Tipperary and the war in South Africa

Local history researcher Michael J Reynolds is currently researching the role County Tipperary played in South Africa, especially the South African War, known also as the Second Anglo-Boer War.

Previously, the First Boer War took place from 1880 until 1882, with the British declaring victory. Most notably the Zulu War in 1879 would have also seen Irishmen among the 1,200 killed at the Battle of Battle of Isandlwana. Some of these new recruits saw their first action since when the war began on October 11, 1899 and did not cease until May 30, 1902. The most well-known engagements include the Siege of Ladysmith, Paarderberg, Battle of Modder River, Mafeking, Pretoria, Long Nek, Belfast and other local incidents.

Men from both North and South Tipperary, who had enlisted in the British army for regular service, were sent to the continent when war was declared between the Boer natives in the Orange Free State and Britain. The groups based there included the Leinster Regiment, Royal Irish Regiment, Royal Munster Fusiliers, Highlander Regiments and even local militia, yeomanry or the police. They were recruited across Britain and also in local garrison towns, such as Clonmel, Nenagh, Templemore, Tipperary, etc.

TIPPERARY INVOLVEMENT

Their correspondence to their families in Ireland were published in newspapers, both locally and across the United Kingdom. They ranged from ordinary Catholics in the rank and file to non-commissioned officers and Anglo-Irish officers with landed estates across Tipperary. Among these was Colonel George Hugh Gough of Cahir, who was killed in action on March 28, 1900. He had previously served in the First Boer War and was also a former Private Secretary to Viscount Wolseley, Commander in Chief of the British Armed Forces.

Not all Irishmen who fought in South Africa supported the British. Approximately 500 Irishmen were allied of the Boer troops, in a brigade led by Major John MacBride. There were a series of political controversies, with the Home Rule Party publicly supporting the Boers and condemning the presence of the British in South Africa.

Even some families in Tipperary showed support against the British military presence by implementing nationalistic thinking locally. Cloughjordan had a GAA club called Lahorna DeWets, after the Boer General. Among those in the Transvaal Brigade, known as Blake’s Commando, was John Gorman of Nenagh, ‘Big Mick’ Ryan of Bishopswood near Dundrum and Maurice Joyce of Ballyran, Westmonard. Captured soldiers were taken on both side and suffered extremely challenging conditions, especially the Boers and their families, as prisoners of war.

It is estimated that 30,000 Irishmen served in the campaign. The Irish General Registrar later reported that at least 1,800 being killed, died of wounds from injuries sustained or from illness. This included Bertie Hennessy of Nenagh, shot 53 times during an ambush on Highlander soldiers in Reitz on June 6, 1901.

Most who lost their lives are buried to this day in unmarked graves across the former battlefields. Their names are remembered on South African War memorials, such as the Royal Irish Regiment in Clonmel, the Leinster Regiment in Crinkill/Birr and the Royal Munster Fusiliers in Killarney.

Those who entered the war as young boys left South Africa three years later as hardened and experienced veterans, such as Oscar Percy Hennessy, brother of Bertie. Most would have been awarded the Queen or King’s South African Medal, possibly still in possession of their families to this day.

Many Irish South African War veterans later went on to serve in the First World War, or their sons would carry on the tradition of military service that they began in the Victorian period. James ‘Nookie’ Bourke of St Joseph’s Park in Nenagh served in the Leinster Regiment in both South Africa and the Great War. He died on March 17, 1983 at the age of 100 and is buried in Kenyon Street Cemetery; he was considered to be one of the last living survivors of the war over 80 years earlier.

INFORMATION APPEAL

Some Tipperary families resided in South Africa before the conflict and afterwards, getting land ownership to working in the mines or establishing new businesses. If anyone who has any information on Tipperary men and their families during the South African War, especially if they had relatives who served on either side of the campaign, any letters, diaries, accounts, photographs, sketches, artefacts and objects would be greatly welcomed.

You can contact Michael by email: nenaghmilitaryhistory@gmail.com or phone/WhatsApp: +353 83 016 2768. Alternatively, you can contact him through the Facebook group ‘Nenagh Military History’ or ‘Irish Recipients of the Victoria Cross’.