Memorial a tribute to men’s sacrifice
TWO men who were executed during the Civil War are remembered at a beautiful plaque placed near their homelands in Cooley.
Thomas (Tommy) McKeown from Piedmont and Joseph (Josie) Ferguson from Maddoxland were executed, along with a number of others, in 1923 and a memorial stone has been erected close to the turn off for Gyles Quay.
The stone for the plaque was sourced from a local quarry and those involved in organising the memorial spent several months choosing a suitable site as close as possible to where both families would have lived at the time, at the same time ensuring that it was safe for traffic and pedestrians.
The memorial was planned and organised by members of the Dundalk Old IRA Committee, who had been contacted by members of the McKeown and Ferguson families with a view to having a permanent reminder of the men’s sacrifice.
Mr McKeown, along with John McNulty from Co Armagh and Thomas Murray from Na- van were executed at Dundalk Gaol on Saturday January 13 1923, while James Melia from Bridge Street, Tomas Lennon, Dowdallshill, and Mr Ferguson, Gyles Quay, were executed the following week 22 January 1923 at the Military Barracks.
Cllr. Conor Keelan said: ‘ The idea was to have a local stone placed at the site and a lot of thought went into getting this done. There had been nothing like this before and the men are buried in the Republican plot’.
At the unveiling of the memorial, the men’s relatives were present, including Mr McKeown’s nephews and Mr Ferguson’s relative, Andrea McKevitt who gave a short speech. Patrick Dunne read the Proclamation and Rose McEneaney said prayers for the men.
David McCloskey from Carlingford Pipe Band played the national anthem. The event was attended by Cllr. Keelan, Cllr. Peter Savage, Declan Breathnach TD, former TD Seamus Kirk and members of Fianna Fail’s North Louth Comhairle Ceantair.