Republican Sinn Féin Cork City and County

Tomás MacCurtain was murdered by the RIC during the War of Independence on the 20th March 1920. He was the Lord Mayor of Cork and a great lover of the Irish language, poetry and music. He learned to play the Bagpipes and also played the violin. He joined the Gaelic League in 1901 and later joined Fianna Éireann in 1911. He became an Irish Volunteer in 1914 and was in command of the Irish Volunteers in Cork during the Easter Rising in 1916. He later became an officer in the Irish Republican Army. The RIC Inspector who ordered his murder, Oswald Swanzy was later killed by the IRA on the 22 August 1920 in Lisburn Co. Antrim using MacCurtain's personal handgun. He is buried in St.Finbarr's Cemetary in Cork.

Posted by RSF Cork City & County on August 28, 2011 at 1:18 PM

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