ndependence Museum Kilmurry
Kilmichael Crossley Tender Wheel
When Independence Museum Kilmurry opened in 1965 one of the first accessions by the rural museum, was this distinctive rear (double) wheel from one of the two Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC) Crossley tenders attacked by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the Kilmichael Ambush. In that ambush Tom Barry’s Flying Column inflicted a telling annihilation on some 18 members of the C’ Company of the Auxiliaries (or Auxies) who had, in their short few months stationed in Macroom, intimidated and terrorised the populace in an area that was regarded before their arrival as essentially ungovernable.
The wheel had just recently been retrieved from where it had been buried forty-five years previously by 15-year-old local IRA scout John Griffin. John lived about a mile from the ambush site at Kilmichael and had buried the wheel nearby after the ambush, having decided that one day the remains of the burned out tenders would be of historic interest. As donor, John was present along with some of the veteran IRA survivors of the ambush for the presentation by General Tom Barry, O/C of Cork No. 3 Brigade Flying Column who had planned the ambush and was the Volunteer Force Commander on the day. While we also have other important artefacts connected to the ambush in our collection, it is clear from visitors that the ‘wheel’ is one of the the most anticipated attractions in the Kilmichael Ambush exhibit and one of the museum’s most popular artefacts.
In the old museum building whose corrugated iron roof and damp atmosphere were not conducive to the preservation of important historical objects, the wheel was mounted on an uncovered stand – available for all to touch and connect with a storied past. Now encased in a pristine temperature-controlled perspex shell since our re-location, we hoped that leaving the rusted metal detritus from the old museum staging of the object at the foot of the ‘wheel’, it would maintain its visceral effect on visitors – highlighting the passage of time from that fateful day and the inevitable deterioration of objects over time. It will be the collective memory of the events surrounding those objects that endures.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the Kilmichael Ambush is not lacking in the telling of its story (most controversially in the last 20 or so years!) Whatever about its historiography, there is no doubt that it was a pivotal battle in the War of Independence and action on that day engendered confidence in the locals and emboldened the IRA, setting the course for the rest of the War of Independence.
This article was featured in the autumn 2020 edition of the Archaeology Ireland Quarterly Magazine (subscriptions available) in the Museum Piece Feature
Please also note exclusive online November event to commemorate the Centenary of the Kilmichael Ambush
A 360o short documentary undertaken by Wombat Media, working with and on behalf of Cork County Council to commemorate the County Cork connections of Terence McSwiney and Tomás Mac Curtáin. This production forms part of Cork County Council’s Decade of Centenaries Commemorative Programme, developed by Cork County Council’s Commemorations Committee and supported by Cork County Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media
Cork Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney’s Hunger Strike 12th of August 1920 – 25th October 1920
After 74 days since he began his hunger strike on the day of his arrest in Cork City Hall Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison, London on the 25th October 1920.
LORD MAYOR MacSWINEY DEAD
These are the original Lawrence Telegram (Lawrence , Massachusetts) newspaper coverage, not unlike many other international newspapers 100 years ago, which kept the worldwide public informed daily on the tragic saga of the Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney’s hunger strike. Note how the coverage continued even after the death of the Lord Mayor.
Lawrence Telegram (Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA) showing the daily almost vigil-like reporting with which the world media followed the Lord Mayor’s struggle during his hunger strike in Brixton Prison.
Lawrence Telegram (Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA) showing the daily almost vigil-like reporting with which the world media followed the Lord Mayor’s struggle during his hunger strike and eventual death in Brixton Prison.
Lawrence Telegram (Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA) showing the daily almost vigil-like reporting with which the world media followed the Lord Mayor’s struggle during his hunger strike and eventual death in Brixton Prison as well as the aftermath.
Lawrence Telegram (Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA) showing the daily almost vigil-like reporting with which the world media followed the Lord Mayor’s struggle during his hunger strike and eventual death in Brixton Prison as well as the aftermath. Note also the reference here (“Friends of Irish Freedom- ATTENTION”) to the Cork deaths, also on hunger strike, of Michael Fitzgerald and Joseph Murphy.
These newspapers were very kindly donated to the Museum in 2019 and earlier this year were centerpiece in the January 2020 launch of the Cork Decade of Centenaries Programme 2020 by the then Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan in the City Hall Cork.
RTE NEWS January 2020 coverage
Professor Cathal MacSwiney Brugha, Tomás MacCurtain (grandson of Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain) and Lord Mayor John Sheehan review original US newspaper coverage of Terence MacSwiney’s hunger strike
Minister of State for Equality David Stanton,, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan, and Professor Cathal MacSwiney Brugha grandson of Terence MacSwiney at the anouncement of Cork Decade of Centenaries Programme 2020. Photograph: Gerard McCarthy
Aindrias Moynihan T.D. and Tomás MacCurtain (grandson of Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain )reviewing original US newspaper coverage of Terence MacSwiney’s hunger strike
Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Council and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage these newspapers are currently undergoing preservation off-site for eventual public display in our collection.
