Tom Kehoe

Thomas Kehoe (19 November 1899 – 16 September 1922) was an Irish revolutionary, soldier and member of Michael Collins's "Squad".

Early life Kehoe was born on 19th November 1899 in Rathnagrew, County Carlow, near Knockananna, County Wicklow. The family home straddled the border of the townlands of Rathnagrew Upper, County Carlow and Rathduffmore, County Wicklow.

Kehoe left Rathnagrew/Rathduffmore at the age of 14, moving to Dublin to work as an apprentice fitter on the Great Northern Railway, staying with his eldest half-brother, Mick McDonnell, ten years older than him.

Death On 16th September 1922, a National Army convoy of the Dublin Guard led by Kehoe, encountered a mine in the centre of the road at the bridge at Carrigaphooca, while travelling from Macroom to Killarney. While they attempted to dismantle it, a second mine detonated, severely wounding Kehoe and killing six other soldiers, Captain Dan O’Brien, Sgt William Murphy, Volunteers Thomas Manning, John O’Riordan, Patrick O’Rourke and Ralph Conway.

Kehoe was transported to Mercy Hospital, Cork, where he died some hours later.

Legacy Kehoe and his comrades killed at Carrigaphooca are memorialised by a cross and plaque at Carrigaphooca bridge, near the site of the explosion. Two other monuments commemorate the time in Carrigaphooca, one to Tom Kehoe and his comrades and the other to James Buckley, the prisoner killed in reprisal for his death.

Fabric, service stripes and buttons from Kehoe's uniform, kept by Vinny Byrne and displayed in his home until after his death, are now in the Michael Collins Centre Museum, Ballinoroher, Clonakilty, County Cork.