Village to unveil memorial to three Irish patriots

A standing stone, which commemorates three giants of history, will be unveiled in a picturesque West Cork village on Sunday.

The stone and granite memorial, into which has been inserted a plaque etched with the names, faces, and signatures of patriots Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Michael Collins, and Tom Barry, will be unveiled at about 3.30pm in the seaside village of Rosscarbery by Gabriel Doherty of the History Department at University College Cork.

While the trio all had close connections with the village, the unveiling is part of an Irish and international series of events marking the Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa Centenary Commemorative Programme, which takes place in West Cork, Dublin, and New York over the summer months.

The programme includes everything from a special GAA tournament and commemorative social in the Bronx, and wreath-laying in Staten Island, New York, to a packed programme of events in West Cork and Dublin.

These include exhibitions, re-enactments, a poetry recital, displays of traditional dance, music and drama and the launch of several books, as well as a theatre production, a walking tour and the launch of a commemorative stamp by An Post on July 30 in Rosscarbery.

The programme will culminate on August 1 with the re-staging of the funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Sunday’s ceremony in Rosscarbery will begin with a parade from St Fachtna’s Church to the village square.

The unveiling will be followed by a re-enactment of the oration by Padraig Pearse at the graveside of O’Donovan Rossa, by local historian Con O’Callaghan. A pupil from Ardagh Boys’ National School, which O’Donovan Rossa attended, will recite The Lighthouse, a poem written by the patriot.