Crossbarry battle replayed on radio ahead of 101st anniversary
Ahead of the 101st anniversary of the engagement next Thursday, a radio play based on it will air on John Greene’s C103 programme, Where The Road Takes Me, at 7pm tomorrow (Sunday March 12).
Written by Lar McCarthy, The Battle Of Crossbarry was directed by Brendan Hayes and recorded by Sam Morgan.
Stalwarts of the multi-award- winning Kilmeen Drama Group and others will bring the battle of Crossbarry to the airwaves. Donie Walsh’s dulcet tones bring Tom Barry to life as he strives to outwit John Hughes’s major Arthur Percival and Brendan Hayes’s portrayal of General Peter Strickland.
The play follows on from the well received The Valiant Father O Connell and the Forget Not The Boys documentary.
Donie Walsh is no stranger to the world of acting and said: “It’s fantastic to be back again on the acting scene and working with cast members and friends who adore the art of entertaining and story-telling.”
The production is commissioned by Cork County Council who are endeavouring, along with West Cork, artists to help educate people on the events of the war of Independence.
Amazingly there were just three IRA fatalities and ten British in the hour-long battle as the lush green grass of Crossbarry sprayed with the clarat colour of war. But it would be the death of IRA commander Charlie Hurley that would deal the most devastating of blows to the freedom-fighting Irish.
He had been recovering from wounds sustained at the recent Upton ambush and went out fighting with a gun in each hand upon being confronted by the British.
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