Tuairín Dubh: How a Co Cork musical helped cast members through a period of grief 

Some of the cast members of the War of Independence drama have faced terrible trials in their own lives in recent times. Being part of the play provided a welcome distraction, and the support of a close-knit community 

A scene from AnTuairín Dubh, with Nóirín Uí Thuama, centre with purple scarf.

Like many others in Béal Átha ’n Ghaorthaidh, Eibhlís Uí Thuama knew few details about the War of Independence shooting of Volunteer Criostóir Ó Luasa when it was first mooted as the subject of a bilingual musical in the Gaeltacht village last year.

She was to become very familiar with events surrounding the Auxiliaries’ 1920 killing of the unarmed 22-year-old medical student from Pembroke St, Cork, even if she was initially hesitant about signing up as a cast member, due to her husband Johnny’s cancer diagnosis.