The Revolution Files is a collection
of articles detailing one incident in each of Ireland’s 32
counties during the revolutionary years, from 1916 to the
end of the Civil War in 1923.
Carlow, 1921:
The IRA shoot a pharmacist who
wouldn’t close his shop.
The Revolution Files: The owner
refused to close for the funeral of Terence McSwiney
- County: Carlow
- Incident: Killings
of William Kennedy and Michael O’Dempsey
- Date: March 15th, 1921
- Fatalities: 2
A prosperous shop owner, who refused
to close for the funeral of Terence McSwiney,
and the shop owner’s solicitor were executed by the Carlow
Brigade of the IRA. William Kennedy, a
44-year-old pharmacist in Borris, was told by the IRA in
October 1920 that he had to close his premises for the
funeral of McSwiney, the lord mayor of Cork, who died on
hunger strike in Brixton Prison on October 25th, 1920.
The stand-off that ensued was to have
deadly consequences for Kennedy and his solicitor
Michael O’Dempsey, who was from Enniscorthy, Co
Wexford. The
Borris company of the IRA sought a
boycott of his premises. Kennedy, in turn, began to carry a
pistol around with him. He also employed O’Dempsey to take
out an injunction in the High Court against 10 men who were
known republicans living locally.
After a brief truce for the Christmas
period, hostilities began again in the new year, when one of
the IRA men countersued Kennedy. O’Dempsey was abducted by
the IRA and threatened. His offices were raided and the
papers relevant to the case were stolen.
On March 15th, a party of IRA
volunteers waited for Kennedy and
O’Dempsey as they returned to Kennedy’s house on
Main Street, Borris. They fired at both men. Kennedy died
immediately, O’Dempsey from his wounds
two days later. A brief account of the shootings is included
in the Carlow Brigade files. The account states that
“Kennedy’s activities with the RIC had made him a marked man
and O’Dempsey was suspected of being associated with
him. Both men were shot dead”.
In his statement for a military
pension, John Hynes, the Vice-Commandant of
the 4th Battalion of the Carlow Brigade, stated that he was
in charge of the operation which led to the deaths of the
two men. He also gave a statement to the Bureau of Military
History stating that Kennedy had been consorting with the
Black and Tans and that he had fired on IRA volunteers in
the town.
The family of O’Dempsey
protested his innocence and in February 1922 the Free State
Government granted his mother compensation of £2,500 and an
acknowledgement that he wasn’t a spy.
The sense of disillusionment with the
process of applying for a military pension was laid bare in
a letter from Christie Murphy, the former
Commandant of the 5th Battalion. Murphy apologised to the
Brigade Activity Committee in trying to compile an accurate
list of those who were involved in engagements. Just one of
his former colleagues turned up to a meeting of the old
brigade. “I cannot get the details you want,” he wrote. “No
one will attend a meeting or reply to any inquiries. I had a
committee of 12. All their claims have been dismissed with
the exception of two – myself and Peter Lamb.
”