Friday evening, 2 May, Cork South Docklands, Historical walking tour, Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm.
Saturday afternoon, 3 May, The Northern Ridge, St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm.
Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical walking tour of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.
Sunday evening, 25 May, The Lough and its Curiosities, historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm.
Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
1302a. Picture of the Copy of the painting of The Last Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois at Cork Public Museum, May 2025 (source: Cork Public Museum).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 1 May 2025
Exhibition on the Last General Absolution of the Munster Fusilliers
A new exhibition to commemorate the centenary of the unveiling of the Cork War Memorial on the South Mall, on 17 March 1925, has opened in Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald’s Park.The exhibition entitled The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue de Bois can be viewed until 22 May.
The main feature of the exhibition is the earliest known painted copy of the iconic Great War painting, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by Italian artist, Fortunino Matania. Daniel Breen, Curator of Cork Public Museum has noted that Cork Public Museum is “delighted to be able to display this wonderful and historic painting to the public for the first time ever”.
The painting illustrates the 2nd Battalion of Royal Munster Fusiliers receiving general absolution on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge from their chaplain, Father Gleeson adjacent a roadside shrine on the Rue du Bois in France on 8 May 1915. The scene is based on eyewitness accounts gathered by Jessie Rickard, the widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Rickard, who was killed in the battle.
The following day, the British Army lost 11,000 men, dead or wounded, during the Battle of Aubers Ridge, of which 300 came from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers. Of these 300, 95% were Irish, with at least 50 connected to Cork City and County.
Interpretative panels at the museum outline that the painting was published in the British magazine, The Sphere, on 27 November 1916. It was so popular that large numbers of prints were later sold by the magazine. It was also published in the Irish publication, The Weekly Freeman’s. After the war many households in Cork displayed a copy of the print to honour family members who took part in the conflict.
The original painting is believed to have been lost in the bombing of London during the Second World War. However, the version currently on display at Cork Public Museum was particularly commissioned from the artist in 1919 by Alfred Robinson to hail the safe return of his son Lieutenant Alfred Esmond Robinson MC and Bar, from the war. The painting remained with the Robinson family until it was sold at auction last year. Thankfully, it was purchased by Willie and Mary Slattery from Dublin who very generously loaned it to Cork Public Museum for public display.
Interpretation panels on the artist Fortunino Matania outlines that he was a painter, draughtsman and miniaturist who focussed on historical subjects. Born in Naples on 16 April 1881, he studied art with his father, Eduardo Matania, a prominent artist for the Italian weekly, L’Illustrazione. At the age of eleven, he exhibited his first work at the Naples Academy. Three years later, he followed in his father’s footsteps and was employed as an artist by L’Illustrazione.
At the age of twenty, Matania moved to Paris to work with lustration Francaise. Then, in 1904, he moved to London after Clement Shorter, editor of the British illustrated magazine The Sphere, employed him to create illustrations of news events from around the world. His pictures were frequently based on eye-witness accounts and became known for their authenticity and photorealistic quality.
Matania produced some of his most famous work while working at The Sphere, including detailed illustrations of many different events from the Great War. To ensure these pictures had a high degree of accuracy, Matania visited the Front at several times in order to view the circumstances faced by military personnel.
The Museum’s interpretative panels also outline that the painting was stirred by the 1915 book The Story of the Munsters, which was written by Jessie Rickard, a well-known novelist and wife of Colonel Victor Rickard, one of the officers depicted in the painting and who also lost his life during the Battle of Aubers Ridge. Though Dublin-born, Jessie Rickard spent much of her life in Cork.
Jessie was born in Dublin in 1876. She was the daughter of Canon Courtney Moore, Anglican Rector, noted antiquarian and founder of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, and his wife, Jessie Mona Duff. She spent most of her youth in Mitchelstown, County Cork. When she was eighteen years old, she penned a series of hunting sketches that appeared in The Cork Examiner. These were followed by a hunting story, The Price of a Friend, which appeared in The Irish Times. In October 1901, Jessie married Robert Dudley Innes Ackland. Though the couple had a daughter in 1902, they divorced in 1907, causing a rift between Jessie and her father. The following year, Jessie married Victor Rickard and in 1913, the couple had a son.
After Victor Rickard was killed at Aubers Ridge Jessie published four articles on the Royal Munster Fusiliers in the journal New Ireland. Her account of the Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois on 8 May 1915, shaped the basis of the painting, which served as a visual memorial to her husband and his men. The articles also appeared in the British magazine, The Sphere, and in her book, The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and Hulloch, which was published in 1918.
In 1916, Jessie married Lieutenant Colonel Tudor Fitzjohn, but the couple divorced in 1935. During her life she wrote over forty novels which were published under the name Mrs Victor Rickard.
Jessie was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1925, and in 1946 she came to Cork and resided in Montenotte – home of Denis Gwynn, an old friend and Professor of Modern Irish History at UCC. Jessie Rickard died on 28 January 1963 and is buried in Rathcooney Cemetery in Cork.
The Cork Public Museum exhibition also reflects upon the lives and experiences of some of the men portrayed in the painting, using original object and personal possessions to voice their stories, including that of Private Christy Barry, of Douglas Street, who was present for the last absolution and who also lost his life in the following day’s battle.
May Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required).
Friday evening, 2 May, Cork South Docklands, Historical walking tour, Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm.
Saturday afternoon, 3 May, The Northern Ridge, St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm.
Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical walking tour of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.
Sunday evening, 25 May, The Lough and its Curiosities, historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required).
Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
Caption:
1302a. Picture of the Copy of the painting of The Last Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois at Cork Public Museum, May 2025 (source: Cork Public Museum).
Making an Irish Free State City – The Lest We Forget Inscription
On 17 March 1925 at the new Great War Memorial on Cork’s South Mall General Stanish Harrison, who was a former commanding officer of the Royal Munsters, having formerly served with the King’s Liverpool Regiment, unveiled the memorial. He was extended a very hearty welcome by the Independent Ex-Service Men’s Club who commissioned the memorial.
The Cork Examiner, the following day, after the unveiling outlined the event and the speeches given. General Harrison said he considered it a very great honour to be asked to come to Cork to unveil such a memorial to the comrades whom they had lost. He deemed the event as one of mourning and remembrance to those who sacrificed their lives;
“Their comrades had shown them the road – God bless them and God bless all those whom they had left behind and bring them happiness in the present life until the time came for them to join their former comrades. The monument was erected to the memories of some one thousand men, though that was not anything like the number of men who made the supreme sacrifice from the county of Cork. It was a very worthy monument, and I have great pleasure in unveiling it”.
General Harrison availed of the occasion to ask the Government of the country to see their way to help the families of those who had fallen and also to help many of whom who had connections to the war and who were now poor and hungry. He commented; “They deserve every help that the Government could give them, and I feel sure that such help would be forthcoming. God save the King and God save Ireland”.
At this stage General Harrison drew the Union Jack from the monument and the memorial was unveiled to the sounding of the Reveille by a party of massed buglers, directed by bands master Mr Deane of the Greenmount Industrial School Band.
Deputy Michael Egan TD, a Cumann na nGaedheal or government representative, then addressed the gathering and said it was his proud privilege to be associated with the ceremony of the unveiling of that beautiful monument to the men who went out and fought and died so that their fellow countrymen and women could live in peace. He noted his support of the unveiling; “I am glad to be associated with the body of men who came together and showed they had not forgotten their fallen comrades by erecting that memorial to their memory. It had for its motto appropriate words, Lest We Forget, because it was their duty not to forget the brave deeds of the men who went out and died on behalf of the small nations of the world”.
Deputy Egan continued that when a question was raised in connection with the erection of the monument some friends and himself stepped up because they saw no reason why Irishmen who died abroad could not be remembered by the people whom they served, and a memorial put up to their memory in their native city. He called upon the Irish Free State government to pursue their duty to see that the men who went out and fought, as well as the dependents of those who fell in the fight should be well catered for, and not be allowed to go into poverty and distress; “As far as I am concerned it is my duty to assist in every way in seeing that they would be well looked after…I promise that whatever I can do on their behalf would be readily done”.
Cllr John Horgan said he was also delighted at the opportunity afforded him by the invitation of the ex-servicemen of being present and to speak at the unveiling of such a beautiful monument to the men, who in his opinion, did as much as any people in Ireland in order that the people of the country might be free. He continued; “They have contributed very largely to the measure of freedom that their country had obtained…I remember well when the rallying cry for the freedom of small nations rang out, how the men of Cork responded in order to achieve such an object, and particularly to prove the right of their own land to win its liberty. They fought on many fronts and willingly gave their lives for freedom that they believed every small nation was entitled to, and it was only fitting that their memories should be properly honoured. When application for the erection of that memorial was made to the Corporation I supported it, because I believed at the time that it was only fitting that a suitable memorial should be erected to such men in their native city”.
Cllr Horgan continued that the monument’s motto “Lest We Forget” typified friendship and comradeship of their fallen comrades, colleagues and proved that the memory of those who fell would always remain with them. He deemed that the “silent monument was a standing tribute of the affection of those who were left behind” and that they were all delighted at that opportunity of honouring the memory of their fallen comrades.
Fr Scannell then spoke. He commented that he was also delighted to be associated with the function and reflected upon the Lest We Forget inscribing; and the sacrifice and patriotism; “The monument bears the inscription ’Lest We Forget’. We cannot forget. I will never forget, and neither will any man who was out in France and on the other fronts with the Irish troops. We will never forget the bravery of the Irish soldiers who fought and died and the edification they gave to all who came in contact with them. We will never forget their edification in patriotism, and their sanctity in life and death. That religious edification, and patriotism should always be remembered for the Irish troops, and, therefore, it was fitting that such a monument should be erected”.
In addition Fr Scannell congratulated them on selecting that day, the feast of Ireland’s Patron Saint, St Patrick, for the unveiling of the monument, as it was, in his opinion, “a fitting day for such a ceremony”.
Next April Historical Walking Tours with Kieran, All tours free, 2 hours, no booking required
Saturday 26 April, The Cork City Workhouse Tour; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1pm.
Sunday 27 April, Fitzgerald’s Park: The People’s Park Tour, from stories on the Mardyke to the Cork International Exhibition, meet at the band stand, 1pm.
Caption:
1301a. Unveiling the Great War Memorial, South Mall, 17 March 1925 (source: Cork Public Museum).
1300a. Denis Sharkey’s original sketch for the First World Memorial, South Mall, c.1924 (source: Francis O’Connor & Cork Public Museum).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 17 April 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – Unveiling the Great War Memorial
In the winter of 1924 to the spring of 1925 fundraising for the Great War memorial on Cork’s South Mall continued at pace. A design was also chosen by the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen Club. Denis Sharkey, a Cork sculptor, was chosen. An Irish Examiner advertisement on 16 April 1898 denotes that Denis had just taken over his father’s business. The D Sharkey Marble and Monumental Works was originally based at High Street and then moved 102 Douglas Street. An advertisement for Denis on 17 April 1912 locates him at Blackpool Bridge and details that the business made crosses, headstones, chase and original designs.
A delay in the quarrying of stone at Ballinasloe in County Galway for the Great War memorial meant that the original plan for a November 1924 unveiling was missed. In a meeting of the Cork War Memorial Committee in early March 1925, committee member Mr P Byrne noted that it was great pity that they had to disappoint the public on Armistice Day. He outlined that the quarries in Ballinasloe were flooded due to heavy storms. However, since they received the stone, good progress had been made by the contractor on the execution of the work. Mr Byrne continues that he had been interviewed by several relatives of the fallen with reference to their names being inscribed on the stone. He noted that the charge for inscription was very reasonable and he hoped that many more would avail of the opportunity to have the names of their relatives inscribed on the monument.
Mr T O’Neill highlighted that there was no doubt that great credit was due to the committee in general. It was their first attempt in organising such a large project. He hoped that their Flag Day on 14 March 1925, which was entitled “Forget Me Not Day” would be generously supported.
On 17 March 1925, the unveiling of the Great War memorial took place at the South Mall, the ceremony being performed by General Standish Harrison, late commanding officer of Royal Munster Fusiliers’ Depot, who took the salute from the foot of the memorial. Many thousands of ex-servicemen, and widows and orphans of the men in whose honour the memorial was erected, were present at the ceremony.
The Cork Examiner describes that the day’s programme was an elaborate one and opened with parades of ex-Servicemen at eleven o’clock. The two organisations in Cork – the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen and the Cork branch of the British Legion – participated. They were led by General Harrison and members of the Executive Committee of both parties, marched to the Cathedral, where they attended High Mass.
The High Mass at the North Cathedral was celebrated by Bishop Cohalan. A large number of the city’s clergy were present. There was an immense congregation in the church composed chiefly of those taking part in the subsequent procession and unveiling ceremony. At the conclusion of the Mass the Roman Catholic party was joined by the Protestant party, who had formed up on St Mary’s Road, and the procession to the South Mall then commenced.
The Cork Examiner describes that the procession included several thousand ex-servicemen wearing their military decorations and led by their old officers, a large number of ladies bearing beautiful wreaths, relatives of the fallen men, many children wearing the medals of their dead fathers, and a big number of the general public. Six bands were in attendance – these being the Independent Ex-servicemen’s Band, the Legion Band, the Parnell Guards, the Barrack Street Band, the Greenmount Industrial School Band, and the Lee Pipers’ Band.
Fr Scannell – also wearing his military decorations – walked at the head of the members of the Cork branch of the British Legion. Immediately preceding these in the procession was General Harrison’s carriage, in which were the General and Gerald Byrne, chairman of the Cork Independent Ex-servicemen, J R Connolly, chairman of the Cork branch of the British Legion, and J Lee, secretary of the War Memorial Committee.
The procession route followed was via Shandon Street and Pope’s Quay to Bridge Street, and then by MacCurtain Street, Brian Born Bridge, Merchant’s Quay, St Patrick’s Street, and the Grand Parade, to the Memorial at the western end of the South Mall. Thousands lined the streets through which the procession passed.
When the memorial was reached at 2.15pm, the executives of both organisations formed up on three sides of a square surrounding the baseof themonument, while relatives of the fallen men and public representatives were accommodated inside the railings of the little park in which the memorial stands.
Under the direction of Bandmaster Mr Deane, Greenmount Industrial School Band, buglers drawn from both of the ex-servicemen’s organisations sounded the Last Post, and immediately afterwards the ceremonies associated with the unveiling commenced.
The Chairman, Gerald Byrne, said there were assembled to unveil a monument to their comrades who fell on the different fronts fighting for the freedom of small nations. He desired to thank, on behalf of the Cork Independent Ex-Service Men, General Harrison for coming to the city to unveil the memorial. He also thanked for their attendance, Mr Michael Egan, Mr John Horgan and Mr D F Doyle, who had been their friends throughout the period of the erection of the monument, and in addition to Fr Scannell who was at their service at all times.
Caption:
1300a. Denis Sharkey’s original sketch for the First World Memorial, South Mall, c.1924 (source: Francis O’Connor & Cork Public Museum).
Next April Historical Walking Tours with Kieran, All tours free, 2 hours, no booking required
Saturday 26 April, The Cork City Workhouse Tour; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1pm.
Sunday 27 April, Fitzgerald’s Park: The People’s Park Tour, from stories on the Mardyke to the Cork International Exhibition, meet at the band stand, 1pm.
1299a. Close-up of the fallen soldier on the First World War memorial on the South Mall, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 10 April 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – A Great War Memorial Council Deliberation
A week can be long time in politics. By the time the motion on allowing the First World memorial on the South Mall reached the full suite of Councillors of Cork Corporation – six weeks later following on from the Public Works Committee debate, public vote and public debate – the elected members were ready with their perspectives.
The Lord Mayor Cllr Seán French presided and he put the question to the full Council on the question of giving permission to erect a monument in Cork to the Irish soldiers who fell in the Great War. A similar debate to the Public Works Committee occurred with perspectives for and against the proposal.
Cllr Seán Nolan moved that permission for the erection of the monument be not granted. He did so not out of disrespect for the memory of the men it was intended to honour, but he believed that the time was not opportune for the erection of such a memorial. He argued that they had seen great heros belonging to the Corporation such as Lord Mayors’ MacCurtain and MacSwiney and Alderman Tadgh Barry, and many others who had fallen in Cork City and County, and “so far the nation had not seen fit to erect a memorial to those men”.
Cllr Nolan continued that he knew that the country would pay them a tribute when the time came. He also believed that the time and money associated with a Great War memorial would be better devoted in looking after the widows of those fallen soldiers and their dependents and the wounded.
Cllr Seán O’Leary seconded the rejection of the monument and said it was not to commemorate the men who fell that the proposed monument would be erected, but for the cause for which these men fell; “The monument would commemorate England’s war, with which they in Ireland had nothing to do with. Those men went out to fight, unconsciously, and so enabled to send troops here, which she could not otherwise have done”.
Cllr T O’Neil denoted himself for the motion and said the ex-service men of Cork and the other parts of Ireland went out to France in 1914 at the call of the Irish leaders at the time; “That call was given by the recognised leaders of the Irish nation at that time and they answered the call in Cork and all over Ireland. A great majority of the Cork men who went out fell in the fight and their comrades desired by erecting a suitable monument to honour their memory”.
Alderman E Coughlan said it was not the intention of any member opposing the erection of the monument to show any disrespect to the men who died. He regretted his opposition vote as he wished to keep the streets “pure and clean of symbols of Britain”. He noted; “I suggest that it be erected in one of the cemeteries, which was a more suitable place for a monument of the kind. It would not be suitable in the streets of Cork after what occurred in those streets in those streets during the last three or four years…I want to keep the streets of Cork free from any taint of Imperialism”.
Cllr G Byrne supported the proposal. He spoke regarding the fact that no monument had been erected to the martyred Lord Mayor’s memory. He desired to say that if any such project were started in the city that the ex-servicemen in Cork would be the first to come forward and support it; “The ex-servicemen and their friends believed that the time had arrived when they should erect a memorial in honour of their fallen comrades…their fallen dead deserved such an honour”.
Cllr J Allen supported the proposal noting that his own brother was killed in the streets of Cork by Irishmen and his mother put a monument over his grave to honour his memory, as did every other member of his family, and also his friends. He noted; “Why should the ex-servicemen of Cork be prevented from paying similar respect to their fallen comrades. They fought and died side by side and it would be unjust if men who had come back were not allowed to erect a memorial to their fallen comrades”. He further felt that any opposition to such a monument would only widen the gap between fellow-Irishmen and such a thing should be avoided.
Cllr John Horgan said that he asked those who offered opposition to the erection of the monument to waive that opposition. He noted that the monument was one merely for the purpose of reminding the relatives and others what the sacrifices of those fallen soldiers should not be forgotten.
Councillor Sir John Scott denoted that he yielded to no man in his respect for Lord Mayor MacCurtain nor were the citizens of Cork forgetful of his sacrifice and services. They had raised a valuable testimonial to his memory and over £12,000 or subscribed to his family. He continued to say that people of all the nominations joined in paying attribute to MacCurtain and a similar tribute was started in connection with Lord Mayor MacSwiney; “The man who fought for the freedom, not only of their own country, but of the world at large, were entitled to respect, and he would vote for giving a site for this monument as a matter of duty, another tribute to the bravery of fellow citizens”.
Cllr J Good argued that he had respect for the men to whom the monument was to be erected and he certainly said when “England did what was right by Ireland” he would be quite prepared to shake hands with England and be “friendly and neighbourly with her in every way”. He continued to note; “But until that time comes, I will hold my own principles that I have always stuck by, am proud of”.
Cllr Sir Edward Fitzgerald noted that the men who went out to fight in the Great War did so out of the corner of their conscience, and they gave the greatest proof of their consistency when they died for their conviction. He noted; “Their memories deserve to be honoured and I would be a traitor to all belonging to me if I did not honour them to the best of my ability”.
After several more speakers of for and against the memorial a vote was taken of the full Council – the majority of which was in favour. Sixteen members were for with twelve members against the proposal for the monument.
To be continued…
Caption:
1299a. Close-up of the fallen soldier on the First World War memorial on the South Mall, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
1298a. Muriel MacSwiney, Mary MacSwiney & Eitne /Annie MacSwiney, late 1920 (source: Cork City Library).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 3 April 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – Ms MacSwiney’s Letter to the Editor
The decision in mid-October 1924 by Cork Corporation’s Public Works committee to give permission to advance a Great War Memorial on the South Mall brought debate outside into the public realm. Much historical material survives on the opinions of those individuals for the memorial and on those individuals completely against the memorial, with all opinions made against the varied meanings of such a memorial in an evolving political landscape in Cork.
In particular on the against side and highlighting the evolving political context of the time is Eitne or Annie MacSwiney, sister of Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney. She sent a letter to the Cork Examiner outlining her views. The letter was published on 21 October 1924 and signed “Eitne McSuibne, Ig Corcaighe, 20 October 1924”.
Opening her perspectives, Eitne alludes to the discussions where her brother’s name was brought into the debate on the war memorial. She notes that she had no desire to enter into discussion with people who wish to “erect memorials to England’s victories”, but neither had she any desire to see her brother’s name “dragged into the discussion”.
The first aspect, to which her attention was drawn to, was an argument by a member of Cork Corporation, who mentioned he had a right to speak and vote for such a memorial as he had walked in Terence MacSwiney’s funeral.
Eitne writes that the less said about those who walked in her brother’s Terence’s funeral the better. She points to the people of Cork and their memory of a “most impressive display” at the funeral – especially from the dignitaries of the Church – from archbishops to priests, who walked in all the mourning robes of the Church. In addition she writes that on the first anniversary of his death when the public bodies and citizens filled the Cathedral at a Solemn Requiem Mass, where the Bishop of Cork presided. However, Eitne contrasts all of that with his second anniversary after the passing of the Treaty when some priests refused to pray for Terence in Cork churches. She writes; “What had changed in the two years? Surely not the dead Terence MacSwiney, nor the ideals for which he lived and died. So I repeat, the less said about those who walked in his funeral, the better”.
The second aspect Eitne draws attention to is the question of what there was no statue to Terence erected in the city. She notes that a memorial was projected, but that the project was stopped by his family after the Treaty was signed and voted on. She noted: “They felt, as felt all those who stood true to the principles for which the dead died that, until Emmet’s epitaph can be written, no monument should be raised to any of his successors; and assuredly not in a land whoso false sons took the oppressor’s guns to fight, at his dictation, against the freedom of their own land, and against those who were defending it. The best memorial to any of them, from Wolfe Tone to Denny Barry, is earnestness in the completion of the work they left us to do”.
The third aspect Eitne addresses in her letter is on the proposal of a British war memorial for Cork. She stresses the fact that Cork people all know many people who served England in the European war. However she argues in her opinion that those who went out to fight were “misled by false propaganda and by the cry of Freedom for small nations including many too who were driven into the ranks by the unemployment created for the express purpose of forcing them to enlist in England’s service”. She further notes: “No one casts any aspersion on them for the mistake they made, but it was a mistake which cost them and Ireland dear, and certainly their mistake cannot be a reason for erecting a British War Memorial in Cork…They left their own country, unprotected, at the mercy of England’s soldiers, whom their going set free to carry on oppression and suppression of every kind here. If that half-million had remained at home, England’s soldiers would have had to leave his country to take their places in the trenches”.
Eitne in her letter reiterates her opinion that some soldiers undoubtedly believed they were going to the frontline for Ireland’s future and its place as a small nation. However, she argues that “their going left the wives and children of Ireland at the mercy of the English garrisons that Irishmen saved from the trenches”. She noted: “Armistice Day was the 11th November, 1918. Let us ask what English soldiers were doing there from 1916-1918 while he was ‘fighting for Ireland’ in France. The victory for small nations was won in 1918. Let him ask himself what the English soldiers were doing from 1918 to 1921. What particular brand of Freedom burns your cities to the ground, drags your citizens out of bed and murders them in the dead of night, shoots prisoners, and executes men who dare to stand for freedom”.
Eitne continues to argue in her letter that any memorial raised to British soldiers is a memorial to England and in her view the citizens of Cork want no monument to England here. She highlights that she did not have thought it possible that even the Free State members of the Corporation could produce six men in favour of such a proposal. She is angered that the proposal is to place the memorial next to the National Monument on the Grand Parade.
Eitne concludes her letter by commenting on the funding of the memorial denoting that friends of the men who fell in France have collected some thousands of pounds for this memorial. She calls for the collected funds to be put to a better use by giving it to the families of the Corkmen whom they wish to commemorate, to be spent on the education of their children.
Eitne notes in her letter; “The fallen men must have sons and daughters who would be glad to study for some profession, or be trained in some business. It ought to be possible to start many of them in good careers in life out of the money raised for a British war memorial, and such careers would be a nobler memorial to their dead than a monument which, if it were ever allowed to go up, would only commemorate the fact that their fathers fell fighting England’s battles in France when England was carrying on here all the atrocities of which she accused the Huns”.
To be continued…
Caption:
1298a. Muriel MacSwiney, Mary MacSwiney & Eitne /Annie MacSwiney, late 1920 (source: Cork City Library).
April 2025 Historical Walking Tours with Kieran, All tours free, 2 hours, no booking required
Saturday 5 April, The Friar’s Walk Tour; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 1pm in association with the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival.
Sunday 6 April, Shandon Tour; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp. Cork Volunteer Centre, 1pm, in association with the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival.
Saturday 26 April, The Cork City Workhouse Tour; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1pm.
Sunday 27 April, Fitzgerald’s Park: The People’s Park Tour, from stories on the Mardyke to the Cork International Exhibition, meet at the band stand, 1pm.
1297a. Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Seán French (source: Cork City Library).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 27 March 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – Questions on the Cork Great War Memorial Proposal
Over two months after the initial discussion whether to support a Great War memorial, the Public Works Committee of Cork Corporation met again in mid-October 1924 to discuss the findings of the City Engineer official Mr Hare. Cllr J Kelleher, Vice-Chairman of the committee, presided.
An application was read into the minutes from the Great War Memorial Committee of the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen Club, asking for permission to erect a monument on Parnell Place (facing Parnell Bridge) or in the Park at the Grand Parade end of the South Mall.
The Cork Examiner relates that Mr Hare of the Corporation’s City Engineer’s department reported to the councillors present. With reference to the two alternative sites suggested for the erection of proposed monument to Cork soldiers killed in the Great War, Mr Hare visited both sites in company of the Secretary of the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen Club, Marlboro Street.
The first proposed position was on Parnell Place. Here Mr Hare found the existence of a large eighteenth century archway or culvert throughout the length of the roadway at Parnell Place. He deemed that the erection of the monument would not be desirable, as its weight would in all probability seriously damage if not cause the collapse of the archway. With regard to the position suggested in the Park on the South Mall, Mr Hare was more in favour of it as it was back off the main road and back from the river front and in a prominent position.
Councillor Byrne spoke up in support of the application of the Memorial Committee and wished for the matter to be dealt with, as the 11 November 1924 had been fixed for the unveiling of the memorial. Councillor Horgan then proposed and Councillor S Mahony seconded that the Council be recommended to grant permission for the erection of such a monument.
As like the situation at the previous Public Works meeting, objections were heard, but voices against the proposal had grown since the last time. As an amendment and further to the previous debate, the Lord Mayor Cllr Sean French moved the rejection of the proposal. He noted that he did so for one reason only. He sincerely regretted that an issue of the kind should be put up to them at the present moment. He was sure he would be forgiven by all the members if he went a little bit back into the past in connection with such a matter. He noted the need to honour the fallen of the War of Independence first; “Ireland’s struggle in the past was a struggle for recognition of the complete independence of their country. During their struggle for such independence men died in the service of Ireland who still remained unhonoured; some owing to personal wishes expressed in their lives, and others by wishes expressed by those who were still in the fight, that when Ireland was free Ireland would be worthy to honour her dead. There were friends of his own very dear friends, school pals, men whom he had known all his life, who went out and died in England’s war. He knew that most of them went out with the one idea and wish, and with one thing to serve, and that was their own country”.
The Lord Mayor continued to detail that there was a “parrot cry” that Irishmen should go out and fight for England, and that “they would be fighting and dying for their own country, and they went out with that idea”. However, the Lord Mayor asserted that while they were dying on the battlefields of Flanders the same British came to Ireland and to Cork and burned down a portion of their city, robbed and plundered their homes, shot down their citizens, men and women, and murdered two of their Lord Mayors. He noted: “There was only one way of looking at the proposed monument, and that was that by having it erected in their city they would be putting up a monument to British ascendancy…If there was a monument to be put up in Cork it should first be put up to their two Lord Mayors who were murdered by British troops”.
Cllr S O’Leary seconded the amendment and said the motives for which the ex-servicemen went out to fight were pure, but they could not separate from their action the cause for which they died; He noted; “Any memorial that would be erected would commemorate such a cause, that of British ascendancy. Such a memorial would simply commemorate England’s cause, and as long as England held Ireland in thraldom they could not commemorate a cause that was not Ireland’s cause”.
Cllr J Hennessy supported the Lord Mayor’s amendment and said such a memorial would only consummate England’s part in the great war. He noted: “Ireland had no part in that war, though some of their countrymen were gulled into going out and taking part in it in the belief that they were fighting for their own country. If they consented to such a memorial it would create the impression that they approved of England’s action in going into the war. He was totally opposed to the erection of such a memorial”.
Cllr C Neenan supported the amendment and said he could never be a party to the erection of such a monument. He noted; “It would be just a monument to British rule, and in their country that had been tyranny, and England of the past was the same England at the present day”.
In support of the construction of the memorial Cllr Egan said he did not suppose England had any knowledge that such a monument was going up in Cork. It was a project by the men who went out to the war and came home and now wanted to pay a mark of respect to the memory of the comrades they left behind, and who died for Ireland. He noted: “Such a step showed the energy and spirit of those young men and their desire that their comrades who fell by their side should not be forgotten”.
Cllr J Allen did not see why there would be any objection to the memorial the man to whose honor the memorial was to reflect upon went to fight in a just cause.
Cllr D Horgan declared that he was surprised at the distorted views that had been put forward about men who gave service in defence of their own country and in defense of countries like Belgium; he noted: “I was surprised what’s the narrow political objection being connected to the monument… the position is acutely political stop the men to whom it was sought to pay a tribute of respect to went out to fight for the freedom of small nations and with their help they succeeded”.
A vote was taken with six councillors for the motion and five against the motion. The motion to recommend the council to grant permission for the erection of the monument at the park at the South Mall was then declared carried.
Caption:
1297a. Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Seán French (source: Cork City Library).
April 2025 Historical Walking Tours with Kieran, All tours free, 2 hours, no booking required
Saturday 5 April, The Friar’s Walk Tour; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 1pm in association with the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival.
Sunday 6 April, Shandon Tour; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp. Cork Volunteer Centre, 1pm, in association with the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival.
Saturday 26 April, The Cork City Workhouse Tour; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1pm.
Sunday 27 April, Fitzgerald’s Park: The People’s Park Tour, from stories on the Mardyke to the Cork International Exhibition, meet at the band stand, 1pm.
1296a. Commemorations at First World War Memorial, South Mall, 11 November 2018 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 20 March 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – A Great War Memorial Proposal for Cork
The construction of First World memorials in Europe inspired small voluntary organisations in cities such as Cork to think about commemorating deceased veterans. A proposed Great War memorial for Cork City was championed by The Cork Legion of Ex-Servicemen and the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen Club.
At a meeting of the committee of the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen Club held at their premises on Marlboro Street in late July 1924, the Cork Examiner records that Mr J Kelleher presided and that the following members were present – Messrs G Byrne, T O’Neill, D Fenton, W H Wynam, M O’Brien, M Burke, and P Byrne. On the proposal of Mr D Fenton, seconded by Mr M O’Brien. Messrs T O’Neill and V Byrne were appointed joint honorary secretaries.
Several designs for a memorial were submitted for approval and on the proposal of Mr O’Neill, seconded by Mr D Fenton, the one submitted by a local ex-service man was agreed to.
The Chairman, Mr Kelleher, congratulated those present on adopting one of the designs placed before them. He noted that every city, town, and village in England could proudly boast of a monument or other token of remembrance to the men who gave their lives in the cause of justice and the rights of small nationalities. He continued; “Now, it is our duty as comrades of those lads who gave their lives so freely in a just cause, and it is the duty of every person who mourns the loss of their departed ones to give every assistance to fulfil our obligations to our dead comrades by erecting a suitable monument to their memory”. The Executive members of the Club unanimously decided to place the sum of £50 to the credit of the memorial committee.
Mr Wyman noted that it would be advisable to have church door collections and to also invite female advocates who would be interested to give their support to such collections. Mr O’Brien proposed that arrangements be made to carry out those collections immediately as they were aiming to unveil the monument on Armistice Day in November 1924. Mr M Burke, in seconding Mr O’Brien’s motion, said he was very pleased with the work done by the Committee in placing the contract for the monument in the hands of an able city sculptor, and in so doing he noted they were advocating for “local skill and manufacture”.
It was further decided to submit the plan of the monument to the Public Works Committee of Cork Corporation for the purpose of getting a suitable site in one of the city’s most prominent city public thoroughfares. A small delegation was appointed.
A week later, the proposal was discussed at Cork Corporation’s Public Works Committee. The Cork Examiner noted on the 7 August 1924 that Mr M J O’Riordan, who led the Club deputation, said that he had no need to say many words to commend such a project and highlighted Ireland’s part in the Great War. He detailed: “At the beginning of the Great War, Ireland was called upon to play her part, and she took a noble and honourable part. Her old ally, France, was in danger – France, where Irishmen always found a refuge. They took their part in the fight for small nationalities. Some of the young men who fell in the war were his comrades and playmates. If this monument were erected in Cork, it would show all the world that Ireland had done her part when called upon, and not shirked it”. Before concluding he suggested as a site for the memorial at the corner of Winthrop Street as the most central position in the city.
Cllr D Horgan, the Chairman of the Corporations Public Works Committee, said he did not think there was any need to hear the other members of the deputation or to labour the matter further. He felt the members were in entire agreement with the deputation. It was proposed and seconded that the plans and other details be submitted to the engineering officials for a report.
The Lord Mayor, Cllr Seán French, who entered the debate at this stage, said the position was a very delicate one. He was one of those who thought that the men who died in the Great European War would, if they get the chance, have fought in Ireland for Ireland in 1921. He noted: “I am not going to take away from any tribute to the dead, but I want to see the way clearly. The European war was not theirs. A lot of their men gave their lives in what they thought was the defence of small nations, and the first test of the sincerity of the ideal was in Ireland. This was not certainly carried out with sufficient justice to the men who fought for that ideal. Their memory of England’s justice was the burning of half their city and the Municipal Buildings”.
The Lord Mayor argued that he would be very slow to make a monument to the memory of the English nation. He was prepared to admit that the majority of the men who fought in Flanders would have died in Ireland fighting against England. In conclusion, the Lord Mayor said he was not going to have his name associated with anything to perpetuate the memory of “England’s tyranny in Cork”.
Club committee delegation head M J O’Riordan asserted he was not there to uphold England’s banner. He was there in the cause of the men who gave their lives in the fight for humanity “against tyranny and infidelity”. He was one of the men outside their party honoured by the Republican Corporation to form a guard of honour over the body of Terence MacSwiney. He noted; “When bringing the body across to Cork the men who were most prominent and fearless in wearing the badge of the Republic in England were the Munster Fusiliers…I am a Republican, and I am not at the meeting to uphold the banner of England, but on behalf of the men who fought and died for freedom”. The majority of the Public Works Committee assented to the development of the memorial project.
In the days and weeks that followed a site for the memorial was chosen at the intersection of the South Mall and the Grand Parade.
To be continued…
Caption:
1296a. Commemorations at First World War Memorial, South Mall, 11 November 2018 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1294a. Battlefields of the First World War, near Ieper, Belgium c.1918 (source: In Flanders Fields Museum, Ieper, Belgium).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 6 March 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – The Making of the Cork Legion of Ex-Service Men
March 2025 coincides with the centenary commemoration of the unveiling of the First World War Memorial on Cork’s South Mall. The campaign for its construction was organised by the Cork Legion of Ex-Servicemen, which was founded in the middle of 1921, following the formation of the British Legion. The Cork branch was one of several regional branches in Ireland and in the UK.
The British Legion started as a merger of four different organisations, all with a similar purpose. These four organisations were: The National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers, The British National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers, The Comrades of The Great War, and The Officers’ Association.
The Cork Examiner records that one of the first key events for the Cork Legion was on Sunday 13 November 1921. The members (both Roman Catholic and Protestant in nature) formed up at 9am outside their headquarter rooms at No 6 South Mall and marched to their respective places of worship. The order of the procession was The Band No 1 Company under Mr. T O’Leary, No 2 Company under Mr J Sheehan, No 3 Company under Lieutenant S Ahern and No 4 Company under Captain C Tully. A Captain Murtagh was in charge of the parade. After the band marched the officers and committee.
Fast forward to August 1923 and one can get a sense of the scale of the Cork Legion and how many people it represented. The Cork Examiner records that at special general meeting of 23 August 1923 at 6 South Mall, the Cork Legion met to consider what stance to take on during the upcoming General Election on the candidature of Mr J J Walsh, a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate. Mr Walsh was in attendance and was accompanied by his election agent Mr W F O’Connor, solicitor and former Lord Mayor of Cork.
The Cork Legion noted it represented over 12,000 ex-servicemen in Cork. In return for electoral support, the Cork Legion asked J J Walsh for four acts of supports, which he agreed with and signed a document. Such asks also encompassed the Cork Legion’s work and other legions as well across Ireland. Firstly that if elected that J J Walsh would use his influence and position in the Irish Parliament to obtain from the British Government “just and equitable fulfilment of the claims of Irish ex-service men”.
Secondly J J Walsh was requested to avail of every opportunity to ensure that past services in the British Army or Navy or in any other branch of the British crown services would not militate against such men in regard to employment and other matters affecting them as citizens.
Thirdly the ask was that J J Walsh would oppose any attempt at interference by the Irish Government with pensions, allowances and housing of ex-service men and their dependents and the dependents of the fallen in the First World War, “whether reserved to the British Government or in the hands of a trust, unless and until the Legion of Irish Ex-Service men desire a change”. Fourthly and lastly J J Walsh was asked to further the interests of ex-service men and the dependents of “all fallen soldiers on all occasions”, and endeavour to have ex-service men accepted for services in the public, departments of the Irish Free State, “equitably with other citizens of the country”.
By 9 October 1923, further advancement of the Cork Legion had been made, which tallied with the overall work at national Legion level and across other branches in Ireland. The Cork Examiner on 9 October 1923 published a letter by the secretary of the Cork Legion, T Long, who outlined its extent campaigns.
The housing and land question for the soldiers and sailors had been advanced. It was anticipated that houses and plots would shortly be provided within the City area for ex-servicemen and their families. Early applications were requested to be sent to 6 South Mall. Owners of land in the Borough of Cork who wished to offer land for development were asked to come forward.
The provision of a grant from the national Unemployment Grants Committee to provide money for work with a public utility with a view to the employment of ex-servicemen was also receiving careful attention of the national Legion of Irish ex-servicemen. The national Legion were carefully watching on behalf of pensioners and the dependence of fallen soldiers the progress of events in regard to the a change of the pension administration in the emerging Irish Free State. The organisation had already put forward concrete proposals to improve and consolidate the position of the service for disability pensioners in the country.
It was hoped to open a list of ex-servicemen who were in need of employment showing their qualifications. Employers would then be asked to cooperate in placing these members in suitable positions “to enable them to earn a livelihood in their own country”.
In addition arrangements had also been completed by the Cork Legion to receive applications from the next of kin who fell in the First World War and who were buried in the various cemeteries of France in Belgium. This was pursued with a view to providing, in cooperation with the British and French Legion, for the free travelling and hotel expenses of the parents for other next of kin. It was recognised that there were relatives who were not able to visit the graves and who for reasons of financial distress were unable to pay their own expenses.
The Cork Legion continued their focus on the act of pilgrimage to Belgium. Indeed, by April 1924, the Cork Legion, through large scale funding, erected a 20 feet high memorial Cross at Ypres/Ieper. It was carved by Mr A O’Connell, MacCurtain Street, Cork. It was such a cross, which sparked even more the interest in erecting a memorial in Cork.
To be continued…
Caption:
1294a. Battlefields of the First World War, near Ieper, Belgium c.1918 (source: In Flanders Fields Museum, Ieper, Belgium).
1293a. Joseph F Delaney, City Engineer, c.1911 in W.T. Pike’s “Contemporary Biographies”, published in Cork and County Corkin the Twentieth Century (1911) by Richard J Hodges.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 27 February 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – The Retirement of City Engineer Joseph Delaney
Spring 1925 coincided with the formal retirement of Cork Corporation City Engineer Joseph F Delaney who had amassed just over 21 years’ experience working for the Corporation. The aftermath of dealing with the Burning of Cork in 1920 and the long and complicated quest to commence reconstruction within the five acres of burnt out premises brought added stress and health complications for Joseph.
Arriving to Cork Corporation in 1903, Joseph had also overseen improving the water supply system and reducing the abnormally high rate of water wastage in the city. Joseph was also interested in Irish industrial and language movements, in the country’s national well-being, its educational advancement and in economic reform.
The Cork Examiner on 19 January 1925 describe that Joseph was entertained at a farewell presentation function and a concert at the Victoria Hotel by a very representative number of Cork citizens. Mr Barry Egan, former Councillor, who presided, in opening the proceedings said they were meeting that evening to show their appreciation of the work that Mr Delaney had pursued for the city. As a memento of his connection with the city, Barry presented Joseph with a silver cup and a set of special engineering and surveying instruments.
Barry Egan nodded to the unprecedented difficulties that Joseph had to face during the trying times of 1920 and 1921 ending up in the big conflagration in the St Patrick’s Street district. Barry described and shared the belief that that during that time Joseph did the work of ten people; “Mr Delaney kept his head and energies to carry them through the difficulties that presented themselves under circumstances that would break any man’s health and nerves. On the morning of the big fire I met Mr Delaney in St Patrick’s Street, and going around with him I was amazed at his energy knowing as he did that for weeks, before he did not have a night’s rest, and that his position was a nerve-wrecking one”.
Correspondence was read to the assembly from John Callaghan Foley, Managing Director of John Daly and Co Ltd who was away on business. John outlined that he had the pleasure of Joseph’s acquaintance ever since he came to Cork, some 21 years ago; “It was with great regret we learned that the strain of 21 years’ arduous work, spent in the service of the citizens, and especially the trying period following the destruction of our city, proved too much for his constitution, and caused him to relinquish his post…At this juncture in our country’s history it is men of his status in the engineering world who will be of good account in the conception and development of the numerous schemes of reconstruction, which must be brought to fruition in the near future”.
Mr T F O’Leary, Cork Chamber of Commerce, noted that he had only a short acquaintance with Mr Delaney, but he was greatly impressed by him; “Joseph was an active member of our Chamber of Commerce and his suggestions were invaluable. I felt that wherever Mr Delaney went that particular place would be all the richer, and Cork would be all the poorer for losing him”.
Other speakers followed in equally praise worthy terms. In reply to the praise, Joseph detailed the significance of the occasion to him; “This of all occasions of a lifetime is one of special significance to me. The traveller in life’s highways sooner or later reaches the great divide. For one cause or another he has got to change his course. For health and other reasons, this change has come to me”.
Joseph relates that when he arrived to Cork from Dublin he was full of ambitions for its improvement and welfare in his initial speech possessed the spark of of high civic enthusiasm, and was inspired with a strong sense of duty; “I was full of youthful resolutions – I was 31 then – and professional verve for achievement in my sphere of work…In thanking the Council of the time for doing me the honour of appointing me to the position, which I have just vacated, I spoke as follows; “I hope I shall prove worthy of the trust of the Council has reposed in me. I thoroughly appreciate the importance of my position, and when I enter on my duties it will be our mutual interest – the Council and myself – to serve the citizens, and to help to advance the premier municipality of the south”.
Joseph further related in his speech that since his first speech he strove faithfully to practice the messages given in that first public and official appearance in the city. He was flattered to be entertained that evening by an entourage of friends who were present denoting that they all possessed interests in supporting Cork’s citizenry; “I know you all to be rich in good qualities of citizenship and public spirit and animated by high national ambition and sterling zeal for the moral and material progress of the city and country…I have been in association with you in various paths of endeavour – social, philanthropic, civic, and cultural, and knowing your qualities, I can say that in your hands the city’s welfare and progress is assured. I know of your work, I know of your ambitions, I know of your ideals, and I feel that it is only with the aid of such a coterie of citizens as you, who are inspired with a strong sense of public responsibility, fired by civic pride for local development and improvement that this city, with its fine traditions, its literature, history, and its exceptional opportunities for the future will it be properly piloted to its true destiny”.
Caption:
1293a. Joseph F Delaney, City Engineer, c.1911 in W.T. Pike’s “Contemporary Biographies”, published in Cork and County Corkin the Twentieth Century (1911) by Richard J Hodges.
