An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 33 FORGOTTEN ALLIES BY LAS FALLON D ublin Fire Brigade (DFB) in 1919-1921 was a well trained, well equipped professional force under the command of the Chief Officer, Captain John Myers. The brigade numbered just under 60 men stationed at four stations at Thomas Street, Dorset Street, Buckingham Street and brigade headquarters at Tara Street. To the south in the townships of Rathmines and Pembroke, there were also fire stations with fulltime fire brigades. The DFB's main firefighting resource at the time were its two Leyland motor fire engines, one stationed at brigade headquarters at Tara Street and one at Thomas Street, it also had three horse-drawn aerial ladders which could be used for both firefighting and rescue work. The brigade also provided the city's ambulance service as it had since 1898. The Brigades greatest challenge to date had come with the Rising in 1916 when Dublin burned and the city streets were a battlefield. After the ceasefire and surrender on April 29th, the brigade had gone into action immediately to prevent the spread of fire and deal with the major fires burning in the city. They had been prevented from turning out earlier due to martial law restrictions and the dangers of firefighting in a city at war. On 24th April 1916 one firefighter, Joseph Connolly, had left Tara Street on hearing from his brother Sean that the Rising was going ahead. Like Sean, who would soon be killed in ac- tion at City Hall, Joe was a member of the Irish Citizen Army. He left the station and reported for duty with the ICA, fighting through the week as part of the College of Surgeons garrison. Joe Connolly returned to Dublin Fire Brigade after his impris- onment in Frongoch and was reinstated without question. The year 1917 saw the first glimpses of a militant mood within the DFB. A large British Army recruiting banner had been fixed to the front of the burned out GPO. When it was set on fire by Volunteers the brigade on arrival saw what was burning and returned to their station without taking action. On the last day of September 1917 a large contingent from the Dublin Fire Brigade, including the brigades two motor pumps and the Chief Officer, formed part of the funeral procession for Thomas Ashe. It was noted by one visiting English journalist that the firemen were wearing 'Sinn Féin armlets'. When events moved beyond the symbolic and into the realms of open warfare members of the DFB also are to be found involved. When DMP G Division Sergeant Patrick Smyth was shot in an early operation by the Squad on 30th July 1919, the DFB ambulance crew which collected him from his house to bring him to hospital included Joe Connolly the 1916 veter- an. Immediately after the shooting he made contact with Joe Lawless of the Squad to let him know that Smyth, although shot a number of times with .38 revolvers, was not dead. While Smyth did eventually die from complications of his wounds the Squad reviewed their tactics and tended towards heavier calibre .455 revolvers for future attacks on their targets. In the 1918 to 1920 period a number of both IRA Volunteers and active sympathisers joined the DFB. Some of these men, like Tom Smart and Tom Kavanagh, were 1916 veterans and should have been well known to the authorities. Kavanagh, like another Volunteer who joined at this time, Austin Mc- Donald, had served a sentence in jail for illegal drilling. Other The Dublin Fire Brigade 1919-1921 Sunday 12th December 1920 a Dublin Fire Brigade contingent were conveyed by the special train to Cork to help with the fires during the Burning of Cork. Photo: National Library of Ireland/W. D. Hogan/NLI Ref _HOG143

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