Kinsale's 'forgotten local heroes' commemorated in ceremony to mark handover of Cork barracks

Members of the Lord Edwards Own Re-enactment Group dressed as British soldiers leaving the Charles Fort barracks at a centenary commemoration in Kinsale. Photo: John Allen

The symbolic significance of the handover of a long-held British barracks in a strategic Cork town to the fledgling Irish state a century ago was recalled at a commemorative ceremony on Monday.

The forgotten local heroes of the War of Independence period in Kinsale were also honoured and parallels were drawn between Ireland's struggle for independence and the war in Ukraine during the event at Charles Fort in Kinsale to commemorate the centenary of the 1922 handover by the crown forces to the Irish provisional government of two British barracks in the town, which had for centuries been a key strategic location in the British empire.

“Easter Monday is a time associated with the birth of the Irish state," chairperson of Kinsale Commemoration Committee, JJ Hurley, said.

We value the democracy and freedom that was born out of those events 100 years ago and today, our friends in Ukraine are fighting for those same values. It is fitting that we show our support.

The British surrendered its two military barracks in Kinsale on February 19, 1922 - one on the town’s Barrack Hill, where the ceremonial handover occurred but which is now the site of a supermarket, and Charles Fort, where the handover occurred with little or no ceremony.

Monday’s commemoration, delayed by Covid, was held at Charles Fort and attended by Minister of State at the OPW, Patrick O’Donovan, the mayor of Cork County, Cllr Gillian Coughlan, and featured music and a re-enactment of the handover.

Ms Coughlan said Kinsale had for centuries been a key strategic location for the British empire, which had poured tens of thousands of pounds into the construction and manning of defensive forts and barracks in the area.

Lt. Cl. Robert Hurley reads the Proclamation of Independence as Patrick O'Donovan, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Mayor of County Cork Cllr. Gillian Coughlan look on. Photo: John Allen

“And yet through the revolutionary process, and the bravery and idealism of young men and women of the revolutionary period, the British were forced to withdraw from that key imperialistic bastion in 1922, by that desire for national self-determination, by that fight for freedom,” she said.

“And while the Treaty might not have been palatable all round, it was the instrument which allowed for the handover of the British military barracks in Kinsale.

“It was a very symbolic moment when the British military withdrew from the town after centuries. It is important that we recognise this important step in the progression towards nationhood.” 

Members of the Enniscorthy Historical Re-enactment Society dressed as Irish soldiers to recreate the Provisional Government marching into Charles Fort at the centenary commemoration in Kinsale. Photo: John Allen

Mr Hurley praised his fellow committee members, including Shannon Forde, Fergal Browne, Diarmuid O’Donovan, Barry Connolly and Padraig Walsh for their work, Cork County Council and its heritage officer, Conor Nelligan, the OPW and the wider community for their support.

He said they also hoped to honour those "forgotten local heroes" for their role during the War of Independence.

“There were a lot of ordinary people who did extraordinary things during this tumultuous period,” he said.

“We wanted to honour those whose names have faded from history. We don’t know their names, we don’t know their faces, but we wanted to give them life again.”