100 Years On: The Carlow Man Killed in World War One

Today (Tuesday, March 27, 2018) marked the death 100 years ago of Carlow man Michael Ryan.

He was from Drannagh near St. Mullins in south county Carlow. He emigrated to Australia in 1912 and for some unknown reason he enlisted in the Australian army and was sent back to Europe in 1916 to take part in a war that he did not need to be part of.

He saw action on the western front in France. On the night of 27 March 1918 he was on a train transporting soldiers when it was hit by a German high-explosive shell. It killed 16 men instantly including Michael Ryan.

Listen back to Senán Ó Coistín’s interview on KCLR Live today from the local cemetery in St Pol-sur-Ternoise in northern France where his granduncle is believed to be buried.