Annals of Beara Vol II, p.412: JOHNNY O'DWYER & ELLEN LYNCH (CAOLRUA) — 14 children incl. Robert (1918 Pointe Ranna drowning victim, IRA Ballycrovane Co. captain) + the 1921 Black-and-Tans house-burning during the War of Independence

Riobárd Ó Dwyer, "Who Were My Ancestors? Annals of Beara," Volume II · Beara peninsula, Co. Cork, Ireland

date confidence: undated_reference_book

reference book excerptsecondary focus

Summary

Dwyer family genealogy page. The O'Dwyers of Caolrua are cousin-adjacent to our Murphy line — the 1918 Pointe Ranna fishing-boat drowning that killed Robert O'Dwyer also killed John Murphy + Patie Murphy (Jim Murphy + Julia O'Sullivan's sons per p.270 section C), and JJM's own cousins Robert + Richard Dwyer (already documented in the archive as person_robert_dwyer_kilcatherine_1918 + person_richard_dwyer_kilcatherine_1918). This page is the **primary-source narrative** for the Kilcatherine/Pointe Ranna context that appears across multiple archive records. Key biographical detail on the O'Dwyer family (Johnny + Ellen had 14 children, 2 died at birth, 12 survived): - (1) **Robert (Oct 22 1893)** — "six feet and a half inch tall... very promising athlete... held the Cork County Senior 100 yards champion Pat Flanagan of Castletownbere to a draw at Eyeries sports... weight-thrower and hop- step and jumper. However, he was one of five men drowned off Pointe Ranna, Fay, Kilcatherine, on the night of Nov. 12th 1918, when coming back from seine fishing. Robert, who was then only 25 years of age, was **Captain of the Ballycrovane Company of the I.R.A.**" - The other four drowned with him: Sean (a Chaoil) O'Sullivan (father of Denny O'Sullivan, Caolrua), Jer (Murt) McCarthy of Faunkil, and **Dan Murphy's two brothers John and Patie Murphy of Ballycrovane** (= the John Dec 1891 and Patie Apr 1895 listed in Annals p.270 section C as Jim Murphy + Julia O'Sullivan's sons) - Patie Healy of Faunkil survived - (2) Annie (Oct 12 1894) — about to be professed a Nun but had to leave the Convent after the **Black and Tans burned the house in Caolrua during "the time of the trouble" in 1921**. Father Johnny d. 28 Jun 1920 age 72; mother Ellen d. 4 Mar 1921 age 48 after being unconscious for four days following night-after-night Black-and-Tans raids - (3) Liam (Jan 9 1896) — **Commandant of the Beara Battalion, West Cork Brigade**, during the War of Independence. Author later of "Beara in Irish History." Went to USA Aug 1926, returned 1935 to build a house + shop + dance hall in Ardgroom Village ("The Cross") - Multiple later children emigrated to Butte, Montana — a continuation of the Cork-to-Butte chain into the next generation: Tim (Aug 5 1899) → Butte 1924 m. Nellie O'Rahilly (whose father Jim O'Rahilly had also gone Butte → m. Kate Jer O'Sullivan of Reenavaude); Pat (Apr 5 1901) → Butte 1923 + Eureka lead mine UT + Silver King Park City + Bingham UT open-cut copper + Port Angeles Dam + San Francisco 1926-1930 (Championship of California stepdancing 1927) → returned Butte 1930 → NY → m. Ann O'Sullivan (Corneenach); Richie/Dick (Jan 3 1903) → Calumet Mines MI 1925 → Butte → San Francisco → NY m. Tess Moloney; Mike (Jan 19 1906) → Detroit → NY → US Army WWII Texas The entire Caolrua O'Dwyer family is a parallel Beara → Butte migration story tightly entangled with our Murphy line via: (a) the 1918 Pointe Ranna joint-drowning event, (b) the IRA / Ballycrovane Company / War of Independence context that our cousins lived through, and (c) the multi-decade Beara-to-Butte chain migration that continued from the 1880s (our Pat) through the 1920s (Tim/Pat/Richie O'Dwyer).

People

Also mentioned

  • Johnny O'Dwyer + Ellen Lynch (Caolrua) · section_b_parents
  • Jer (Murt) McCarthy of Faunkil · 1918_pointe_ranna_drowning_victim
  • Patie Healy of Faunkil · 1918_pointe_ranna_drowning_survivor

    Brother of Johnny Healy; survived the drowning but didn't live long afterwards.

  • Liam O'Dwyer (Jan 9 1896) · ira_beara_battalion_commandant

    Author of 'Beara in Irish History.' Returned 1935 from US to build a house + shop + dance hall in Ardgroom Village (The Cross).

  • Annie O'Dwyer (Oct 12 1894) · convent_returnee_after_1921_raid

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Transcription
transcription: complete · confidence high
--- newspaper: Annals of Beara Volume II date: unknown page: 412 --- Hanley — daughter of Tade Hanley & Kate O'Dwyer, Scrahan, and had three sons, Willie, Dave and Dick and a daughter Maemie. Willie owned a Taxi Service. Dave was a Plumber Boss. Dick was a Printer, and Maemie married George Lowney from the Lickbarrahan side who was a Mining Foreman. George had a brother in Butte known as "Castletown Jack". Richie O'Dwyer died in Butte at the age of 49. **(B) JOHNNY O'DWYER & ELLEN LYNCH (CAOLRUA)** Johnny and Ellen had 14 children: Two died at birth. The other 12 were: — (1) Robert (Oct. 22nd 1893) who was six feet and a half inch tall, was a very promising athlete up to the time of his early death. He once held the then Cork County Senior 100 yards champion Pat Flanagan of Castletownbere to a draw at Eyeries sports, and was also a good weight-thrower and hop-step and jumper. However, he was one of five men drowned off Pointe Ranna, Fay, Kilcatherine, on the night of Nov. 12th 1918, when coming back from seine fishing. Robert, who was then only 25 years of age, was Captain of the Ballycrovane Company of the I.R.A. at the time. The other four men drowned with him were Sean (a Chaoil) O'Sullivan (father of Denny O'Sullivan), Caolrua, Jer (Murt) McCarthy, of Faunkil, and Dan Murphy's two brothers John and Patie Murphy of Ballycrovane. Patie Healy of Faunkil (brother of Johnny Healy) survived, but didn't live for very long afterwards; (2) Annie (Oct. 12th 1894) was within three months of being professed a Nun, but had to leave the Convent and return home to mind her younger sisters and brothers when the Black and Tans burned the house in Caolrua during "the time of the trouble" in 1921. Her father Johnny O'Dwyer had died on June 28th 1920 aged 72, and her mother Ellen had died on Mar. 4th 1921 aged 48 after being unconscious for four days prior to her death following night after night of raids on the house by the Black and Tans. The older boys of the family, all members of the I.R.A. were "on the run" at the time and the Tans burned down the house one month after Ellen's death. When Annie came home, she built a temporary shack with timber and stones up against a ditch near the old house. Before she came from the Convent, her youngest brother Jim (not yet 6 years of age) was taken to the house of Dan Harrington N.T., Lack, Eyeries. Lena was kept in Tim (Suonish) O'Sullivan's house in Urhan, and Dan was brought to his aunt Annie's house (Mrs. Johnny Harrington's) in Kilcatherine. Annie afterwards went to Boston and from there to New York. In later years she returned to live in Dublin for a short while before coming back to settle down in Ardgroom Village. She died on Oct. 10th 1963; (3) Liam (Jan. 9th 1896) was Commandant of the Beara Battalion, West Cork Brigade, during the War of Independence. (See Liam Deasy's Book "Towards Ireland Free" (Mercier Press, 4 Bridge St., Cork) for a detailed account of the activities of the Beara Volunteers. There is an even more detailed account in Liam O'Dwyer's Beara in Irish History. Liam went to the U.S.A. in Aug. 1926 and returned in 1935 to settle down and build a house (later a shop) and dance hall in Ardgroom Village. (See The Cross, Ardgroom Village). (4) *John (Sept. 29th 1897) settled down in the home farm and married Kathleen McCarthy, daughter of Jer McCarthy and Margaret O'Connell, Gortacle, Kilcatherine. He built many houses around Berehaven and in South Kerry. A talented fiddle player and stepdancer, he also won the Munster Senior Championship for traditional Irish singing; (5) Tim (Aug. 5th 1899) went to New York in 1924, after the civil War in Ireland was over, and moved from there to Butte, Montana, where he married Nellie O'Rahilly. Nellie's father Jim O'Rahilly had gone to Butte from Claondaire, Ardgroom and had married Kate (Jer) O'Sullivan of Reenavaude; (6) Pat (Apr. 5th 1901) went to Butte, Montana, in 1923. He also worked in the Eureka lead mine, 30 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah, and in the Silver King mine in Park City, about 30 miles to the east of Salt Lake City, as well as in the then world's largest open-cut copper mine ## Peripheral items - Page header: "412 *Annals of Beara Volume II*" — running header at top of page.

Dotted underlines mark key terms on first mention — hover or tab to one for a reference note. The wording is the source’s own.

Source ID: _annals-of-beara-vol-ii-p412-caolrua-johnny-odwyer-ellen-lynch

Reference: Vol. II, p. 412; section (B) JOHNNY O'DWYER & ELLEN LYNCH (CAOLRUA); covers 14 children incl. the 1918 Pointe Ranna drowning victim Robert O'Dwyer and the Black-and-Tans 1921 house-burning

Accessed by lukedmurphy on 2026-05-28.