As the 110th Anniversary of the Easter Rising approaches, people across Cavan Monaghan are being urged to wear the Easter Lily as a mark of respect for all who fought and died for Irish freedom.
Aontú Senator Sarah O’ Reilly says.
“It is hard to overstate the profound debt of gratitude we all owe to all the men and women who ignited the spark of our nation’s freedom. Wearing the Easter Lily is a way to pay tribute to them and remind ourselves of the values and goals they pursued.
Not every goal has been reached yet, and we must work together with greater determination to fulfil them. Our heroic ancestors, who bravely challenged a powerful empire in 1916, called for Irish independence, economic fairness, and equal care for all the nation’s children. Aontú continues to share these ideals and strives tirelessly each day to make them a reality.
Senator O Reilly has a personal link to the Rising as one of her family members played a key role in Cumann na mBan during the Rebellion.
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 was later recognised for her services to Ireland’s freedom by the then President of Ireland, Sean O’Kelly, receiving a medal and 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.
Senator O’Reilly says.
“The first Aontú Cumann in County Cavan was set up in Bailieborough and named the Mary Reilly Cumann.
She was truly a remarkable woman and all the more so for the unassuming way she conducted herself and went about her business”.
“I’m sure that when Mary came to Bailieborough, few people suspected that the gentle and humble 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 he 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 had to work 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.
“This Easter we can all pay tribute to Mary and all the other remarkable and brave volunteers who made enormous sacrifices for our freedom”.
