Nenagh history talk on Frongoch prison camp

After the Easter Rebellion in 1916, over 1,800 rebel prisoners were interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in North Wales called Frongoch.

The camp, a disused distillery, was situated near the town of Bala, close to what is now Snowdonia National Park. The decision to imprison close to 2,000 men in the one site proved to be a huge mistake on the part of the British. The internees in the camp were from every county in Ireland; friendships were fostered and ideas discussed, which would prove to be very influential later, during the War of Independence. Michael Collins, Sean T O’Kelly and Richard Mulcahy were just some of the leaders interned in Frongoch.

On Monday next, March 13th, Ormond Historical Society are hosting an illustrated talk entitled 'Frongoch - University for Rebels' in the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh, at 8:30pm. The speaker is Tim Crowley, curator of the Michael Collins Centre, Castleview, Clonakilty. Tim’s grandfather and granduncle, Tim and John Crowley were interned in Frongoch and his grandmother Elizabeth Slyne was a cousin of Michael Collins.

He is a noted for his knowledge of the 20th century Irish revolutionary period and has lectured extensively on several topics covering this era. He has also acted as consultant to RTÉ on programmes about this period. Tim visited the Frongoch prison camp site in Wales on two occasions in 2016 during his research of this topic.