Template cover sheet which must be included at the front of all projects
Title of project:
Inspector Michael Forde
Name(s) of class /
group of students /
Louise Buttle, Michael Cullen, James Dixon,
individual student
Morgan Haydon, Cian Kinlough
submitting the project:
School roll number (this should be provided if possible):
School address
St Patrick’s NS,
(this must be provided even
Sion,
for projects submitted by a
Crossabeg,
group of pupils or an
Co Wexford
17017L
individual pupil):
Class teacher’s name
this must be provided even for
Ms Clare Doyle
projects submitted by a group
of pupils or an individual pupil):
Contact phone number:
Contact email address:
053-9159035
info@crossabegnationalschool.ie
Inspector Michael Forde
The War of Independence 1919 to 1921 had seen little activity in Co. Wexford. The Civil War
(June 1922 to May 1923) was a different matter however. It has been claimed that four
flying columns called ‘Irregulars’, operated within the county and they were opposed by 950
Free State Troops. ‘Irregular’ was the term used then to describe those who had rejected
the Anglo Irish Treaty 1921 and embarked on a violent campaign to bring down the new
Free State government. The Civil War action was largely confined to two activities by the
‘Irregulars’ – the destruction of some of the great houses of the Anglo Irish families and
attacks on the Free State troops travelling by rail as well as attempting to destruct the
railroad infrastructure.
Michael Forde
Michael Forde, a true hero of this period was the Dublin and
South Eastern Railways Permanent Way Inspector for the
Wexford area. It was Michael’s responsibility to keep the trains
running for the sake of commerce and every-day life. Through
Michael’s efforts, the railway gangers were able to repair the
lines, rebuild temporary facilities for the stations that had been
blown up and retrieve derailed trains, even from the River
Slaney. The Free State Army provided protection for Forde and
his breakdown gang. This military presence provided some sense
of security for the breakdown gang as on many occasions Forde and
his gang were in supreme danger.
The ‘Irregular’ campaign against the railways in Wexford began on 10th July 1922 with the
blowing up of Killurin Bridge (399) near Killurin station. The explosion caused a break in the
rails of 20ft. The target was the 4.15am goods train from Wexford. The engine, unable to
stop, jumped the gap.
The second carriage did
however fall down the
void but remarkably the
coupling held and this
anchored the engine
itself. By 7.30am a
breakdown gang under
Inspector Michael
Forde was on the scene
by rail from Wexford.
Their first job was to
secure the engine by
Michael Forde, in a bowler hat, is standing in front of the engine. The
building up a crib of
picture is of the derailment of the 4.15am goods train at Bridge (399).
sleepers under the
overhanging wheel. Then, Inspector Forde tackled the derailed wagons. He broke the
railroad some distance behind and set the rails out towards the scattered wagons. Then
with the aid of a long chain, the breakdown engine pulled the wagons one by one back onto
the line. The wagon hanging in the gap, they jacked up from below. That done, the gang
made good the gap with an emergency bridge with timber baulks under each rail. Then, the
breakdown engine hauled engine no 17 back onto the main line. Remarkably by 10.30pm
the bridge had been repaired and the track open for business. Such was the work of
Inspector Forde and his breakdown gang.
Four days later, when the
‘Irregulars’ returned to
Waterford Station, they
boasted that they had
blown up a steel-girder
bridge (457) at Donovan’s
Bank, 2 to 3 miles out
from Waterford and that
there would be no trains
over that road for three
months to come. They were
Derailed train at Donovan’s Bank. Forde’s crew built a rail line to
wrong, they hadn’t counted
get the train back up the hill and onto the rail again. Michael is
on Inspector Forde! Forde
standing at the side of the train engine.
and his crew arrived at 5pm
and cleared the debris of the twisted girders and replaced them with a temporary bridge
consisting of a pair of 12” x 12” x 20ft pitch-pine baulks tied together under each rail and
supported underneath by a crib of sleepers. The job was finished by 7.20pm. Over the next
week the same bridge was targeted by the ‘Irregulars’ but each time Michael Forde and his
gang re-opened the line for rail traffic.
Bridge 367 was situated in a mountainous area near a country road which led off to
numerous little roads, an ideal place for an attack! Forde and his gang replaced this bridge
with wooden girders on no fewer than thirteen occasions between July 1922 and January
1923. Finally, he replaced the wooden girders with steel and it was never demolished again.
On the 24th July 1922, only two weeks to the day after the first incident in Killurin, a more
serious incident occurred, involving loss of life and multiple injuries. This was an attack on a
train carrying ‘Irregular’ prisoners to Dublin and Free State soldiers as their guards. The
remaining carriages were packed with passengers going about their normal business to
Dublin or places in between. It was reported that 50 ‘Irregulars’ were involved and their
Free State opponents were reported to be 46. The train had to slow down approaching the
station to allow for the temporary bridge installed by Forde and his team. Shots were fired,
the train stopped and a fierce engagement, lasting half an hour, ensued. By this time the
gunfire had stopped and the ‘Irregulars’ had withdrawn, two soldiers lay dead and a third
would succumb to wounds shortly afterwards. Four others were seriously wounded and five
with lesser wounds. As it happened,
Inspector Forde was on the footplate
with the driver to test how his
repaired bridge was coping. Ignoring
the gun fire, Forde ran up the
platform, released the imprisoned
Station Master and phoned
Enniscorthy to have ambulances and
clergy ready to administer to the
dead and wounded. By this stage the
attackers, to avoid any possible
encirclement from a relieving force
Free State Military on the platform at Macmine Station
of Free State military, had retired.
On August 15th, another detainment at Killurin caused the night mail train to run about 150
yards until she ran into soft ground and turned over after rails been removed without
warning. The unfortunate driver George
Turner, was trapped underneath the
wreckage and badly scalded – an
occupational hazard for the engine crew
where a steam train is involved in an
accident. Word was received in Wexford at
5.20am. Inspector Forde immediately
telephoned the Military for an ambulance.
He then personally guided the ambulance to
the scene where they rescued Turner who
later made a full recovery. The breakdown
train arrived at 7.30am. All day long, Forde
worked on the wagons, all 22 of them –
mostly coal. By 10pm, he and the
breakdown gang had the wagons back on the
Michael Forde, standing to the right, at a
rails and a day later the engine was ready to
train derailment near Killurin Station
go on its way again.
On occasions, Inspector Forde did not have to deal with gunshots but instead with the locals
pilfering from the train. Hadden quotes Inspector Forde, “The amount of pilfering that they
did was disgraceful. You couldn’t watch ‘em. They’d take anything. They came with horses
and carts from far and near. Besides the coal, there was a consignment of tea on that train
and £300 worth of drapery goods. For long afterwards they had all the tea the countryside
could use”. Forde also knew of one house in the area that had 35 velour hats.
By the end of August, the local supply of explosives was exhausted and thus began the
burnings that further stretched Inspector Forde and his work force. The underlying idea in
most of the burnings
was to immobilise the
railway by destroying
the switching and
signalling systems.
But the ‘Irregulars’
failed, according to
Inspector Forde,
because the vital part
in all signal cabins was
the frame and the
‘Irregulars’ never
waited long enough
to make sure of
The picture is of the rebuilding of the Macmine signal cabin which had
effectively destroying
been destroyed by the ‘Irregulars’. Michael Forde is standing on the
them.
right.
On the 16th September, the ‘Irregulars’ burnt the cabin with serious effect, destroying the
telephone lines and putting the staff instruments out of commission in Enniscorthy. Word
was sent to Forde and his men who were repairing at Palace East station also destroyed the
night before. The following day, Monday was Fair Day in Enniscorthy and the station yard
was needed. Forde’s men were very tired, they had been working the whole weekend. To
make matters worse, they had been fired upon at Palace East. Nevertheless, the gang went
with Inspector Forde. They arrived in Enniscorthy at 7pm and were finished by 11pm on that
Sunday night, leaving the yard in working order for the Fair.
On 11th November 1922, a goods train (Engine No 18) from Dublin was stopped at Killurin
by broken track rails at about 5.00am. The crew were taken off and the engine was badly
damaged by running it into the river. True to form, the breakdown crew with Inspector
Forde was on the scene by 7.00am. The line was soon reopened and engine No 18 was later
saved from the River Slaney. The engine had ended up on its side in the water just below
Killurin Quay. Inspector Forde is quoted by George Hadden as saying “Looking back, I’ve
often wondered since, how we did manage it. She was sunk about half-way in the mud. At
high tide she was completely under water.”
On November 20th 1922, the ‘Irregulars’ held up the Waterford goods train at Sparrowsland
siding just three miles from Macmine station. With its wagons left at the siding, Engine No.
36, was run into the marshy ground after rails had been removed. The engine was lying face
down in the bank. The rails were replaced and the line was open again to traffic by Sunday
evening by Inspector
Forde and his crew.
However, the
salvaging of the
engine itself took a
week. She was
dismantled where
she lay, transported
in pieces to Macmine
and re-assembled
there.
On December 8th the
18.05pm DublinRosslare train was
held up at Macmine. The
Engine 36 is derailed in marshy ground near Sparrowsland siding.
‘Irregulars’ removed the passengers
Michael is standing in front of the train engine.
and crew who had to spend a
December night, cold and hungry, at this desolate railway outpost which had no amenities
of any type. They took the train to Killurin where the engine (No 32) was detached and sent
into the Slaney close from where engine No 18 had been rescued. Inspector Forde and his
crew retrieved engine No 32 from the river as before. Remarkably, both engines (No 18 &
32) would return to service after repairs.
By the end of 1922, Killurin ceased to be a target because security measures were being
tightened up. Killurin, in open country, with road access to all sides, proved very dangerous
for the ‘Irregulars’. However, the ‘Irregulars’ took on new tactics of either burning the
engines or running two engines into each other at full speed. Most of the work done at this
time, by Inspector Forde and his crew was just clearing the lines and opening them for
business. Many of the engines and the carriages were beyond repair.
George Hadden identified the Kyle Flying Column of Crossabeg as being responsible for the
‘Irregular’ activity in the Macmine and Killurin areas. This may explain why so much activity
had a Killurin focus. Using Killurin Bridge, the ‘Irregulars’ were back on home soil.
Inspector Forde was a target for the ‘Irregulars’. Maureen, his daughter, recalled that he
received a written death threat from the IRA for his attempts to keep the lines open and the
trains running. He also received other threats. At Palace East on the 3rd February 1923, the
‘Irregulars’ made no secret of the fact that they were looking for Inspector Forde to take
him away. Luckily, Forde was not there on this occasion.
Undoubtedly, Inspector Michael Forde and his breakdown gang played a crucial role in
preserving the railways in Co. Wexford during the Civil War. At the time when the hydraulic
lifting equipment was unheard of, recovering engines from the River Slaney was a
remarkable achievement. He dealt with each task presented to him with efficiency and
showed dedication to keeping the D&SE rail line open. Dr. Peadar Sinnott of the IRA referred
to Forde as a genius. His role was also remembered by the people of Wexford Town. Forty
business men and traders of Co. Wexford wrote to D&SE Railways expressing their
appreciation to Inspector Forde and his gang for the service rendered to the whole business
community. Michael Forde continued to work for the railway until his retirement in 1944.
Inspector Forde died in 1951 at the age of 81.
Michael Forde, centre of the picture in bowler hat, with his breakdown
gang who played a crucial role in preserving the railways in Co.
Wexford during the Civil War.
Bibliography
Broken Rails: Crashes and Sabotage on Irish Railways by Brian Mac Aongusa
Dublin & South Eastern Railway by Ernest Shepherd (UK 1974)
Irish Railway Record Society Journal Vol 3 No 12 & 13 ‘The War on the Railways in Co
Wexford’ 1922-23 by Dr George Hadden
In Time of Civil War by Bernard Share
Copy of Letter from forty Wexford Businessmen & Traders to D&SR Railways
Communications with Christine Forde, grand-daughter of Michael Forde