Episode 2 – An Saighdiúir sa bhFód
A windswept bog guarded the secret of the disappearance of George Chalmers for 97 years. George Duff Chalmers was born in Edinburgh, the son of a blacksmith. In 1911 both of his parents died of TB within a few months of each other. He was an orphan at 8 years of age.
He joined the Royal Scots regiment before his sixteenth birthday. Still in his teens George Chalmers was sent to Co Clare and was very quickly caught up in the War of Independence in West Clare. The Royal Scots had a nasty reputation in Clare having taken part in bloody reprisals resulting in the deaths of many people in the area.
In June 1921 George was seen in British Army uniform walking alone along a country road in Co Clare. He was on his way to visit his 15-year-old Irish girlfriend, or so the story goes. He was captured by an IRA unit and interrogated, but remained mute, giving not even his name. Suspected of being a spy he was executed and buried in a remote bog.
For nearly 100 years he remained an unknown soldier, the knowledge of his presence in the bog surviving in the lore of the people. In recent years, through the dedicated work of a local historian and the power of social media his identity was uncovered. Last year his body was exhumed and reburied in the Grangegorman Military Cemetery in Dublin.
Series Overview
The landmark series, Ar Son na Poblachta returns to RTÉ One as the decade of centenaries continues. This year’s two part mini series addresses a turbulent period of our history – Cogadh na Saoirse / The War of Independence, bringing fresh insights, exploring the lives of real people whose stories cast light on and improve our understanding of those troubled times.