An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 35 ous truth that by early 1920 elements within the DFB were operating hand in hand with the IRA. The 'inability' of the DFB to deal with fires in British government property was shown again in the attack on tax offices, military stores and vehicles and other incendi- ary incidents where in all cases the targets were burned out throughout 1920 and early 1921. Firefighters on am- bulance duty took wounded Volunteers from the scene of ambushes and brought them to sympathetic hospitals and nursing homes for treatment. Weapons, ammunition and incriminating documents were removed from wounded men and returned to IRA quartermasters. The DFB was becoming more and more embroiled in the guerrilla war on the streets of Dublin. The incident where they would cross the line from support to active participation would come in May 1921 with the attack on the Custom House. On 25 th May 1921 units of the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Republican Army went into action to destroy the seat of British civil power in Ireland, the Custom House. DFB firefighters including Joe Connolly and Austin Mc- Donald played a part in planning the attack on the Custom House including recommending the use of paraffin rather than petrol for the incendiary attacks. On the morning of the attack the fire stations in the city were taken over and held by IRA units. In the case of Tara Street 'K' Company of the 3rd battalion held the station. In later years the CO of 'K' Company would thank the intelligence officers within the DFB for their assistance with the takeover of the stations. When the DFB arrived at the Custom House they found many parts of the building had not burned and set about remedying that position by using the remaining paraffin to spread the fire into areas which had escaped the initial burning. Other members broke into offices and prepared them for burning by opening doors and cupboards and spreading the contents around to ensure their destruction. Their comrades outside took an inordinate length to make down to water supplies and then much of that water was simply hosed on to the outside walls. Another task undertaken by the firemen was the removal of abandoned IRA weapons which were smuggled out and later that day returned to IRA/ICA arms dumps. One of those involved in this activity was Tom Smart, an IRA vet- eran of the fierce fighting at North King Street and the Four Courts area in 1916. While searching the Custom House and ensuring its destruction firefighters discovered four IRA members hid- ing out in the building. One of the firemen, Michael Rogers, returned to Tara Street and brought back uniforms for the men to change in to. They were smuggled away as injured firemen. One of the uniforms was later used by Captain Mick O`Kelly of the ICA who toured the building to assess the damage and organise the removal of weapons. Michael Rogers would write his account of the Custom House fire for the Irish Press following his retirement from the DFB after a long and distinguished career. In a series of articles, he wrote about some of the incidents he had attended from the death of Matt Talbot to the Belfast blitz. He tells of the tension among DFB members who were also active in the IRA in the run up to major operations like Bloody Sunday and the Custom House attack. He tells the story with a very human touch remembering incidents like how, "we had the building practically at our mercy and many parts of it that were not on fire when we arrived were blazing nicely in a short time." One abiding memory for him was when the Auxies, who had taken Liberty Hall as a temporary post discovered the instruments of the ITGWU band and set up on the steps of Liberty Hall in the early hours of the morning to play 'Keep the Home Fires Burning'. He was less enamoured of the Auxies who, to settle a bet as to who was the best shot, began to shoot out the remaining windows following their impromptu concert. The Custom House would burn for five days in spite of the fact that the brigade was largely the same seasoned firefighters who had stopped the fires of 1916 within a day. There was no will at any level within the brigade to extinguish this fire which was seen as a major blow to the British Administration. Many parts of the building which were noted as undamaged after the initial attack were later found to have been ransacked and burned. The Cus- tom House is the point where Dublin firemen went from aiding and abetting attacks on Crown Forces and property to becoming active participants. Their activities were overlooked and forgotten for many years and as always, I welcome the opportunity to tell their story. About the Author: Las Fallon, a fire- fighter with Dublin Fire Brigade since 1985 and recently retired, is the au- thor of Dublin Fire Brigade and the Irish Revolution (2012) and The Firemen's Tale: the burning of the Custom House 1921 (2015) and published by Kilmainham Tales www.kilmain- hamtales.ie. Las is a former volunteer curator of the DFB Museum (2008-2011), and an avid collec- tor and researcher of Irish fire service history and memorabilia.

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