- Home
- Collections
- Atlas Resources for Schools
- Cork Fatality Register
- Mapping the Irish Revolution
- Mapping IRA Companies, July 1921-July 1922
- Mapping the Burning of Cork, 11-12 December 1920
- Martial Law, December 1920
- The IRA at War
- The Railway Workers’ Munitions Strike of 1920
- The Victory of Sinn Féin: The 1920 Local Elections
- The War of Words: Propaganda and Moral Force
- The IRA Offensive against the RIC, 1920
- De Valera’s American Tour, 1919-1920
- The British Reprisal Strategy and its Impact
- Cumann na mBan and the War of Independence
- The War Escalates, November 1920
- The War of Independence in Cork and Kerry
- The Story of 1916
- A 1916 Diary
- January 9-15 1916
- January 10-16, 1916
- January 17-23, 1916
- January 24-30, 1916
- February 1-6 1916
- February 7-14, 1916
- February 15-21, 1916
- February 22-27, 1916
- February 28-March 3, 1916
- March 6-13,1916
- March 14-20, 1916
- March 21-27 1916
- April 3-9, 1916
- April 10-16, 1916
- April 17-21,1916
- May 22-28 1916
- May 29-June 4 1916
- June 12-18 1916
- June 19-25 1916
- June 26-July 2 1916
- July 3-9 1916
- July 11-16 1916
- July 17-22 1916
- July 24-30 1916
- July 31- August 7,1916
- August 7-13 1916
- August 15-21 1916
- August 22-29 1916
- August 29-September 5 1916
- September 5-11, 1916
- September 12-18, 1916
- September 19-25, 1916
- September 26-October 2, 1916
- October 3-9, 1916
- October 10-16, 1916
- October 17-23, 1916
- October 24-31, 1916
- November 1-16, 1916
- November 7-13, 1916
- November 14-20, 1916
- November 21-27-1916
- November 28-December 4, 1916
- December 5-11, 1916
- December 12-19, 1916
- December 19-25, 1916
- December 26-January 3, 1916
- Cork's Historic Newspapers
- Feature Articles
- News and Events
- UCC's Civil War Centenary Programme
- Irish Civil War National Conference 15-18 June 2022
- Irish Civil War Fatalities Project
- Research Findings
- Explore the Fatalities Map
- Civil War Fatalities in Dublin
- Civil War Fatalities in Limerick
- Civil War Fatalities in Kerry
- Civil War Fatalities in Clare
- Civil War Fatalities in Cork
- Civil War Fatalities in the Northern Ireland
- Civil War Fatalities in Sligo
- Civil War Fatalities in Donegal
- Civil War Fatalities in Wexford
- Civil War Fatalities in Mayo
- Civil War Fatalities in Tipperary
- Military Archives National Army Fatalities Roll, 1922 – 1923
- Fatalities Index
- About the Project (home)
- The Irish Revolution (Main site)
1921-143
Volunteer Charles O’Reilly
Volunteer Charles O’Reilly (aged 24) of 14 Church Street, Newmarket (near Newmarket)
Date of incident: night of 13-14 March 1921
Sources: CE, 15 March, 30 April 1921; FJ, 15 March 1921; II, 16 March 1921; CWN, 19 March 1921; Military Inquests, WO 35/157A/40 (TNA); Seán Moylan’s WS 838, 211-15 (BMH); Rebel Cork’s FS (2009 ed.), 205.
Note: British forces wounded O’Reilly near Newmarket, and he soon succumbed to his injuries. Soldiers on patrol had called on two occupants of a pony and trap to halt and fired on them when they got out and tied to run away. O’Reilly was found badly injured on the morning of 14 March 1921 in a nearby labourer’s cottage. He died on 15 March of gunshot wounds and acute peritonitis. See CE, 15 March, 30 April 1921. O’Reilly was the son of the well-known Newmarket auctioneer Michael O’Reilly. He and his wife Ellen were the parents in 1911 of nine living children (five sons and four daughters) ranging in age from 2 to 21. Charles was their fourth son; he had four younger sisters and a much younger brother.
As Seán Moylan recalled, a group of Volunteers attempting to demolish Clonfert Bridge, half a mile from Newmarket, was ambushed by a British military party as a few of the Volunteers returned to the bridge to collect a missing tool. Rifle fire struck O’Reilly. He was taken to Jerry Doody’s cottage on the Rockchapel road, ‘suffering agonies from two bullet wounds, one through the liver. Jerry [Doody] had crossed the river and was . . . making his roundabout way through the fields for the doctor. This man was Dr Algie Verling, who had been a British officer and had served all through the war in France. He was not noticeably a supporter of ours but was a good friend, and O’Reilly, when sending for him, knew that no risk would deter him from coming.’ O’Reilly nevertheless died the following day. ‘His funeral was the occasion of a great demonstration of force and intimidation on the part of the British. But in spite of this, its dimensions proved where the sympathies of the people lay and their respect for the dead soldier.’ See Seán Moylan’s WS 838, 211-15 (BMH).
