Commemorating Sligo’s Noble Six was a day long in coming

Commemoration event was both a day of joy and sorrow

Cathaoirleach Michael Clarke with Phil McCormack and Dr Jimmy Devins after the unveiling of a memorial to the Noble Six in Rathcormack. Pics: Donal Hackett.

Attendance at the unveiling of the Sligo Nobel Six memorial.

Canon Tom Hever blessing the Sligo Noble Six memorial.

thumbnail: Cathaoirleach Michael Clarke with Phil McCormack and Dr Jimmy Devins after the unveiling of a memorial to the Noble Six in Rathcormack. Pics: Donal Hackett.
thumbnail: Attendance at the unveiling of the Sligo Nobel Six memorial.
thumbnail: Canon Tom Hever blessing the Sligo Noble Six memorial.
By Gerry McLaughlin
© Sligo Champion

In welcoming the crowd to this “noble place” Joe McGowan, Chairman of the “Sligo’s Noble Six Memorial Committee” said they had gathered on “hallowed ground where the bodies of four noble Irishmen were laid by their comrades and neighbours following their shooting dead on this date 100 years ago on King’s Mountain behind us”.

Mr McGowan said it was almost at the same time as well. “Their name we speak with reverence and pride. A report from an intelligence officer of the Third Western Division Sligo, of the Free State Army following the event said they had “23 prisoners and four Irregulars dead.”

“Divisional Adjudant MacNeill shot through the forehead, Brigadier Devins shot through the heart while Volunteers Banks and Carroll were absolutely mangled by machine gun fire.”

Mr McGowan added that seven days later the bodies of two other men Captain Benson and Volunteer Langan were found further north towards Ben Whisken.

“The medical report stated that Benson had six bullet wounds in the head arm and legs.Langan had seven bullet wounds in the neck and head one through the heart and one through the right breast. He also had a bayonet wound through the right lung coming out the back.

“Our gathering here today is to remember that tragic event and the cauldron of fire which our nation’s independence, incomplete as it is, was won.

“Neither can we forget our Fourth Green Field that these men and their comrades had died for-the age-old dream of an Ireland united and free north to south, east to west, sea to sea.”

Speaking to The Sligo Champion, Mr McGowan said this day had been a long time in coming. “It is a day of joy and great sorrow for the men who lost their lives on the mountain. And its a day of great joy that there has been so much support for our unveiling today and the great spread of people that we have here today from officials, politicians and the ordinary people of the countryside.

“So, it is very appropriate that 100 years on that we should remember them. One of the remarkable things about it, is that they have been remembered for so long. It was a difficult subject to talk about because it was a Civil War.

“For many years it was unclear what actually happened on the mountain. Was it a fair fight or were they taken prisoners and murdered.

“We know now that it was the latter.”

He added: “There was a song about the SIx, that was sung, but not very often by Jimmy McCann from down around Cliffoney but he had to be very careful about where he would sing it, because it was such a delicate matter.

“Dr John Moran, father of former Sligo Coroner, Dr Des Moran attended some of the men after they were shot.I spoke with Willie Devins who was involved in bringing the bodies down from the mountain and he told me that Dr Moran who had served in the First World War. “When Dr Moran saw the bodies, he said he had been on the battlefields of France and Flanders, but he had never before seen a bayonet going through a dead man. Mr McGowan added: “Not only did they shoot them in cold blood, but they put a bayonet through a man who was already dead. “This ties in with my book ‘Even The Heather Bled.’ This monument was unfinished business- and now it will there for posterity. Heather is part of the wreaths that are being laid here today. “When you think of it the Free State Army had pay, a warm barracks and the State behind them and the Republicans had nothing but starvation and hunger and the help of some of the people.” Former Tanaiste, Minister for Justice and current Senator Michael McDowell SC told The Sligo Champion that he had mixed emotions on a day that recalled a “terrible tragedy” that saw his uncle Brian MacNeill executed along with five others 100 years ago. Mr McDowell said the families of the Noble Six who were shot in “very wrong circumstances” had at last been given the truth of what actually happened. “The Six left Scanlon’s house and went up King’s Mountain and had been up there for a while when Captain Charles Edward McGoohan from Ballinamore Co Leitrim and Captain Sean Sexton of Ballinalee Co Longford of the Free State Army were leading a detachment of men. “And according to a Free State soldier whose account is very credible, McGoohan put his hat up on a stick and got them to surrender. “Having called on them to surrender he called on some of the troop to execute four of the six men and they Brigadier Seamus Devins, Adjutant Brian MacNeill, Lieutenant Paddy Carroll and Volunteer Tommy Langan. “McGoohan remained in the army until the 1960s. Brian MacNeill was my uncle, Neil was the eldest of the three boys and Turlough was the next and they joined the 6th Brigade of the IRA in south Dublin, and they were comrades in arms there and Brian was sent up here during the Truce to organize the IRA. “Neil and Turlough were in the National Army/ “He did a lot of work to get the whole thing up ad running up here in Sligo. “Billy Pilkington was his OC and Brian was an Adjutant.” He added that it was an “emotional” for him and his family. “But the emotions are always tempered by the fact that whereas we are unveiling a plaque to the Six,there are plenty of others who died around Sligo as well. “It was a tragedy that the Civil War ever started-it should never have started, and It was a disaster for the country. “Mr McDowell said the shooting of the Six was totally un-necessary. There was an element of vengeance in their shooting.” When asked what the lessons to be learned from this terrible event were, he said: “The lessons I draw from it is that democracy is the way forward. Shooting people over political issues is not the way forward. “ I don’t accept that there was a necessity for the Civil War and a lot of people did an awful lot to try and avoid it. Our President Michael D Higgins was saying that just the other day up in Dublin. “Sadly, events gathered pace.” Mr McDowell added that he felt a sense of pride that his uncle was being honoured. “I do feel a sense of pride as he was a very honourable man. I did a lot of research on him, and he was a very popular guy, and he was also very able.I have looked at his intelligence reports back to the Republican HQ and they were very detailed, he organised training camps and he was a very bright young man. “He was a medical student, and he gave up a lot to join the IRA in the War Of Independence.”