The Great War cast a long shadow over Blarney and the surrounding districts. Many young (and some not so young) men joined the armed services at the beginning of the war, some from a sense of duty, some from a need for adventure, but many from sheer economic necessity; to support themselves and their families and to escape the grinding poverty of unemployment and unskilled labour. They were openly encouraged to do so by politicians who supported Home Rule or the Union, by bishops and priests in response to the outrages perpetrated by the invading Germans on Belgian civilians and clergy, and by employers who offered to keep their jobs open for the duration of the conflict.
Others had already joined the forces and were serving in Ireland or in far flung corners of the British Empire. They were the ones who were rushed into battle as part of the small British Expeditionary Force sent to France on the declaration of war. They fought in the opening battles and were listed as early casualties. Few survived into the second year of the war. The early volunteers were pressed into service following training and were fed into the ranks of Kitchener’s volunteer army in time to take part in the great pitched battles and campaigns of the following years: Gallipoli, Loos, Salonica, the Somme, Ypres, the German Big Push and subsequent Allied Advance of 1918. They died in the trenches, often blasted to bits by artillery, shredded by machine gun fire or poisoned by mustard gas. Others fought in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force or served in the Merchant Navy.
Soldiers who enlisted filled in an attestation form which gave their names, date and place of birth, details of next of kin and the regiment they joined. They were medically examined and details of height, weight, colour of eyes and hair and distinguishing marks were recorded. Service records were sometimes included in their files showing where they served, periods of leave, wounds and recuperation. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these records were destroyed in a bombing raid during the Second World War and some of the few remaining records are in very bad condition.
The Great War officially ended on November 11th, 1918. Many deaths recorded after that date occurred as a consequence of wounds sustained in the war, and so, for the official record, all deaths up to 1921 are recognised as war deaths.
The list compiled below is not a complete list of all the Blarney and District casualties who gave their lives during that terrible conflict of 1914-18 but it is an ongoing project and as new names come to light, they will be added to the listing.
An alphabetical list of those from Blarney and surrounding districts who lost their lives in the global conflict 1914 – 1918.
Callanan James: Blarney. Rifleman No 4824, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.
Casey John: Blarney. Private No 52932, 13th Batt, Cheshire Regt.
Cotter James: Rathpeacon. Private No 7311, Leinster Regt.
Crowley Timothy: Rathpeacon. Stoker No SS/117317 Royal Navy.
Cummins John: Blarney. Gunner No 42012 Royal Garrison Artillery.
Dinan Peter: Cloghroe. Private No 1703 R.M.F.
Ellis Edward Charles: Blarney. Lieut.11th Batt. Gloucester Regt. + 1st Batt R.M.F.
Falvey John: Dawstown. Private No 203503 The Loyal North Lancashire Regt.
Fitzgerald James: Kilnap. Private No 7082 R.M.F.
Good William Henry: Carrignavar. 2nd Lieut. R.M.F.
Healy William: Donoughmore. Private No G/753. 9854 R. Irish F.
Hickey William: Commons Rd. Private No 9854 R.M.F.
Kelleher Bartholomew: Currachtnalacht. Lieut. King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regt.
Kelleher Jeremiah: Waterloo. LCpl No 27144 R. Inniskilling F.
Kershaw Thomas Erskine: Blarney. Gunner No 58691 Royal Garrison Artillery.
Long Jeremiah: Rathpeacon. Fireman No SS6451 Merchant Navy.
Lynch Denis: Rathpeacon. 2nd Lieut. West Yorkshire Regt.
Lyons George: Blarney. Able seaman No 212050 Royal Navy.
McSwiney Edward: Grenagh. Private No 9777 R.M.F.
Minihane William: Blarney. Acting Staff Sgt No: T/31471 R.A.S.C.
Murphy William: Whitechurch. Private No 4707 Connaught Rangers.
Murphy William: Blarney. Private No 5255 R.M.F.
Mulcahy Thomas Edward: Whitechurch. Private No 2278 Australian Imperial Force.
Nunan Noel Daniel: Blarney. 2nd Lieut. R.A.F.
O’Brien Maurice Phádraig Michael: Blarney. Sgt No 12271 Ox & Bucks Light Infantry
O’Brien William: Cloghroe. Private No 6229 Irish Guards.
O’Callaghan Cornelius: Tower. Private No 7763 R.M.F.
O’Connor Joseph: Rathduff. Private No S/4877 Black Watch.
O’Doherty, Denis: Blarney. Private No 7427 Irish Guards First Batt.
O’Driscoll Gerald Francis: Clogheen. Rifleman No 2603 London Regt.
O’Driscoll, John: Blarney. Gunner No 42396 Royal Field Artillery.
O’Driscoll William: Blarney. Private No 133199 Royal Fusiliers.
O’Leary Timothy J: Killowen. Private Prov. Engineers, American Expeditionary Force.
O’Mahony John Francis: Clogheenmilcon. Private No 3131681 Canadian Expeditionary Force.
O’Sullivan Michael: Whitechurch. Rifleman No 7716 Royal Irish Rifles
Reilly Denis: Garrycloyne. Private No 6678 R.M.F.
Sexton Christopher: Inniscarra. Private No 6259 R.M.F.
Sheehan Daniel: Blarney. Sgt No 4008 R.M.F.
Spillane William: Whitechurch. Private No 23/1821 Wellington Regt. N.Z.E.F.
Sullivan Daniel: Killowen. Private No 6651 R.M.F.
Twohig Joseph: Blarney. Private No 1440 R.M.F.
Wilson William: Blarney. Cpl No S/5280 Black Watch.
Young William Henry: Blarney. Private No 69350 Royal Army Medical Corps.
John Mulcahy has put together as much information as possible from a range of sources so that we may see these as real people, who left parents, brothers and sisters, spouses and children behind them to mourn their loss. In so far as is possible, he has given an account of the circumstances and contexts of their deaths and where they are commemorated. Only three have any form of memorial in the parish. The entire article is available in Old Blarney Issue 11.
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