Civilian John Desmond

Civilian John Desmond (aged about 22) of Bengour East near Bandon (Farnalough near Newcestown)

Date of incident: 4 Feb. 1923

Sources: CE, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16 Feb., 5, 26 March 1923; Evening Herald, 5 Feb. 1923; II, 6 Feb. 1923; SS, 10, 17 Feb. 1923; Death Certificate (Cork Urban District No. 6, Union of Cork), 24 Feb. 1923; Keane (2017), 348-49, 421.

Note: John Desmond was among those wounded when a ‘trigger mine’ exploded at Farnalough near Newcestown on Sunday, 4 February 1923. His name appeared first on the list of seven ‘civilians’ injured. He was initially said to have suffered ‘four minor wounds’. See CE, 5 Feb. 1923. He died of his injuries in the Mercy Hospital in Cork on 24 February. See Death Certificate (Cork Urban District No. 6, Union of Cork), 24 Feb. 1923. After a Requiem Mass in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Cork city, he was buried in Templemartin Cemetery with a large crowd in attendance. Listed among the named mourners were his father Humphrey, brother Denis, and sisters Kathleen, Annie, and Elsie. See CE, 5 March 1923. See the note for Patrick Murray above.

The six others on the list of wounded civilians included the following persons: John Allen of Bengour West near Newcestown; Patrick Boyle of Farranthomas near Newcestown; John Long of The Commons near Crookstown; Michael Murphy of Balteenbrock near Dunmanway; Timothy Murphy of Bengour West near Newcestown; and Denis O’Brien of Newcestown. See CE, 5 Feb. 1923.

John Desmond was in 1911 one of the five children of the farmer Humphrey Desmond and his wife Annie in the townland of Bengour East in Murragh parish in the Bandon district. Living with them in that year were their three daughters (Kathleen, Annie, and Ellie) and their two sons Denis and John. The youngest of the five children, John was then aged 10