Tipperary remembers Easter 1916

The Nobel laureate and holocaust survivor Eli Weisel said; “To forget the dead is to kill them all over again”. It is especially incumbent on us to remember and honour all those who strove to achieve the independence of our country, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives in that cause.

So, a larger than expected group gathered at the Republican Plot in St. Michael’s cemetery, Tipperary, to remember the members of the Provisional Government and the men and women who proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic and fought to defend it 108 years ago. The 1916 Easter Rebellion marked the start of the successful effort to end over 700 years of servitude and establish the freedom and sovereignty we enjoy today.

The commemoration was organised by The Third Tipperary Brigade Old IRA Commemoration Committee. An air of sadness permeated proceedings as John Long (Rosegreen), a long-standing and active member of the committee, had died during the previous week.

Committee Cathaoirleach, Pat English, acted as MC, and also laid a wreath. Another wreath was laid by Diarmaid Ó Riordáin in honour of his granduncle, Vol. Seán, who was KIA defending the Republic at Lios na mBroc, Ballingarry, in December 1922. Following a decade of the Rosary and the reading of the 1916 Proclamation, the highlight of the event was the oration which this year was delivered by Robert O Keeffe.

In the course of his address the explained the aims of the Rising, its course and the people involved, and its bloody ending. He then recorded in some detail the efforts by Volunteers in county Tipperary to help their colleagues in Dublin. He outlined the efforts made by Éamon Ó Duibhir, Seán Treacy, Pierce McCan, Michael O Callaghan, and Frank Drohan. Their efforts achieved little or nothing.

That then, was the Rising in Tipperary, where all the plans seemingly came to naught. The authorities were triumphant that they had kept things quiet. They decided to take a firm hand with the rebels and tried the seven signatories by Court Martial. They would all be executed and some of the finest minds of that generation would be lost in those weeks of retribution.

REMEMBER AND REVERE
Today, we remember and revere their names: Thomas Clarke, Sean MacDiarmada, Padraig Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas McDonagh, Eamonn Ceannt and Joseph Plunkett. In all 16 men would lose their lives by execution, in an orgy of revenge, before British spite and malice was burned out.
He recalled how those Volunteers who were interned in prisons and camps in England and Wales learned from their mistakes and planned a new military campaign. And he stressed how victory was eventually achieved through the heroic stoicism and determination of the Irish people,

We should also take time to remember those who suffered so much during the War for Independence and the later struggle, those who were beaten and imprisoned, those whose houses were raided, burned and blown up. We remember those women, weaponless and vulnerable who stood up to raiding parties and murder squads and who did not flinch in the face of savagery. For most of those who participated in the struggle, it was not a path to riches, fame or indeed long life. Many would suffer poor physical or mental health in later life and would find themselves locked out from society in the decade after the Civil War. Their only reward was the knowledge that they had played their part, they had stood fast and weathered the storm and fought the Empire to a standstill.

Their graves lie in graveyards across the county and indeed across the country and across America, the UK and all parts of the world where they were flung from “…one bright island flown”. Many are now forgotten, consigned to the ignominy of official amnesia; their sacrifice and sometimes their graves unmarked.
Having paid tribute to John Long he ended with this exhortation to his listeners, which neatly and concisely encapsulates the aims and ideals of the Commemoration Committee,
And so, following his example, we have a duty to speak the names of our Volunteers, to celebrate their memories and to always remember the sacrifices of that extraordinary, ordinary generation of Irish men and women and to keep their graves forever green.