Famous jail escape recounted in local man’s book

A CONVERSATION with a cousin has led to a Northside man writing a book about his grandfather who was involved in one of the most creative jail escapes of all time.

‘Peter’s Key – Peter DeLoughry and the Fight for Irish Independence’, written by Declan Dunne, from Raheny, tells the story of the Irish patriot and politician who helped to mastermind the daring escape that sprang de Valera from Lincoln Jail in 1919.

It was considered to be the most creative jail escape of all time, reports of which knocked stories off the front pages of newspapers throughout the world. However, the complete story of the escape has never been told until now.

In February 1919, three Irish revolutionary prisoners walked out of Lincoln Jail without having dug a tunnel or fired a shot.

The escape was the culmination of months of planning that involved some of the greatest intellects in Ireland and Britain.

Peter DeLoughry (1882-1931) was one of the founding fathers of modern Ireland.

His most famous achievement was to make the key that was central to the escape of three of his fellow prisoners.

The key became a symbol of the success that could be achieved by co-operation and hard work. However, as the years went on, the key became a matter of poisonous dispute between DeLoughry and Michael Collins on one side and Eamon de Valera and Harry Boland on the other.

DeLoughry was also Mayor of Kilkenny for six consecutive years, a record not surpassed before or since.

He served in the upper and lower houses of the Irish Parliament where he became embroiled in issues such as divorce, film censorship and, most important of all, the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which he championed. He lived through an age of political and social turbulence; his childhood and adulthood bridged the time of Parnell and the birth of the Irish Free State.

The author, who is originally from Wexford, told Northside People of the vast amount of painstaking research that went into writing the book.

“It took four years to write,

? said Declan.

“I was almost full-time writing it and had to travel to London and Paris to carry out research as well as spend hours in the National Library.

“The National Library opens late during the week and I’d often be there until 9pm searching for information.

“Sometimes you would go weeks without getting anything and then another day you might go in and hit a goldmine.

“The difficult part of writing a book like this is that you cannot make any assumptions whatsover.

?

Declan said the inspiration for the book came about following a conversation he had with his cousin Sean Flynn.

“He asked why had there been nothing written about this man (Peter DeLoughry),

? stated Declan.

“I decided to do a bit of research and the project took off from there.

“I grew up with my mother telling me stories about my grandfather who was a very forthright and blunt man.

?

Peter DeLoughry owned a cinema in Kilkenny and didn’t take too kindly to the Catholic Church censoring what he could show.

“The correct censors are the people themselves my grandfather would argue,

? added Declan who works as a journalist with RTE.

More than 400 people attended the launch including Declan’s cousin, Cian Shortle, from Donabate, who at just 12-years-of-age, acted as master of ceremonies. RTE newsreader Eileen Dunne launched the book, which is Declan’s first.

‘Peter’s Key: Peter DeLoughry and the Fight for Irish Independence’ is published by Mercier Press in paperback and costs e19.99. It is available in all good bookstores.