Spying on the Enemy
The Blarney Tapping Station 1920 – 22
The role of I.R.A. intelligence in the war against the British forces between 1919 and 1921 has been well documented. Secret agents working in police and army barracks passing on information, secrets gleaned by intercepting mail from railways or from country postmen, a chain of company, battalion and brigade intelligence officers employing spotters noting the movement of civilians into and out of police barracks, identifying key personnel and their roles in the forces of occupation: these were standard and basic ways of gathering information. But the I.R.A. also had skilled and highly trained people working for them in telephone exchanges and telegraphic stations, able to listen in, decode, copy and pass on secret and confidential messages both at local and national level. The problem was that this took place on an occasional basis, depending on shift rotas; and it was highly risky as the operators were identifiable and could be transferred, dismissed or even arrested or imprisoned if suspected or caught.
The country was covered through telephone and telegraph lines and cables, sometimes underground but usually overground, open and visible. By connecting a field telephone to the cables, it was possible to listen in and transcribe messages but would be seen by everybody around. But if one could find a remote spot, hidden away from passing traffic, where the main line of communications was concentrated it should be possible to construct a tapping station able to listen to any number of conversations simultaneously on a round the clock basis. The railway line from Dublin to Cork followed the Martin Valley north of Blarney, running through a narrow declivity invisible from the roads running parallel to it. Next to the rails was the line of telegraph poles carrying the signals feeding into Cork City and its police and military barracks coming directly from the capital. To the officers of the Cork No. 1 Brigade, this met all the requirements of a listening post. They set out a plan to construct, to equip, to man, to support, and disseminate the intelligence collected.
The decision to set up a tapping station along the Dublin-Cork railway line seems to have been taken in late 1920. The site required careful selection, next to the railway line, but hidden from passing trains, invisible from nearby roads but capable of being easily accessed by those servicing it and of being evacuated in a hurry on the approach of the enemy. The site selected was at Kilmona, close to the river Martin, where the railway line squeezes through a rocky defile, well camouflaged by furze and shrubs. The evacuation for the dugouts was done by the engineering section of the Blarney Company, which included the following: Cornelius O’Leary, W. O’Reilly, D. Kidney, Patrick Ring, N. Ryan, J.J. O’Leary, Thomas Murphy and M. Spillane.
The dugout was lined with sheets of galvanised iron and covered with blocks before being carefully camouflaged to blend in with the surroundings. From the dugout wire led out which were attached to the telephone wires, but could be detached and hidden in the event of a search party approaching. Inside was a bank of up to ten field telephone handsets all of which had been seized in a daring raid on a train laid up in Rathpeacon railway siding.
Leo Buckley was a Cork city volunteer who was a trained telegraph operator working for the G.P.O., Cork. He was approached by the I.R.A. intelligence to supply copies of all coded telegrams for which they had access to the codes. He was able to pass on copies of all communications from the British army and the R.I.C. to Brigade Headquarters. He was arrested during a round-up and interned on Bere Island, from which he, with a few others made a daring escape.
“Immediately I reached Cork City, I reported to Brigade Headquarters and I was instructed to proceed to Birch Hill, Grenagh, Co. Cork, to take over command of the “T” Station located in that area. This station comprised a dugout some 15’ square cut into a high railway embankment at Kilmona, Rathduff. This dugout was concealed by large enamel signs (advertising) to which grass sods were braced. A small enamel sign covered the exit to the dugout”.
“I had a staff of eight men, some of whose names I can recollect – Bernard Looney, Jacky McDonnell, Tim Shine, Jacky Higgins, Con Healy (known later as the “one-eyed gunner”). Our duties comprised the tapping of all main telephone lines into, and out from Cork City. All military and police conversations were listened to and noted. If information of importance was picked up, it was immediately sent to Brigade Headquarters in Cork”.
“On a number of occasions, British military walked the railway line between Blarney and Rathduff, apparently on the look-out for tapped lines. Our scouts were always able to warn us in time to permit of the telephone pole being climbed and the tapping wires removed until the military had passed. This was a 24 hour-a-day service and a good deal of the success attained by the 1st Southern Division was in some measure due to the information gleaned from telephone conversations. On one occasion we were in the dugout while military overhead of us were examining marks on the telephone pole. Any suspicions aroused were apparently settled to their own satisfaction, as they moved on without making a further examination”.
The above excerpt was taken from a much larger article titled ‘B (Blarney) Company 6th Battalion I.R.A.’ by John Mulcahy, published in Issue No 14 ‘Old Blarney’ Journal.
Limited Editions of back issues of ‘Old Blarney’ Journals and Photo-journals are available at monthly lectures, at www.blarneyhistory.ie or from 087 215 3216
