Liam Lynch | |
|---|---|
 Lynch in 1920 | |
| Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army | |
| In office 26 March 1922 – 10 April 1923 | |
| Succeeded by | Frank Aiken |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1892-11-20)20 November 1892 Baurnagurrahy,County Limerick, Ireland |
| Died | 10 April 1923(1923-04-10) (aged 30) Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Irish Republic |
| Branch/service | Irish Republican Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1923 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Officer Commanding, 2nd Cork Brigade,Irish Republican Army, 1919 – April 1921 Commander, First Southern Division, Irish Republican Army, April 1921 – March 1922 Chief of Staff,Irish Republican Army, March 1922 – April 1923 |
| Battles/wars | Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War † |
William Fanaghan Lynch[1] (Irish:Liam Ó Loingsigh; 20 November 1892 – 10 April 1923) was anIrish Republican Army officer during theIrish War of Independence of 1919–1921. During much of theIrish Civil War, he was chief of staff of theIrish Republican Army.[2] On 10 April 1923, Lynch was killed whilst trying to escape an encirclement byFree State troops in south Tipperary.
Lynch was born in thetownland of Baurnagurrahy,Anglesboro,County Limerick, nearMitchelstown,County Cork, on 20 November 1892.[3] His father was Jeremiah Lynch and his mother was Mary Lynch (née Kelly), both of whom are buried in Brigown graveyard, Mitchelstown. During his first twelve years of schooling he attendedAnglesboro National School.[4] Lynch was living with his parents in Baurnagurrahy for the 1901 and 1911 censuses.[5][6]
In 1909, at the age of 17, he started an apprenticeship in O'Neill's hardware shop in Mitchelstown, where he joined theGaelic League and theAncient Order of Hibernians. Later he worked at J. Barry & Sons, Hardware MerchantsFermoy. In the aftermath of the 1916Easter Rising, he witnessed David andThomas Kent of Bawnard House being taken through Fermoy after their arrest by theRoyal Irish Constabulary. After this, he determined to dedicate his life to Irish republicanism.[7] In 1917 he was elected First Lieutenant of the Irish Volunteer Company, based in Fermoy.[8]
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In Cork, Lynch reorganised theIrish Volunteers—the paramilitary organisation that became theIrish Republican Army (IRA)—in 1919, becoming commandant of the Cork No. 2 Brigade of the IRA during theguerrillaAnglo-Irish War.[9] He helped capture a seniorBritish officer, GeneralCuthbert Lucas, in June 1920, shooting a Colonel Danford in the incident. Lucas later escaped while being held by IRA men inCounty Clare. Lynch was captured, together with the other officers of the Cork No. 2 Brigade, in a British raid onCork City Hall in August 1920.
Terence McSwiney,Lord Mayor of Cork, was among those captured; he later died onhunger strike in protest at his detention. Lynch, however, gave a false name and was released three days later. He then began to organise a flying column within his IRA brigade to launch attacks on British targets.[10] Having "made himself a leader out of force of his own convictions ... possessed by a sense of mission and by revolutionary ardour",[11] Lynch believed independence could only be "hewed" by the British.[citation needed]
In September 1920, Lynch, along withErnie O'Malley, commanded a force that took the British Army barracks atMallow. The arms in the barracks were seized and the building partially burnt. Before the end of 1920, Lynch's brigade had successfully ambushed British troops on two other occasions. Lynch's guerrilla campaign continued into early 1921, with some successes such as the ambush and killing of 13 British soldiers nearMillstreet.
In March–April 1921, the IRA was reorganised into divisions based on regions. Lynch's reputation was such that he was made commander of the 1st Southern Division. Ernie O'Malley brought that news from GHQ on 21 April.[12] From April 1921 until the Truce that ended the war in July 1921, Lynch's command was put under increasing pressure by the deployment of more British troops into the area and the British use of small mobile units to counter IRA guerrilla tactics. Lynch was no longer in command of the Cork No. 2 Brigade, for he had to travel in secret to each of the nine IRA Brigades inMunster. By the time of the Truce, the IRA under Liam Lynch was increasingly hard-pressed and short of arms and ammunition. He, therefore, welcomed the Truce as a respite but expected the war to continue after it ended.
The War of Independence ended formally with the signing of theAnglo-Irish Treaty between the Irish negotiating team and the British government in December 1921. Lynch was opposed to the Treaty, on the grounds that it disestablished theIrish Republic proclaimed in 1916 in favour ofDominion status for Ireland within theBritish Empire.
Lynch, however, did not want a split in the republican movement and hoped to reach a compromise with those who supported the Treaty ("Free Staters") by the publication of a republican constitution for the newIrish Free State. But the British would not accept this, as the Treaty had only just been signed and ratified, leading to a deeper split in IRA ranks. Lynch did his best to reunite a divided IRA and continued to hold discussions with the opposing side for a number of months.[13] Both he and Michael Collins were on theIRB Supreme Council and neither wanted to see a civil war.[14]
Lynch, who commanded by far the largest area of any divisional commander, was elected temporary chief of staff by the Republican Military Council in March. His appointment as chief of staff of the anti-treaty forces was confirmed on 9 April by the Executive appointed at the army convention of 26 March.[15]
He did not participate in the seizure of theFour Courts in Dublin by a group of hardline republicans in April 1922. However, at the Third Army Convention on 18 June, following the defeat of a proposal he opposed — to restart hostilities with the British — a diehard faction broke away from his leadership and set up a new GHQ at the Four Courts.[16] Lynch remained recognised as IRA chief of staff by a majority of republicans.[17]
This rift had been healed by the time the Four Courts garrison was attacked by the newly formedNational Army on 28 June, which marked the beginning of the Irish Civil War. On 27 June, Lynch andLiam Deasy had met with McKelvey and Mellows in the Four Courts. The result was a reunification of the two IRA groupings with Lynch as chief of staff.[18][19][a]
On 28 June, Free State forces arrested his party, including Deasy, but Free State general Eoin O'Duffy allowed them to leave the city. Later it was stopped by a Free State patrol in County Kilkenny and spent some time with enemy officers. A Free State publication stated that Lynch had been released on the understanding that he disavowed the approach of the 'Irregulars'.[20] O'Duffy was adamant that Lynch had assured him that he would not take up arms against the government.[21] For his part, Lynch issued a vehement denial of any such undertaking having been given,[22] in which regard he was supported byFlorrie O'Donoghue and Deasy.[23][24]
Lynch now began organising resistance elsewhere. On 1 July 1922 IRA forces occupied portions of Limerick city. At this time Lynch also sent a note to the leader of the Free State forces to discuss the possibility of a truce.[25]
Lynch wished to establish a "Munster Republic", which he believed would frustrate the creation of the Free State. This "Munster Republic" would be defended by the "Waterford-Limerick Line". From south-east to north-west, this consisted of the city ofWaterford, the towns ofCarrick-on-Suir,Clonmel,Fethard,Cashel,Golden, andTipperary, and ended at the city ofLimerick, where Lynch established his headquarters. He led Limerick's defence, but it fell to Free State troops on 20 July 1922.[26]
He retreated further south and set up his new headquarters at Fermoy. The "Munster Republic" collapsed in August, when Free State troopslanded by sea in Cork and Kerry. Cork City was taken on 8 August and Lynch abandoned Fermoy on 11 August 1922.[27] The Anti-Treaty forces then dispersed andpursued guerrilla tactics. His counterpart Michael Collins was killed in an ambush atBéal na mBláth, Cork on 22 August, a week after the death ofArthur Griffith.
Lynch contributed to the growing bitterness of the war by issuing what were known as the "orders of frightfulness" against the Provisional Government on 30 November 1922. This general order sanctioned the killing of Free StateTDs (members of parliament) and senators, as well as certain judges and newspaper editors, in reprisal for the Free State'skilling of captured republicans. The first republican prisoners to be put to death were four captured IRA men on 14 November 1922, followed by the execution of republican leaderErskine Childers on 17 November.
These orders were acted upon by IRA men, who killed TDSeán Hales and wounded another TD outside the Dáil on 7 December 1922. In response, the Free State shot four republican leaders,Rory O'Connor,Liam Mellows,Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey the next day. This led to a cycle of atrocities on both sides, including the Free State official execution of 77 republican prisoners and "unofficial" killing of roughly 150 other captured republicans. In early February 1923 Lynch issued a notice that the IRA would begin reprisals if the executions of prisoners continued.[28] Lynch's men, for their part, launched a concerted campaign against the homes of Free State members of parliament.
Among the acts they carried out were the burning of the house of TDSeán McGarry, resulting in the death of his seven-year-old son, the murder of Free State ministerKevin O'Higgins' elderly father and the burning of the O'Higgins' family homestead atStradbally in early 1923. Lynch wrote toÉamon de Valera that "Free State supporters are traitors and deserve the latter's stark fate".[29]
Lynch was heavily criticised by some republicans, notably O'Malley, for his failure to coordinate their war effort and for letting the conflict peter out into inconclusive and defensive guerrilla warfare.[30] Other IRA volunteers felt that while Lynch was a decent man, he had failed to organise and lead the anti-treaty forces properly and did not possess the mind-set of a revolutionary to strike early for a swift victory.[31]
Lynch was scathing of the Dáil and the old IRA GHQ for having abandoned the people in the North, "particularly in Belfast" (seeThe Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)).[32]
In March 1923, the Anti-Treaty IRA Army Executive met in a remote location in the Nire Valley. Several members of the executive proposed ending the civil war; however, Lynch opposed them and narrowly carried a 6–5 vote to continue the war. He had been trying to import mountain artillery from Germany in a vain attempt to turn the tide of the war.[29] When killed, he was carrying documents that appeared to call for the end of the war.[29]
On 10 April 1923, aNational Army unit was seen approaching Lynch's secret headquarters in theKnockmealdown Mountains. Lynch was in possession of important papers that he knew could not fall into enemy hands, so he and his six comrades attempted to evade them. To their shock, they ran into another unit of 50 National Army soldiers approaching from the opposite direction. Lynch was shortly afterwards hit by rifle fire from the road at the foot of the hill. Knowing the value of the papers they carried, he ordered his men, including soon-to-be chief of staffFrank Aiken, to leave him behind.[33] When the National Army soldiers reached Lynch they initially believed him to be Éamon de Valera, but he informed them – "I am Liam Lynch, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Republican Army. Get me a priest and doctor. I'm dying."[34][35] His last wish was to be buried next to his comrade,Michael Fitzgerald.[36] In late 1920, Fitzgerald had died after a 67-dayhunger strike. Lynch was carried on an improvised stretcher manufactured from guns to Nugent's (formally Walsh's) pub inNewcastle at the foot of the mountains and was later brought to the hospital in Clonmel, where he died that evening at 9 pm. He was buried two days later at Kilcrumper Cemetery, near Fermoy, County Cork.[37]
According to historian Tom Mahon, the Irish Civil War was "effectively ended" by the shot that killed Liam Lynch. Twenty days later, his successor,Frank Aiken, gave the order to cease military operations.[38]
On 7 April 1935, 12 years later, the Fianna Fáil Government of Éamon de Valera erected a 60-foot-high (18 m)round tower monument on the spot (52°15′6.43″N7°51′26.16″W / 52.2517861°N 7.8572667°W /52.2517861; -7.8572667) where Lynch was thought to have fallen in theKnockmealdown Mountains.
TheIrish Defence Forces barracks atKilworth, County Cork, was named Lynch Camp in his honour in 1966.[39][40]
The bloodied tunic worn by Lynch on the day he was shot is on permanent display at the National Museum at Collins Barracks in Dublin. TheGood Friday Agreement, which endedThe Troubles inNorthern Ireland, was signed on 10 April 1998, the 75th anniversary of Lynch's death.[41]
Lynch is mentioned in the Irish folk ballad "Soldiers of '22" , along withCathal Brugha,Dinny Lacey andNeil Plunkett Boyle. The song, its writer unknown, to the tune ofThe Foggy Dew, recalls Lynch's death "Brave Liam Lynch on the mountainside fell a victim to the foe".
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