Full Name: Patrick Joseph McCourt
Addresses: 76 Upper Dorset Street
Unit: A Coy (Cyclists), 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade. His older brother John was also a member of the same Coy.
Born: 22 May 1903 at 95 Upper Dorset Street
Parents: John McCourt, a Coachman/Chauffeur and Elizabeth ‘Ellen’ Arnold, both originally from Co. Meath.
Siblings: Brothers John and Richard (who died aged 6 in 1913).
Military Service: Joined Na Fianna Eireann in 1917 and later A Coy, 2nd Battalion, IRA. Arrested at the Custom House and interned in Kilmainham. He appears in Cyril Daly‘s autograph book.
The man on extreme left of this other photo from Kilmainham looks like him too.
Patrick enlisted in the new Irish Army on 31 January 1922. He was serving as a 1st Lieutenant, Mechanical Transport Corps, 1st Midland Division, Western Command, at Longford for the Army Census (November 1922) and was subsequently posted to Waterford.
On the evening of 25 March 1923, Lt. McCourt and his O/C Capt. William McLernon were off-duty and walking out at Sallypark, Waterford City. They were stopped by five anti-Treaty IRA men with rifles who ordered them to put up their hands. In an exchange of fire, McCourt suffered a serious gunshot wound to his left ankle. He was taken to the local hospital for surgery and spent four months there. He needed to use crutches for some time afterwards. He next served at Gormanston Camp, Co Meath. Patrick was discharged from the Army as medically unfit in March 1924. Assessed as having a 20% disability, he was awarded a wound pension of £40 per year in late 1924.
Personal Life: Patrick worked as a Motor Mechanic and Driver for J. Burns, Presham Publishing Co. Ltd before the Civil War. He remained living at 76 Upper Dorset Street and was described as a Motor Proprietor when he married Catherine Fellner at Corpus Christi Church, Drumcondra on 11 August 1929. It seems they had at least one son and one daughter. Patrick McCourt died at his home on Dorset Street on 6 December 1951 at the early age of forty-eight. His occupation was shown as Motor Mechanic. He was survived by his wife Kathleen, children, parents and brother John. He lies in Glasnevin Cemetery, plot UI104, St Patrick’s Section. His parents lived until the year 1963 during which they both passed away; and his widow survived till 1993.
Relatives: None in contact.
Des White
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