Whilst Harry Boland’s contributions to Irish history are widely acknowledged, the story of his younger brother Edmund has often been overlooked. This analysis, penned by Alison Martin, historian and writer from Belfast, sheds light on Edmund’s life and his significant, if lesser-known, involvement in the struggle for Irish independence.
The life of Edmund Boland, the younger Boland brother
Whilst the life of Harry Boland has been well documented, relatively little has been written about his younger brother Edmund. Unbeknown to many however, Edmund or Ned as he was commonly known, played his own role in the struggle for Irish independence. Born in Dublin in 1893, Ned was the fifth child of Catherine (néeWoods) and James Boland. James was a paving foreman and an IRB activist who eventually became an overseer for Dublin Corporation. When Ned was just two years old, James died from a brain cyst which had been ascribed to a blow to the back of the head, sustained during a struggle for the control of the Dublin premises of the Parnellite newspaper United Ireland. In the absence of their father, the eldest brother Gerald exerted a major influence on his younger siblings. Their sister Kathleen, later recalled that Gerald had ‘dragged’ herself and Ned to Gaelic League meetings in O’Connell Street. Gerald also introduced his siblings to the GAA. The Bolands were a politically active family and Kathleen recalled that her three brothers were ‘as long as I remember, associated with people connected with the national movement.’ Ned and Harry quickly followed Gerald into the IRB, with all three brothers joining a circle known as the Joseph Holt 98 Club. The 1911 census listed Ned as a tailor and for a time, both he and Harry were employed at Todd, Burns and Co., a large department store in Dublin.
In common with many young men, Ned longed to travel and prior to the Easter Rising he had recently returned to Dublin, having worked his way home from Rio de Janeiro as a British merchant seaman. Like his brothers, Ned had joined the Irish Volunteers at its inception in 1913 and was an active participant in the Easter Rising. During the rebellion, he was initially based at the Imperial Hotel. Once the building had been engulfed in flames, however, he moved to Cathedral Street, where he continued fighting for several hours. Ned ultimately escaped arrest by informing the British officers who questioned him that he had been at the Fairyhouse races and had been unable to get home. According to his sister Kathleen’s witness statement, the officers believed his excuse. This was despite that fact that he was covered in smoke and ‘smelled of gunpowder.’ When his mother and Kathleen visited Harry in Mountjoy prison several weeks later, Harry was delighted when he heard that Ned was safe at home in Marino Crescent as he had initially presumed him dead.
In the years following the Rising, Ned continued to travel the world as a merchant seaman, occasionally stopping to send enigmatic scrawls to his family from various exotic locations. In one undated letter, likely to have been written in 1918, Ned informed his siblings that he was planning to move on to China or Japan ‘as the wanderlust is strong upon me still.’ When Harry was sent to America in 1919 as a representative of the Dáil and the IRB, Ned came out to visit him. Ned’s time in America however, was not purely leisurely. According to Irish emigrant William Buckley’s Bureau of Military History witness statement, Ned was one of the men who had helped him to secure passage home to Ireland in order to take part in the War of Independence.(Read more by clicking here) He eventually returned home to Dublin in early 1920, shortly before Harry returned from America.
When the Irish Civil War broke out in June 1922, Ned joined the anti-Treaty forces and was one of the men who took part in the occupation of the Wicklow town of Blessington the following month. The anti-Treaty forces had originally planned to use Blessington as a base from which to advance on Dublin. However, the attack was eventually abandoned as the Provisional Government’s troops seized the town on the night of the 7th July. The details of Ned’s civil war activities remain fairly vague. According to historian David Fitzpatrick, Ned was ‘on the run’ when Harry was shot and mortally wounded by Free State soldiers during an attempted arrest in a hotel in Skerries on the 31st July. As a result, he was unable to visit Harry in the hospital during his final hours. However, he later managed to attend the funeral.
Relatively few details are known about Ned’s final years. Still only in his mid-thirties, he died in April 1928 following what the New York Times described as a ‘prolonged illness.’ Interestingly, the newspaper reported that his friends had referred to him as ‘a martyr in the fight for Irish independence.’ It is evident from Ned’s correspondence with Joseph McGarrity, a leading figure in Clan na Gael and a former friend of Harrys, that Ned had initially found it difficult to find employment in America. In one letter, Ned informed McGarrity that he had worked for the Woolworth Construction Co. until all the workers had been fired because of the iron strike. Things had improved by 1924, at which point he owned his own pub. In June 1928 several months after Ned’s death, McGarrity wrote to Ned’s mother Kate, in order to offer his sympathy. In his letter, McGarrity expressed regret that Ned had died ‘so far away from his native Dublin.’ However, he also reassured her that Ned had made many friends in New York and that his funeral, which had been well attended would have done ‘credit to any man.’
Why then has Ned been relatively overlooked by historians? In terms of scholarly interest, Ned has often been overshadowed by his older brothers. David Fitzpatrick’s biography of Harry Boland includes a few references to Ned. Overall, the book paints a picture of a restless young man who often became involved in his brothers’ plans. Stephen Kelly’s recent 2024 biography of Gerald Boland again provides some references. It is suffice to say that Ned never attained the same level of fame or influence as his siblings. Moreover although he was involved in the struggle for Irish independence, his role was less prominent. Ned’s contribution whist more low key, still deserves to be remembered. Hopefully this article sheds a bit more light on the life of the lesser-known Boland sibling.
Author:
Alison Martin is a writer and historian from Belfast. She earned a degree in Modern History and Theology from Queen’s University Belfast, followed by an MA in Irish History. Her research focuses on the Irish revolutionary period (1916-1923). Alison’s articles have been published in History Ireland, the Irish News, Saothar and the Irish Story website. She also contributes occasionally to Ireland’s Own magazine. Alison has delivered talks for a number of institutions, such as the National Library of Ireland. Last year, she also took part in a panel at the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, County Wexford. Follow her on twitter @a_martin33 for updates on her work.
English