Handing over of Nenagh Military Barracks

February 14 marks the centenary of the handover of Nenagh and Templemore Military Barracks to the fledgling Irish State.

Indeed, the takeover of Nenagh Barracks that day by IRA units from Laois and North Tipperary was probably the first tangible effect that local people saw of the Treaty, which had been signed in London the previous December.

Nenagh had been earmarked for evacuation by the North Staffordshire regiment on February 7. However the pull out was delayed by a week. At 1.30pm on Tuesday, February 14, the Union Jack was lowered for the final time at the barracks and the band of the North Staffordshire Regiment led the parade as the local garrison marched to Nenagh Railway Station, where they departed by train to Limerick. We can only envisage the relief that must have been felt by the people of Nenagh, having endured the terror of the killing and burning, which had taken place during 1920 and the first six months of 1921.

At 2pm IRA units from Laois and North Tipperary formed up at Nenagh Courthouse and paraded to the Barracks. The Laois men were led by Captain Terence Byrne, who formally took possession of the site on behalf of the State. The honour of leading the local contingent was given to Captain Tom Walsh from Crowle, Cloughjordan, on account of he being the youngest Captain in the 1st Tipperary Brigade. The parade from the Courthouse to the Barracks was led by Thomas Gill, Dublin Road, who carried the National Flag. The parade was accompanied by large numbers of townspeople, cheering loudly. In the course of the afternoon IRA Coys from outlying areas around Nenagh kept arriving at the barracks and there was a perceptible buzz of excitement around the town. That evening the combined IRA units paraded through the streets of the town to cheers and applause from the townspeople, before forming up for review in Banba Square. The North Staffordshires evacuated Newport Barracks that week also and it was taken over by the IRA under the command of Comdt Bill Hoolan, Nenagh.

THE SPLIT

Sadly, the tremendous unity on display that day in February failed to last in the face of divisions over the terms of the Treaty. Within weeks, the split in the ranks began to appear and former friends and comrades found themselves on opposite sides of the divide. In June hostilities erupted and before the year was out many of the men, including Capt Terence Byrne, Capt Tom Walsh, Comdt Jimmy Nolan and Vol Thomas (Laddie) Hayes, who had participated in taking over the barracks from the British, lay dead. Those and other events from the tragic Civil War will be examined in future articles.

Tipperary in the Decade of Revolution in conjunction with ONE (Óglaigh Náisiúnta na hÉireann) will mark the centenary of the handover of Nenagh Barracks to the State with a parade from Nenagh Courthouse to the barracks in Summerhill at 2pm on Sunday, February 13. Units of ONE from Laois, Limerick and Tipperary will be in attendance. Relatives of the men who participated in the original barracks takeover in 1922 are invited to attend. The event is non-party political and we hope that a broad section of public representatives and the general public will come along and participate as we commemorate and relive the events of this historic day in Nenagh’s and Ireland’s history. We particularly welcome former members of the defence forces and their families who served in Nenagh Barracks during its years in use as the local headquarters of the FCA. A commemorative booklet will be available for purchase on the day.