Between De Valera & The Deep Blue Sea

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an, you try and take one Sunday afternoon off around here, and, naturally, Greystones goes into feckin’ overdrive…

Not only was the Million Woman March taking over the town but, hey, it turns out there was an historical reenactment down at the train station.

Only, no fecker told us. Despite the fact that the local Fianna Fáil machine was behind the whole thing.

And here’s us admiring the fact that Gerry and co are really on it when it comes to de oul’ social media. When it comes to actual media though, there’s not a whisper or a whimper to be found anywhere online about today’s anniversary gathering for that faithful day in 1918, when the party’s future founder, Eamon De Valera, was re-arrested at Greystones station.

Young Éamon and his missus, Sinead, had moved their family into Edenmore on Kinlen Road in Greystones, shortly after his release from prison and his election as Sinn Fein president in October, 1917. It would be nine years later, on March 23rd, 1926, that De Valera would form Fianna Fáil.

Here’s a record of that faithful arrest at Greystones station by Sean T O’Kelly, who fought alongside De Valera during the 1916 Rising, and would be his predecessor as President of Ireland…

It may be of interest to record something that I was told happened in connection with the arrest of De Valera that night [17/18 May 1918] on his way home to Greystones where he then lived.

De Valera travelled by train from Harcourt St. to Greystones. What I was told was that when the train stopped at Bray, the driver of the engine or his assistant came to the carriage in which De Valera had taken a seat and told him that two detectives had got onto the train at Dublin, and that they were in a compartment a few carriages or so behind him, and that they felt sure that their intention was to arrest De Valera that night in Greystones.

They said that they would slow down the train coming into Greystones before they arrived at Greystones station at a certain point, which they indicated to De Valera, and they advised him to jump out of the carriage on the off-side, and that he could easily get away, and afterwards they would put on speed.

De Valera thanked them for their information but did not take any action on the advice offered. It appears that when De Valera stepped out of the carriage at Greystones the two detectives approached him and put him under arrest.

Young Pat Casey joined Gerry for today’s reenactment, as did De Valera’s grandson, Éamon Ó Cuív, along with two soldiers who looked like they might very well have fought alongside the man himself.

With those Greystones women protesting the recent CervicalCheck scandal paraded by the remembrance ceremony this afternoon, it was like the Ireland of today marching on, past the Ireland of yesterday…

You can find out more about Éamon de Valera’s arrest in Greystones here.