Tommy Coleman
Encyclopedia
Tommy Coleman Irish
Volunteer.
A founder of the Clontuskert Company, Irish Republican Army
, Coleman was sworn into the Irish Republican Army
in June 1917 by Liam Mellows
at Crossconnell along with "Eugene and Alfie Curley, Tommy Murray, Tom Shiel, Pat Joe Kelly, Jimmy and Michael Coen, P.J. Parker, N.T., Willie Cormican, Berney Fallon and Paddy Barry … Clontuskert Company was attached to the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade I.R.A., the headquarters of which was at Ballinasloe."
Coleman maintained law and order as a member of the Sinn Féin police. He was frequently hunted by Black and Tans
. He participated on the attack on Woodford
Royal Irish Constabulary
barracks with the local Flying Column
. All members returned quickly, with Coleman in bed at home same night.
The following morning soldiers called. His mother told them he was out ploughing. They found him there, with two hours work completed, so it appeared he couldn't have been in the attack. He was Questioned, the house ransacked, but nothing found and family left alone.
Coleman received the Black & Tan medal with bar, and the Golden Jubilee medal to mark the 50th anniversary of the Truce in 1971. He received a military funeral.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
Volunteer.
A founder of the Clontuskert Company, 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...
, Coleman was sworn into the 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...
in June 1917 by Liam Mellows
Liam Mellows
Liam Mellows was an Irish Republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England, Mellows grew up in County Wexford in Ireland. He was active with the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Irish Volunteers, and participated in the Easter Rising in County Galway, and the War of Independence...
at Crossconnell along with "Eugene and Alfie Curley, Tommy Murray, Tom Shiel, Pat Joe Kelly, Jimmy and Michael Coen, P.J. Parker, N.T., Willie Cormican, Berney Fallon and Paddy Barry … Clontuskert Company was attached to the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade I.R.A., the headquarters of which was at Ballinasloe."
Coleman maintained law and order as a member of the Sinn Féin police. He was frequently hunted by Black and Tans
Black and Tans
The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...
. He participated on the attack on Woodford
Woodford, County Galway
Woodford is a village in County Galway, Ireland. The small hamlet has an industrial history. The town's Irish Name, 'Graig na Muilte Iarainn' means 'The Village of the Iron Mills.' Woodford is in the Southeast of County Galway it is situated between the Shannon River and the Slieve Aughty...
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...
barracks with the local Flying Column
Flying Column
Flying Column was the name adopted by a group of Irish traditional musicians and singers who formed a folk band in Belfast around 1967/68. They took their name from the small tight cells that comprised the IRA active service units during the Anglo-Irish war of 1916-1921.-Name:Sammy Largey, the...
. All members returned quickly, with Coleman in bed at home same night.
The following morning soldiers called. His mother told them he was out ploughing. They found him there, with two hours work completed, so it appeared he couldn't have been in the attack. He was Questioned, the house ransacked, but nothing found and family left alone.
Coleman received the Black & Tan medal with bar, and the Golden Jubilee medal to mark the 50th anniversary of the Truce in 1971. He received a military funeral.