a chairde
I want to say a few words this afternoon as we remember Bill Lennon and unveil this fine and fitting memorial to this man and his life.
Ba mhaith liom ar an gcéad dul síos fáilte mór a chuir roimh chlann Bill. Is mór an rud go bhfuil sibh anseo inar dteannta inniu.
At the outset I would like to welcome members of Billy’s family here this afternoon, some of whom have travelled a great distance to be with us on this solemn and special occasion. I know Billy’s memory is treasured by his relations, and this is a day of reflection as well as pride.
Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leo agus leis an gcoiste – as a gcuid oibre chun an leac cuimhneacháin seo a chur suas, agus as ucht an cuireadh cúpla focail a rá anseo.
I want to commend the work of the local committee in making this day happen – there was a considerable amount of work involved and it was a labour of great love and pride for them over the last number of years.
Bill Lennon lived his life through immensely important and turbulent time in our country’s history.
He was no mere bystander in those years of huge change, where a generation of Irish women and men set out, like generations before them, to strike for their country’s freedom. To vindicate the right of the Irish people to the ownership of their country and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies.
This was the generation that shouted in the face of empire – ‘enough is enough! Change starts here’
We imagine that those who participated in that war against empire were giants of men, battle-hardened war heroes and veteran guerrilla fighters.
Some were, but for the most part they were young men and women, in their late teens or early twenties – Like Bill they were were fearless, determined, visionary, young.
They were excited for the future. They knew it belonged to them, and they set about the work of changing the course of history and shaping that future.
Their grandparent’s generation had starved under the yoke of empire and were dispersed across the world on coffin ships. Their fathers and brothers had been mowed down at Gallipoli and the Somme as cannon fodder for the empire. Their mothers struggled under the enforced poverty that saw the wealth of their nation stripped by empire.
Bill’s young years would have no doubt shaped his desire the bring about change – to end the enforced poverty that subjugated the needs of the Irish working class of a colonial elite and Britain’s imperial agenda.
He experienced loss and hardship at a young age with the passing of his mother and his moving out of home to work as a farm hand while little more than a boy.
Bill’s generation knew that things had to change – British colonial rule had to end, as did the system that kept working people down. They resolved to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally.
He wanted to play his part in the struggle for Irish independence and for the societal change so cruelly held back by Britain and its colonial administration.
That is why he sought out and joined the Irish volunteers shortly after the 1916 Rising, and began his role as a soldier of the Irish Republican Army – serving with distinction at both battalion and ASU level.
As the Tan War raged across Munster, the West Waterford Brigade of the IRA was bringing the fight to the British – forcing them to concentrate their numbers into ever fewer garrisons. The strategy was to liberate the country one burning barracks at a time, to cut communications, and to make their oldest colony ungovernable.
The IRA had put the British on notice: West Waterford was no longer to be considered part of the Empire. The message was being delivered loud and clear – the only safe place for crown forces was the boat back to England.
But the Empire fought back – pouring men and weaponry into Ireland. Terrorising civilians and targeting villages, towns and cities in vicious reprisals.
They feared losing their oldest colony, but more than that they feared the radical and democratic revolution that was taking place across the country. Working people were fighting to liberate their country and to end the endemic poverty and inequality that marred their lives.
The 3rd Battalion of the IRA covered an area stretching from Clashmore over the Drum Hills to An Rinn, along the coast from Ardmore to A Sean Phobal. Bill Lennon participated in several operations against British forces including against the Marines stationed at Ardmore, the Piltown Ambush, and attacks on RIC and British Army patrols sent out from their garrison in Youghal.
Through their guerrilla tactics, the IRA forced the British Government to the negotiating table. The 1921 truce gave IRA volunteers a chance to take stock, to get some much needed rest, and to plan for the future.
Many suspected the war would continue and the IRA continued to source arms, to train and to ready themselves for the fight ahead. Few of them could have predicted that when the fighting began again it would be a civil war.
The subsequent treaty and partition caused deep divisions in Irish society. While the majority of IRA members opposed the treaty some, like Bill, did join the Free State army perhaps out of a sense of hope, sometimes out of loyalty to a local commander, and often out of economic necessity. We cannot underestimate the hardship faced by IRA volunteers and their families during four years of harsh guerrilla warfare, and the complex and sometimes conflicting loyalties and hopes that they held.
The savagery unleashed by the Free State against the IRA left the country reeling. Irish men equipped with British weapons and often under the command of British officers turned their guns on those who had stood by Ireland and fought for her freedom.
Republicans like Bill Lennon could not stomach the new regime and its brutality – they saw it for what it was – a military junta of the native economic elite, supplied and commanded by Britain, and sent to quell the Irish revolution.
Bill deserted the Free State army to rejoin his comrades in the IRA. During this period he lived on the run, and played a significant role in the IRA in West Waterford. It was while on an operation with the county’s senior command that that Bill Lennon was captured by Free State forces. He had been shot several times and arrested in possession of a weapon – meaning an automatic death sentence. He was taken to Dungarvan hospital, where against the odds he began to recover. Every day he got better brought him a day closer to his execution.
It is a sign of the esteem in which Bill was held by his comrades that they mounted a daring and successful rescue operation. Bill would live to fight another day.
And fight he did. As the civil war came to an end Bill and his comrades were ostracised and blacklisted by the Free State regime. Many endured poverty and discrimination, and chose to emigrate. The counterrevolution was in full swing and Republican fighters were not welcome in the new state. The only changes the Free State was interested in were cosmetic – the old order prevailed, albeit under a different flag.
The regime sought to solidify its position and undermine the challenge Irish Republicanism posed to it. Reactionary and far-right forces coalesced into Eoin O’Duffy’s Blue Shirt movement – modelled on the fascist gangs used by Mussolini and Hitler. Their aim was to halt change – to spread fear, attack the change makers, disrupt their organisation and ensure workers, women and republicans were put back in their box.
Bill Lennon was having none of it. Like many IRA members he railed against the Blue Shirts and their reactionary vision of an Ireland controlled by economic and clerical elites. This included a famous confrontation in Aglish where Bill Lennon, reportedly on horseback, led 200 Irish Republicans through the village to defy and disrupt a Blue Shirt rally.
His idea of Irish freedom was one that had fairness and equality at its core – where working people and small farmers could escape the hardship inflicted on them by British rule. This is what motivated the IRA and men like Bill Lennon to take up arms – the promise of change.
It is very fitting that we gather here to remember Bill, to celebrate his life, to acknowledge his contribution and to rededicate ourselves to his vision.
The only full and fitting tribute we can give him and his comrades is to deliver the Republic they dreamed of – to make good the promise of the 1916 Proclamation – to build the fair and free Ireland that he fought for.
Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.
Up the Republic!
Delivered at Clashmore 24 March 2024
Conor D. McGuinness TD 