Third Tipperary Brigade Old IRA Easter Commemoration

As usual Easter Sunday was a busy day for the members of the Third Tipperary Brigade Old IRA Commemoration Committee.
In the early afternoon the annual commemoration was held in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Tipperary Town. Thirteen brave Volunteers who paid the ultimate price of their lives for our freedom await their resurrection in the republican plot there. On the central obelisk which towers over the graves is engraved the names of those who are recorded on the Brigade’s Roll of Honour.
The centrepiece of the ceremony was the oration which was delivered by the Borrisoleigh historian, John Connors. In a thoughtful speech he remarked on the wide range of political views which had been held in life by those who were interred in the graveyard. He remarked on how events of a century ago in our history compared with current events in Europe. He skilfully illustrated how there was a need for purpose to be coupled with ideology to ensure progress and improvement. He recalled how Dan Breen had been the first Republican TD to ignore the old Sinn Féin abstentionist policy when he entered Dáil Éireann. He also recalled incidents of magnanimity and generosity between the opposing sides both during and after the Civil War. There is a need to imitate the preparedness of the volunteers to make sacrifices to advance the common good. He drew some uncomfortable comparisons between dangerous, destructive, and even life-threatening circumstances in war and what’s happening in certain spheres of modern Irish life – in health, in housing etc. He ended his oration with this plea,
“To you politicians, of the present and the future, do not stand behind the system but stand beside the citizen, just like those whom we honour here today, did in darker days.”
That evening the Committee commemorated the centenary of the death of Pierse McCan, TD - the first TD to die in office – at his grave in Dualla. Also remembered were the Looby brothers and Comdt. Patrick J. Hogan, all of whom were members of the Dualla Volunteer Company. A century ago the oration was delivered by McCan’s good friend Cathal Brugha, TD, céad Cheann Comhairle Dáil Éireann. This year the oration was delivered by his grandson, Cathal MacSwiney Brugha. In a bilingual speech he remarked on several topics. Among them were McCan’s love of the Irish language, his great dedication to the welfare of his country and his iron determination to win its freedom, and his many generous and admirable qualities as a person. He reminded his listeners of the sacrifices the McCan, Looby and Hogan families had made during the War of Independence. In one memorable sentence he stated,
“More women suffered than men died during the War of Independence”.
Finally, on Easter Monday evening in the Community Hall in Holycross, members of the Commemoration Committee in conjunction with the Cabragh Wetlands Trust, hosted a cultural tribute to the volunteers of a century ago. It included music, song, drama, and dance. The music was supplied by the Derrynaflan Céilí Band, Liam O'Neill, and Gerry Neville, the songs by the Cabragh Wetlands Choir, Donie Cullen and Angela Dunne, the drama by Margaret McCormack and David McElgunn, and the dance by Polly Ryan. Five families from each of the Three Tipperary Volunteer Brigades were acknowledged and thanked for the contributions of their ancestors to the struggle for freedom a century ago. Many of them wore their relations’ IRA service medals. It was a memorable and moving event.