“When my father, Michael Lyons, died, there were a few photographs around. I can’t remember how this photograph came into my hands because I was overcome with grief. My father was involved with
the Old IRA. He was interned in the Curragh for a period. Among his possessions was this photo with the name Charles Kerins on the back. Charles was, I believe, a friend of my father and was a prominent Irish Republican, who, following his killing of policeman Dennis O’Brien, was named the chief of staff of the IRA. After spending two years on the run he was captured by the Gardaí in 1944. following his trial and subsequent conviction, Kerins was hanged in Mountjoy Prison.”

(1941)

Submitted by Josephine Stewart