I never met my grandfather. He died 2 years before I was born. I would have liked to though - we were born on the same day. And it is that shared birthday that has always made me feel a certain affinity to him.
John Gleeson was born on 18th June 1898 in Stratford-on-Slaney, Co. Wicklow. Nowadays it is a small village, almost forgotten, (the
population is only 241) but 200 years ago it was a bustling market town with a thriving cotton, linen and calico printing industry employing over 1000 people.
Stratford (as the locals call it) was built by the Earl of Aldborough, one of the ten wealthiest men in Ireland (back in 1774). It was fashioned after the popular resort town of Bath in Somerset with the aim of attracting the textile industry to the area, which it did. Stratford employed large numbers of migrant workers from Paisley (in Scotland) & Hillsborough (in Co. Down). Catholic, Presbyterian & Anglican churches sprung up to address the spiritual needs of the community, as well as 13 pubs.
The first Fever Hospital in Wicklow was built here. And no doubt it was put to extensive use during the Great Famine of 1845-1848. This marked the beginning of a great decline in Stratford's fortunes. Migrant workers returned to their homes, the textile industry petered out, and emigration caused the population to fall from 2833 in 1837 to a few hundred in 1901.
So by the time that John Gleeson was born in Stratford, it was a village in decline.
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Stratford-on-Slaney (about 1880)
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His parents were the teachers in the local National School. Martin M Gleeson had met Mary Nora Walsh while they were in Teacher Training College and they got married in January 1897. John was born 18 months later.
He was baptised in Baltinglass, 2.5 miles up the road from Stratford. We had always thought his godfather was Paddy Gleeson, his father's younger brother, but this is not true (see baptism record below). In fact, all of John's uncles and aunts had emigrated by the time he was 5 years old so he never knew them - his father Martin was the only one of 8 siblings to stay in Ireland. The rest ended up in Australia or America.
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Baptism record
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John became known as Jack. He was the first of Martin & Mary's children. Anne Mary (Ciss) followed in 1901, Martin Maurice in 1902, and Lucy (Baby) in 1904.
Jack spent his childhood in Stratford, being educated in the local school by his father (his mother would have educated the girls). The 1911 census shows that they lived in an 8-roomed house and had a servant girl to look after domestic duties. Interestingly, only the males were recorded as speaking both Irish & English.
Jack's father Martin owned a bit of land where he kept a cow, a horse (Tim) and possibly a few other animals. Tim the Horse used to pull the "pony and trap" around the village and was driven to Sunday Mass each week. One of the rooms in the house was referred to as "the Dairy" and this is where they made their own butter. Martin would later sell the land to pay the medical bills for his wife and daughter, who died in 1932 and 1940. Martin himself also died in 1940.
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1911 Census
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In 1913, Jack started boarding school in
Rockwell College in Cashel, Tipperary. His letters from this time record a "strike by the Juniors" in March 1914. His brother Martin joined him in 1915. Both Jack and Martin later became Presidents of the Rockwell College Past Pupils Union and Martin also served a term as Treasurer (probably in the late 1920’s).
Having left Rockwell in 1916, Jack entered UCD (University College Dublin) on a scholarship (he won first place in Mathematics in all of Ireland - we still have the medal). In those days, the UCD campus was based in Earlsfort Terrace, right in the centre of Dublin. Jack would have seen first-hand the damage and destruction that befell the city during the Easter Rising and the barrage of shelling that followed it. It was during his time in Earlsfort Terrace that he would have been recruited to the IRA (about October 1917). He served as a volunteer in C Company, 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade.
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News of Jack's scholarship
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At some time during his sojourn in UCD, Jack was struck down by the Spanish Flu. This killed some 3-5% of the Irish population, accounting for over
22,000 deaths between 1917 and 1920. Jack regained his health thanks to the medical attention of Dr Stafford Johnson.
In about June 1919 he finished his degree and achieved a BE in Civil Engineering. After qualifying, he worked for Wicklow County Council for 15 months, a job he got possibly due to the influence of his father who was a county councillor. The job involved cycling around the county measuring gravel heaps intended for road building. He would measure the width and height of the conical heap and then calculate the volume and hence estimate the weight and adequacy of the amount of the gravel for the jobs intended.
He subsequently worked for PJ Foley, Engineer, Grafton Chambers for 6 months (about April 1920 to Oct 1920).
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| Extract of records from the Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin |
During this time, the War of Independence raged around him. How and what he contributed to the war effort as an IRA volunteer is the subject of much family speculation. One theory is that as an engineer he may have made bombs which may have been used to blow up military barracks so that the volunteers could get access to weapons. However, Jack never spoke about his time in the IRA. "A closed mouth catches no flies" was one of his favourite sayings.
However, whatever he did eventually came to the attention of the authorities, and family rumours speak of him being on "
the Igoe List" - this was a hit list of known Republicans, and for the people on the list, the risk of being assassinated by the authorities was quite high. However, this cannot be true as the
Igoe Gang only came into operation after 1920 and at that stage Jack was in America. It seems more likely that if Jack had been placed on any hit list it would have been the one being prepared by the
Cairo Gang. This was a group of about 20 ex-army officers put together by the British Army Intelligence Centre with the aim of conducting clandestine operations which probably would have included assassinations of known IRA volunteers. They lived unobtrusively as plainclothes detectives in boarding houses and hotels across Dublin, gathering information where they could get it. But IRA counter-intelligence was one step ahead and on the morning of Sunday 21st November 1920,
14 of them were assassinated.
One week prior to this, Jack Gleeson was on a boat to New York City. He had been tipped off that he might be "on the list". Here's how it happened (according to Jack's brother Martin): the father of a schoolfriend of Jack's was in the Dublin Metropolitan Police. One evening he came home and, within his son's hearing, he (deliberately?) said "That Jack Gleeson better watch himself" (or words to that effect). After Jack was told this story by his friend, he quickly went home to Stratford where his mother gave him some savings so that he could effect an escape. He probably went down to Cobh where he boarded the S.S. New York sailing from Southampton (leaving on Oct 30th) to New York (arriving on Nov 13th).
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Ship's Manifest showing Jack Gleeson (line 26)
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Jack stayed in New York for 21 months, working for much of the time in Western Electric Company (a company which later became part of General Electric Company or GEC). Not much is known about his time in New York. His aunt Nora lived there and he stayed with her. There were also quite a few first cousins there so he probably spent quite a lot of time with them. From a photograph that was taken at the City College of New York, it would appear that he went to hear a lecture by Albert Einstein in Spring 1921. He returned to Liverpool on 20th August 1922 and made his way back to Stratford, arriving there on the day of Michael Collin's funeral (28th August).
His first job back in Ireland was as Clerk of Works, apparently for the restoration or renovation of some church (it is difficult to make out from the old records - see previous image above). This was towards the end of 1922 and lasted for 4 months.
Then in February 1923, he joined the newly formed Irish Army as an Engineer Officer in the Works Corps (later to become the Corps of Engineers). He gained his commission as Captain in the Irish Army on 1 Oct 1924. The document (signed by Liam T MacCosgrave) has been framed and hangs in the sitting room at home in Blackrock. After a steady rise through the ranks he achieved the rank of Colonel and was appointed Director of Engineering. His appointments were as follows:
- Lieutenant 12/2/1923
- Capt 18/4/1923
- a/Comdt 1/6/1928
- Comdt 1/9/1931
- Major after 21/4/1939
- a/Colonel 2/4/1942
- Colonel 1/4/1947
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Cartoon in the humorous magazine Barrack Variety.
It apparently was also in the Irish News.
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When Dad (then 13 or 14 years old) first saw the above cartoon (which he says was in a copy of
An Cosantóir which was lying around the house), he exclaimed to his father "I didn't know you were in the IRA", to which his father replied (wagging his finger): "Nothing to do with you. You can forget it."
Jack married Lily O'Carroll in November 1927 and their first child (Maurice, my father and namesake) was born 18 months later. Lily's father was H.T. O'Carroll who came from a long line of pawnbrokers. His name still hangs over 114 Main Street, Bray where he had his Pawnbroker's Sales Shop.
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| Jack & Lily on their engagement |
They had four children in all - Maurice, Gerard, Anne Marie, and Jacqueline. Anne Marie had Down's Syndrome and died 2 months shy of her fourth birthday.
The family moved around a lot, following the locations of Jack's different appointments:
- 1928 - Lambay Road, Marino, Dublin
- 1932 - Riverside Cottage, beside the Dargle in Bray, Co. Wicklow
- 1933 - Ceadaoin, Putland Rd, Bray
- 1936 - The Bungalow, Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare
- 1939 - Staff House, Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare
- 1940 - Officers' Quarters, McKee Barracks, Dublin
- 1941 - 27 Green Rd, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
- 1947 - 2 Eaton Square, Terenure, Dublin
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L to R: Mary Nora Gleeson (nee Walsh), Maurice Gleeson (senior, aged 2), Martin M Gleeson,
Jack Gleeson, Lily Gleeson (nee O'Carroll). The photo was taken about 1930. |
Jack took a keen interest in rugby and played for both Blackrock College and UCD. He was President of the Leinster Branch of the IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union) and enjoyed refereeing. As a member of the Irish "Five", he would pick the players for the All-Ireland rugby team from a list of suggestions submitted by the IRFU branch from each of the four provinces.
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IRFU 1935
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Jack retired from the army in 1956 and died in April 1959 from heart failure. His wife Lily died 3 months later from breast cancer. They both rest in peace in Mount Jerome Cemetery.
Jack's coffin was draped in a tricolour, placed on a gun carriage, and given a full military funeral accompanied by the army band.
He is fondly remembered by his children and grandchildren.
Maurice Gleeson (junior)
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| Obituary |
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| Captain Jack Gleeson |
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| Colonel Jack Gleeson |
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| Portrait of Colonel Jack Gleeson (hangs in the TV room in Blackrock) |
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| Lt Gen Dan McKenna (Chief of Staff), Col J Gleeson (Dir Corps of Engineers), Colonel Egan (Quartermaster General) |
