“Monaghan. At 4.30pm on 30th May 1921, District Inspector Maunsell and party of nine Constables cycling from Carrickmacross to Castleblayney were ambushed. Constable Perkin killed.”
This was the terse message relayed by the County Inspector (Monaghan) of the Royal Irish Constabulary, to his senior officer in Dublin, of a fatal ambush one sunny afternoon 78 years ago. The dead man was 27 year old Walter Percival Perkin, a native of Sandown, Isle of Wight; his killing was a tragedy not only to his family and friends, but also to the local police in County Monaghan.
The youngest son of Mr JH Perkin, of Hogarth Restaurant, Pier Street, Sandown, he had joined the 1/8th Hants Regt in the 1st World War, and had taken part in the Gallipoli landings at Suvla Bay. Wounded in the wrist by a Turkish sniper, he was repatriated to England but later saw considerable war service again in Egypt and Palestine. It seems he suffered from ‘shell-shock’ or what we now know as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as he found even his post-war job as a shunter for the Great Northern Railway too nerve-wracking.
In January 1921 he joined the RIC, who were actively recruiting ex-servicemen throughout England. The work was well paid, in an era of severe unemployment, and offered a period of stability and cameraderie to many young men whose formative years had been spent in uniform in the War. These recruits were known locally as ‘Black and Tans’, a reference to the mixture of dark green police and khaki army uniform they initially wore when first formed in late 1919.
Perkin was posted to Carrickmacross, County Monaghan; a small market town of then just over 2000 inhabitants, some 8 miles from Crossmaglen and the present border of Northern Ireland. Monaghan was a relatively peaceful area at this time, unaccustomed to the ferocity and savagery of the guerilla war most intensely fought in places like Cork and Kerry. But events were taking a turn for the worse. On or about the 7th May 1921, the largest attack launched by the IRA in County Monaghan took place on the Police ‘Barracks’ in Carrickmacross where Perkin was billeted. At about 11pm, 20 packets of gelignite were placed against the wall of the police station, but failed to ignite. Hearing something suspicious, Head-Constable Patrick Brannigan and Sergeant Peter McGoldrick went to investigate. Volleys of rifle fire met both men, and the attack continued throughout the night until dawn the next morning, when the IRA withdrew.
Carrickmacross RIC Barracks, as it looks today. The Sergeant’s dayroom was to the left of the main doorway.
On the afternoon of Monday, 30th May, alerted by information of possible IRA activity in the area, a party (including Perkin) was detailed to go on a cycle patrol to Castleblayney. The patrol was led by District Inspector John Maunsell. Also detailed to go on patrol was one Constable Robert Jackson. Jackson was a very poor cyclist and was worried that, should an IRA attack occur, he would be a liability both to himself and to the rest of the group. Sergeant McGoldrick allowed him to stand down, and took his place in the patrol.
When they had got about halfway, in the townland of Tullyvaragh, they took shelter under some trees from a shower. Just beyond the trees there was a hill on the right, the top wooded. From the ditch around the wood a good view was open onto the road lying below, about 200 yards away. The road was open, with no bank or hedges on the side towards the wood. The patrol reformed and had started off again when fire was opened from the wood. Perkin was struck in the first volley, a bullet hitting him in the side. He struggled off his bicycle and lay down firing his revolver until he became unconscious. From this he gradually passed away through shock and bleeding. The remainder of the patrol rapidly dismounted and, using their black weatherproof capes as rudimentary cover, returned fire. The engagement lasted an hour before the attackers were dispersed, a passing bread van being commandeered to take the body of the dead constable to Castleblayney.
An inspection of the scene showed that the place was entrenched with rifle rests, and the attackers were evidently taking tea, a large can of steaming beverage, with bread, marmalade and other food being found. Empty cartridge cases were strewn around, some of very large calibre, including American, German, Italian as well as British make. Constable Perkin’s death was the second fatality suffered by the RIC in County Monaghan so far during the Troubles.
His body was to be returned to the Isle of Wight, and an RIC Guard of Honour escorted the remains from the local Protestant church in Carrickmacross to the railway station, Sergeant McGoldrick being in the funeral party. His children, very young at the time, still remember the scene.
Sergeant Daniel McGovern and Constables W. Merry and F.J. Simpson accompanied the body to Christ Church, Sandown, where Walter Perkin was buried on Friday 3rd June 1921, full Military Honours being rendered by Princess Beatrice’s Isle of Wight Rifles (the 1/8th Hants Regt). The funeral was one of the largest the district had ever seen. The County Press for that time records that as the cortege passed the National Schools, boys drawn up in the schoolyard paid their last tribute to one who as a boy had passed through the school. A wreath sent by his police colleagues read:
“In loving memory of our dear comrade, Walter Percy Perkin, who was murdered by Sinn Fein assassins at Tullyvaragh, Carrickmacross, on the 30th May 1921, from his Comrades, Officers, Sergts, and Constables of the R.I.C. Carrickmacross.”
His death deeply affected the local RIC, as Perkin was well liked. In a letter to the family, County Inspector Horace Munro said
“He was a favourite among his comrades; a comrade amongst a happy family of comrades and we all feel his loss. Quietly he lived, gallantly he went to his death and we trust that when we meet again we can tell him that we have done nothing to sully the traditions of the force which he so bravely upheld to his last conscious breath.”
The identity of the attackers were known to the police, but the Anglo-Irish Truce was declared only 6 weeks later, and political expediency prevented any further action from being taken.
Christ Church, Sandown, Isle of Wight, where Perkin is buried.
Carrickmacross today is a busy town, benefiting both from its proximity to the border and to Ireland’s close involvement with the European Community. The old RIC Barrack is now occupied by the Garda Siochana; a listed building, it still retains the steel loop-holed shutters and bullet marks of darker days. The mountain road to Castleblayney has been tarmaced and improved, and few there now remember that sunny afternoon, 78 years ago, when Constable Perkin of the RIC and his nine colleagues cycled silently towards the guns of the IRA.
Postscript:
Details for this article have been collated from public records, newspaper sources, and the memories of Sgt McGoldrick’s surviving children. It was indeed a sunny afternoon after the showers; and Jackson remained convinced that had he been on the cycle patrol, his would have been the second body left on the ‘Blayney road. Perkin visited the McGoldrick family at home on at least one occasion. The Sergeant’s children cried on seeing their father in the Guard of Honour; and a senior officer, possibly County Inspector Munro, accompanied the train as far as Dublin.
Perkin’s Registered Number was 77306. Known as ‘Percy’ Perkin, he had two brothers and two sisters; his niece still visits the Isle of Wight. He received the 1914-15 Star, War Medal and Victory Medal. There are no known photographs.
Daniel McGovern had the local nick-name of ‘Danny Look-Up’. On disbandment of the RIC, 57787 Sgt McGovern left Ireland and emigrated to the USA. His son, who lived in Carrick during these events, was to become Lt Col Daniel A McGovern, a WW2 combat cameraman who flew with the 'Memphis Belle', took the famous photos of Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb, and took part in the investigation of the 'Roswell Incident' photographs.
59393 Sgt Peter McGoldrick stayed on in Carrickmacross following disbandment but moved to England in 1924, where he and his family settled in Liverpool. 56675 Constable Robert Jackson remained in Carrick, eventually securing the position of Warden at the Roberts Home for ex-servicemen in Castleblayney. He died around 1945. DI John Maunsell, an entry for whom appears in Burkes Irish Family Records, was transferred to Tipperary in December 1921. The leaders of the local IRA (Monaghan No.2 Brigade) were Dan Hogan (O/C) and PJ (Red) Daly (Vice-Brigadier). 
The rear yard of Carrickmacross RIC Barracks, early 1921.
From left to right: Unknown ‘Black&Tan’; Unknown Const; Unknown Sgt; HC P.Brannigan; DI J. Maunsell (civilian clothes); Const T. Conby; Unknown Const; Sgt P.McGoldrick.The archway featured behind is still standing today.
© Copyright Peter McGoldrick 1999. All Rights Reserved.
