Was my Grandfather in the IRA?

[irishbelle]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can advise me as to how I would go about investigating whether or not my Grandfather was in the old IRA.  All through my childhood I heard stories in the family that he was in the IRA in Dublin.  He died before i was born and my Grandmother barely spoke of him.  My father told me that when he died some men approached my Grandmother and offered to see her 5 children through private school but she said no.  I have also been told that when he died there was a big ceremony and he had the Irish flag on his coffin.  His name was Sean O'Farrell.  I would be very grateful for any advice or information anyone may have.

Kind Regards

Sarah

[nainmaddie]

On WDYTYA last night BBC1  Devla Kirwan had similar problems to you.  As it did not have much to do with my family I listened but did not write down where she got the answers.

There was somewhere that she obtained the IRA information, and I am sure you would be able to access those.  Can you watch it on your computer ?  Then you could make a note of where she got those records from.

Hope this is of some help

nainmaddie

[irishbelle]

Thank you very much I shall check it out.

Kind Regards

Sarah

[nainmaddie]

If you go into the Common Room re WDYTYA  you will find the web details where you can sometimes find details of the members of the IRA and other details from the programme.  I gathered they were not generally available to the general public, but if you read this forum, you gather more information

Nainmaddie

[acorngen]

Actually if you watched last nights WDYTYA you will have known that the records held about those who were in the original IRA (not the para military organisation we know now) are not usually available to the public but they made an exception for Dirva Keriwn.  Wasn't Sean O Farrell one of those released after the good friday agreement?

[shanew147]

The public cannot view these records in person but copies can be requested by next of kin. see: http://www.irishsoldiers.com/Research/tracing.htm



Shane

[speedwobble]

Just a thought but would the funeral or death have been reported in a local newspaper?  I your grandfather had played a significant role maybe it would have been recognised and reported.

[CJF]

Hi, I watched programme last night " Who do you think you are?" with Dervla Kirwan. She was looking for information about an ancestor. She visited Cathal Brugha Army Barracks to get the information she required. According to programme they made an exception for her when they let her view records from the archives. You could try contact Cathal Brugha Barracks anyway. I'm sure they could tell you either way. Only other thing I can suggest is you contact local library where your relative lived.

[acorngen]

Shane,

So the same restrictions for WW2 records as for the IRA records.  Thanks for the information though

Rob