Thomas McEllistrim (14 October 1894 – 4 December 1973) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1923 to 1969. He was a military activist in the period from 1916 to 1923.

Guerrilla fighter

He joined the

Ballymacelligott Ballymacelligott () is a civil parish in the north of County Kerry in Ireland. It is situated east of Tralee in the historical barony of Trughanacmy. History A quarry was first built in Ballymacelligott in 1811 as a source for building mate ...

company of the Irish Volunteers in 1914 and was involved in an abortive attempt by

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

to land arms for the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

Banna Strand Banna Strand, (Gaeilge: Trá na Beannaí) also known as Banna Beach, is situated in Ballyheigue Bay. It is an Atlantic Ocean beach extending from Ballyheigue Beach at the Blackrock in the North to Barrow Beach at its southern edge, located in ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. After the rebellion he was interned by the British at Frongoch internment camp in Wales for his role in the events. In April 1918, he led an arms raid on Gortatlea Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in which two Volunteers were killed. It was one of the first acts of guerrilla warfare in the period. McEllistrim served in the Irish Republican Army in Kerry throughout the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

of 1919 to 1921. He was instrumental in the setting up of first an Active service unit (in June 1920) and then a larger "flying column", or full-time guerrilla unit in the IRA's Second Kerry Brigade in early 1921. His column fought in both the Clonbanin Ambush and the

Headford Ambush The Headford Ambush was carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 21 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. The IRA's 2nd Kerry Brigade ambushed a train carrying British troops of the Royal Fusiliers at Headford Junction rai ...

in the spring of 1921. At the latter action, in which the IRA ambushed a train carrying British troops, Dan Allman, the leader of the flying column was killed, leaving McEllistrim in command. According to historian T. Ryle Dwyer, "McEllistrim arguably played as important a role in the War of Independence as Tom Barry or

Dan Breen Daniel Breen (11 August 1894 – 27 December 1969) was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. In later years he was a Fianna Fáil politician. Background Breen was born in Grange, ...

but he never wrote a book about his exploits, nor was he prepared to talk about them publicly... Even though McEllistrim sat in the Dáil for over forty years, he apparently never mentioned the period in Leinster House". He rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought in the Anti-Treaty IRA during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

of 1922 to 1923. He was one of the senior IRA figures in Kerry during this conflict, under the command of Humphrey Murphy. In the war's early months, he commanded a Kerry column in the fighting in Limerick and at the Battle of Kilmallock, before retreating back into Kerry and pursuing guerrilla warfare. In January 1923, he, along with

John Joe Sheehy John Joseph Sheehy (16 October 1897 – 12 January 1980) was an Irish political/military activist and sportsperson. He participated in the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), where he was a senior fig ...

, led an attack on the National Army barracks at

Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

, using an improvised mortar.

Political career

McEllistrim was elected to the Dáil as a TD for Kerry in August 1923, only months after the end of the civil war, as a republican candidate. He came third in the county with 7,277 votes.Tom Doyle, The Civil War in Kerry, p131 He remained a TD for the Kerry constituency, and later of Kerry North from 1926 to 1969. After 1926, he followed much the republican leadership into Fianna Fáil. His son, Tom McEllistrim, and his grandson, also Tom McEllistrim also represented the Kerry North constituency.

References

Guerrilla fighter

Political career

See also

References