Life stories told of 13 men killed in two iconic WWI battles
By Mary Dennehy
THE STORIES of 13 South Dublin County men who died in Belgium during two iconic battles of World War I are currently being told through an exhibition in the County Library, Tallaght.
After the Battle of the Somme, the campaigns of the Great War continued to take their toll on South Dublin County, with one resident killed at the Battle of Messines and 12 at the Third Battle of Ypres – with the centenary of both battles also being marked in the exhibition.
According to South Dublin Libraries, the only known Messines casualty from South Dublin County was Tallaght man, William (Billy) Barrett.
William’s mother ran a pub which was then called Barrett’s, with the premises still existing as a watering hole but is now known as The Dragon Inn in Tallaght Village.
The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele, lasted from July 31 to November 10 in 1917, with the battle characterised by persistent mud and heavy losses.
According to information provided by South Dublin Libraries, the Allies sustained over 320,000 casualties, while German losses were between 260,000 and 400,000.
Twelve men who were born or lived in South Dublin County were killed at Passchendaele; Daniel Brady and Robert Christopher Butler (Rathcoole), James O’Toole (Templeogue), John Nolan (Saggart), Joseph Redmond, Richard Rodgers and Thomas McCann (Rathfarnham), Thomas Stoney (Tallaght), John Monahan and William Carroll (Lucan), Ralph Mulligan and Richard Rumgay (Clondalkin).
The life stories of these 13 men is being told in the exhibition through panels illustrated with newspaper cuttings, photographs and contemporary documents – which includes census returns from 1901 that list them all as small boys still at school, with their fathers’ occupations including an RIC pensioner, an army pensioner, a dairy farmer and general labourers.
Speaking about the exhibition, David Power of South Dublin Libraries Local Studies Section, said “If these men were to return and walk around our county’s villages again, the surroundings would no doubt be very familiar to them. Their streets are our streets.”
He added: “This exhibition reclaims their memory, presenting their stories in an accessible way.”
Called Messines and Passchendaele: the South Dublin Perspective, the exhibition runs at County Library, Tallaght, until September 29, with guided tours available on Culture Night, Friday, September 22, from 5pm to 8pm.
TAGS Tallaght Library
