IRELAND. THE RARE, OFFICIALLY NAMED 1916 MEDAL AND 1917-21 SERVICE MEDAL PAIR AWARDED TO SERGEANT FREDERICK J. HENRY, IRISH CITIZEN ARMY (LATE IRISH VOLUNTEERS) WHO SAW SERVICE WITH THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY DURING THE 1916 RISING AND IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, AND WHO DIED WHILST "ON THE RUN" FROM CROWN FORCES DURING THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, IN MAY 1921.
FREDERICK HENRY WAS ONE OF SIX BROTHERS, FREDERICK, FRANCIS, JAMES, PATRICK, ROBERT AND WILLIAM, FIVE OF WHOM SAW SERVICE DURING THE 1916 RISING AND/OR THE 1917–21 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE; FREDERICK, FRANCIS AND JAMES ALL SEEING SERVICE IN BOTH THE 1916 RISING AND THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, AND ROBERT AND WILLIAM SEEING SERVICE DURING THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. FRANCIS AND FREDERICK WERE BOTH MEMBERS OF THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY AND SAW SERVICE ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER IN THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY AS PART OF THE COLLEGE OF SURGEONS GARRISON, STEPHENS GREEN, DURING THE 1916 RISING.
FREDERICK HENRY WAS PROMOTED SERGEANT DURING THE 1916 RISING, FOR SERVICES RENDERED WHILST SERVING WITH THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY GARRISON IN THE COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. FREDERICK AND FRANCIS HENRY ARE BOTH RECORDED IN THE 1916 REBELLION HANDBOOK AS BEING AMONG THE 289 1916 RISING PRISONERS WHO WERE INTERNED IN RICHMOND BARRACKS, DUBLIN, AFTER THE RISING ON 30 APRIL 1916, AND SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSFERRED TO THE STAFFORD DETENTION BARRACKS ON 1 MAY 1916, THEIR BROTHER JAMES BEING RECORDED AS ONE OF THE 376 PRISONERS INTERNED IN THE WAKEFIELD DETENTION BARRACKS AFTER THE RISING. ALL THREE BROTHERS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY INTERNED IN FRONGOCH DETENTION CAMP, WHERE FREDERICK, ALONG WITH A NUMBER OF OTHER 1916 PRISONERS, CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS. SERGEANT HENRY DYING AS A RESULT OF TUBERCULOSIS ON 8 MAY 1921, DURING THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, WHILST "ON THE RUN".
WHEN FREDERICK HENRY'S WIDOW SUBSEQUENTLY APPLIED FOR A MILITARY PENSION HER APPLICATION WAS REJECTED ON THE BASIS THAT HIS DEATH WAS DUE TO DISABILITY AND “NOT ATTRIBUTABLE TO SERVICE”, DESPITE THE FACT THAT HER APPLICATION FOR A PENSION WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A LETTER FROM DOCTOR KATHLEEN LYNN, WHO TREATED SERGEANT HENRY THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD BETWEEN HIS RELEASE FROM FRONGOCH IN JULY 1916 UNTIL HIS DEATH IN MAY 1921, CONFIRMING SERGEANT HENRY DIED FROM TUBERCULOSIS, INITIALLY CONTRACTED WHILST INTERNED IN FRONGOCH IN 1916.
THE 1916 MEDAL AND 1917–21 SERVICE MEDAL WERE NOT ISSUED UNTIL 1941, THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1916 RISING. WHEN THE MEDALS WERE ISSUED IN 1941, SURVIVING VETERANS WERE ISSUED WITH UNNAMED MEDALS, AND THE NEXT-OF-KIN OF 1916 CASUALTIES AND NEXT-OF-KIN OF 1916 VETERANS WHO HAD DIED PRIOR TO 1941 WERE ISSUED WITH OFFICIALLY NAMED MEDALS. FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, MANY VETERANS AND THE FAMILIES OF DECEASED VETERANS, INCLUDING FREDERICK'S FAMILY, WERE NOT ISSUED WITH THE 1916 MEDAL THEY WERE ENTITLED TO IN 1941. THERE WAS A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH 1917-21 SERVICE MEDALS. AS A RESULT, THERE WERE NUMEROUS SUBSEQUENT CLAIMS FOR LATE-ISSUE 1916 MEDALS AND 1917-21 SERVICE MEDALS. THOSE LATE-ISSUE 1916 MEDALS AND 1917-21 SERVICE MEDALS, LIKE FREDERICK HENRY'S MEDALS, WERE ALSO ISSUED OFFICIALLY NAMED AND NUMBERED. FREDERICK HENRY'S DAUGHTER WAS ISSUED WITH HER FATHER'S OFFICIALLY NAMED 1916 MEDAL IN 1948, AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY ISSUED WITH HER FATHER'S OFFICIALLY NAMED 1917-21 SERVICE MEDAL.
WHEN THE 1916 MEDAL WAS ORIGINALLY AWARDED IN 1941, IT WAS ISSUED WITH SMALL SIZE “1916” PATTERN TOP BROOCH SUSPENDERS. BUT BY THE TIME THE HENRY FAMILY WERE ISSUED WITH FREDERICK HENRY’S MEDAL THE ISSUING AUTHORITIES HAD RUN OUT OF 1916 PATTERN TOP SUSPENDER BROOCHES, THE HENRY FAMILY INSTEAD RECEIVING A MEDAL WITH THE 1917–21 PATTERN LARGE SIZE TOP SUSPENDER BROOCH (THE ISSUING AUTHORITIES EVENTUALLY RAN OUT OF 1917–21 SUSPENDER BROOCHES AS WELL, AND FROM THEN ON LATE ISSUE 1916 MEDALS WERE ISSUED WITHOUT ANY SUSPENDERS).
THE OFFICIAL BOXES OF ISSUE FOR LATE ISSUE 1916 MEDALS AND 1917–21 SERVICE MEDALS DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE ORIGINAL 1941 PATTERN BOXES, BEING OF A SLIGHTLY PALER SHADE OF GREEN.
Two: 1916 Medal, an officially named late issue medal with late issue, large size, 1917-21 Service Medal type top brooch suspender (officially named, reverse engraved in plain block capital numbers and letters: 371 FREDERICK J. HENRY); 1917-21 Service Medal, no clasp, with its original top brooch suspender, officially named, reverse engraved in plain capital numbers and letters: 535 FREDERICK HENRY).
Both medals mint state, as struck, with their original ribbons, and in their original, correct, official late issue style, card boxes of issue.
Paper covering to inner cushion of 1916 box torn, the corners of both boxes slightly scuffed, otherwise both boxes in good condition.
Medals accompanied by an important archive of original photographs and documents; including a portrait photograph of Frederick Henry as a boy, seated, 3/4 length, wearing a suit and tie, taken circa 1895, a small portrait photograph of Frederick Henry, seated, half length, with his daughter Mary Francis "May" Henry, circa 1909, and a portrait photograph of Frederick Henry, standing, 3/4 length, wearing a suit, tie and hat, taken circa 1916; an original 1 page manuscript letter dated 3/6/1948 to Frederick Henry's daughter, Caroline Isabella Murphy (nee Henry) from John Hanratty (late Commandant, Irish Citizen Army, who saw service in the GPO during the 1916 Rising), two original manuscript letters from Frederick Henry’s brother, Francis “Frank” Henry, then living at 73 Main Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, dated 31/12/1948 and 20/3/1949, to Frederick Henry’s daughter, Caroline Isabella “Carrie” Murphy (nee Henry), referencing the 1916 Medals and 1917-21 Service Medals awarded to the Henry brothers and the original receipt on Irish Defence Forces notepaper for Caroline Murphy’s application for her father‘s 1917–21 Service Medal, dated 9/7/1948, along with a photocopy of a three page manuscript letter from Irish Citizen Army researcher and archivist Gordon Farrington, of 363 W. Third Street, North Vancouver, British Columbia, to Patrick "Paddy" Murphy (Frederick Murphy’s son-in-law) dated May 7, 1966.
Medals also accompanied by biographical details and an extensive archive of copied documents and research relating to Frederick Henry, along with copied extract from the 1916 Medal roll, confirming the award of the 1916 Medal to the three Henry brothers, Frederick, Francis and James, along with extract from the official roll of 1916 veterans posthumously awarded a 1916 Medal, confirming Frederick Henry’s award of an officially named medal, numbered “371”
Frederick Joseph Henry (1884-1921) was born in Dublin in 1884, the son of William Henry (1854-1910) and Catherine Henry (1854-1935). He is recorded in the 1901 census as a 17-year-old unmarried house painter living at 15 Love Lane, South Dock, Dublin with his parents, four of his of his five brothers, Francis (22), James (15), Patrick (19) and Robert (7), and his two sisters, Anne (10) and Margaret (13), and is recorded in the 1911 census as a 27-year-old married painter, resident as a boarder at 10 Gamble Street, Belfast.
Frederick was an early recruit to the Irish Volunteers, who held their first public meeting and enlistment rally at the Rotunda in Dublin on 25th of November 1913, Frederick joining the Irish Volunteers in November 1914, and subsequently transferring to the Irish Citizen Army in early 1915.
The Irish Military Archives (Bureau of Military History) summary of Frederick Henry's military service, based on his service papers and his widow, Annie Henry’s, unsuccessful application for a pension, reads as follows-
"Frederick Henry served with the Irish Citizen Army during the week of 23 to 29 April 1916 and was subsequently interned - dates given on file for his release vary from July to December 1916. It is also claimed that Frederick Henry transferred to the Irish Volunteers - he had been a member of the Irish Volunteers prior to joining the ICA in 1915 - after his release and served with that organisation and the IRA up to his death. File includes: material relating to Annie Henry's application to the Compensation (Personal Injuries) Committee in 1923 standard form AP15 - Garda Siochana report dated 17 November 1927 regarding the means of Annie Henry and her children and their dependancy on Frederick Henry at the time of his death; Garda Siochana report dated 24 January 1928 regarding Frederick Henry's service and illness; signed handwritten and typed statements regarding Frederick Henry's service and illness from James Joyce, Commandant C. Saurin, Lieutenant J. O'Daly, Padraigh Ua Dubhtaigh (Patrick Duffy) and Joseph Doyle; signed typed report of 5 April 1929 from Colonel S. O' Higgins, Adjutant General regarding Frederick Henry's service and illness; material relating to the posthumous award of the 1916 Medal and the Service (1917-1921) Medal to Frederick Henry following an application from his daughter; and material relating to subject's widow and three daughters."
The Bureau of Military History file for Frederick Henry contains a number of documents, the contents of which are not covered in the above account of Frederick Henry's services during the period 1916–21, including
(1) A 2 page letter dated 10/5/1929 from Dr Kathleen Lynn:
"This is to certify that I attended Frederick Henry first after his release from Frongoch in the autumn of 1916. He was profoundly anaemic and tubercular looking though there were no physical signs of TB. He was on and off under my care from then until his death in March 1921, he developed well marked phthisis and died on 8/5/21 of tubercular inflammation of the brain. Signed Kathleen Lynn FRCSI”
(2) A Dependent Claim Form for dependants of persons who who died as a result of injury sustained whilst on active service, dated 17/5/1923, submitted by Annie Henry, in which she stated that her husband, Frederick Henry, died as a result of
“ bronchial pneumonia March & April 1921, cold while away from his home, on the run from B & Tans he contracted a cold sleeping away from Home. In November 1920 he had to leave his home at night time owing to British military and the Tans surrounding the locality for raiding purposes and he was always afraid they would arrest him, being concerned in the movement at that time. Frederick Henry died May 8, 1921.”
Frederick Henry’s file in the Bureau of Military History archives contains a report rejecting Annie Henry’s claim for a pension, on the basis that Frederick Henry’s “death was due entirely to disability, disability not attributable to service”.
Annie Henry subsequently appealed the decision to refuse a pension, submitting additional information including the names of various people who had known her husband in the period 1916 to 1921, this file for this later application containing a letter from Joseph Doyle, "ex Sergeant, ICA", dated 13/2/1929, confirming Frederick Henry's service in 1916, subsequent internment and that "he was compelled to go on the run after Bloody Sunday in Mount Street"
The appeal file also includes a questionnaire completed by Police Sergeant Patrick, of B District, College Police Station, Dublin, dated 24 January 1928, regarding Frederick Henry's employment and health prior to 1916, his initial rank in 1916 and his services during the 1916 Rising and War of Independence. Sergeant Patrick's replies to the questionnaire read as follows -
” I beg to report that I made discreet enquiries and ascertained the following facts re. Frederick Henry deceased late of rear 96 Lr. Mount Street :
1) Yes he took part in the taking of Davies public house Portobello Bridge on Easter Monday 1916 and also fought in Stephens Green and College of Surgeons during same week. He was promoted from private to the rank of sergeant during above period and was taken prisoner after surrendering at College of Surgeons and sent to Stafford jail and was released in the end of July 1916.
2) Yes, he joined the Irish Volunteers about November 1914 the Camden Row branch and was transferred to the Citizen Army early in 1915.
3) Private.
4) No, he was on the run in November 1920 after the shooting at lower Mount Street for about three weeks
5) No, he was always a strong healthy man
6) While on the run in November 1920 he suffered considerable hardship having to sleep in outhouses on the floor and contracted a severe cold.
7) House painter, employed by Mr Matthews, deceased, of Glen William Place Lower Mount Street
8) No, he got every attention in his illness and was medically looked after by Dr Kathleen Lynn nine Belgrave Road Rathmines”.
The 3rd June 1948 letter from John Hanratty to William Murphy's niece, regarding her being issued with her father's 1916 Medal and her uncle William Henry’s 1917-21 Service Medal, reads as follows -
“Dear Mrs. Murphy, I understand from your letter that you are in receipt of your father‘s 1916 Medal as he was taken prisoner and interned until the general release in Dec 1916. He would if alive be entitled to the Military Service medal with bar. But you as his daughter can claim it in application as you did in the case of the late William Henry. As regards Connolly’s song “The call of Erin”, it was written by him when he was on the way home from America. I don’t know if the words and music are to be had you might get them in Waldron’s North Frederick Street but if not, I can tell you that the air is “Rolling Home to Bonnie Scotland”, if all fails you might be able to get that. As to the words, I enclose them. Yours sincerely John Hanratty”
NOTE: Frederick Henry was officially classified as having been a non-combattant during the 1917-21 War of Independence by the medal issuing authorities, and as a result was issued with a no-clasp medal.
The manuscript letter from Frank Henry, Frederick Henry's brother, to his niece Carrie Murphy, dated 31 December 1948, reads as follows -
“Dear generous and good hearted old Carrie. I thank you for the Christmas card which conveyed the good wishes of yourself Paddy and the boys to someone that is not troubled by very many of whom I once knew. It makes more dearer when it comes from one of your own who does not forget. That someone lives still who is of their own. Dear Carrie with all the sincerity of my heart, I wish you Paddy and your family the best that God send you and the best wishes for a happy bright and prosperous New Year. I know you accept them from loving and sincerely, uncle Frank. Good Bye”
The manuscript letter from Frank Henry to his niece, Carrie Murphy, dated 20 March 1949, reads as follows -
”Dear Carrie, I write you these few lines hoping that yourself Paddy and the boys are in the pink. Also to thank you for your gift of Shamrock and the excellent little book of views completely covered up with those Murphys from Dublin. and again thank you very much. I am sorry that I could not get up to see you all before I came back to Brum, but I suppose you can guess the reason, a numerous amount of sympathisers and a hard rush for the train. I would have liked to have seen you, especially since you mentioned about medals and certificate re uncle Bill as I would have liked to learn all about it. Well, Carrie, Bob set my mind easy about a little picture of your noble father may he rest in peace and I feel content to know that you have got it. Poor old Bill done the simple decorating also a glass draftboard (the first I made) over 50 years ago. Well time rushed on so no matter. Well Carrie dear, to you Paddy and your two grand boys I send my best wishes and kindest regards and please accept them in the manner they are intended wholeheartedly and sincerely. I now conclude with all the best your affectionate old uncle Frank.”
The letter from Gordon and Florence Farrington, of 363 W. Third Street, North Vancouver, British Columbia, to Paddy Murphy (Frederick Murphy’s son-in-law) dated May 7, 1966 reads as follows -
” Dear Paddy, many thanks for your very nice letter of May 2, 1966. I am very sorry to hear that Bob Henry has passed away. Please convey to his sister my expressions of sympathy. The Henry family must be a great family, four brothers all ready and willing to die for Ireland. Matt Connolly whose brother Captain Sean Connolly was the first man killed on Easter Monday 1916 had four brothers and a sister in the Uprising. Our country certainly does get from its sons and daughters great love and patriotism. Of the 50 letters I sent out to I. C. A. Survivors I have now heard of three having passed away, I got four letters returned as not known, presumably they too had gone to their maker. This is what bothers me, here was an organisation that was unique. The first working class army in the world not conscripted but volunteers, no government backing, no rich man’s patronage, they had to buy their uniforms and equipment, much of their munitions was handmade in the Union‘s headquarters – Liberty Hall. And this organisation is only waiting for the last one to die and it will be no more. Perhaps the sons and daughters of the Irish Citizen Army men could form an organisation to keep the memory of what they were and did ever green. I will be in Dublin in July of this year and I will see you then. I want to get as many citizens army men together as I can. I want to have them tell of what they did on tape so that there will be something of those brave men to speak for them after they have all passed on. The information of the men being in English prisons after 1916 is important, I knew that they were in interned, but not much is said of this phase of 1916. Also Countess Markiewicz, not enough has been written of her and her sister Eva. I can fully realise that fighting for national freedom and a decent way of life would not be a pleasant experience. Then after defeating the English to be cheated of the fruits of victory by that monstrous fraud the partition of Ireland it must’ve been a galling experience. Incidentally, I am from Portadown, County Armagh. I am a Protestant but thanks be to God no orange bigot. It is almost 40 years since I left Ireland. However, not all north Ireland protestants are bigots, men such as Henry Joy McCracken, Jimmy Hope, General Al Monroe to name only a few are more worthy than all the orange bigots – Tone and Emmett knew that. My wife and I send you and your wife and family and Miss Henry our kindest regards and I do hope you are making a good recovery from your serious operation. I would be most happy to have the pictures of the Easter week celebrations. Sincerely yours, Flo and Gordon Farrington.”
The Irish Citizen Army was founded in Dublin in November 1913, some 220 members of the organisation, including 28 women, taking part in the 1916 Rising, during which they saw service at a variety of locations, including the GPO, the College of Surgeons on Stephens Green, the City Hall on Dame Street and the Harcourt Street railway station. During the Irish War of Independence the Irish Citizen Army, some 250 strong, acted as a support organisation to the Irish Republican Army. Initially, joint membership of both the Irish Citizen Army and the Irish Republican Army was permitted. However, in July 1919 the leadership of the Irish Citizen Army forbade its members from also being members of the Irish Republican Army. The Irish Citizen Army initially remained neutral during the Irish Civil War, though the organisation eventually split, with a majority of members joining the anti-treaty IRA and a minority joining the pro-treaty National Army of the Irish Free State.
Medals also accompanied by an extensive file of biographical details and copied documents and research for each of Frederick Henry's five brothers.
Francis "Frank" Henry (1879-1951) is recorded in the 1901 census as a 22 year old unmarried house painter resident at 15 Love Lane, South Dock, Dublin, with his parents, four of his brothers and two sisters, and in the 1911 census as a 33 year old married house painter resident in 5 Fennels Lane, Dublin, with his wife Ellen and a son and daughter. His service papers file in the Irish Bureau of Military History confirms that he saw service with the Irish Citizen Army during the 1916 Rising and War of Independence and fought on the anti-treaty side during the Irish Civil War.
James Joseph Henry (1886-1940) is recorded in the 1901 census as a 15 year old unmarried factory messenger resident at 15 Love Lane, South Dock, Dublin, with his parents, four of his brothers and two sisters, and in the 1911 census as a 25 year old married house painter resident in Mount Street Lower, South Dock, Dublin, with his 25 year old wife, Christina. His service papers file in the Irish Bureau of Military History confirms that he saw service during the 1916 Rising and War of Independence.
Robert Henry (1894-1966) was born in Dublin and is recorded in the 1901 census as a 7 year old school boy resident at 15 Love Lane, South Dock, Dublin, with his parents, four of his brothers and two sisters. His service papers file in the Irish Bureau of Military History confirms that he saw service during the War of Independence and Civil War, 1st April 1917 to 30th September 1923, seeing service with the anti-treaty forces during the Irish civil war, and was awarded a 1917-21 Service Medal in 1948.
William Henry was born in Dublin in 1880. He is not recorded in the 1901 census of Ireland, but is recorded in the 1911 census, as a 31 year old married painter living at 6 Smiths Cottages, Pembroke West, Dublin, with his 29 year old wife Mary Anne and 25 year old brother in law, His service papers file in the Irish Bureau of Military History confirms that he saw service during the Irish War of Independence, 1917-21, with the 3rd Battalion Dublin No. 1 Brigade, Oglaigh na hEireann (Old IRA).
A copy of William Henry's original commemorative Certificate of Service accompanies Frederick Henry's medals.
The sixth Henry brother, Patrick Joseph, was born in Dublin in 1882 . He is recorded in the 1901 census as a 19 year old unmarried house painter resident at 15 Love Lane, South Dock, Dublin, with his parents, four of his brothers and two sisters. Patrick emigrated to England prior to the 1916 Rising (his daughter Elizabeth was born in Chorlton, Lancashire, in 1910) and did not see service in the 1916 Rising, War of Independence or Irish Civil War., and as a result was not entitled to any medals.
The Henry family were contemporaries of the Irish playwright Sean O'Casey (born John Casey), who was also a member of the Irish Citizen Army, rose to become its General Secretary, March-July 1914, and subsequently wrote a history of the Irish Citizen Army. His plays about working-class life in Dublin at the time of the 1916 Rising feature many characters who would have been immediately recognisable to the Henry family.
The Henry family and Sean O'Casey both grew up in the same area of Dublin, the Dublin docklands, the 1901 census return recording the Henry family as being resident in the South Docks area and the Casey (O'Casey) family in the North Docks area.
Sean O'Casey (1880-1964) is recorded as an unmarried 21 year old junior delivery clerk resident in Abercorn Road, North Dock, Dublin, with his mother and two brothers, and in the 1911 census return as a 31 year old railway labourer, again resident in Abercorn Road.
