Patrick Moran (Irish Republican)
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Patrick Moran (14 March 1888 – 14 March 1921) was a grocer's assistant, trade unionist and member of the
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 ...
executed in
Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison (), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Ray Murtagh. History Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...
along with five other men on 14 March 1921. He is one of those who were dubbed "The Forgotten Ten".


Background

Moran was born in Crossna, Ardcarn, County Roscommon, the third of eleven children of Bartholomew and Brigid Moran. He attended primary school in Crossna before going to work as a grocer's assistant in Boyle. In 1911, he settled in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
.Reinterment (sic) of 10 volunteers executed
fro
Dept. of the Taoiseach
accessed 2 November 2008.
An active member of the
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
, he was involved in the 1913
Dublin Lock-out The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Dublin, Ireland. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often viewed as the most severe and s ...
. He was a member 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 ...
and the
Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...
. As Adjutant of D Company, 2nd Battalion of the Dublin section of the Volunteers he fought in the Jacob's Factory Garrison 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 ...
of 1916 under
Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh (; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916, a signatory of the Proclama ...
. In the aftermath of 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 ...
, he was imprisoned at Knutsford Prison and later at
Frongoch Frongoch is a village located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, Gwynedd, Bala, on the A4212 road. It was the home of the Frongoch internment camp, used to hold German people, German prisoners-of-war during First Worl ...
. He was tried in Wormwood Scrubs and released in July 1916. In 1917, he was a founder of the Irish National Union of Vintners, Grocers and Allied Trades Assistants. He went on to serve as the organisation's president and chairman of its
Kingstown Kingstown is the capital and largest city of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The city, located on the main island of Saint Vincent, has the main port and the biggest commercial center of the islands. With a population of 12,909 (2012), K ...
branch.


Arrest and detention

After his release from
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
, Moran became a captain in 'D' Company of the 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade, IRA. He was arrested on one occasion in 1920 during a strike for better conditions for members of his union and was imprisoned in Mountjoy for two weeks when he refused to take bail as he said he had done no wrong. He was arrested at his place of work on the Friday after
Bloody Sunday (1920) Bloody Sunday () was a day of violence in Dublin on 21 November 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. More than 30 people were killed or fatally wounded. The day began with an Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (I ...
and taken to the Bridewell Station. He was transferred two weeks later to Arbour Hill. During the Bloody Sunday action to wipe out a group of Dublin -based British
spymaster A spymaster is a leader of a group of spies or an intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforce ...
s known as the Cairo Gang, on 21 November 1920, Moran headed the IRA squad that killed two men in the
Gresham Hotel The Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin, formerly The Gresham Hotel, is a historic four-star hotel on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland. It is a Dublin institution and landmark. Founded in 1817, the current structure was completed in 1927 and ...
in O'Connell Street: Leonard Wilde, a former British Consul in Spain, and Patrick Joseph MacCormack, a World War I veteran and ex-jockey. MacCormack's mother, Kate, a veteran of the
Land War The Land War () was a period of agrarian agitation in rural History of Ireland (1801–1923), Ireland (then wholly part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom) that began in 1879. It may refer specifically to the firs ...
and relative of
Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 1846 – 30 May 1906) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule (Ireland), Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's ...
who lived in
Dun Laoghaire Dun most commonly refers to: *Dun gene, which produces a brownish-gray color (dun) in horses and other Equidae *Dun (fortification), an ancient or medieval fort Dun or DUN may also refer to: Places Scotland * Dun, Angus, a civil parish in S ...
, mounted a vigorous campaign to clear her son's name of what she saw as the taint of being a British spy. While in detention at
Arbour Hill Prison Arbour Hill Prison () is a prison located in the Arbour Hill area near Heuston Station in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The prison is the national centre for male sex offenders. Adjacent to the prison are the Church of the Sacred Heart (Dubl ...
, Moran was subjected to a number of identity parades and identified as being the man who had held up a motor cyclist outside 38 Mount Street, Dublin where Lt. Peter Ashmun Ames, an American-born British
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
officer, was murdered (21 November 1920). Moran strongly protested his innocence of involvement in that incident on Bloody Sunday. He claimed he was at
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
in Blackrock (over four miles from the scene of the shooting) at the time. Several witnesses supported this alibi evidence, but it was deemed to be false.Moran, May. ''Executed For Ireland - The Patrick Moran Story'', Mercier Press (2010) However, witnesses including a church rector, responding to the claim by military witnesses to have known the time by the chiming of the church bell, revealed that the bell had not chimed for years. The sexton said it had not chimed for 10 years.


Conviction and execution

He was transferred from Arbour Hill to Kilmainham Jail and incarcerated in what was known as the "Murderers' Gallery", two cells away from
Ernie O'Malley Ernest Bernard Malley (; 26 May 1897 – 25 March 1957) was an Irish republican and writer. After a sheltered upbringing, as a young medical student he witnessed and participated in the Easter Rising of 1916, an event that changed his outlook ...
, with whom he became good friends. On 14 February 1921, Moran, O'Malley and Frank Teeling broke through the padlock of an outer gate of the prison. However, Moran refused to take the opportunity to escape as he reportedly felt the authorities would interpret it as an admission of guilt, telling O'Malley "I don't want to let down the witnesses who gave evidence for me.""Kevin Barry - Just a Lad of 18 Summers"
, thewildgeese.com; retrieved 27 January 2009.
Moran started a concert to distract the guards while the men escaped, with Simon Donnelly taking Moran's place. The event is related in detail in O'Malley's memoir ''On Another Man's Wound''. He was tried the day following the break out in City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin. Moran was convicted by a military
Court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...
of murder three days later and sentenced to be
hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
on 14 March 1921. Moran and Thomas Whelan were tried for murder; Francis Flood, Thomas Bryan, Patrick Doyle and Bernard Ryan for high treason. They were all convicted and sentenced to death. The Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...
William Walsh spoke out against the sentence. The Irish National Union of Vintners' Grocers' & Allied Trades' Assistants, of which Moran had been an active member, called a half-day general strike on the morning of the executions and over 40,000 people gathered outside Mountjoy to pray for the six men who were hanged between 6am and 8pm. The townships of Bray, Dún Laoghaire, and Blackrock closed down, with the municipal flags flying at half-mast, on the day of his hanging, with
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
celebrated in all churches every hour from 6am to noon. All post office branches throughout Ireland stopped work.''Evening Herald'' 14 March 1921.


Aftermath and reinterment

In 1961, a park was opened in Moran's memory in
Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
. He had worked in Dun Laoghaire from 1916-20 in the premises of Lynch and O'Brien. He moved to Magees in Blackrock just two months prior to his arrest in November 1920. In May 2012, the park was closed to the public as work commenced on the removal of the bowling green, and the construction of a library and cultural centre. In 2001, he and the other nine executed men (dubbed " the Forgotten Ten") were exhumed from their graves in the prison and given a full
State Funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
. He is now buried in
Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...
, Dublin.


Bibliography

* O'Malley, Ernie
''On Another Man's Wound: A Personal History of Ireland's War of Independence''
(2002);


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Patrick 1888 births 1921 deaths Irish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by the British military People executed for murder People from County Roscommon The Forgotten Ten Executed people from County Roscommon Irish republicans