I have spotted many plaques to General Tom Barry – where he lived, where he fought, and where he is buried.
One common denominator is that they are all in County Cork.
Last weekend, the daily updates from Stair na hÉireann listed the anniversary of the death of Tom Barry (2nd July,1980 ) and also his birth (1st July, 1897). What I hadn’t realised was that the birth was in Co. Kerry.
The 1901 census confirms that Thomas B. Barry, then 3 years old, was resident at house 35 in Langford in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. His mother is listed as head of house. His father is not mentioned on that form so I assumed that he may be at the R.I.C. barracks, where he then worked – retiring a few while later and returning with family to West Cork.
But the only other Thomas listed for Killorglin that night was not his father –so maybe he did manage to opt out for a while. Or maybe I need to search further.
Reverting to Google streetview, it appears that, unlike so many places in Co Kerry,
Killorglin has not erected a plaque to record the residency of the young Tom Barry.I hope to visit in the coming weeks and visit to confirm.
That is not to say that Kerry is short of republican memorial plaques
One common denominator is that they are all in County Cork.
Last weekend, the daily updates from Stair na hÉireann listed the anniversary of the death of Tom Barry (2nd July,1980 ) and also his birth (1st July, 1897). What I hadn’t realised was that the birth was in Co. Kerry.
The 1901 census confirms that Thomas B. Barry, then 3 years old, was resident at house 35 in Langford in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. His mother is listed as head of house. His father is not mentioned on that form so I assumed that he may be at the R.I.C. barracks, where he then worked – retiring a few while later and returning with family to West Cork.
But the only other Thomas listed for Killorglin that night was not his father –so maybe he did manage to opt out for a while. Or maybe I need to search further.
Reverting to Google streetview, it appears that, unlike so many places in Co Kerry,
Killorglin has not erected a plaque to record the residency of the young Tom Barry.I hope to visit in the coming weeks and visit to confirm.
That is not to say that Kerry is short of republican memorial plaques
