Light is shed on identity of Terence MacSwiney’s mystery comrades

JOHN Connolly, 72, was ten years old when he laid eyes on the photograph of Terence MacSwiney’s comrades, which was published last week in the Irish Examiner.

One of the men was his father, Bill, a member of the Old IRA who fought in the War of Independence. We brought the photo to light in order to ascertain the names of those believed to be the pallbearers at the funeral of the former Lord Mayor of Cork who died in 1920 on hunger strike in Brixton prison in Britain.

In fact, the eight men never even attended MacSwiney’s funeral because they were in prison in England. “They had been sent over to bring MacSwiney’s body back to Ireland,” explains John.