We paid a visit to the Cork No.1 Brigade Republican plot in St. Finbarr’s Cemetery this month. Please see the attached pics. Sorry to say that some of the headstones are in need of a cleaning, we will do this soon.
There are some 60 men of Cork 1 Brigade buried in this plot, but there are more elsewhere. We will visit them in the near future. We will also revisit this plot again and record the other Republican Volunteer Memorials there.
Tom Barry’s grave is just outside the plot. Maybe because he was not in No. 1 Brigade, he was, of course, in No. 3 Brigade. He is buried with his wife Leslie, who took part in the 1916 Rising, known then as Leslie Price.
There are 3 Cork No.1 Brigade Commandants in the plot – Donnacha Barry, Tomas MacCurtain, and Terence MacSwiney. Two of these men died on hunger strike – MacSwiney during the War of Independence and Dennis Barry during the Civil War. MacCurtain was shot dead by members of the the Royal Irish Constabulary at his home in front of his children. Both MacSwiney and MacCurtain were Commandants of Cork 1 Brigade and both were also Lord Mayors of Cork City. Barry was Commandant of the Irish Republican Police Cork. There are many other volunteers here and each is as important as the commandants.
We honour all in Cork No.1 Brigade and all the other Brigades across the country.
I understand St. Finbarr’s is also the resting place of FRANK BUSTEED (1898-1974), Vice-Commandant, 6th Battalion, 1st Cork Brigade. Is he not in this section as well? I would love to see his grave marker somehow.
Thank you for photographing all the memorials in the republican plot of St Finbarrs. My grandfather was Eamon Tierney,died December 16th 1920. We visited the grave over 2 years ago and it was good to see it again. I have never seen a photo of my grandfather or known exactly how he died, so if anyone has any information, that would be great. Thanks again.