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Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council Norma Foley and Tralee MD Cllr Sam Locke laying wreaths at the WW1 Memorial in Ballymullen. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE rain stopped for a while on Sunday morning to facilitate a commemoration ceremony at the World War 1 memorial at Ballymullen.
One hundred years to the minute since the Armistice came into effect, politicians and members of the public gathered at 11am to remember the 226 people from Tralee who died during that conflict.
Tralee Municipal District Officer, Jean Foley, welcomed those present, while the first act of the ceremony fell to Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council Norma Foley and Tralee MD Cllr Sam Locke — who had a relative who fought in World War 1 — to lay wreaths at the foot of the two plaques which contain the names of the people from the town who died in the war. A minute’s silence was observed.
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Mark Bright then played The Last Post on the bugle. Sam Locke and Norma Foley recited ‘We Will Remember Them’. Cllr Foley also read out the ‘Prayer For Peace’ while Fr Tadhg Fitzgerald and Rev Jim Stephens also read prayers. The ceremony concluded with Mark Bright performing Amhrán Na bhFiann.
Michael ‘Fox’ O’Connor with a photo of himself standing at his grandfather’s grave at Ypres, at the WW1 Memorial in Ballymullen. Photo by Dermot Crean
One person who attended was Michael ‘Fox’ O’Connor, whose grandfather fought and died in World War 1.
John O’Connor from O’Connor’s Lane in Boherbee, joined the Royal Munster Fusiliers in January 1914 and was stationed at the barracks in Ballymullen before being transferred to Collins Barracks in Cork.
Like thousands of Irish men, he was sent to the trenches and died on the battlefield at Ypres in January 1917.
Michael travelled to his grave last year for a commemoration of the anniversary of that battle and brought the photo of him standing at his grandfather’s headstone to the ceremony on Sunday. Scroll down for photos…
Mark Bright plays ‘The Last Post’ at the WW1 Memorial in Ballymullen. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council Norma Foley laying a wreath at the WW1 Memorial in Ballymullen. Photo by Dermot Crean
Tralee MD Cllr Sam Locke laying a wreath at the WW1 Memorial in Ballymullen. Photo by Dermot Crean
Tralee MD officer Jean Foley addressing those present at the WW1 Memorial in Ballymullen. Photo by Dermot Crean
The ceremony concluded with Mark Bright performing Amhrán Na bhFiann?
Maybe the ceremony should have been concluded with Mark Bright performing the “Royal Anthem” as their lives (Royal Munster Fusiliers) were given in service of monarchy the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and not for the Republic of Ireland.
In fact, most Royal Munster Fusiliers were loyalists and I presume they were, as they served and supported the crown at a very pivotal moment in Irish history and as such may have viewed Amhrán Na bhFiann as no more than a rebel or traitors song.
Would performing the Amhrán Na bhFiann over a 36th (Ulster) Division Memorial be appropriate or a bit insulting? Well, this is what has been done to the Royal Munster Fusiliers Memorial in Tralee.
I think if you acknowledge the Royal Munster Fusiliers, do it the right way for them, not the wrong way for their descendants!
The ceremony should have been concluded with Mark Bright performing “Royal Anthem”.
The “Royal Anthem” is the Royal Munster Fusiliers only anthem.
A part of history we should forget about.