Larry Lardner

Today Larry Lardner, a native of Athenry, County Galway, was a Brigade Commandant for the Irish Republican Army in his localitybold. He was by trade a publican and a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) Supreme Council for Connacht in 1917. He, along with Liam Mellows and Pádraig Ó Fathaigh, travelled to Limerick where they were informed by Patrick Pearse at an IRB meeting that a rebellion would take place at Easter 1916.

Following Ó Fathaigh's arrest, Lardner and Mellows led some hundreds of local men in occupying Moyode Castle on 26 April. Within days they were informed by a local priest that the rising had failed. He is believed to have accompanied Mellows into hiding in the Slieve Aughty for some months afterwards.

In 1919 he was captured and imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs, and was one of a group of I.R.A. men who went on hunger strike. Early in January 1920, he was part of a group of local men (including Bill Freaney) approached Frank Shawe-Taylor on behalf of some local people who were requesting a road to travel to Mass. Shawe-Taylor himself was amenable to their demands but the landlord refused via Shawe-Taylor, who was later murdered. Lardner escaped justice and died in Athenry in April 1936.

References

• Athenry: A Local History (1850-1983), Aggie Qualter, 1984.
• Athenry: A Brief History and Guide, Ann Healy, 1989.
• The Lamberts of Athenry, ed. Finnbarr O'Regan, Galway, 1999.
• Pádraig Ó Fathaigh's War of Independence: Recollections of a Gaelic Leaguer, ed. Timothy G. McMahon, Irish Narratives series, Cork University Press, 2000. ISBN 1 85918 1457
• The Fields of Athenry: A Journey Through Irish History, James Charles Roy, Westview Press, 2001