Irish unity would honour Cork IRA men killed in Civil War

THE killings of two anti-Treaty Cork IRA men by Free State forces were remembered in a ceremony near Coachford last weekend.

A wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Captain Timothy Kennefick monument at Nadrid, Coachford, on Sunday morning. Later in the afternoon, a commemoration was held in honour of Section Commander Patrick Murphy at Leemount Cross, Carrigrohane.

According to the UCC Irish Revolution Project, Capt Kennefick had been a barman in Blackpool in Cork when he was killed.

During the War of Independence, he had served as a lieutenant in A Company the First Battalion of the Cork No.1 Brigade of the IRA and served in Cork No. 5 Brigade as a signaller during the Civil War.

He was captured on his way to his mother’s funeral by the Free State Army in September 1922 and received a horrific death.

He was dragged behind a Free State truck before being beaten with rifle butts. He was shot twice and his body was dumped in a ditch near Coachford. The brutality of his death provoked widespread revulsion at the time.

Commander Patrick Murphy was a native of Blarney Street in Cork. He had served in H Company of the First Battalion of the No. 1 Cork Brigade during the War of Independence. He was shot in an ambush by Free State forces at Leemount Bridge when he, along with another IRA man by the name of Sullivan, were cycling to Healy’s Bridge in Blarney. In the ambush, Commander Murphy was shot in the stomach and his colleague was hit in the wrist.

In his address to the gathering held at Leemount Cross, Sinn Féin representative Joe Lynch said occasions such as Sunday’s commemoration were vital “not just to remember, but to look to tomorrow”.

“We truly honour Patrick Murphy and his comrades by resolving to finish the job — to bring a United Ireland to fruition,” said Mr Lynch. “That was his aim, and that remains our objective today.”