The Great Escape, Rath Camp, the Curragh, 9 September 1921

The Great Escape, Rath Camp, the Curragh, 9 September 1921
After the signing of the Truce in July 1921 political prisoners were expected to be released within days. When there was no sign of an early release some began plotting their escape. In the Rath Internment Camp on the Curragh tunnelling began in earnest with two rival tunnels - the Dublin Brigade Tunnel and Jim Brady’s Tunnel - heading towards the wire.
The Co. Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee has produced a short video to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Rath Camp Escape one hundred years ago today, accompanied by music by local singer/songwriter, Darren Brereton.
Patrick Tunney was an IRA volunteer from Cushlough, Westport, Co. Mayo, who was imprisoned in many jails in Ireland and Britain, including the Rath Camp from which he escaped. In 1920, Hamar Greenwood became the last Chief Secretary for Ireland, the principal minister responsible for Irish affairs, and was responsible for the introduction of the infamous Black and Tans to Ireland. In his poem Hamar’s Lament, Patrick Tunney pokes fun at both Greenwood and Captain John Taylor (Assistant Under-Secretary in Dublin Castle) over the embarrassment that ‘the prisoners are escaping from the Curragh Camp’.