MY GRANDFATHER JEREMIAH O’REGAN NEVER TALKED ABOUT THE GREAT WAR AND HIS PART IN IT. OVER THE YEARS HE GAVE AWAY HIS MEDALS. MANY RECORDS INCLUDING HIS, WERE ‘BURNT’. IN 2008 I KNEW LITTLE ABOUT HIS YEARS IN THE ARMY, THE MUNSTER FUSILIERS, HIS INJURIES, ETC. HOWEVER HIS DAUGHTER KATHLEEN FAHY HAD HIS DISCHARGE PAPERS.
SO I ENQUIRED WHERE I COULD GET MORE INFORMATION AND THIS LEAD TO CHRIS BAKER AND HIS COMPANY ‘FOURTEENEIGHTEEN’. CHRIS PRODUCED A RECONSTRUCTION OF HIS MILITARY SERVICE, USING THE INFORMATION I GAVE HIM, AS WELL AS SEARCHING THE ARCHIVES. THIS HISTORY IS PROBABLY TYPICAL OF MANY A ‘MUNSTER’ OR OTHER SOLDIER IN THE GREAT WAR.
ALL OF THE TRAINING GROUNDS WHERE HE WENT PREPARING FOR WAR, COINCIDENTALLY AS AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, I HAD VISITED OR HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN WORK THERE: BERE ISLAND, CAMDEN, CROWNHILL, MONTROSE ETC. WITHOUT KNOWING IT, I HAD FOLLOWED IN MY GRANDFATHER’S FOOTSTEPS.
AN INTERVIEW WHICH I HAD WITH NOEL CRONIN OF COMMUNITY RADIO YOUGHAL 104FM, IN 2008, RESULTED IN THE DOWNLOADING OF THE MILITARY HISTORY OF JEREMIAH O’REGAN (PRODUCED BY CHRIS BAKER, http://www.fourteeneighteen.co.uk) ONTO THE RADIO’S WEBSITE: YOUGHALONLINE.COM 104FM.
http://www.youghalonline.com/2011/04/29/the-military-service-history-of-jeremiah-oregan/
© 2012-2014 Catryn Power All Rights Reserved
Posted on August 6, 2014
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