Mary Bowles, Cork, January 1921

Mary Bowles, Cork, January 1921

Mary Bowles was a young teenager when she was arrested on 13^th January 1921 near Clogheen, Co. Cork. The police search found she was wearing steel body armour and carrying a machine gun, two revolvers, an automatic pistol and ammunition, all concealed under her large coat. She had been moving part of the arsenal of the 1^st Cork Brigade of the IRA, hidden in the field next to her family home, to safety. Despite her young age, Bowles was court martialled at Victoria Barracks in Cork where she maintained her silence throughout the proceedings against her. Her refusal to plead was an act of defiance and a rejection of the authority of the British courts. She was sentenced to detention in a Catholic reformatory school until she reached the age of 19.