Cathal Brugha

Cathal Brugha (Charles William St John Burgess) (July 18, 1874-July 7, 1922) was an Irish revolutionary, born in Dublin, Ireland of mixed Irish Catholic and English Protestant parentage, who was active in the Easter Rising and the Irish Civil War.

Related Topics:
July 18 - 1874 - July 7 - 1922 - Irish - Revolutionary - Dublin, Ireland - Irish Catholic - Easter Rising - Irish Civil War

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He was educated, not by the Irish Christian Brothers who educated most of the insurrectionists and guerrillas, but at the Jesuit Belvedere College, but was forced to leave at the age of sixteen due to the failure of his father's business. Brugha went on to become a clerk with a church supplies firm.

Related Topics:
Jesuit - Belvedere College

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In 1899 Brugha joined the Gaelic League and in 1913 he became lieutenant in the Irish Volunteers. During the Easter Rising in 1916 he was second in command at South Dublin Union under Commandant Eamonn Ceannt. During the fighting he was severely wounded by a hand grenade, as well as by multiple (perhaps 16) gunshot wounds, and was originally not considered likely to survive, but he pulled through refusing to fall to British bullets. He also had a prominent role in the Anglo-Irish War.

Related Topics:
1899 - Gaelic League - 1913 - Irish Volunteers - 1916 - Eamonn Ceannt - Anglo-Irish War

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In October 1917 he became Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and held that post until March 1919. In 1918 he was elected to Dáil Éireann representing Waterford and he soon became Minister for Defence. Due to the abscence of Eamon de Valera and Arthur Griffith, Brugha presided over the first meeting of Dáil Éireann on the 21 January 1919.

Related Topics:
October - 1917 - Chief of Staff - Irish Republican Army - March - 1919 - 1918 - Dáil Éireann - Waterford - Eamon de Valera - Arthur Griffith - 21 January

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He was known for his bitter enmity towards the far more talented and dynamic Michael Collins, who, although nominally only the IRA's Director of Intelligence, had far more influence in the organisation, and his top-notch assassin squad (The Twelve Apostles) and counterintelligence operation making him Collins all the more valuable to the Cause. Michael Collins accepted his old comrade's feelings with a resigned equanimity.

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At a top-level IRA meeting in August 1920 Brugha argued against ambushes of Crown forces unless there was first a call to surrender, but this was dismissed as unrealistic by the brigade commanders present. Brugha also had the idea of "machine-gunning cinema queues in England", which Collins, to his credit, refused to contemplate, thus earning even more enmity from his nemesis.

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In 1922 he voted against the Anglo-Irish Treaty and was quickly replaced as Minister for Defence by Richard Mulcahy. During the Irish Civil War he fought on the anti-Treaty side but was severely wounded again. Cathal Brugha died on from a wound he received when he was shot just once in the thigh, but which severed a major artery causing him to bleed to death on July 7, 1922, just 11 days before his 48th birthday.

Related Topics:
1922 - Anglo-Irish Treaty - Richard Mulcahy - July 7

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