How the Rising in Cork became a family affair

Thomas Kent was the only 1916 revolutionary to be executed outside Dublin. Historian Meda Ryan tells how one family in the South made a stand for land and freedom

THIS month marks the first anniversary of the State funeral of Thomas Kent — the 13th man executed in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising.

It took this funeral to get Ireland’s forgotten patriot into the public domain. His body lay buried in a shallow, well-maintained grave in a corner of Cork Prison yard for over 99 years and could only be visited once annually by family and friends.