Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The unusual 1920 Constabulary Medal (Ireland) Pair awarded to Special Constable C. Clarke, Royal Irish Constabulary, a re-engaged veteran Peeler whose R.I.C. service had begun in 1886, for his gallantry when Clara Barracks was isolated, surrounded, and attacked by over 200 men; the I.R.A. units in co. Offaly suffered a bloody reverse at the hands of the police garrison. In spring 1921, while on leave at his family home in Westmeath, Clarke was targeted to be abducted and executed, but he managed to outwit his would-be assassins and served on until the R.I.C. was disbanded

Constabulary Medal (Ireland), 2nd type, ‘Reward of Merit Royal Irish Constabulary’ (Special Constable Charles Clarke 52192. 1920.) lacking integral top silver riband bar; Visit to Ireland 1900 (C. C. Clarke. R.I.C.) with integral top shamrock suspension bar, minor edge bruising, very fine (2) £2,800-£3,200

Constabulary Medal awarded 14 July 1920.

Charles Clarke was born in Mullagh, co. Cavan, in December 1864 or January 1865. After working as a farmer, he joined the Royal Irish Constabulary on 15 October 1886 and served as a Constable with the Sligo Police from 27 February 1887. Within four months, Clarke had received a Favourable Record. In 1893 he was transferred to Westmeath, six weeks before he married a Sligo girl. The fate of his first wife is not known, but (as Clarke was Catholic) it is most probable that she died, because on 30 October 1899 he married again, to Mary, a local girl, who was the same age as Clarke. The 1901 census records the couple and their one year-old son John Joseph as residing at the R.I.C. barracks at Fore, near Castlepollard, co. Westmeath.

Clarke retired from the Peelers on 16 January 1907, taking his pension after 20 years of service. By the time of the 1911 census he was living at House 9, The Fore (Fore West). He was recorded as pensioner, R.I.C. and bacon agent, while Mary worked as a teacher at the local National School. Although they had two incomes, their house was described in 1921 as a modest ‘labourer’s cottage’. Their family had expanded to five children, three boys and two girls, aged between ten and one.

Unusually, Clarke decided to re-engage in the R.I.C., under the provisions of the 1914 Special Constables Act (while retaining his pension). The workload of the R.I.C. had expanded dramatically from the moment war broke out, and the Inspector-General was happy to authorise districts to bring back a few trained and experienced men with excellent records of service, as a practical solution to cope with this challenge. At least one other retired Peeler (Hannon) who lived near Clarke, also rejoined the R.I.C. Clarke could have resigned at any time without losing his pension. He did not do so, although the Republicans began a sustained campaign of ostracism and intimidation against Peelers and their families, and the British government tabled legislation in 1918 to extend conscription to Ireland (had conscription begun, Clarke’s eldest son, John Joseph, would likely have been called up for overseas military service).

In June 1920, Clarke was stationed in the R.I.C. barracks at Clara, about 3-4 hours bicycle ride (depending on the weather) from Fore. The republican campaign against the R.I.C. was at its height. The Peelers had evacuated around 400 of their smaller outstations. British army engineers had fortified the remainder with steel shutters and loopholes over their windows, piled sandbags and armoured doors. Word had been sent out to local I.R.A. units that they should attack and eliminate the remaining operational R.I.C. barracks in their districts.

The attack on the Clara Barracks, 2-3 June 1920
The first large-scale attack in Offaly targeted Clara Barracks, a stone-built, slate-roofed, two storey, fortified structure on the main street of the town, sandwiched between Goodbody’s flour mill at one end and, at the other, a house which was the living quarters of the family of Sergeant Somers, who commanded the nine man garrison. To its rear was an open area, McGlynn’s Yard. The I.R.A. plan was to attack the barracks from all sides, by gunfire from the upper and lower storeys of the buildings across the street and from the yard in the rear, while men with picks, crowbars and sledgehammers would enter the adjoining buildings at each end, break niches into the two party walls, place and tamp explosives to blast open breaches and use them to enter the barracks. They had also bought along cans of petrol from local garages, to be used in agricultural spraying devices which could set buildings on fire.

On the night of 2 June 1920, 200 to 300 men were mobilised. Some cut phone and telegraph lines and blocked roads for a fifteen mile radius; others matched into Clara. According to Sean O’Neill (WS 1219 pp 87-90 refers) ‘At about 12 midnight the tramp of marching men through the streets could be heard… The Sergeant and his [family] were… removed from their quarters which were attached to the gable of the barrack facing one of the main streets. The other gable or end of the barrack was attached to a part of Goodbody's Mill, and men had taken up their positions here. Then the glass windows of Williams’ shop went in with the butt end of the riflemen who took up their positions right opposite and facing the barracks. The men in Williams’ barricaded the top windows as best they could with mattresses, furniture etc., and the attack opened. Willie Dignan and myself and a few others occupied McGlynn's yard at the rear of the barracks. One could hear the sledges and crowbars moving in the Sergeant's house as the men bored a hole for an explosive whenever there was a lull in the fighting. Then a loud report or explosion denoted progress on our side.

But the R.I.C. replied vigourously through the apertures of the steel shutters which blocked the barrack windows. Bombs and grenades and rifle fire and revolver shots added to the din and undoubtedly a very vigorous attack was now in full swing. While we were in the yard, showers of multi-coloured Verey lights… were fired they went right into the air like a star, then spread out like miniature fiery balls of many brilliant colours. The R.I.C. were looking for assistance. It was their only means of sending out an S.O.S. On several occasions the R.I.C. were asked to surrender but there was no response.’

The defenders won their firefight with the gunmen in William’s shop, inflicting two serious casualties without loss to themselves, despite some close calls: ‘Special Constable Clarke, who defended the gable end of the Barracks, had also a narrow escape, when the window from which he was shooting was shattered.’ (Irish Times, 3 June 1920 refers). Some accounts state that the explosion in the Sergeant’s house blew a hole in the party wall. O’Neill, who was not in the Mill at the time but who inspected the battleground after daybreak, states that it was the other gable wall (facing Goodbody’s Mill) that was breached. Be that as it may, the defenders threw Mills grenades through the hole in the wall, severely wounding Martin Fleming, who was commanding the attack on that side of the building.

O’Neill’s account continues: ‘Across the street in William's shop, Seery from Tyrrell's Pass received a serious rifle wound in the chest and Ned Brennan of Tullamore was wounded in the hip. This was a serious set-back and at about 3 a.m., as it was then almost breaking day, the attack was called off. The three wounded men had to be attended to and Sean Robbins took, I think, Seery to Father Bracken's house where he was annointed. Phil Kenny and myself and some others assisted Martin Fleming and Ned Brennan who were also taken to Father Bracken. It was not a pleasant scene in view of the failure to take the barracks to see the footpath strewn with the blood of our men. I shall not easily forget the condition of Seery, who had a large hole in his chest and Fleming whose hand, from above the wrist, was almost completely severed. [Seery died of his wound in September 1920; Fleming’s lower arm and hand were amputated. A rifle, a shotgun and several bombs were abandoned. The Leinster Chronicle reported that the I.R.A. left behind “a considerable quantity of arms, petrol and blood.”] … I then went to bed, but on afterthoughts I got up again and went out to town to see how things stood… The R.I.C. barrack door was open now and people were crowding round the door. I entered with others to see how things were. The R.I.C. were pale and their clothes were white with dust from the white-washed walls. Clara was such a busy little town and so densely populated for its size that the R.I.C. knew but little about any individual Volunteers or their actions.’

On 14 July 1920, Clarke was awarded the Constabulary Medal, which is excessively rare when named to a re-engaged Special Constable, and a First Class Favourable Record for his actions during the defence of Clara R.I.C. Barracks. The barracks was later abandoned, and he was reassigned to Tullamore. While the 56 year-old was on leave at home with his family in Fore in March 1921, a neighbour incited the I.R.A. to target him. Given that the republicans aimed to destroy the R.I.C. by forcing police personnel to resign, native Irish policemen who had re-engaged were a clear threat to that policy. Consequently, they attracted the full hatred and vilification of the militants. ‘They were worse than the Tans’ declared James Maguire, who headed up the local I.R.A. (WS 1439 p 27 refers)

Maguire continued: ‘One day, Nick Gilsenan [who owned the land next to Clarke’s house] informed me that Clarke was at home in his labourer's cottage in Fore, where his wife and children were living. I decided to investigate and went into the village. When I got to the wooden gate outside his house, I went over to one of the windows and looked in. There was Clarke in the bed and his wife giving him a drink. We had heard that he would be going to the fair to buy a pony for his wife and children.’ Maguire and three other gunmen took up an ambush position on the road along which they expected Clarke to return from the fair. Their plan was to abduct him and take him to a remote spot where he could be executed without attracting attention. In fact, Clarke had gone in civilian clothes by bicycle to his hometown of Mullagh. After three fruitless days, Maguire called off the kidnapping.

‘On the following night, Gilsenan came to me and said, “He's back!”… We decided to make another attempt to get him… I posted three Volunteers on the Drumcree-Clara road, although we were confident that he would not go in that direction, but surely to Castlepollard. At about 10.30 or 11 a.m., Gilsenan came up the road to my position and said, “He is gone the other way”. I said, “All right”… He was on a bicycle. We would prefer to take Clarke prisoner and execute him afterwards, as we knew that if his remains were found, houses would be burned all over the area as a reprisal for the death of a man. Fr. Keapok was to attend to him before he would be executed. Clarke was a Catholic alright. When we had completed half our journey, we met the three Volunteers and no prisoner. They saw him coming around the curve, and slipped down from a high ditch in which they were concealed on to the roadside. When he saw them, he jumped off his bicycle, whipped his revolver from his holster and fired at them. They returned fire, but he got back to his wife and family. Then, taking one of his sons with him on another bicycle, off with him to Castlepollard on the road that we were after vacating. He apparently was not to be shot!’

At Castlepollard R.I.C. Barracks, Clarke made an official report, which was summarised thus: ‘At 1:10 p.m. on 11 March 1921, at Cummerstown Cross, Castlepollard District, co. Westmeath, Special Constable Charles Clarke, on leave from Tullamore, was fired at by three unknown men whilst cycling, but uninjured. The Constable drew his revolver which jammed. The attackers bolted.’ PRO CO/904/144 refers.

There is something strange about both accounts. It is incredibly difficult to draw and fire a revolver while riding on a bicycle, so Clarke should have stood little chance against three armed assassins. Maguire accepted his men’s excuses for their failure (they claimed that Clarke fired at them until his revolver was empty, but apparently did not address the obvious point that three uninjured and armed men should easily be able to subdue a single opponent whose gun is empty). Clarke may have been prepared for trouble, suspected who was behind it, and said or did something which intimidated his would-be murderers enough to cause them to abandon their plan.

Clarke escaped his planned abduction and execution, and unbroken by the political and social turmoil, continued to serve as a Special Constable until the R.I.C. was disbanded. He seems to have moved his family away from Maguire and Gilsenan. Probably they relocated to the safer environment of Mullagh, where he died sometime after the establishment of the Free State.