Tag Archives: East Clare Memorial Committee

THE East Clare Memorial Committee will begin its second century of commemoration this Easter Sunday.  The group, who have annually commemorated both the East Clare IRA and Scariff Martyrs across the last 100 years, have once again planned to remember those who fought for Irish independence.  At the East Clare Memorial Park in Tuamgraney, where the East Clare IRA and Cumann na mBan Brigades are commemorated, a wreath will be laid at 10am. This year, Chairman of the West Clare Brigade Commemoration Group, JT Larkin, will be called on to perform the ceremonial duty.  Mr Larkin will lay a wreath in honour of the West and East Clare IRA Brigades who combined in April 1921 to attack the heavily militarised town of Kilrush. In April 2021, members of the East Clare Memorial Committee travelled to West Clare to acknowledge the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Kilrush Ambush.  At the ground of Scariff Roman Catholic Church, a wreath will …

THE East Clare Memorial Committee will hold a small ceremony on June 29 to mark the centenary of the last civilian killed in the Irish War of Independence in Clare. Jim Grogan was shot dead by British forces, while he was making his way to mass in the Feakle area. The 44-year-old has been largely forgotten and the Committee are determined that they shine a light on his death and on his life. According to the historian, Dr Tomás Mac Conmara, who is Secretary of the East Clare Memorial Committee and who has researched the story over many years, Jim Grogan was an entirely innocent victim of British aggression. The British military implied in their reporting of the incident that because Jim Grogan was shot close to where a trench had been dug to impede their forces, that he was a dangerous figure. In fact, Grogan was entirely unarmed and was not of a capable disposition to do harm to …

The East Clare Memorial Committee’s annual wreath-laying ceremonies will take place in Tuamgraney and Scariff on Easter Sunday. Events take place at the East Clare Memorial Park in Tuamgraney and at Scariff Church and continue the long-standing tradition in East Clare of annually commemorating the Easter Rising and the struggle for independence over decades. This year, the ceremonies will place a special focus on the role of women in the revolution, to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Cumann na mBan in 1914. The memory of one of the county’s most active Cumann na mBan women, Nan Hogan, will be acknowledged when her relatives will lay a wreath in Tuamgraney. The memorial park in the village is the only memorial in Clare to publicly acknowledge Cumann na mBan. Nan Hogan was the O/C of the second battalion of the East Clare Brigade and was one of the most committed republicans in the county. She was interred in 1923 …

By CAROL BYRNE THE community of Feakle has laid to rest centenarian John Michael Tobin. He died last week in his 102nd year. The 101 year old from Laccaroe, Feakle died peacefully at Limerick Regional Hospital on Thursday, February 13. He was laid to rest in the local cemetery following funeral mass on Saturday at St Mary’s Church, Feakle. He lived with his son, JJ in Feakle, up to his death and he is also survived by his daughter, Martina, extended family and friends. John Michael was a post man in Feakle and a farmer. Hewas the last remaining person to have attended the funeral of the Scariff Martyrs, four men who were shot by Auxiliaries on Killaloe Bridge on November 16, 1920. John Michael attended their funeral with his mother on November 20, 1920. Each Easter Sunday, a memorial event is held to these men organised by East Clare Memorial Committee. John Michael has laid a wreath at the …