Radio documentary on Oldcastle internment camp
Following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the British government implemented a policy of interning all Germans, Austrians and Hungarians of military age who were living in Britain and Ireland as they viewed them with suspicion and feared that they might have been sympathetic to the German war effort.
Initially 300 of these ordinary civilians were interned in Richmond Barracks, Templemore (currently the Garda College) but as the war progressed and enemy soldiers started being captured on a large scale, the British decided to transfer the civilian internees to a camp in Oldcastle and instead use Richmond Barracks solely for the purpose of imprisoning the captured German soldiers and military personnel. These prisoners of war began arriving in Templemore in September 1914 and were gone by March the following year. Their story in Ireland and what became of them after they left is to be the subject of a radio documentary which will be aired this weekend.
The programme will examine who exactly these men detained in counties Tipperary and Meath were, where they were captured, life in confinement, deaths of inmates within both camps and the reason as to why in the finish all of the POWs and civilian internees were transported over to camps in the UK. Local reaction to these foreign visitors back then will be explored as will the political climate both in Ireland and abroad during this period.
At this time a lot of Irishmen were fighting with the British Army against the Germans but according to Ulf Burgmann whose father Simon was one of roughly 2,300 POWs imprisoned in Templemore ‘they were very surprised about the friendliness of the people in Templemore because nobody threw ugly words at them or punished them or threw stones’. Ruth Fleismann whose grandfather Aloys was interned in Oldcastle describes how he was allowed a fifteen visit every two months from his family who would travel two days to get there.
Sergeant John Reynolds from the Garda College who has done a lot of research into this subject explains how business picked up around Templemore following the arrival of its guests with one enterprising local shopkeeper named Mr Percy setting up a stall in the barracks to sell chocolates, cigarettes and coffee to the POWs. Meanwhile local historian Gerry Boylan in Oldcastle has in intriguing story about an escape from the camp there which is believed to have been orchestrated by a close associate of Arthur Griffiths named Charles Fox. The programme which features a host of interviewees across Ireland also visits the UK to explore the camp where the majority of the Templemore POWs were taken after they left the town.
Today little evidence remains of those who were predominately of German origin that were imprisoned and interned in Ireland during WW1 and Sergeant John Reynolds is keen for people with any photos, memorabilia, stories or anything else on the subject to contact him as the college will be commemorating the centenary of their arrival next year. He can be contacted on: john.reynolds@garda.ie. The revealing documentary entitled ‘Turnhalle Barracks – German Prisoners of War in Templemore’ will be broadcast on Tipp FM radio on Sunday 21st July at 6pm. It can be heard outside the county on www.tippfm.com or as a podcast.