Frank Carty

Francis Joseph "Frank" Carty (3 April 1897 – 10 September 1942) was a leader of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the fight with the Black and Tans in the Irish War of Independence, and a long-serving Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD).^[1]

Prison escapes and attempts

Carty's first escape from confinement came on 26 June 1920, when he was rescued from Sligo Gaol.^[2]

On 15 February 1921, Carty next escaped from prison in Derry. The rescue party was led by Charles McGuinness. Carty was taken from the city in a coal boat, the Carricklee by the first mate Oskar Norrby a Swede.^[3]

Following recapture, Frank Carty was later involved in an incident in Glasgow, Scotland when on 4 May 1921, members of the IRA attempted to free him from a prison van in a failed escape attempt. One Inspector was killed by gunfire, and another was wounded. Following the incident, thirteen people were brought to trial, but were acquitted by the jury, which accepted their plea of alibi.^[4]

Political career

Carty was first elected in the 1921 general election to the 2nd Dáil, and was re-elected in eight successive general elections.^[5] In common with other TDs opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he did not take his seat in the 3rd Dáil or in the 4th Dáil, returning to Leinster House only as a founder member of Fianna Fáil, when he followed Éamon de Valera into the 5th Dáil, taking his seat on 12 August 1927.

He remained active in local politics, being elected to Sligo County Council in 1928 for the Tubbercurry area. He was re-elected in August 1942, only a month before his death, after which his Dáil remained vacant until the 1943 general election.

References

Sources

• Younger, Carlton (1968). "Ireland's Civil War", 354.
• Coyle, Stephen (2008). "High Noon on High Street: The Story of a Daring Ambush by the IRA in Glasgow in 1921". ISBN 978-1-873586-44-0.
• James, Lawrence. "Warrior Race: A History of the British at War", Macmillan (2003), 354, ISBN 0-312-30737-3, ISBN 978-0-312-30737-0.