The following extracts are from the memoirs of George Lennon, the Officer Commanding the West Waterford Flying Column during the Irish War Of Independence. If you wish to read the full memoirs you can download 'Trauma In Time - The Memoirs Of George Lennon' in Microsoft Word format from this site. Waterford County Museum has extracted the elements of the memoirs that are interesting in the context of Waterford history and published them in this article. In the complete memoirs you can read about George Lennon's part in developing the fledgling Irish tourist industry in the early 1940's, his thoughts on returning to Ireland in 1971 and the part his activities in the War of independence played in his spiritual and religious development. Reading the full memoir places a lot of the extracts on this web site in their proper context. The order of the extracts has been changed to make them run chronologically in this article. It would be useful to read this memoir in conjunction with 'The War Of Independence In West Waterford' article that appears elsewhere on this site. The names in the memoir are slightly altered to conceal the identity of individuals. Recently Waterford County Museum discovered the earliest known film footage of Dungarvan, dating from November 11th 1920, in the archive of British Pathe. In the film you can see footage of the British Soldiers and Auxiliaries in Dungarvan that George Lennon fought against during The Irish War Of Independence from 1919 – 1921.
Trauma In Time (An Irish Itinerary)
By George G. Lennon 1900–1991
Manuscript Dedicated To Noel Browne
Born in the South of Ireland of old Northern ancestry. He was the leader of an Active Service Unit (Flying Column) during the War of Independence (1916—1921). As a pacifist he was, in part, instrumental with the late Chester Carlson (inventor of Xerography) in founding a large Buddhist community in the United States. He later played a part in the American anti-war movement that sprung up in opposition to the Viet Nam war. His home was in Rochester, N.Y.
Vice C/O West Waterford IRA (C/O Pax Whelan)
Leader – West Waterford Flying Column
Business Manager – Irish Review (New York City 1932)
Secretary – National Association Of The Old I.R.A. 1936 to 1938
Inspector – Irish Tourist Board 1940 to 1943
Secretary – Executive Committee Of The National Planning Conference
Returned To USA 1946
Text Copyright Ivan Lennon/Waterford County Museum Society not to be reproduced without permission. Text that appears in [brackets] are handwritten notes added by Ivan Lennon to his fathers manuscript.