WICKLOW COUNTY
WICKLOW COUNT Y – Brendan Flynn
The War of Independence in Wicklow: Two killings revisited The century that has elapsed since the War of independence now affords us an opportunity to review the events of the time with some dispassion. However, an historical analysis of just two killings that occurred in County Wicklow during the conflict reveals how alternative narratives of past events persist. For the historian, this points to the need for an objective establishment of the facts, where possible; it also indicates that there are new stories of known events yet to be told.
Rathdrum c. 1905. Stereoscope: Library of Congress
The killing of Seamus O’Brien, Rathdrum Seamus O’Brien was wounded in Rathdrum by pistol-fire and died shortly afterwards on 12 February 1920, becoming the first man to be killed in County Wicklow during the War of Independence. A century later, his death was commemorated in a ceremony in Rathdrum and a photograph of the celebrants was published in the Wicklow People of 19 February 2020, together with a short article describing both the event and O’Brien’s death. That death was described 187
