Pierce McCan, 1882-1919 – by Calum O’Regan.

Primary Children's Competition.

Pierce McCan was born in Wexford in 1882, but came to live in Ballyowen House, Dualla. They lived on a large farm and he was a member of the Tipperary Hunt. He was the second eldest of four boys.

He was a founder member of Sinn Féin in 1905. He joined the Gaelic League in 1909 and was a member of the Irish Volunteers from 1914. He set up a branch of the Irish Volunteers in Cashel where he had a camp for local members where he taught Irish, and the Gaelic League in Dualla. He took part in the 1916 Easter Rising and was put in prison for months in Richmond Barracks in Dublin and then in Knutsford, England.

In May 1918, he was arrested under the German Plot and sent to Gloucester Jail in England. While he was in Jail he was elected as a Sinn Féin MP for the East Tipperary constituency at the 1918 general election:

Date: 1918
Election: 1st Dáil
Party: SF
Status: Elected
Constituency: Tipperary East
Seat: 1
Count: 1
Votes: 7,487
Share: 60.96%
Quota: 1.22

There was an outbreak of the flu in Gloucester Jail, and Pierce McCan was one of the unlucky prisoners to be struck down by it. He died on Thursday, 6th of March and on the 9th of March 1919, Mr McCan was buried in Dualla, Cashel, County Tipperary. When he died, over 10,000 people attended his funeral. The McCan Barracks in Templemore, is named after him.


Calum O’Regan, 5th Class, Little Flower National School, Ballytarsna.

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