A NEW documentary has seen Derry-born RTÉ Europe editor Tony Connelly delving into his family history to discover more about his grandfather who served in the Royal Irish Constabulary during the War of Independence - and who was later "branded an IRA man".
Tony Connelly: A Hidden History, which aired last night on RTÉ One and is currently available on RTÉ Player, found the journalist digging into the stories surrounding his paternal grandfather, Michael Connelly, an RIC man who died shortly before he was born.
Initially armed with only a few faded photographs and a handful of family stories, Connelly knew only the bare bones of his grandfather’s life and had always lived with the 'stigma' of being related to a man who would have been regarded by many as an Irish traitor and a spy for the British.
“He wasn’t talked about that much – I left it at that,” explained Connelly.
“My curiosity didn’t go any further. Only when the centenaries started to roll around did I think my grandfather’s story could shed some light on this controversy.”
The programme found Connelly piecing together his grandfather’s life from records, journals, newspaper articles and other historical documents with the help of experts, archivists, historians. He also consulted the son of a man who was an active member of the IRA’s Third Tipperary Brigade, who wrote in incredible detail about his dealings with Connelly's grandfather and also conceded that he may have owed his life to him.
The journalist's endeavors took him from Castlegregory on the north coast of the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry, where his grandfather’s early policework included such cases as “a man fined sixpence for allowing his two donkeys to wander on the public road”, to Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, where Michael Connelly was transferred in 1915 after marrying - placing him in one of the more militant republican counties just prior to the Easter Rising.
As the political climate darkened, the film followed the events leading up to and throughout the War of Independence, as seen through the eyes of the by-now father of three who found himself boycotted, under attack in his barracks, seeing colleagues murdered and narrowly avoiding being assassinated himself in front of his four-year-old-son.
Having survived the war, the disbandment of the RIC and the partition of Ireland led Michael Connelly to join the fledgling RUC, crossing the newly established border to forge a new life with his growing family in the tense atmosphere of being a Catholic policeman from rural Galway working in the loyalist heartlands of Co Antrim.
“He was branded an IRA man,” explained Tony's father. “There were dozens and dozens of RUC men with Cork accents, Galway accents, Kerry accents, all in the same boat, who wouldn’t join the Garda Síochána. They became men apart.”
Humble thanks for all the positive responses to last night's documentary on my grandfather Michael Connelly. If anyone had a relative in the RIC or Dublin Metropolitcan Police, contact @herlihy_jim. Jim has access to a huge trove of service records and will be willing to help https://t.co/iIjCOt65h1
— Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) June 13, 2023
Tony Connelly: A Hidden History is available on RTÉ Player now
