Pictures: Memorial garden is dedicated to the Ballycannon Boys

A MEMORIAL garden dedicated to the Ballycannon Boys who lost their lives during the struggle for Irish freedom has been officially opened in Kerry Pike.

The opening of the garden in Ballycannon Park on Saturday marked the culmination of trojan work put in by people in the locality.

“About two years ago at an association meeting, we agreed that we’d put in place a memorial garden to honour the six boys who died that night [March 23, 1921] in Ballycannon,” chair of the Clogheen/Kerry Pike Community Association, Iain McGregor, told The Echo ahead of the official opening.

Mr McGregor said it had taken two years and “a lot of work” to complete the memorial garden which includes three metal plaques detailing some of the history of the Ballycannon Boys and six trees planted to honour each of the six young men who lost their lives.

“The metal works were done down in Kinsale — that’s about as far as we went — but everything was sourced locally for the creation of the garden,” Mr McGregor said.

The Ballycannon Boys, members of the C Company, First Battalion, Cork No 1 Brigade, IRA, comprised Daniel Crowley (23), William Deasy (20), Thomas Dennehy (21), Daniel Murphy (24), Jeremiah O’Mullane (23) and Michael O’Sullivan (20).

The memorial garden faces onto the house and farmyard which in 1921 belonged to Cornelius O’Keeffe and was the location at which the Ballycannon Boys spent their last night alive.

“They were wanted by the British and it was no longer safe for them to sleep in their own homes,” a plaque at the memorial garden explains.

“They were ‘on the run’ and relied on sympathetic homeowners like Cornelius O’Keeffe to provide food and shelter in a number of safe houses around the fringes of the northside of Cork city.”

On the morning of March 23 1921, “a number of lorries left police barracks in Cork loaded with Black and Tans”.

“The lorries drove out to Kerry Pike where the Tans dismounted and made their way silently over the road, crossing the fields, approaching and surrounding the O’Keeffe farmyard.

“They banged on the front door demanding admittance, and having woken the terrified household began searching the house, then spread out to search the outbuildings, catching the six young men asleep and unarmed in the tack room next to the stables.

“What happened next is contested, but it appears that some of the six young men were dragged outside and mistreated as the police demanded to know where they had hidden their arms.

“There was an attempted break-out as they tried to escape through the surrounding fields.

“But a cordon had been posted and one by one the young men were picked off in a hail of high velocity rifle fire and revolver bullets,” the plaque states.

The opening of the memorial garden featured a number of speakers including the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, historian John Mulcahy who penned the text for the plaques and St Vincent’s GAA chairman William McCarthy.

The event featured performances from the Ballyphehane Pipe Band and Jimmy Crowley.