Memoirs of Book

Memoir of Frank Flanagan's experiences in the Great War and of a vanished Dublin society, both before and after the war. Frank Flanagan (1886-1970), known as "The Pope" Flanagan, was born on 11th December 1886, the 11th and last child of Alderman Michael Flanagan and Anne Collins, then aged 53 and 44. Flanagan was educated at Clongowes Wood College, after which he joined the Jesuits in 1904 as a clerical student. He left after 3 years. After a stay in the US in 1907-08 during which he met with President Roosevelt, he returned to Ireland, and lived at the family home at Portmahon House, Rialto, working as an insurance broker and market gardener for a while. He joined the Irish Volunteers and helped create a distraction during the Howth gun-running in 1914. Later that year he joined the Royal Artillery and served in the Somme, Greece, Egypt, India and Mesopotamia. He took part in the successful capture of Kut in 1917.