FREEDOM FIGHTERS HONOURED
MILLSTREET marked the 1916 Easter Rising and those involved in the War of Independence at an impressive ceremony in the Town Square on Easter Sunday.
A special monument committee involving a cross section of the community have worked tirelessly towards enhancing the symbol of the War of Independence. The monument was officially launched in 1927 by Minister for Home Affairs Austin Stack and refurbishment in recent years.
Boosted by ideal weather conditions, Millstreet Pipe Band led a parade to the Town Square where, at the monument, Siobháin Ní hEalaithe laid a wreath to acknowledge those who sacrificed their lives for independence and particularly five natives from the greater Millstreet region.
Adding to the occasion were the Cobh Animation Group depicting Cumann na mBan.
Amongst those commemorated at the monument is Captain Con Murphy who in 1921 became the first volunteer of Oglaigh na hEireann to die before a firing squad since the 1916 executions.
Also commemorated are Paddy McCarthy, killed by the Black and Tans; Mikie Dineen, fatally wounded by the crown forces in Ivale; Bernard Moynihan, killed by the Black and Tans near Rathcoole, and Michael Twohig, murdered on the railway track near Shananuck.
The deeds of the five martyrs and those who fought in the 1916 Rising were acknowledged by speakers at the Millstreet commemoration, presided over by Tom Meaney.
The tricolour was raised by Con Foley under the bugle playing of John Dineen, followed by a reading of the proclamation by Cáit Buckley, with a decade of the rosary recited by Aoife Foley.
An oration delivered by historian Ryle Dwyer recalled the deeds of national and local figures who are fittingly acknowledged at the 90th annual staging since the Millstreet monument was erected.
Also remembered at the commemoration were the late Donnacha Murphy and Paddy Dineen, who continuously supported the annual gathering. Thanks were expressed by Chairman Jerry Lehane to all those who assisted towards the commemoration.
The Millstreet commemoration was initiated in the mid 1920s where survivors from the War of Independence convened to erect a fitting memorial to their colleagues. The monument was sculptured by Kryle Holland and the proposed inscription was initially checked by Maire Nic Shuibhne, sister of the former Lord Mayor of Cork Terence McSweeney.
Cullen poet Domhnall O Conchubhair composed the poetry and the monument was unveiled in 1927. Though renovated in 1983, the monument deteriorated in subsequent years before the present Millstreet National Monuments Committee took on the refurbishment task and maintained it as a key focal point in Millstreet Town.