Lieutenant General Diarmuid O'Hegarty (Irish: Ó hÉigeartaigh; 1892–1958) was an Irish army general and civil servant. He served in several directorships of the IRA and National Army during both the War of Independence and Civil war. O'Hegarty was an extremely self-effacing man whom Frank Pakenham called the "civil servant of the revolution".
Early life Diarmuid O'Hegarty (Ó hÉigeartuigh) (26 December 1892 – 14 March 1958) was born Jeremiah Stephen Hegarty on 26 December 1892 in Lowertown, Schull, Co Cork, the eldest of seven children (four sons and three daughters). Both his father, Jeremiah Hegarty (1856–1934), and his mother, Eileen (née Barry), were teachers.O'Hegarty (Ó hÉigeartuigh), Diarmuid by Marie Coleman and William Murphy Diarmuid's father was also known as Diarmuid Ó hÉigeartuigh, and was a member of the Gaelic League. He collected stories and folklore from his grandmother later published as Is uasal ceird (1968) (edited by Stiofán Ó hAnnracháin); he also published Tadhg Ciallmhar (1934). O'Hegarty was educated at the Christian Brothers schools, at St Patrick's Place, Cork. Diarmuid O'Hegarty was a boyhood friend of Gearoid O'Sullivan.Fionan Lynch WS192
In 1910, aged eighteen, O'Hegarty secured a job in the Dublin Civil Service and was posted to the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, where he worked as the private secretary assistant to T. P. Gill, the secretary of the department.
Early Activism Gaelic League He became a member of the very active and influential Keating Branch of the Gaelic League in Dublin, where the Irish Republican Brotherhood influence was very strong, and which was closely associated with the Teeling Circle (named after Bartholomew Teeling) of the IRB.Patrick Pearse: 16Lives By Ruán O'Donnell The membershipThe Civil Service and the Revolution in Ireland 1912–1938: Shaking the Blood by Martin McGuire p30 of the Keating Branch comprised mostly civil servants and teachers, and members of the Branch included Michael Collins, Cathal Brugha, Fionán Lynch, Piaras Béaslaí, Gearóid O'Sullivan, Thomas Ashe, Richard Mulcahy, Sean O'Murthuile and Diarmuid Lynch. It was here that he first met and became firm friends with Michael Collins.
O'Hegarty, along with Gearoid O’Sullivan and Fionan Lynch, subsequently became members of the Committee of the Branch and, almost from the day they joined, their services were requisitioned for teaching Irish classes.
Na hAisteoirí O'Hegarty's interests were academic and theatrical. In 1913 he became a member and then stage manager of a troupe of Gaelic players, called Na hAisteoirí, relating historical traditions of Irishness, cultural revivalism, and nationalism. The principal male parts were played by several who later became prominent revolutionaries: including Piaras Béaslaí, who also wrote a comprehensive of Collins life, Gearóid O'Sullivan, Fionán Lynch, and Con Collins.
The Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood In the period prior to the Easter Rising, O'Hegarty and his younger brother, Dick O'Hegarty lived at 44 Mountjoy Street.Michael Collins: The Lost Leader: A biography of Irish politician Michael Collins By Margery Forester On 25 November 1913 Diarmuid Ó Hegarty, together with Gearoid O’Sullivan and Fionan Lynch, attended the meeting at the Rotunda Rink for the founding of the Irish Volunteers and they joined on that first night. With the formation of the battalion, Diarmuid Ó Hegarty was made second lieutenant under Captain Fionan Lynch in F Company, 1st Battalion.
Easter Rising As second lieutenant of F Company, 1st Battalion, Dublin Brigade, Irish Volunteers, during the Easter rising Diarmuid Ó Hegarty was in charge of barricades in Church St., Mary Lane, Mary's Abbey, and Jameson's distillery, an area which saw fierce fighting. Diarmuid O’Hegarty was arrested and, on 1 May, he was sent to Knutsford jail, Cheshire, England. A disheveled appearance revealed a somewhat nervous disposition: "rapid utterance, hair flopped on forehead...untidy look, careless in dress.".O'Malley, Ernie, "On Another Man's Wound", (Tralee 1926), p.61
A question was asked about a John Hegarty in the House of Commons, who had been wrongfully arrested. The prison warder came to Diarmuid in prison. ‘Are you John Hegarty?’ he asked. ‘No, I’m not,’ replied Diarmuid O'Hegarty. ‘Well, what does Diarmuid mean in English?’ ‘It’s not John, anyhow.’ The warder went away. He returned. ‘Are you sure your name is not John?’ ‘Yes, I’m sure.’ He came back. ‘Well John or no John, pack up and get to hell out of this.
Having failed to identify the importance of their prisoner, in error the authorities released him early, on 18 May, to return to his family and job in the civil service. When Diarmuid came back to the Department of Agriculture, T. P. Gill sent for him. He had known that Diarmuid had been out in the Rising. ‘Take your holidays first, Hegarty,’ he said, ‘and report back. I hope you enjoyed the time you were fighting.’ O'Hegarty remained in office until 1918, when he was dismissed from the civil service for refusing to take the oath of allegiance.
Irish National Aid & Volunteer Dependent's Fund In the days after the executions, the Irish Volunteers Dependent's Fund ("IVDF") was founded by Sorcha McMahon, Áine Ceannt and Kathleen Clarke, to provide for the dependents of those killed or imprisoned, as well as undertaking protests outside Mountjoy prison and Kilmainham Gaol. Shortly after, the more moderate Irish National Aid Association ("INAA"), was founded by the Redmondites.
O'Hegarty was a central member of the IVDF and, when in September 1916 the two organisations amalgamated, O'Hegarty's influence helped to ensure that the new body, the INA&VDF, was dominated by republicans. Whilst the INA&VDF's primary task remained the support of prisoners and their dependents, as a national organisation, it quickly also became a vehicle for the regeneration of advanced nationalism.Political Imprisonment and the Irish, 1912–1921 By William Murphy
Reorganisation of the Irish Volunteers after The Easter Rising and the emergence of the IRA (1916 to 1917) On his release, O'Hegarty was prominent in the re-organisation of the Irish Volunteers after the 1916 Easter Rising, subsequently becoming a member of the executive of the IRB's supreme council along with Michael Collins and Seán Ó Murthuile.
Seán Ó Muirthile and Diarmuid O'Hegarty began touring the country during the summer of 1916, establishing contact between the few leaders who had not been arrested, arranging for them to recommence meetings of the Volunteers and ensuring that the Volunteers being released from jail in 1916 and 1917 were able to return to organized units.
On Cathal Brugha's discharge from hospital in August 1916, Sean Ó Muirthile and O'Hegarty visited Brugha at his home in Rathgar and a provisional committee for the reorganization was established. In August 1916, a meeting was held in Minerva Hotel Parnell Square for the reorganization of the IRB, at which O’Hegarty attended.Michael Collins, by Patrick Breen At Brugha's behest, Sean Ó Muirthile and O'Hegarty organized a first Convention of the Volunteers, which was held at Fleming's Hotel in Gardiner Street in October 1916. Although still severely injured, Brugha presided at the meeting and an executive was established to continue the reorganization, with Brugha as the head of the provisional committee. The committee was dominated, as the early Executive of the Volunteers had been, by members of the IRB and included O'Hegarty.
Progress was slow for the next few months, but volunteer reorganization gained speed after most of the Rising prisoners were released from Frongoch internment camp in Wales on 23 December 1916.
Early in August 1917, a meeting was held in the offices of Craobh Chéitinn of Conradh na Gaeilge in 46 Parnell Square. It was decided at this meeting that an Army Convention would be held to establish a National Executive of Óglaigh na hÉireann. The date of the Convention was chosen to coincide with, and to use the cover of, the larger gathering of republicans in Dublin on 25 and 26 October 1917 – the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, when large numbers of republicans being in the city would not draw the attentions of the police, who'd presume they were still be around following the Ard Fheis.
Nearly 250 people attended the convention, with internment preventing many more from attending. Those in attendance included Éamon de Valera, Cathal Brugha, Thomas Ashe, Diarmuid O'Hegarty, Diarmuid Lynch, Michael Collins, Michael Staines and Richard Mulcahy.
The Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers conventions formalized their organizations and elected leadership, with each of Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers appointing Eamon de Valera as president.
A national executive was also elected, composed of 26 provincial representatives (including Dublin). In addition, a number of directors were elected to head the various IRA departments. Those elected were: Michael Collins (Director for Organisation); Diarmuid Lynch (Director for Communications); Michael Staines (Director for Supply); Rory O'Connor (Director of Engineering). Seán McGarry was voted General Secretary, while Cathal Brugha was made Chairman of the Resident Executive, which in effect made him Chief of Staff. There were six co-options to make-up the full number when the directors were named from within their ranks, including Diarmuid O'Hegarty.
Civil Service appointments (1918–1921) Having been dismissed from the civil service for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown in 1918, his administrative talents found ample outlet in the secretariat of the revolutionary Dáil.The Irish Revolution, 1916–1923 By Marie Coleman Diarmuid O'Hegarty chose what must have been the tempting option of a permanent career in the emerging Irish civil service The civil service and the revolution in Ireland, 1912–38 by Martin McGuire, page 161 and contributed in the service of the new state to such an extent that he has been called ‘the civil servant of the revolution’ (Longford, 102) and ‘the Grey Eminence of the Free State Government’ (de Vere White, 59).
The First Dáil (1918–1921) The December 1918 General Election resulted in the annihilation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, which won only six seats as opposed to Sinn Féin's 73. In January 1919 the newly elected Sinn Féin MPs proclaimed themselves the independent parliament of Ireland, the Dáil.
O'Hegarty was very close to Harry Boland, a constant companion, and Michael Collins and, in 1918, this IRB triumvirate exercised considerable control in the nomination of Sinn Féin candidates for the General Election of December 1918. O'Hegarty used his administrative experience to influence the nomination of the Sinn Féin candidates but did not seek his own election to the Dail.
The selection process was resented by those who had aspirations to enter the Dáil but who failed to be nominated and Páidín O'Keeffe, who was the full-time secretary of Sinn Féin from 1917 and had a fund of knowledge about the leaders, maintained that the vote against the Treaty was partly an anti-Collins vote, arising from the antagonism Collins, Harry Boland and Diarmuid O'Hegarty aroused by their choice of candidates for the December 1918 election.Michael Collins, Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1980 Ó Broin, León
Republican loan 1919 and The Dáil Bonds film, 1919
Within days of being appointed Minister for Finance in 1919 Collins set about raising the funds necessary if Dail Eireann was to fulfil its stated ambition of providing an alternative government to the British one that was operating from Dublin Castle. The immediate needs were those associated with establishing independence – the military resources of the Irish Volunteers and IRB plus the diplomatic resources of the Irish delegation to the Paris peace conference.