Decision to execute Richard Barrett in reprisal for TD's murder 'so vindictive and so wrong'
Ballineen, Plaque Picture: Micheál Martin Tánaiste Honour West Martin A Cork In Barrett Of Unveiling Walsh Dick In
The government of the fledgling Irish State breeched the core founding principles of its constitution by executing four anti-Treaty republican leaders, the Tánaiste said on Sunday as he unveiled memorials in West Cork to commemorate the centenary of the reinternment of the remains of Richard (Dick) Barrett.
Born on December 17, 1889, and raised in Ballineen, Barrett, 32, was executed on December 8, 1922, along with Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, and Joe McKelvey, in reprisal for the killing of TD Seán Hales the previous day.
He was buried in the grounds of Mountjoy, but in October 1924, his body was returned to his family for reinternment in Ahiohill Cemetery in West Cork.
On Sunday, Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, unveiled a plaque at Ballineen’s Courthouse Heritage Plaza before joining Barrett’s nieces and nephew, Nuala McCarthy, Theresa McCarthy, Moira O’Sullivan, and Kevin Barrett, to unveil a bust of their uncle, by Christian Helling and Julia Gebel, nearby.
Mr Martin said Barrett’s murder was a source of great trauma and regret for a community which felt the loss of a true leader who had given them so much in his short life.
“Along with Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, and Joe McKelvey, he was a victim of people who could not understand that a State gets its authority not by shows of wild force, but through insisting that all citizens are subject to the same laws and benefit from the same rights,” he said.
“The ideal of a republic was, for him, one where the Irish people and the Irish people alone, controlled all parts of their destiny.
“When he was captured in June 1922, he was an honoured and respected leader.
He said Dick Barrett "manifestly" had nothing to do with the reprisals and murders of the recent months — both because he was in jail and because he opposed them.
“At the very moment that a constitution came into force for an Irish state, the government of that state breeched the core founding principles of that constitution.
“What’s more, the record of the Dáil shows that they knew this — with even one member of the Treaty delegation denouncing the government.”
Sunday’s event was organised by the Dick Barrett Commemoration Committee, in partnership with Cork County Council, and Ballineen and Enniskeane Tidy Towns Association.
“We set out to do justice to the memory, the ideals, the heroism, and the legacy of Dick Barrett and indeed his comrades who sacrificed so much for the freedom and liberty that we enjoy today,” said committee secretary Michael O’Mahony.
Margaret O’Donovan, secretary of the tidy towns association, said: “As custodians of the Courthouse Heritage Plaza, the association is privileged to be associated with this collaborative event.”