Eamonn Duggan continues his series with part one of a three-part feature
One of the more notable individuals to emerge over the course of the revolutionary era was a man who went on to achieve outstanding success in a number of fields over the course of his long and impressive life.
Eamon (Ned) Broy was, as a young man, a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, while, at the same time, a committed republican, determined to play his part in removing British rule from his beloved country.
Broy would later become a Colonel in the National Army of the Free State and also rise to the rank of Commissioner in the Garda Síochána. An enthusiastic and talented athlete, Broy also held the presidency of the Irish Olympic Council from 1935 to 1950.
His witness statement is a remarkable account of his involvement in the republican movement and his interactions with the likes of Michael Collins, who he counted as a friend, and other prominent republican leaders at that time.
Eamon Broy was born in Rathagan, Co Kildare, in 1887, and he went on to make some extraordinary contributions to public life. His statement to the Bureau of Military History is, and still remains, one of the most important recollections of the country’s revolutionary era.
We take up Broy’s statement at the point where he discusses his very early days as a young recruit in the Dublin Metropolitan Police. He joined the force in January 1911 and recalled the half year spent training in the Depot did not constitute service in the force. Service commenced on the completion of training, and no oath was administered on joining the Depot.
