Denis Joseph Baily, class '12
Tralee hero who never lived to receive his medal
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Denis Baily was one of two brothers who came to us from Tralee. His younger brother Dominick was Head Prefect class '14. The 1915 Chronicle reported that Denis had matriculated to study at the National University of Ireland, but war intervened, and he duly signed up, but sadly was killed in action 21 February 1917.
16 September 2016, his family gathered for a commemoration evening in his honour that centred around a talk given by noted Listowel historian, Thomas Dillon, a synopsis of which, with his kind permission, the Union is honoured to reproduce below.
Requiescat in Pace.
Born in 1893, Denis Joseph Baily was the eldest son of John and Johanna Baily who ran a successful grocery and public house at Baily’s Corner in The Mall, Tralee. The Baily family were one of the leading nationalist families in the town with John Baily serving as a popular member of both Kerry County Council and Tralee Urban Council for over twenty years. A supporter of Home Rule and the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was involved in the establishment of a branch of the Irish Volunteers in Tralee and later a unit of the Irish National Volunteers loyal to John Redmond.
The atrocities committed in Belgium by the armies of Imperial Germany during the opening weeks of the war against civilians, nuns and priests provoked outrage in Ireland. Additionally, the burning of Catholic churches and cathedrals saw the Germans condemned as a barbaric race which threatened to overrun all of Europe. This was the main topic of the recruiting meetings in Kerry and with many people fearing Ireland would face the same fate as Belgium if Germany won the war, tens of thousands of men from Irish Catholic and nationalist families joined up and went to war. With a strong Catholic faith, the outrages in Belgium would have appalled Denis Baily whose family was very active in local fundraising efforts led by the Bishop of Kerry to help relieve the suffering of the Belgian war victims and refugees. His Catholic upbringing and education at Castleknock would have influenced his decision to volunteer as a soldier and it is related he joined up out of a sense of 'honour and duty'.
Serving as a Second Lieutenant in the 16th (Irish) Division, Denis Baily had men from his home town Tralee under his command and their letters testify to the esteem in which he was held by them. He became renowned for his bravery and great pride was taken in his feats of courage at the front by the local community. This was shown in the numerous resolutions of sympathy passed after his death which described him as a gentleman 'of proved valour in the field' and 'a credit to the town of his nativity'.
His unit, the 9th Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers took its place in the trenches for the first time in March 1916 near Hulluch in northern France. Minutes later, there was a tremendous explosion as the Germans blew two mines in front of their position. Racing to one of the craters formed by the blast, Baily along with two other Kerry soldiers fought off the enemy infantry intent on its capture withstanding four attacks in the darkness. All three men received the Parchment Certificate of the Irish Brigade for their bravery while the site became known as the ‘Tralee Crater’.
Six months later during the Battle of the Somme, Denis Baily took part in the attack on the German-held village of Ginchy on the 9th September 1916 and helped secure a major victory for the 16th (Irish) Division. After advancing only 50 yards from the trenches, he was the only officer in his company who was not a casualty. Assuming command, he rescued his battalion if not the whole attack from a dangerous situation for which he was awarded the Military Cross.
Unfortunately, the Tralee man never lived to receive his medal for bravery as he was killed by a sniper on the 21st February 1917 near Messines, Belgium and was laid to rest nearby at Pond Farm Cemetery. At a special parade in front of large crowd of friends and admirers at Ballymullen Barracks, his Military Cross was later presented to his mother. Among the many onlooking guests were Dr Michael Shanahan who later married Denis Baily’s sister Hannah and who had treated Sir Roger Casement following his capture at Banna Strand. Also present was Private Patrick Collingwood from Tralee whose life was saved by Denis Baily at Ginchy. Having been wounded on the battlefield, he was attempting to crawl back to his own lines with his machine gun when he was spotted by Baily who made his way out to him, picked him up on his back and brought him to safety thereby saving his life.
A small white marble Celtic Cross was later erected on the Baily family grave in Rath Cemetery in Tralee by the officers and men of Denis Baily's company who survived the war. It was a unique gesture and is unrivalled in Kerry and perhaps even Ireland with few other known examples of a monument being raised by soldiers in memory of a fellow comrade. From 1924, veterans, widows and the children of the war dead gathered in Tralee every year on Armistice Day and after observing the Last Post and a two-minute silence, the parade would march to the local cemeteries where wreaths were laid on a number of graves and at the memorial to Denis Baily.