This article uncovers the incredible story of Frank Busteed who fought in the War of Independence. A Togher man by birth his life was full of exceptional service to his country ( in which his name is linked to a famous ambush and an armored rolls royce known as the Moon Car ) but also marked by great sadness and tragedy.
Frank Busteed was born on 23rd September 1898 in the Townland of Kilmurriheen , Togher. His father Samuel Busteed ( whose own father John Busteed originally from Riverstick had married into the Bateman family/farm in Kilmurriheen circa mid 1860s thereby laying the foundations for the Busteed link with the Townland sadly dying only 20 years later ) was baptized Church of Ireland Protestant and from a strong Unionist background ( but later became Catholic ) while his mother Norah Condon Maher was Catholic and staunchly Nationalist. Their marriage had caused great scandal on both sides of the family , particularly with Samuel's mother Margaret ( She had converted to Catholicism along with most of her family and even went as far as learning Irish despite retaining a strong Unionist tradition. * Her son William refused to convert and emigrated to Australia with £300 given him by her ) who was the matriarchal head of the family farm in Togher. However events improved and Norah was welcomed into the family.
as in the hands of the Bateman family
into which John Busteed married
Kilmurriheen , Togher
Kilmurriheen , Togher
Tragedy befell her however when in 1901 her husband Samuel died and she had also lost her child Timothy. She moved to Muskerry Terrace , Blarney ( where she worked in the local Blarney Woolen Mills ) with Frank and her other son Daniel , while her two eldest boys John aged 7 ( a.k.a. Jack ) and William aged 5 ( a.k.a. Bill ) continued to live on the farm in Kilmurriheen under the care of their Grandmother. Frank would continue to spend summer holidays in Togher and developed a close relationship with his Grandmother. Likewise the boys would regularly visit their mother in Blarney.
Census 1901 Blarney
Frank , Mother & Daniel
Frank , Mother & Daniel
Frank's Grandmother Margaret as previously mentioned ran the farm in Togher with the help of 3 servants , John Curtin , Timothy Murphy and John Sullivan. Margaret was aged 60 in 1901 and along with her 2 young Grandchildren shared the house with her own children , Thomas aged 30 , Eliza aged 32 and Barbara aged 34 who undoubtedly assisted in the rearing of Jack and Bill. By 1911 , Thomas had moved away from home and Eliza aged 50 continued to live at the family home while Margaret's other daughter Barbara now aged 40 and married to Edward Harrington also resided at the family home.
Frank attended his local National School in Blarney ( his one regret was never learning Irish which was not on the curriculum in those days ) and joined Fianna Eireann in 1910 ( He later recalled hearing an address in Cork City by Countess Markievicz in 1913. ) and the Irish Volunteers in 1917 , the same year his Grandmother Margaret died at the age of 76. The first person he met was Tomas McCurtain who took him under his wing. Meanwhile his two eldest brothers Jack and Bill had joined the British Army and fought in World War I. They continued to serve in the British Army upon returning to Ireland.
The catalyst for Franks eventual complete involvement in the War of Independence occurred in 1917 when a visiting Irish-American priest hoisted a Tricolour atop Blarney Castle! This alerted the authorities in no time and soon the local R.I.C. arrived to arrest the priest. Frank who happened to be nearby fired a shot at the Police who promptly ran off. Frank and the priest made their departure but now he was known to the Authorities and under constant surveillance.
He went on to become Captain of Blarney Volunteer Company which eventually became part of the 6th Battallion , Cork No.1 Brigade under the command of Sean O'Hegarty. He would serve five months in Cork Gaol for carrying a weapon and collecting without a permit. He was heavily involved with the I.R.A. from 1919 on and this resulted in his mother's home being raided regularly. He served as a judge in the Republican Courts from 1920-1923. He was Vice Commandant of the 6th Battalion in 1920 ( with Jackie O'Leary of Rylane being his Commanding Officer )and Commandant of the attached Flying Column. Frank was involved in the burning of Blarney R.I.C. Barracks as well as others. In 1920 his mother's home was once more raided by 120 R.I.C. and Auxies. His brother Jack ( British Army ) had forewarned him and he escaped capture. His brother Daniel , whom he had grown up with in Blarney died of Spanish Flu. He had moved to Kilmurriheen in Togher where it was thought the country air would aid his recovery but sadly this was not to be. Frank's other brother Bill ( stationed with the British Army in Ballincollig since 1918 ) sometimes gave him guns and ammunition ; he would leave the British Army following the Truce. Frank saw action in the infamous Dripsey Ambush on 28th January 1921 in which he was overall commander. In Franks own words , it was a " debacle "! The British Crown Forces had been warned of the impending attack and members of the Manchester Regiment surprised the ambush party. Heavily outnumbered , it was decided to abort and the majority fled to the hills while some remained behind but due to superior numbers against them were forced to surrender. It subsequently transpired that the a local Loyalist woman Maria Lindsey had warned the British of the impending ambush and she was captured by the I.R.A. along with her driver James Clarke. She was to be used as barter for the release of the I.R.A. prisoners but the Authorities would not bargain and executed their prisoners. As a result she was shot as a spy along with her driver under the orders of Frank. Their bodies were buried in a bog near Rylane.
The following night , Frank's mother's house was raided by Auxiliaries , R.I.C. and British Army. Four British officers interrogated her , ransacked her house and threw her belongings out into the street. It is alleged she was also thrown down the stairs. She was left for dead and a local discovered her almost unconscious body on the street the next morning. By then her son Jack had arrived where his mother whispered for Frank. Sadly she died of heart failure and Frank had to attend her funeral in the family plot in Ballinaboy in disguise. ** Today the church is roofless and the graveyard is defunct. ** Witnesses later told Frank they had seen two British officers leaving the house laughing. Frank was summoned to Dublin by Micheal Collins to brief him on the tragic events. As an act of retaliation Frank Busteed ( along with others throughout the City on 28th February 1921 ) set out at night with another young volunteer from the City holding a torch to shine on any soldier they encountered. The first couple they came to , the
Volunteer shone his torch , and there was the Volunteer's sister with a
soldier - that saved that soldier! The next soldier was not so lucky ,
the Volunteers hand holding the torch was shaking and he could not hold the
beam steady on the soldier - Busteed had to shoot the soldier 4 times.
They moved on , found another soldier and girl , and the soldier was shot.
By now the other soldiers in the lane had started to run - Busteed
pursued them , firing as he went. He says he wounded two of them, but
that those men reached the barracks.
( Portrait by Sir John Lavery -
Dublin City Gallery: The Hugh Lane )
Major Godfrey Lee Compton Smith in 1919 was commander of the British Army base at Ballyvonane, near Buttevant, but he was also an intelligence officer. He had served in France during World War I with his regiment the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and had fought at the Battle of Arras for which he received the Distinguished Service Order medal for gallantry. He had previously tried I.R.A. Volunteers for their involvement in an ambush for which he gave 6 months imprisonment. However other Officers who sat on Courts Martial doled out death penalties and at the time several Volunteers were awaiting their fate at the hands of the British Authorities. It was felt if a British Army Officer were held hostage that the sentences might be commuted. So a plan was put in place by Frank Busteed to capture Major Compton Smith as he stepped off a train in Blarney. Rumour had it that he was having an affair with a nurse. He was eventually brought to a farm in Donoughmore owned by Jack and Mary Moynihan. He was kept in a shed during the day under heavy guard and brought into the house at night to eat and stay by the fireside. One night they even had a singsong, and Compton-Smith joined in with a rebel song! He wrote several letters to family and a final one to his senior Officer in which he stated that he doesn't condemn the IRA but actually calls them idealists " who are doing what they earnestly believe to be right ". Eleven days later and following reports of I.R.A. executions , Compton Smiths fate was sealed. Frank Busteed ordered his immediate execution. He was lead to an already dug out grave and given one last cigarette. He boldly announced that when he dropped the cigarette , this was the signal to open fire. It wouldn't be until 1926 that his body was finally handed over to British Authorities who carried his coffin back to Spike Island. His body was then taken to Carlisle Fort, near Whitegate, where it was buried with full military honours. The inscription on a bronze wreath which was put in place by his Daughter in August 1927 read " With Love , From Anne " It would appear that his wife may have known of his affair and stayed away. It is incredible to think that he had sympathy for his captors and for their cause at large. He had displayed great bravery at the time of his death even handing his watch over to his executioners. A sad tale but one which was of its time.
The Truce came into effect on July 1921 and Frank promptly broke it when he learned of his Mother's attackers whereabouts. His brother Bill had specifically rejoined the British Army to gain intelligence on his mothers attackers which he passed on to Frank. Four British Army officers in plain clothes left Ballincollig Barracks and were duly captured by Frank and later executed.
so called because it was only used at night!
The Civil War began on the 26th June 1922 and Frank Busteed was made Commandant of the Sixth Battalion, Cork No.1 Brigade fighting on the Anti-Treaty side. He saw combat in many skirmishes and had held out against Free State soldiers in PassageWest , Rochestown and Douglas during the Battle for Cork in August 1922. In March 1923 , he had a narrow escape when he and 2 of his compatriots Felix O'Doherty and Dan Horgan were ambushed by Free State troops near Donoughmore. They were arrested but Frank bolted off into the woods with bullets flying all around him. Ironically , Dan would later join him in New York and become his business partner. However , eventually the Civil War came to an end and Frank along with many others continued to fight on. An historical incident occurred in 1924 when he and others pulled up in the famous " moon car " , a silver ghost Rolls Royce in Cobh which had been used by Cork No.1 Brigade and fitted out with armored plating and two Lewis guns and fired on a British ship which had just docked. This was a retaliation against the " Treaty Ports ". Frank and his comrades now had a price on their heads totaling £10,000! The car at the time sped away and was not discovered until recently where it has now been refurbished and reconditioned and displayed in the National Museum. It is valued at over €2,000,000!
Later in 1924 , the I.R.A. managed to get Frank out of Ireland and he ended up in Canada where he slept rough for some weeks before making his way on foot south to the United States where he was picked up by an I.R.A. car and traveled to Massachusetts to stay with his Aunt Mary , his mother Nora's sister. He later moved on to New York where he worked for an Italian ice-cutter. He quickly mastered the trade and set up his own company. It soon became highly profitable and expanded from Manhattan in to Queens where they crossed swords with the local Mafia. One worker refused to cross into Queens as he had been told he would be shot. It is rumored Frank dealt with the matter himself!
Long Island 1930
In 1925 , he met his future wife Anne Marren , an English woman from Lancashire. They married in 1926 and had three children , Frank jnr., Ann jnr. and Noreen. During his tenure in the United States , Frank along with many other former Comrades attended the annual ball of the Cork IRA Reserves held in New York in 1931. However in 1932 , Frank wished to return to Ireland. They left New York in 1933 and stayed firstly in Liverpool to be with Ann's family where the couple had a fourth child , Maureen. In 1934 , they finally returned to Cork where Frank got a job in an insurance company. He also became involved in local politics. In 1936 , he and his wife Anne were invited guests of the Lord Mayor , Sean French , for the reopening of the City Hall. He attended the 15th Anniversary of the Dripsey Ambush in 1938. He and his wife would go on to have three more children , Patricia Barbara , Kathleen and Nuala who sadly passed away as an infant in 1940. In 1938 , Frank along with his " Moon Car " comrades attended the handing back of the Treaty Ports.
( Frank would also have received
the Emergency Medal )
In 1941 , Frank was commissioned into the National Army as a Lieutenant. He served throughout the Emergency until he retired in 1946. In 1953 , he became Manager of the Labour Exchange in Passage West until his eventual retirement in 1963 at the age of 65. He passed away in 1974 while his Wife Anne died in 1975. A life filled with great adventure and undeniable courage , bravery and service to his Nation. While a man of Blarney his roots lay in Togher and his name joins the Pantheon of heroes and heroines of the district with his name being forever part of Kilmurriheen and one of its most famous sons.
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Frank Busteed’s grandson, Brian O’Donoghue, who holds a BA in History
from UCC, has written his biography, published in 2022 as part of the
Decade of Centenaries special edition of the Journal of the Blarney
Historical Society , from which much of the detail in this article is derived. Additional research undertaken by Togher Historical Association.
