Save Kickham Barracks Military Monuments

southernyell

Currently we are in the process of organising a campaign to save the monuments in Kickham Barracks Clonmel in order to preserve them for the people of Ireland, please check out our website and go to the page Kickham Barracks Monuments where you can view an Information pack about them and contact details for local authorities,TD's etc for you to voice your concern.We really need your help on this one.
http://www.stmhs.ie/

jonniebgood1

southernyell wrote: »

Currently we are in the process of organising a campaign to save the monuments in Kickham Barracks Clonmel in order to preserve them for the people of Ireland, please check out our website and go to the page Kickham Barracks Monuments where you can view an Information pack about them and contact details for local authorities,TD's etc for you to voice your concern.We really need your help on this one.
http://www.stmhs.ie/

Could you provide some more information on Kickham barracks. When was it built, what forces were based there, what role did it play in 1919-23, etc.
Also what monuments are based in the barracks?
IMO you need to generate discussion on these monuments in order to get people interested. If people are interested then they will support your campaign. Also as this is a discussion forum it would be appropriate to discuss it here. Furthermore, I am sure plenty of people on the forum would be interested.
Moderator.

southernyell

Hi jonniebgood1,
Thanks for the suggestion..below is a short history of the barracks and the monuments we are attempting to preserve.

Clonmel had been a garrison town for British troops since its surrender to Cromwell in 1650, but a permanent military barracks was not built in the town until 1780. The reason behind its construction was what seemed to be a threat of rebellion from the growing Irish Volunteer movement. In 1805 the garrison was extended with the erection of an artillery barracks, built in anticipation of an invasion by Napoleon and the 1870s saw an enlargement of the existing quarters.
World War I & the War of Independence

Victoria Barracks, named in honour of the Queen's coronation in 1837, became the regimental depot for the Royal Irish Regiment in 1882. It was at the Barracks that soldiers from the southeast were trained prior to World War I, and the town of Clonmel lost 50 of its natives from the headquarters during the struggle. During the War of Independence Clonmel was garrisoned by the Devonshire Regiment and from mid-1921, the Yorkshire & Lancashire Regiment. In February 1922 the Barracks was taken over by Commandant Dalton, commander of 5th Battalion of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the IRA.
The Barracks was renovated in 1945, and it now houses members of the 12th Infantry Battalion.

Monuments in Kickham Barracks

The Garrison Church was built in 1856. As well as providing for the spiritual needs of the garrison it also doubled as a school during the week. The soldiers' children were taught here as well as any Boy soldiers in the garrison. Most of the churches that stand in barracks in Ireland appear to have been built about this time since they are carbon copies of each other. They vary only in size depending on the size of the garrison. In the 1930s and 40s the church building in Clonmel was used by Slaters Printers. In 1956 it was re-acquired by the military and re-consecrated as a church for the Clonmel Garrison on 8th November 1956. The Stained Glass window in the church is notable, recalling both the 13th Battalion's time in the barracks after the Emergency until October 1959 and also the Confederate Wars and the Siege of Clonmel.

The memorial plaque to CS Felix Grant, the first soldier of the Irish Army to die on overseas service. The plaque was erected in 1990 and placed on the wall of the Garrison Church by the entrance door.

The Afghanistan & Egypt Cross

Erected about 1890 to commemorate 77 men of the Royal Irish Regiment who died during the Second Afghan War, the Campaign in Egypt in 1882 and the 1884-85 Nile Expedition.

The monument is of Red Granite and stands almost 8 ft tall. It's design is based on a Celtic Cross in Co. Sligo

Boer War Monument

Erected in 1908 and unveiled by the Marquess of Ormond on October 5th that year. The monument was designed by Richard Orpen, elder brother of war artist William Orpen, and built by Harrisons of Dublin. It is made from limestone quarried in Stradbally, Co. Laois and stands 15 feet high. It commemorates 110 Officers and men of the Royal Irish Regt who were killed in action, died of wounds or of disease during the Boer War.
The Bronze angel on the front panel and the ornate bronze decoration around the top were modelled and cast by Dorothy Elvery of Dublin. The three corners are topped by elliptical bronze plates depicting emblems of the Royal Irish- the Crowned Harp (Cap Badge), the Lion of Nassau, Right (Collar Badge and Battle Honour) and the Egyptian Sphinx (Battle Honour earned in Egypt 1803)
The north-east panel shows the names of those KIA or DOW. The most notable name on this panel is that of Pte John Barry from Kilkenny who won a Victoria Cross at Monument Hill, Belfast, South Africa on the night of January 7th 1901.

cruasder777

southernyell wrote: »

Currently we are in the process of organising a campaign to save the monuments in Kickham Barracks Clonmel in order to preserve them for the people of Ireland, please check out our website and go to the page Kickham Barracks Monuments where you can view an Information pack about them and contact details for local authorities,TD's etc for you to voice your concern.We really need your help on this one.
http://www.stmhs.ie/

Isnt there any govt heritage body that might be intrested ?

jonniebgood1

cruasder777 wrote: »

Isnt there any govt heritage body that might be intrested ?

There should be but it is not always the way...

jonniebgood1

It was formerly Victoria Barracks and obviously renamed.
Charles Kickham was a famous author and nationalist from Tipperary. I presume the barracks was renamed in his honour after independence. He was involved with the IRB in the mid 19th century.

He was on the editorial staff of the Irish People and later became joint editor. On 15 September 1865 the Dublin Police, directed by the Castle, took possession of the Irish People headquarters at 12 Parliament Street and seized the entire contents of the office. The few members of the staff still on the premises were arrested and others were picked up on the street or in their homes. Irish People documents revealed Kickham’s role in the Fenian conspiracy. On 11 November 1865 he was arrested with James Stephens. Nearly blind and almost completely deaf, Kickham was charged for writing ‘treasonous’ articles and for committing high treason. He was tried before Judge William Keogh and sentenced to fourteen years penal servitude. He was sent to Mountjoy prison. On 10 February 1865 he was transferred to Pentonville Prison near London. During this time his health deteriorated because of poor prison diet. On 14 May 1866 he was transferred to Portland Prison and later to the invalid prison at Woking in Surrey, where he spent the remainder of his term. He was released in 1869 with his health severely impaired and returned to Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary. Kickham was now the leading Fenian at liberty in Ireland. Following the annulment of the return of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa as MP for Tipperary, Kickham stood and polled 1,664 votes—defeated by just four votes.

In spite of his ill-health he moved to Dublin and resumed his career in the IRB. He became member of the Supreme Council in 1872 and was its first chairman until his death. He believed that the IRB must concentrate only on winning complete independence for Ireland. If it became involved with any other issue (such as land reform), it would become corrupt and lose sight of its real objective. For Kickham, an Irish Republic could be won only by a rebellion led by the IRB and the time to rebel was when Britain was involved in a major war: ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’. Unfortunately for Kickham there was no major war in the 1870s. He opposed with limited success the involvement of Fenians in the Home Rule Movement, in the New Departure, and in the Land War. He did not condone the agrarian outrages. He regarded the Land League’s ‘No Rent Manifesto’ as ‘criminal and cowardly’. In his opinion the Land League ‘was bringing communism upon the country’. He was absolutely convinced that parliamentary politics was a ‘harmful waste of time’. http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Charles_Kickham

He wrote the book 'Knocknagow' a novel about life in rural Tipperary at the time. It can be read or downloaded at this link

southernyell

Hi All,
Yes indeed there are heritage bodies etc that we have contacted, as well as local Councils, Councillors, TD's, MEPs, Regimental Associations,Military and Historical Associations, indeed just about anyone and then some.
Really at the moment we are just getting going, we have emails and letters gone looking to meet all these regulatory bodies and will step up our campaign through local and national media from the beginning of January.
We refuse to accept that the memory of these Irishmen is to be confined to the wasteheap because of cutbacks or lacksadaisical attitude on the part of bureaucracy.
Thus far we have had a British MP who was very involved in the Shot at Dawn Inquiry support us thro the British Ambassador, a Clonmel man who was a Brigadier General in the British Army and ADC to the Queen has sent emails to all the bodies named above, and while this is to commended, we need the people of Ireland and Tipperary and Kilkenny in particular to row in behind us for it is only thro public agitation that we stand a chance of preserving these monuments.
If anyone who reads these posts could download or open the pdf file on our website stmhs.ie and contact the relevant names on it this would be greatly appreciated.