Commemoration event to mark anniversary of assassination of Tomás Mac Curtain to take place in Cork 

A COMMEMORATION event to mark the 102nd anniversary of the assassination of Tomás Mac Curtain will take place in Cork city tomorrow.

Organised by Sinn Féin’s Phoenix Historical Society, the commemoration event takes place at 10am at Mac Curtain’s grave at the Republican Plot in St Finbarr’s Cemetery.

A wreath will be laid at Mac Curtain’s grave and Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire will say a few words.

The annual event could not take place in its usual format last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The brutal murder of Tomás Mac Curtain took place on March 20, 1920, when he was shot in front of his wife and children by masked RIC men on his 36th birthday. It sent a ripple of shock and caused immense grief as the country grappled with the loss of such an admired figure.

Following Mac Curtain’s death, the city came to a standstill mourning the loss of Cork’s first Republican Lord Mayor.

In 2020, Cork city councillors unanimously agreed to add the names of Tomás Mac Curtain and Terence MacSwiney to the roll of honorary citizens of Cork city.

The roll of honour dates back over the centuries and is of historic significance to the city of Cork.

Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent said the commemoration ceremony at the republican plot tomorrow, originally scheduled for later in the day, was brought forward to 10am to facilitate a separate commemorative event in City Hall tomorrow for the martyred mayors in addition to commemorating the Crossbarry ambush.