Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan to speak at Cork Liam Lynch commemoration

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan is set to deliver the keynote address at the annual General Liam Lynch commemoration in the Old Kilcrumper Cemetery in Fermoy, Co Cork, next Sunday.

The oration was previously delivered by, among others, then taoisigh Bertie Ahern, Micheál Martin, and Jack Lynch; former Fianna Fáil senator and TD Martin Mansergh, and historian Tim Horgan.

General Lynch, a native of Angelsboro, Co Limerick, was the military commander of the anti-Treaty forces whose death in April 1923 was the beginning of the end of the Civil War.

Born in to a rural family, Lynch emerged as one of the most formidable IRA commandants during the War of Independence.

Meeting

In March 1923, anti-Treaty IRA leaders held a meeting in the Nire Valley to discuss ending the Civil War. 

General Lynch opposed laying down arms and carried the vote to continue fighting by a 6-5 vote. He had helped to organise anti-Treaty forces and was then forced to go on the run.

He was shot and killed by Free State forces in the Knockmealdown Mountains in south Tipperary in April 1923.

Just weeks after his death, the Civil War ended with the anti-Treaty IRA units being ordered to dump their arms.

General Lynch is buried in the Republican plot in the cemetery alongside fallen comrades Michael Fitzgerald, Daniel Shinnick, Denis O’Brien, and Michael Rouse.

The Liam Lynch commemoration in Fermoy will take place on Sunday, September 14, at noon.

A Mass will take place at St Patrick’s Church in Fermoy prior to the ceremony.