An Cosantóir the official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces and Reserve Defence Forces.
Issue link: https://digital.jmpublishing.ie/i/35286
The Hidden History of the Glen | 17 lish dead were buried in pits at the ford at Barravore, with the exception of some officers who were buried near the Giant’s Grave to the east. Near Drumgoff, a boulder known as Cullen’s Rock is engraved to commemorate the battle. This rock was used as a gallows by British forces in 1798, victims being dropped from a framework rigged over it. About two kilometres to the southeast of Coolmooney camp is the Dwyer-McAllister cottage, reconstructed in the 1940s as a memorial to commemorate the events of the night of February 15th 1799. For some years after the 1798 rebellion, rebels conducted a guerrilla campaign in the Wicklow Mountains, the most famous of whom was Michael Dwyer, based in the Glen of Imaal. Dwyer’s main sanctuary was a dugout high on the slopes of Keadeen mountain, large enough for a dozen men and lined with moss to counter dampness. However, on harsh winter nights the rebels were obliged to shelter in farmhouses at the mountain’s base. On that February night, an informant tipped off the small British garrison at Humewood and about 100 troops from a locally-based Highland regiment quickly surrounded three cottages at Derrynamuck. The rebels in two of the houses surrendered to protect the families sheltering them. (All but one were subsequently executed.) In the third cottage, Dwyer and three comrades put up a fight. Heavily outnumbered, their situation be- came desperate when the thatch was set on fire. Dwyer’s wounded comrade, Sam McAllister from Antrim, sacrificed himself by exposing himself to a volley from the Highland- ers, allowing Dwyer to make a break for freedom. Barefoot and lightly dressed, he slipped on ice and fell, causing another volley to miss him. Felling a Highlander who gave chase, Dwyer was soon pursued by another British detach- ment based at Davidstown who had observed him running through the snow towards Seskin. Freezing and feet bleed- ing, Dwyer eventually escaped into the mountains where he continued his guerrilla campaign until December 1803 when he surrendered and was transported to Australia. To be continued… Michael Dwyer Memorial stone in Glenmalure THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE