Concerns over 10-acre site converter station plans for East Cork village

People living in an East Cork village are concerned about plans which could disturb a site where dozens of British soldiers were executed by an IRA unit during the War of Independence.

EirGrid has drawn up a shortlist of potential land-based electrical converter sites as part of a €900m plan to lay a submarine cable to transmit electricity between France and Ireland.

The converter station, which is likely to encompass a 10-acre site is needed because the French electricity isn't compatible with our national grid.

One of the six sites which the company has shortlisted is located in forestry in the townland of Kilquane, 2km north of the village of Knockraha.

The forest, known locally as ‘The Rae’, and the nearby Kilquane Graveyard were used during the War of Independence as a prison and burial ground for captured British soldiers.

Historian, Gerard Murphy, in his book 'The Year of The Disappearances' has documented up to 30 secret burials in the forest Eirgrid have shortlisted.

Others maintain the figure is far higher and that the IRA unit led by Martin Corry, who later became a TD, could have executed up to 90 captured soldiers and so-called informers in the area.

Local resident, John Walsh, whose family have farmed adjacent to 'The Rae' for generations, spoke of the quiet, respectful deference that locals treated the site.

“The Rae was never allowed to be built on or farmed. Our fathers told us of those troubled times, and we always regarded the forest as a graveyard. Those soldiers were never forgotten and must be allowed rest in peace," Mr Walsh said.

Hugh Cronin, a teacher and local historian who also lives close to The Rae, said:

We now live in a new era of peace with our neighbours in England. As the centenary approaches, it’s incredulous that Eirgid should disregard the documentary evidence and consider building a power station on an area of such historic significance and political sensitivity.

Fiona Murphy, who runs a registered childcare business next to the site, said she is also worried about how the construction would affect her business.

She said road closures will be needed to facilitate the project and these could lead to major detours in the area.

She described Eirgrid's decision to shortlist the site as "madness”.