To remember the past and the sacrifices made by the ordinary people of Ireland, a Mass of Commemoration for all those who died during the War of Independence will take place tomorrow (Sunday).

All are welcome to attend the service in Kilcummin Parish Church at 11.30am, followed by a short ceremony nearby at the Mass Rock in Rathanane, which is being organised by Kilcummin Historical Group.

"As we draw near the end of 2021 let us take the time to reflect on the War of Independence," Conor Doolan, one of the organisers and author of ‘Kilcummin Folk, Land and Liberty: A Local History’, told the Killarney Advertiser.

After the 1916 rebellion a swell of nationalist sentiment swept across the nation and as early 1917 Sinn Féin clubs appeared in Kilcummin. Due to the size of the parish it is divided into eastern and western jurisdictions, he added.

"Around this time the Irish tricolour was raised at Anabla National School, a great act of defiance at the time. Pipe and Drum bands were popular and the Anabla Volunteers organised their own band and are cited as accompanying political demonstrations in Killarney town."

1919 Onwards

Likewise, Old IRA Company’s representing Kilcummin in the west and Anabla to the east were established, he explained.

"The same can be said for the two Cumann na mBan branches in the parish. Marguerite Fleming from Milleen went on to be a significant national figure in Cumann na mBan but her contribution to Irish freedom has been largely forgotten. By 1919 the British Army had commandeered the Great Southern Hotel thus transforming it into a barracks. It was predominantly occupied by the East Lancashire Regiment, Manchester Regiment and the Royal Fusiliers. Prior to that of course, the Royal Irish Constabulary were housed in a castle-like structure that stood where the Áras Phádraig is located today. New RIC recruits known as the ‘Black and Tans’ and ‘the Auxies’ arrived in 1920 wreaking havoc across the country."

Forgotten

Volunteer Patrick McCarthy from College Street Killarney was accidentally wounded and died while on active service in Kilcummin.

"It's also worth mentioning that Killarney man Sean O’Leary of Ballydribeen was a volunteer in the Tipperary IRA. Unarmed, O’Leary was killed by ‘the Auxies’ near Moneygall. What most people refer to as Flesk Bridge is in fact the ‘McCarthy-O’Leary’ Bridge, renamed by Kerry County Council in 1968. Two young English soldiers named Private Motley and Private Steer were killed near Anabla before the Truce in 1921. They were repatriated to Lancashire in 1927."

Hannah Carey was the last person killed in the Irish War of Independence. On July 11, 1921 The RIC & Black and Tans were firing indiscriminately as they drove down College Street. Carey was struck by a stray bullet. She was going about her day's work at the Imperial Hotel, now known as the Killarney Towers Hotel.