Letters to the Editor: Invitation to families of Irish men who died in First World War battle
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Cork Public Museum and the Cork Branch of the Western Front Association, supported by Cork City Library and Cork City and County Archives, are currently undertaking a study of the Battle of Le Pilly. The battle was centered around the village of the same name in France during the Great War.
This year marks the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Le Pilly. On October 19, 1914, the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment captured the village of Le Pilly in France. However, the battalion was unsupported on its flanks and it suffered horrendous losses during a German counterattack. Prior to the battle, the battalion had a strength of 20 officers and 884 other ranks. After the battle, its strength consisted of only one officer and 135 other ranks.
There was an Irish and a Cork involvement in the battle.
As part of this project, we hope to contact descendants or family members of the following soldiers from Cork whose remains were never recovered after the battle:
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- Private Cornelius Burke, son of Mrs Johanna Burke of 8 Bachelor’s Quay Cork;
- Private Thomas Condon, son of John and Margaret Condon, of Brough Cross, Doneraile, Co Cork;
- Lance Corporal James Duggan, Son of James and Mary Duggan, of 25 Commissioner’s Buildings, Midleton, Co Cork;
- Private David Higgins, son of the late Edward and Mary Anne Higgins, of 8 Bandon Rd, Cork;
- Private John Manning, son of Patrick and Hannah Manning, of Limerick Rd, Charleville, Co Cork;
- Private Timothy O’Leary, son of Timothy and Kate O’Leary of 16 Upper Dublin Hill, Cork;
- Private Andrew Reeves, of Hume’s Lane, Mallow, Co Cork.
If you are a family member of any of the above, or if you have information that’s relevant to the project, we would be grateful of you would contact either of us.
Israel’s massacres in Lebanon have horrified ordinary people everywhere. While governments do nothing to stop the slaughter, Israel seems intent on pulling the US into a regional war with not only Lebanon but also Iran and perhaps even Syria and Iraq.
With world attention now focused on Lebanon, Gaza continues to be pounded and the West Bank terrorised. The Israeli government is considering a plan to besiege northern Gaza, in which anyone left there after an evacuation order will be shot on sight and all supplies prevented from entering. This illegal action is under consideration because, despite Israel having decimated Gaza and having killed more than 40,000 people, the resistance continues.
Here, we must force the leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Greens — Simon Harris, (FG), Micheál Martin, (FF) and Roderic O’Gorman (Greens) — to impose sanctions on Israel, enact the Occupied Territories Bill, and ban the US military refuelling at Shannon airport en route to Tel-Aviv with armaments.
Once again, Israeli defence forces have targeted UN positions occupied by Irish and other peacekeepers, including the Unifil headquarters at Naqoura.
In view of the fact that the US and EU leadership seem to have no interest in restraining Israeli forces, and many countries continue to furnish Israel with military equipment, I suggest Ireland should now go alone and cease all trade with the state of Israel.
Ban Israeli aircraft from Irish airspace. At least until Netanyahu is forced to see sense. Benjamin Netanyahu continues to violate International law — he should and must be held accountable.
At a time when Israeli forces have fired at a watchtower used by UN peacekeepers — including Irish soldiers — in south Lebanon, it is worth reflecting on the absolute futility of Simon Harris’s trip to Washington.
What was ostensibly a trip to commemorate 100 years of Irish-US relations appears to me to be nothing more than a vanity exercise for Harris. A chance to visit the White House as Taoiseach, lest any upcoming election here result in a change of government.
However, with the opportunity having been manufactured, it was incumbent on the Taoiseach to make clear the strength of feeling of the Irish people with regard to the American support for Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
It appears however that he abjectly failed in that responsibility. Despite bleatings prior to the trip about speaking truth to power, it appears he trotted out a soporific line about the world “not doing enough” about the suffering in Gaza and Lebanon.
I hope Mr Harris got some nice photos and souvenirs from his trip, because someone may as well have got something.
Certainly the Irish people and the people of Gaza, in particular, got nothing.
It is reassuring to note that the Shannon LNG terminal development will proceed, in the light of the recent High Court decision to overturn the refusal of permission for the terminal at Tarbert.
Additionally, the Government has now realised that for all the merits of renewables, fuel supply (oil and gas) backup is essential, given that the wind does not always blow and nor does the sun always shine.
We are one of the few countries in Europe dependent on imported fossil fuels, as more than 50% of EU countries derive their energy from nuclear power.
Ireland, unfortunately, did not heed the sound advice from the engineering profession in 1978 and proceed with the construction of our own nuclear power facility. Had Ireland done so, it would not now be dependent on imported fossil fuels and thus contribute more favourably towards the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions
The issue regarding the approach and possible recruitment of members of Dáil Éireann as spies for countries such as Russia should not come as a surprise given that our intelligence services are overseen by our police force, An Garda Síochána.
How many other countries, such as Iran, China, etc, have made approaches and to whom?
I have advocated for many years for an independent intelligent service that would be separate from our police force. Our Garda Síochána should concern itself primarily with community engagement, the prevention and detection of ordinary crime, and the preservation of life.
That we have major security and defence issues that have been highlighted as infinitum, with a Government and opposition more intent on political point-scoring, calls into question the expertise, or lack of it, of those elected officials, bar two.
The Government has become complacent and lazy when it comes to internal and external security measures.
The have allowed for the possibility of foreign agents to infiltrate every
section of our public and civil service but have wilfully neglected and omitted to invest in a proper and separate intelligence service that would oversee those issues, like those of other western countries.
The slapdash approach of this and successive governments has opened the floodgates and allowed foreign agents or actors to come to this country unchecked and unchallenged.
It is time for a major overhaul of our security and intelligence agencies and bring them all under one banner.
Have we learnt nothing from past history?
Are we sleepwalking into a maelstrom of economic and security sabotage from within?