KILDARE TV COLUMN: Kildare in the revolutionary decade
What's On: Kevin Dowling from Kildare takes a look at the latest films, series and documentaries
Many of us who took on the challenge of studying history as a Leaving Certificate subject can be excused for remembering it as an abstract hodgepodge of dates and names learnt by rote, with little or no bearing on our day to day lives.
Who can remember the order of Henry VIII’s six wives? How many can (or would want to) remember the name of the man who assassinated Franz Ferdinand?
The result is different, however, when the focus zooms in on places we know or names we have heard of.
Like a walker on the Curragh Plains traipsing through webs of dew-laden gossamer at dawn, our attention shifts to the horizon. We begin to decipher the chain of events that form an ethereal line from the turbulent past to our own lives.
Such is the effect of Kildare In The Revolutionary Decade, a History Ireland podcast. Released in 2021, it is available on iTunes and Spotify.
We learn in the podcast that, due to its location and size, the British quickly realised Kildare was always going to be strategically important in their efforts to pacify the civilian population.
From 1798 to 1815, we are told, Kildare was spoken about as one of the most disaffected counties in Ireland.
A lot of Kildare men participated in the Emmet rebellion. This is one of the reasons that the British designated Kildare as a garrison county, a good way for them to control the roads leading south and west of Dublin.
Naas barracks was the first established in the county, in 1813. It was followed by Newbridge. The Curragh Camp was established in 1855. At one stage there were 26 barracks operational in Kildare.
The host of the show, Tommy Graham, makes it clear that the relationship between the people of Kildare and the British was a complicated one. The military installments needed plenty of supplies.
Kildare becomes tied to the British military presence through this trade and the prosperity that it brought to some.
With WW1 raging, recruitment in Kildare was higher than most other counties per head of population. If a would-be recruit wanted to join the artillery, he went to Kildare Town, for the cavalry it was Newbridge barracks. A trip out to The Curragh and you could pick which service to join.
In the war of ‘lions led by donkeys’, there was an insatiable appetite for horses. Kildare provided more than its fair share to the war effort. The resulting dearth of good ploughing horses necessitated the introduction of tractors.
In total there were about 745 men and two women from Kildare killed in WW1. This figure doesn’t include those who were left maimed.
Papers like The Leinster Leader published the death rate and casualty lists. This played an important role in turning public opinion against conscription, which was introduced in 1916.
By 1921, about 1500 men from all over the midlands were interned on The Curragh Camp.
As the truce was announced these men expected they would be released, which didn’t happen as they had hoped.
This didn’t deter some of the pluckiest internees from digging two tunnels: the ‘Dublin Brigade Tunnel’ and the ‘Tullamore Tunnel’.
Fifty four of them made good their escape but every one of them reported straight back for duty.
One wonders what has become of those tunnels. It isn’t fleshed out in the podcast. What a good tourist attraction they would make today. Even if they are no longer in existence, this show leaves you in no doubt that the area is crying out for a regular guided walking tour.