Civil War massacre in Ballyseedy marked the darkest day for a family at war 

The involvement of relations on either side of the Ballyseedy atrocity 100 years ago next month has resonated down the decades for John O’Shea’s family, writes Mick Clifford

John O’Shea's relatives included Ned Breslin, a Free State soldier in the party that carried out the Ballyseedy massacre, and George O’Shea, one of the unarmed republicans murdered there. Picture: Domnick Walsh

Some family ties bind, others turn sour and sunder.

John O’Shea looks at his family and finds ties to both sides in what was one of the worst outrages of the brief but brutal Civil War. On March 7, 1923, nine anti-Treaty prisoners were tied around a mine at Ballyseedy outside Tralee. The mine was detonated, instantly killing all but one of the nine in a savage manner.