Full title: Commemoration of Centenary of Death of Neil “Plunkett” Boyle 15 May 1923 – 15 May 2023 Knocknadruce, Valleymount, Co. Wicklow
Creator / Author: Pádraig O’Baoighill (translation by Maureen Phibbs)
Item Type / Page count: Booklet / 46p
When Published: 2023
Publisher / Place of Publication: Not Stated / Co. Wicklow?
About: Neil ‘Plunkett’ Boyle was born in County Donegal in 1898 and he reputedly became the last man to be killed in the Irish Civil War when he was shot at Knocknadruce, Valleymount in West Wicklow on 15th May, 1923. This booklet was published to commemorate the centenary of his death. Most of the content of this booklet is taken from the book ‘Óglach na Rosann’ by Pádraig O’Baoighill (1994). The original Irish text has been translated by Maureen Phibbs.
ID number(s): None
Chapters: [Foreword: Neil “Plunkett” Boyle in West Wicklow 1922-1923] — Dedication — Plunkett of the Hills (ballad) — 1916-1923 — Neil Boyle — Comdt. Neil “Plunkett” Boyle (ballad) / Dominic O’Kelly — Neil Boyle in West Wicklow — Dunlavin — Hempstown (Tinode) — Blessington — Valleymount — Commandant Tom Heavey’s Memories of Neil Boyle — The Killing of John Moore at Mooney’s Pub in Manor Kilbride — Kylebeg — Manor Kilbride — Lacken — Ballyknockan — Knocknadruce — Funeral of Neil “Plunkett” Boyle — Members of Plunkett’s Column — Timeline of Events in Irish History 1914-1949 — “Plunkett” O’Boyle (ballad) / Annie Timoney — Acknowledgements.
Full title: A Revolutionary Village:Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow c.1900-1925
Creator / Author: Chris Lawlor
Item Type / Page count: Book / 344pp
When Published: 2021
Publisher / Place of Publication: The Author / Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow
About: This book by local historian Chris Lawlor, was published with the support of Wicklow County Council’s Decade of Centenaries Programme and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. In it, the author looks at the major events that occurred in the first 25 years of the last century and how they then played out in the context of the Dunlavin and West Wicklow area. This includes momentous happenings such as World War 1, the Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Civil War and the emergence of the Irish Free State.
ID number(s): 9780953294770
Contents: [List of Illustrations] [Acknowledgements] [List of abbreviations]
[Introduction] Rationale and background — Sources
[Chapter 1. Global developments 1875-1925: new wine in old wineskins] Political thought in Europe and the wider world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
[Chapter 2. Irish solutions to Irish problems] Political thought in Ireland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
[Chapter 3. The village of Dunlavin 1900-1914] Population, economy and society — Politics and religion
[Chapter 4. The politicisation of the Dunlavin region 1900-16] Marginalised groups find a voice — Pro- and anti-Home Rule movements
[Chapter 5. The impact of World War One on the Dunlavin region] From naïve enthusiasm to muddy stalemate 1914-1916 — From bloody impasse to pyrrhic victory 1917-1918
[Chapter 6. Winds of change hit Dunlavin 1916-1918] The events of 1916: Dunlavin reacts to the Easter Rising and its aftermath — Transition: the Dunlavin region from the 1916 Rising to the 1918 General Election
[Chapter 7. The War of Independence in and around Dunlavin] January 1919 to June 1920 — July 1920 to July 1921 — The ‘Dunlavin Tragedy’: murder, suicide and the execution of William Mitchell in 1921
[Chapter 8. The Dunlavin area from the truce to the end of the Civil War, 1921-23] The Dunlavin area drifts towards Civil War, July 1921 to June 1922 — Dunlavin‘s Civil War experience, July 1922 to June 1923
[Chapter 9. Dunlavin’s Civil War experience in a West Wicklow context] January to June 1922 — June to December 1922 — January to June 1923
[Chapter 10. Beyond the decade of revolution: Dunlavin takes its place in the Irish Free State] New horizons: post-war Dunlavin emerges from the conflicts — A return to peaceful village life – the Imaal Bazaar of 1926 — Dunlavin in the 1920’s – a personal memoir of the village
[Conclusion]
[List of appendices] One: Census of 1901 returns for Dunlavin village — Two: Census of 1911 returns for Dunlavin village — Three: Report on Town Tenants’ Meeting…25th Nov. 1911 — Four: Report on Irish National Foresters’ Meeting…13th July 1912 — Five: Report on United Irish League Meeting…25th July 1910 — Six: Report on Irish National Volunteers’ Meeting…18th July 1914 — Seven: John Redmond’s speech at Woodenbridge, 20th September 1914 — Eight: Death of Sergeant Philip Nolan and Letter from Chaplain…8th July 1916 — Nine: The ‘Message to the Free Nations of the World’, read by West Wicklow T.D., Robert Barton at the first meeting of Dáil Eireann on 21st January 1919 — Ten: Members of C Company (Hollywood), 2nd North Kildare Battallion, Kildare Brigade on 11th July 1921 — Eleven: Members of A Company (Dunlavin), 6th Battallion, Carlow Brigade on 11th July 1921 — Twelve: Members of E Company (Kilgowan), 6th Battallion, Carlow Brigade on 11th July 1921 — Thirteen: Anti-treatyite members of C Company (Hollywood), 2nd North Kildare Battallion, Kildare Brigade on 1st July 1922 — Fourteen: Anti-treatyite members of A Company (Dunlavin), 6th Battallion, Carlow Brigade on 1st July 1922 — Fifteen: Anti-treatyite members of E Company (Kilgowan), 6th Battallion, Carlow Brigade on 1st July 1922 — Sixteen: I.R.A. members not on I.M.A. typewritten nominal but named elsewhere, 1919-23 — Seventeen: Advertisements from Dunlavin-Donard parish in the 1926 Imaal Bazaar Souvenir Guide — Eighteen: Present-day (2021) residents of Dunlavin with links to the Irish revolution elsewhwere — Tober Barracks
[Endnotes] [Bibliography] [Index] [Maps]
Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with monochrome photographs, charts and maps
Publisher / Place of Publication: The Author / Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow
About: This book is a compendium of 100 articles originally posted on social media, by local historian Chris Lawlor, as a series of diversions from all the Covid-19 related news. The articles cover a huge range of topics with a particular emphasis on Dunlavin.
ID number(s): 9780953294765
Contents: Introduction — Jonathan Swift — St. Palladius — A fairy story — Local folklore — Religion and identity — The vanished vellum — Dwyer radio interview – A cunning hussey — 1890s entertainment — Local quiz — Tournant graveyard — Dunlavin churchyard — Great panic,1832 — Edward Fenlon,1881 — Dunlavin Green ballads — Hearth money roll — John Lawler (Br. Albeus) — A military tradition — Feagh McHugh O’Byrne — The educator — Dunlavin and Naas CBS — Dunlavin victims, 1798 — Glen Mama — Garrett Byrne — Robert Barton — RIC commemoration — Shearman papers — Citizen Dwyer — Resurection of Dr. Emes — Countess Markievicz — Dunlavin in the 1920s — The Imaal bazaar, 1926 — Handball in Dunlavin — Milltown murder, 1921 — Running with crows — Ladies’ handball: poems — T. D. Sullivan Dwyer ballad — On Captain Dwyer — The outlaw’s bridal — On an escape of Dwyer — Wicklow men of ‘98 — The three flowers — Heaney and Kearney ballad – Fowler’s gate — Slain by the Slaney — University of Dunlavin — The Harristown sisters — The place-name Dunlavin — Exploits of Feagh McHugh O’Byrne — Dunlavin volunteers — Famine supplication, 1846 — Fenton family — A raw night in Swanlinbar — The blessed well — Catholic Dunlavin 1600-1800 — Population field study — HIST census project — Dunlavin village 1660-1710 — The judge — Proclamation day, 2016 — Tynte estate 1916 — Commemorating 1798 — Local history list — The 1641 rebellion — Death of Jane Fflood — Catholic surnames 1815-20 — J. Tynte inherits Dunlavin — John Devoy — Dunlavin c. 1200-1600 – Thornton lace — Imaal hall wall plaque — Interpretative panel — Dunlavin remodelled — Pre-famine Dunlavin — A class afternoon — Schools annals project — Fr. Thomas Butler — The market house bell — Dwyer lecture notes — West Wicklow tour — Protestant Dunlavin 1600-1800 — Slater’s Directory, 1881 — Nevill’s map, 1760 — The plough and the stars — Population, society, economy — Religion and politics — Marginalised groups — Pro- and anti-Home Rulers — World War One — Easter Rising — Republican transition — Anglo-Irish War I — Anglo-Irish War II — The Dunlavin tragedy — Towards civil war — Civil war in Dunlavin — Civil War claims I — Civil War claims II — Civil War claims III — Reflection — Illustrations credits.
Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with monochrome photographs.
Full title: What it said in the papers: the execution of Kevin Barry
Creator / Author: Michael Moriarty
Item Type / Page count: Book / 78p
When Published: 2020
Publisher / Place of Publication: Hillglens Publishing / [Place not stated]
About: The author of this little book found a bundle of old newspapers in his late mother’s attic. They all related to the last days and execution of her relation, Kevin Barry, in 1920. To co-incide with the centenary of Kevin Barry’s death, the author has now transcribed and published these “detailed and emotionally-charged reports from contemporary newspapers”.
ID number(s): 9781916182516
Contents: Introduction – Kevin Gerard Barry (1902-1920) Tombeagh, County Carlow and 8 Fleet Street, Dublin – Evening Herald 20 October 1920 – Irish Independent 29 October 1920 — Evening Telegraph Saturday 30 October 1920 — Irish Independent Monday 1 November 1920 — Irish Independent Tuesday 2 November 1920 – The Freeman’s Journal Tuesday 2 November 1920 — The Weekly Freeman 6 November 1920 — Expressions of Sympathy — The Freeman’s Journal Friday 5 November 1920 — Irish Independent Monday 8 November 1920 – Evening Herald Monday 8 November 1920 – Nationalist and Leinster Times Saturday 6 November 1920 – Epilogue – Appendix 1: Kevin Barry Song Lyrics – Appendix 2: 1920 Newspaper Scan – Appendix 3: Newspapers re-discovered by author.
WW Connection #1: The author is a native of Tynock, Kiltegan on the Carlow-West Wicklow border
Full title: Patrick (Patsy) Kavanagh (1897-1957), Rathballylong, Co. Wicklow
Creator / Author: Paul P. Tyrrell
Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 8p
Journal Information: Local History Journal, Vol. 22, pp. 98-105
When Published: 2017
Publisher / Place of Publication: Federation of Local History Societies. / [not stated]
About: Patsy Kavanagh was a veteran of the Easter Rising of 1916 and of the War of Independence. He was buried in Baltyboys cemetery with full military honours. This article gives an account of Patsy’s part in the fight for Irish freedom.
ID number(s): None
Extra #1: includes seven black and white photographs.
Extra #2: Browse the 1901 Census entry for Patsy Kavanagh.
Extra #3: Browse the 1911 Census entry for Patsy Kavanagh.
Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 10, 2019
Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Donal McDonnell
Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 312p
When Published: 2019
Publisher / Place of Publication: West Wicklow Historical Society / Baltinglass (?), Co. Wicklow.
About: This tenth publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history is a bumper edition running to a highest-ever total of 312 pages. A diverse range of articles stretch from the Neolithic period to modern times. The areas covered include Baltinglass, Baltyboys, Blessington, Burgage and Glen of Imaal. East Wicklow also gets a look-in as does neighbouring parts of Carlow and Kildare. The most extensive article in this issue is by Kevin Lee which looks at nineteenth-century emigration from the Coolattin district to Canada.
ID number(s): 0790-1739
Contents: Foreword from the Chairman / John A. O’Toole — Ramblings of the Secretary / Donal McDonnell — Editor’s Preface / Chris Lawlor — Archaeological excavations on Baltinglass Hill: an update / Alan Hawkes — Guests of the Crown: Wicklow men in the Curragh internment camps, 1921 / James Durney — Silk manufacturing in Rathmore, County Kildare (1784-1786) / James Robinson — Preaching the suffrage gospel in County Wicklow: a local perspective on the women’s suffrage campaign, 1908-1918 / Rosemary Raughter —Ballymore Eustace woollen mills / Jim Corley — Cecil Frances Alexander and her connection to County Wicklow / Sarah Gillespie — County Kildare during the War of Independence, 1919-1921 / Michael Murphy — Language matters: the importance of Irish in local place-name lore / Ita Roddy — Shops around the Blessington Lake / Séamus Balfe — Flax growing and linen weaving in Imaal in the 1820s / John Hussey — Book Review: John Hussey’s The Quakers of Baltyboys, County Wicklow – 1678 to 1800s / Jim Corley – The land for the people / Joe McArdle — The Boyestowne Lordship: Baltyboys, Tulfarris & Humphreystown 1650-1850 [Part Two] / Brendan Corrigan — William Dargan and the Dublin and Wicklow railway / Andrew Keating — Aspects of life in County Wicklow during the Emergency / James Scannell — Collapse at Burgage / Brian McCabe — ‘He regarded their interests and his own as interwoven’: the impact of the 1903 Wyndham Land Act on the Mansfields of Morristown Lattin, 1903-1929 / Evan Comerford — A listing of some people living on the Baltinglass Estate of the Earl of Aldborough, 1767-1794 / Richard B. Lennon — Macra na Feirme and the origin of secondary education in West Wicklow / P.J. Hanlon — Nineteenth-century emigration from South Wicklow: from Coollattin to Canada / Kevin Lee — Did you ever dance to these bands in Blessington or Manor Kilbride 1971-1973? / Declan O’Connor — Goodbye to Fortgranite, a much-loved family home / Mark Shirley-Beavan — Mullaghmast – early monuments and mythologies / Cora Crampton — Rathvilly Church of Ireland memorial inscriptions from the church and churchyard / Paul Gorry — Baltinglass Bridewell and Courthouse [Part One] / Chris Lawlor — Book Review: Chris Lawlor’s ‘With Much Quiet Fervour’: a brief history of Dunlavin Roman Catholic parish and St. Nicholas of Myra church / Cróna Cassidy.
Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with black & white photographs, maps, drawings and graphs.
Full title: Running with crows: the life and death of a Black and Tan [a novel]
Creator / Author: DJ Kelly
Item Type / Page count: Book / 284p
When Published: 2013
Publisher / Place of Publication: FeedARead Publishing / United Kingdom
About: This novel is based on a real life person, Constable William Mitchell. He was the only member of the British Crown Forces to be sentenced to death for murder during the War of Independence in Ireland. In this book, the author explores the scenarios around the murder incident and the politics of the era which made Mitchell’s 1921 execution an inevitability.
ID number(s): 9781782991861
Chapters: Foreword – Acknowledgements – The Joy – Monto – Wild Irish Rose – Bermondsey Days – The Mutton Lancers – The Dog and the Rabbit — Mutton Curry – Mutton Chops – The Somme – Rouenation – Alice – The Wicklow Warriors – A Dead Man’s Hat – The Second Man – As the Crow Flies – Epilogue.
WW Connection #1: William Mitchell was a temporary constable in the RIC and stationed in Dunlavin in West Wicklow. He was convicted of the murder of local magistrate, Robert Dixon of Milltown, Dunlavin.
Extra #1: Opening lines: “The sorry ruins of Dublin’s elegant Custom House smouldered still on the quayside, yet the black waters of the Liffey lapped by unconcernedly. The sun was rising and wary citizens began to appear and go about their business as best they could on an otherwise pleasant June morning….”
Publisher / Place of Publication: Nonsuch Publishing Limited/ 73 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2.
About: The Table of Contents of this book doesn’t even begin to offer a hint to the wealth of information contained in it. Apart from a street directory, public transport information and public administration information for each of the chosen years, most of the book is taken up with accounts of events that occurred in the intervening years and helped shape Baltinglass and its immediate hinterland. In particular, the author focuses on the people involved and there is a feeling that you could be reading a newspaper report of something that just happened yesterday. If we ever get the time, we would like to list the entire contents and make them more discoverable.
ID number(s):9781845885069
Contents:About the author – Introduction – Acknowledgements – Baltinglass in 1851 (Administration — Public Transport — Street Directory) – Baltinglass in 1901 (Administration — Public Transport — Street Directory) – Baltinglass in 1951 (Administration — Public Transport — Street Directory) – Baltinglass in 2001 (Administration — Public Transport — Street Directory) – Endnotes.
WW Connection #1: The author is a native of Baltinglass.
Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 7, 2013
Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Donal McDonnell
Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 120p
When Published: 2013
Publisher / Place of Publication: West Wicklow Historical Society / Baltinglass (?), Co. Wicklow.
About: The seventh publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history. This issue contains articles featuring locations from Coolattin to Croatia. It even strays into east Wicklow with an article on Charles Stewart Parnell and his times by Mary Bergin. However, the major article runs to almost a quarter of the entire publication and is a substantial essay, by Dunlavin native Chris Lawlor, on Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne.
ID number(s): 0790-1739
Contents: Preface from the Chairman — Ramblings of the Secretary — A man of integrity? The varying roles of Robert Chaloner, Earl Fitzwilliam’s land-agent during Black ‘47 / Fidelma Byrne — Contextualising a chieftain’s career: the case of Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne / Chris Lawlor – Wicklow Farm Labourers: a facet of the 1880s Land War / Pádraig G. Lane — The RIC and the IRA in Wicklow’s War of Independence / Kevin Cullen — Constable James Stephen Cunningham and his family / Shay Cunningham — Some facts about the activities of Mark Forstall in Croatia / Luka Vukusic – Scurlock’s Graveyard / Brian McCabe — The annual inspections of the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway Company in 1912 and 1913 / James Scannell — Donard’s New Church, 1925 [from the Leinster Leader Saturday, 18th July, 1925] — The Wicklow landlord who held sway over the British Empire: Parnell and his times / Mary Bergin — Raids, robberies and attacks: West Wicklow during the Civil War / Jason Lawlor.
Extra #1: Contains several black & white photographs and maps.
West Wicklow Bookshelf 