Page 11 - Garda Journal Winter 2019

IRISH HISTORY | Francis Ledwidge
The military grave of Francis Ledwidge.
“Once John Redmond pledged ‘his volunteers’ to the British war effort, in the hope of gaining a more
joined the Slane branch of the Irish Volunteers, which was founded in November 1913. On the outbreak of the Great War, the Irish Volunteers were thrown into a quandary. Once John Redmond pledged ‘his volunteers’ to the British war effort, in the hope of gaining a more substantial form of Home Rule, the movement split. The majority supported Redmond and was renamed the “National Volunteers”, while a smaller grouping supported Eoin McNeill and the original twenty co-founders, retaining the original name of the ‘Irish Volunteers’. At a meeting in Slane, the whole hall declared for John Redmond except for six men, one of whom was Ledwidge. At the next meeting of the Rural Council all except Ledwidge enthusiastically supported Redmond’s position. Ledwidge was isolated and sneered at as being ‘pro-German’!
Despite his initial misgivings about the War, Ledwidge left for Dublin to join the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on October 24th 1914. Why he made such an abrupt about turn is uncertain. His patron Lord Dunsany was horrified. He had actually promised Ledwidge an annual stipend to keep him from joining up, only to find him enlisting in his own regiment. One reason for his enlisting was the loss of his love Ellie Vaughey. Ellie and he had grown apart, and she was frequently seen in the company of John O’Neill, whom she later married. The couple moved to Manchester. Tragically, Ellie died after a difficult childbirth, a year later. Ledwidge foresaw her fate. The night before her death, he dreamt of white birds flying over the Atlantic. His poem ‘Caoin’, aptly describes his foreboding doom. Another poem, ‘After My Last Song’ also alludes to Ellie, as one of the reasons for his enlistment. “I’m wild for wandering to far-off places, Since one forsook me whom I held most dear.”
INTO THE WAR
Francis Ledwidge’s first introduction to the war was the disaster at Gallipoli. Interestingly, he wrote no verse during the eight weeks he spent there. He was lucky to be one of 118,000 men, finally evacuated from the peninsula. Despite this, Ledwidge fitted into army life well, and was promoted
substantial form of Home Rule, the movement split"
GARDA JOURNAL 9