Lt Col Sean Clancy, the last surviving member of Michael Collins Officer Corp has died, aged 105 years. Lt Col Clancy was an honoured guest at the National Launch of the Collins 22 Society in the Mansion House last year, where he met with Fine Gael Leader, Enda Kenny TD.
Born in 1901, he was a veteran of the War of Independence. Clancy served in the war as a member of the Irish Volunteers, and later as a commander of the Fifth Infantry Battalion in the Irish Defence Forces.
Clancy was a prominent participant in the Dublin Castle ceremony in which Britain handed power to the new Irish government.
Born to a farming family of nine children in Clonlara, Co Clare, he joined the Volunteer movement in the wake of the 1916 Rising. He moved to Dublin to work as a clerk in 1919, joined B Company, 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade, and took part in several engagements with British forces, principally in the Whitehall and Drumcondra areas.
He took the pro-Treaty side when the IRA split in 1922 and enlisted as a private in the National Army in Portobello Barracks, Rathmines.
There he met Michael Collins, and was present at many of the historic events that took place during this time, including the handover of Dublin Castle. He described the flurry of excitement at the arrival of Collins to sign the takeover document. In August, 1922, he marched in Arthur Griffith's funeral procession, and, less than two weeks later, in that of Collins.
He was commissioned as a lieutenant in April, 1923 and was among those who were retained in service when the Army was greatly reduced in strength in the wake of the Civil War.
He was a founding chairman of Scoil Uí Chonaill GAA Club and a founding vice-president of Glasnevin Musical Society. He applied his organisational skills to good effect in the fundraising effort for the building of Corpus Christi Church in Glasnevin.
To mark his 100th birthday in 2001, he visited his old unit and inspected a guard of honour. In April of this year he was an honoured guest at the 90th anniversary commemoration of the Rising.
.
Agnes (neé Creagh, Castlebar) his wife of 60 years, predeceased him in 1986. They had one daughter and four sons who survive him with 13 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
His remains were led from Donnybrook Church on his final journey by a piper from the 5th Infantry Battalion, and at Dean's Grange Cemetery a firing party from the unit rendered honours at his graveside
.jpg)
