Thomas Kirby

Who was Thomas Kirby and why did he inform on his fellow countrymen during the War of Independence?

In February 1956 Tadhg Dwyer, Commandant of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Tipperary Brigade IRA, recorded his witness statement for the Bureau of Military History. On page 20 he describes the shooting of a known informer:-

“Towards the end of 1920 it became clear to us that the British forces were getting information concerning the houses and places frequented by men on the run. An ex-British soldier named Thomas Kirby was suspected of spying and he was ordered to leave the area. He joined the British forces and returned to the barracks in Dundrum, from where he guided the enemy forces in their nightly prowls for wanted men. Although he disguised himself whenever he was out of the barracks with enemy parties, he was soon recognised. Then one night he ventured out alone and was followed and captured in a public house at Ballybrack near Annacarty where he was drinking. He was tried by court-martial and could give no satisfactory explanation of his movements. To the charge of spying for the enemy forces he pleaded insanity. He was sentenced to death and was executed by a firing party. Before his death we brought a priest to him, who anointed him and gave him all spiritual aid. We buried him up in the hills near Ballybrack. Kirby’s execution took place on or about the 8th January. 1921.”

[Bureau of Military History, 1913-21; Document No. W.S. 1,356]

[Bureau of Military History, 1913-21; Document No. W.S. 1450]

---

For over 70 years Thomas Kirby’s body laid undisturbed in a crudely marked grave until it was finally exhumed in September 1990:-

 “A Church Burial is to be held, possibly today, for the body of a man, believed to be a member of the RIC, which was exhumed from a shallow grave in a wooded hillside in Co. Tipperary yesterday.”

[The Times, Sept 7th 1990]

His lonely grave, which was marked by a cross of stones, was located on the gentle slopes of Ring Hill and well known amongst the local turf cutters. Although the slopes of the hill had been planted with pine trees over 30 years ago, the forestry workers at the time, perhaps aware of the tragedy that had taken place so many years ago, had left the ground in the immediate vicinity of the grave undisturbed. Over recent years Clonoulty Community Council have been actively restoring graveyards in the townland and wished to give the mortal remains of Thomas Kirby a Christian Burial.

When the well preserved body of Thomas Kirby was exhumed he was found to been wearing a British Army uniform and cap with a Lincolnshire Regiment badge. This surprising discovery led to local speculation that he may have been serving in the Auxiliaries or Black and Tan’s at the time he was captured by the IRA, or alternatively he was dressed in this uniform by his captors before he was shot. Interestingly, neither of these scenarios is referred to by Tadhg Dwyer.

---

Who was Thomas Kirby?

Unfortunately at the time of his reburial a search of State papers from the era provided scant details and this tragic story seemed destined to obscurity. However, by looking at the few facts available it might at last be possible to identify Thomas Kirby and perhaps provide some rationale for his behaviour and manner of death.

It is believed that Thomas Kirby was a local man, aged about 40 and an ex-British service man. A search of the British Army Service Records (WO363 and W0364) at the National Archives in Kew identified one man who might fit the profile of Thomas Kirby.

Thomas Kirby was born in 1880 in the Parish of Golden near to Tipperary, more specifically he was from the small village of Ballinlina close to the Multeen River. Thomas was the son of John and Ellen and he had three brothers (Michael, John and Patrick) and two sisters (Annie and Mary). He was a labourer by trade, but on the 4th November 1898 at the age of 18 he made the short journey to Cashel to enlist in the Royal Irish Regiment (formerly the 18th Regiment of Foot) and was given the regimental number 6486.

The Royal Irish Regiment was formed from the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot in 1881 as part of the Childer’s Reforms of the British Army. The 18th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the line and was first raised in 1684 by the Earl of Granard. A second battalion was formed in 1802 but it was disbanded in 1814. The 2nd Battalion was raised a second time in 1858 with volunteers from Irish Militia Regiments. The Royal Irish Regiment was one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland; the Royal Irish Regiment had its home depot in Clonmel. It was disbanded in 1922 with the Partition of Ireland under the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

On his Attestation papers Thomas stated that he was currently serving in the 4th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles which was effectively the North Tipperary Light Infantry Militia.

The Royal Irish Regiment was affiliated with the 3rd Wexford Militia, 4th Tipperary Militia and 5th Kilkenny Fusiliers. The 4th Royal Irish Regt (late 2nd or North Tipperary Light Infantry Militia) was head-quartered at Clonmel.

---

Thomas Kirby reported to the Royal Irish Regiment depot in Clonmel three days later and his medical examination records that he was 5’ 8” tall with hazel eyes and brown hair. He also had a number of scars to both his face and body. His religion was recorded as Roman Catholic and at the time he was not married.

New recruits for the Royal Irish Regiment doing physical training at Buttevant Barracks in 1898. Thomas Kirby joined the Royal Irish Regiment in November 1898 and was posted to the 1st Battalion in July 1899. 

Following a seven month period of training Kirby was posted to the 1st Battalion on the 21st July 1899, which at that time was based at Buttevant Camp in County Cork; however, on the 20th August he deserted. Following a nine month absence he apparently rejoined the Depot at Clonmel and was immediately convicted by a court-martial of ‘desertion’, ‘fraudulent enlistment’ and ‘loosing by neglect’ and sentenced to eighty four days of hard labour. After serving his sentence he was released to duty on the 6th July, but by the 22nd July he was again awaiting trail and on the 24th August he was sentenced to one year’s hard labour in prison but his crime is not recorded. On the 24th May 1900 he was discharged from the British Army as a ‘harmless lunatic’.

The 1st Battalion sailed for South Africa on the 14th December 1899 onboard HMS Gascon. It arrived at Cape Town on the 7th January 1900 and became part of the 12th Brigade under the Command of Major- General Clements.

---

Why should Thomas Kirby spy for the Royal Irish Constabulary and why was he found in a British Army uniform and cap with a Lincolnshire Regiment badge?

Perhaps the second question is the easiest to answer. Amongst the 2,000 British Soldiers that were based in Tipperary Town were men of the 1st Battalion the Lincolnshire Regiment.

Tadhg Dwyer also recorded in his 1956 statement that Dundrum Barracks ‘was then occupied by a garrison of about 40 Black and Tans and Military’. It is highly likely that some of this ‘military’ contingent were men of the Lincolnshire Regiment, possibly including a machine gun section, scouts or signallers.

Indeed, the June 1920 Military Returns confirms that 26 men of the 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment were stationed at Dundrum. This contingent comprised each numbers men that were ‘available to take the field with a mobile column’ and ‘not available to take the field with a mobile column for reasons other than lack of training’

Reference is also made to a raid on the 28th September 1920 by a mixed party of RIC and Military from Dundrum Barracks on a number of houses in the vicinity Goldengarden. 

Tadhg Dwyer also alluded to the fact that Thomas Kirby ‘disguised himself whenever he was out of the barracks’ and it therefore makes sense that he was suitably attired when he ventured out for that final drink on a dark winters night in 1921. Non-the-less wearing a British Army uniform during the ‘Black and Tan War’ in Tipperary would have been at the very least foolish and perhaps provides some indication of Thomas Kirby’s state of mind.

What will never be known is why Kirby decided to side with the Crown Forces and inform on his fellow countrymen. His service in the British Army was less than inspiring and unlikely to engender in him a sense of loyalty to the British. Perhaps he was being blackmailed in some way?

His Army service record indicates that at one point he was held in civil custody awaiting trail and a record of this may have been used as leverage by the RIC for his recruitment. Alternatively, he may have been in search of adventure or simply to be just paid for his services. Whatever his reasons, Kirby was clearly aware of the danger that he was in whilst informing on the local IRA men and subsequently joined the British forces in Dundrum Barracks. At that time the barracks was ‘strongly garrisoned and fortified by steel shutters, barbed wire and sand bags and the garrisons only moved out in large conveys protected by armoured cars’. What made Kirby venture out alone will never be known, but perhaps his plea of insanity and the British opinion of him as being a ‘harmless lunatic’ may provide some rationale for his actions.

Dundrum Barracks in 2009. Although it is nearly 90 years later and the sand bags, barbed wire and steel shutters have long been removed; it is non-the-less a formidable building. During the last months of the War of Independence only the RIC Barracks at Annacarty and Dundrum remained in the hands of British Forces. However, they came under constant sniping by men of the 3rd Battalion, the 3rd or South Tipperary Brigade IRA.

 

++++++++++