VIDEO: Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa: Spirit of the hero shines in Skibbereen

As the sky dimmed over the West Cork town of Skibbereen, the smell of peat smoke was in the air.

Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa’s mercurial rebel spirit stalked the streets of his hometown once again, convincingly portrayed by local man Declan McCarthy.

The Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa torchlit parade, held on Friday night, marked the opening of Skibbereen Arts Festival, as well as forming part of the centenary celebrations for O’Donovan Rossa, the patriot whose funeral in 1915 generated an upsurge of rebellious spirit just months before the 1916 Uprising.