North Cork war memorial in such poor state that names of dead 'illlegible'

Fermoy has a long military history and once had the biggest barracks on the entire island

Then taoiseach Bertie Ahern laying a wreath following the unveiling of the first World War memorial in Fermoy. Picture: Richard Mills.

A war memorial in a North Cork town, unveiled 20 years ago by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to commemorate more than 100 local men who died during World War I, is in such a poor state that names are now illegible.

Relatives of the soldiers who still live in the greater Fermoy area have become very upset at the way the monument has been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent.

Retired members of the Defence Forces have also highlighted the issue, saying it is totally unacceptable.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the Fermoy Municipal District Council by Independent councillor William O’Leary.

“I was contacted by retired members of the Defence Forces, and I was taken aback when I went to look at it. 

"It’s a beautiful stone monument, but every single name is now illegible. It is causing upset to a lot of their relatives who still live in the area, and it urgently needs to be addressed,” he said.

Chairman of the municipal council, Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn, said he was there the day Bertie Ahern unveiled it outside the town park and agreed that it needs speedy attention.

Aontú councillor Peter O’Donoghue said 200,000 Irishmen fought in World War I, and 50,000 of them were killed.

“The monument honours some of those people. But it should also remind us of the horrors of war and where our neutrality came from. 

"This is topical at the moment, and we must never forget there’s nothing good that comes out of war,” he said.

Municipal district officer Margaret O’Donoghue said the council will inspect the memorial and assess the costs of repairing it, but promised to carry out the work.

She was urged by councillors to do this as quickly as possible.

The Fermoy area has a long military history and once had the biggest barracks on the entire island of Ireland.

The British army first built a barracks in the town in 1806, which at the time accommodated more than 1,500 infantry and a 150-strong cavalry unit. It also had its own 130-bed military hospital.

A second barracks was built there three years later, bolstering accommodation to cater for more than 3,000 troops and a second hospital.

By the 1830s, it was the largest British military barracks on the entire island and not only provided employment within the military, but also hugely enhanced the economy of the area.

In June 1808, the Duke of Wellington used it as a staging post where almost 9,000 troops assembled to go to Cobh (then Queenstown), where they were shipped out to fight Napoleon’s French forces in the Peninsula Wars in Spain and Portugal.

A number of these soldiers would also have fought at the Battle of Waterloo.

During World War 1, the Fermoy barracks and the nearby Kilworth Camp saw tens of thousands of soldiers train there before heading to the killing fields of the Western Front.