'The Banner of the Patriots’: The Portobello Barracks Banner and the Memory of the Dead

On 17 May 1922, troops from the newly-formed National Army of the Irish Free State took possession of Portobello Barracks. This was a hugely symbolic event, as it was one of the last barracks surrendered to the Irish Free State Government by the British Army under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed the previous December. As they passed through the gates, the Irish soldiers carried aloft a tricolour banner, ‘The Banner of the Patriots’, embroidered with the names of nine of their comrades killed during the War of Independence. The Freeman’s Journal reported that this banner added a “note of poignant impressiveness” to the Irish soldiers’ march to Portobello. It featured prominently again on 25 May when a detachment of Irish Army soldiers from Portobello Barracks marched through the streets of Dublin to attend a memorial mass held in St. Agatha’s Church on North William Street. The mass was arranged to mark the anniversary of those who had died in the attack on the Custom House the previous year.

The ceremonies performed by the Free State Army in Portobello Barracks and St. Agatha’s Church took place against the backdrop of escalating tensions within the Irish independence movement, which had split over the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty the previous year. This division ultimately resulted in all-out Civil War in late June. Tragically, this meant there were soon more names to add to the banner. Tom Kehoe was killed by a mine planted by Anti-Treaty forces in Carrigaphoca, Co. Cork, on 16 September 1922. Michael Dunne was killed by booby-trap bomb on 6 March 1923 in Knocknagoshel, Co. Kerry. Surprisingly, the final name added was not a Free State soldier. Denis ‘Dinny’ Lacey was an anti-Treaty Republican and was shot dead by Free State soldiers in Ballydavid, Co. Tipperary, on 18 February 1923 while trying to evade capture. Why his name was included on the banner is not known. Perhaps it was a gesture of reconciliation or a recognition of the shared losses of the Civil War.

Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan, today visited Kilmainham Gaol to view this remarkable object as it goes on public display in the Museum for the first time. This is to coincide with the centenary of the anniversary mass held in St. Agatha’s Church on 25 May 1922 to mark the first anniversary of the Battle of the Custom House. The exhibition will also feature a number of objects and letters connected with the men whose names appear on the banner, as well as a newly conserved Free State Army bandsman’s uniform worn by John Bermingham at the takeover of Beggar’s Bush Barracks in February 1922.

Photography to be circulated after the event from Photocall Ireland - info@photocallireland.com

For further information on the exhibition and the artefacts, please contact Brian Crowley, Kilmainham Gaol Museum at 01 453 5984 or at brian.crowley@opw.ie

• the new exhibition will run from 25 May 2022 to 10 January 2023
• Kilmainham Gaol is located at Inchicore Road, Dublin 8 and is currently open daily from 9.30am to 5.30pm (last admission 5pm)
• last year, the OPW opened the refurbished Custom House Visitor Centre where visitors are taken on a narrative journey of the building and the city from the 1700s up to the present day. The exhibition shows how the building witnessed some of the most momentous events in Irish history, from the 1916 Easter Rising to the birth of the Irish Free State and eventually the Republic of Ireland. The fulcrum of this story is the burning of the Custom House in May 1921, which is brought to life though captivating audio-visual interpretation and artefacts from the period
• the Custom House Visitor Centre is open daily from 10am to 5.30pm