History & Folklore - West Cork People

History & Folklore

The action-packed life of Dunmanway’s Fightin’ Tom

WCP Staff December, 2020

Fightin’ Tom Sweeny, a US Army General and Fenian, was born in Dunmanway town on Christmas Day two centuries ago. He now lies in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Pauline Murphy shares her research on the extraordinary life of this born survivor . Thomas William Sweeny was born in […]

History & Folklore

Remembering RIC Constable John Hodnett on the centenary of his death

WCP Staff December, 2020

RIC officer John Hodnett, a native of Ardfield Rathbarry, lost his life at the Rineen Ambush in Co Clare 100 years ago. Conor Nyhan recounts the life and death of Constable Hodnett, a story that is symbolic of so many others in the Irish War of Independence but one that […]

Shining a light on the undemocratic nature of American democracy

Kieran Doyle December, 2020

It’s all over the airwaves. There is outrage amongst the population. The incumbent president is claiming victory in the election. Hundreds of thousands pour into the streets. Civil unrest is in the air as protestors and counter protestors clash. The president, seeing he is in a vulnerable position gets the […]

History & Folklore

Burgatia Farm building preserved for future generations under GLAS grant scheme

WCP Staff December, 2020

Recently an old stone building, which is part of Burgatia Farm, Rosscarbery, dating from the 19th century, benefited from funding under the Green, Low-Carbon, GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings grant scheme, which is managed by The Heritage Council in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. After chatting […]

History & Folklore

An Irish solution to an Irish problem – lock away the secrets

Kieran Doyle November, 2020

Imagine this. It’s 1941 and despite the fact the world is plunged into the bloodiest conflict of mankind, tens of thousands of Irish men and women stream into the UK. The war economy is booming, and work is plentiful, despite the restrictions and dangers of working there. A young Irish […]

Clonakilty GP still remembered for service during Spanish flu

Mary O'Brien October, 2020

Clonakilty GP Dr Laurence O’Cleary was also the doctor at the County Home in Clonakilty when, while the Great War still raged, the Spanish flu broke out in 1918. Dr O’Cleary did his medical training at Queen’s College Cork. After graduating, he went to London where he worked as a […]

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