Auction Catalogue

25 & 26 September 2019

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Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

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Lot

№ 77

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25 September 2019

Hammer Price:
£4,200

The important K.P.M. pair awarded to Head Constable M. Boyle, Royal Irish Constabulary, who was a leading protagonist in the rising tide of violence from the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising through to the height of the War of Independence; Boyle was present at Listowel in October 1917 when the R.I.C. opened fire on a belligerent crowd; in April 1918 he was in command of the first rural R.I.C. barracks to be attacked by Republicans since 1916, when he showed conspicuous gallantry, fighting back so effectively that two of the attackers were killed; he was singled out for execution in retaliation, but survived a close-range assassination attempt using shotguns in broad daylight in the Main Street of Tralee in June 1918

King’s Police Medal, G.V.R., 1st issue (Martin Boyle Hd. Const. R.I.C.) in case of issue; Visit to Ireland 1900 (C. M. Boyle. R.I.C.) lacking integral top shamrock suspension bar, light contact marks to last, this very fine, the KPM nearly extremely fine (2) £800-£1,200

K.P.M. London Gazette 1 January 1919.
The original Recommendation states: ‘On 13 April 1918 Head Constable Martin Boyle was the Sergeant in charge of Gortatlea Hut in County Kerry, the strength of which post was 1 Sergeant and 3 Constables. At about 10:30 p.m. on that day, when returning to the hut from patrol duty with Constable Fallon, he saw about 20 men approaching the hut, and then saw the door of the hut being opened and a number of men rush in. Realising that this was a raid for arms on the hut, in which only two Constables remained, without hesitation he rushed to the door with Constable Fallon. In the darkness the raiders did not recognise them as police. When he reached the door he saw a number of men in the hut struggling with a Constable. One of the raiders then gave the alarm that the police had arrived and another gave the order to fire, and two shots were fired at the police. Sergeant Boyle gave Constable Fallon, who was armed with a carbine, orders to fire and he, being armed with a revolver, fired into the crowd of raiders on the hut. The raiders outside now commenced to fire on him and Constable Fallon, who took up a position at the rear of the hut. Here they were fired on by raiders, whose fire they returned, with the result that they scattered in various directions. After satisfying himself that the raiders had left the hut, Sergeant Boyle entered it and found that both Constables had been injured but that the arms and ammunition were safe. On searching round the hut the police found a man badly wounded. This man had a mask on, and in his pocket were sporting cartridges loaded with slugs. Three more masks were found in the vicinity of the hut and, in a neighbouring house, another man shot through the back.
Sergeant Boyle showed conspicuous gallantry in, without hesitation and with only one Constable, attacking an unknown number of armed men and thus rescuing the two Constables in the hut from serious injury if not death, and saving the arms and ammunition. He was far distant from any other police station and without any chance of support or assistance. Sergeant Boyle was promoted to the rank of Head Constable for his gallantry.’

Martin Boyle was born in Westmeath in 1866, and joined the Royal Irish Constabulary on 14 October 1886. He served with the Limerick, Westmeath, Cork, Kerry, and finally the Fermanagh Police. Two I.R.A. Witness Statements made to the Irish Bureau of Military Affairs in the early 1950s provide context to important incidents during Head Constable Boyle’s career.

McEllistrim, who planned and led the attack on Gortatlea Barracks, stated that all the attackers were personally ‘well-known’ to Boyle and his men as being militant Irish Volunteers. McEllistrim had been arrested on 9 May 1916 and sent to Frongoch Internment Camp, before being released in the amnesty at the end of August. He had been under general surveillance by the R.I.C. since then. McElligott, who joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood at Listowel in 1911, writes in convincing detail about what happened there on 9 October 1917: ‘A baton charge by the R.I.C. was replied to by the Volunteers using sticks and stones, the police being forced to withdraw some distance down the street. Further reinforcements of R.I.C. armed with rifles came on the scene. They opened fire over the heads of the Volunteers but this did not prevent the Volunteers attacking. The R.I.C. then opened fire into the Volunteers. The section of Volunteers of which I was in charge had been pushed back into the small square in the centre of the town. It was here I received a bullet wound in the groin. After the shooting things quietened down.’ Sergeant Boyle received a 2nd Class Favourable Record ‘for Courageous Conduct’ at Listowel. (
Constabulary Gazette 22 December 1917 refers)

McEllistrim lists 7 men as the attackers at Gortatlea in April 1918, at the height of rumours that Britain was about to extend conscription to Ireland. He himself was armed with a revolver, three others had shotguns and the remainder carried clubs. McEllistrim bluffed his way inside the building, taking the two unarmed Constables prisoner after a struggle and a beating. ‘I proceeded to collect the arms in the Barrack Room and had taken two rifles off a rack and placed them on the table when a shot rang out. I rushed to the kitchen and saw Browne, who had been doing guard with a shotgun over the prisoners, reel and fall flat on the floor. In less than a minute the Barrack floor was covered with blood. Browne was shot through the temple and the bullet came right out at the back of his head.’ The attackers hastily withdrew from the building, firing two shots, abandoning the rifles and the mortally wounded body of Browne, who was carried outside but could not be lifted over the railings around the perimeter. Another of the assailants died of a gunshot wound a few days later.

McEllistrim knew exactly who had bought about this setback to the Republican cause, and clearly believed that it was Boyle who had rescued the two Constables by killing Browne with a well-aimed shot from his revolver. He knew that Sergeant Boyle and Constable Fallon would have to give evidence at the Inquest on the dead Volunteers to be held in Tralee Courthouse on 18 June 1918, and he was determined to avenge his two dead comrades. He and another gunman, their two shotguns concealed in sacks, sat quietly by the window of a pub looking out on Main Street, waiting for the Court to adjourn for lunch. Just after 1pm, their scout reported that the two R.I.C. men, both wearing uniform, were approaching, but had chosen the pavement on the far side of the road. Immediately the two gunmen burst from their cover: ‘There was great excitement and shouting and when we got halfway across the street Boyle and Fallon turned in our direction and saw us facing them with two shotguns. They first attempted to draw their guns [revolvers in closed leather holsters]. We lifted our [shot]guns to fire. We were now only ten yards from them.’ Both gunmen fired, then dropped their weapons and fled. In their breathless excitement, their aim was off, despite the virtually point-blank range. Only Constable Fallon was officially reported as wounded; Sergeant Boyle may have had a few minor injuries.

After this narrow escape, the newly promoted Head Constable Boyle was transferred to Ulster. A bitter war against the I.R.A. was to erupt there in 1920, but Boyle was famous throughout the R.I.C. for being a fearless survivor. He was presented with his King’s Police Medal by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on 2 July 1919, and after 35 years as a Peeler he was pensioned on 5 February 1921.

Note: Out of 44 awards of the K.P.M. to the R.I.C. between the introduction of the award in 1909 and disbandment in 1922, 13 were for acts of gallantry. As a national award, the K.P.M. was intended to be more prestigious than the Constabulary Medal (Ireland).