Mulcahy invokes 1916 legacy at Gormanstown ceremony
Gormanstown, 9 October 1922 – General Richard Mulcahy has invoked the memory of Patrick Pearse and the other leaders of the 1916 rebellion in a speech in support of the national army.
Mulcahy, Commander in Chief, was speaking at a trooping of the colours in Gormanstown Camp yesterday. The camp had once housed the black and tans, who, he pointed out, were now entirely evacuated from Ireland and within three months the British army will have done likewise.
It was by taking inspiration from Patrick Pearse’s courage that Ireland had reached this point of its development.
Mulcahy recalled standing in Mr Pearse’s cell in Arbour Hill the Sunday after Easter week and asking him if his order to surrender applied to the whole of Ireland or just to Dublin and whether a small band could continue to hold out for any great length of time. The answer he received was ‘No’.
‘Pearse set himself out to do a definite work, and when it was done, he said it was done, and the time had not yet come to take another step.’ Mulcahy said that those who came after 1916 leaders did greater things than they thought were possible. Looking forward, he said that men will arise who, ‘with the machinery we shall make here, shall do great work that will bring glory to our nation and will drive her further along the great path of national development, that our heroes and martyrs have had before them in their minds in the very dark days.’
During his speech General Mulcahy hinted at a possible form of national service, saying that the army would be made into a big national institution through which the young manhood of Ireland would pass and leave much better men and citizens. Their motto would be ‘Order, Industry and Discipline’.
Mulcahy’s comments come as fighting continues throughout the country. From the west of Ireland, it is reported that the national army managed to take possession of Oughterard, considered an Irregular stronghold in the Connemara area, without firing a single shot.
Attacks by Irregulars have been reported on barracks housing national army troops in Navan and Ballina, while an ambush on a convoy carrying provisions near Rathmore, Co. Kerry, has resulted in the killing of four anti-treaty troops and the wounding of several others.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
