Henry Coyle – A Forgotten Freedom Fighter

Henry Coyle – A Forgotten Freedom Fighter by Gerry Coyle

When Mayo man Henry Peter Coyle was jailed in Scotland in March 1921 for possessing the largest quantity of illegal explosives ever found in Britain, police said they had captured ‘one of the most important and most daring Sinn Féiners in either Scotland or Ireland’. Hailed as a hero of the War of Independence, Coyle returned to Ireland to fight in the National Army during the Civil War and was commended for bravery.

But by 1924, the Geesala native was back in prison, this time at the behest of the Free State, and incredibly, his previous conviction in Scotland for IRA arms smuggling was being cited as evidence of a ‘criminal’ past.

Denied an IRA pension and forced to live much of his life in poverty, Coyle is only remembered today for the controversy that ended his Dáil career after just eight months. Yet there was so much more to the remarkable and eventful life of Henry Peter Coyle, and this book by his son Gerry tells the inspirational story of a fearless Irish patriot who was not found wanting in Ireland’s darkest hour. This is the enthralling story of the forgotten Irish freedom fighter Henry Peter Coyle.