, birth_date = 12 October 1897 , death_date = 19 December 1919 , birth_place= Ballisodare,

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

, Ireland , death_place= Ashtown,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, Ireland , image=Martin savage.jpg , caption= , nickname= , allegiance=

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

, serviceyears= 1916–1919 , rank=

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

, commands= , unit=Dublin Brigade , battles= Easter Rising,
Irish War of Independence , awards= , laterwork= Martin Savage ( ga, Máirtín Sabhaois; 12 October 1897 – 19 December 1919) was an

in the Dublin Brigade of the

, from Ballisodare,

.Roger McDonnell On 19 December 1919 he was killed in a gun battle during an

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind mo ...

at Ashtown, then on the outskirts of Dublin city, during the early stages of the Irish War of Independence.

Early life

Savage was born in Streamstown, Ballisodare,

on 12 October 1897. He was the youngest son of Michael Savage who was known locally as a

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...

activist and Bridget Savage, formerly Gildea. After leaving school he worked as an apprentice grocer in Sligo Town before committing himself to the fight for Irish Independence.

Military action

Savage moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in 1915 and joined the

. As a 18-year-old he took part in the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and fought at the Four Courts. He was captured by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and imprisoned in

Richmond Barracks Richmond Barracks was a British Army barracks in Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a cultural centre. History The barracks, which were named after Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, were completed in 1810 and first occupied by the Briti ...

. On 30 April 1916 he was deported to

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

Detention Barracks in Cheshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

along with 200 other captured prisoners. Upon his release Savage returned to Dublin and re-engaged in paramilitary activity and became a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade. Within republican circles he was known as a shy, slim built, handsome Sligonian who was a popular and trusted especially amongst the likes of

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 Grang ...

Seán Treacy Seán Allis Treacy ( ga, Seán Ó Treasaigh; 14 February 1895 – 14 October 1920) was one of the leaders of the Third Tipperary Brigade of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. He was one of a small group whose actions initiated th ...

and

Seán Hogan Seán Hogan (13 May 1901 – 24 December 1968) was one of the leaders of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. Early life Hogan was born on 13 May 1901, the elder child of Matthew Hogan of Green ...

The Ashtown ambush

Planning by Breen

On 19 December 1919, Savage and 10 fellow Volunteers including Mick McDonnell, Tom Kehoe,

, Séumas Robinson,

Paddy Daly Paddy Daly (1888–1957) sometimes referred to as Paddy O'Daly, served in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence''Michael Collins: A Life'' by James Mackay, p. 132 and subsequently held the rank of major-general in the I ...

(Leader), Vincent Byrne, Tom Kilcoyne, Joe Leonard and

, met after planning to assassinate the then British

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Supreme Commander of the British Army in Ireland, Lord French, as he returned from a private party which he had hosted the previous evening at his country residence in

Frenchpark Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (), is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland on the N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French Park Estate was until 1952 the ancestr ...

, County Roscommon. It was not originally planned that Savage was to take an active part in the ambush, however, after a chance meeting with Breen and Hogan, Savage insisted that he join the ambushing force. Sean Hogan initially attempted to dissuade him, but relented and gave Savage an automatic pistol. The unit's intelligence operative had informed it that Lord French would be travelling in the second car of the armed convoy that comprised an outrider and three following cars, which would bring Lord French from Ashtown railway station to the Vice-Regal Lodge in

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

, Dublin.

Events of the day

On the day of the ambush, Savage attended work as usual and slipped away early in the morning to meet with the other men who were to take part in the attack who were gathered at Fleming's Pub in Drumcondra. They departed Drumcondra in small groups to avoid raising suspicion as they cycled through Phibsboro and up the Cabra Road, and then regrouped at Kelly's Public House (now called the Halfway House) in Ashtown. At approximately 11:40 a.m., as the train carrying Lord French pulled into the station, they left the pub and took up positions along the crossroads at Ashtown. The plan was for Martin Savage, Tom Kehoe and Dan Breen to push a hay-cart halfway across the road and then, after the out-rider and the first car had passed, they would push it the rest of the way across the road, thereby completely blocking the path of the remaining vehicles. They had been informed that Lord French was to be in the second car and this car they intended to attack with

Mills Bomb "Mills bomb" is the popular name for a series of British hand grenades which were designed by William Mills. They were the first modern fragmentation grenades used by the British Army and saw widespread use in the First and Second World Wa ...

s and rifle fire. As they pushed the hay-cart across the road their plan was almost foiled as a member of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

(RIC) disturbed them, telling them to move on. One of them threw a grenade at him, although it didn't explode it struck the police officer on the head, knocking him unconscious. The police officer was then dragged from the road and the attack went ahead as planned.Wayne Sugg

Lord French's car and the gun battle

When the convoy appeared minutes later the attack commenced, forcing the target second car in the convoy to swerve off the road. However, unknown to the attackers Lord French was travelling in the first car, which managed to drive through the blockade. The occupants of the second car, part of Lord French's guard, returned fire. As the gun battle developed the third car of the convoy arrived on the other side of the cart, and its occupants began firing with rifles on the now exposed ambushing force. In the exchange of fire Breen was shot in the leg, and seconds later Savage fell mortally wounded after being hit by a bullet in the neck. He died in the arms of Breen and his last words to Breen were "I'm done, but carry on....". Tom Kehoe and the wounded Breen succeeded in carrying Savage's body from the road and back to Kelly’s Pub while the gun battle continued. Two Royal Irish Constabulary police officers and a driver were also wounded in the gun battle. At this point the British military, including some wounded, began to withdraw from the scene and continued on towards the Phoenix Park. Knowing British reinforcements would be on their way, the IRA unit itself dispersed to safe houses in the Dublin area. Breen was helped onto his bike by

who helped him to a safehouse in the Phibsboro' area, where he was medically treated to by the captain of the

hurling team, Dr J.M. Ryan. The next morning, the ''Irish Independent'' published an article which described the attackers as "assassins" and included other such terms as "criminal folly", "outrage" and "murder." Taking these terms as an insult to their dead comrade, it was decided to attack the newspaper's offices. On Sunday, at 9pm, between twenty and thirty IRA men under the direction of Peadar Clancy entered the offices of the ''Independent'' where they proceeded to wreck its machinery of production. Despite this, with the assistance of the other Dublin newspapers, the ''Independent'' was able to appear the next day, and the owners were awarded £16,000 pounds in compensation. According to Breen in his memoir, neither the ''Independent'', nor any other Dublin newspaper, ever dared refer to the IRA as 'murderers or assassins' again.

Funeral

Savage's body was taken by British military and an inquest was held into his death. The inquest was attended by his brother and his employer William Kirk, who described the dead paramilitary as "a steady, sober and industrious young man, gentlemanly in manner and extremely courteous." After the inquest, Savage's body was handed over to his relatives. His remains lay overnight at Broadstone Station before departing for Sligo where it was met at

Collooney railway station Collooney railway station serves the town of Collooney in County Sligo, Ireland and is on the Dublin-Sligo railway line. It was the first of three stations to be built in Collooney and remains the only one still in service. History Colloon ...

by a large crowd. His coffin, draped in an Irish

Tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...

, was carried over two miles at shoulder height to his family's burial ground. It was buried with military honours in his native Ballisodare, County Sligo. Breen noted that "the cortege was several miles long, the Parish Priest attended and recited the last prayer, while the Royal Irish Constabulary, armed with guns, surrounded the graveyard. "However, I suppose, this was the best tribute they could have paid to a gallant soldier, even though they did not mean it that way".

Legacy

In 1948, the

National Graves Association The National Graves Association (NGA; ga, Cumann Uaigheann na Laochra Gael, "Grave Committee of Heroes of the Gaels") is an Irish organisation which seeks to maintain the graves of Irish republicans who died in the pursuit of a united Ireland. I ...

erected a memorial to Savage close to the site of the ambush at Ashtown Roundabout. There is an annual commemoration of his death at the site of the ambush.JmcDMFB There have also been a number of streets and public places named after him including Martin Savage Place in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

, Martin Savage Road and the home of St. Oliver Plunkett's Eoghan Ruadh GAA club, Martin Savage Park in

and Martin Savage Terrace near the centre of Sligo Town.Homepage of Kilnavara Ards
The Ashtown Fianna Fáil Cumann, named after Savage, hold an annual commemoration on the Sunday after the anniversary of his death at the Ashtown memorial site. Since 2002, the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

Joe McDonnell

Cumann A (Irish for association; plural ) is the lowest local unit or branch of a number of Irish political parties. The term ''cumann'' may also be used to describe a non-political association. Traditionally, Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil have called ...

hold an annual rally on the anniversary of his death also. The Coen/Savage (East Sligo)

also hold a wreath laying ceremony every Easter Sunday morning at Martin Savage's graveside in Ballisodare, Co. Sligo.

References

External links

*http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/ashtown-road-irish-rebel-song-lyrics-and-chords.html - The lyrics to a song written in memory of Martin Savage titled Ashtown Road. {{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Martin 1897 births 1919 deaths People from County Sligo Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members Deaths by firearm in Ireland People of the Easter Rising Irish Republicans killed during the Irish War of Independence