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| File Reference |
MSP34REF21849
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| Name |
Mary Catherine Carron |
| Gender |
female |
| Maiden/Other names |
Nolan
Ciss
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| Address detail |
| Street |
16 Lower Mount Street, Dublin
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| County |
Dublin
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| Country |
Ireland
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| Address detail |
| Street |
O’Neill Street, Carrickmacross
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| County |
Monaghan
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| Country |
Ireland
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| Date of birth |
1900-10-28
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| Date of death |
1960-12-08
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| Associated files in MSPA |
34E8229; DP24764;
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| Civilian occupation |
Student;
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| Easter rising service |
No |
| Organisation |
Cumann na mBan |
| Rank |
Unknown
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| Unit |
3 Battalion
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| Company |
University Branch
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| Brigade |
Dublin Brigade
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| Commanding Officer(s) |
Mrs P McCarville; Andy McDonnell; Noel Lemass;
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| Organisation |
Cumann na mBan |
| Rank |
Unknown
|
| Division |
5 Northern Division
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| Company |
Dundalk Branch
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| Brigade |
2 (Monaghan) Brigade
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| Commanding Officer(s) |
Mrs P Maguire
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| Pension Claim |
Yes |
| Award Pension |
Yes |
| Army Pensions Act 1923/1953 |
No |
| Military Service Pensions Acts 1924 |
No |
| Military Service Pensions Acts 1934 |
Yes |
| Grade |
E |
| Notes |
Awarded 3 and ½ years of service for pension purposes in 1943 following an appeal.
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| Military Service Pensions Acts 1949 |
No |
| Digital file |
Scanned/digital copyMSP34REF21849 Mary Catherine Carron.pdf
Scanned/digital copy34E8229 Mary Catherine Carron.pdf
Scanned/digital copyDP24764 Mary Catherine Carron.pdf |
| File dates |
18 November 1923 - 27 July 1961
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| Subject Information |
File relates to Mary Catherine Carron’s receipt of a military service pension in respect of her service with Cumann na mBan which, following an appeal in 1942, was successful for the service periods between 1 April 1920 and 31 March 1923 during the War of Independence, Truce period and the Civil War. A subsequent appeal resulted in the final period up to 30 September 1923 also being included. Her first application was refused, she claimed unsuccessfully for service in all other periods between 1 April 1916 and 30 September 1923 and appealed unsuccessfully for an upgrading of rank.
Mary Catherine Carron (known then as Ciss Nolan) states she joined the Carrickmacross branch of Cumann na mBan in 1915 and was engaged in routine activities including attending parades, drilling, collecting funds and attending First Aid lectures. She claims her uncle Thomas Nolan (officer in the Irish Republican Brotherhood) and her brother James Nolan (officer in Carickmacross Company) were arrested after the East Cavan Election 1918, and entrusted her with important messages while she was still a schoolgirl. In October 1918 she went to University College Dublin and transferred to the University branch.
Throughout the War of Independence Carron states she continued her activities both in the Dublin branch and in the Carrickmacross branch when home on holidays. She states she carried dispatches several times a week and provided IRA men (including William Loughran and Owen Meegan) with refreshments when calling while in Dublin. In mid-1920 she states her brother Thomas was sent to Dublin for arms, and applicant claims she assisted him in obtaining six parcels of revolvers from a house in Dublin and accompanied him back to Carrickmacross. She claims she carried out work for Noel Lemass personally including taking care of his gun, and keeping dispatches, and was eventually obliged to leave her student digs on Mount Street due to frequent raids. She also claims she assisted in his escape from one raid and along with her brother escorted Lemass to Dundalk.
In the Truce period applicant was home in Carrickmacross where she was engaged in carrying dispatches, propaganda work and collecting funds for IRA Prisoners’ Dependents . She claims she brought a large volume of guns from Belfast to Dundalk on instruction from William Loughran, and delivered them to Séamus Layng. She was also apparently arrested at Shercock with a dispatch which she ate before it was discovered. She was not detained.
During the Civil War Period, applicant states that the Monaghan Brigade split on the question of the Treaty. During the week of the Four Courts, applicant was home on holidays and states she was asked by Owen Meegan, Inniskeen to stay and was appointed Officer in Charge of Cumann na mBan by him and instructed to work directly under Dundalk. References state she was in charge of the Prisoners’ Dependents Fund and was the only active member of Cumann na mBan in Carrickmacross. References also state she carried dispatches, catered for IRA men calling (including Ernie O’Malley, Seán MacBride and Tony Woods) and conveyed arms. She states her brother had a chemist’s shop opposite the barracks, the upper floor of which was commandeered by the Free State Forces (National Army). He regularly passed her information relating to when the cycling column were about to leave and where they were going which she passed on. On one occasion applicant and references state she raced ahead of the column taking a short cut to warn twenty men who had escaped Dundalk Prison of the column’s approach, successfully saving them from arrest. She was also apparently arrested in Inniskeen and taken to Dundalk but released after a few hours.
File includes: original handwritten material submitted and signed by Mary Catherine Carron in support of her application; handwritten dispatches from Jimmy Fitzsimons, Officer in Charge Monaghan Brigade, Johnny McCarville and [Maguire], Headquarters 4 Brigade IRA to claimant relating to raffle ticket sales (18 November 1923 - 25 March 1924); handwritten and typed statements regarding claimant’s service activities from [McGuinness], A Maguire, Thomas [Carahy/ Carahan], Peter McKitterick, Michael Turk, Timothy A Coffey, Eileen McCarvill, Niall McNeill, Brian McMahon, PJ O’Daly, Thomas Callan, [Tom] O’Duffy, Mrs Nano Magennis, [Conn] Ward, John Hand, Séamus Layng, JJ Cooney, Denis Smyth and Rose Agnew (9 July 1940 -18 January 1943); handwritten notes relating to discussions held with MA McDonnell and Niall McNeill [verifying officers] regarding claimant's service and activities (30 November - 17 December 1942); typed letter from Seán Lemass, TD to claimant relating to work claimant carried out for Seán’s brother, Noel (20 May 1942); typed transcript of summary of sworn evidence given by claimant before Interviewing Officers on 2 May 1941 and material relating to the settlement and closure of claimant's service pension following her death on 08 December 1960 - partly closed for reasons of data protection.
File further includes material relating to subject’s unsuccessful application for a special allowance under the Army Pensions Acts including: medical certificate in respect of Mary Catherine Carron; social welfare report and investigation regarding subject’s circumstances and means – closed for reasons of data protection; and material relating to enquiry to the Pensions Administration Section, Department of Defence regarding information on file – closed for reasons of data protection.
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