As the 109th Anniversary of the Easter Rising approaches, an Aontú Senator Sarah O’ Reilly has spoken of her pride and respect for a family member who played a key role in Cumann na mBan during the Rebellion, and in whose honour, she will proudly wear an Easter Lily as a mark of respect to her, and to all who fought for Irish freedom.
Senator O’Reilly gives a fascinating insight into Mary Reilly nee Smith, who came to live in Bailieborough following her marriage to well-known publican Jimmy Reilly, who ran the Square Bar in Bailieborough for many years.
She says
“I’m sure that when Mary came to Bailieborough, few people suspected that the gentle and unassuming woman had risked life and limb for a cause she passionately believed in. She was only twenty years old, a slip of a thing, but with steely determination and true character. Her main job was carrying dispatches, she would collect dispatches from one safe house, place them in her bra and walk through towns and villages to another safe house and hand over the dispatches to another girl. That girl would proceed on towards a safe house in Dublin; Mary would also carry dispatches on the return journey home. She cris crossed the country, walking miles and miles and wore out shoe leather, one pair of shoes would last her a month. Mary told of wearing a long apron over her clothes to cover pots of soup she would carry to the Irish Volunteers who were in hiding or “on the run’.
“It was dangerous work, fighting an Empire; Members of Cumann na Mban worked very hard, the men could not go out in public or be seen on the open roads because if they were, they ran the risk of being shot by the Black and Tans. The women participated in gun running, message carrying and running safe houses. They faced constant raids on their homes by the Black and Tans and were often violently mistreated.
Mary often recalled those times and the things she had seen, including some savage and brutal acts of cruelty, in a bid to help her children understand why she rebelled against British Rule”.
“She told of a young widow friend of hers with several young children. The Black and Tans entered the widow’s house looking for weapons. They found none, but before they left, they ripped open a sack of flour, spread it all over the floor and walked through it to make it unusable.
She recalled a priest tied to the back of a wagon, his body dragged all the way to Navan, by the time the Black and Tans reached their destination, the priest’s head had been severed. It was a terrible time, and I have nothing but admiration for Mary and all the others who took on the might of the British Empire”
Senator O’ Reilly goes on to say.
“In recognition for the service Mary provided to Ireland’s freedom, she received a medal from the President of Ireland, Sean O’Kelly, she also received a pension, posted to her every month until she died at the age of 97.
Several government officials and representatives attended Mary’s funeral, one of the largest funerals ever seen in Bailieborough. A military guard of honour draped a tri colour over the coffin and a 21-gun salute was fired at her burial.
The first Aontú Cumann in County Cavan was set up in Bailieborough and named the Mary Reilly Cumann.
This Easter we can all pay tribute to them and focus on the ideals and objectives they fought for.
Not all those objectives have been achieved, and we need to work harder, together, to ensure that they are. Democratic Irish Independence, economic justice and to cherish all the children of the nation equally; that’s what our brave heroes called for as they struck that fateful blow for our freedom in 1916. The ideals of our wonderful men and women who took on a powerful Empire in 1916 are shared by Aontú and we are working tirelessly every day to bring them to reality”.
“All of us owe all the men and women who lit the flame for our freedom as a country our deepest gratitude. Show it by wearing the Easter Lily”.
