The only survivor from one of the worst atrocities of the Civil War recalls when nine IRA prisoners were blown up by a mine detonated by National Army soldiers.
Stephen Fuller was among four anti-Treaty IRA men arrested after being discovered in a dugout at Glenballyma in Kerry. Taken to Lixnaw they were put into a cell. From there the men were brought to Ballymullen Barracks in Tralee for interrogation.
While being questioned Stephen Fuller was beaten with a hammer.
A fellow used a hammer on me striking me on the arm with it. Another fellow stopped him. He said, He was a good fellow during the Tan time.
Stephen Fuller and another detainee were taken out to a ball alley where they expected to be shot. bullets were fired from a revolver around the two men.
They didn't hit us at all. They weren't firing at us.
The men were then moved to cells in Ballymullen Military Detention. That night, the prisoners were taken out one by one thinking they were to be shot. Stephen Fuller was the last one and was brought into a room where there was eight or nine coffins and told,.
The other fellows were inside in the coffins and to know would I tell them where the rifles were?
Following questioning about where arms were hidden Stephen Fuller was consistent in saying they had no rifles and was put back into a cell. After a number of days, he was removed to the workhouse and placed in a cell there. The conditions were poor with inches of water on the floor. Later the prisoners were moved again to another room where they could lie down. Three or four days later, in the middle of the night, Stephen Fuller and his inmates were called. They were put into another room along with six more prisoners.
Eventually the men were marched out and on to a lorry and taken to Ballyseedy. The prisoners were tied to one another, their legs bound, in a circle around a mine. The bomb was detonated.
We said our prayers and said goodbye, goodbye lads ... and then boom.
Miraculously, Stephen Fuller survived the explosion. He was blown clear and suffered from burns and embedded shrapnel. Looking back now he says that National Army carried out this act as,
Revenge for the Knocknagoshel affair.
At Knocknagoshel in Kerry the IRA killed five soldiers from the National Army in an attack on 6 March 1923.
At Ballyseedy Stephen Fuller established that he was the only one of the prisoners alive. He made his way, staying hidden by a ditch, to a river which he crossed. At this point, Stephen Fuller heard explosions after bombs were thrown into the bodies of his comrades followed by machine gun fire.
He kept going until he saw a house and knocked on the window. A man let him in and made a bed for him with hay. The next morning, Stephen Fuller was taken away in a pony and trap and put into a tent while waiting for medical treatment for his injuries. His hands were so badly burnt that the doctor was not able to do much.
The National Army only realised one prisoner was missing the following day when they counted the bodies.
Stephen Fuller describes the bitterness of a civil war.
Irish men fighting against Irish men. Brother against brother even.
Stephen Fuller stayed hidden for months after the ceasefire for fear he would be shot for being the only one who could tell what happened at Ballyseedy.
This account of Stephen Fuller's memory of the events at Ballyseedy in March 1923 is edited from an interview shot for the television series 'Ireland A Television History' in 1980. An edited version of the interview was included in episode ten of 'Ireland A Television History' broadcast on 03 February 1981.
The interviewer is John Ranelagh.
