*Members of the East Clare Memorial Committee at the commemoration to Jim Grogan.
A poignant ceremony was held by the East Clare Memorial Committee in the townland of Core, Feakle last Tuesday to commemorate the last victim of the Irish War of Independence in the county, Jim ‘Birdie’ Grogan.
Approximately 30 local people attended the ceremony which marked the death 100 years ago of, forty-four-year-old Jim Grogan, who was shot dead by British forces, while he was making his way to mass in the Feakle area. Grogan has been largely forgotten and the Committee were determined that they shone a light on his death and on his life.
According to historian, Dr Tomás Mac Conmara, who is secretary of the East Clare Memorial Committee and who has researched the story over many years, Jim Grogan was an entirely innocent victim of British aggression. “The British military implied in their reporting of the incident that because Jim Grogan was shot close to where a trench had been dug to impede their forces, that he was a dangerous figure. In fact, Grogan was entirely unarmed and was not of a capable disposition to do harm to anybody. Local reports also strongly indicate that he had his arms raised when he was shot dead. The solider who shot him, was exonerated fully”.
The Committee has been responsible for the commemoration of events and people related to the War of Independence for many decades. Committee Chairman, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) told The Clare Echo that while the pandemic has restricted the levels of commemoration, the group remained determined to shine a light on events in the period, like the death of Jim Grogan.
He referenced the success of their commemoration for the Scariff Martyrs held in November in both Scariff and Killaloe. “We have had a very strong online presence which we have used to combat the restrictions resulting from Covid-19. We recently posted material about the Currakyle ambush in my own area and intend to mark the site later in the year when the opportunity to do so are more suitable. We are really taken with the level of engagement and the support we have received over the last year in particular. We have been doing this, year upon year for many decades and it is wonderful to see a growth in interest over recent times. We felt that it was critical to commemorate Jim Grogan as one of the forgotten victims of that period”.
The Committee arranged for Timmy Treacy, the only surviving relative of Jim Grogan, to lay a wreath at the site of his shooting. The gathering was addressed by Cllr. Hayes, Mac Conmara and Treacy, before musical laments were played by Maebh McCall, granddaughter of Timmy Treacy and Kilanena musician Aoife Hayes. At the commemoration, Cllr Hayes announced that they will erect a permanent memorial at the site of Grogan’s death later this year.
