Cork village to honour heroic priest who saved 6,500 lives during World War II
Working on a mural of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty in his native village of Kiskeam, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan
A number of relatives of a heroic priest who saved thousands of Jewish and Allied soldiers’ lives during World War II are expected to attend the unveiling of a memorial to him in his native North Cork village on Sunday.
A new mural dedicated to the memory of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty will be unveiled in Kiskeam on Sunday at 2pm.
The mural was painted by local artist Pat Cronin, a retired art teacher now living in Dublin, on behalf of the Kiskeam Development Association.
The association received funding from Cork County Council for the project.
The mural could not be placed on the house where the priest was born in 1898, as it has since been demolished.
However, a local family agreed to have it painted on the gable wall of a property they own in the centre of the village.
O’Flaherty was ordained in 1925 and later entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service, with postings in Egypt, Haiti, and Czechoslovakia, before returning to Rome ahead of World War II.
Confronted with Nazi persecution of Jews, political opponents, and escaped Allied prisoners of war, he organised what became known as the “Rome Escape Line.”
He and his network established safe houses, and historians estimate the effort helped save around 6,500 people.
The head of the Gestapo in Rome, Herbert Kappler, realised what O’Flaherty was doing and tried numerous times to have him killed but failed.
The struggle between the two men was later portrayed in the 1983 Hollywood film The Scarlet and the Black, with Gregory Peck playing O’Flaherty and Christopher Plummer playing Kappler.
When Kappler was captured and imprisoned by the Allies, O’Flaherty became his only visitor and converted him to Catholicism in 1959.
After retiring, O’Flaherty returned to Ireland to live with his sister in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry. He died in 1963 and was buried there.
