Corporal Henry Kavanagh Collection

Repository: Dublin City Archives

Identity Statement

TitleCorporal Henry Kavanagh Collection
Archive ReferenceIE DCLA/RDFA/003
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/corporal-henry-kavanagh-collection
Creation Dates1894-1916
Extent Medium14 items including 3 photographs and 1 death scroll and 10 handwritten letters.

Context

Creator(s): Cecil Kavanagh, nephew of Corporal Henry Kavanagh.

  • Administrative History ↴

    The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, Ayrfield, Dublin 13, was established in 1996 to commemorate all Irish men and women who volunteered, served and died in the First World War 1914-1918. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association archive is managed by the Dublin City Library and Archive. Henry Kavanagh was born at Merrion, Co. Dublin [b.1894]. Son of William and Emelia Kavanagh he was educated at the Diocesan School, Molesworth Street, Dublin. Henry was one of four brothers and two sisters who lived with their widowed mother Emelia at 167 Merrion Road, Dublin after their fathers’ death. Henry was a solicitor’s clerk prior to joining the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1914. He fought in Gallipoli and then in Greece with D Company ‘The Pals’, 7th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. D Company was reserved exclusively for recruits from an organisation known as the Irish Rugby Football Union Volunteers. Henry was made Lance-Corporal in August 1915. He was killed in action at Salonika on 23 September 1916 and was interred at Struma Military Cemetery in Greece. Henry’s older brother Norman [b.1889] worked as a clerk in the title of deeds office and joined as a dispatch rider in 1916. He survived the war and was awarded a British war and victory medals and later married George Poulton’s sister Violet. Henry’s friend George Vincent Poulton also joined the army. Unfortunately, he was very ill with dysentery, and spent a lot of time in hospital throughout the war first in Lemnos and later in Cairo before being sent home to recover. Like the Kavanagh’s, his family lived on Merrion road, and their families were well acquainted.

  • Archival History ↴

    The collection was donated to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive by Mr. Cecil Kavanagh, nephew of Henry Kavanagh. The Royal Dublin Association Archive is managed by the Dublin City Library and Archive, which is where the collection is kept.

  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Donation

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Cecil Kavanagh, nephew of Corporal Henry Kavanagh. ↴

    The collection consists of letters written by Henry to his brother Enoch [b.1886] and his brother Norman. It also contains letters written by Henry’s mother Emelia to Enoch and Norman to Enoch and includes photographs and a death scroll.

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Permanent Retention

  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection relates to records which were created during the First World War. The collection was arranged chronologically as this reflects most accurately the original order in which the records were created, and provides a comprehensive context for the records.

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Available to holders of DCLA reader ticket
Conditions Governing ReproductionBy permission of Dublin City Archivist
Creation Dates1894-1916
Extent Medium14 items including 3 photographs and 1 death scroll and 10 handwritten letters.
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Finding Aids Descriptive list Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

Related MaterialRDFA/018 Gunning Brothers: Gallipoli and the Somme RDFA Collections held at Dublin City Archives.
Publication NoteHenry Hanna, ‘The Pals of Suvla Bay’: Being the Record of the ‘D’ Company of the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteAmy Walsh, 2015
Rules/ConventionsISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottowa: International Council on Archives, 2000.
Date of Descriptions42129