Given he was born and spent his formative years in Anglesboro, Co. Limerick, it’s something of an anomaly the village doesn’t commemorate local IRA leader Liam Lynch (1893-1923) – all the more, since a very substantial monument stands close to his birth place in the townland of Barnagurraha.
Like most of the Irish Volunteers, Liam was inactive during the seismic events of Easter week 1916, however, soon after, he would go on to become one of the IRA’s most effective exponents of guerilla warfare. Operating mainly in County Cork, his Flying Column harrassed and harried British troops with considerable success.
Steadfast in his opposition to a treaty signed in 1921, he reluctantly fought former comrades in a short but bitter civil war that ended days after Lynch’s death near Goatenbridge, Co. Tipperary in 1923.
From what we saw last Sunday, Sinn Fein, are determined to promote Liam Lynch’s Anglesboro and Limerick credentials. The success of last weekend’s event was helped by the presence of Sinn Fein’s vice-president, Mary Lou McDonald.
Coverage in this week’s Print Edition
