FRANCIS Mc.GRANE 1890 - 1971
In early 1915 Frank (an unemployed wood machinist) went to Glasgow to work making munitions cases for WW1. He was sent there by the Amalgamated Union of Machinists based in London, who were unhappy that skilled men were unemployed and idle in Ireland, while in Britain many men were abroad fighting and there was a shortage of skilled workers. While in Glasgow, he signed the National Register on 15 August 1915.
The 'National Register' also known as The Darby Register' was a compulsory 'mini census' aimed at ascertaining the whereabouts and activities of all male and females in Great Britain between the ages of 15 and 65 in preparation for compulsory conscription which was just about to be introduced.
Frank filled in the form giving his permanent place of residence as his family home of Jane Place in Dublin 1. After 9 months working in Glasgow, he returned to Dublin in December 1915.
On Wed 3rd August 1916 , he was arrested in Dublin and charged with 'Absenting himself from Military Service' and appeared in the Northern Police Court on Thursday 4th and Friday the 5th. Reports of the case made The Freeman's Journal, The Irish Times and The Evening Herald newspapers.
You can read the news reports of the trial from the Irish Times on the 6th and 7th October HERE and HERE
(I will scan and put up the Freeman's Journal and Evening Herald articles when I get time)
Note 1 - His lawyer says that Frank was "married two years' in August 1916 - not true. He and Bridget did not marry until December 1916, after the court case
In early 1915 Frank (an unemployed wood machinist) went to Glasgow to work making munitions cases for WW1. He was sent there by the Amalgamated Union of Machinists based in London, who were unhappy that skilled men were unemployed and idle in Ireland, while in Britain many men were abroad fighting and there was a shortage of skilled workers. While in Glasgow, he signed the National Register on 15 August 1915.
The 'National Register' also known as The Darby Register' was a compulsory 'mini census' aimed at ascertaining the whereabouts and activities of all male and females in Great Britain between the ages of 15 and 65 in preparation for compulsory conscription which was just about to be introduced.
Frank filled in the form giving his permanent place of residence as his family home of Jane Place in Dublin 1. After 9 months working in Glasgow, he returned to Dublin in December 1915.
On Wed 3rd August 1916 , he was arrested in Dublin and charged with 'Absenting himself from Military Service' and appeared in the Northern Police Court on Thursday 4th and Friday the 5th. Reports of the case made The Freeman's Journal, The Irish Times and The Evening Herald newspapers.
You can read the news reports of the trial from the Irish Times on the 6th and 7th October HERE and HERE
(I will scan and put up the Freeman's Journal and Evening Herald articles when I get time)
Note 1 - His lawyer says that Frank was "married two years' in August 1916 - not true. He and Bridget did not marry until December 1916, after the court case
Above is a photo of Frank's wife Bridget Brophy on her 21st birthday in 1909. The family story is that while Frank was still in Glasgow an attempt was made by the authorities to force Frank to join the Army. He managed to contact the family in Dublin and Bridget organised a telegram to him that read "Mother very ill, come home immediately" Clearly this was false as Franks Mother had died 16 years earlier and his step mother Mary Fay was alive and well. He may have somehow needed this telegram to aid his travel back to Ireland. In any case we know that he left Glasgow in a hell of a hurry as he later had to send to his old lodgings for the return of his clothes.
Note 2. The only member of the 'family' who did fight in WW1 was Thomas Fay. He was the brother of Frank's step mother Mary Fay who married his father Francis in 1903, after the death of his first wife Margaret Byrne in 1900. He joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1907 and was mobalised on the 6th August 1914 to France. He was gassed in the trenches 23 May 1915, and again one week later and required hospitalisition for 'asphuxia'. He was formally discharged from the British Army on account of his injuries on 21 August 1915.
Note 2. The only member of the 'family' who did fight in WW1 was Thomas Fay. He was the brother of Frank's step mother Mary Fay who married his father Francis in 1903, after the death of his first wife Margaret Byrne in 1900. He joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1907 and was mobalised on the 6th August 1914 to France. He was gassed in the trenches 23 May 1915, and again one week later and required hospitalisition for 'asphuxia'. He was formally discharged from the British Army on account of his injuries on 21 August 1915.