Meeting of Cork, Tipperary
and Waterford IRA Brigades
Introduction from Chronology
Meeting at William Barry's, Ballylegan, Glanworth, Co Cork of
IRA Brigade Officers from the three Cork Brigades, two Tipperary Brigades
(Numbers 2 and 3) and the East Limerick Brigade
More Detail
The
meeting lasted two days. The following represented the brigades:
Cork No. 1 - Commandant Sean O'Hegarty and Brigade
Adjutant Florence O'Donoghue; Cork No. 2 - Commandant Liam Lynch; Cork No. 3 -
Commandant Charlie Hurley and Quartermaster Dick Barrett; Tipperary No. 2 -
Commandant James Leahy and Vice-Commandant Matt. Barlow; Tipperary No. 3 -
Commandant Seamus Robinson and Brigade Adjutant Con Moloney and East Limerick -
Commandant Denis Hannigan and Seamus Malone.
They
reviewed the situation in their areas and made a number of recommendations to
GHQ such as that, since the British had declared that in the martial law in
their areas IRA men taken prisoner under arms would be executed, then similar
action be taken against their forces. They also offered one or two
(unarmed) columns which GHQ could arm and send to inactive areas.
According
to Winter (see Hart (2002), pg 65), this meeting
decided “to arrest all strangers appearing in Areas, and make them prove
their identity”.
[Deasy describes a meeting near Donoughmore of the three
Cork brigades at around this time to discuss the prospective landing of arms at
Squince Strand but does not give an exact date.
He says that O'Hegarty and O'Donoghue represented the
1st, Lynch and George Power represented the 2nd and
Hurley and Deasy represented the 3rd.
(Deasy 1973, pg 194).
O'Donoghue describes a similar meeting as having taken place before the meeting
on January 6th near Bweeing (Bweeng)
which is almost definitely the same one as described by Deasy
but O'Donoghue says that Hurley was not present and that it was an informal
meeting to discuss the general situation.]