I was first introduced to Eileen Sprague in Killarney during the autumn of 2000 and I recorded her recollections at that time, and as she reminisced it became obvious to me that her memory was excellent with regard to historical detail of events in the early days of the 20th century in Dublin city. Shortly afterwards I paid a return visit to Eileen in her home in Killarney and she began by telling me that she was born in 1907 in Belfast and at the age of one, she was sent to live with her grandmother at No. 9, Charles Street, Dublin. When she was thirteen, she watched a large crowd gather outside Mountjoy Jail on the eve of Kevin Barry's execution on All Saints Day in November 1920. People were holding lighted candles and reciting The Rosary right through the hours of darkness. Kevin Barry's mother was amongst the crowd outside the jail and she was invited inside but she refused and remained with the crowd, in a very distressed state. The people continued to pray that Barry be shot as a patriot rather than being hung, as he had been arrested in uniform. Eileen's grandmother told her that she was acquainted with the woman who approached the British officer and told him that Kevin Barry was hiding under a lorry, after the gun battle in which he was involved. This information led to his arrest and death in Mountjoy. Later that same month, on Bloody Sunday, Eileen's grandmother with whom she lived, saw a young man, gravely wounded, come over the wall at Croke Park and stagger, bleeding profusely, up Emmet Street and take refuge in a small Protestant church in Charles Street, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Eileen's grandmother and a friend went to his assistance, but the Black and Tans, having followed the trail of blood, dragged the wounded man out and threw him onto their lorry. Eileen's grandmother became very agitated and called out to the Tans "You have mothers too don't you?" We later went on to talk of Matt Talbot, of Eileen's schooldays in Dublin and of life in the capital city in those days. My time with Eileen Sprague was a rare joy and her clear recollections of other days and their tragic events brought the past vividly to life for me.
I was first introduced to Eileen Sprague in Killarney during the autumn of 2000 and I recorded her recollections at that time, and as she reminisced it became obvious to me that her memory was excellent with regard to historical detail of events in the early days of the 20th century in Dublin city. Shortly afterwards I paid a return visit to Eileen in her home in Killarney and she began by telling me that she was born in 1907 in Belfast and at the age of one, she was sent to live with her grandmother at No. 9, Charles Street, Dublin. When she was thirteen, she watched a large crowd gather outside Mountjoy Jail on the eve of Kevin Barry's execution on All Saints Day in November 1920. People were holding lighted candles and reciting The Rosary right through the hours of darkness. Kevin Barry's mother was amongst the crowd outside the jail and she was invited inside but she refused and remained with the crowd, in a very distressed state. The people continued to pray that Barry be shot as a patriot rather than being hung, as he had been arrested in uniform. Eileen's grandmother told her that she was acquainted with the woman who approached the British officer and told him that Kevin Barry was hiding under a lorry, after the gun battle in which he was involved. This information led to his arrest and death in Mountjoy. Later that same month, on Bloody Sunday, Eileen's grandmother with whom she lived, saw a young man, gravely wounded, come over the wall at Croke Park and stagger, bleeding profusely, up Emmet Street and take refuge in a small Protestant church in Charles Street, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Eileen's grandmother and a friend went to his assistance, but the Black and Tans, having followed the trail of blood, dragged the wounded man out and threw him onto their lorry. Eileen's grandmother became very agitated and called out to the Tans "You have mothers too don't you?" We later went on to talk of Matt Talbot, of Eileen's schooldays in Dublin and of life in the capital city in those days. My time with Eileen Sprague was a rare joy and her clear recollections of other days and their tragic events brought the past vividly to life for me.
