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| Percival Lea-Wilson R.I.C. |
Settling Old Scores
Christopher Power tells Fintan Lambe how the behaviour of Percival Lea Wilson in 1916 resulted in his murder in Gorey in 1920
ON the morning of Tuesday, June 15, 1920, shortly after the 9.35 am train had arrived in Gorey, Percival Lea-Wilson, the District Inspector for North Wexford, was returning home from Gorey Railway Station, morning paper in hand, strolling along the Ballycanew Road, over the railway bridge.As he glanced through the paper, he was unaware of men standing around a parked motor vehicle which had its bonnet raised.
As he neared home, two shots were fired at close range, hitting him. In spite of his wounds, he started to run.
More shots were fired. Some hit the wall behind him, but he was hit three more times, and he fell.
The car and its five occupants fled the scene towards Ballycanew. It was a sad end for the veteran of World War I who left behind a young wife.
However, the reason for his assassination lay close to home. His treatment of IRA prisoners in Dublin during the 1916 Rising led to him being a marked man. In his book 'Visitations of Vengeance' published earlier this year, Christopher Power details this and other intriguing tales from North Wexford's past.
He trawled records and archives for the background to the infamous murder, and he even spoke to relatives of those who were sent to kill Lea-Wilson.
The book explains how Lea-Wilson was injured in the Great War, and then stationed to Dublin. He saw the Rising as a 'monstrous betrayal' of the empire. He was placed in command over 250 captives from the GPO and Four Courts Battalion, who had surrendered at the end of the Rebellion.
It recounts the testimony of Volunteer Liam Tobin who described his experience that Saturday night at the Rotunda Green. 'In charge of the enemy forces there was a Captain Lea-Wilson, who was dressed in the usual military uniform, but wore a smoking cap with a fancy tassel hanging out of it. He kept walking round and round, stopping now and again to speak to his soldiers, saying whom do you consider worst, the Boshes or the Sinn Feiners?' the book recounts.
'And of course they always answered that we were worst. With the number of us lying in the small area of grass we were cramped for space, and it was damp and uncomfortable so that I got a bad cramp in my legs. As Lea-Wilson was passing, Piaras Beaslai said to him "There's a young fellow here who is not well" explaining what was wrong and asking if I could stand up. Lea-Wilson said "no let the bastard stay where he is".
'I remember that evening that those of us who wanted to relieve ourselves had to do it lying on the grass alongside our comrades, There was nowhere to go and we had to use the place where we lay. As well as I can remember a number of our men, including Tom Clarke were, during that time, brought to the steps of the Rotunda hospital and were searched. Some people say they were stripped in the process and if my memory is reliable at all it is my impression that this did happen. Lea-Wilson was responsible for having them stripped as he was responsible for what ever ill treatment was received there. I know that when he refused to allow me to stand up I looked at him and I registered a vow to myself that I would deal with him at some time in the future.'
That time came four years later. After two other men fired the initial shots, Tobin was the man who fired the fatal shots at Lea-Wilson.
Their escape was another lengthy story. The getaway car's movements had been detected, and searches were being conducted of farms in the Ballindaggin area where the car was being hidden. So they buried it in a large pit in a field and covered it with corrugated iron, soil and sods. The military searched the area several times, even walking over the car, but never found it.
As a follow up to the publication, Christopher recently located Lea-Wilson's grave in West London, and paid a visit.
'I rang the Putney Vale Crematoria and Cemetery office, and they gave me a rough idea of where the grave was,' he explained. 'The cemetery is truly enormous. There are a lot of famous people buried there including Carry On actors, Dad's Army actors, and even Lady Lavery. Amy Winehouse was cremated there.'
'Percival Lea Wilson is buried in a Victorian section of the cemetery with his father,' he added.
'It was pretty sad looking. It has a bronze plaque and it mentions his assassination in Gorey, Co Wexford.'
'I wouldn't imagine there are too many visitors to it,' he continued. 'I could be one of the first people from Gorey to visit it since he died.'
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| Lea-Wilson's grave |
'It brought his story to a conclusion for me, having spent a year researching his life and knowing family members of those who assassinated him,' said Christopher. 'It sort of brings the thing full circle.'
The Lea-Wilson story didn't end with is death. His wife Dr Marie-Lea Wilson became a renowned paediatrician in Dublin. She died in the 1970s, but not before donating a painting to the local Jesuits in Dublin in return for the solace they provided her on the death of her husband.
It was later discovered to be the lost Caravaggio masterpiece 'The Taking of Christ' which now hangs in the National Art Gallery.
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| Dr Marie Lea-Wilson in 1938 |
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