Bahaghs Lodge, built in 1833, became Cahersiveen's workhouse in the An Gorta Mór year of 1846. Thousands of destitute people lived there between 1846 and 1921 and many of them died there, to be buried in mass graves at nearby Sugrena churchyard.
On March 6th, 1923, five Free State soldiers, including Captains Michael Dunne and Joseph Stapleton of the Dublin Brigade, were killed in Knocknagoshel, County Kerry, by a booby trap mine.
The target of the trap was a local man by the name of Paddy 'Pats' O'Connor who, according to the IRA, was a notorious torturer of prisoners, who had joined the Free State army because of the treatment of his father by the local IRA.
The Dublin Guards, who had been in Kerry since the previous August, were commanded by Paddy O'Daly, who was furious over the booby trap, and it subsequently became clear that he was responsible for what took place following the Knocknagoshel incident.
At around 2am on March 7th, 1923, nine IRA prisoners, many of whom had been tortured, were brought to Ballyseedy wood where they were told that they were to remove an "irregular road block".
However, it was clear to the men what was in store for them when they had been shown 9 coffins in the barracks.
Each were offered a cigarette and told it would be "the last you'll have".
They were then tied together to the mined road block and blown up ; some of the men were still alive and were finished off by grenade and machine gun.
Unbeknownst to the Free State troops one man was blown clear and managed to escape - his name was Stephen Fuller (to become a FF 'TD' in 1937) .
Because the bodies were so badly mangled all nine coffins were filled with the remains of the eight who perished.
This led to a near riot in Tralee when the coffins were handed over to the families at the gates of Ballymullen barracks ; the families broke open the coffins to try and identify the remains.
Later on the same day a very similar incident took place at Countess Bridge in Killarney, where five IRA prisoners where asked to remove a mined road block which was also blown up. Three of the men who lay wounded were finished off by grenade.
Again, amazingly, a fifth man named Tadhg Coffey survived, and escaped.
Five days later 5 more men were killed near Bahaghs workhouse in Cahersiveen.
In order to prevent any more escapes the men were first shot in the legs, and they were then put over a mine and blown up.
When the details slowly emerged about what really happened the Free State government was forced to call an inquiry into 'the incident' and they appointed none other than Major General Paddy O'Daly to oversee the court of inquiry.
But it was never going to be anything other than a whitewash.
One Free State soldier, a Lieutenant, a Mr W McCarthy, resigned his commission after the incident and called his colleagues "a murder gang" and a Free State Army Captain, a Mr Niall Harrington (author of the book 'Kerry Landings'), of the Dublin Brigade, reported that "the mines used in the slaughter of the prisoners were constructed in Tralee under the supervision of two senior Dublin Guards officers".
But neither he nor Lieutenant McCarthy was ever called to testify...
The 'Bahagh's Massacre' took place in Cahersiveen, County Kerry, 103 years ago on this date.
RIP to those brave Volunteers.
Thanks for the visit, and for reading - appreciated!
Sharon and the team.
