Battle to reclaim skeleton of Napoleon's horse for North Cork appears to be lost

The National Army Museum in Britain has refused to budge on calls to repatriate Marengo to North Cork, where it is believed the horse hailed from 

Conservator Derek Bell at work on the skeleton of Napoleon's horse Marengo. Credit: Phil Yeomans/BNPS

Make no bones about it: the battle for custody of the skeleton of one of the most famous ‘Irish-born’ horses in history appears all but lost.

Management at Britain's National Army Museum (NAM) have refused to budge on calls for Marengo, Napoleon's famous white charger, to be repatriated to Cork.

In 2017, councillors representing the North Cork region wrote to the NAM, based in London, seeking the return of the skeleton of the horse, named after the Battle of Marengo. 

Many museums in Britain have come under increased pressure recently to repatriate items they hold to their country of origin and a number have already done.

Famous painting of Napoleon riding his horse Marengo.

It’s widely believed Marengo was bred in North Cork and purchased for the emperor at the famous Cahermee horse fair in Buttevant. However, there are some historians who argue he was sold at the horse fair in Bartlemy, near Fermoy – also in North Cork.

The issue was first raised six years ago by Fianna Fail councillor Bernard Moynihan. He got unanimous backing from colleagues to get back the horse’s remains after it was revealed the NAM was spending a small fortune restoring the its skeleton.

The council wrote a couple of letters to NAM but got non-committal responses.

After the Irish Examiner printed the story it was followed up by a number of British media outlets, most notably the Daily Telegraph, which dedicated three-quarters of a page to the subject declaring the Irish ‘had rode into battle’ to get the Marengo's back.

The article ignited a virtual war on their social media pages as some members of the British public vented their anger at the possibility of the skeleton going back to Ireland, describing it a major ‘victory trophy’ after they’d defeated the French emperor at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.

The same British newspaper has now quoted NAM director Justin Maclejewski saying he will not ‘decolonise’ his museum of artefacts and again mentioned the Irish attempt to get Marengo.

In response, Mr Moynihan said he's very disappointed with the comments attributed to the NAM director.

“We’d always hoped to get the skeleton back home. These comments make it look like we've lost that battle. Nevertheless, maybe in the future we will win that war with some patient diplomacy,” he said.

Even if there's a change of heart, an argument would likely break out over where Marengo’s skeleton is displayed.

While the Buttevant claim seems more likely, there's a significant assault on this from Bartlemy.

A national brewing company paid for a huge mural on the side of the long-closed Barry’s pub in that village.

Painted in the 1980s it covered the whole of one gable wall and was a copy of the original iconic picture of Napoleon riding the rearing Marengo.

Sadly, it' since been painted over. Even singer/songwriter got in on the act when the first volleys were fired in the battle for the bones of the horse got underway. He wrote a song about how it belonged to Bartlemy and should come home.