Station of Knocklong, The

DESCRIPTION: "The news has spread through Ireland... Sean Hogan he was rescued At the Station of Knocklong." Hogan's guards are overpowered, and two of them killed, by rebels; Hogan is freed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion escape rescue death IRA
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1919 - Irish terrorists Sean Treacy and Sean Hogan capture a load of explosives from the British, killing two policemen in the process. When Hogan is captured, Treacy rescues him, killing two more policemen along the way
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Galvin-IrishSongsOfResistance, pp. 60-61, "The Station of Knocklong" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. ""Sean Treacy" (for the story of Treacy)
cf. "Tipperary Far Away" (for the death of Sean Treacy)
NOTES [196 words]: For the Soloheadbeg incident, in which a group of Irish irregulars attacked a British explosives truck, see the notes to "Sean Treacy." Among those involved in the raid were Sean Hogan, Treacy, and Dan Breen.
According to Calton Younger, Ireland's Civil War, p. 92, Hogan was captured while visiting friends, though his identity was not realized until later.
It is uncertain whether there was resistance from the British forces at Soloheadbeg, though it seems unlikely. In the case of Knocklong, it seems pretty clear that there wasn't. Robert Kee, in Ourselves Alone, being volume III of The Green Flag, p. 72, cites Breen to the effect that the Irish decided to shoot first to prevent British guards from killing the prisoner.
The casualties at first seemed close to even: Treacy was shot in the throat, Breen through the lung. Both managed to survive.
Ironically, though much would be heard of Treacy and Breen in the coming years, Hogan faded into obscurity. He was part of an attempt to assassinate Viceroy French, but the attempt failed and a casual check of four histories and a biographical dictionary showed no other references to his life after Knocklong. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: PGa060

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