Dublin; the building has been in Republican hands for decades.
Ó Brádaigh was fairly typical of IRA recruits at this time. He was in his late teens and he was the child of activists from the 1916–1923 period. The fact that he was a second-generation Republican in and of itself probably did not influence his admittance to the IRA. A recruiting officer might find a parent’s activities interesting, but recruiting officers are most interested in the merits of the recruit. Yet the Republican background of someone like him would have been so self-evident that his recruitment into the IRA was natural. According to senior Republicans at the time, Ó Brádaigh’s background “was written all over him.” He describes himself as “ready made”; it was evident to senior Republicans. If necessary, informal background checks were readily available. After joining the IRA, Ó Brádaigh for a time reported directly to Tony Magan as he sought to organize a unit in Longford. He was amazed at how much Magan knew about Longford. In the early 1950s, the Republican Movement was not very large, but its networks connected people throughout the country. Ó Brádaigh later discovered that Magan’s sisters lived in Longford. Through them, Magan knew what was happening there. He also knew of Matt Brady and May Brady Twohig; one of his sisters had been captain of St. Ita’s camogie team. These connections probably did not significantly influence Ó Brádaigh’s recruitment into the IRA. If he had been found unreliable, he would not have been accepted. Being from good stock was a bonus, but it was not essential.
In joining the IRA, the young recruits were not joining a country club or fraternal organization. They were joining a guerrilla army that was planning for war. In this they were not unique to Ireland. From the late 1940s through the 1950s, there were a number of active guerrilla campaigns throughout the world in places such as Aden, Algeria, Cuba, Cyprus, Kenya, Malaya, Palestine, and Vietnam. On July 26, 1953, Castro began the military campaign that resulted in his seizing control of Cuba on January 1, 1959. In Vietnam, Dien Bien Phu fell in May 1954, marking the end of French control in Vietnam. The guerrillas involved in these events were inspired by nationalism and were given the opportunity for campaigns by the decline of the colonial powers after World War 11. The 1960s would be the decade of student protest, but the 1950s was the decade of the guerrilla. Irish Republicans were aware of other guerrilla wars, in part because many of them, including those in Cyprus and Kenya, were directed against British forces. Many of the volunteers viewed 1916 as the first of the assaults against the British empire in the twentieth century. Colonialism appeared to be dying, and it appeared that other nations had passed by the Irish. The young volunteers believed it was their job to finish the Irish struggle for independence.
Combining his studies with his Republican activities, Ó Brádaigh soon became a recruiting officer for the IRA in Dublin and in Longford. On weekends and holidays he took the train, hopped a bus, or hitched a ride home and began reorganizing the Longford IRA; one ride was given by Sein Mac Eoin, who described Matt Brady’s activities to him. Organizing Longford required effort. The Free State had killed key people such as Barney Casey and Richard Goss, constitutional politics had attracted others, and the rest were too old and too tired. Ó Brádaigh began by taking part in Longford’s Easter Commemorations. At Easter 1951, the commemoration was at Killoe Cemetery, the burial site of Barney Casey. A parade, headed by the Drumlish Brass Band, marched to the cemetery. Casey’s family was there; Matt Casey was to become a fixture at Longford Easter commemorations, leading the way, bearing the Irish flag. Among those in attendance at this and subsequent commemorations were people from the previous generation, including May Brady Twohig, Hubert Wilson, Pat and Maggie Healy, and Sein F. Lynch, who was still on the County Council as an Independent Republican, and younger people, including Sein and Mary Ó Brádaigh and SeAn F. Lynch’s son, also named Sein.
There is a routine to Easter commemorations: the 1916 Proclamation and the IRKS Easter message are read to the crowd, as is the County Roll of Honour, a list of names of Longford’s soldiers who have died in the fight for Irish independence. A decade of the rosary is recited in Irish; The Last Post, Taps, and Reveille are sounded by a bugler; and wreaths are laid on behalf of relatives and various organizations, such as Sinn Féin or Óglaigh na Éireann (the IRA’S Irish name). One person usually presides over the ceremonies and introduces the keynote speaker, who is usually the most prominent Republican available. At Easter 1951 in Longford, the main oration was given by Michael Traynor of Belfast and later of Dublin Sinn Ftin. Traynor appealed to the local crowd by outlining the circumstances of Barney Casey’s death and linking his death with the larger Irish Republican cause: “It was because Barney Casey was a Republican and a Separatist that he was arrested and interned in the Curragh in 1940, and because he was in the Curragh on that morning of December lbth, 1940, he was brutally shot for being faithful to the people of Ireland. Long may his memory and his ideals live in the hearts of his countrymen.” The 1952 commemoration attracted a larger crowd. Hubert Wilson presided and Hugh McCormack of Dublin delivered the oration. He linked the honored Republican dead to the current Republican goals: “We should remember that it was not for a sham republic in a partitioned and anglicised Ireland that Sedn Connolly, Tommy Kelleher and Barney Casey died; and unless we are blind to the lessons of history we will find that the method which they adopted-physical force-is the only way to make England withdraw her occupation forces from our country.” He also looked to the future: “We must endeavour to build anew the national movement, which led the people to the verge of freedom in the years 1916–21 until it was betrayed by weakness and treachery at the top.”
Ó Brádaigh helped organize the 1953 commemoration in Ballymacormack and in 1954 he presided at the event at the memorial cross in Drumlish for Thomas Kelleher. The oration was delivered by Tom Doyle, who was serving as president of Sinn FCin for a brief period-McLogan returned to the post soon after this. In his remarks, Doyle reminded the audience that the “objective of those we commemorate has not yet been achieved.” He continued: “One fact we must keep constantly before usthe fact that British forces of occupation still hold six of our Irish counties against the will of the Irish people and by holding those six counties they dominate and control the life of the whole thirty-two.” He finished with an appeal to action: “Let us get rid of the invader out of every last inch of our territory-then and only then can we celebrate with a full heartthen and only then can we say that we have truly honoured our glorious dead.” Easter commemorations gave Ó Brádaigh an opportunity to recruit for the Longford IRA. He read the IRA’S Easter statement every year. Potential recruits could approach him and indicate that they were interested in more than Sinn FCin. Ó Brádaigh would then check the person’s background, a relatively easy task in a small county such as Longford. A prime resource was senior people, including Hubert Wilson and Sedn F. Lynch. Like Pasha Ó DonnabhGn, Ó Brádaigh’s job was to separate the reliable from the unreliable.
Ó Brádaigh was first a section leader of the Longford unit of the IRA. The section was attached to the Leitrim IRA, which was under the command of John Joe McGirl. Although it was only a nominal attachmentthey only met once or twice a year-it was significant. McGirl, who was about ten years older than Ó Brádaigh, was rebuilding the IRA in the area. He was reasonable and, more important, very enthusiastic. After two years, this arrangement was dropped and the small five-member Longford unit of the IRA became independent, with Ó Brádaigh as commanding officer reporting directly to Tony Magan. A perquisite of an independent unit is that it may send a delegate to the IRA’s annual convention. As an elected delegate, Ó Brádaigh attended the IRA’s 1953 convention. Aside from providing opportunities to participate in decision making and learn policy firsthand, conventions also bring together Republicans from throughout Ireland. One of the other delegates was Joe Cahill from Belfast. Cahill, in his early 30s, was one of six people arrested in 1942 and charged with the death of a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC; reformed for Northern Ireland from the Royal Irish Constabulary). Five of the sentences were commuted. Nineteen-year-old Tom Williams, the commanding officer of the unit that killed the constable, accepted responsibility for the action, and even though he did not fire the fatal shot, he was hanged in prison in Belfast. Cahill was among the last of the 1940s IRA people to be released. He was to become a key figure in the Republican Movement in the 1970s.
Attending the convention gave Ó Brádaigh the opportunity to see at first hand how the IRA
