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1922-53

National Army Soldier Christopher O’Toole

 

National Army Soldier Christopher O’Toole of 136 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin (Rochestown)  

Date of incident: 8 Aug. 1922

Sources: Irish Times, 14 Aug. 1922; CE, 17 Aug. 1922; MSPC/2D17 (Military Archives); O’Farrell, Who’s Who, 210; Borgonovo (2011), 147, fn. 28; Keane (2017), 292-94, 416. 

 

Note: Private Christopher O’Toole was killed at Rochestown on 8 August 1922 as Free State troops met resistance in their advance towards the capture of Cork city. A member of the Dublin Guards Reserve, O’Toole was among a group of National Army soldiers ‘killed at Cork’ who were buried on Monday, 14 August 1922, in the National Army Plot at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. See Irish Times, 14 Aug. 1922; CE, 17 Aug. 1922.

In a claim for a dependant’s allowance under the Army Pensions Act of 1923, the representative of Mrs Catherine McBride (a widow who remarried) advanced the following case: ‘The applicant is mother of deceased and states that she was partially dependent upon him. He was employed by Mr Mooney, 26 Clarendon St [Dublin], as a carter and gave her 30/- per week previous to joining the National Army. Her husband (second) was also in the National Army and has only recently been discharged. He was a casual labourer before joining the National Army. The applicant is 43 years of age and hawks vegetables, but is at present unable to continue this business owing to being unable to purchase them. She appears to be very poor, but she has no other children, and if her husband was working, I am sure she would be fairly comfortable.’ [This last claim seems dubious on its face.] See Mrs Catherine McBride’s Claim, 10 March 1924, MSPC/2D17 (Military Archives). Mrs McBride initially received a gratuity of £15, which the Army Pensions Board subsequently raised to £50 on appeal. See Army Finance Officer to Secretary, Department of Finance, 26 May 1925, MSPC/2D17 (Military Archives).   

The Irish Revolution Project

Scoil na Staire /Tíreolaíocht

University College Cork, Cork,

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