Dan Keating
Encyclopedia
Daniel "Dan" Keating was a life-long Irish republican
and patron of Republican Sinn Féin
. At the time of death he was Ireland's oldest man and the last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence
.
. He received his education in local schools, including the Christian Brothers
' School in Tralee. Tralee was also the place where Keating did his apprenticeship. During this time he became a skillful Gaelic football
player in his native Kerry.
in 1918. In 1920, during the Irish War of Independence
, he joined the Boherbee B Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Kerry Brigade, Irish Republican Army
. On 21 April 1921, Royal Irish Constabulary
Constable Denis O’Loughlin was shot dead in Knightly public house in Tralee. Keating, Jimmy O’Connor and Percy Hanafin were suspected of the killing, and were forced to go on the run. On 1 June, Keating was involved in an ambush between Castlemaine and Milltown
which claimed the lives of 5 RIC men. On 10 July, a day before the truce between the IRA and British forces, Keating’s unit was involved in a gun battle with the British Army
near Castleisland
. This confrontation resulted in the deaths of four British soldiers and five IRA volunteers.
Keating opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty
and fought on the Republican side in the Irish Civil War
. He was involved in operations in counties Kerry, Limerick
, and Tipperary
, before his column
was arrested by Free State Forces
. Keating spent seven months in Portlaoise Prison
and the Curragh
Prison before being released in March 1923.
Keating remained an IRA member for a long time after the Civil War. He was arrested several times during the thirties on various charges. Keating was active in London
during the 1939/1940 IRA bombing campaign
.
In 1933, he was involved in an attempt to assassinate the leader of the Irish Blue Shirts
, Eoin O'Duffy
, during a visit to County Kerry
. The attack was to happen at Ballyseedy
, where forces under O'Duffy's command had carried out a notorious massacre during the Irish Civil War
. However, the plot failed when the person travelling with O'Duffy refused to divulge what car the latter would be travelling in.
an illegitimate state which usurped the 1916 Irish Republic. In 2002, he refused the state's standard €2,500 award to centenarians from president Mary McAleese
. After former IRA volunteer George Harrison
died in November 2004, Keating became patron of Republican Sinn Féin
until his own death. By the time of his death he was the oldest man in Ireland. He was buried in Kiltallagh Cemetery, Castlemaine.
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
and patron of Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. minor political party operating in Ireland. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin...
. At the time of death he was Ireland's oldest man and the last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
.
Early life
Dan Keating was born and raised in the townland of Ballygamboon, Castlemaine, County KerryCastlemaine, County Kerry
Castlemaine is a small town in County Kerry, southwest Ireland. It lies on the N70 national secondary road between Killorglin and Tralee.-History:...
. He received his education in local schools, including the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
' School in Tralee. Tralee was also the place where Keating did his apprenticeship. During this time he became a skillful Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
player in his native Kerry.
Republican activity
Keating joined Fianna ÉireannFianna Éireann
The name Fianna Éireann , also written Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann , has been used by various Irish republican youth movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries...
in 1918. In 1920, during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
, he joined the Boherbee B Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Kerry Brigade, Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
. On 21 April 1921, Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
Constable Denis O’Loughlin was shot dead in Knightly public house in Tralee. Keating, Jimmy O’Connor and Percy Hanafin were suspected of the killing, and were forced to go on the run. On 1 June, Keating was involved in an ambush between Castlemaine and Milltown
Milltown, County Kerry
Milltown is a small town on the N70 national secondary road between major towns Tralee and Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland.Milltown stands roughly four miles from Killorglin. Milltown is packed with seven pubs, two take-away restaurants, a vet, a butchers shop, a local church, three schools and...
which claimed the lives of 5 RIC men. On 10 July, a day before the truce between the IRA and British forces, Keating’s unit was involved in a gun battle with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
near Castleisland
Castleisland
Castleisland is a town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is renowned for the width of its main street. Castleisland has a population of 2,170....
. This confrontation resulted in the deaths of four British soldiers and five IRA volunteers.
Keating opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
and fought on the Republican side in the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
. He was involved in operations in counties Kerry, Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, and Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, before his column
Flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
was arrested by Free State Forces
Irish Defence Forces
The armed forces of Ireland, known as the Defence Forces encompass the Army, Naval Service, Air Corps and Reserve Defence Force.The current Supreme Commander of the Irish Defence forces is His Excellency Michael D Higgins in his role as President of Ireland...
. Keating spent seven months in Portlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison is the Republic of Ireland's only high security prison. It is located in Portlaoise, County Laois. It should not be confused with the Midlands Prison, which is a newer, medium security prison situated directly beside it....
and the Curragh
Curragh
The Curragh is a flat open plain of almost 5,000 acres of common land in County Kildare, Ireland, between Newbridge and Kildare. This area is well-known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the famous Japanese Gardens. Also...
Prison before being released in March 1923.
Keating remained an IRA member for a long time after the Civil War. He was arrested several times during the thirties on various charges. Keating was active in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the 1939/1940 IRA bombing campaign
S-Plan
The S-Plan or Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign was a campaign of bombing and sabotage against the civil, economic, and military infrastructure of the United Kingdom from 1939 to 1940, conducted by members of the Irish Republican Army . It was conceived by Seamus O'Donovan in 1938 at the...
.
In 1933, he was involved in an attempt to assassinate the leader of the Irish Blue Shirts
The Blueshirts
The Army Comrades Association , later named the National Guard and better known by the nickname The Blueshirts , was a right-wing Irish political organisation active in the 1930s....
, Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
, during a visit to County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
. The attack was to happen at Ballyseedy
Ballyseedy
Ballyseedy is a townland in County Kerry, Ireland. It was historically situated in the parish of Ballyseedy, within the barony of Trughanacmy. The townland contains a number of notable landmarks, including Ballyseedy Wood, a bridge over the Ballycarty River and a ruined Protestant church...
, where forces under O'Duffy's command had carried out a notorious massacre during the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
. However, the plot failed when the person travelling with O'Duffy refused to divulge what car the latter would be travelling in.
Later life
Keating subsequently returned to Dublin and worked as a barman in several public houses. He retired and returned to his native Kerry in 1978, living out the rest of his life with relatives in Knockbrack. Until his death he refused to accept a state pension because he considered the 26-county Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
an illegitimate state which usurped the 1916 Irish Republic. In 2002, he refused the state's standard €2,500 award to centenarians from president Mary McAleese
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...
. After former IRA volunteer George Harrison
George Harrison (Irish Republican)
George Harrison was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.Born in Shammer, Kilkelly, County Mayo, in western Ireland, Harrison emigrated to the United States to facilitate arms transfers to the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland...
died in November 2004, Keating became patron of Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. minor political party operating in Ireland. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin...
until his own death. By the time of his death he was the oldest man in Ireland. He was buried in Kiltallagh Cemetery, Castlemaine.
External links
- "Irish Civil War veteran dies at 105", BBC News, 3 October 2007
- "104 year old Veteran views ‘Wind that shakes the Barley’", indymedia.ie, 29 June 2006
- Article on Dan Keating
- Interview with Dan Keating
- "Death of Republican Sinn Fein Patron Dan Keating", indymedia.ie, 2 October 2007
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2739974.eceObituary in The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, 26 October 2007] - http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3038476.eceObituary in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 8 October 2007] - http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2191195,00.htmlObituary in The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 15 October 2007]