James Carroll (always known as Bob), born 1887, was
the middle child of three sons. He was born at 3 Northumberland Road and grew
up at 24 Lower Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin. Bob was at Belvedere College
1898-1906 and was very involved in the sporting life of the school. He was
captain of the Senior Rugby XV in the seasons 1904 and 1905 and was also
captain of the Senior Cricket XI 1905 and 1906. In his final year Bob was on
the school’s athletics team, the swimming team and the gymnastics team. The Belvederian of 1914 said that ‘he
was a vigorous and successful participator during his time at Belvedere’
When
he left Belvedere, Bob joined the Royal Irish Constabulary and after his
Cadetship he was poste to Callan, County Kilkenny. At the end of 1910, he was
promoted to Second Class Inspector. In early 1913, he was commissioned as
second-lieutenant of the Special Reserve 4th Battalion RDF and was
attached, April-October, 1913, to the 2nd Line Battalion of the RDF
stationed at Gravesend, south-east England.
Bob
was granted a year’s leave of absence to take up a post of
Assistant-Conservator in the Forest Department of Siam (Thailand). He left
England 11 December, 1913, and arrived at Bangkok 16 January, 1914. From
Bangkok, he travelled the four hundred miles through the forest to his station
at Lakhon, in the north-west of the region, with a convoy of three elephants,
fifteen pack ponies and twelve Siamese assistants. At the beginning of the
Great War, Bob’s friends at home acquired for him an
extension of his leave to continue work in Siam, but he refused the
opportunity—he believed his duty was to return to his regiment. He did so
January, 1915, and was with his unit at Sittingbourne, south-east England.
The Belvederian of 1915 reported that
Bob was ‘with the detachment guarding the defences of
the Thames.’ While digging trenches, German aircraft flew over them and dropped
bombs upon them. The bombs missed their target and, though Lieutenant Bob
Carroll distributed ammunition to his men, the enemy planes were quickly out of
sight.
Lieutenant
Carroll, as he was then, went with the 4th RDF when they were soon
sent to Templemore, County Tipperary. Bob served as Signalling Officer but was
promoted to captain December, 1915. During the Easter rising in Dublin, 1916,
Bob was in action in the city. As The
Belvederian of 1916 recorded:
In
May, 1916, after doing his share of fighting in Dublin during Easter week, he
was ordered to the front, as were many of his brother officers, and he is now
‘somewhere’ in France or Flanders.
In
June, 1916, he joined the 8th Battalion RDF in the trenches. He was
severely injured during a bombardment by the enemy in August, 1916, as The Belvederian of 1917 reported:
…the
parapet of the trench in which he was posted was overthrown by a shell, with
the result that he was buried under the debris, but was dug out by his men. He
was found unconscious, and was pronounced to be suffering from concussion. From
this he has endured great pain for many months…
He
was sent to England and after several months spent recuperating he re-joined
the 4th RDF in Wellington Barracks, Mullingar, November, 1916. He
continued to suffer from neuralgia headaches and saw many medical specialists
in Dublin. As a consequence, Bob was sent to the 7th Officer Cadet
Battalion at Kilworth, County Cork, as a training officer, where he engaged in
lighter duties. He returned to his battalion May, 1918, and was soon back in
France. He fell into a shell hole during a dawn attack September, 1918, and
sprained his ankle. He was sent to England for a month’s convalescence and then
joined the 3rd Battalion RDF in Lincolnshire, the war then being
over. He was sent to Nass as demobilisation officer for the RDF. He soon became
ill, his condition worsened rapidly and Bob Carroll died 24 March, 1919. He
died suddenly of heart failure, a victim of the ‘Spanish flu’ epidemic. He was
thirty-one years old when he died. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
The Belvederian
of 1920 published an obituary:
In
every phase of his short life he proved himself a good, religious man, one who
had God always before him, in his mind. And in his last hours God rewarded his
fidelity by blessing him with the grace of a happy death, after he had had the
happiness of receiving the last Sacraments at the hands of the Rev. Father
Hipwell, CC, Naas.
To
all his family, but especially to his young wife, we offer our sincere
sympathy. R.I.P.
Stan
Carroll, brother of Bob Carroll, was at Belvedere College 1904-911. It is
likely that he made his First Communion in 1905. ‘Stannie’ was involved in the
sporting life of the school—in 1910 he made the Senior Cricket XI team and in
1911 he was on the Senior Rugby XV team.
After
Stan left Belvedere, The Belvederian of
1916 reported on his activities:
…he
spent a considerable period at a temporary military school of instruction for
officers, in Surrey, where they are all enabled to acquire a very practical
knowledge, not only of the duties of junior officers, but of the work devolving
upon the rank and file, such, for example, as bayonet exercise, trench digging,
etc.
Having
followed his brothers, Joseph and Bob, into the army, Stan obtained a
commission in the family battalion, the 4th RDF as
second-lieutenant. The Belvederian of
1916 could further report that he ‘had his first experience of fighting during
the recent disturbances in Dublin, and is now with his battalion in Mullingar’.
Second-Lieutenant Stan Carroll was sent to France, December, 1916, and served
with the 10th Battalion RDF. The
Belvederian of 1917 informed its readers that Stan had frequently been in
action and that, more than once, he had ‘hair-breadth escapes’.
Joseph Carroll, the eldest of the three Carroll
brothers, attended Belvedere College 1894-1901. After leaving the school he
gained a position as District Inspector in the Royal Irish
Constabulary. At the commencement of the Great War, Joe relinquished his
position in the RIC and took a commission in the 6th Battalion RDF.
In early 1915 he was stationed at the Curragh, but as The Belvederian of 1915 reported, in summer 1915, Joe was amongst
many other Old Belvederians
who are in the great muster at Basingstoke
awaiting the word to move into the scene of action.
Joe was with his regiment and
took part in the landing of Suvla Bay, 6 August, 1915. On 9 August, he was shot
in the chest and several hours later was ‘knocked
out by a shrapnel shell…and carried unconscious off the field.’ He was
invalided to England and the bullet lodged in his chest was removed at Osborne
House, Isle of Wight, some weeks later. He was granted a short period of leave
and was back with his battalion in the Balkans in early April, 1916. Joe was
wounded again later in 1916. The
Belvederian of 1917 recorded that Captain J. J. Carroll was
wounded
a second time in the fighting with the Salonika Army in Eastern Macedonia in
the autumn of 1916.
He received
treatment in a Maltese hospital, but, while there, contracted malaria and
jaundice. He was invalided home and was then on home service.
