Finglas is an area with a deep soul and a long memory. While its roots go back to a 6th-century abbey founded by St. Canice, its modern identity was shaped in the 1950s. During this time, Dublin Corporation began a massive project to move families from the crowded inner-city tenements into new, spacious suburban estates.
In a beautiful nod to the struggle for Irish independence, many of the new roads and areas in Finglas were named after the "Patriots"—men who played pivotal roles in the shaping of our Nation
Irish - Finglas Patriots
Kevin Barry (1902-1920)
Born on Dublin’s Fleet Street, Kevin Barry was a promising young student and athlete at Dublin’s Belvedere College, before attending University College Dublin in 1919. At UCD, he became active in the politics of Independence for Ireland. In June 1920, Barry was part of the active service unit which raided the King’s Inn, Henrietta Street, seizing dozens of rifles and several machine guns. Captured in September 1920 during an attack on British forces at Monks Bakery, North King Street, Barry was tortured and sentenced to execution. He was hanged on 1st November 1920 and his execution sent shockwaves throughout the world.”
Roger Casement (1864-1916)
Roger Casement was born in Sandycove Dublin in 1864 and as a young man became a member of the British colonial service. Casement was knighted for detailing human rights abuses in the Congo Free State carried out by the Belgian state. Casement became a committed anti-imperialist and was instrumental in establishing contact with Germany before the Easter Rising. Casement was captured at Banna Strand Co Kerry following the failed attempted landing of arms in April 1916. Convicted of Treason against the British Empire Casement was stripped of his knighthood before execution. Roger Casement was executed by hanging at Pentonville Prison London on August 3rd 1916.
Liam Mellows (1892-1922)
Born in Lancashire, England, Liam Mellows was the son of British Army NCO William Joseph Mellows from Co Kilkenny. Raised between Dublin and Wexford, the young Mellows was radicalised by the Irish Freedom newspaper of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. By 1911 he was a sworn Fenian, and a committed national organiser for the republican boy scouts, Na Fianna Éireann.”
Having led several hundred Volunteers in rural Galway during the Easter Rising, Mellows escaped to the United States after the 1916 Rising, where he worked tirelessly in seeking international recognition for the Irish Republic. Elected to the First Dáil in two constituencies Galway East and Meath North in the 1918 General Election, he returned to Ireland to assume the position of IRA Director of Supplies. An absolute opponent of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Mellows was among the Anti-Treaty IRA leaders to seize Dublin’s Four Courts. He was captured, imprisoned and murdered by the fledgling Free-State while being held prisoner on 8 December 1922, in an act of retaliation for the actions of others. He was remembered by his close friend Peadar O’Donnell as “the greatest apostle of the creed of Tone in our day.”
Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887-1916)
Joseph Mary Plunkett was born in Dublin’s Upper Fitzwilliam Street in 1887. Plunkett was greatly influenced by the cultural revival, with the Gaelic League bringing him into contact with nationalists like Thomas MacDonagh and P.H Pearse. A poet and journalist Plunkett in 1915 travelled to Germany to assist Roger Casement in securing German military assistance for an Irish insurrection. A signatory of the 1916 proclamation, Plunkett participated in the Rising though in poor health which limited his leadership abilities. Hours before execution, he was permitted to marry his beloved Grace Gifford in Kilmainham Gaol. Just before he faced the firing squad, on May 4, 1916, he said: “I am very happy I am dying for the glory of God and the honour of Ireland.”
Richard McKee (1893-1920)
From Phibsborough Road, Richard ‘Dick’ McKee joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913. A member of the Second Battalion, he was among those to seize Jacob’s biscuit factory during Easter Week. By 1917 McKee was living in Finglas. McKee was instrumental in bringing about the Flying Column tactic which would transform the War of Independence into a guerrilla conflict, he was also tasked by Collins to select a small group of men to form “the squad” whose task was to undermine British intelligence, mainly through assassinations, and he also served as the IRA’s Director of Training. On Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, McKee was murdered at Dublin Castle, reportedly while trying to escape captivity, this was the same day a network of British spies were assassinated by the IRA. He is buried in the Republican Plot of Glasnevin Cemetery.
Conor Clune (1893-1920)
Killed on the same occasion as Dick McKee and Peadar Clancy, Connor Clune was born in Co Clare and was a cultural nationalist active in the Gaelic League. Conor Clune was not a member of any republican body, and his arrest in November 1920 owed more to unfortunate circumstance than politics. While at Vaughan’s Hotel, a well-known rendezvous point for nationalist leaders located at what is now Parnell Square; Clune was arrested in a raid on the premises by Auxiliaries on the eve of Bloody Sunday. Interrogated and tortured at Dublin Castle, it was claimed that Clune had attempted escape on 21 November 1920, it was also suggested that he was mistaken for another prisoner of similar build and dressed in the same colour suit, Seán Fitzpatrick, the man arrested with McKee and Clancy at Fitzpatrick's home in Gloucester Street.
Peadar Clancy (1888-1920)
From Co Clare, Peadar Clancy was a founding member of the Irish Volunteers, and participated in the Easter Rising, serving in the Four Courts garrison. Like others his death sentence was commuted and he returned to Ireland in June 1917 from prison in England. As IRA Director of Munitions, he served on the GHQ of the body until the time of his death. Clancy took part in a number of daring raids alongside members of ‘The Squad’, a hit squad in the capital who worked countering the British intelligence apparatus, and participated in the spectacular June 1920 raid on Kings Inn with Kevin Barry and others. Clancy was also involved in the Republican breakout from Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England on 25 October 1919. Peadar Clancy was murdered by British Crown Forces in Dublin Castle along with Dick McKee and Conor Clune on Nov 21 1920.
Joseph McKelvey (1898-1922)
Joe McKelvey was born in Co Tyrone in 1898.From a youthful age he was an active member of the Gaelic Athletic Association and was a founding member of the O'Donovan Rossa Club, founded on Belfast's Falls Road. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Irish Volunteers and commanded the IRA’S Belfast Brigade during the War of Independence. Joe McKelvey was sturdy in build, of enormous strength and reckless courage. While the majority of the Belfast IRA leadership supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty, McKelvey opposed it. In April 1922 he helped command the occupation of the Four Courts in defiance of the new Free State. This action helped to spark the civil war, between pro- and anti-Treaty factions. McKelvey was among the most hard line of the anti-Treaty republicans and briefly in June 1922 became IRA Chief-of-Staff. Along with Rory O Connor, Liam Mellows, Dick Barrett he was murdered on 8 December 1922 in Mountjoy prison in reprisal for the actions of others, who had assassinated a member of the Pro-Treaty Parliament.