Commemorative Events
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. A couple of weeks ago on the Order of Business, I raised the 100th anniversary of an event that so far has gone largely unmarked in the commemorations surrounding the decade of centenaries. Since then, I have had the pleasure of meeting a group of the surviving relatives of the Peterhead Ten and have come to realise not only the extent of the sacrifice these brave men made, but also the unique significance of their contributions.
I will give a bit of background to this issue. I know the Minister of State comes from a Border county himself, so he might be familiar with the nature of what happened at the time. On a morning in February 1922, the then British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, received a telegram informing him that large bands of insurgents had crossed the emerging frontier before entering the Six Counties. Understanding the context of this incursion is very significant. The Anglo-Irish Treaty had been signed in December 2021 and ratified by Dáil Éireann in January 2022 but had not yet come into effect. While Northern Ireland had already come into existence in May 1921, the Free State did not formally come into being until 6 December 1922 in the midst of the Civil War. It was not until the Free State was in existence that Northern Ireland was then permitted to opt out of the jurisdiction. I am sorry to be giving a history lesson but the background is important, as this was a very specific timeline.
The incursion took place before legal partition and before the outbreak of the Civil War but within the context of an understanding that a border was coming and increasing tensions between pro- and anti-Treaty elements of the IRA. Understanding this context is key to understanding the individuals who took place in this incursion, because this group, which was very unique, comprised men who were known to be pro- and anti-Treaty, which was significant at the time. They worked together to achieve a common objective.
Among the large body of insurgents was a group of ten men, comprising five volunteers and officers from Leitrim, three from Longford - Frank Reilly, William Reilly and Joseph Lee - along with the famous Sean Flood from Dublin and Jim Davis from Derry. These were called the Peterhead Ten because they were held in the brutal Peterhead prison in Scotland and were among the last IRA prisoners to be released from British prisons in 1926.
A few weeks ago, I outlined the events that resulted in their incarceration but today would like to focus my comments on the five individuals from County Leitrim, which is in my constituency and is the reason I am bringing this up, who were sent to Peterhead following their capture in this cross-Border raid.
Joseph Reynolds from Aghacashel sacrificed his youth and liberty to fight for Ireland. He was involved in the struggle for freedom from a very young age, having been instructed by Seán Mac Diarmada, also a Leitrim man, as early as 1913. He worked closely with Countess Markievicz.
Following his release from Peterhead he emigrated to the US and during the Second World War he served in the American army as a radio operator. He became president of the Leitrim Society of New York and died in 1987. It was Joseph's grand-niece, Linda McManus from Sligo, who first contacted me about the centenary of their release.
The next man I want to speak about is John Joe Griffin from Gortletteragh and Drumshanbo. He was a teacher before he joined the first battalion in Leitrim. He went on to serve in the newly founded An Garda Síochána – my own grandfather was one of the first gardaí as well – serving in Limerick and Portlaoise. He went to his reward in 1971.
The next man is Charlie Reynolds, also from Drumshanbo. He also joined the Garda after the Civil War.
Bernie Sweeney from Ballinamore was a member of the south Leitrim flying column. He was a survivor of the Selton ambush near Gorvagh in 1921, during which he was seriously injured and six members of the flying column killed. Following the War of Independence and the Civil War he set up a family business in Ballinamore before passing away in 1974.
John Kiernan from Newtowngore was only 19 when he was arrested. He had not been involved in the War of Independence and was probably recruited for the operation because he had a good knowledge of driving and motor cars. After his release he went on to run the family business in Newtowngore. He died in 1931, very sadly aged only 23. His years of incarceration cut his life all too short.
These five men from County Leitrim were five ordinary men who were called on to do extraordinary things. Leitrim was and remains a Border county. The proximity of this artificial border continues to have a cultural and economic impact in the areas where we live.
The campaign is for these men to get the proper recognition they deserve. Unfortunately because they came out in 1926 this falls outside the decade of centenaries. The campaign is supported by Leitrim and Longford county councils. Deputies Micheál Carrigy and Martin Kenny, and the Minister of State, Deputy Frank Feighan, are aware of the campaign. Leitrim and Longford county councils are currently arranging exhibitions to commemorate the event. As it is such a unique situation and because it was such a mixture of pro- and anti-Treaty men fighting in this, they need the recognition they deserve.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17