World War 1 and the Killererin connection
Extract from chapter on Military History, - Killererin - A Parish History
Martin O’Connor
A local man named Martin O’Connor was born in 1896 and emigrated to Manchester aged 18. There he joined the British Army and was posted to France with the Lancashire Fusiliers. During his posting he was shot and invalided, returning to Manchester where he later married and raised a family. When his medals were sent to his widowed mother, it is thought that she threw them in the fire. However, if the record from the British Military Archives is correct, they were actually returned.
His daughter Nora remembers coming to visit her Uncle Pat in Peak in the 1930s with her sister Margaret. Her parents also visited but she remembers her father getting off the train in Athenry rather than Ballyglunin in case any of the neighbours recognised him. He paid further visits down through the years.[1]
Food rationing
Margaret Monaghan remembers that between 1914 and 1918 food was rationed. The flour was terrible and came in canvas bags. It was not nice to eat. Sugar was scarce and butter came from Australia. She remembers Australian soldiers visiting the parish at John King’s house, Garra. Their names were Jim and Willie King, cousins of John who visited when on leave. They were allowed to come to Ireland as they had relatives here.[2]
Remembering young men from Killererin who enlisted
Aside from the economic difficulties faced in the parish, Killererin was home to some young men who enlisted to fight in WW I and are remembered below. It would have been difficult for parents and friends to say goodbye and as channels of communication were slow, they may not have heard from their sons for many months after their departure.
Names of some of those that died from the parish and who lived in close proximity to the parish are included below:
Daly, Darby
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Service No. Not given
Date of Death: 4th October, 1918 Age: 24
Regiment/Service: Royal Munster Fusiliers
Grave Reference: I.H.31
Cemetery: Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France.
From: Son of Darby and Catherine Daly, Derreen, Tuam (no Will)
Devane, John
Rank: Private
Service no: 1747
Date of death: 26/02/1918
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: Connaught Rangers 6th Battalion
Cemetery: Amara War Cemetery, Iraq
From: Son of Bridget Deane, Imanebeg, Barnaderg
Glynn, Martin
Rank: Private
Service no: 37477
Date of death: 03/02/1917
Regiment/Service: Connaught Rangers 1st Bn.
Grave Reference: X1V.G.27
Cemetery: Amara War Cemetery, Iraq
From: Ballyglunin, Tuam, Co. Galway
Keating, Arthur
Rank: Private
Service no: 6289
Date of death: 28/09/1915
Age: 31
Regiment/Service: 2nd Battalion Irish Guards
Cemetery: Loos Memorial
From: Dublin. Served in the RIC in Barnaderg
Kelly, John
Rank: Private
Service no: 10311
Date of death: 25/05/1915
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Connaught Rangers 1st Bn.
Grave Reference: XV11.E.9
Cemetery: Cabaret Rouge, British Cemeter, Souchez, Pas de Calis, France
From: Born Cummer, Ballyglunin, Tuam, Co. Galway
Larkin, Michael
Rank: Private
Service no: 15717
Date of death: 22/08/1915
Age: 34
Regiment/Service: 9th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales Own)
Cemetery: Helles Memorial, Turkey
From: Son of Michael and Catherine Larkin, Emanelon, Barnaderg, Tuam, Co. Galway
O’Connor, P.
Rank: Private
Service no: 5696
Date of death: 20/11/1917
Age: 28
Regiment/Service: Connaught Rangers 6th Battalion
Grave reference: IC13
Cemetery: Croisilles Railway Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France
From: Son of John and Mary O’Connor, Cottage, Barnaderg, Tuam, Co. Galway
Quinn, Patrick
Rank: Private
Service no: 2518
Date of death: 13/08/1915
Age: 25
Enlisted: Wath-on-Dearne
Regiment/Service: First York & Lancaster Regiment (1st/5th Ban)
Grave Reference: IV.A.15
Cemetery: Talana Farm Cemetery, Belgium (West Vlaanderen)
From: Son of Thomas Quinn, Ballinamona, Ballyglunin, Tuam.
Shaughnessy, William
Rank: Private
Service No: 6722
Date of death: 04/06/1917
Age: 38
Regiment/Service: Sixth Connaught Rangers
Grave Reference: IX.B.4
Cemetery: La Laiterie Military Cemetery – Heuvelland – West-Vlaanderen – Belgium
From: Son of the late Darby and Annie Shaughnessy of Ardskeabeg, Ballyglunin.
Shaughnessy, William
Rank: Private
Service No: T/439889
Date of death: 18/01/1920
Age: 40
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps
Grave Reference: N.C.93
Cemetery: Barnton Cemetery – Cheshire – United Kingdom
From: Son of John Shaughnessy, Moyne, Ballyglunin and husband to Ellen, UK
Tuite, Albert
Rank: Private
Service No: 11496
Date of death: 27/08/1914
Age: 25
Regiment/Service: Second Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Grave Reference: 1.C.28
Cemetery: Honnechy British Cemetery, Nord, France
From: Brother of Michael Tuite, Dangan, Derreen, Ballyglunin.
Wynne, John
Rank: Lance Sergeant
Service No: 5/368Date of death: 20/08/1915
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: Fifth Connaught Rangers
Grave Reference: Sp.Men.C.24
Cemetery: Seventh Field Ambulance Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey
From: Son of John and Mary Wynne, Ballyglunin, Co. Galway
By the time of the World War armistice in November 1918, at least 1,107 Galway men had fought in the Great War, of whom an estimated 755 died.[3]
[1] Information provided by Geraldine O’Connor, Peak, Killererin (2014).
[2] Extract from copy book of memories of Margaret Monaghan given to Killererin Magazine Committee
[3] Tomás Kenny , Galway politics and society, 1910 – 23 (Dublin, 2011), p. 17.
Comments about this page
Could someone kindly check the veracity of the following attribution of the resting place of Pte John Devane.
It is listed here as:
Amara War Cemetery Iraq
We (family) have the information below from the CWGC:
In Memory of
Private
J Devane
1747, 6th Bn., Connaught Rangers who died on 26 February 1918 Age 28
Son of Bridget Devane, of Imanebeg, Barnaderg, Co. Galway.
Remembered with Honour
Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension
Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Would appreciate an update
Yours
Christine
Thank you Christine for bringing this to our attention. As you are probably aware, the source of the information contained in our book Killererin – A Parish History was from the book by Tomás Kenny “Galway Politics and Society 1910 -1923, (Dublin 2011)”P.17. The information you as a family have on Private John Devane is surely correct if t came from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. If I can get my hands on a copy of this book from our local library in the next week or so, I will check it out and see where the author’s source of information came from.
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