This previously unpublished manuscript tells the story of Brigadier Sean Connolly, O/C of the Longford Brigade, who was fatally wounded in action on 11 March 1921 at Selton Hill, near Mohill (Co. Leitrim), by British forces during the War of Independence. Comdt-General Ernie O’Malley came across the story in interviews with Tan and Civil War survivors in the early 1950s. The account makes Connolly come alive as a person - his schooling, love of music, education, farming family background and devotion to the nationalist cause. O’Malley, who had actually organised the Irish Volunteers in parts of the area and had known many of the local leaders, gives the social setting for the IRA activities and explains the subtle roles of the IRA General HQ, of the Catholic Church and the Anglo-Irish gentry. Most memorably, it describes in detail what the fighting men actually did locally and what a local leader had to do in order to organise his men.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Cormac K. H. O’Malley 1 Longford 2 Longford, 1916-18 3 Longford and National Developments, 1918-20 4 Longford, 1920 - Drumlish, Mostrim, Ballinamuck, Top 5 Longford, September 1920 - Ballymahon and Arvagh Barracks 6 North Roscommon, October 1920 - Castlenode 7 North Roscommon, November-December 1920 - Elphin and Ballinalee barracks 8 Dublin Castle, December 1920 9 Roscommon, October 1920-February, 1921 - Peace Efforts, Strokestown, Elphin 10 Leitrim, January-April 1921 - Flying Column, Sheemore, Selton Hill APPENDICES - I Outline of IRA Command Structures in Leitrim, Longford and Roscommon II Biographical Notes on Significant Local Participants III Chronology of Events Notes Index.