My historical trip through Ireland
I went "back home" over Spring Break with my family- it was the best trip of my life. My grandmother is from Millstreet, Co. Cork; it was amazing to visit with relatives I'd never met before. My parents hadn't been back in 20 years (since their honeymoon), but because my mom had spent summers there as a college kid, she knew our relatives well, and kept up with them over the long years. We went down to Cork, through Kerry, and up the west coast. It was my first time in Ireland, and I made a point of visiting historical memorials related to Ireland's cause of freedom. 1.) Clonbanin Ambush, Co. Cork 1921. - my cousin in Millstreet was great- he took me around to different I.R.A. spots. The first was right outside of Cullen, I believe- it was the site of the Clonbanin ambush where members of Seán Moylan's Newmarket I.R.A. column ambushed British forces, killing thirteen, while suffering no casualities themselves. I learned from my cousin that my great uncle was a member of the Nork Cork Flying Column, who was good friends with Moylan and the likes. My "uncle" (cousin) who I talked to actually trained with a local I.R.A. unit in the 1940s. To this day, he refuses to vote in Free State elections. Ironically enough, I found out that I have a relative who was in Portlaoise Jail for Provisional I.R.A. activities, and released following the Good Friday Agreement. 2.) Kilmichael Ambush- right outside of Macroom, West Cork - road site of Cmdt-General Tom Barry's famed 3rd West Cork Brigade's ambush on the Black and Tans. This battle was fascinating considering how little training Barry's column had before the battle. The website link I will provide talks about how the Auxilliaries were thought to be invincible before Kilmichael. Unfortunately, it was getting dark when we arrived at the site, but it was great to see nonetheless.http://saoirse32.blogsome.com/2005/11/18/remembering-the-past-kilmichael-ambush
3.) Macroom Castle
-in Macroom Castle, which is steeped in history, I saw a stone memorial and ran over to it to find out that it was a United Irishmen 1798 memorial. I don't know if these were local rebels who died, or if they were interned in Macroom Castle or what.
4.) Cmdt-General Tom Maguire's grave
- while in Cong, Co. Mayo to see all the cool John Wayne ("The Quiet Man Crazies" they call us Yanks) stuff, I asked a local bartender where to find I.R.A. related stuff in the area. He told me to go to nearby Cross to see Tom Maguire's grave, which I was extremely excited about. As his tombstone reads, Maguire was the Commadant-General of the 2nd Western Division, I.R.A., throughout the Tan War and the Civil War. He was a fierce opponent of the Treaty. Till his death, he remained staunch in his republican convictions. He was the last surviving member of the 2nd All-Ireland Dail Eireann, which (correct me if I'm wrong), Irish Republicans view as the last legitimate government of the Irish Republic. This is especially important as it was Maguire who passed on his "apostolic succession", so to speak, to the Continuity I.R.A. I paid my respects to one of Ireland's greatest soldiers- God bless him.
5.) Ballinrobe I.R.A. memorial- Co. Mayo
- I saw this as we were driving through Ballinrobe, and I knew it had to be I.R.A. related. Sure enough it was- a simple stone memorial to the local I.R.A. men during the Tan War.
6.) Mallow Famine Memorial
- Outside of a Catholic Church in Mallow is a memorial to the Irish men, women, and children who died during the Starvation, as it is properly termed. There was a beautiful crucifix on the other side as well. We had just come out of Sunday Mass, and people looked at us kinda strange as we took these pictures, but what the hell (lol).
7.) Louisburgh, Co. Mayo- Famine memorial
- I had seen this picture before on the internet, so I recognized it as we were driving through the spectacular west of Ireland. The area around it was breathtaking- it was desolate, and mountainous. I guess it's called The Valley at Doolough. The memorial reads, "To commemorate the hungry poor who walked here in 1849 and walk the third world today". This was a particularily poignant moment for me, as my descendants on my dad's side were said to have left from nearby Westport around this time on the infamous Coffin Ships.
http://www.pearsecom.com/Ireland/ourireland/faminememorials.htm
8.) Murrisk, Co. Mayo- National Famine Memorial
- probably the most moving memorial we saw was the National Famine Memorial, just outside of Westport. The center of the memorial is a "Coffin Ship" with skeletons interlaced on it. It was sad. Unforunately, I can't show you all the pictures we took of it, as I'm in them( like the Louisburg memorial), but I'll provide a link anyway.
http://www.pearsecom.com/Ireland/ourireland/faminememorials.htm
Thanks for taking the time to read all this, it was a great trip. It was kinda sad, though, for me and my family to see indifference (and ignorance) in many people on Ireland's fighting history. I asked one young guy in Clare at a pub named Durty Nelly's about Clare's fighting story, and he told me something like, "we don't really focus on that stuff anymore".
It was so cool to see the statues of Our Lady and the Sacred Heart in the middle of towns and villages. You'd never see that in the states. It was beautiful to see Catholic Ireland- tributes to the Faith were literally everywhere. Unforunately, it was sad to hear from people how Ireland is gradually losing the Faith. The bartender in Cong who told me how to get to Tom Maguire's grave, told us that the countryside in the west of Ireland is becoming almost depopulated as Irish families that used to average nine kids now have one or two. He was saddened by it, and so am I. All Irish: your Catholic tradition abounds in Ireland- it is the backbone of your country, your language, and your story- don't sell out our holy Faith for secularism and modernism. Don't become completely Europeanized!
Anyway, you all have a beautiful country!
Slán,
Fenian
I went "back home" over Spring Break with my family- it was the best trip of my life. My grandmother is from Millstreet, Co. Cork; it was amazing to visit with relatives I'd never met before. My parents hadn't been back in 20 years (since their honeymoon), but because my mom had spent summers there as a college kid, she knew our relatives well, and kept up with them over the long years. We went down to Cork, through Kerry, and up the west coast. It was my first time in Ireland, and I made a point of visiting historical memorials related to Ireland's cause of freedom. 1.) Clonbanin Ambush, Co. Cork 1921. - my cousin in Millstreet was great- he took me around to different I.R.A. spots. The first was right outside of Cullen, I believe- it was the site of the Clonbanin ambush where members of Seán Moylan's Newmarket I.R.A. column ambushed British forces, killing thirteen, while suffering no casualities themselves. I learned from my cousin that my great uncle was a member of the Nork Cork Flying Column, who was good friends with Moylan and the likes. My "uncle" (cousin) who I talked to actually trained with a local I.R.A. unit in the 1940s. To this day, he refuses to vote in Free State elections. Ironically enough, I found out that I have a relative who was in Portlaoise Jail for Provisional I.R.A. activities, and released following the Good Friday Agreement. 2.) Kilmichael Ambush- right outside of Macroom, West Cork - road site of Cmdt-General Tom Barry's famed 3rd West Cork Brigade's ambush on the Black and Tans. This battle was fascinating considering how little training Barry's column had before the battle. The website link I will provide talks about how the Auxilliaries were thought to be invincible before Kilmichael. Unfortunately, it was getting dark when we arrived at the site, but it was great to see nonetheless.
