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| File Reference |
MSP34REF60921
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| Name |
Sarah Ryan |
| Gender |
female |
| Maiden/Other names |
McGrath
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| Address detail |
| Street |
Kilmaquage / Kilmaguage, Newport
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| County |
Tipperary
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| Country |
Ireland
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| Address detail |
| Street |
Saint Mary’s Ward, Hospital of the Assumption, Thurles
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| County |
Tipperary
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| Country |
Ireland
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| Date of birth |
1895
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| Notes |
Exact date of birth not recorded on file
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| Date of death |
1976-05-26
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| Place |
Hospital of the Assumption, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland
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| Associated files in MSPA |
34E8787
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| Related files |
MSP34REF44315 (Brigid Kenendy, sister); MSP34REF15663 (Mary McGrath, sister)
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| Civilian occupation |
Farmer's daughter;
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| Easter rising service |
No |
| Organisation |
Cumann na mBan |
| Rank |
Member
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| Unit |
6 Battalion
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| Company |
Newport Branch
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| Brigade |
1 Tipperary Brigade
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| Commanding Officer(s) |
John McGrath (no relation); Bill Gleeson; Tom McGrath
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| Pension Claim |
Yes |
| Award Pension |
Yes |
| Military Service Pensions Acts 1924 |
No |
| Military Service Pensions Acts 1934 |
Yes |
| Grade |
E |
| Notes |
Awarded 2 ½ years of service for pension purposes in 1946.
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| Military Service Pensions Acts 1949 |
No |
| Digital file |
Scanned/digital copyMSP34REF60921 Sarah Ryan.pdf
Scanned/digital copy34E8787 Sarah Ryan.pdf |
| File dates |
20 December 1945 - 20 September 1976
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| Subject Information |
File relates to Sarah Ryan's receipt of a military service pension in respect of her service with Cumann na mBan which was successful for the service periods between 1 April 1920 and 30 September 1923 during the War of Independence, Truce period and the Civil War.
Sarah Ryan states she set up the Newport branch of Cumann na mBan in 1916, was Vice President from the start and was engaged in routine activities including making First Aid kits for the Irish Volunteers. Along with her sisters, Mary (MSP34REF15663) and Brigid (MSP34REF44315), she catered for men calling to the house which was used for Brigade meetings and as a call house for dispatches. Claimant’s brothers Tom and John were both in the Irish Volunteers, later the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Throughout the War of Independence Sarah Ryan states she continued to cater for men calling, she carried dispatches, she observed the movements of the British military who had a post just over a mile away and she cared for arms kept in two dumps on the land. She states IRA called for food and First Aid prior and following the Lackamore ambush (9 April 1920) and Lackelly ambush (12 May 1921). She claims on 14 May 1921 she observed Detective Inspector Biggs passing in a motorcar and alerted Paddy Ryan, who was in her house having food, and it was decided to ambush Biggs on his return. She states she assisted him in rounding up local IRA men, and after they had shot Biggs she gave the all-clear on their line of retreat and met them with haversacks and their coats. In October 1920, claimant states her brother Tom left to join the Active Service Unit (ASU), and since her brother John was in Wandsworth prison since the previous May, claimant and her sisters had responsibility for keeping the farm going, and looking after arms dump. When her brother was released (May 1921) and returned from England, she had a dug-out constructed on their land for him, and nursed him back to health.
For two months during the Truce period (July 1921 - June 1922), claimant states she nursed Paddy Ryan, along with her sisters.
During the Civil War Period applicant states she continued catering and washing clothes for the ASU, receiving and carrying dispatches and gathering information on movements of the Free State Forces (National Army) for the IRA. She states her brother Tom was arrested in November 1922, and her brother John in early 1923. She claims John dug a tunnel out of Limerick jail, escaped and joined the ASU. After this escape she states the house was raided constantly, and shots fired into it while claimant was inside. Sarah Ryan states that in addition to the above activities which she and her sisters did equally, she also frequently got ammunition from Free State soldiers and information on impending raids which she passed on.
File includes: original handwritten material submitted and signed by Sarah Ryan in support of her application; handwritten statements regarding claimant’s service activities from PF O’Brien, Seán O’Carroll, James Hewitt, EJ O’Leary (28 June - 1 July 1946); typed copy of notes taken of sworn evidence given by Mr McGrath and Mr Gaynor on behalf of claimant (19 July 1946); typed transcript of sworn evidence given by claimant before Referee and Advisory Committee on 3 July 1946 and material relating to the settlement and closure of claimant's service pension following her death on 26 May 1976 - partly closed for reasons of data protection.
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