UPDATED:
Seán Kelleher, secretary of the Kilmichael Historical Society, which along with the Kilmichael and Crossbarry Commemoration Committee is behind the development of the site, has denied that the auxiliaries would be commemorated.
It is rumoured that there are proposals to have commemorative plaques to the British Auxilaries and believe it or not a replica crossley tender installed at the famous Kilmichael ambusth site in Co Cork. Is this site, where men died in combat (no matter the army of service) to be a gaudy interpetive centre and Disney like theme park ? See below two letters referring to this critical situation. We have been forwarded these letters concerning same as below, if anyone can verify that this is indeed the actual case please let us know so we can clear up the matter. ,
Please see also
http://www.southernstar.ie/News/To-honour-Black-and-Tans-who-died-at-Kilmichael-08082013.htm
and also this article
UPDATED:
Seán Kelleher, secretary of the Kilmichael Historical Society, which along with the Kilmichael and Crossbarry Commemoration Committee is behind the development of the site, has denied that the auxiliaries would be commemorated.
In New Zealand we commemorate Maori War battle sites (where many Irishmen served with British Regiments and the NZ Armed Constabulary) with respectful & informative boards and murals – perhaps Ireland could do likewise to remind & educate the general public of the cultural and historical importance of these sites?
[…] rospect of Commemorative plaques to the Auxilaries at Kilmichael Ambush site | Irish Volunteers.org Irish Volunteers are having a day out in Dublin with displays and such, but trawling through their site I came across this item. Obviously (some) people either feel strongly about this, or are bandwagoning for personal advancement of some sort. Myself, I can't see the problem of expanding the site at Kilmichael to include the opposition. In years to come da yoof aren't going to have a clue what a Crossley Tender looked like, but I note that the " admin " at Irish Volunteers categorises this as turning Kilmichael into a Disney theme Park; so at least we know where his prejudices lie. Sign in or Register Now to reply […]
First I should declare I am English. I fully appreciate the concerns raised about these proposals, which now appear not to be the intention. There are some find words here and elsewhere about the importance of Kilmichael and recognising the role of the men who fought there in the cause of Irish freedom. I am afraid to say that these words run thin with me. I have visited most of the War of Independence and Civil War memorials in my 25 years of visiting Ireland. Many have deteriorated in that time, Kilmichael was damaged and strewn in litter last time I was there. You have no central record of these sites – neither through your national government or bodies like the NGA. My list of sites is more inclusive than anything I have been able to find. So anything that might help to improve such an important and iconic name should not be dismissed out of site. With the centenary fast approaching I hope the Irish people will give these memorials the respect they deserve and have sadly lacked.
Incredible! Harris, Myers et al. will make hay out of this.
The damaged psyche of the colonised Irish mind mirrors the desires of his English coloniser.
This appears to be a cynical commercial endeavor , nothing else .
It is an insult to the men and women who fought for our freedom, and should be resisted at all costs
As we honor in song and in story
The memory of Pearse and McBride
Whose names are illumined in glory
With martyrs that long since have died
Oh forget not the boys of Kilmichael
Who feared not the ice and the foe
Oh the day that they marched into battle
They laid all the Black and Tans low
On the twenty eighth day of November
The Tans left the town of Macroom
They were seated in Crossley tenders
Which brought them right into their doom
They were on the high road to Kilmichael
And never expecting to stall
‘Twas there that the boys of the column
They made a clear sweep of them all
The sun in the west it was sinking
‘Twas the eve of a cold winter’s day
When the Tans we were eagerly waiting
Sailed into the spot where we lay
And over the hill went the echo
The peal of the rifles and guns
And the smoke from their lorries bore tidings
That the boys of Kilmichael had won
The battle being over at twilight
And there in that glen so obscure
We threw down our rifles and bayonets
And made our way back to Granure
And high over Dunmanway town, my boys
They sang of the brave and the true
Of the men from Tom Barry’s bold column
Who conquered the red, white and blue
There are some who will blush at the mention
Of Connolly, Pearse and McBride
And history’s new scribes in derision
The pages of valour deny
But sure here’s to the boys who cried, Freedom!
When Ireland was nailed to the mast
And they fought with Tom Barry’s bold column
To give us our freedom at last
So forget not the boys of Kilmichael
Those brave boys both gallant and true
They fought ‘neath the green flag of Erin
And conquered the red, white and blue
Maith thú, sár amhrán.
To dishonor the bravery of our West Cork Brigade who wiped out the evil Auxie butchers at Kilmichael is an outrage.
Ireland should be up in arms to stop this lame effort to revise history.
Tom Barry and his Brigade are the only ones who deserve to be honored at Kilmichael. Maybe we need another ambush to stop this absurd, disgraceful idea.
It is with abject horror and shock I read about the proposed erection of plaques in remembrance of the murderous thugs representing the British crown that were defeated by our gallant heroes at kilmichael,
I just hope it’s some kind of sick joke that’s being floated around by some depraved misfit.
If not we must do everything in our power to stop such an obscenity.
Kevin Cross.
The proposal to basically erect a memorial to the Auxiliaries killed in the Kilmichael ambush within a short distance of the present Kilmichael Monument is a flawed, crackpot proposal and should not under any circumstances be proceded with.
To erect such a monument is to assume that both sides had an equivalence of morality in their aims. That is simply and plainly not true.
The Irish Republican Army was fighting for the freedom of Ireland. They were on the side of freedom, justice and liberty. The RIC Auxiliaries sought to suppress the wish for freedom of the Irish people and keep them in servitude to a foreign government which never cared for the freedom of the Irish people. They used all sorts of barbarity, torture and terror to enforce the writ of the British Empire.
Why anyone would want to erect a memorial to such tools of a foreign power is beyond me.
Those who propsed the erection of such a monument would seem to have little grasp of fairness or justice but they also have neglected one other small detail:
Who is going to guard this auxiliary monument around the clock, 365 days a year? …because it will need to be protected. I would predict that if it is ever erected, it will meet the same fate as Nelson did, but it will not have to wait so long. I predict that if it goes ahead, it’s lifespan will not be counted in months and I personally in the interests of morality and justice will celebrate it’s inevitable destruction.