The death has taken place of 105-year-old veteran republican Dan Keating, the last survivor of the War of Independence.
Mr Keating, from Castlemaine, Co Kerry, passed away in St Louis Nursing Home in Tralee on Tuesday evening following a short illness.
Born at Ballygamboon, Castlemaine, on January 2nd, 1902, he joined the Fianna in Tralee in 1918 and two years later joined the IRA and served in the Farmers Bridge unit.
During the War of Independence, Mr Keating took part in the Castlemaine ambush in June 1921 when five RIC men were killed. He was also involved in an ambush in Castleisland in which four RIC men were killed on the night before the truce was declared on July 11th, 1921.
Mr Keating took the republican side during the Civil War and was involved in the three-month occupation of the Army barracks in Ballymullen in Tralee. During this time, he also took part in an attack on Listowel barracks then held by Free State troops.
Mr Keating also fought during the Civil War in Limerick and Tipperary, where he was captured. He was held in Thurles before being transferred to Portlaoise jail, where he was held for six months, and later in the Curragh, where he was held until his release in March 1923.
Upon his release, Mr Keating maintained his involvement in the republican movement and was jailed in 1930 for failing to attend court over possession of a shotgun, while he later served six months following an incident during the visit of Eoin O'Duffy to Tralee.
Active in the IRA, Mr Keating was involved in the bombing campaign in England in the 1940s. When he returned to Ireland, he moved to Dublin, where he worked as a barman in a number of public houses, including the Eagle House on James's Street.
Still active in the republican movement during the Border campaign, Mr Keating sided first with Provisional Sinn Féin in the split with Official Sinn Féin, and then later sided with Republican Sinn Féin in the split from Provisional Sinn Féin.
Predeceased by his wife, Dolly, who died in 1977, Mr Keating returned to Ballygamboon in Castlemaine in 1978, where he lived with his nephew, Jackie, and his wife, Eileen.
Mr Keating will be buried in Killtallagh Cemetery following Mass at nearby St Carthage's Church at noon on Friday.
