Trying to find the name of a RIC man killed by the IRA during the WOI

tdv123

He was one of several officer who rounded up the Volunteers right after the rising. And before the prisoners were sent to Kilmanhil jail he picked out a few Vol. including Tom Clarke (who supposedly) stripped naked along with another one or two. And an another few who he treated pretty badly/

Does anyone know who I'm on about?

johnny_doyle

DI Captain Lea Wilson

tdv123

Ah, that was it. Thanks alot cara.

johnny_doyle

no prob.

Lots of info out there on him.

Balaclava1991

Percival Lea-Wilson was an Anglican and was born in Kensington in 1887, the grandson of a Former Mayor of London Samuel Henry Wilson. He served as an RIC constable in Charleville, Co. Cork before he joined the British Army in 1915 and fought in the trenches with the Royal Irish Rifles Regiment. He was married to a Catholic woman from Co. Cork named Marie Ryan who later became a pediatrician after studying in TCD. He had the rank of Captain in 1916 when he relieved the officer commanding the troops guarding the rebel prisoners at the Rotunda and according to witnesses who saw him mistreat the rebels he was intoxicated at time. No doubt he and other men like him would have been enraged that subjects of the King would betray the Empire and flew into a rage.
He only became a District Inspector after the Great War was over and he was based in quiet out of the way Gorey, Co. Wexford when members of Collins' Squad came down from Dublin to shoot him.
A members of the Squad was adamant that Wilson was NOT killed in revenge for abusing prisoners after the 1916 Rising and rather he was assassinated because of his important position as District Inspector.
His wife was cared for by the Jesuits following the death of her husband and in gratitude donated The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio to the priests in 1934, a religious painting she had bought in 1921 and had not known its significance.
The painting hung in the Jesuits' dining room on Leeson Street until the 1990s when it was discovered to be a work of the Renaissance master.
So had Lea-Wilson not been drunk he might not have abused the prisoners, he might not have come to the attention of Michael Collins, he might not have been assassinated, a widow might not have been assisted by the Jesuits and today a famous painting might not be hanging in the National Gallery of Ireland.

tac foley

'The mills of G*d..............

tac

da_hambo

Here is a picture of his memorial in Gorey, one of the few remaining RIC memorials in ROI

Balaclava1991

da_hambo wrote: »

Here is a picture of his memorial in Gorey, one of the few remaining RIC memorials in ROI

Was Lea-Wilson all bad? Emotions would have been running high after the Rising. I don't know if Lea-Wilson actually took part in the fighting but other officers did and probably suffering from shell shock and reinforcing themselves with drink lost the run of themselves. There was a white wash after the Rising - quite like the white wash after the Bloody Sunday shootings in 1972 - of atrocities committed by some of the troops who bayoneted men to death in some of the tenements in the belief they were rebels. There was intense combat in the streets and alleys of the North inner city and it was difficult to tell rebel from civilian. Many of the people of Dublin especially women with sons and husbands at the front were ready to lynch the rebels for betraying their boys at the front and for bringing down destruction on the city.

Prior to the introduction of the Temporary Constables or "Black and Tans" in their mix of black RIC uniform and khaki pants or tunics and the elite Auxillaries who wore all black - almost like an English SA and SS - the ordinary RIC constable, sergeant or even senior officer was highly respected by the local community.
Many of the ordinary RIC were Catholics, members of the GAA and many had even voted for Sinn Féin.
Only a minority of Irish nationalists were actually prepared to use violence at all and much of the country was surprisingly peaceful at the beginning of the War of Independence.
Even among the ranks of the IRA there were many who were hesitant to kill.
Prior to the shootings of two RIC men at the Soloheadbeg, Dan Breen, Sean Treacy, Seamus Robinson had lost faith in local volunteers who seemed to think that it was best to parade in public with hurleys, get arrested and then go on hunger strike in prison rather than take effective action.
The majority of nationalists and republicans were actually at first angered at the killing of RIC men but when the British responded with the Black and Tans and Auxilaries in order to crush all Irish nationalist and republican groups across the full spectrum of opinion that is when public opinion shifted in favor of armed struggle. RIC men who had built up good relationships with local people suddenly found themselves boycotted.
However in the truce period once opinion softened once again and most people supported the Treaty rather than a radical republican position.
Lea-Wilson and men like him were simply casualties of war - caught on the wrong side of history as the political sands shifted beneath their feet.

da_hambo

Balaclava1991 wrote: »

Was Lea-Wilson all bad? Emotions would have been running high after the Rising. I don't know if Lea-Wilson actually took part in the fighting but other officers did and probably suffering from shell shock and reinforcing themselves with drink lost the run of themselves. There was a white wash after the Rising - quite like the white wash after the Bloody Sunday shootings in 1972 - of atrocities committed by some of the troops who bayoneted men to death in some of the tenements in the belief they were rebels. There was intense combat in the streets and alleys of the North inner city and it was difficult to tell rebel from civilian. Many of the people of Dublin especially women with sons and husbands at the front were ready to lynch the rebels for betraying their boys at the front and for bringing down destruction on the city.

Prior to the introduction of the Temporary Constables or "Black and Tans" in their mix of black RIC uniform and khaki pants or tunics and the elite Auxillaries who wore all black - almost like an English SA and SS - the ordinary RIC constable, sergeant or even senior officer was highly respected by the local community.
Many of the ordinary RIC were Catholics, members of the GAA and many had even voted for Sinn Féin.
Only a minority of Irish nationalists were actually prepared to use violence at all and much of the country was surprisingly peaceful at the beginning of the War of Independence.
Even among the ranks of the IRA there were many who were hesitant to kill.
Prior to the shootings of two RIC men at the Soloheadbeg, Dan Breen, Sean Treacy, Seamus Robinson had lost faith in local volunteers who seemed to think that it was best to parade in public with hurleys, get arrested and then go on hunger strike in prison rather than take effective action.
The majority of nationalists and republicans were actually at first angered at the killing of RIC men but when the British responded with the Black and Tans and Auxilaries in order to crush all Irish nationalist and republican groups across the full spectrum of opinion that is when public opinion shifted in favor of armed struggle. RIC men who had built up good relationships with local people suddenly found themselves boycotted.
However in the truce period once opinion softened once again and most people supported the Treaty rather than a radical republican position.
Lea-Wilson and men like him were simply casualties of war - caught on the wrong side of history as the political sands shifted beneath their feet.

I am very interested in the RIC also. Remember one of the founders of the GAA was an RIC Inspector.

johnny_doyle

da_hambo wrote: »

Here is a picture of his memorial in Gorey, one of the few remaining RIC memorials in ROI

have RIC memorials been removed/destroyed?

da_hambo

johnny_doyle wrote: »

have RIC memorials been removed/destroyed?

Not too sure Johnny remember reading about the Gorey one and finding it when I moved up.

Here are a few interesting articles from a commemoration event last year. Some typically one sided but some unbiased.

http://www.war-talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=326

johnny_doyle

thanks. Wasn't quite sure what you meant by "one of the few remaining". In my mind it sounded like there had been more and they were reducing in number.

I've been to Gorey a good few times but never though about seeing the Lea Wilson memorial.