Calls to repair Kerry bridge that honours local IRA men but is ‘falling apart’

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

Kerry County Council has been urged to repair a historically important bridge in the county’s north.

Councillors at a Listowel Municipal District (MD) meeting expressed their sadness at the condition of an old bridge in Gortnaglanna that commemorates the shooting of three unarmed IRA men by the Black and Tans.

On Thursday, May 12, 1921, local IRA commanders Patrick Walsh and Patrick Dalton, accompanied by Con Dee, bumped into IRA captain Jerry Lyons (of the Duagh company) at the bridge, stopping briefly to talk.

The men’s luck, however, took a turn for the worse as three lorries of Black and Tans happened by chance to be travelling along the same road from Listowel. Jerry Lyons, Paddy Walsh and Paddy Dalton were all captured and executed in a nearby field, while an injured Con Dee managed to escape with his life.

At the Listowel MD meeting, Councillor Michael Foley highlighted the historical importance of the bridge and urged the council to carry out repairs on the structure that was ‘falling apart’.

“It is actually shame that we’re not doing anything with it. The plaque is falling into the stream down there and it’s just sad,” he said.

Councillor Tom Barry seconded the motion, adding that any restoration work wasn’t going to be expensive.

“We’re losing enough of these historical sites and monuments; they’re falling by the wayside. I just hope it’s not going to happen,” he said.

The council said a cost estimate would be prepared to identify a suitable funding stream.

False reports followed the killing of the three unarmed men, which would be considered unacceptable at the time, with the Crown Forces suspected of co-opting the narrative.

The Irish Times reported on May 14, 1921, that “three police tenders were ambushed by 100 armed men at Kilmorna” and that it was believed that the rebels “suffered heavy casualties”.

The Crown Forces also claimed to have captured “a number of shotguns, revolvers, and ammunition”. The Court of Inquiry, held a month late, reiterated the false story, despite emerging reports to the contrary.

The bodies of the three men were eventually recovered by women of Cumann na mBan, who managed to locate them at Ballymullen barracks, and were brought back via rail to Listowel.

Hundreds of people arrived at the train station to accompany the bodies, while the Black and Tans attempted to block to entrances and exits, determined to stop the funnels becoming a propaganda event.

After a tense stand-off, the bodies were allowed out of the station for church rites and burial.