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Duckett's Grove Army Barracks.

"Tatler" was a correspondent for the Nationalist newspaper, here he writes of a visit to Duckett's Grove in Jan. 1922 when Liam Stack and fellow officers were in residence and were training the Irish Army out there. The statues he refers to were used by the soldiers for target practice. The prisoner is one arrested by the Irish Republican Police and was being held in custody at Duckett's Grove pending the handing over of the Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks in Carlow town. Members of Cumann na mBan looked after the cooking and cleaning.

The Nationalist, January 1922.

Duckett's Grove!

The very name is certain to be a tradition in these districts. Only once had I occasion to visit the mansion, and I certainly had some emotion when I saw our flag floating over the turret. I offered a sentry a cigarette but he refused and I admired the discipline. There were old field pieces, but they were for ornament and not use. The statues were reminiscent of the Kildare Street Museum and Greek civilisation. I paid some attention to a statue of a Greek goddess which would make a fine symbol of a resurgent Erin. I visited one of the prisoners, and he had absolutely nothing to say about the diet. It was good and compared very favourably with the Rath or Ballykinlar.

The above is a true and accurate transcript of the original document.

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Transcribed by M. Purcell c2010.

Old newspapers in the PPP.