MacCurtain letter written hours before death on display

Possibly the last letter written by Cork lord mayor Tomás MacCurtain before his death will go on display near his Blackpool home where he was murdered in 1920.

It is one of a number of items connected with Cork’s rebel lords mayor to be included in an exhibition at the Cork City and County Archives, many of them especially on loan for the Rebel Week event.

Among the privately loaned items is a concertina owned by MacCurtain’s wife, Eibhlís, whom he met at the local branch of the Gaelic League in Blackpool.

The village on Cork’s northside was also where British forces killed him in the early hours of Mar 20, 1920, in front of Eibhlís and one of their sons.

“This letter is on lord mayor’s headed paper to the TD Liam de Róiste — they were going to meet the local bishop the next day. It’s dated Mar 19 so it could have been written just hours before he died,” said chief archivist Brian McGee.

A rarely seen 1907 publication by Terence MacSwiney, MacCurtain’s successor as lord mayor, who died on hunger strike in Oct 1920, is also on display.

The poem Music of Freedom is evidence, said Mr McGee, of the importance of these men, better known for their military leadership, in the promotion of local and national culture.

The lesser-known Donal Ó Ceallacháin, who was elected Cork’s Lord Mayor after MacSwiney died in Brixton prison, also had an important role in the city’s cultural life. Documents, letters, photos and memorabilia relating to events during and after the three men’s terms as lords mayor feature in the exhibition, which opens today and runs until Saturday.

Most of the material is held in the archive building in Blackpool, where staff are always interested in donations or loans of original items from Cork’s past.