Poppy In memoriam Poppy

Private Thomas Kearney

 

Kearney 1

 

Thomas Kearney was born in Glasgow in 1894 or 1895, son of Thomas and Mary Kearney. Years later the family moved to Omagh, County Tyrone.

Kearney enlisted in the Lovat Scouts Regiment at Glasgow in late October 1915 (No.3216).

Between 29 January and 12 April 1917 he transferred to the North Irish Horse (No.2404) then in July, to the South Irish Horse (No.3148). Soon after he embarked for France as a reinforcement for one of the two South Irish Horse regiments.

At the end of August 1917 the South Irish Horse regiments were dismounted and brought together to form the 7th (South Irish Horse) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment. Kearney was issued a new regimental number – 25420.

In November that year the battalion was in the lines just north of the Cambrai front. On the 25th Kearney was killed in action. The circumstances of his death were not recorded, the battalion war diary simply recording "Battalion relieved by 7/8th R. Irish Fusiliers and returned to Belfast Camp."

Private Kearney was buried at Croisilles British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France, grave II.D.12. His gravestone inscription reads:

25420 PRIVATE
T. KEARNEY
ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT
25TH NOVEMBER 1917

 

Kearney 2 

 

Image 1 kindly provided by Steve Rogers, Project Co-ordinator of the The War Graves Photographic Project, www.twgpp.org. Image 2 kindly provided by Simon Godly. See his First World War website at www.webmatters.net.