William Barnacle was a cyclist with the Sherwood Foresters sent to Ireland during the Rising. Here he recalls some of the events he witnessed.
As they approached land some of the soldiers among William Barnacle's group thought they were going to France and were surprised when on landing an officer declared they were in Ireland.
Marching in formation from Kingstown towards Dublin city centre a large car pulled alongside the troops and the driver offered them some fruit.
He said he was entirely on the side of the British and he wished to assist the troops that were attacking the enemy.
As they approached Ballsbridge the troops were warned to take extreme caution. William Barnacle and his fellow cyclists were forced to abandon their bikes as they came under fire. Eventually they began to clear houses and use the furniture to make barricades.
One night William Barnacle and his group were looking for some where to sleep and occupied a public house. Although a non drinker himself he recalls how,
Being ordinary human beings most of the fellows raided the wine shelves and they went as far as when they went on parade they had small bottles of whiskey up their blouses.
At one point someone decided that a battalion of cyclists moving through the countryside would give the impression of a great number of troops to the general population. William Barnacle and his comrades cycled to Oranmore in Galway.
William Barnacle was interviewed during the production of 'Ireland A Television History' on 26 June 1979.
| Title: | Ireland A Television History William Barnacle |
| Clip Duration: | 00:04:47 |
| Material Type: | Video |
| Clip Title: | "Some Of Us Thought We Were Going To France" |
| Series Title: | Ireland A Television History Interviews |
| Information: | Ireland A Television History was a 13 part series written and presented by Robert Kee looking at the complexities of Irish history. The series chronicles Ireland's development from pre-Christian times to the 1980s, with a specific emphasis on the creation of the modern independent Republic and the roots of the Troubles. 'Ireland a Television History', a BBC production was broadcast on RTÉ and BBC at the same time. In an article for the RTÉ Guide, Kee was asked is the series aimed at a British audience? He replied, "No it's aimed at those (mainly in Britain) who are less familiar with the subject than they ought to be; and at those (in Ireland, North and South) who think they know but don't". |
| Local Keywords: | 1916, Easter Rising, Easter 1916, Rising, British Army, British Soldiers |
| Coverage: | Ireland |
| Genre: | Factual |
| Topic: | Wars and Conflict |
| Provider: | RTÉ |
| Contributor(s): | Robert Kee (Interviewer) |
| Publisher: | RTÉ |
| Production Year: | 1979 |
| Country of Production: | England |
| Original Identifier: | DF220 |
| IPR Restrictions: | Rights Reserved - Free Access |
| Rights, Terms and Conditions: | Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives.
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| Item Type: | part/extract |
| Colour: | Colour |
| Sound: | Mono |
| Aspect Ratio: | 4:3 |
| Language: | English (eng) |
