Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The interesting and unusual 1915 Mercantile Marine, 1916 Easter Rising Dublin G.P.O. Defender, Frongoch Internee, Irish War of Independence and Civil War Fighter group of six awarded to Section Leader P. J. Byrne, Irish Volunteers/Irish Republican Army, later Irish National Army

British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (Patrick J. Byrne); Ireland, Free State, 1916 Medal, bronze, unnamed as issued to living survivors in 1941, with integral top riband bar; General Service Medal 1917-21, combatant’s version with Comrac bar, bronze, unnamed as issued to living survivors in 1941, with integral top riband bar; Emergency Service Medal 1939-46, with Na Forsai Cosanta reverse, bronze, unnamed as issued, with integral top riband bar; Ireland, Republic, Commemorative Medal for the 50th Anniversary of the Easter Rising 1916-66, bronze, unnamed as issued to living survivors in 1966, with integral top riband bar, nearly extremely fine or better (6) £3,000-£4,000

Patrick ‘Paddy’ Joseph Byrne was born in Dublin on 10 October 1894, the eldest of twelve surviving children of Peter and Catherine Byrne. He worked as a silversmith, an electrician and a crewman in merchant ships. From 1 January – 30 June 1915, Byrne sailed on the Ben Kingston to Alexandria in Egypt, thus qualifying for his British medals. Soon after his return, he was present as a member of ‘C’ Company, 1st Dublin Battalion, Irish Volunteers, at a ceremonial lying-in-state at Dublin City Hall. His granddaughter told the Irish Times in 2016, ‘I had in my possession a photograph of my grandfather Patrick Joseph Byrne standing in uniform at the lying-in-state of O’Donovan Rossa, in 1915… He fought in the G.P.O. and bore the stretcher that carried James Connolly.’

Rossa was a veteran Fenian extremist who had died in the United States. The Irish Republican Brotherhood, which was attempting to seize control of the Irish Volunteers, repatriated his body in order to stage a great republican show at a lying-in-state at City Hall, Dublin, and a funeral at Glasnevin on 1 August 1915, events which attracted huge crowds and enormous publicity from the national and international press. The members of ‘C’ Company, 1st Dublin Battalion, Irish Volunteers provided part of the Guard of Honour.

It seems that Byrne joined the Irish Volunteers early on, in 1913 or 1914. Catherine (Kate), his younger sister, joined Cumann na mBan ‘early in 1915’ (Mrs Catherine Rooney’s (née Byrne) Witness Statement 648, hereafter referred to as ‘Kate Byrne’s Witness Statement 648’, refers). His younger brother Peter Sylvester joined Fianna Eireann in 1913 and participated in the landing of smuggled rifles at Howth in 1914..

The Easter Rising – carrying James Connolly on a stretcher to Dublin Castle
During the Easter Rising, Byrne is recorded as having fought as an Irish Volunteer in the Cabra Bridge, General Post Office, O’Connell Street, Annesley Bridge, Fairview and Moore Street areas. This impressive list covers many of the places in north central Dublin where fighting took place. Byrne’s service as a defender at Republican Headquarters at the General Post Office (G.P.O.) is confirmed by his signature on the Jubilee Roll of Honour in 1966 and the acceptance by other members of the G.P.O. garrison that he had been present. The witness statement of Sean Prendergast (Witness Statement 755 refers) lists Byrne, Patrick J. and Flood, Sean as among 70 men from ‘C’ Company, 1st Dublin Battalion who served during Easter Week 1916 in the Four Courts Area, which would add a seventh area of service to the ‘canonical six’ listed above.

‘C’ Company trained at 41 Parnell Square. On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, hundreds of men received their order to assemble too late; based on Kate Byrne’s Witness Statement, Byrne’s order arrived early enough for him to reach ‘C’ Company’s mobilisation point. He would have marched out with his Company and occupied the Four Courts (unless he was assigned to detached duty by an officer who was concerned that other units or places needed reinforcements at once).

Kate Byrne’s Witness Statement 648 states: ‘My eldest brother, Paddy, who had his volunteer equipment and gun in a back room of the house, had taken them away and left for the fight with his company – C. Coy… [Sean Flood, like Patrick a member of ‘C’ Company] kept his equipment in our house and he had come to dress there, helped by my mother, and was wearing his uniform when I met him. My mother told me to get my [Cumann na mBan] equipment and to follow them… I turned into O’Connell St… glancing back on hearing the sound of marching men, I saw a company of Volunteers led by Captain Michael Staines… when they came down to Nelson Pillar Staines gave the order: “Right turn” so I did the “Right turn” too. It was then 12 o’clock exactly… I went over to speak to Michael Staines. [Staines’s first task at the G.P.O. was supervising the unloading of ammunition from a motor car and horse-drawn taxi (Staines’ Witness Statement 284 refers).] I asked him to let me in but he said No, I was to go home. He added: “I’ll tell Paddy on you” (that was my brother).’

Kate entered the interior of the G.P.O. through a side window. Patrick and Kate’s younger brothers Peter Sylvester and John also entered the G.P.O. as part of the Fianna Eireann contingent. Early on Tuesday, Kate was sent across the city centre to take a message to the Four Courts. Kate does not mention seeing Patrick or either of her other brothers inside the G.P.O. or the Four Courts. ‘I went to the side gate of the Four Courts where, lucky enough, Sean Flood, a neighbour of ours, was on duty – I have mentioned him already as being in our house earlier on Monday. Before I had time to say anything, he asked me where Paddy, my brother was?’

If Byrne was initially at the Four Courts, why was it omitted from his record of service? The possible reason is that there was no fighting at Four Courts while he was there on Monday, he was soon sent away on a mission to another area and consequently was reluctant to state that he had actually fought at Four Courts. If Byrne was present at Cabra Bridge early on Tuesday when the barricades were attacked by 18-pounder field guns and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, he may have joined the majority of the Cabra garrison who made their way to the G.P.O. Byrne’s stated areas of service can be divided into places close to the North Circular road and places close to Republican Army Headquarters at the G.P.O. Once he arrived at the G.P.O., he may have been assigned by Headquarters staff to tasks that took him to a variety of different places during the fighting.

When the G.P.O. building was evacuated due to an encroaching fire, its personnel moved to a row of interconnected buildings on Moore Street, where the decision to surrender was taken. Michael Staines stated ‘On Saturday I reported to the H.Q. … Sean McDermott said Pearse was going to the Castle to arrange terms and that James Connolly had to be carried there on a stretcher [Connolly, commander of the Citizen Army, was wounded and unable to walk]. He asked me to select six stretcher bearers and that I was to remain with Connolly to witness the terms. The names of the stretcher bearers were: - [listed, fourth name is Paddy Byrne.] We carried Connolly through the houses until we reached Gore's Chemist's shop, No. 17, and then brought him down the stairs to the street. We were to be met by British military at the top of Moore St… we carried Connolly to the Castle. All down Great Britain St. to Capel St. we were booed by the crowd and would have been attacked in some places, only the Notts and Derbys, who lined the street, kept them back.’ (Staines’ Witness Statement 284 refers).

Kilmainham Gaol, Frongoch and beyond
Byrne was locked up initially in the guardroom of Ship Street Barracks. Staines’s account continues: ‘Next day, on Sunday about 12 o'clock, we were marched to Kilmainham Gaol and put into cells, three to a cell… I tried to get into a cell with [two of the six stretcher bearers]. A warder prevented me joining them and I had to go into a cell with two looters. Their appearance was repulsive and I dreaded having to stay with them... On the 3rd May we heard the three volleys and we knew that there were three gone...Next morning we heard four volleys and knew four more were gone.’ (Witness Statement 284 refers)
Byrne was marched to Richmond Barracks and then sent to a prison in Britain, where he was incarcerated in solitary confinement under the harsh regime designed to punish convicted felons.

About three weeks later, Byrne was transferred to Frongoch internment camp and reunited with his old friends of ‘C’ Company. ‘Of the many units of the Dublin brigade our own First Battalion and “C” Company were very well represented: [list of 38 names, including Patrick Byrne.]’ (Witness Statement 755 refers.) The internees were freed and repatriated by December 1916. During 1917, republicans reorganised their political organisations and the Irish Volunteers. Military training restarted covertly. The Volunteers had always elected their own officers and N.C.O.s, and any man could stand as a candidate. ‘C’ Company held two elections in 1917; in both, Byrne was elected as an N.C.O.

Back to sea and back to war
In February 1919 Byrne went back to sea, as a Fireman. He made six voyages in five merchant ships, the last one beginning in January 1920. During this time, he was given leave of absence from ’C’ Company, retaining his rank and seniority. He had sworn a new oath, as the Irish Volunteers became the Irish Republican Army. While he had been at sea, the War of Independence had rapidly ramped up. The Byrne family home at 17 North Richmond Street became a safe house for ‘the Squad’ (an I.R.A. counter-intelligence and assassination unit) as described in Kate Byrne’s Witness Statement 648.

By December 1920, twenty members of ‘C’ Company had been taken into custody. Sean Prendergast was now ‘C’ Company Commander, and he stated that ‘our membership totalled the one hundred and thirty figure, a figure which, since our re-organisation in 1917, had been, we were proud to boast, maintained with few defections and many new entrants... Our N.C.O.'s consisted of [Sergeants] Patrick Byrne, [and three others], each of whom had charge of a section, four of which made up the Company, two a half-Company.’ (Witness Statement 755 refers.) Captain Sean Prendergast’s ‘C’ Company nominal roll at the time of the Truce in 1921 shows Byrne still serving as a Section Leader/Sergeant.

When the Peace Treaty was announced in January 1922, the Irish provisional government needed a full-time regular army to take over the military installations of the British Army. Many of these were in Dublin, and the Dublin Guards were created as the force to which the British could hand over as they withdrew. Only a minority of I.R.A. personnel were employed and paid on a full-time basis, and these men, who had been under the control of Michael Collins, formed the initial cadre of the Dublin Guards. An appeal was made for men of the Dublin I.R.A. Companies to give up their civilian jobs and transfer into the Guards. Byrne and both his younger brothers, Peter (who had fought in the G.P.O. and had served Collins since April 1920) and John (who had also been in the G.P.O.), transferred, joining the National Army of the Irish Free State. Many I.R.A. members refused to accept the Treaty, as it did not establish an independent Republic which controlled the whole of Ireland. In rural areas, they were the majority. In Dublin, mass transfers to the Guards had turned the remnant I.R.A. hold-outs into an embittered minority. In April 1922, the I.R.A. seized and garrisoned the Four Courts. A general election in June showed majority support for the Treaty and Collins ordered that the I.R.A. be suppressed by military force. The Battle of Dublin, 27 June – 5 July 1922, was a decisive victory for the Pro-Treaty ‘Staters’.

Oriel House, the Garda and the Irish Defence Force
In July 1922, Byrne transferred from the National Army into the Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) based in Oriel House, Westland Row, Dublin, becoming the Officer Commanding Transport. The C.I.D., an armed, plain-clothes para-military unit, had been formed by Michael Collins after the Truce, and its initial 1921 intake came from the Squad. C.I.D. had close links to the National Army’s Military Intelligence arm. C.I.D. members were paid from Army funds until 21 August 1922, when it was transferred to the Minister for Home Affairs. During the Civil War, C.I.D. grew to a peak strength of 350. The remnant I.R.A made several attempts to blow up Oriel House. C.I.D. arrested over 500 Anti-Treaty I.R.A. men, held files on 2,500 suspects and seized many weapons; it was ferocious, ruthless and unsuitable to become part of an unarmed police force. After the Civil War had ended, it was disbanded in October 1923. Thirty C.I.D. men, including Patrick Byrne, were retained and merged with the Dublin Metropolitan Police (D.M.P.). He became Constable 151A. In April 1925, the D.M.P. amalgamated with the Garda Siochana. Byrne was re-numbered as 12008. It is believed that he belonged to Garda Special Branch, which worked with the Directorate of Military Intelligence on domestic security, surveillance (chiefly of the I.R.A.) and counter-intelligence tasks.

Unusually, Byrne returned to the regular Irish Defence Forces at a mature age and was awarded the Emergency Service Medal 1939-46. Until 1942, Irish Military Intelligence was greatly stretched by multiple threats: invasion, increased I.R.A. activity and Abwehr agents who were landed in Ireland for infiltration into Britain. It is thought that, during the early part of the Emergency, some members of Garda Special Branch were seconded to assist with Military Intelligence work.

Byrne and his surviving siblings attended events marking the 50th Jubilee of the Easter Rising in 1966. He died on 9 December 1966. Sold with copied photographs of the recipient.