Exhibition tells story of how Cork battled through WWI

INCHIGEELA YOUTH DIDN’T WANT TO FARM ... AND ENDED UP CHARGING THE GERMAN LINES

The story of how a Mid Cork man came to be awarded the Victoria Cross – Britain’s highest military honour – during World War I forms part of an exhibition currently running at the City and County Archives in Blackpool, called ‘Cork and the First World War’.

The exhibition tells the stories of a number of Corkonians who served in the war, featuring their photographs, diaries, letters, medals, and keepsakes.

One of those featured is Michael John O’Leary, a farmer’s son from Inchigeela, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1915 for single-handedly charging and destroying two enemy barricades defended by machine gun positions on the Western Front.

At the time of his action, O’Leary was a nine-year veteran of the British Armed Forces and by the time he retired from the British Army in 1921, he had reached the rank of lieutenant.

Despite being a fervent Irish nationalist, and keen sportsman, O’Leary left home at the age of 16 because he didn’t want to work on the family farm. He initially joined the navy before rheumatism forced him in the direction of the army.

He served in the army again during World War II, although his later service was blighted by periods of ill-health. At his final retirement from the military in 1945, O’Leary was in command of a prisoner-of-war camp at the rank of Major. Between the wars, O’Leary spent many years employed as a police officer in Canada and is sometimes considered to be a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Following the end of the Second World War, he worked as a building contractor in London, where he died in 1961.

Others included in the current exhibition include Eleanor Bryanna Tivy, a nurse from Barnstead House in Blackrock who served in St Thomas’ Hospital in London; Gerald O’Sullivan, Douglas, who was awarded a Victoria

Cross for bravery during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, but was killed later that year; Monsignor Joseph Augustine Scannell, who left Cork to take up duty as an Army Chaplain in 1916; and Irish nationalist and politician Daniel Desmond Sheehan MP, who enlisted at the age of 41, encouraging all Irishmen to do the same. His sons Daniel and Martin followed suit and were killed in 1917 and 1918 respectively.

The traumatic effects of the war on soldiers that returned to Cork from the front is also examined: an entry in a case book from Cork District Lunatic Asylum shows a patient suffering from the “shock of battle” and the “blunting of all mental faculties” following a gunshot would at Dardanelles.

The exhibition also highlights fascinating artefacts from the archives, including a Princess Mary Box, issued in 1914 to all servicemen. Most boxes originally contained a Christmas card, cigarettes, and a picture of the princess. Delivery of many boxes was delayed due to the sinking of the Lusitania on 7 May 1915, which carried 45 tonnes of brass strip to be used in production.

The enormous economic impact of the First World War on Cork is also explored through various archival documents, including council minutes discussing the manufacture of war munitions in Ballincollig Gun Powder Mills, newspaper advertisements for naval and military tailors in the city, and reports and letters from businesses and workers struggling with higher production costs and stagnant wages.

While there were high enlistment numbers in Cork, there was also strong opposition to the First World War, and conscription in particular. The exhibition features a report by a Royal Irish Constabulary Sergeant detailing a violent anti-conscription demonstration on Patrick’s Street in 1917, when “many revolver shots were fired”. This is countered by the reminiscences of Irish Volunteer Thomas P Waters, of heckling British Army recruitment meetings in Bantry, which he fondly describes as “the most pleasant activity.”

The exhibition was curated by UCC Masters in History student Ferdia Foley, who completed a work placement at the Archives as part of his MA degree. According to Foley: “With a strategic harbour and high enlistment numbers, Cork played a central role in the Irish war experience. This exhibition explores the everyday lives of Corkonian locals, soldiers, politicians, and protestors, and provides an insight into this overlooked and fascinating part of our past.”

This free public exhibition will run at Cork City and County Archives until June. Groups are also welcome by prior arrangement. Please see www. corkarchives.ie.