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Minister Kehoe today announced the latest release online of material from the Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection (MSPC). This follows a number of previous releases of material beginning in 2014. Today’s release is comprised of 4,600 files relating to 1,540 individual veterans who had active service in the period between 1916 and 1923. This release brings the number of individuals whose files are available online to 9,555.

Speaking in relation to today’s release the Minister said

Following on from the significant Brigade Activity reports release earlier this year, I welcome today’s release of material from the Military Service Pensions Collection. It includes files for 313 applications lodged by women, providing additional insight into the role played by them in the struggle for our independence.” He went on to say “This research project continues to expand its on-line resource, which allows easy access to explore and develop our understanding of our past. I want to commend the Project team on the quality of their work, of which I am very proud.

These files are available today to the public for the first time and can be viewed online on the MSPC pages of the Military Archives website at www.militaryarchives.ie. In addition to the files of 313 women participants in the revolutionary period, this release includes files relating to the Saltmills explosion in Wexford (1920), the attempted rescue of Frank Carty from a prison van in Glasgow in May 1921, and the files of 45 members that provide an overview of the structure and activity of the IRA and Cumann na mBan in Manchester.

The MSP Project itself is an act of commemoration aimed at revealing the unknown or forgotten experiences of those caught in a momentous period in Irish History. The work of preserving archives and making them available for research has been vital in our understanding of the Irish Revolution and an entire generation fighting for Independence, leading to the foundation of the modern Irish State.

NOTE FOR EDITORS

The Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection (MSPC) project is a joint Department of Defence and Defence Forces contribution to the Decade of Centenaries. The project is mandated to release the files and records of the Department of Defence dealing with the service of qualifying members of the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, the Hibernian Rifles, Cumann na mBan, Na Fianna Éireann and the Irish Republican Army from the period April 1916 to the 30^th of September 1923. This involves cataloguing and partially digitising nearly 300,000 files.

This note provides additional information in relation to the Saltmills explosion.