Bishop to mark centenary of Bandon Valley killings

THE centenary of the Bandon Valley killings will be marked by the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton, with pastoral visits to the parishes in West Cork that were most affected.

Next week will mark the centenaries of the Bandon Valley killings and the funerals which followed in 1922.

In the Cork, Cloyne and Ross Diocesan Magazine this month, Bishop Colton wrote that the historiography of that period and those events in the Bandon Valley “has been written about extensively and debated with different narratives, emotions and responses elicited”.

He said: “In that week, 14 people were killed: Michael O’Neill, Thomas Hornibrook, Samuel Hornibrook, Herbert Woods, James Buttimer, David Gray, Francis Fitzmaurice, Robert Howe, John Chinnery, Robert Nagle, Alexander Gerald McKinley, John Buttimer, James Greenfield and John Bradfield.

“Two of those were 16 years of age and the oldest was 82. Twelve were members of the Church of Ireland in this Diocese. Attempts were made on others’ lives and they had to escape, many never to return. We know that in the years that followed many people from Cork, Cloyne and Ross felt insecure in this part of the world and left.”

Announcing his approach to the centenaries, Bishop Colton said that his primary duty was to ensure “that in prayer and liturgy, these people and events are appropriately remembered. I will be spending the octave of April 24 to May 1 on pastoral visits to the parishes which were caught up in those events one hundred years ago.”

Since 2014, Cork, Cloyne and Ross has been commemorating the centenaries of the 1914-2024 period in a programme called the Cork, Cloyne and Ross Centenaries Commemoration and Reconciliation Project co-funded by the Church of Ireland priorities’ fund. One element of this was the creation of a memorial space for prayer and reflection in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral. Since 2019, that space has been one of prayer and commemoration of those who died in the War of Independence and Civil War.