WAR ‘CATALOGUE OF DEATH’ IN CORK

ACADEMICS at UCC and the University of Wisconsin have conducted the most comprehensive study ever undertaken in regards to the death toll that Cork experienced during the bloody War of Independence.

Dr. Andy Bielenberg and Professor James S. Donnelly set out to create a fatality register for all British soldiers, RIC members, civilians and IRA members killed in Cork during period of 1917-1923.

There startling findings provide a fascinating insight into the severity of the wars, showing that two-thirds of all recorded deaths in Cork during the six year period were a direct result of the conflicts.

The War of Independence alone was responsible for a staggering 528 deaths in Cork between February 1919 to July 1921.

The numbers they have ascertained present a greater number of deaths than previously thought in the county as they have included people who died from a result of military accidents and those who died later as a result of their injuries.

The accounts of each incident also take in to account bias, for example, IRA claims of the British death toll.

As well as these figures, the researchers have provided detailed biographies of all 528 victims, detailing their background and the events leading up to their deaths.

In Cork in the two year period from 1919-1921, there were 166 civilian fatalities, 122 in the British forces, 140 IRA volunteers and 100 RIC members.

The majority of those deaths occurred in 1921, when the war escalated dramatically, with 338 people dying that year, with February and May being the deadliest months of the war, with 93 and 71 deaths respectively.

While Cork City was naturally the area which had the most deaths, North Cork had a higher death toll than all the other areas of Cork, with fierce fighting occurring around Mallow, Kanturk, Fermoy and Charleville.

Cork has always been viewed as a key area in the fight for independence and the death toll illustrates that, with over a quarter of all 2,000 estimated deaths nationwide occurring in Cork.

The conflict nationwide killed an estimated 550 Irish Volunteers, 714 British casualties comprising of military and RIC forces and an estimated 750 civilians killed in the war.

The events of the war spiralled into the ensuing Civil War, in which an estimated 5,000 people lost their lives in the fierce battles that divided the country and communities across Ireland.

A detailed view of the wars in Cork and across Ireland can be viewed at www.theirishrevolution.ie.

Here, The Corkman takes a closer look at some of the victims of this gruesome war.