1916 Commemoration in Moyglass

‘Moyglass Salutes 1916’

1916 Moyglass Commemoration Committee.

A committee formed in Moyglass to commemorate our patriots who died in 1916.

The proposals adopted were:

1. A memorial Plaque to be erected in the village.

2 A float for St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Cashel.

3. Drama's and re-enactments to be staged at public events.

The Plaque

A plaque commissioned from Louise Carroll Designs was unveiled on 15th. March in Moyglass Village.

The ceremony was opened by Matty Tynan on behalf of 1916 Moyglass Commemoration Committee.

The Schoolchildren were lead into the village by Clara Hinchey, Joss Whelan and Andy Cooney on pipes, with Robyn and Craig O’Shea on drums.

The defence forces were represented by Richard Slattery and T.J. Ryan and following the drum roll, Richard Slattery raised the Tricolour and the National Anthem was played.

Denis Ryan then raised the Fenian Flag. Both of these flags were raised at the GPO on April 24,1916.

The Tricolour was flown in 1848 by Thomas F. Meagher, who it is believed was born in Burke St. in Fethard.

At the time Ireland had lost a million people to the famine and a further million had emigrated, there was a deep division between the Catholic and Protestant communities and the Tricolour was designed with the green representing the Catholics and the orange representing the Protestants and the white to bring peace between the two communities.

This memorial was then unveiled by two school children, Evie Smyth and Luke Ryan. Father Jimmy O’Donnell blessed the memorial.
The musicians again joined in with some lovely Irish airs. Sean Ryan then read the proclamation.

The schoolchildren read their own 2016 proclamation.

Mr Michael Moroney was guest speaker. Michael a native of Drangan and is a member of the 3rd Brigade Old IRA committee.

1916 Moyglass Commemoration’s on Irish T.V.

1916 Moyglass Commemoration Event.
In this Video Extract - Sean Ryan reads the 1916 Proclamation.

1916 Moyglass Commemoration Event.
In this Video Extract - The School Children's participation is featured .

1916 Moyglass Commemoration Event.

In this Video Extract - Mr Michael Moroney speaker gives the oration.
Michael a native of Drangan and is a member of the 3rd Brigade Old IRA committee.

1916 Moyglass Commemoration Event.

In this Video Extract -Matty Tynan shares his own family connection with the rising and gave us an indication of his motivation for being involved with this solemn occasion.

1916 Moyglass Commemoration Event.
Video of Full Event.

The Float for St. Patricks Day.

The idea of the float was was to Read the proclamation in public and the raise the National Flags on the GPO.

It was agreed to produce a scaled model of the GPO.

We felt the need to properly honour the men,women and children who had made the ultimate sacrifice to secure our freedom.

Sean Tynan produced a scaled drawing with minute detail of all the features, including the pillars to the front and the statues on top.

The volunteers worked for two weeks, day and night to produce what is truly a fitting tribute to our patriots.

The attention to detail is truly remarkable.

It was greatly appreciated by the people of Moyglass when it was on show at the local community centre.

It took sixteen volunteers to load the structure on the trailer for its journey to Cashel.

The core team of Benny Tynan, Mark Tynan, Seamus Barry, Lar Fanning and Charles Mc.Carthy were on hand to finally complete the project on St. Patrick.s morning.

It was almost surreal to see the GPO moving and it really brought the rising to life in rural Ireland for the first time.

The float was surrounded by 30 locals from Moyglass, men ,women and children and created the scene that would have been in Dublin in 1916. With sound effects and lighting to portray the bombardment that the GPO suffered during the rising.

The reaction of the spectators at the parade in Cashel was truly remarkable and they showed their appreciation by clapping us all through the historic town.

Everyone involved in this tribute to our patriots got huge satisfaction from the spectators response and it was obvious that they understood the theme.

The proclamation was read in front of the viewing stand to make sure that all present understood the historic importance of the declaration of independence by the 1916 leaders and to appreciate this defining moment in Irish history that shaped the future of our country.

G.P.O. at Fethard Festival

GPO 1916 Drama / Re-enactments

The Following three dramatic sketches were written and directed by Gerry Long.

The Dualla show on Sunday 28th of August was the GPO’s eight outing.

Its robust construction is testimony to the manner of its construction that it has withstood all the travelling and the relentless attacks from the British Army.

We received a great reaction from the public for our Reenactment at Dualla Show.

Dualla Show - Web Link

Just like the real GPO it had some running repairs due mainly to hitting overhanging trees on its journey around Tipperary.

The search began in April to find a cast for reenactments and drama scenes. We had a core cast from from Cashel Parade but we needed to expand this with the addition of experienced actors if we were to achieve the expectations set by our author Gerry Long.

As word had spread that a replica of the GPO had been constructed, the invitations began rolling in and suddenly we realised that we would need at least thirty cast as the dates ran from early June to the end of August and with holidays and other commitments we would always find a group of people absent.

Our ambition was to have twenty cast for each outing.

A tractor and 35 foot trailer was necessary to transport the GPO to each event. We had to transfer the GPO from one trailer to another as the harvest season arrived and we still had more commitments to fulfil.

The next item was to purchase uniforms, costumes and sourcing of props. Replica guns and pikes had to be produced.

The fact that we were performing mostly on streets and fields made it necessary to have mobile power for P.A. for characters and sound effects. A proper sound system was vital so that the audiences could hear the actors at a distance.

Switching over the trailer.

The gathering of costumes after each performance was a must as the cast would change for the next outing. The transport of generators, costumes , Flags, Figurines and props, sound systems and sound effects to each venue was another unusual task.

We achieved our ambitions and all involved enjoyed the experiences and a hearty congratulations is due to all who participated and helped to set up the stage for each occasion.

It was a long season and the cast stuck to their task, just as the volunteers did in 1916 .

This was a huge undertaking that required a large financial outlay and voluntary labour from committee members and others.

GPO 1916 / Re-enactments visited the following locations.

Cashel St. Patricks day Parade

New Inn Festival

Killenaule Festival

Clonoulty Family Day

Moyglass Vintage Day

Clonmel I.U.N.V. A. Commemeration

Matty Tynan and his team must also be congratulated on their great re-enactment display ‘Moyglass Salutes 1916’ in the parade and by the town wall. See Fethard News report at - fethard.com