War exhibition opens tomorrow

A new exhibition on the War of Independence will be open to the public on Leeside tomorrow, Friday.

Cork Public Museum is delighted to announce the opening of a new exhibition focusing on the War of Independence, entitled The By Every Means at our Command exhibition will be on show at the Cork Public Museum and will be officially launched this afternoon by the Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Dan Boyle whose family were involved in the struggle for independence in Cork.

Well-known local historian and former serving member of the Irish Defence Forces, Gerry White will also say a few words to mark the occasion.

The exhibition explores how Cork city and county witnessed some of the fiercest fighting during the War of Independence using original artefacts, images, and documentation, many of which have never been on display before.

The exhibition will illustrate the roles played by the Republican and Crown forces while exploring their strategies, tactics, equipment and experiences.

It will contain uniforms, weapons and other personal objects to illustrate the realities of living, and fighting, through this war.

Daniel Breen, Curator at Cork Public Museum said: “The aim of the exhibition is to give an informative overview of how the war progressed in Cork from January 1919 until the truce on 11 July 1921.

“This was bitter war that brought fear, terror and reprisals onto the urban streets and rural roadways. The exhibition brings to life the stories of some individual men and women in Cork, as well as the events that made the county an arena in which ruthlessness, ingenuity, violence, and bravery combined to devastating effect,” he added.

The exhibition is jointly funded by Cork City Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht and Sport as part of the 2021 Decade of Commemorations programme.