Liam Mellows - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Liam Mellows (25 May 1895 – 8 December 1922; surname often misspelled as Mellowes) was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

Republican

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 Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

politician. Born in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Mellows grew up in County Wexford

County Wexford

County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...

in Ireland. He was active with the Irish Republican Brotherhood

Irish Republican Brotherhood

The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...

and Irish Volunteers

Irish Volunteers

The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...

, and participated in the Easter Rising

Easter Rising

The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...

in County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, and the 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...

. Elected as a TD to the First Dáil

First Dáil

The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...

, he rejected the 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 was captured by pro-Treaty forces 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....

. Mellows was executed by Free State forces

Executions during the Irish Civil War

The executions during the Irish Civil War took place during the guerrilla phase of the Irish Civil War . This phase of the war was bitter, and both sides, the government forces of the Irish Free State and the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army insurgents, used executions and terror in what...

in 1922.

Career

Mellows was born in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England to William Joseph Mellows, a 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...

non-commissioned officer

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

, and Sarah Jordan, of Inch, County Wexford, where he grew up. His family moved to Fairview, Dublin

Fairview, Dublin

Fairview is a coastal district on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland, in the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council. Part of the area forms Fairview Park, on land reclaimed from the sea.-Location and access:...

in February 1895 when Sergeant Mellows was transferred there; however, Liam remained in Wexford

Wexford

Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...

with his grandfather Patrick Jordan due to ill health. He attended the military school in Wellington Barracks in Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

and the Portobello

Portobello, Dublin

In Dublin, Portobello is an area stretching westwards from South Richmond Street as far as Upper Clanbrassil Street bordered on the north by the South Circular Road and on the south by the Grand Canal....

garrison school in Dublin, but ultimately refused a military career much to his father's disappointment, instead working as a clerk in several Dublin firms. A nationalist from an early age, Mellows approached Thomas Clarke, who recruited him to Fianna Éireann

Fianna 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...

, an organisation of young republicans. Mellows was introduced to socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

when he met James Connolly

James Connolly

James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...

at Countess Markievicz's residence, recuperating after his hunger strike. Connolly was deeply impressed and told his daughter Nora 'I have found a real man'. He was active in the IRB

Irish Republican Brotherhood

and was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers

Irish Volunteers

, being brought onto its Organising Committee to strengthen the Fianna representation. He was arrested and jailed on several occasions under the Defence of the Realm Act. Eventually escaping from Reading Jail

Reading (HM Prison)

HM Prison Reading, formerly known as Reading Gaol, is a prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...

he returned to Ireland to command the "Western Division" (forces operating in the West of Ireland) of the IRA

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...

during the Easter Rising

Easter Rising

of 1916. He led roughly 700 Volunteers in abortive attacks on 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...

stations at Oranmore

Oranmore

Oranmore is a village in County Galway on the outskirts of Galway city in Ireland. With its major housing developments, Oranmore is rapidly becoming a part of Galway's commuter or suburban belt...

, and Clarinbridge

Clarinbridge

Clarinbridge is a small village, approximately 15 minutes drive south of Galway, Ireland in the Diocese of Kilmacduagh. It is on the mouth of the Clarin River at the end of Dunbulcaun Bay, which is the easternmost part of Galway Bay...

in county Galway

County Galway

and took over the town of Athenry

Athenry

Athenry is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies east of Galway city, and one of the attractions of the town is its medieval castle. The town is also well-known by virtue of the song "The Fields of Athenry".-History:...

. However, his men were very badly armed and supplied and they dispersed after a week, when British troops and the cruiser Gloucester

HMS Gloucester (1909)

HMS Gloucester was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 28 October 1909 from the yards of William Beardmore and Company. She formed part of the Bristol subgroup....

were sent west to attack them.

After this insurrection failed, Mellows escaped to the USA, where he was arrested and detained without trial in the "Tombs" prison

The Tombs

"The Tombs" is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a jail in Lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the Egyptian Revival style of architecture.The nickname has been used...

, New York, on a charge of attempting to aid the German side in the First World War. This was in the context of incidents like the Black Tom and Kingsland

Kingsland Explosion

The Kingsland Explosion was an incident that took place during World War I at a munitions factory in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.Soon after its outbreak in 1914 World War I settled in the West into an almost static line of trenches with the principal Allied armies facing the forces of Germany and...

explosions where German agents had bombed neutral American ports and industrial facilities.

After his release in 1918, he worked with John Devoy

John Devoy

John Devoy was an Irish rebel leader and exile.-Early life:Devoy was born near Kill, County Kildare. In 1861 he travelled to France with an introduction from T. D. Sullivan to John Mitchel...

and helped to organise Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...

's fund raising visit to America in 1919–1920. He returned to Ireland to become Irish Republican Army

Irish Republican Army

"Director of Supplies" during the Irish War of Independence

Irish War of Independence

, responsible for buying arms. At the 1918 general election

Irish (UK) general election, 1918

The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. It is seen as a key moment in modern Irish history...

of December, he was elected to the First Dáil

First Dáil

as a Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

candidate for both Galway East and for North Meath

North Meath (UK Parliament constituency)

North Meath was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Meath constituency. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....

. (According to United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

law, these were Westminster constituencies but Sinn Féin did not recognise them as such, but rather took them as de facto Dáil Éireann constituencies).

Opponent of the Treaty

He considered the Anglo-Irish Treaty

Anglo-Irish Treaty

as signed to be a betrayal of the Irish Republic

Irish Republic

The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...

, saying, in the Treaty Debates of 1921–22:
A conference of 9 TDs was deputed to meet privately on 5 January 1922 to resolve the dispute and to achieve a unified front by compromise. The four other anti-Treaty TDs said there was agreement but Mellows did not, and was seen thereafter by pro-Treaty TDs as one of their most implacable opponents. The following day the Dáil voted to approve the Treaty by a majority of 64 to 57. Details on the private conference and the private Dáil session debate were not made public until the 1970s.

He wrote a social programme based on the Dáil's Democratic Programme

Democratic Programme

The Democratic Programme was a declaration of economic and social principles adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21 January 1919. The primary purpose of the programme was to espouse certain values of socialism. A text of the programme was first adopted in Irish, and then in English...

of 1919 aimed at winning popular support for the anti-Treaty cause.

Civil war

Mellows was one of the more strident TDs on the approach to 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....

. On 28 April 1922 he told the Dáil:

"There would no question of civil war here now were it not for the undermining of the Republic. The Republic has been deserted by those who state they still intend to work for a Republic. The Volunteers can have very little faith at this moment in the Government that assembles here, because all they can see in it is a chameleon Government. One moment, when they look at it, it is the green, white and orange of the Republic, and at another moment, when they look at it, it is the red, white and blue of the British Empire. We in the Army, who have taken this step, have been termed “mutineers,” “irregulars,” and so forth. We are not mutineers, because we have remained loyal to our trust. We are not mutineers except against the British Government in this country. We may be “irregular” in the sense that funds are not forthcoming to maintain us, but we were always like that and it is no disgrace to be called “irregulars” in that sense. We are not wild people."

In June 1922, he and fellow republicans Rory O'Connor

Rory O'Connor (Irish republican)

Rory O'Connor was an Irish republican activist. He is best remembered for his role in the Irish Civil War 1922-1923, which led to his execution.-Background:...

, Joe McKelvey

Joe McKelvey

Joe McKelvey was an Irish Republican Army officer who was executed during the Irish Civil War. He participated in the anti-Treaty IRA's repudiation of the authority of the Dáil in March 1922 and was elected to the IRA Army Executive...

and Richard Barrett

Richard Barrett (Irish Republican)

Richard Barrett was a prominent Irish Republican Army volunteer who was executed during the Irish Civil War in 1922.-War of Independence:...

, (among others) entered the Four Courts

Four Courts

The Four Courts in Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's main courts building. The Four Courts are the location of the Supreme Court, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building until 2010 also formerly was the location for the Central Criminal Court.-Gandon's Building:Work based on...

, which had been occupied by anti-Treaty forces since April. However, they were bombarded by pro-Treaty Free State

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

forces and surrendered after two days. Mellows had a chance to escape along with Ernie O'Malley

Ernie O'Malley

Ernie O'Malley was an Irish Republican Army officer during the Irish War of Independence and a commander of the anti-treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. O'Malley wrote three books, On Another Man's Wound, The Singing Flame, and Raids and Rallies. The first describes his early life and role in...

, but did not take it. (See also Battle of Dublin

Battle of Dublin

The Battle of Dublin, a week of street fighting in Dublin from 28 June to 5 July 1922, marked the beginning of the Irish Civil War. The fighting began with an assault by the Provisional Government of the proposed Irish Free State on the Four Courts building which had been occupied by a hard-line...

).

Imprisoned in Mountjoy Gaol

Mountjoy Prison

Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...

, Mellows, O'Connor, McKelvey and Barrett were executed by firing squad on 8 December 1922, in reprisal for the shooting of TD Seán Hales

Sean Hales

Sean Hales was an Irish political activist in the early 20th century. Hales was born in Ballinadee, County Cork, where he and his brothers Tom, Donal and Robert were involved in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.At the 1921 elections Hales was elected to the Second...

. (see Executions during the Irish Civil War

Executions during the Irish Civil War

)

Commemoration

Mellows is commemorated by statues in Oranmore

Oranmore

Oranmore is a village in County Galway on the outskirts of Galway city in Ireland. With its major housing developments, Oranmore is rapidly becoming a part of Galway's commuter or suburban belt...

and Eyre Square

Eyre Square

John F. Kennedy Memorial Park is an inner-city public park in Galway, Ireland, formerly officially named Eyre Square and still widely known by that name...

in Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

, in the official name of the Irish Defence Forces army barracks at Renmore (Dún Úi Maoilíosa) and in the naming of Mellows Bridge

Mellows Bridge

Mellows Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey, in Dublin, Ireland and joining Queen Street and Arran Quay to the south quays....

in Dublin. He is also commemorated in the names of two hurling clubs (one in Galway, and one in Wexford), and by Unidare RFC

Unidare RFC

Unidare Rugby Football Club, commonly known as Unidare RFC, is a Rugby union club founded in 1958 and based in the Dublin City University Sports Complex on the Ballymun Road in Dublin city, Ireland. The club's emblem is a Raven and they play in Black and Red...

in Ballymun and their "Liam Mellows Perpetual Cup".

Mellows is buried in Castletown cemetery, County Wexford

County Wexford

, a few miles from Arklow

Arklow

Arklow , also known as Inbhear Dé from the Avonmore river's older name Abhainn Dé, is a historic town located in County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland. Founded by the Vikings in the ninth century, Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 rebellion...

. An annual commemoration ceremony is held at his grave site, in which a wreath is laid by a member of the Liam Mellows Commemoration committee. "Mellows Avenue" in Arklow is named in his honour, as is "Liam Mellows Street" in Tuam

Tuam

Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...

, County Galway

County Galway

Career

Opponent of the Treaty

Civil war

Commemoration

External links

Further reading