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Inscriptions on
Irish Civil War Memorials
at Ballyseedy & Ballycarty, Co.Kerry |
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wooden IRA memorial cross at Ballyseedy,
by the roadside opposite the entrance to
Ballyseedy Castle (Ballyseede Castle Hotel)
in the old horse-drawn-coach turning circle |
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wooden IRA memorial cross at Ballycarty,
by the Tralee-Killarney Road, south side,
at the "Earl of Desmond" Hotel.
photo: courtesy of Ryle Dwyer |
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VOL[unteer]
JACK GALVIN
30TH 9TH 1922
DIED IN DEFENCE
OF THE REPUBLIC
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MICHAEL RYLE
DIED IN DEFENCE
OF THE REPUBLIC
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THE BALLYSEEDY MONUMENT
Monument by Breton sculptor Yann-Renard Goulet (architect Uinseann Mac Eoin), erected in 1959 on north side of the Tralee-Killarney road at Ballyseedy, a few metres to the east of "Ballyseedy cross" road junction, replacing an earlier wooden IRA memorial cross. This impressive sculpture, cast in bronze, was erected to commemorate eight IRA prisoners, executed near this spot on the night of 6-7 March 1923 by Irish Free State government troops, during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923).
Nine IRA prisoners were taken from Ballymullen Barracks in Tralee to Ballyseedy Cross and there tied to a mined barricade, which was then detonated. Those who died were Patrick "Paddy" Buckley (ex R.I.C.), Patrick Harnett, John O'Connor, Timothy Twomey, John Daley, George O'Shea, James Walsh and Michael O'Connell. Stephen Fuller of Fahavane, Kilflynn, survived and escaped.
Also commemorated by the monument are Denis Broderick, John "Jack" Galvin, Michael Ryle and Seamus Taylor who died in the same locality. Jack Galvin, an IRA prisoner, had been shot and dumped in Ballyseedy Wood during the previous year, on 30-Sep-1922. Seamus Taylor, an IRA prisoner at Killorglin Barracks, was taken to Ballyseedy woods by National Army troops and shot on 8-Mar-1923, the day following the Ballyseedy incident.
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FROM THIS DAY FORTH ALL
WHO PASS THIS WAY WILL
KNOW THAT THE MEN OF KERRY
WHO FOUGHT AND DIED FOR
IRELAND ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
AND THEIR MEMORY WILL
ENDURE AS LONG AS THIS
BRONZE MEMORIAL STANDS
AT BALLYSEEDY
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UNSELFISH UPHOLDERS AND
FEARLESS DEFENDERS OF THE
IRISH REPUBLIC, THESE EIGHT
MEN OF KERRY WHOSE NAMES
WE TRACE WITH PRIDE AND
REMEMBER WITH HOMAGE
SUFFERED MARTYRDOM ON
THIS SPOT ON THE NIGHT OF
MARCH 6TH - 7TH 1923
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THIS MEMORIAL ALSO
COMMEMORATES THEIR
COMRADES
DENIS BRODERICK
JOHN GALVIN
MICHAEL RYLE
SEAMUS TAYLOR
WHO DIED FOR IRELAND
IN THIS LOCALITY | |
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original wooden memorial cross,
replaced by this sculpture
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This map of Ballyseedy & Ballycarty, from a mid-20th century large scale Ordnance Survey, shows three Memorial Crosses on the Tralee-Killarney Road but does not show the Memorial Cross for Jack Galvin outside Ballyseedy Castle.
The Memorial Cross on the north side of the road, a few metres to the east of "Ballyseedy Cross" road junction (shown above 53 on map) is the Ballyseedy Monument. The Memorial Cross to the east of this, on the south side of the road at the Earl of Desmond hotel, is for Michale Ryle. The Memorial Cross to the west I was unable to find, but is presumably for Denis Broderick or for Seamus Taylor.
 are photographs available of memorial crosses for Denis Broderick and Seamus Taylor? |
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