Charlie Daly

Charlie Daly (10 August 1896 – 14 March 1923), born in Castlemaine, Co. Kerry, was the second son of Con. W. Daly, of Knockanescoulten, Firies, County Kerry. He went to school, first to Balyfinane National School, and later to the Christian Brothers at Tralee.^[1]

Daly had been an active member of the Irish Volunteers from 1913 before the Easter Rising and had risen to the rank of Commandant General and was the Officer Commanding (O/C) the Second Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Under the Defense of the Realm Act (D.O.R.A.) he was incarcerated at Cork Male Prison 1918-1919 for unlawful assembly; specifically "throwing stones at the police". In his wound pension application of 1937 IRA leader George Lennon noted Daly as Officer O/C of No. 10 Wing. A "smash up strike" in the jail resulted in solitary confinement and ill treatment for the men. Accompanied by Liam Lynch and George Lennon he was at the Mansion House on 7 January 1922 when a majority voted to accept the Treaty. Daly subsequently took the anti-treaty side in the Civil War.

O/C 2nd Northern Division[]

In early 1920 IRA General Head Quarters (GHQ) sent Daly to Tyrone to organize the few units there.^[2] Daly planned the highly successful attack on the Royal Irish Constabulary barrack in Pomeroy, County Tyrone (19 March 1922). Approximately 20 heavily armed Tyrone IRA men gained entrance to the base and made off with 75 rifles and a large quantity of ammunition.^[3] In the spring of 1921 Monaghan IRA leader Eoin O'Duffy was appointed as the Commandant of the IRA's 2nd Northern Division (Tyrone). Liam Kelly, a well respected Tyrone Republican felt the Daly should have gotten the appointment: "I am convinced that O'Duffys appointment was a mistake as Charlie Daly was a better man for the job. He knew the area much better and worked with the men for about twelve months beforehand. He knew all the officers in the area intimately and was a general favourite with all who had contact with him."^[4]

Arrest, execution and legacy[]

On 2 November 1922, Charlie Daly was captured and imprisoned at Drumboe Castle in Donegal, where he was held until 16 January 1923, when he was court-martialled and sentenced to death and executed on 14 March 1923. Daniel Enright, Sean Larkin, and Timothy O'Sullivan were executed with him. Enright and O'Sullivan were also from Kerry. Daly was shot in retaliation for an act he did not commit - the shooting of Captain Bernard Cannon a pro-treaty National Army officer.^[5] Joseph Sweeney (Irish politician) was the Commander of the Provisional Government forces in Donegal and knew Daly from earlier years. Sweeney was quoted on the execution of Daly: "The terrible thing was that Daly had to be executed...Daly and I had been very friendly when we were students, and it is an awful thing to kill a man you know in cold blood, if you're on level terms with him...I didn't agree with it, but they were orders and you had to do it."^[6]

His sister May Daly was a significant figure in Sinn Féin in Kerry up to the 1970s; she stood in the 1957 general election in Kerry North, polling 3,171 votes.^[7]

One of his descendants, Mark Daly, was elected senator in 2007 for Fianna Fáil.^[8] Another one of his Descendants, Lorraine Clifford-Lee, was elected as a Fianna Fáil senator in 2016. While another one of his descendants, Pa Daly was elected as a Sinn Féin TD in 2020.^{[citation needed]}

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