A FITTING TRIBUTE
SENATOR MICHAEL McDOWELL ADDRESSES ANNUAL ST KEARNS COMMEMORATION
SENATOR MICHAEL MCDOWELL addressed a crowd of more than 80 people in St Kearns on Sunday, October 16, at the annual commemoration of the deaths of five people in an explosion in Saltmills in 1920 at which a marble Proclamation was unveiled.
At the beginning of the ceremony piper Ray Finn lead the colour party, one of whom carried the Irish tricolour.
Chairman of the St Kearns Explosion Commemoration Committee, Cllr Michael Whelan welcomed the crowd on a sunny autumn day.
The marble Proclamation was unveiled by Cllr Whelan and Senator McDowell who said it honoured the memories of the men and women who fought the British in 1916.
St Leonards P.P. Fr Michael Doyle said prayers and wreaths were laid by Jim Roche, who was a nephew of Michael Roche from St leonards who fought outside Jameson’s Distillery in Dublin in 1916, and by Mairead Timmins, a granddaughter of Captain John Timmins who was in charge of the battalion in St Kearns in 1920.
Senator McDowell, who is a former Attorney General, addressed the crowds outlining the events of the fateful date of October 12, 1920, were Sect Com Michael Fitzgerald, Sect Com Martin Roche, Vol James Byrne, Vol James Gleeson and Vol Robert Walsh all died in the explosion. On that day an old, disused farmhouse which was being secretly used as a bomb factory exploded when a charge was accidentally detonated. The five men died and many others were seriously injured.
Senator McDowell has a well known close family link to the Easter Rebellion of 1916 (his grandfather, Eoin McNeill, was chief of staff of the Irish Volunteers 100 years ago) and did not hesitate to accept the invitation by Cllr Whlean to attend the event.
The committee felt that it was appropriate to use this year’s commemoration ceremony to also pay tribute to those that participated in the Easter Rising.
With this in mind they applied for a National 1916 Community Commemoration Grant to secure the marble Proclamation whose words were read out by Cllr Whelan. Closing the ceremony Mr Finn played Amhrán na bhFiann, following which everyone retired to Colclough Hall for refreshments.
The local commemoration committee are very active at present with the centenary of this event now only four years away.
They are currently putting the finishing touches to a documentary which it is hoped will both educate the current generation and honour the generation of 1920.
Cllr Whelan said the documentary was initially only due to be 15 minutes long, but the filmmakers now plan to make a 40 to 50 minute documentary.
Cllr Whelan said that, all going well, this documentary is expected to be completed in early 2017. He hopes that it will not only try to throw light on the events of that fateful night, but will also attempt to explain why a group of farmers in such a remote and rural location would put their lives at risk for Ireland’s fight for independence.