Denis Barry (15 July 1883 – 20 November 1923)[1] was an Irish Republican who died during the 1923 Irish hunger strikes, shortly after the Irish Civil War.[2]
Denny Barry | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 July 1883 Riverstick, County Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 20 November 1923 (aged 40) Curragh Camp, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Irish Republican |
| Known for | Participation in the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes |
Early life
editBarry was born into a farming family in Riverstick, in south County Cork, and learnt Irish from a young age.[3] In 1903, he moved to Cork to work in a drapery, where he became involved in the Gaelic League and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. A successful athlete, he also played hurling for Cork.[4]
Volunteer activity
editIn 1913, he joined the newly formed Irish Volunteers. In 1915, he moved to Kilkenny to take up employment there, where he continued his volunteer activities. Shortly after the Easter Rising, he was arrested in Kilkenny in a British Government crackdown, and sent to Frongoch internment camp in North Wales.[5] In 1919, he returned to Cork, where he was Commandant of the Irish Republican Police in Cork during the Irish War of Independence.[6] In the Cork Number One brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), he helped with prisoner escapes and returning looted goods after the burning of Cork by Black and Tans.[7] After the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the split that followed, Barry chose the anti-Treaty branch of the IRA; he was captured by Irish Free State troops and was sent to Newbridge internment camp on 6 October 1922 (Barry was not charged or convicted of any crime).[8]
Hunger strike and death
editIrish Republican prisoners in Mountjoy Prison began the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes, protesting being interned without charges or trial and poor prison conditions. The strike quickly spread to other camps and prisons, and Barry took part starting on 16 October. He died 35 days later on 20 November 1923, at the hospital at Curragh Camp.[9] IRA Volunteers Joseph Whitty from Wexford died on 2 September 1923 and Andy O'Sullivan (Irish Republican) died as a result of hunger on 22 November 1923 in Mountjoy Prison, the 41 day hunger strike was called off the next day - 23 November.[10] Whitty, Barry and O'Sullivan were three of the 22 Irish Republicans who died on hunger-strike during the twentieth century.[11] Barry was initially buried by the Free State army in the Curragh,[2] but three days later, following a court order, his remains were disinterred.[12] Denis Barry is buried in the Republican plot at St. Finbarr's Cemetery, Cork.[13]
Memorial
editPrior to his body arriving in County Cork, the Bishop of Cork, Daniel Cohalan (bishop of Cork) issued a letter to the Catholic Churches which forbade them to open their doors to the body of Barry. Bishop Cohalan expressed far different opinions on the 1920 death (also by hunger strike) of the Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney: "Terence MacSwiney takes his place among the martyrs in the sacred cause of the Freedom of Ireland. We bow in respect before his heroic sacrifice. We pray that God may have mercy on his soul."[14]
In Commandant Barry's hometown of Riverstick there stands a stone memorial (unveiled in 1966) in his honor and he is remembered with a wreath-laying commemoration every November.[15]
References
edit- ^ White, Robert, (1993), Provisional Irish Republicans: An Oral and Interpretive History Irish Republicans, pg 117 - ISBN 0-313-28564-0 [1]
- ^ a b "Dáil Éireann - Debate record - Volume 5 - 21 November, 1923 - BURIAL OF HUNGER STRIKER". Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ^ McInerney, Anne (December 2019). "Barry, Denis". Dictionary Of Irish Biography. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Flynn, Barry, (2011) Pawns in the Game The Collins Press, Cork, pg. 76, ISBN 9781848891166
- ^ Flynn, pg 76
- ^ Barry, Denis (2010), The Unknown Commandant: The Life and Times of Denis Barry 1883-1923, Gill Books, Cork, p. 3, ISBN 9781848890510
- ^ Barry, p. 75
- ^ Flynn, pg 78
- ^ Flynn, pg 77
- ^ McCarthy, Pat (2015), The Irish Revolution, 1912-1923, Four Courts Press, Dublin, p.132, ISBN 978-1-84682-410-4
- ^ Collins, Lorcan, (2019), Irelands War of Independence 1919-1921, The O'Brien Press, Dublin, pg 155 ISBN 978-1-84717-950-0
- ^ Thorne, Kathleen, (2014), Echoes of Their Footsteps, The Irish Civil War 1922-1924, Generation Organization, Newberg, OR, pg 248, ISBN 978-0-692-245-13-2
- ^ MacEoin, Uinseann (1997), The IRA in the Twilight Years 1923-1948, Argenta Publications, Dublin, pg 88, ISBN 0951117246
- ^ Flynn, pg 80.
- ^ "Cork hunger striker the Catholic Church turned on died on this day in 1923". 20 November 2018.