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Neil ‘Plunkett’ Boyle remembered in West Donegal

19/05/08

A group of Republicans gathered in Kincasslagh graveyard in West Donegal on Thursday evening to commemorate the 85th Anniversary of the death of Comdt. Neil Plunkett Boyle of Óglaigh na hÉireann. The wreath laying ceremony was organised by local independent republicans along with Donegal éirigí activist Michéal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig.

Comdt. Boyle was mortally wounded on Knocknadruce hillside in Co. Wicklow by Free State forces on 15th June 1923. A wreath was laid and local republican woman Michelle Boyle gave an address.

Neil Plunkett Boyle from Burtonport joined Óglaigh na hÉireann in 1916. He had gained infamy throughout the country for his daring exploits in the fight against British and later Free State forces.

At a young age, like many in West Donegal, he went to Scotland to work as a miner. Here he became attached to B Company, 2nd Battalion, Scottish Brigade of the IRA and was involved in sending arms to Ireland. In 1920 he was arrested in Scotland and sentenced to five years penal servitude in Peterhead Prison.

He was release in February 1922 after the Treaty Amnesty and returned home. He immediately joined the Anti-Treaty side and asked people not to accept the Treaty. He was arrested on 2nd July, 1922 at Crolly, Co. Donegal and was detained at Drumboe and later Finner Camp military barracks.

Boyle was then transported to Newbridge Internment Camp and immediately started to plan an escape. On 14 October 1922 he escaped via a tunnel with 160 other prisoners. He went to Dublin and was appointed to 3rd Battalion, No 2 Brigade operating mainly in Wicklow.

For months he operated from Tallaght to Glenasmole in Dublin to Glenlamure to Glendaloch in Wicklow to Kildare and Carlow. He obeyed the Treaty Ceasefire order of 1923, but the column still carried all their weapons.

On morning of 15 May, 1923 at Knocknadruce in Wicklow ‘Plunkett’s Column’ were surrounded in the safe house they were sheltering and were heavily fired upon. Fearing for the safety of the occupants of the house, Plunkett Boyle called for ceasefire until they escaped. As he brought them to safety he was shot through the forehead by a Free State soldier. He was 25 years of age. He was brought home to Donegal and his funeral took place under heavy guard of Free State soldiers. His mother and sister were assaulted by his graveside as his coffin was lowered.

Speaking by the graveside Michelle Boyle paid tribute to the life of Neil ‘Plunkett’ Boyle and also spoke of the legacy he left behind.

“I think the greatest legacy that Plunkett Boyle left behind were the republican foundations he laid in this county.

“It’s a great testament to his life that 85 years later we stand by his graveside and pay tribute to his sacrifice. We don’t come here tonight as part of any grand gesture or as part of a cheap PR stunt on the back of our glorious dead. We come here to quietly and proudly remember the sacrifice that this local man gave eighty-five years ago tonight, on a lonely Wicklow hillside, so far from his people and his home.”

In her address, Michelle Boyle not only paid homage to Neil ‘Plunkett’ Boyle but had a clear message about the future.

“But tonight we also reverberated the message from West Donegal that we as Irish Republicans are as committed as ever to seeing through the objective for which he gave his life.

“An end to the partition of our country, to seeing an end to the inequalities and blatant disregard for the people of this country by a foreign occupier and some not so foreign forces. We send the message solidly from here tonight that we are not going away, that we will continue to campaign and organise in our communities until we achieve complete sovereignty for the whole of the people of this country.

“It is vitally significant that we are here tonight, that our presence by this Irish patriots graveside, reflects that we republicans in this area have not forgotten where we come from.

“For the very foundations that we as Irish republicans stand on today are built on the blood of men and women like Neil ‘Plunkett’ Boyle. And as long as we remember and honour where we come from, then we can be solid in the knowledge that we are headed on the right path toward the 32-county socialist republic for which his blood was spilt.”

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