Patriots commemorated in Square

MILLSTREET marked the 1916 Easter Rising and those involved in the War of Independence with a wreath laying 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. Donal Dennehy laid the wreath to acknowledge those who sacrificed their lives for independence and particularly five natives from the greater Millstreet region.

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 Commemoration initiated in the mid 1920s where survivors from the War of Independence convened to erect a fitting memorial to those colleagues. The monument was sculpted by Kryle Holland and the proposed inscription was initially checked by Maire Nic Shuibhne, sister of the former martyr and Lord Mayor of Cork Terence McSweeney.

Cullen poet Dómhnall Ó Conchubhair composed the poem 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 the upgrade acts as a key focal point in Millstreet Town.

Adding to the occasion on Easter Sunday was a recital by Millstreet Pipe Band.