Councillor calls for records to be put in public domain
By Brendan Grehan
LUCAN-BASED Councillor Liona O’Toole has been doing some research into her family history. Her great-grandfather, Thomas Breslin and his three brothers, Peadar, James and Christopher, were all active during the 1916 Rising and before.
She told The Echo: “I didn’t realise how prominent some of my family were in the 1916 rising and subsequent years. It culminated in me finding the gravestones of two of my relatives in the Glasnevin Cemetery Republican plot.”
Both Thomas and James survived this period, however Peader and Christopher were killed. The brothers where anti-treaty during the Civil War. Peadar was arrested after fighting in the Four Courts and was killed in Mountjoy Prison trying to escape. Peadar had risen to the rank of Quarter-master of the Dublin Brigade of the IRA.
Christopher was taken from his home by men who identified themselves as the Free State “CID” late one evening. His body was found dumped at the junction of Ratoath and Cabra roads.
Christopher was an Intelligence Officer with “A” company 1st Battalion of the IRA Dublin Brigade. James Breslin erected a memorial stone at the location which is still there today.
Cllr O’Toole said: “I have read about some tragic stories, including three young men/boys murdered and dumped in Clondalkin during the period when the “CID” was most active under the direct control of the then Minister of Justice Kevin O’Higgins.
Unfortunately a lot of records of the time, particularly around the “CID”, were destroyed”.
She added: “I believe that it is in the national interest ,as well as important to descendants, that we ensure that any remaining records are put into the public domain.”
The Irish Free State Army Intelligence Department, the “CID”, was in existence from early 1922 to November 1923, after which it was abolished.