An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 31 During this time he was also engaged by Tom Hunter and Peadar Clancy, owners of the Republican Out- fitters in Talbot Street, a known meeting point for members of the nationalist movement. On 29th Janu- ary 1919, Forde was arrested with 11 others at the Volunteer Hall on Clonliffe Road. Sentenced to six months imprisonment, he was one of a large group of prisoners who escaped from Mountjoy two months later. He went on the run in Clare and Galway before returning to Dublin, where he recommenced his work with the Republican Out- fitters and his activities with the Volunteers, including the planning of an attack on a Brit- ish troop train at Newcomen Bridge, North Strand. Around April 1920 Forde was appointed Deputy Intelligence Of- ficer of the Dublin Brigade, frequent- ly meeting with country units and acting as a conduit between them and GHQ. It was at the Republican Outfitters shop on 14th October 1920 that he witnessed one of the defining moments of the War of Independence. Seán, Leo Henderson and Joe Vize were chatting to one of the most wanted men in Ireland, Seán Treacy, of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade, when the shop was raided by British troops. Af- ter shots were exchanged, Treacy tried to escape on a bicycle that was far too big for him. He fell off and was shot dead. Forde and his companions were arrested. After giving the false name, John Fitzgerald, he remained unrecognised and was released on 30th October. To his surprise and delight, the £35 in notes he had in his pocket on the day of his arrest (the takings from the shop) was still there when his clothes were returned to him! Séan immediately resumed his role as a senior intelligence of- ficer and was on active service with the Dublin Brigade during this crucial part of the War of Independence. He had regular contact with the Intelligence Department at GHQ, and occasionally stood in for its commanding officer, Joe Griffin. He is thought to have replaced Griffin as Brigade Intelligence Officer when the latter was arrested after the Custom House attack in May 1921. In an interview, under oath, with the Military Pensions Advi- sory Committee in 1940, Seán related the following story that indicates the respect that existed between the adversaries at the time: "…Mrs McCarthy, the wife of the DI who was shot by McEoin in Longford, sent a very fine letter to Dublin Castle, pointing out that although her husband was shot by this man that he had behaved very gentlemanly and that kind of thing and that from his point of view he was fighting for the freedom of his country and it was not murder in the ordinary sense and as the widow of the dead man she appealed to him to stay the execution. This letter I gave to Mick Collins myself." When 'the split' came at the end of 1921 Seán became the deputy to Director of Intelligence of the IRA, Joe Griffin. After the attack on the Four Courts and the beginning of the Civil War in June 1922, Forde was engaged in the fighting in Dublin, including that at the Gresham Hotel where Cathal Brugha was in command. On Brugha's orders he and others attempted to get to Leenane in Connemara to receive a shipment of weapons. On their first attempt they were turned back at Naas by Free State soldiers and returned to Dublin. However, on the second attempt they trav- elled via Blessington, Co Wicklow, where they linked up with Ernie O'Malley, amongst others, and made it to their destination, later returning to Dublin through Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. Forde became IRA Director of Intelligence following the arrest of Joe Griffin on 8th July. On October 8th, while disguised as a clergyman, he was recognised, arrested and interned on the Cur- ragh (Hare Park Camp) and later in Mountjoy, where he went on a 37-day hunger strike. He was released in May 1924. For a period in the 1920s and early '30s, Seán owned and ran Forde Brothers, a men's outfitters in Talbot Street, Dublin, and was elected president of the Talbot Street Traders' Association. He joined the Civil Service in July 1933, where he served with distinction in the departments of Agriculture and Health. He became Private Secretary to the Minister for Health, his former comrade-in-arms, Dr James Ryan, in 1951 and distinguished him- self in that post before retiring in 1960. Seán married Ita Gleeson of Nenagh in January 1938 and they had five children, Barbara (RIP), Áine, Brendan, Dermot, and Kieran. At the request of his family, the guard of honour of Old IRA comrades at his funeral in December 1971 consisted of four members who had taken the pro-Treaty side and four who had supported the anti-Treaty side. Reilly's Fort at the junction of North King Street and Church Street. Photo: Military Archives 1916 site, Magazine Fort Corner View, Phoenix Park in 2006. Photo: Armn Billy Galligan/Defence Forces Seán Forde pictured at North King St./Church St. at the 50th Anniversary in 1966. The loopholes at the top of the building behind him were ones he was firing from in 1916. Photo: Kieran Forde

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