this section, Breda Gaynor describes tracking down the grave of her relative, Thomas Masterson, an Irish born US soldier buried in Belgium. Such is the close connection of north Dublin and the Great War, that Breda also hadContinue reading “Thomas Morgan – A wartime horse handler from Mountjoy Square”
John Masterson – Longford born US soldier and how his Flanders grave was found
This is the story of a Dublin woman in search of the grave of her granduncle who died in Belgium in 1918, and who was unaware that an author in Belgium was trying to find relatives of the same man. The author Patrick Lernout was compiling a book about the Flanders Field American Cemetery inContinue reading “John Masterson – Longford born US soldier and how his Flanders grave was found”
Colin Horner – Rotherham seaman torpedoed by U-boat in 1944, but swam and lived
Name of soldier/sailor : Colin Horner Name of descendent : Tommy Horner Colin Horner was a sailor on the HMS Hardy when it was torpedoed in the Artic Ocean by a U boat during the Second World War. Blown overboard, he managed to survive in the icy waters until rescued, and went on to liveContinue reading “Colin Horner – Rotherham seaman torpedoed by U-boat in 1944, but swam and lived”
Charles O’Donoghue – Clareman who fought in Great War and then joined new Irish Army
Name of soldier : Charles O’Donoghue Your own name : Jim O’Donoghue The case of Charles O’Donoghue is yet another story from the Great Western Square area of north Dublin, which, with its adjoining streets, has provided so many World War One stories for this site. In this case, it is from the small adjoiningContinue reading “Charles O’Donoghue – Clareman who fought in Great War and then joined new Irish Army”
Willie Brazil – From Great Western Square to the Western Front
Above : A young William Brazil in his Royal Artillery uniform Name of soldier : Willie Brazil Name of descendent : Enda Carr Teacher Enda Carr lives on Monck Place, Phibsborough, north Dublin. This is just beside Great Western Square where his grand uncle William Brazil, a veteran of the Somme, lived until well intoContinue reading “Willie Brazil – From Great Western Square to the Western Front”
Patrick Flynn – The East Wall Sapper who tunneled under the Germans
Pictured above : Royal Engineers, posing for a photograph, 1915. Name of soldier : Patrick Flynn Name of descendent : Philip Flynn Philip Flynn lives in Cabra and runs a barbers at Hart’s Corner in Glasnevin, with his father. Hart’s Corner is at the end of the Finglas Road, just before Glasnevin cemetery. Philip isContinue reading “Patrick Flynn – The East Wall Sapper who tunneled under the Germans”
Larry Cassidy – Railway man who went to Belgium with ‘the Buffs’
Name of soldier : Larry Cassidy Name of descendent : Tommy Cassidy Tommy Cassidy lives on Great Western Villas, off Great Western Square in Phibsborough on Dublin’s northside. Both Square and Villas were built to house railway workers but also military veterans and, after 1918, there was often an overlap. Larry Cassidy was both. Already,Continue reading “Larry Cassidy – Railway man who went to Belgium with ‘the Buffs’”
Dubliner Edward Gerrard – Fought in Gallipoli and Gaza, wounded in the 1916 Rising
Name of soldier : Edward Gerrard Name of descendent : Ailbhe Gerrard Ailbhe Gerrard is the creator of Brookfield Farm, which produces honey and beeswax candles near beautiful Lough Derg, in Tipperary. More here :Brookfield Farm – Producer of Raw Irish Honey & Beeswax Gifts https://www.brookfield.farm/ Ailbhe comes from a large and talented family, includingContinue reading “Dubliner Edward Gerrard – Fought in Gallipoli and Gaza, wounded in the 1916 Rising”
Michael Scully – From the Liberties to the Somme
Name of soldier : Michael Scully Descendent : John McDonnell John McDonnell must have been the happiest street cleaner in North Dublin before he stepped down from Dublin City Council in 2017. He was a regular sight to be seen around Phibsborough crossroads in the morning pushing his dust cart and lifting people’s spirits withContinue reading “Michael Scully – From the Liberties to the Somme”
The Lion and the Shamrock 