Thomas Patten (socialist)

Thomas Patten
Monument to Thomas Patten, Dooega, Achill Island
Personal details
Born	1910 (1910) Dooega, Achill Island, County Mayo
Died	1936 (1937) (aged 26) Boadilla del Monte
Occupation	Irish activist
Military service
Allegiance	Spanish Republic
Branch/service	International Brigades
Unit	Connolly Column
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War

Thomas Patten (1910 – 16/17 December 1936) was an Irish volunteer in the Spanish Civil War.^[1]

Biography

He was born in Dooega, Achill Island, in the County Mayo gaeltacht, one of a family of fourteen children. Irish was his first language. Patten emigrated to England as a teenager, working in Blackpool and London. In London he became involved with the Republican Congress, a socialist republican group. In October 1936, after the outbreak of the war in Spain, Patten left England to travel to Spain on his own,^[2] before the formation of the International Brigades. Upon his arrival in Madrid, he enlisted in the militia to assist in the defence of the city from insurgent fascist forces during the Siege of Madrid. He was killed at Boadilla del Monte on the night of 16/17 December 1936,^[3] the first person from an English-speaking country and the first Irishman of 74 killed in the conflict.

Peadar O'Donnell was the one who informed Patten's parents of his death. Years later dedicated his memoir of the war, Salud!, to "a young Achill boy".^[4]

A monument was raised to Patten in his native Dooega in 1984, funded by George Harrison,^[4] an Irish Republican also from Mayo.^[5] A ceremony was held to marked the creation of the momentum. 400 people where in attendance, included surviving members of the Patten family, the then chairman of the Labour Party Senator Michael D Higgins, a former president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Andy Barr; the general secretary of the Communist Party of Ireland, Jimmy Stewart, and the Northern Ireland Secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union, Ernie McBride. There were several members of the ITGWU including Michael Kilcoyne, a Castlebar councillor, and Michael O'Riordan, who also fought in Spain, and his son Manus.^[6]

Christy Moore mentions Patten in his song Viva la Quinta Brigada

References

1. R. A. Stradling (1999). The Irish and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39: Crusades in Conflict. Manchester University Press. p. 137. ISBN 9781901341133. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
2. "The Volunteer, September 2000". scribd.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
3. Ciaran Crossey. "Ireland and the Spanish Civil War - Home Page". irelandscw.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
4. Healy, John (5 February 2008). "Spanish soldier". Mayo News. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
5. Ciaran Crossey. "Patten Memorial on Achill, 1984". irelandscw.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
6. de Bréadún, Deaglán (8 September 1986). "Spanish Civil War fighters recalled on Achill". Irish Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.