LIMERICK City East councillor Séighin Ó Ceallaigh believes there are many unique ways to commemorate upcoming centenary events in Limerick and one of them involves the use of manhole covers.
The Sinn Fein representative was speaking after he had two motions passed by Limerick City and County Council’s Culture Committee, of which he is the Cathaoirleach.
The first motion involves the formation of a Council committee to oversee commemorative events, and the second, which was passed unanimously, will see special centenary commemorations of IRA hunger striker Robert Byrne and the Limerick Soviet that was established in the wake of his death.
‘We commemorate Robert Byrne every year at his grave in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery, not just in years ending with a 9. He went on hunger strike, taking a stand against the brutality and torture of the RIC, and was subsequently shot in his hospital bed.
“This inspired the people of Limerick, particularly workers and trade unionists to take a stand against the brutal oppression which plagued the city. They took over Limerick, and operated it as an independent state, or Soviet, for over two weeks.
“This is a largely unknown part of our local history, and it needs to be popularised, which we aim to do through culture funding,” he explained.
“I was really impressed with the manhole covers in the newly built Ros Mór estate on the Old Cork Road, which commemorate the 1916 Rising and this could be a unique way to commemorate our patriot dead.
“There is a small amount of national funding available for such commemorations and I intend to raise this idea at the next meeting of the centenary committee”.
