Sinn Féin to honour Spanish Civil War hero

Innaugural Commemoration for Peter Daly

MEMBERS OF Wexford Sinn Féin will hold the inaugural annual commemoration in honour of Tan War veteran and Spanish Civil War hero, Peter Daly, in Monageer at 7.00 p.m. on Friday, September 7th.

From the Enniscorthy area, Mr. Daly was a Battalion Commander in the International Brigade when he was fatally injured during an assault to capture Purburell Hill near Quinto in north eastern Spain.

Fighting against the fascist dictatorship during the Aragón offensive of August 1937, he died of his wounds on 6th September that year in Benicasim Hospital. An IRA veteran of the Tan War, Mr. Daly had previously been wounded while on active service in Ireland but went on to join the effort in Spain. He was wounded twice, once at Jarama in February and again at Cordoba in April of 1937.

Mr. Daly rose from the ranks and was promoted for bravery in the field until he attained the rank of Battalion Commander.

Speaking after his death, Paddy O'Daire, a Donegal man, who assumed command of the Battalion, said: "Comrade Daly was one of the finest comrades and bravest soldiers I ever met, and his death is a great blow, not only to our Battalion, but to the Irish republican and working-class movement."

The Peter Daly Cumann, based around the areas of Monageer, Oylegate and Glenbrien has produced a special edition poster to commemorate the fighter on this, the 70th anniversary of his death.

"It is hoped the proceeds can be used towards the costs of erecting a permanent memorial in the locality to Daly and all the other Irish who died fighting fascism with the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War," said a spokesperson for the Cumann.

Read an excellent piece of research on Daly

From Monageer to Spain – the story of Peter Daly

By James Somers, Monageer Millennium Journal, 2000

To Speak of '98, a letter to the Irish Times, 1996 by Mick O'Riordan.

Here's a report of the commemoration planned here. 12th Sept. 2007 in the Echo.