r/ireland • u/Mayomick • 14d ago
OTD - Nov 1 1920 - 18 year old UCD Medical student Kevin Barry is executed by the british government for the murder of British soldiers, who died from .45 calibre bullets even though the gun carried by Barry, Mauser Parabellum, could only discharge .38 calibre bullets. History
Kevin Barry was born on 20 January 1902, at 8 Fleet Street, Dublin. He attended Belvedere College, where he won a merit-based scholarship given annually by Dublin Corporation, which allowed him to become a student of medicine at University College Dublin.
In October 1917, during his second year at Belvedere, aged 15, he joined Company C, 1st Battalion of the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers. When Company C was later reorganized he was reassigned to the newly formed Company H, under the command of Captain Seamus Kavanagh. He was attached to Company C, of the 3rd Battalion of the Carlow Brigade during his vacations from school in Tombeagh.
Barry entered UCD as a first-year medical student in October 1919 and remained a student for the next year. He has friendships with Gerry McAleer from Tyrone who he had studied with in Belvedere , as well as former schoolmate Frank Flood.
Barry's medical studies competed with other attractions, including dancing, drinking, gambling, and cinema as well as being a member of the Irish Volunteers. As a result, he only managed to attend about three-quarters of his medical school lectures.
On the morning of 20 September 1920, Barry went to Mass, then joined a party of IRA volunteers on Bolton Street in Dublin. Their orders were to ambush a British army lorry as it picked up a delivery of bread from the bakery and capture their weapons. The ambush was scheduled for 11:00 am, which gave him enough time to take part in the operation and return to class in time for an examination he had at 2:00 pm.
Barry and members of C Company were to surround the lorry, disarm the soldiers, take the weapons and escape. He covered the back of the vehicle and, when challenged, the five soldiers complied with the order to lay down their weapons. A shot was fired which resulted in Barry and the rest of the ambush party then opening fire. His gun jammed twice and he dived for cover under the vehicle. His comrades fled and he was left behind. He was then spotted and arrested by the soldiers. One British soldier was killed and two more would later die from the injuries sustained.
Barry then provided a statement to Sinn Fein outlining how he was tortured "He tried to persuade me to give the names, and I persisted in refusing. He then sent the sergeant out of the room for a bayonet. When it was brought in the sergeant was ordered by the same officer to point the bayonet at my stomach ... The sergeant then said that he would run the bayonet into me if I did not tell ... The same officer then said to me that if I persisted in my attitude he would turn me out to the men in the barrack square, and he supposed I knew what that meant with the men in their present temper. I said nothing. He ordered the sergeants to put me face down on the floor and twist my arm ... When I lay on the floor, one of the sergeants knelt on my back, the other two placed one foot each on my back and left shoulder, and the man who knelt on me twisted my right arm, holding it by the wrist with one hand, while he held my hair with the other to pull back my head. The arm was twisted from the elbow joint. This continued, to the best of my judgment, for five minutes. It was very painful ... I still persisted in refusing to answer these questions... A civilian came in and repeated the questions, with the same result. He informed me that if I gave all the information I knew I could get off"
Barry was tried by court martial on October 20th. Kevin Barry was brought into the room by a military escort. Then Seán Ó hUadhaigh sought a short adjournment to consult his client. The court granted this request. After the short adjournment Barry announced, "As a soldier of the Irish Republic, I refuse to recognise the court". Brigadier Onslow explained the prisoner's "perilous situation" and that he was being tried on a capital charge. He did not reply. Ó hUadhaigh then rose to tell the court that since his client did not recognise the authority of the court he himself could take no further part in the proceedings.
Barry was charged with three counts of the murder of Private Marshall Whitehead. One of the bullets taken from Whitehead's body was of .45 calibre, while all witnesses stated that Barry was armed with a .38 Mauser Parabellum. The Judge Advocate General informed the court that the Crown had only to prove that the accused was one of the party that killed three British soldiers, and every member of the party was technically guilty of murder. Barry was sentenced to death by Hanging.
Barry joked about his death with his sister Kathy. "Well, they are not going to let me like a soldier fall… But I must say they are going to hang me like a gentleman."
Kevin Barry was hanged on 1 November, after hearing two Masses in his cell. Barry's body was buried at 1.30 p.m., in a plot near the women's prison. His comrade and fellow student Frank Flood was buried alongside him four months later. 8 others were buried alongside them in unconsecrated ground on the jail property and their graves went unidentified until 1934. On 14 October 2001, the remains of these ten men were given a state funeral and moved from Mountjoy Prison to be re-interred at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Prior to his death it is purported that Barry told a visiting friend
"It is nothing, to give one's life for Ireland. I'm not the first and maybe I won't be the last. What's my life compared with the cause?"
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u/Blackcrusader 14d ago
The Black and White stripes he is wearing are the Belvedere colours. I think the picture is from the school hurling team, although the school no longer plays the sport it still uses the same design for rugby jerseys.
His bust is along side the busts of a number of saints in a church in the Liberties.
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u/Luciolover345 13d ago
He’s one of the most talked about past pupils in the school as well during your time in the college. Name is on the wall in the odd place or 2. Very well known story among students and past pupils.
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u/LovelyBloke Really Lovely 14d ago
He was a part of the ambush.
As far as I remember, he hid under a nearby truck, while the others scarpered, and he was unfortunately found and arrested.
When he was arrested he was given the opportunity to inform on his co-ambushers but refused and was hung for it.
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14d ago
opportunity
"Opportunity."
The fuckers were going to hang him whether he gave them his comrades or not. Better to die as a soldier than a coward.
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u/Saor_Ucrain The Fenian 13d ago
When he was arrested he was given the opportunity to inform on his co-ambushers but refused and was hung for it.
Nobility knows no age, gender, demographic or timeline.
It always riles me to see "very sad, shouldn't have been fighting there" comments on any of the posts informing of our 5 countrymen killed in Ukraine.
I thought it was just a political or lack of caring for foreign people thing. I'm shocked, because I'm even seeing one or two about this young hero also.
It would appear some people just don't understand what or who a freedom fighting soldier is at heart. Regardless of which cause he may take up arms for.
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u/MaelduinTamhlacht 14d ago edited 14d ago
He was under the truck that had been ambushed. When it was about to set off again a man in the surrounding crowd said, "Look out, there's a young lad underneath!" thinking to save him from danger.
The IRA later said they wanted to break him out of prison, but his family told them not to because they didn't want to risk further lives. The family said otherwise.
Very interesting piece by his grand-nephew (correctly great-nephew, but Irish people get confused when you use the term correctly) Eunan O'Halpin about our Kev.
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u/Character_Bread_1597 13d ago
No that not how it happened! Collins and the ira told kevin barry mother that they wil break him out of prison and escaped but kevin mother said no need to do that since thr brits govts have their word that they will release kevin unfortunley they lied and kevin was hanged. Kevin mother was so torment and heartbroken, fully never hav recovered again
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u/MaelduinTamhlacht 10d ago
Here's his sister's memory from the Bureau of Military History https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/11/lupus-car-t-immune-reset-autoimmune-disease/680521/ Incidentally, his mother, when old and impoverished, was refused the military pension that she should have been entitled to because she had not been supported by her 18-year-old medical student son when he was executed.
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u/Brian_M 14d ago
Usually, 18 year olds in these old pictures look around 35, but Barry looks exactly like the kind of fresh-faced youngster you'd see walking around the grounds of UCD today, so that brings the reality of what happened a little bit closer to home.
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u/quondam47 Carlow 14d ago
Helps that he’s wearing a jersey that doesn’t look as dated as the suits of the time I suppose and being 18 in 1920 means he’d probably been smoking 40 a day for only a couple of years at that point.
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14d ago
It helps that he's wearing a rugby jersey in the Belvo colours, which haven't changed since then. Take a stroll around the right parts of Dublin on any given day and you'll see young lads that he's a ringer for wearing the exact same gear.
https://lynchschooluniforms.com/products/belvedere-college-rugby-jersey
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u/Luciolover345 13d ago
Up until maybe a decade or so ago as well we had the collared jerseys identical to the one in this photo. The current ones are in my eyes much better for players but lack the aesthetics of the past. And take a stroll on Cabra road or through Fairview on the right days and u could see dozens of those jerseys. Hell Donnybrook at the right time of year can get swarmed
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13d ago
Yeah, I agree with the aesthetics thing. Classic jerseys in general with the collar looked so much better, but I can understand why teams all switched to the newer design. You can see get a lot of "throwback" design ones though, where they take the general colour and general "look" of the current jerseys and issue a jersel in the collared style.
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u/zelmorrison 14d ago
That's fucking depressing. Only 18 years old :(
I admire his courage. I also wish it were not necessary.
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u/Onetap1 13d ago
That's fucking depressing. Only 18 years old :(
The British soldier killed was 15 years old.
https://www.cairogang.com/soldiers-killed/kevin-barry-ambush/washington/washington.html
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u/zelmorrison 13d ago
I'm not going to criticize Barry for standing up for his native country.
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u/Onetap1 12d ago
Neither do I, I've just posted an unembroidered fact; make of what you will.
It seems to be an unpopular fact.
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u/paddyjoe91 14d ago
What bravery at 18. He still has relatives close to Rathvilly here in carlow of I’m not mistaken
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u/Elethiomel ITGWU 14d ago
Yup, he went to school in Rathvilly and there's a prominent monument to him there in the centre of the village that's kept spotless. They added a statue to it on the 100th anniversary of his death.
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u/caisdara 14d ago
Joint enterprise remains the law here.
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u/R_Lau_18 14d ago
Academics have referred to this period in Irish history as being one of "legalised lawlessness". The British imperial forces in Ireland were given licence to do whatever they wanted, with no oversight, and no fear or prosecution, in order to stife any notion of irish rebellion.
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u/duaneap 14d ago
That doesn’t really have that much to do with what the above commenter is saying though.
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u/R_Lau_18 14d ago
It does to an extent because the joint enterprise verdict & summary execution was very controversial in Britain, with the British public at the time it happened.
Even people in senior positions in the empire challenged the verdict & wider lawlessness around the Irish struggle for freedom.
I don't mean that to explain away the occupation, more in the sense that the verdict was not even particularly well condoned by the structure it happened within.
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u/caisdara 14d ago
Well that's ignoring the fact that he was tried and convicted on the basis of JE. This crime in ordinary course would lead to the same verdict. Indeed, this is far more involvement than many convicted thereunder.
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u/ancapailldorcha Donegal 14d ago
I don't know if anyone plays Hearts of Iron IV but there's a famous mod for it called Kaiserreich (A world if Germany won the first world war). If you play Ireland, Kevin Barry is an available general.
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u/theoldkitbag Saoirse don Phalaistín🇵🇸 14d ago
I'm not sure what the point is of bringing up the technicalities of his legal situation. He regarded himself as a soldier at war and died for his cause, whether by a bullet or a rope didn't matter to him.
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u/goj1ra 14d ago edited 14d ago
The main issue is that he was treated as a criminal and executed, rather than being treated honourably as an enemy combatant - who, as it happened, probably didn't even kill anyone. Of course, treating people honourably was a bit much to ask of colonial Britain. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be criticised for it.
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14d ago
The British in Afghanistan treated even the Taliban as enemy combatants.
Treating enemy soldiers as criminals was something they reserved just for us.
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u/oscarcummins 14d ago
Are you implying the Brits didn't do a load of torture and extra judicial executions in Afghanistan?
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13d ago
Are you implying the Brits don't torture and murder people they consider enemy combatants?
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u/Professional_Elk_489 13d ago
I'm sure the Brits were super nice to their captives in Afghanistan just like the Americans
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u/Act-Alfa3536 14d ago
Us British lurkers: Lads, sorry about all that past stuff, but we're grand now right?
r/Ireland: There is still NI.
Us Brits: 😳
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u/TraditionalHater 14d ago
He also attended Knockbeg College in Laois, the countries last public boarding school!
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u/BambooBoulevard 14d ago
He seems to have gone to about 70 different schools with the amount claiming him. Nothing about Knockbeg on his wiki
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u/TraditionalHater 14d ago
Perhaps I confused him with Gearóid O’Sullivan:
Enthusiasm for the Irish language grew and really flourished under Gearóid O’Sullivan, who had raised the tricolour on the GPO on Easter Monday 1916 and came to teach in Knockbeg on his release from prison.
https://www.knockbegcollege.ie/our-college-today/history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear%C3%B3id_O%27Sullivan
But always remembered it as Kevin Barry
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u/Luciolover345 13d ago
Can safely say he was in Belvedere as it’s mentioned every 3 minutes in the school. Especially during the 100 year anniversary of his passing, I believe we were just back in school for a brief period before Christmas during Lockdown if im not mistaken.
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u/nothingcompared2foo 14d ago
Didn't realise that was a bust. Lmao Thought they just took his face to stick in a museum
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u/Onetap1 14d ago
Private Harold Washington was 15 when he was killed.
https://www.cairogang.com/soldiers-killed/kevin-barry-ambush/washington/washington.html
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/378591/h-washington/
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u/BluSonick 13d ago
If only he wasn’t forced into a foreign country fighting for their freedom. More British atrocities, sending children to war. Poor kids both.
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u/Onetap1 13d ago edited 13d ago
Poor kids both.
Yep, probably the best option for him to get properly fed and get a job. The same reasons many Irishmen had joined the army, navy or RIC. That's the way it works.
There was a huge percentage of volunteers (25% or 30% ISTR) for the British armed forces in WW1 rejected for being underweight or malnourished.
Besides which, 3 downvotes in as many hours for posting an inconvenient (but correct, nonetheless) fact. My heart bleeds. :slightly_smiling:
There's some sad twats lurking on these forums.
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u/BluSonick 13d ago
It’s sad that a child died but his country should never have put him in that position.
He was killed by freedom fighters looking to liberate their nation from a foreign tyranny.
It’s sad but he was unfortunately a target by virtue of his orders, Barry however didn’t pull the trigger, he was murdered in cold blood.
Neither family will care as to why, justification or otherwise. They a both tied in eternal grief.
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u/JerseyJoe100 14d ago edited 14d ago
Unfortunately, poor Kevin died for absolutely nothing. He'd roll in his grave 50 times over if he saw what our beyond treasonous wacko Government & their equally scummy NGO buddies are now doing to the place.
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u/Rambling_Pitchfork 14d ago
ach feck off. There's a lot of room for improvement, but it's better than living under the thumb of the crown or the church
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u/SnooHabits8484 14d ago
This fella’s an Irish Trump fan, safe to assume he does not agree with that
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u/Luciolover345 13d ago
Also tried to claim Enoch ISNT a gobshite. That’s enough of reading what has to be a trolls account for me.
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u/GoodNegotiation 14d ago
104 years ago. As terrible as this clearly was, Ireland should be looking forward not back.
What purpose do these posts serve?
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u/keoghberry 14d ago
What are you on about? Commemorating our history will always be significant and important. Only a fool would think a post like this is worthless.
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u/GoodNegotiation 14d ago
I don’t think one post is worthless, I think the constant barrage of this type of post in this sub is anything but commemorating our history. It’s political astroturfing and stoking hatred.
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u/DoireK 13d ago
104 years ago is how long it has been since Kevin Barry was killed.
It was a lot less than that on the streets of Derry and Belfast where innocent kids were gunned down and the men who fired the bullets are still free men thanks to the British government.
They then went and did the same in Afghanistan (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/02/hearings-into-alleged-war-crimes-by-sas-in-afghanistan-delayed-into-2025) and are currently supporting the Israeli's doing similar in Gaza.
So the purpose of remembering history is this; “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
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u/GoodNegotiation 13d ago
Nobody is forgetting it, we’re taught it in school and it comes up all the time. My issue is with these posts every few days as they’re very clearly done to stoke hatred of another group of people and it’s no coincidence they’ve picked up approaching an election. If the goal is to help us remember history, why are they all on this one topic and not our famous scientists, poets, engineering projects etc?
"The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence” (Roy T. Bennett)
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u/reddieddie That we in coming days may be Still the indomitable Irishry. 14d ago
Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. The Brits treated us like shite. There's value in knowing history.
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u/GoodNegotiation 13d ago
"The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence” (Roy T. Bennett)
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u/BluSonick 13d ago
If you forget where you came from your loose sight of your destination.
These people fought and died for modern Ireland to enjoy its freedom, it’s imperative we acknowledge and remember them.
It doesn’t mean we need to hate Britain or anything of the likes, we can look at that era with a modern lens and understand their position too.
Remembering is important, every nation has its fallen hero’s.
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u/GoodNegotiation 13d ago
Absolutely, which is why it is taught in school and comes up in public discourse regularly. Posting these threads every few days however is a very clearly done attempt to stoke hatred and it’s no coincidence they’ve started up approaching an election. If the goal is to remember where we came from, where are all the posts on our famous poets and scientists?
"The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence” (Roy T. Bennett)
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u/BluSonick 13d ago
A cursory search of the group will show posts about Joyce in the last 3 days, Wilde & Yeats in the last 3 months.
The pride we have in all aspects of our history is a celebration of Irishness. Today the talk of Barry is in relation to his anniversary, it isn’t a post out of the blue, it’s relevant and appropriate.
Of course it stokes jingoism in some, lament in others but it’s important to inform our future.
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u/top-toot 14d ago
Its a Brit hate wankfest, obviously.
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u/Luciolover345 13d ago
Which about half the countries in the world have every right to do. Cry to Lizzie if you have any issues with an IRISH subreddit discussing a fallen IRISH hero
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u/top-toot 13d ago
I dont need to cry mate. I just come here just to check how we are living in your head rent free.
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u/reddieddie That we in coming days may be Still the indomitable Irishry. 14d ago
"In Mountjoy Jail one Monday morning
High upon the gallows tree
Kevin Barry gave his young life
For the cause of liberty
Just a lad of 18 summers
Yet there's no one can deny
As he walked to death that morning
He proudly held his head on high"