Sign of the times
I was delighted to hear that Galbally NS pupils were learning about events 100 years ago. They were told of the ambush at Soloheadbeg when 2 soldiers died and the ensuing dark era in our history, i.e. the Civil War.
Did these soldiers deserve to die? They were both Irishmen, one a fluent Irish speaker. Was it right to shoot them? Dan Breen, when interviewed in later years, said the shooting was justified.
For anyone attending school in the 1960s and 1970s, 20th Century history was not on the curriculum. Yes, we learned about Michael Davitt, Wolfe Tone, the Flight of the Earls, etc. We only learned about 1916 from books and television. Now, children are hearing about the first Dáil, de Valera and Michael Collins.
When we, as children were growing up in the village and queried about the monument in our village square, we were just told it was about ‘The Troubles’. Now, children are au fait about historical events dating back over a hundred years.
With historians like local man, Tim Ryan, hopefully these facts will be passed on into the future.
HOMELESS CRISIS
At a commemoration in the Mansion House in Dublin some time back, many speakers remarked that we as a country had fallen short of the aspirations of Padraig Pearse and the other signatories who had given their lives for these ideals - 'To treat every man, woman and child equally in our nation'.
Now, we have a homeless crisis!