James Francis Bernard, 4th Earl of Bandon, KP (12 September 1850 – 18 May 1924), was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Deputy Lieutenant in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Irish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords after the Kingdom of Ireland was brought into union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. No new members were added to the House after ...

. Bernard was a cousin of the Earl of Midleton, who was head of the southern

Irish Unionist Alliance The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA), also known as the Irish Unionist Party, Irish Unionists or simply the Unionists, was a unionist political party founded in Ireland in 1891 from a merger of the Irish Conservative Party and the Irish Loyal and ...

at the time of the

Anglo-Irish War The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the 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 wi ...

, 1919–21.

Estate

He reorganised his various

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

estates by way of settlement in 1876 and further in 1895 and 1896 including the mortgaging of the lands to his agents Richard Wheeler Doherty, and the appointment of George and John Jones and Doherty as his attorneys. He was appointed High Sheriff of County Cork for 1875. He owned 40,000 acres in County Cork.

The War of Independence

The family seat, Castle Bernard, near

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Ba ...

, was one of the great houses burned during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

in the early 1920s by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

under

Seán Hales Seán Hales (30 March 1880 – 7 December 1922) was an Irish political activist and member of Dáil Éireann from May 1921 to December 1922. Biography Born John Hales in Ballinadee, Bandon, County Cork, one of nine children of Robert Hales, a ...

on 21 June 1921. The home was burned as a counter-reprisal measure against British policy of burning the homes of suspected Irish republicans. Seán Hales's own family home was burned just prior, and Castle Bernard was burned in retaliation. Bernard was

kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

ped and held hostage for three weeks being released on 12 July. The IRA threatened to have him executed if the British went ahead with executing IRA prisoners. During his captivity, Bernard reportedly played cards with his captors, who seem to have treated him well. Reportedly, Lord Bandon would give one of his captors, Daniel (Dan) O'Leary (also known ''An'' ''Leabhar'', Irish for 'The Book', based on the fact he was so well read), money each day for An Leabhar to travel from the house in Kilcolman townland, to Slattery's pub in

Ahiohill Ahiohill () is a small village in County Cork, Ireland. The historical spelling for the area, Aghyohil, is reflected in the names of two local townlands, Aghyohil Beg and Aghyohil More. As of the 2011 census, Aghyohil Beg was home to 29 people ...

to purchase Clonakilty Wrastler (a local beer). After the captivity, Bernard gifted Seán Hales "a fine stick as a mark of his gratitude and esteem for Seán's conduct towards him".

References

1850 births 1920s missing person cases 1924 deaths Earls of Bandon Formerly missing British people High sheriffs of County Cork Irish representative peers Kidnapped British people Kidnapped politicians Knights of St Patrick Lord-lieutenants of Cork People of the Irish War of Independence Politicians from County Cork Reprisals {{Ireland-earl-stub

Estate

The War of Independence

See also

References

References