John Brennan aka John McCartan WW1 Soldier

Photo of John Brennan aka John McCartan c.1917
He was killed in action on the 14 October 1918.,
somewhere near Gulleghem, during the Battle of Courtrai (Kortrijk) in Belgium.

John Brennan aka John McCartan

John Brennan aka John McCartan was born on the 17 August 1892 at Coopers House, Ballickmoyler, Co. Laois., Ireland, the son of Mark Brennan (1841-1902) and his mother Catherine (Kate) Lalor (1859-1893).

John Brennan's mother unfortunately passed away on the 13 Jan 1893, five months after the birth of John and he had to be raised by his two eldest sisters Hannah and Christina Brennan,

John. Brennan eventually travelled to Northern Ireland with his brother Martin and got a job working working on a Samuel Johnston's farm in Ballyminymore. Glenavy, Co. Antrim NI, During the First World War, the British Army initially relied on volunteers, but due to dwindling numbers of individul available, the Military Service Act was passed in January 1916, introducing conscription for unmarried men aged 18 to 41 years of age to join up

John changed his name between the taking of the 1901 census of Ireland and 1911 census of Ireland and while John was working on the farm in Ballyminymore and he became involved in the local comunity and he succesfully intergrated himself into thelife and activities of the local livillage and before he enlisted in the British Army he changed his name to John McCartan and from thereon John answered the call to join the British army and enrolled with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles as John McCartan on the 21 December 1915. He was K.I.A. (killed in action) on the 14 October 1918., somewhere near Gulleghem, in Belgium during the Battle of Courtrai (Kortrijk) in Belgium. This battle was part of the second phase of the northern Allied offensive against the German Hindenburg Line. He also fought in France with his regimen.

He was injured twice at the front, once on 18 October 1916 and again on 27 September 1917. He was entitled to wear two 'wounded in action stripes' on the lower left sleeve of his uniform (see photo). He had just returned from England, where he was recovering from his suffered a 3rd injury and at the age of 26 years John was already an experienced soldier having served 3 years fighting at the front before he was killed on 14 Oct 1918. John is buried at Dadizeele New British Cemetery, Belgium Cemetery/memorial reference: IV. F. 35.

Date of embarkation to France was 21 December 1915., according to the Medal Roll. We believe he carried out at least three active service tours to the battle front during his three years service.

In a photo we have of John we now suspect that this was taken while he was in England, probably in 1917, because he is wearing three overseas service chevrons (12 months each) and there is also two vertical stripes on his lower left arm indicating that he was wounded twice. He was probably back in England recovering from his injures when the photo was taken. We can also see on his upper left arm a chevron on an armband indicating that he was attached to 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.

The 'H' probably indicates that at the time of the photo he was on Home Service duty in some capacity. So, he has already been to the battle front and then he returns sometime in 1918 only to be killed shortly there after arriving back at the front.

The 1st RIR wore a green and black vertically separated inverted triangle on their upper arm of their uniform. This view is enhanced by the fact that his cap still retains the wire to give it shape, which was the first thing most of the soldiers removed when the troops went abroad. The buttons on his tunic have not been 'blacked', again, a procedure carried out by regular soldiers serving overseas to prevent any reflections from the buttons which would give their position away to the enemy while in the trenches.

John was temporarily attached to the 3rd Battalion RIR (aka Reserve Battalion or 4th Extra Reserve) , both of which provided reinforcements for 1st and 2nd Battalions. Both 3rd and 4th Roya Irish Rifles were based at Larkhill which is a garrison town in Salisbury, Wiltshire. England in 1918. and the likelihood is that John was attached in some form of training capacity as he had recently returned from the front line and would have had valuable experience to pass on to new soldiers joining up to serve.

After many years researching my family and looking for my great uncle John I finally made a connection when I received information from a member of The Bolger family in Dublin and he sent me copies of docements he obtained from the National Archives. It tells us that on the 13 February 1917 he made a hand written informal Will stating that: "In the event of my death I leave all my property and effects to my sister Christine Bulger (born Brennan) of 74 Ignatius Rd. Drumcondra, Dublin".

(John's sister Christine Brennan my Great Aunt who married a Joseph Bulger in Dublin 21 Aug 1904.).

Change of name

We have documentary evidence from parish records of John Brennan’s birth; he was born on 17 Aug 1892, in Ballickmoyler. Co. Laois, the son of Mark Brennan and Kate (Catherine) Lalor. In various other documents that were discovered during the research he was also born in Co. Antrim Northern Ireland and St. John's. Newfoundland. Canada. On his injury documentation he is listed as residing in Newtownards Co. Down in Northern Ireland. and on his Death record he lists Carlow, Ireland as his place of residence.

On the First World War Memorial in North Down and Ards Newtownards & District In memory of the men of Newtownards and district who laid down their lives serving King and Country in the great war 1914 – 1918. John McCartan (John Brennan) is listed on the Newtownards & District War Memorial. This would suggest to me that he was working in the area and became a member of the local community.

Soldiers changing their names during this period was quite a common activity for all sorts of reasons. We can only assume that John changed his name to John McCartan sometime between the 1901 census and the 1911 census of Ireland to protect his family in the South ot Ireland. According to the 1901 census he is recorded as John Brennan living with his father Mark Brennan and he is aged 7 years, (correct age was 9 years) in Ballickmoyler. Co. Laois. In the 1911 census he is listed John McCartan and is listed as living and working at a farm house number 5 in Ballyminymore Glenavy, Co. Antrim NI, and his birth place is listed as Co. Antrim and he is listed as a 19 year old Farm Servant.

According to the Forces War Records website his birth town is listed as St. John's. Newfoundland, Canada., and he is recorded as residing in Carlow and his Nationality was listed as British and his milatry rank is Rifleman.

Ballyminymore, Glenavy is about 14 miles west of Belfast where his brother Martin Brennan was living and working.

Why did soldiers change their names?

There are several reasons why, they could be trying to hide from marital problems, paternity issues, the law, bankruptcy, former military service or a criminal record. It is my belief that John was trying to hide his enlistment from his immediate family so that they couldn't trace him after he joined the British Army. Irish families of the day did not agree with their sons or daughters joining the British Forces and if they came home they would probably not be very welcome especially in their own community and would find it difficult getting a job. Another theory is that he wanted to protect his family in the event he was captured by the enemy and it would have been very difficult to trace his linkage back to his family.

The situation in Southern Ireland during this period was proving very difficult, and Irishmen joining the British Army were considered to be traitors to their own country because England was considered to be the enemy. There was obviously some split with the family and he knew that his dad Mark Brennan wouldn't agree with him leaving home and especially with him joining the British Army, but who knows?

His mother died in 1893 when John was less than 1 year old, nine years later in 1902 his father Mark Brennan died. The eldest girl Hannah had to step in and take the place of the mother and look after the youngest children. At some point John’s sisters Hannah, Christine and Anne decided to go to Dublin probably to look for work. They must have taken John and probably his brother Martin with them. Martin went on to work in Belfast sometime later and may have taken John with him.

Now why did he choose the name McCartan? Could it have been a girl friends name or a work colleague.

This is a mystery we will probably never solve. The name does not appear anywhere in our family tree. He obviously wanted to disassociate himself altogether from the South.

His brother who worked in Belfast all his life and when he came home to visit us in the early 1960s I remember him having a very strong northern Irish accent. I never met John but I did meet his brother Martin; we walked from Cooper Hill to Carlow and back one Saturday. He struck me as a very educated and well informed man. Did Martin come up with the name McCartan? Or, was it his girlfriend’s name? We will never know.

Martin Brennan died on 27th Feb 1963, in the City Hospital Belfast. He was living at 1 Adela St, Antrim Rd, Belfast 15. His death certificate states he was a widower. We don't know who Martin's wife was or when or where they got married. We also don't know where Martin worked or where he is buried in Belfast.

1911 Census of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Glenavy/Ballyminymore/198638
McCARTAN J - United Kingdom Rifleman 975 Royal Irish Rifles 14/10/1918 IV. F. 35.

New British War Cemeteries: http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/dadizeelenewbrit.htm

Forces War Records:

https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records/1241594/rifleman-j-mccartan-british-army-royal-irish-rifles/

The 1914–15 Star is a campaign medal of the British Empire which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces who served in any theatre of the First World War against the Central European Powers during 1914 and 1915

Victory Medal

Given the information we have available it is likely that J McCartan was entitled to the Victory medal, also called the Inter Allied Victory Medal. This medal was awarded to all who received the 1914 Star or 1914-15 Star and, with certain exceptions, to those who received the British War Medal. It was never awarded alone. These three medals were sometimes irreverently referred to as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.

British War Medal
From the information available to us, it is very possible that J McCartan was entitled to the British War Medal for service in World War One. This British Empire campaign medal was issued for services between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918.
The medal was automatically awarded in the event of death on active service before the completion of this period.

.

I have been searching the Belfast Papers and the National Archives to see if I could find any evidence where John changed his name I then came across the following:

Finding proof of a change of name

It’s always been possible in Great Britian and Ireland, to change your name without having to register the change with any official body. It’s still perfectly legal for anyone over the age of 16 to start using a new name at any time, as long as they’re not doing so for a fraudulent or illegal reason.

For‌‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌this‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌reason‌‌‌‌‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌‌people‌‌‌‌ ‌‌looking‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌for‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌a‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌formal‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌record‌‌‌ ‌‌‌of‌‌‌ ‌‌‌a‌‌‌ ‌‌change‌‌ ‌‌of‌ name will often find that it simply doesn’t exist. Historically, many people preferred not to draw attention to their change of name. For example, when divorce was more difficult, some people simply took their new partner’s name to allow them to appear married, and to make any children appear legitimate.

Source: https://deedpolloffice.com/research

My grateful thanks goes to the following people who helped me with the research: Eileen Alan & Michael Boran who provided the photo of John in Uniform, Kevin Bulger, Brian McCleaf, Terry Curran, Michael Purcell and Michael Nugent. c.2017 who helped me with much of the research.

Refereences.
1. Coopers house was a row of houses in the village of Ballickmoyler belonging to the Cooper Family of Cooper Hill in the County of Laoishe. Ireland.

Email me if you have any information or questions mjbrennan30@gmail.com

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