1899 Jan 21 Born Abernant, Carmarthen Wales
1911 Cenus at Abernantwith family,
Served in France and later in Germany
1918 Mar 23. Captured by the Germans POW
1919 Sep 7. Died when he was shot outside the Wesleyan Church, Fermoy, County Cork on Sunday morning when the IRA siezed the rifles of a group of soldiers.
At 10.35 a group of 15 soldiers marched to the Wesleyan Church in Fermoy. They were carrying rifles at the trail. Just outside the church they were rushed by a group of men brandishing revolvers and wooden cudgels. The attackers appear to have fired without warning or reason, and Jones fell dead, with another soldier , Private Lloyd, badly wounded. The attackers then gathered up the soldiers rifles and made off by car.
From another IRA Witness Statement We fought the soldiers with sticks and the Araglen and Clondullane men joined in. We,the first three,had revolver sand we produced these. The first file of soldiers handed over their rifles without any trouble but some of the Others showed fight and one who refused to give up his weapon was shot dead and about eight or nine were badly wounded. The seventeen rifles were got away, some in the car from Ballynoe and some in a car we had.
Another IRA Witness Statement The whole engagement was over in a few minutes and the rifles carried by the military party were loaded into the Mallow car which had been turned to face in the Lismore direction by Leo O'Callaghan, while the fight for the rifles was on. During the fight I only heard one shot fired.I don't know who fired it, but it must have killed one of the soldiers-Private Jones. Liam Lynch was also slightly wounded in the shoulder.
1919 Sep 8. The Coroner's Jury on the death of Jones reached the verdict that "these men came for the purpose of getting rifles, and had no intenton of killing anyone"
The Coroner's Inquest resulted in the KSLI going on the rampage and sacking Fermoy. The report on the Inquest
Feelings were running high
A number of arrests were made. The KSLI wer drafted to Cork in a matter of days and replaced by the Buffs. Tension gradually wound down in Fermoy
1919 Sep 10 He was buried. His grave is at Blaenycoed Chapel, near Cynwyl Elfed, Carmarthen. The Carmarthen Journal carries a report of the funeral:
Later, reprisals followed when a group of KSLI soldiers looted the town.
Vaious arrests were made.
1920 May 3. A Head Constable claimed he had been removed from the RIC because he would not make arrests.
The first Volunteers to be arrested and charged with his murder John J. Hogan (a farmer’s labourer) and Peter Callaghan (a farmer’s son) from Ballynoe. Hogan declared when asked if he had anything to say, ‘We do not recognise this court, and we have nothing to say.’ Among those arrested later was Michael Fitzgerald, O/C of the Fermoy Battalion, who long went untried and on 11 August 1920 began (with others) a hunger strike that culminated in his death sixty-seven days later