Betrayal: The Civil War in Co. Kilkenny, December 1922

Ascendant

Sometimes in war, you can trust your enemies to attack but you don't know what your allies are planning.

Betrayal: The Civil War in Co. Kilkenny, December 1922

An article on a trio of incidents in County Kilkenny in December 1922, during the Civil War.

Three National Army barracks in Callan, Thomastown and Mullinavat were overwhelmed by anti-Treaty fighters, some disguised in captured Free State uniforms, in quick succession in the course of a single night. The hapless garrisons were swiftly disarmed, imprisoned and later turned loose.



Leading the attackers were some of their most prominent figures on the anti-Treatyite side: Denis Lacey, Dan Breen and Tom Barry.

It later became apparent that the Free State garrisons had been set up by no less than three of their own officers. The tendency of the Kilkenny officers in the National Army towards betrayal became a pressing concern for GHQ.

The resulting investigation pointed towards the slovenly ways of General John T. Prout, who had been in charge of the area. His reluctance to discipline his troops and tendency to enable the poor behavior of certain officers ensured that the soldiers stationed in Kilkenny gained a shoddy reputation, both within the Army as a whole and to the local people, whose efforts to aid the Free State went unheeded.

That last point particularly enraged General Richard Mulcahy, who fumed in a report:

The present methods are most saddening. Nothing that could be dignified with the name of a system can be said to exist. The local clergy and local leaders would in most cases be only too delighted to help, but they seem completely ignored, and are abandoning in despair the virtual forcing of information down Rip-Van-Winkle throats.

The Free State military were in dire need of reform in Kilkenny and fast. The proposed suggestions were:

• For there to be more soldiers stationed in Kilkenny, "preferably outsiders." Showing the close affinity between the Free State and the Church, the bishops and other clergy could be privately asked to organize a recruitment drive for the Army.
• The Kilkenny officers to be transferred to other counties and replace them with – again – outsiders.
• Prout also to be transferred out of Kilkenny.
• Until more men could be spared, the weak and vulnerable posts at Thomastown, Mullinavat and Callan should be discontinued.
• The organising of an efficient intelligence system.