Cork site where body of murdered RIC constable is thought to be buried gets green light for housing development

The first phase of the development provides for 101 apartments in four apartment blocks up to four storeys in height, 30 duplexes and 115 houses as well as a creche. File picture: Dan Linehan

An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to a €76m housing development on the outskirts of Blarney, Co Cork, on a site which might be the secret burial location of an RIC constable executed by republicans during the War of Independence.

The board has upheld the decision of Cork City Council to grant planning permission to development firm Clockwise Limited, for the construction of 246 new residential units and a creche on an 8.3-hectare site at Ringwood, Shean Upper, Blarney.

However, the board included an unusual planning condition that all works should cease across the whole site if any human remains were found during construction and the city coroner and gardaí be notified.

The condition was originally proposed by Cork City Council in recognition of the fact Ringwood is the suspected location of the body of RIC officer Constable Thomas Joseph Walsh, who was executed by the IRA on November 7, 1920.

The deceased, who was born in Dublin and served with the British Army during  the First World War, was stationed in the East Riding division of Cork after joining the RIC in November 2019.

According to files from the Bureau of Military History, a former IRA captain Seán Healy said he received orders to put Constable Walsh “permanently out of commission” after the RIC officer was observed insulting staff in the parcels office at Cork railway station.

Acting on intelligence, Healy and two other IRA volunteers boarded the night train from Cork to Dublin on November 6, 1920, at Blarney station and disarmed and removed Constable Walsh.

However, the policeman escaped his captors and fled into a wood in heavy fog.

Healy and his associates sought assistance from a local IRA commander, Frank Busteed, who mobilised other volunteers to search for the RIC constable.

He was recaptured a few hours later at about 4am after he was found hiding in a cowshed.

Constable Walsh was convicted of being a traitor at a summary court martial and executed, with his body secretly buried in Ringwood.

The RIC register recorded he had been dismissed from the constabulary on the same date he was abducted from the train.

The victim’s nephew, Éamon Grogan — a former IRA volunteer — has expressed hope his uncle’s body can be found so he can receive a proper burial.

In an interview with The Corkman's Jack Joy last March, Mr Grogan said: “Like anybody else, whether they are British soldiers or Irish soldiers or IRA, they are all entitled to proper decent respect when they die and they should not be forgotten.” 

Confirmation of An Bord Pleanála’s approval of the large-scale residential development in Ringwood is likely to increase hope Constable Walsh’s remains will be found.

An Bord Pleanála has also required the developer to arrange archaeological monitoring of site operations.

The large-scale residential development, which is the first phase of a large, long-term project for almost 1,000 new homes on the eastern end of Blarney, is located close to the N20 Cork-Limerick road.

The first phase of the development provides for 101 apartments in four apartment blocks up to four storeys in height, 30 duplexes and 115 houses as well as a creche.

Another condition stipulated by An Bord Pleanála is that residential units can only be bought by individual purchasers and cannot be sold to corporate entities or housing bodies providing social or affordable housing.