 Thomas Wallace, 1st Cork Brigade, Old I.R.A. |  Midleton, Co Cork |
| There was quite an amount of comments about the Remembrance Wall at Glasnevin Cemetery. I read of many objections to the listing together of those who fought on both sides – those who fought against each other. There is a possibility that one that died in Easter 1916 is listed on the wall with the name of the person who killed him on the same wall. The killing may have been deliberate or unintentional as the wall also lists those who were not involved in the fighting, innocent bystanders. At the time, a seed was planted to do a blog on the neighbouring headstones that I spotted in Rathcooney Cemetery and Midleton Cemetery, both in Co. Cork. When I spotted these I was reminded of Christy Moore’s Cabaret. “When the elections are all over we’ll be pushing up clover |  W. Froyne d 1915.06.24  Rathcooney, Co. Cork |
 M O'Callaghan d. 1918.10.28 |  W. Buckley d. 1922.09.26 |
That seed has taken some time to germinate. The growth spurt prompted by a tweet from Luke Portess as to similar bedfellows in Glasnevin.
I remembered a talk from Neil Richardson at Ennis Bookclub Festival being surprised at the very large percentage of Irishmen in the British Army at the time of World War One – as Ireland was a part of the British Empire, they were also fighting for or defending their country.
At the launch of ‘The Immortal Deed of Michael O’Leary’, Danny Morrison spoke of his grandfather joining the British Army in 1917 and that very many Irishmen joined on the understanding that victory would lead to freedom for Ireland (text here – well worth a read)
The seed has been a long time in bearing fruit but I am thinking that these neighbouring souls could actually have had the same hopes – just a different way of getting there. If one had not died in World War I, they might even have fought together some years later.
We will never know…..
I remembered a talk from Neil Richardson at Ennis Bookclub Festival being surprised at the very large percentage of Irishmen in the British Army at the time of World War One – as Ireland was a part of the British Empire, they were also fighting for or defending their country.
At the launch of ‘The Immortal Deed of Michael O’Leary’, Danny Morrison spoke of his grandfather joining the British Army in 1917 and that very many Irishmen joined on the understanding that victory would lead to freedom for Ireland (text here – well worth a read)
The seed has been a long time in bearing fruit but I am thinking that these neighbouring souls could actually have had the same hopes – just a different way of getting there. If one had not died in World War I, they might even have fought together some years later.
We will never know…..
