Cornelius McNamara, better known as Connie (Mackey) Mc Namara, (6 April 1896 – 15 December 1957) was the Captain of "A" Company Active Service Unit of the Second Battalion Mid Limerick Brigade in the Irish Republican Army during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

Early life

Cornelius McNamara was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

city, the son of a butcher. He was educated for a period in the Christian Brothers

School A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

in Sexton Street, Limerick. He left the school around 1910 and took up an apprenticeship in one of the four large bacon factories in Limerick. When

Padraig Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the Ea ...

and

Roger Casement Roger David Casement (; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during World War I. He worked for the Britis ...

came to Limerick in early 1914 to raise

Volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

companies, the seeds were planted in Cornelius' mind to join the movement later on.

Volunteers

In October 1915, he enlisted in "C" Company Limerick City Battalion under

Michael Colivet Michael Patrick Colivet (29 May 1884 – 4 May 1955) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was Commander of the Irish Volunteers in Limerick during the 1916 Easter Rising, and was elected to the First Dáil. Early life Michael Patrick Colivet ...

, and was present at Killonan with the rest of his battalion during the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

, but after hearing word that the Rising was called off, the battalion marched back to Limerick. Soon after, the Battalion split and he then joined "A" Company of the newly formed Second Battalion. His home then became the battalion dispatch centre and he was admitted to the ranks of the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

. In February 1918, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant of ‘A’ Company, and later on in November 1918 he was promoted again to first Lieutenant.

War of Independence

When the

started on 6 April 1919, Cornelius became part of 'A' Company's Active Service Unit. On the same day, he was part of the attempted rescue of Robert Byrne, Adjutant of the Second Battalion from the City Home in Limerick. Byrne was mortally wounded and became the first Republican fatality of the Irish War of Independence. He was promoted to Captain in November 1919 and became leader of the 'A' Company Active Service Unit. On 17 July 1920, he was arrested with 4 or 5 members of his ASU collecting funds in Garryowen. He was imprisoned in Limerick Prison, Cork Male Gaol, Winchester Gaol, and Birmingham Prison until 25 February 1921. He was then re-arrested soon after his release on 8 April on suspicion of killing a Black and Tan. Then incarcerated in Limerick Prison, Cork Male Gaol, Spike Island and Maryborough Convict Prison (Portlaoise) he remained in Maryborough until 9 December 1921 where he was released under a general amnesty of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

of 6 December 1921.

Civil War

McNamara fought on the Republican side in the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

(1922–1923). He was made commandant of the Strand Barracks in Limerick in March 1922. From 15 to 20 July, the Barracks was attacked by Free State troops under Michael Brennan. After a five-day siege, he surrendered and was imprisoned in Limerick Prison and then transported by the ship Arvonia to be interned in Gormanston Internment Camp. While he was in Limerick prison and aboard the Arvonia he was elected prisoners' commandant. While he was in Gormanston he was on the prisoners camp council. He was transferred from Gormonston Internment Camp in late November 1923 to Mountjoy Prison. Where he remained until he was released on 23 December 1923.

Subsequent IRA career

After the defeat of the anti-Treaty

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

(IRA) in the Civil War. He became secretary of the Limerick branch for the Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependents Fund (IRPDF) from 1924 to 1925, which assisted Republican Prisoners families. He was forced to emigrate to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in both 1925 and 1930 by Free State sympathisers, and took no further part in any more IRA activities.

Death and Biography

He died at home in 1957 and was survived by his second wife May (née Moakley) and only daughter Patricia Corbett. His grandson Jim Corbett chronicled his life with th
Connie Mackey website
and 2008 biography ''Not While I Have Ammo'' which wa
launched
in the Hilton
Strand
Hotel Limerick on March 14th, 2008.
paperback version
and Ebook are due to be published on 28 August 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Cornelius Military personnel from County Limerick 1957 deaths 1896 births Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members People of the Irish Civil War (Anti-Treaty side) Irish emigrants to the United States