An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2019 www.dfmagazine.ie 50 | WEXFORD'S MILITARY BY SGT WAYNE FITZGERALD PHOTOS ARMN JAMIE BARRETT W exford and its people have long been associated with military activity. The county's main town from which it takes its name, was founded around 800AD by Vikings, who named it Veisafjǫrðr, meaning 'inlet of the way' or 'way fjord'. Viking rule lasted until the 11th century when the King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, and his Norman ally, Robert FitzStephen, besieged the town. The Norse inhabitants resisted fiercely, until the bishop of Ferns persuaded them to accept a settlement. Wexford is no stranger to atrocity. During the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1653) a fleet of privateers consisting mainly of sailors from Flanders and Spain, as well as local men, used Wexford Town as a base to attack Parliamentary ships. As a result the town was targeted and brutally sacked by the New Model Army in 1649, at the start of the Cromwellian Conquest. Cromwell's army broke into the town while the garrison commander was trying to nego- tiate a surrender and slaughtered soldiers and civilians alike. Later, during the 1798 Rebellion, New Bawn, Co Wexford, was the scene of a notorious massacre of local loyalists after the United Irishmen suffered heavy losses in the Battle of New Ross. Wexford also has a strong tradition of military service. From the middle of the 19th century to the end of the Great War, four Wexford men received the Victoria Cross, the British Army's high- est award for heroism: Lance Corporal John Sinnott and Leading Seaman John Harrison during the Indian Rebellion (1857); Private William Kenealy at Gallipoli (1915); and New Ross man, Coy Sgt Maj Martin Doyle on the Western Front (1918). The latter's citation reads: "For most conspicuous bravery on the 2nd September, 1918, near Riencourt, when as Acting Company Serjeant-Major, command of the company devolved upon him consequent on officer casualties. Observing that some of our men were surrounded by the enemy, he led a party to their assistance, and by skill and leadership worked his way along the trenches, killed several of the enemy and extri- cated the party, carrying back, under heavy fire, a wounded officer to a place of safety. Later, seeing a tank in difficulties, he rushed forward under intense fire, routed the enemy who were attempting to get into it, and prevented the advance of another enemy party collecting for a further attack on the tank. An enemy machine gun now opened on the tank at close range, rendering it impossible to get the wounded away, whereupon CSM Doyle, with great gal- lantry, rushed forward, and, single-handed, silenced the machine gun, capturing it with three prisoners. He then carried a wounded man to safety under very heavy fire. Later in the day, when the enemy counter-attacked his position, he showed great power of command, driving back the enemy and capturing many prisoners. Throughout the whole of these opera- tions CSM Doyle set the very highest example to all ranks by his courage and total disregard of danger." After the war, Martin Doyle, like many others, came home to a different Ireland. With armed rebellion underway, Doyle's military experience and battle-hardened know-how was in great demand by those leading the fight against his former paymasters. He joined the IRA and fought in the War of Independence, before tak- ing the pro-Treaty side in the subsequent civil war. Doyle went on to serve in the National Army until his retire- ment in 1937. He died of polio in 1940, aged only 49, and is buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin. My research of Martin Doyle brought me to his home county of Wexford, were I met a number of Wexford IUNVA members. The veterans association has two posts in the county: Post 3 Gorey (a recent amalgamation of two posts in Wexford and Gorey), which has 24 members; and Post 31 (Enniscorthy), which has 17 members. We met nine members of these posts in the recently built Enniscorthy Peace Park and Presentation Centre, on the grounds of the old Presentation Covent, where IUNVA has a memorial to deceased members of the Defence Forces. Mick O'Neill (Chairman Post 31), who was the driving force behind the memorial, said that the monument was originally erected in the town's 1798 Centre in 2013, but was moved to its new location due to uncertainty over the future of the centre. CSM Martin Doyle (second to right) in his Royal Munster Fusiliers uniform with BA colleagues. CSM Martin Doyle greets Queen Mary at a garden party for 300 VC recipients in June 1920. CSM Martin Doyle's Victoria Cross

• Cover