March Into Meath/Eamon Doyle

March Into Meath/Eamon Doyle

Most of the stories about "Croppy" graves and their locations have now been lost or forgotten, but not that long ago people around the  Tara area would point to the woods and remark on that "Croppies" had been buried there. It wasn't taught in the schools but Eamon Doyle's account of the Wexford men who marched into Meath in the summer of '98 is one for the shelves. The Battle of Tara itself was done and dusted by that stage having taken place on the 26th of May, though a second engagement is mentioned in John Donohoe's book "The Killeen Castle Story" for a couple of months later, and both make for interesting reading. The last of the Wexford army  that crossed into Wicklow made an ill-fated decision at Whelp Rock that would cost them, or many of them their lives, and it is hard to see the reasoning behind it. Out in the plains of Meath and Kildare the pikemen would be cut down by cavalry or canon and any natural advantage they had would be lost.

Credited with marching more than 500 miles until their final disbandment at Ballyboughill three weeks later the logistics of the operation was in itself a feat. The line of march would take them through south Meath to Garristown before turning for Slane and Rathkenny and their defeat at Knightstown bog, returning to Ballyboughill. Once they broke up as a fighting unit they were at the mercy of their opponents and their wasn't much of that. What makes this book especially interesting is in the oral accounts handed down and the inclusion of correspondence from the state archives as well as other lists with regards to medical reports. If you are interested in the history of Meath and the last fighting division of the Wexford men in the summer of '98 then this is one for your shelves. Published by The History Press Ireland.