By Sean Collins
The stained-glass window over the main entrance of the Augustinian Church in Shop Street was erected in memory of a former prior of the community, Fr. Denis Crotty.
Crotty joined the Augustinian order in 1896 and was ordained in the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin in 1901. He was first appointed to Cork but from 1907 was Prior of Galway before being transferred to Drogheda in 1915.
A native of Mullinahone in County Tipperary, Crotty was an imposing six foot five inches tall, an avid Gaelic football enthusiast and was in Croke Park on November 21st 1920 to cheer on his native county who were playing a challenge match against arch-rivals Dublin.
The football match turned into a scene of carnage when the Black and Tans entered the stadium and opened fire on the crowd killing 14 innocent people including one player, Michael Hogan from Tipperary, and injuring an estimated 60 – 100 other people.
The Drogheda Argus of November 27th 1920, carried a report of the shootings in Croke Park, and said that a priest who had witnessed the event gave them the graphic details, although they did not name him.
Patrick Duffner, an altar boy in the Augustinians at the time, would later write of Denis Crotty:
“A true Tipperary man, he was a great lover of Gaelic games and was among the 7,000 people who attended the match on Bloody Sunday between Dublin and Tipperary on the 21st November 1920.
“The Black and Tans arrived during the game and fired indiscriminately into the crowded field at Croke Park. Seeing one of the Tipperary players, an old neighbour Mick Hogan, lying on the ground, Fr. Crotty made his way through the panicking people to attend Mick despite the hail of bullets.
“When he eventually reached Hogan he found he had been shot in the head and was already dead. Next morning, after I had served his usual mass at 7am., Fr. Crotty himself gave me all the details of what had happened in Croke Park”.
Hogan was marking Dublin’s star forward Frank Burke of UCD on the day. He was shot in the back as he crawled along the pitch to escape the shooting.
In the aftermath Hogan’s teammate Ned O’Shea identified the body and said Tipperary priest Fr. Crotty knelt beside him to say an Act of Contrition. Hogan’s body was taken to the Mater Hospital and his mother at home in Tipperary was informed of his death by two local priests.
Fr. Crotty was a very popular priest in Drogheda and after he died in August 1932 aged just 54, the local papers reported a huge outpouring of grief locally and estimated nearly the whole population of the town attended his funeral, with schools and business premises closed as a mark of respect.
In the aftermath of his death, it was proposed to erect a memorial window in the church as a tribute (see above).
Seven hundred pounds was raised through public subscriptions and the Harry Clarke studios were engaged to make the window which is known as a “seven light window” and is based on the life of St. Augustine. It was unveiled in 1934.
