NEWKD’s Rural Men’s Group Outing:
Another great day with NEWKD’s Rural Men’s Group visiting the Clonakilty Blackpudding Factory. A great tour and some lovely samples to finish off the visit. A big thank you to all the friendly staff who made our visit so enjoyable and such great fun. A big shoutout to our driver for the day Seamus.
We also managed to take-in a few very historical sites while we were in the area – Michael Collins Ambush Site – Collins’ shooting has provoked many conspiracy theories in Ireland, and even the identity and motives of the assassin are subject to debate. Some Republicans maintain that Collins was killed by a British “plant”. Some Pro-Treaty accounts claim that de Valera ordered Collins’ assassination. Others allege that he was killed by one of his own soldiers, Jock McPeak, who defected to the Republican side with an armoured car three months after the ambush. However, historian Meda Ryan, who researched the incident exhaustively, concluded that there was no real basis for such theories. “Michael Collins was shot by a Republican, who said [on the night of the ambush], ‘I dropped one man’”. Liam Deasy, who was in command of the ambush party, said, “we all knew it was Sonny Neill’s bullet.” The gun battle, which lasted approximately 20 minutes, from 8:00 p.m. to 8:20 p.m. He was the only fatality in the action. Collins was 31 years old at the time of his death.
Michael Collins House – Michael Collins House, Clonakilty is a museum dedicated to Irish patriot and revolutionary hero, Michael Collins. Visit to learn about the “Big Fella” himself, his life story entwined with the history of the fight for Irish independence.
Ambush site at Kilmichael – The Kilmichael (Irish: Luíochán Chill Mhichíl) ambush on November 28, 1920 was a turning point in the Irish War of Independence. There, between the hours of 4:05 p.m. and 4:20 p.m., thirty-six local Irish Republican Army volunteers under the command of 23-year-old Tom Barry killed 17 members of the British state’s elite paramilitary Auxiliary Division of the RIC. The Kilmichael ambush was of great political significance as it came just a week after Bloody Sunday (1920) in Dublin and marked a profound escalation in the IRA’s guerrilla campaign.
We finished the day in The Mills End for some refreshments with some great chat and stories. Thanks to all who were able to attend and we’ll start planning for the next trip this week.
If you would like to join the group please contact Ed O’Connor – Email: edoconnor@newkd.ie Phone: (087) 7794765.
