Martyrdom has been an essential element in the Irish republican sense of itself for centuries. At it's most basic, this martyrdom stems even from legend. Chuchulain,

the most romantic and impressive of Ireland's legendary heroes,

gave his life in a forlorn defence of Ulster, a sacrifice remembered both in story and statue:

There was a pillar-stone west of the lake, and his eye lit on it, and he went to the pillar-stone, and he tied himself to it with his breast-belt, the way he would not meet his death lying down, but would meet it standing up. Then his enemies came round about him, but they were in dread of going close to him, for they were not sure but he might be still alive.1

HistoryJournal.ie has sourced features pieces on three of the martyrs from a much more modern conflict, the War of Independence. Each of them represents a different story, each as interesting as the other.

The first of these is Sean Treacy, a man who seemed to epitomise the "man of action". He was a contemporary of Dan Breen, whose memoir of the War of Independence, My Fight for Irish Freedom, has become a classic, and fought in a number of actions including the action that began the War of Independence, Soloheadbeg. His death, in a shoot-out on a Dublin street that left two of his assailants dead too, was in line with his experience as a fighter. Joe Ambrose, author of Sean Treacy and the Tan War has written a new piece of Treacy to bring into focus the man and his life.

Terence MacSwiney's story is markedly different from Treacy. Whereas Treacy was an unabashedly man of action, MacSwiney was more cerebral and was involved in journalism and other writing. He also founded the Celtic Literary Society and The Cork Dramatic Society. His death came after 74 days of hunger strike. He was the second Mayor of Cork to die in office in 1920.

Kevin Barry has been a symbol of tragic youth as well as martyrdom since his early death on 1st November 1920. he was executed by the British Crown Forces for his involvement in an raid that had killed two soldiers. His story is intimately bound up with the story of the Forgotten Ten, men who were executed during the war of independence and subsequently reinterned by the Irish State in 2001. HistoryJournal.ie has talked to Historian and Heritage Office in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Tim Carey, who wrote the book Hanged For Ireland about what motivated Barry and why he, above all the rest has been remembered by history.

We have also created a poll in the forum which we hope will spark some discussion and debate and we welcome all your comments and thoughts. We hope you enjoy this series and the ones to come in the next few months.

Eoin
Site Editor

Photograph © Flickr user PPCC Antifa