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Curragh Internment Camps Autograph Books
The mass arrest of republicans by the British authorities in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, necessitated the creation of internment camps in Ireland. Several camps were opened in the country, including one on The Curragh, Co. Kildare, which opened on 1 March 1921. The Rath Camp, designed to accommodate 1,000, was located at the southern end of the Curragh Camp military base, opposite the racecourse grandstand. A second camp, Hare Park, adjacent to the Rath Camp was also erected; it was used as a holding camp for up to 150 prisoners destined for court-martial or transfer.
Both the Rath Camp and Hare Park Camp housed republicans from all over Ireland, including many famous personalities like Frank Burke, Rory O’Connor, and Desmond Fitzgerald. The story of the internments camps is one of audacious escapes, great football matches and harsh living conditions. Todd Andrews, a famous internee in the Rath Camp in May 1921, said that 'Life in the camp was, in a physical sense, far from unpleasant. Indeed for the first few weeks I found it agreeably exciting meeting new people including some national personalities, exploring the library which was surprisingly good, playing football, learning the procedure for receipt of letters and parcels and examining the canteen.'
Autograph books were a popular in the early twentieth century; for example, during World War I they were used by soldiers to gather the signatures of their fellow men in their battalion, or their fellow prisoners in POW camps in Germany. Autograph books were a common item kept by the Irish internees on The Curragh and are fascinating examples of material culture from the revolutionary period. They contain prisoners' names, addresses, date and place of incarceration, providing an informal camp register compiled by the internees themselves. The autograph books allowed prisoners to express themselves using poems, songs, and drawings.
Autograph Book of Sylvester Delahunt, Rath Camp, The Curragh
The autograph book of Sylvester Delahunt from Tuckmill, Straffan, Co. Kildare was donated to Kildare Local Studies, Genealogy and Archives by his daughter, Áine Delahunt. Sylvester was arrested on 1 March 1921, at 40 Main Street, Naas, Co. Kildare, and interned in the Rath Camp until December of that year. His autograph book is an invaluable primary source which contains poems and sketches by 29 of his fellow internees. A unique feature of Sylvester's autograph book is the six photographs it contains that he took on a hidden camera. Another is a water colour painting by Frank Purcell, Cappagh, Kilcock, Co. Kildare, of the famous tunnel escape from the Rath Camp in 1921.
Autograph Book of Joseph Kirwan, Tintown Internment Camp, The Curragh
The autograph book of Joseph Kirwan, an internee in the Tintown Camp in 1923, was donated to Kildare Local Studies, Genealogy and Archives by Sean Deay, Spratstown, Dunlavin, Co. Kildare. It was found in a house at Mullaghmast, Athy, Co. Kildare, and it is assumed to have been left there by Tipperary prisoners following an escape from Tintown. On the inside first page it states Mr. J. Kirwan, No. 8951, Hut 11, Tintown No. 2 Camp, and on the facing page there is an entry by his sister, Anastasia, of Barna, Templemore (Co. Tipperary), dated 16 May 1923 in which she says she is 'enclosing this little autograph so I hope you will write the full of it with camp life.' A J. Kirwan, Ballycahill, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, was released from the Curragh Camp on 24 December 1923 according to The Evening Telegraph of 27 December 1923.
Joseph was born on 24 December 1895 at Knockagh, Templemore, son of James Kirwan and Margaret Dwan. He died on 8 December 1975 aged 81 years, and was buried in St. Mary's Church Cemetery, Drom, Co. Tipperary; he was stated to be a captain in the 2nd Brigade, Old I.R.A. Anastasia immigrated to Chicago, Illinois, USA in July 1923; she died there in 1975.
The images on this website are under copyright and are the property of Kildare County Archives. If you wish to use any images from these books, please contact archives@kildarecoco.ie The autograph books date from a century ago and some of the views expressed in the book belong to a different time and must be understood as historical.
Further information:
Videos
The Great Escape, Rath Camp, The Curragh, 9 September 1921
Publications
Interned: the Curragh Internment Camps in the War of Independence by James Durney (2019).