My ancestors - Flanagan - Contents

The Bird Flanagan

• References:
  • Bird Milligan, in A weekend in the Middle of the West, Oliver St.John Gogarty, pub posthumously 1958.
    • This was repub in More Stories from the Great Irish Writers, ed. John McCarthy, 1994.
    • This is a short story on the exploits of the Bird Flanagan, name change for artistic licence / libel avoidance (Gogarty left Ireland after being badly burned in a libel action in 1937).

  • Myles na gCopaleen (Brian O'Nolan) mentions The Bird in various Cruiskeen Lawn columns in the Irish Times:
    • "The Bird", January 25, 1962.
    • February 12, 1962. He describes the Bird as a man "who seemed to be the sum of a Dublin that no longer exists".

  • The Bird's grave, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Location: wB 60.5. Go in gate, to right, not quite to end, turn off to left, grave on left.

• Sources yet to be consulted:
  • Irish Eccentrics, Peter Somerville-Large.
  • It Isn't This Time of Year at All! An Unpremeditated Autobiography, Oliver St.John Gogarty, 1954. Mention of Bird Flanagan.
  • An Irishman's Diary, Deaglán de Bréadún, Irish Times, January 19, 1985.

Willie Flanagan, "The Bird Flanagan".
From this picture.
Photo must be 1924 or 1925.
See larger and full size.

Willie Flanagan, "The Bird Flanagan",
the notorious Dublin practical joker, born 10th Apr 1867,
"In his young days, Willie the Bird set off for the United States, where he met Paddy Cullen, another Crumlin man. "Go home, Bird", says Paddy, "Sure this is no place for a little fellow like you". And the Bird, taking his advice, flew" (i.e. sailed) "back across the Atlantic to Crumlin.",

generally lived the high life on his father's money,
can't find him in 1901 census,
lived at Portmahon Lodge, Rialto,
this is a separate place to Portmahon House - [Deed of 1902] is a lease of Portmahon Lodge by his father to John Tench,
himself and his brother Frank were founder members of the South County Dublin Harriers, Oct 1906 [Norton, 1991],
The Bird had been involved with previous hunts in the area, he might be "W. Flanagan" at the Bray Harriers meet, Feb 1896, at Dundrum, Co.Dublin [Norton, 1991],
the Co.Dublin Harriers hunt used to meet at Portmahon Lodge, where The Bird lived, the hounds were kennelled there for a time around 1909 [obituary of Nora Stack],

"an elaborate practical joker, with a rich father who could afford to pay for the results of his son's exploits",
list of his jokes (some may be urban legends):

• [Myles na gCopaleen, 1962] says: "The Bird's heyday seems largely to have coincided with the reign of King Edward" [1901-10]. "It is said that when His Majesty, attending an important race meeting at the Curragh, strolled with Castle worthies to drop the flag at the starting post, he was approached there by the Bird and touched (successfully) for a fiver."
• He rode his horse through swing doors of the Gresham Hotel, O'Connell St, Dublin, in 1907, into lobby, half way up the main staircase, and asked for a drink. "It's after hours, sir", replied a porter. "It's not for me, you fool, it's for the horse!"

• In 1907 (4th May to 9th Nov) the World Fair known as the Irish International Exhibition was held at the grounds in Ballsbridge that after the show would become Herbert Park. At the show was a "Somali village", which "exhibited" native people from Somalia, including a native family with a baby. The Bird stole the baby "and smuggled it into the snug of a pub in Ballsbridge" [Myles na gCopaleen, 1962], causing chaos, as the natives and show organisers looked for the child. One would have to say that if you consider the distress of the child's mother, then this joke doesn't seem very funny.
  • Letter from Oscar Love, Irish Times, January 3, 1966. Says that when The Bird abducted "the Black Baby", "He wrapped the baby in a mackintosh and on reaching Nelson Pillar left it in a tramcar". Posters appeared with "Black Baby Kidnapped".

• He got the name "The Bird" from arriving at Earlsfort Terrace roller skating rink, Dublin, Mar 1909, dressed as the Holy Ghost. He laid an "egg" - a rugby football painted white, "before the mob fell upon him and chased him, wings askew, from the arena" [O'Connor, 1963]. The Irish Times when producing the statue (see below) said: "His nickname arose when on attending a fancy dress ball as a bird, he failed to get a prize, and pretended to lay an egg and throw it at the judges."
• He once rode his horse across the stage of a Dublin theatre from one wing to the other, during a performance.
• Once during a performance at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, during WWI, he stood up in the middle of the show and took off his overcoat, revealing himself to be dressed as the Kaiser.

• Another trick was he would pay for a turkey (or a ham, accounts vary) at a stall, ask for it to be left on outside hook and he would collect it later. Then he would wait for policeman, and act suspiciously, make sure policeman watching him, then suddenly gallop past stall, snatch turkey from hook and race away. "after a chase by the police, for a considerable distance, he would then produce the receipt .."
  [Those Days Are Gone Away, Michael Taaffe, 1959] attributes this to the Dublin eccentric Endymion. But a review of that book in [Irish Times, October 24, 1959] says it should be The Bird.
  [Head or Harp, Lionel Fleming, 1965] attributes it to Endymion. But a succession of letters in the Irish Times dispute this, all saying it was The Bird:
  • December 8, 1965.
  • December 14, 1965.
  • December 15, 1965.
  • December 21, 1965.
  • Letter from Oscar Love, January 3, 1966. Says that "the ham incident" happened at Peter Murphy's shop on South Great George's St.

• He once gave a new football to a local boy. "A brand new football, in those hard times, was enough to make any poor lad wild with excitement. "Don't tell anyone I gave that to you", said the Bird. But when the poor unfortunate lad arrived at the playing field, his friends were there waiting for him. "The Bird was here, he says he gave you a ball for the team." There was no match that day, but there was one hell of a fight".
• The Bird and Tommy O'Brien's father Paddy O'Brien were out driving in a cart one day, coming towards them was a string of horse-driven farm carts from the Flanagan farm carrying a load of female workers. The Bird says: "Oh Paddy, take the reins, we're going to have fun". He stopped the driver, who knew him. "All right Mick, I'll take the carts, you go home". The driver was reluctant, but surrendered. The Bird got the horses trotting, into a gallop. Paddy turned the pony, followed to watch. Over humpback bridge, ladies screaming murder, down the S Circular Rd, into Grafton St, pulled up outside Neary's pub, Chatham St (still there). Emptied the ladies out, brought them all in, bought them drinks.
• Sheila Meyers, huntswoman of the S Co.Dublin Harriers, wrote of her childhood c.1920 (her age c.10): "A well known Dublin man known as the Bird Flanagan had a grey colt which I hunted. He decided to run him at the Fingal Harriers Point-to-Point. .. The crowds and bookies had all arrived when we got in and the Bird came up to me and wanted me to have some soup, but the thought of it made me sick! .. Having refused the soup, he wanted me to have brandy and raw eggs. Thereupon I left him - the soup was bad enough but that finished me. I found the groom and the colt in a stable yard. The groom was standing on a manure heap with a bottle of brandy and eggs pouring it into the colt who seemed to me to be enjoying it to no end. Eventually we started and I could not hold one end of the animal and kept finding myself in front. I swear he was a little inebriated as he kept falling on his knees when landing over a fence and the others came up with me. This went on for what seemed like hours until I found we were within sight of the winning post. I was still pulling for all I was worth when we passed the post - I had won!" [Norton, 1991]

he settled in the old family property of Walkinstown House, Walkinstown, Co.Dublin, there by 1911,
mar 1910-11 to Esther Stafford [Esther Mary, born 1885, Co.Waterford],
she was a nurse, he proposed to her in verse, no issue,
they are listed in [Census, 2 April 1911] as living "Wilkinstown",
he is listed as "farmer", they live with 2 servants, the main house has 7 rooms, and 9 windows in the front of the house alone, the land is owned by Michael Flanagan,
there are a total of 32 out-offices and farm buildings (consisting of 20 stables, 1 coach house, 1 cow house, 1 dairy, 1 piggery, 1 barn, 2 workshops, 3 sheds, 1 store and 1 forge),
"He was hardly ever seen off his horse, and would ride through the village of Crumlin carrying a riding stick and wearing "half" a hard hat. He was a small little man of 5 ft 1 in. and had to use a ladder to mount his horse.",
"Joe Sullivan - "The Scholar" - the gentleman tramp - at one time stayed at the Bird Flanagan's place on the Walkinstown Road, where he used feed the rats and mice and actually had them follow him around for the scraps of food. "Feed them", he would say, "and they won't harm you.",

he was a farmer and sportsman (hunting and greyhounds),
he was NOT a councillor or Alderman (this must be confusion with his uncle William Flanagan, who was a poor law guardian),
Liam Cosgrave remembers The Bird getting a grip of his brother Micheál (born 1922) and telling him: "Say Damn", and the Alderman annoyed: "Don't be teaching them to curse",
living Walkinstown House at death,
died Mon 14th Dec 1925 (within a week of Larry), Walkinstown House, age 58 yrs, occupation listed as "gentleman" [GROI],
see death notice in Irish Times, 16 Dec 1925 (says died 15 Dec of pneumonia),
bur Glasnevin Cemetery.

Esther lived Carrickmines,
there is a photo of George Bernard Shaw c.1930, "taken by Mrs Willie Flannagan at Rosslaire",
she attended Sr.Padua's funeral 1936,
her address on grave record is "Stafford Lodge" (her maiden name), Carrickmines, Co.Dublin,
died at her residence, Stafford Lodge, 23 Aug 1969 [death notice], [grave record], age 84 yrs,
see death notice in Irish Times, August 25, 1969,
funeral 25 Aug, bur Glasnevin Cemetery.

 

(Left) Colonel Joe O'Reilly (aide-de-camp to W.T. Cosgrave and right hand man of Michael Collins).

(Centre) Liam Cosgrave (front, born 1920) and Micheál Cosgrave (back, born 1922) on the pony "Nibby" (that Frank bought for the Cosgraves from the Gogartys).

(Right) The Bird (died 1925).

Photo must be 1924 or 1925.
See larger and full size.

Short movie on the Gresham Hotel.
From Dublin City Public Libraries.

The Bird's grave, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
Gravestone must be erected after wife died 1969.
Photo 2010. See full size.
See wider shot and wider shot and wider shot.

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"The Bird Flanagan" pub, Rialto

"The Bird Flanagan" pub, Rialto.
Photo 2007. See full size and other shot.

"The Bird Flanagan" pub, Rialto.
Photo courtesy of Michael Peevey.
See full size.

Sign on "The Bird Flanagan" pub, Rialto.
Showing the Bird pretending to steal a turkey.
Photo 2007. See larger and full size.

"The Bird and the Turkey". Sketch by Mary O'Carroll, 1987.
In "The Bird Flanagan" pub, Rialto.
Showing the Bird pretending to steal a turkey.
Photo 2007. See larger and full size.

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• The Long Mile Road, off the Naas Rd, was supposedly said to be named after a mile long horse race along the route by the Bird Flanagan.

• "The Bird Flanagan" pub is at 471-477 South Circular Rd (nr Portmahon House), Rialto, Dublin 8. See map.
  • Formerly "The County Bar", renamed "The Bird Flanagan" late 1980s.
  • Read a "Bird Flanaganesque" story of an attempted robbery at the pub in 1998.

• The bar in the Gresham Hotel was called "The Bird Flanagan". Think now renamed.
• Apparently there is a "Bird Flanagan" estate and pub somewhere on the Shannon, poss. Killaloe, E Co.Clare.

• The Bird has become a Dublin legend. The Irish Times produced a completely inaccurate but hilarious statue of him in 1994.
• There was a leprechaun figure "Bird Flanagan the Vet", pre-2000, in the "Finnian's Folk" figurines at Mostly Irish gifts.