Good morning, all. I'm afraid I don't have information to add on the identity of the jailbreakers. I think the best source for information on that subject would be the Kilkenny People but I don’t think its records are online. I do, however, have quite a lot of information on Fr. Patrick Delahunty and, Dazem, if you are related to him, you are related to me too. Fr. Pat was born in Curraghmartin, Carrigeen, County Kilkenny. His IRA activities occurred when he was in Callan, Kilkenny. He was spirited away to the U.S. and became chaplain at Leavenworth prison in Kansas, where he died in April 1955. (I have heard he chose this posting because he himself had been imprisoned.) He is buried in St. Mary’s Leavenworth. One of his duties as chaplain was to accompany condemned men to the gallows and I've heard that he had great sympathy for them and believed that their poverty condemned many of them. An article at
http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/msg00815.html notes that in the case of one double hanging, he was troubled that the two men seemed to lack the mental capacity even to know what was about to happen to them. The article says they were buried in the Catholic cemetery and that the cause of death was listed as "cervical fracture of the spine" rather than "hanging." After Fr. Pat's death, a high mass was held for him in Carrigeen Church on April 19, 1955. The story is that so many bishops and priests attended that you couldn’t move six inches without tripping over a crozier or stepping on a cassock. Father Delahunty Terrace in Kilkenny City is named after him. While in Leavenworth, he met a local reporter and mentioned that he himself had once been a prisoner, but he declined to elaborate. The intrigued reporter came to Ireland after Fr. Pat died and later wrote an article for a Kansas newspaper which mentioned the jailbreak. I have seen a copy of the article but I unfortunately don’t have a copy. At least some of his brothers were also active in the IRA. His brother Richard was involved in the ambush at Sinnott’s Cross. His other brothers were Hilary, John (who died in Plymouth) Bernard and Joe. The best research source I’ve found for information on him is the Irish Newspaper Archive
http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/If you want info on his family, the death notices are very good when they list siblings. However, I’ve noticed that in some cases, not all siblings are listed. When searching, don’t restrict your viewing based on the score. The lowest scoring articles are sometimes the best, because sometimes the article will refer to “XXX Delahunty Curraghmartin” and will then instead of repeating the placename, list other persons followed by “Do”.
On the Irish newspaper archive site, I found references to him in the Freeman's Journal, the Irish Independent and the Munster Express. Unfortunately many of the articles are fragments.
In the Freeman's Journal, a search for Delahunty Callan found the following:
Nov 12, 1914 Volunteers reviewed in Callan. Address delivered by Fr. Pat, President of the County Volunteer Committee and leader of the Callan Corps.
March 6, 1915: Refers to a letter from Fr. Pat to the Kilkenny People newspaper. (Incomplete)
Oct 6 1920:Fr Pat's house searched by Black and Tans. (Incomplete)
Dec 18, 1920: Fr. Pat on trial. Courtmartialled in Waterford.
Jan 4, 1921: Fr. Pat convicted.
Jan 4, 1921: Priest gets 2 years with hard labour.
Jan 4, 1921 Sentenced to two years.
Jan 18, 1921: Hard labour portion of sentence remitted.
Nov. 24, 1921: Fragment of atricle re escape from Kilkenny jail.
Sunday Independent
Sept 5, 1920: Fr. Pat’s house raided
Irish Independent
Aug. 6, 1917: A meeting in Callan in support of W.T. Cosgrove (who was running for election) was addressed by Fr. Pat and Messrs D. McCarthy, De Valera (later President) and E. T. Keane (who was, I believe, the editor of the Kilkenny People Newspaper.)
I have a copy of a photo of Fr. Pat with De Valera and another gentleman whose name I don’t know. I'm told there was also a photo of him with Arthur Griffith but it was given to relatives in England and no one in Ireland has a copy. If anyone out there has it, I and my relatives would love a copy.
Dec. 18, 1920: Priest found guilty
Dec. 27, 1920: Article listing priests arrested.
May 17 1921: Serving 2 years.
Nov 24, 1921: Escape from Kilkenny jail. (Fragment)
Munster Express
There is a lot of useful information here as regards the family but as regards Fr. Pat’s activities in the war of Independence, try April 8 and 15, 1955 for articles relating to his death.There is also an article dated June 5, 1965 on the Sinnott's Cross ambush.
I hope this helps.
C
PS After writing the above, I spoke to my aunt, Fr. Pat's niece, who said he was first assigned to SingSing, before Leavenworth. She also said he didn't leave for the U.S. immediately and that he believed in the "hiding in plain sight" method of avoiding capture and would often take a pony and trap to visit Curraghmartin and would sail up the River Suir. She also said he had to leave because he could no longer say Mass, hear confesssions etc.
C