Unveiled on St. Patrick’s Day 1925, the Great War Memorial on the South Mall in Cork City had a difficult birth. The idea was originally proposed by members of the Cork Legion of Ex-Servicemen as a way to honour their comrades who fell in the Great War. However, Cork was a city that had witnessed the death of two Lord Mayors and the burning of its city hall and city centre by Crown forces during the Irish War of Independence. Therefore, there were those on Cork Corporation who opposed the erection of a memorial to Irishmen who served in the British armed forces. In this presentation Barry Linehan tells the story of the memorial, its difficult birth and its unveiling, an event that attracted thousands of people.
Barry Linehan is a retired teacher and member of the Cork Branch of the WFA. He is a member of the Mallow Field Club (a history society in the town of Mallow, Co. Cork) and he has published a number of books about servicemen from his locality who died in the Great War.
Photos:
The unveiling of the Cork War Memorial courtesy of Cork Public Museum
The Cork War Memorial courtesy of Tom Spillane