Today, there were a number of tweets to remember that on this day in 1916, Roger Casement landed at Banna Strand in Co. Kerry having travelled on The Aud with arms for the planned rebellion of Easter 1916. He was arrested shortly after landing and became the last of the ’16 Men Dead’ when executed in Pentonville Prison in August.
This reminded me of the remnannts of an old and very small cottage that I spotted when travelling the roads around Ballymacelligott, a few years ago. I saw a fingerpost sign for the Captain Monteith 1916 Memorial and went searching.
This reminded me of the remnannts of an old and very small cottage that I spotted when travelling the roads around Ballymacelligott, a few years ago. I saw a fingerpost sign for the Captain Monteith 1916 Memorial and went searching.
There is a short path circuit through a glen area, at the end of which, I spotted the plaque. There is not much remaining of the house, and house appears to over-describe the size of the building. The plaque notes that Seán Tadhg Óg Lenihan went by the name of the Hermit of the Glen. On that summer Friday afternoon that I came across the spot with the benefit of a car, I could understand why there might be such a name.
The plaque also notes that Fr. O’Flaherty ‘smuggled’ Robert Monteith from Woodville (as learned from Irish Independent article ) to Limerick, from where he sailed to America, where he is buried. All of this was filed away mentally in the expectation of doing a blog someday.
Subsequently, I read that Fr. O’Flaherty was buried in the churchyard at Castlegregory on the Dingle peninsula where we would regularly visit on holidays. Last year, I photographed the headstone to Fr. Tadhg O’Flaherty and Fr. Morgan O’Flaherty who were born in Fahamore on The Maherees outside Castlegregory.
The plaque also notes that Fr. O’Flaherty ‘smuggled’ Robert Monteith from Woodville (as learned from Irish Independent article ) to Limerick, from where he sailed to America, where he is buried. All of this was filed away mentally in the expectation of doing a blog someday.
Subsequently, I read that Fr. O’Flaherty was buried in the churchyard at Castlegregory on the Dingle peninsula where we would regularly visit on holidays. Last year, I photographed the headstone to Fr. Tadhg O’Flaherty and Fr. Morgan O’Flaherty who were born in Fahamore on The Maherees outside Castlegregory.
 Castlegregory Churchyard |  |
The Bureau of Military History holds the Witness Statement of James Collins T.D. who was Adjutant of the West Limerick Brigade of the I.R.A.. He states the car of Fr. O’Flaherty, then based in Brosna, was borrowed to transport Capt. Robert Monteith, but that the Model-T Ford was driven by Peter Brown Jr., who often drove for Fr. O’Flaherty.
The witness statement of the widow of Austin Stack, herself a member of Cumann na mBan, confirms that Monteith did spend time with Sean Tadg Og Lenihan at Glounteenty and food was delivered daily. She states that Monteith was dressed as a priest and was driven to Limerick by Fr. O’Flaherty, where he stayed for some months before getting to America. The Castlegregory website records that Monteith was dressed as a nun. This is a transcription of the submission to the Schools Collection of the Irish Folklore Commission which is available on Dúchas.ie, which is where I first learned of Fr. Morgan O’Flaherty.
Further research will be required when these Lock-In days end.
The witness statement of the widow of Austin Stack, herself a member of Cumann na mBan, confirms that Monteith did spend time with Sean Tadg Og Lenihan at Glounteenty and food was delivered daily. She states that Monteith was dressed as a priest and was driven to Limerick by Fr. O’Flaherty, where he stayed for some months before getting to America. The Castlegregory website records that Monteith was dressed as a nun. This is a transcription of the submission to the Schools Collection of the Irish Folklore Commission which is available on Dúchas.ie, which is where I first learned of Fr. Morgan O’Flaherty.
Further research will be required when these Lock-In days end.
Banna Strand
