Cyril Aloysius Keogh1890 – 1964

Baptism of CYRIL ALOYSIUS KEOGHat RATHMINES on 8 July 1890Name CYRIL ALOYSIUS KEOGHDate of Birth 5 July 1890Address 25 CULLENSWOOD ROADFather JAMES KEOGHMother MARY WALSHFurther details in the recordSponsor 1 JOSEPH AUGUSTINE KEOGHSponsor 2 MARY JANE GRADYPriest THOMAS CARBERRY

Cyril was born on the 5th of July 1890 and baptised on the 8th of July 1890. His sponsors were Joseph Augustine Keogh and Mary Jane Grady.

Birth and Baptism

Cyril’s medal for 1916,now in Kilmainham Gaol

Harry Nicholls, Captain 4th Battalion Irish Volunteers - On 24th April, Nicholls moved with the Citizen Army into the College of Surgeons. With Mallin and Countess Markievicz he patrolled the Harcourt Street and Camden Street area as far as the Jacob’s garrison. On Wednesday morning Nicholls, in command of a combined force of about sixteen Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army, took control of the Turkish baths on Grafton Street. Apart from some exchanges of sniper fire with British soldiers on the roofs of Mercer’s hospital and the Shelbourne Hotel, the position saw little action. On Saturday the post was evacuated and the men brought back to the College of Surgeons where Mallin revealed the surrender order.

http://eprints.dkit.ie/79/1/Studia_Hibernica_35_2008-9.pdf

Madeleine ffrench-Mullen (30 December 1880 – 26 May 1944) was a member of the radical nationalist women's organisation Inghinidhe na hÉireann. In 1913 during the Dublin Lock-out, she worked in the soup kitchen in Liberty Hall. She subsequently joined the Irish Citizen Army (ICA).[1] In the Easter Rising she worked in a first aid tent. She was arrested following the Rising but released the following month.[1] She joined Sinn Féin and was elected to Rathmines District Council in 1920.[1]

Cyril gave the following names as Referees to verify his statement - Madeline French Mullen, Peader O’Brien, Frank Robbins and Harry Nichols. Also Peter Paul McGrath (Blind Manf.) Angier Street, Dublin, who was also in the College of Surgeons.

Michael Mallin (1 December 1874 – 8 May 1916) was an Irish rebel and socialist who took an active role in the 1916 Easter Rising. He was a silk weaver and co-founder with Francis Sheehy-Skeffington of the Irish Socialist Party, was second in command of the Irish Citizen Army under James Connolly in the Easter Rising of 1916 and commanded the garrison at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, with Constance Markievicz as his second in command.

The College of Surgeons

From 24th - 30th Apr 1916 - D Company, 4th Battalion, Dublin Brigade. Was in Dublin City, Stephen’s Green, Lesson Street Bridge and the College of Surgeons. On active duty, under re, in defence of occupied positions until surrender. His commanding ofcer was Michael Mallin, of the Irish Citizen Army.

The information, on the following pages, is taken from Cyril’s military pension claim form, in which he has to give details of his duties during his service.

Easter Rising 1916

Cyril ’s arrest in the newspapers. In the Liverpool Echo, 14 June 1918 (left) and in the Birmingham Mail, 15 June 1918 (above)

From 1st Apr 1918 - Nov 1918 - D Company, C.O. Captain O’Leary in Liverpool. Regular service in Dublin City and special dispatch duties to and from New York and Liverpool. Arrested in Liverpool and sentenced to 6 months in Walton Jail. Released in November 1918.

Donal O’Hannigan, who was sent by the Military Council to take command of the Volunteers in Meath and Louth in the rising, is at the extreme right of this picture, taken in Philadelphia in 1918. With him are (from left): Cyril Keogh, G.P.O. Garrison, 1916; Michael McAllister, whose marksmanship helped the Fingal “flying column” to win the Battle of Ashbourne; and Michael O’Callaghan, Tipperary town, who shot his way to freedom in 1916. The four were on a special mission to the U.S.A.

A copy of a Newspaper cutting given to my Mother by Finola, a daughter of Charles Leo Keogh.

RMS Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903 and became famous for rescuing the survivors of rival White Star Line's RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank with a loss of 1,512 lives on 15 April 1912; Carpathia braved dangerous ice fields and diverted all steam power to her engines in her attempt to aid the ship, but sadly arrived two hours after Titanic had sunk; nevertheless, she was able to rescue 705 survivors from the ship's lifeboats. Carpathia herself met her fate in the Atlantic on 17 July 1918 during the First World War after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-55 off the Irish coast. Five of her crew lost their lives in the sinking.

From 1st Apr 1917 - 31st Mar 1918 - D Company, CO Patrick Morrissey. Regular service in Dublin City and special dispatch duties to New York. Escaped arrest under De. O. R1. A. Apr 1917. Worked as a seaman on SS Carpathia carrying dispatches to and from New York and Liverpool.

Frongoch interment camp

From 30th Apr 1916 - 31st Mar 1917 - Arrested as member of the forces, s e n t t o F r o n g o c h a n d t h e n Knutsford. Released 24th Dec 1916. Still in D Company, in service on regular company duties in Dublin City. Commanding ofcer Patrick M o r r i s s e y . R e f e r e e s - L i a m Kavanaugh of 16 Wolsely Road, Dublin and Michael O’Rielly c/o Irish National Insurance Company.

Post 1916

By October 1940 he has moved to Broadway, and by 1942 moved again to 1213 Ogden Avenue, Bronx, New York City. He is still there in March 1943, which means that this is where he was living when his brother J.Augustus was killed in the car accident in Arkansas. I have a p o s t c a r d o f a n d s i g n e d b y J.Augustus, addressed to Cyril at this address, but never sent.

In early 1939 we see he has moved into New York City. On the 12th of March of that year he wrote from No.716-18 West 180th Street, to a Mr B l u n d e n a t t h e P e n s i o n s Department. (Mr Blunden mentions in a memo to a collegue that he went to school with Cyril’s brother ! I wonder which one ?)

The rst address we have for him is in 1934, at Rockaway Beach, Queen’s County, New York, USA. This was known to be an Irish ‘enclave’ at the time.

Not much more is known about Cyril’s movements in America, except for a list of different addresses found on letters to the military service pensions department. He is said to have been involved in the war of independence and seemingly has a medal for such, but I have found no record of him returning to Ireland un til 1951.

No.411 5th Avenue, New York

From 1919 to 1921 t h e I r i s h government’s first bond-certificate drive in the United S t a t e s w a s orchestrated from t h i s o ffi c e , t h e headquarters of t h e A m e r i c a n Commission for Irish Freedom.

In November 1919 Cyril left Ireland for the USA. In his pension claim form he mentions that he “worked in the Bond ofce 411 5th Avenue, New York City, until it closed” This is an interesting point, as James O’Mara ‘The Sinn Fein Millionaire’ also left Ireland for the USA in November of 1919 (did they travel in the same party ?). Eamon De Valera had stowed away on a ship, in June of that year too, after arriving in New York he took an ofce at No. 411 5th Avenue.

Daniel Buckley M.P.

Daniel Buckley was a member of the Irish Volunteers and on the outbreak of the 1916 Easter R i s i n g h e w a l k e d t h e 2 6 kilometres to Dublin to fight for Irish independence. Like many Rising survivors, he joined Sinn Féin. He was elected as a Sinn Féin MP for Kildare North at the 1918 general election. He served in the First Dáil (1918–1921), and was re-elected to the Second Dáil in 1921 as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Kildare–Wicklow.

From 1st Apr 1919 - Nov 1919 - D Company, C.O. Patrick Morrissey. Regular service in Dublin City and Kildare. Election duties for Daniel Buckley, at Robertstown, Kildare. Nov 1919 left for New York.

America

By the 18th of June 1954 Cyril was suffering from Cardiac Debility and Deafness. The Doctor’s report states severe deafness, loss of weight, pulmonary tuberculosis and cardiac debilitus. A cronic invalid and unable to work (18th Nov. 1954)

Back home he nds temporary employment in Dec 1952 for the GPO in Dublin.

The last time Cyril writes to the Pension Department from A m e r i c a i s o n t h e 1 8 t h September 1951. He gives his address as No.676 W 178th Street, New York City 33, USA. But by 24th Nov 1951, he is back home in Ireland writing from, 31 Melrose Avenue, Faieview, Dublin. Giving his previous address as 560 W 179th Street, New York City, USA.

The Consolidated Edison Co. in Manhatten, New York. At this point in his pension claim form Cyril states that he was an electrician.

At some point Cyr i l was working for The Consolidated Edison Co. in New York.He ceased work in May 1949. I am not sure if it was due to an accident or an illness, but he ended up in hospital, I don’t know for how long.

Marriage o

f CYRIL AL

OYSIUS KE

OGH

and MARG

ARET QU

INN CALLE

NDER

Date 19 NO

VEMBER 19

20

Groom’s F

ather JAME

S

Groom’s M

other MAR

Y WALSH

Bride’s Fat

her MICHA

EL

Bride’s Mo

ther MARG

ARET CER

LER

Her father was Michael (I assume Quinn, with the thought that Callender would have been the name of her rst husband ?), her mother was Margaret Cerler. I don’t know how long the marriage lasted but she did not return to Ireland with Cyril. She apparently lived with her daughter who supported her until her death in 1957.

Cyril married Margaret Quinn Callender in Manhatten, New York on the 19th of November 1920. Margaret was a widow with at least one daughter. She was 10 years older than Cyril.

Marriage

Cyril died of pulmonary heart disease on the 15th of April 1964.He was 73.

Death

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