A plaque will be unveiled this week at the site of the internment camp where dozens of Kerry men were detained following the Easter Rising.
37 prisoners from Kerry were interned in the Frongoch camp in Wales following the Rising in 1916.
A total of 37 Kerry prisoners were interned at Frongoch in North Wales following their court martial for involvement in the Easter Rising in 1916.
These included well-known revolutionary figures in Kerry, such as Tom McEllistrim, Billy Mullins, Dick Fitzgerald, Paddy Cahill, Denis Daly, and Timothy Ring.
The camp also held many figures who went on to play leading roles in the War of Independence, such as Richard Mulcahy, Michael Collins, WT Cosgrave, and Seán T Ó Ceallaigh.
Frongoch was later credited with unintentionally assisting the Irish cause, by providing a setting for some of the most prominent Irish revolutionaries, be it Irish Volunteers or Irish Republican Brotherhood prisoners, to come together and share ideas and training.
It became known as the ‘University of Revolution’ for this reason.
The prisoners also maintained a strong sense of Irish culture at the camp through their regular Gaelic football matches on an adjacent field, which became known as ‘Croke Park’.
Outgoing Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council, Jim Finucane, will this week visit the site of the Frongoch camp, where he will unveil a plaque dedicated to its Kerry prisoners.
It’s part of an informal ceremony at Frongoch, which will honour the Kerry men who were held at the camp in 1916 and played Gaelic football to pass the time.
The plaque, made of Valentia slate, will be unveiled at the Frongoch museum on Thursday at noon, and the event will be attended by representatives of the GAA in Kerry and Britain.
The ceremony is a joint initiative involving Kerry County Council, Kerry GAA, and the Provincial Council of the GAA in Britain.
