Kilcullen connections recalled in book about Kildare's republican activists

John MacKenna launches James Durney's book.

Up to a hundred republican activists from the general Kilcullen area in the final three revolutionary stages before independence are documented in a new book by James Durney launched last evening, writes Brian Byrne.

Stand you now for Ireland's Cause is a biographical dictionary of County Kildare men, women and children who took part in the fight for Irish freedom through the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War. There are more than 1,200 names in the book, who between them were members of the Irish Republican Army, Sinn Féin, Cumann na mBan, Fianna Éireann, the Irish Citizen Army and the National Army. Some 50 of those recorded are directly associated with the town of Kilcullen, including well-known families such as the Orfords, the Collinses, and the O'Connells. 

"There were very many family links among the activists, like the Collins family in Kilcullen, who married into the Pattersons of Naas," James told the Diary at last evening's launch in the Riverbank Arts Centre, the opening event of the Military History Seminar 2023. "There were brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, all involved." All comrades in the fight for independence, but in many cases at the end finding themselves on opposing sides of just how that independence should finally come about. In the course of more than a decade of research for the book, James came across many stories of families and friends divided by loyalties to one side or another. "In the Civil War they were often split down the middle, but there were many families who stayed absolutely neutral, because they knew it would break the family if they took sides, or they couldn't bring themselves to fight their former comrades." 

Writer and playwright John MacKenna, who launched the book, described it as a very important publication, noting that those recorded in it may have died young or lived to a ripe old age, but all were involved in either the fight for independence, the Civil War, or both. "It's really important that these people be remembered, that their lives be recalled, and that we get to know them," he said, adding that he was proud to say that his own father was in the book. He said those whose stories are told in Stand you now for Ireland's Cause are 'not simply photographs, not names on a wall or a plaque'. "They are people, who had lives and families, and losses and joys and both those things are part and parcel of all of our lives. That's why this book is such an important document about the lives of these people, such an important record in keeping their lives and achievements before us and with us."  

Mario Corrigan said that the whole community has benefited from the work of James Durney, who — with some 30 books to his credit — must be coming to realise he is doing something right. "I have seen it up close, when children in schools are trying to pull together research projects, and they are coming in to us much later and saying they got 99.5 percent in their Leaving Cert project because of something he gave to help them with that project." In this instance, he said James has produced something that will stand the test of time. "It is going to inform us and aid us in everything that we do when we look at this period."

In his turn, the author said the work was for all those who came together to stand for Ireland's cause, challenging the greatest empire in the world, and whose stories had been lost or forgotten. "Men, women, and children stood shoulder to shoulder. It was a noble call, and many made great sacrifices, serving terms of imprisonment in three different phases of the revolution. Others faced death and injury, facing British or Irish guns." He expressed his gratitude to the family members of people in the book, and local historians, who had provided information and photographs that 'helped to bring many of the characters to life'. "In this work I hope I have given each activist their small place in history." 

He also thanked the County Kildare Decade of Commemorations, and the Royal Irish Academy, for their support of the book, and his colleagues Karl Kiely and Mario Corrigan for their unstinting help in the research.

The Military History Seminar continues through today and tomorrow, at the Riverbank Arts Centre.

Stand you now for Ireland's Cause is available in Woodbine Books, Kilcullen.

Naas historian Ger McCarthy with friend Toss Sheedy and Cllr Seamie Moore.

John MacKenna and James Durney.

Col (Retd) Des Travers from Kilcullen, with Col (Retd) Tom Carter, and Deputy Cathal Berry.

Author Tom McCaughren, with Mayor of Kildare Cllr Fintan Brett. Tom, a former RTE Security Correspondent and Defence Correspondent of the Irish Times, was speaking about The Peacemakers of Niemba.

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