Military Pension Applications West Mayo Brigade Area

Paddy Cadden and Sean Cadden

Most of the activity in the War of Independence and Civil War was in the period of 1918 –1923. From the autumn of 1920 many activists had to go on the run until the Truce on 11th July 1921. They could not earn a living and were given food and lodgings by their sympathetic neighbours.

Some people were killed others wounded and disabled some were shell-shocked as of result of brutal assaults by the RIC and Auxiliaries. Many were jailed for periods of up to two years.

In 1923 the first pension scheme was introduced, this benefited those who suffered in the War of Independence and casualties on the Free State side in the Civil War. The terms of the pension scheme were expanded in 1934 to include those who gave service on the losing side of the Civil War. Some applicants were given pensions in the 1920s, others got pensions in the 1930’s. Pensions were still being awarded in the 1950s. Later still, another group got a pension as a top-up to their old age pension.

The Military Archives have been putting the pension applications online for a number of years. This is the present online list of West Mayo Brigade area applications. It has a link to the actual application forms which are online as of August 2022. This list is being expanded each year until all application forms are eventually online.