Youghal

LOCAL CONNECTIONS WITH THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR. By Mike Hackett. Pictures courtesy of Mike Hackett


My grandson, Ruben Hackett (16 years) who lives in Valencia in Spain was part of a group of students asked to do research into the Spanish Civil War.



It wasn't much trouble to Ruben's fellow class-mates: they were reared in that area of the Civil War - as were their parents and grandparents before them.



But for Ruben - whose Dad is from Shanacoole in West Waterford and Mum is from Scartaglen near Killarney - this would prove to be a challenge. All the pals in class could say that one or more of their family - grand-fathers or grand-mothers - had been shot during the conflict. Ruben had no Spanish background like that but yet wanted to partake in the project. He contacted his granda Mike (me) looking for guidance.



Yes - Ireland and Youghal played several parts in the Spanish Civil War.



Before getting into the local connections - let me give a small bit of background to the war and Irishman General Eoin O'Duffy who founded the Blue Shirts (Fine Gael) movement. He was an I.R.A. guerilla leader when the British were in Ireland - then he became an army general in the Free State army before becoming a Garda Commissioner from 1922 to 1933.



He recruited 700 men (all Catholic) from the Blue Shirts who went to fight for Franco and the Catholic cause in Spain in 1935. That war started when General Francisco Franco led a military coup against the elected Republican Government. You now had a civil war where the Franco right-wing Catholic faction was fighting the elected left-wing Republican rulers. The war lasted from 1935 to 1937 and resulted in a win for Franco. From that he became an autocrat who ruled Spain without mercy until 1955. During the friction - O'Duffy had some problems with Spanish officers regarding the harsh treatment and executions given to the opposition. The Irish section (Blue Shirts) returned home in 1937.



At least two of the seven hundred that went to Spain were from Youghal: Tommy Hannon of Mill Road and Michael Collins of Cork Hill. In the attached photo - Tommy can be seen on his horse at Mill Road after his return - wearing his Spanish Uniform. He also brought back a pair of lovely pearl handled pistols. He and his nephew Anthony (son of Mossie Hannon - Gas Works Manager) used to play cowboys and Indians with them around Tommy's farm. The pistols were promised to be left to Anthony. Meantime Tommy took a notion to have them valued and he took them to a gunsmith in Cork for that purpose. The gunsmith kept them for a few weeks to get the opinion of an antique dealer. Then after a month when Tommy returned to Cork to hear the valuation - the shop was closed - the gunsmith was gone - and so were the pistols. Anthony - who became a B.Eng. from U.C.C. and was working in Los Angeles at that stage told me that he just had to accept his disappointment and loss.



Another connection with that terrible civil war tells of international journalist Claud Cockburn siding with the Republican (communist) side. Claud met with another journalist Patricia Arbuthnot of Myrtle Grove, Youghal while reporting on the continent. They became an item and when Patricia retired back to Youghal - she brought her husband with her. They had three children - all boys: Alexander, Andrew and Patrick. At first they lived with Commander Arbuthnot at Myrtle Grove before they went to live at Brook Lodge on the Quarry Road. Claud was a real gentleman and a great friend of John Huston - the director of the film 'Moby Dick' which was made locally. John had already made a film based on a book of Claud's called 'Shake Hands with the Devil' - about the I.R.A. during the troubles. There is no doubt but that Claud had a big influence in bringing the making of the film 'Moby Dick' to Youghal. It meant a lot to a poor town in 1954. In retirement Claud continued to write for the London Times newspaper and several magazines like Private Eye. After the boys had fled the nest and were working - like their parents as journalists, authors and reporters - Claud and Patricia went to live nearby in the lovely village of Ardmore.



Readers of a certain age will remember the Youghal Steam Laundry at Greencloyne on the north road. This was owned by a Mr. Lee and he and his family - including in-laws - lived at Copperalley (behind Mistletoe Castle). A woman named Miss Wall was one of those and she helped to run the laundry. She had been a 'Nanny' for a family in Spain before the civil war started - minding the children and teaching them to speak English. Then when some members of that family were shot by Franco's forces - she came back home. In later years - we remember some of those Spanish children coming as adults on holidays to Copperalley in the 1960s.



Ruben's teacher was delighted to have these Irish connections included in the research and commended him for his efforts.
- Mike Hackett - May 2026.

Pictures:

Photo:
General Eoin O’Duffy, former IRA leader and Garda Commissioner, later headed the Blueshirts (associated with Fine Gael). In the mid-1930s, he organised a contingent of Irish volunteers—primarily Catholic Blueshirt members—to fight in support of Franco during the Spanish Civil War.

Photo:
International journalist Claud Cockburn sided with the Republican communist side.

Photo:
Crossing The Line - A second Volume of Autobiography. By Claud Cockburn

Photo:
Mike Hackett's grandson Ruben Hackett

Photo:
The official crest of Tavernes Blanques CF, a football club based in Valencia, Spain. ... See MoreSee Less