Tears welled in the eyes of Thomas Kent’s three elderly nieces as they were told DNA tests confirmed remains found in Cork prison were those of the patriot executed by the British in 1916.

The execution of Thomas Kent on May 9, 1916, was a crude exercise in propaganda, far removed from the moral force of the scales of justice, on the part of Major General JG Maxwell, the military governor at a time when the civil governance of the country was in a state of chaotic dissolution.

One of the largest bridges over the River Blackwater in Co Cork is set to be renamed after the only man executed outside of Dublin following the 1916 Rising.