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Book honours 'the unknown commandant'
A BOOK celebrating a Civil War soldier is being launched in Kilkenny this evening (Wednesday).
Kilkenny senior hurling manager Brian Cody will be in James Stephens GAA Club to honour Commandant Denis Barry, the author’s uncle and subject of the book, at 8.30pm. The Unknown Commandant – The Life and Times of Denis Barry 1883–1923, by Denis Barry, has a foreword by Cathal MacSwiney Brugha.
The Irish War of Independence and subsequent Civil War wreaked havoc. The Civil War, in particular, ripped communities apart as neighbour was pitted against neighbour and brother against brother. The bitterness of this time was shown in the official reluctance to acknowledge the sacrifices of those who died for Irish freedom. One such person was Commandant Denis Barry.
This has now been rectified by Denis’ nephew – also named Denis – who has gathered family papers, national and local newspapers of the day and other authentic documents to rescue his uncle from relative anonymity.
Born in Ballymartle in Co Cork, Denis Barry toiled in the shadows of Terence MacSwiney and Toms MacCurtain in the tumultuous Irish War of Independence. A brave soldier, patriot and sportsman, he played hurling with Blackrock in Cork, and when Blackrock won the first four-in-a-row from 1910 to 1913, Denis was selected to play with each team. He also played football with Lees, a team representing drapers’ trade assistants employed in Cork City. Denis left Cork for Kilkenny in April 1915 to take up a lucrative position with Duggan’s ‘The Monster House’ drapers and soon became one of the chief organisers of the Irish Volunteers in that city.
Hunger strike ended his life at the Curragh Military Prison in 1923, and controversy surrounded his death when the government refused to release the body to his grieving family. In size and tone, his funeral cortege was similar to those that marked the burials of MacCurtain and MacSwiney and, in more peaceful times, of Christy Ring and Jack Lynch but the then Bishop Daniel Cohalan refused to allow Denis’ remains to be brought into any church in the diocese or to allow any priests to officiate at the funeral.
Eighty-six years later, on December 4, 2009, the Department of Defence awarded a posthumous service medal to Commandant Denis Barry for service from 1917 to 1921.
Denis Barry is a retired industrial manager who always had a keen interest in politics, history and sport. A nephew of the book’s
subject, he is passionate about the largely forgotten history of many of our patriots. This project began innocently enough in a graveyard, and turned into a labour of love.
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Weather for Kilkenny
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 4 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
