Private John Philip Sheehan
John Philip Sheehan was born on 4 February 1900 at Glen Terrace Waterford, County Waterford, the first of four children of labourer James Sheehan and his wife Mary Anne (née Barton). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Glen Terrace with his grandmother, parents and his two surviving siblings.
Sheehan enlisted in the cavalry, probably in the first half of 1917. He was posted to the North Irish Horse between 27 June and 3 July 1917 (regimental number between 2561 and 2599 – later Corps of Hussars No.71898). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp before embarking for France in late 1917 or 1918. There he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment. This regiment served as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps from its establishment in May 1916 until February-March 1918, when it was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
On 20 March 1919 Sheehan was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve. He returned to Waterford where he worked as a labourer. On 9 July 1922 he married Norah Power in the Roman Catholic Church of Trinity Without, Waterford.
According to information provided on Ancestry.com, Sheehan can be seen below in the rear row to the right of the conductor. "... his instrument is the large drum. There is a story that he was thrown in a river by the IRA along with his drum."
Image sourced from Ancestry.com Public Member Trees – contributor 'parkrealm'.