Fernside
Introduction from Chronology
At 'Fernside',
the home of Professor Carolan in Drumcondra, Dublin a gunfight takes place between
a raiding party of Crown Forces and Dan Breen and Sean Tracey (from Tipperary 3rd
Brigade, IRA) who were staying at the house. This raid results in the death of
two BA soldiers and Professor Carolan.
More Detail
Breen and Tracey escape but Breen is badly injured. (This is the
third time that Breen is wounded as he was also wounded at Knocklong
and Ashtown.) Two BA officers, Major George
Smyth (brother of Lt Col Smyth who had been killed on July 17th in Cork) and Capt Alfred White are killed during the raid.
Professor John Carolan is shot in the neck and dies in the Mater
Hospital on October 28th.
According to Lawlor, Coogan and Townshend, while in hospital, Carolan
says that he had been deliberately shot by one of the raiding party. Lawlor also
says that the BA version of Carolan’s death was different. At the inquest, they said that they were
using Carolan as a human shield and that he was shot from by a bullet coming
from the room that Breen and Tracey was staying. However, Lawlor also says that a number
of years later, one of the BA raiding party (Capt Jeune) admitted that Carolan had been shot while being
questioned.
The badly wounded Breen, after some good fortune on his behalf, is
brought to the Mater Hospital.
(Breen quotes an ambulance driver saying that 13 were killed at Fernside and Ryan quotes a British officer saying that five
men were lost on the British side.
However, as was frequently the case, these casualty numbers were
exaggerated. However, it is not
only the Irish side who exaggerate casualties. The BA claimed that “at least two
rebels lost their lives”)