Limerick councillor seeks to honour Sean South in his home city

FRESH calls have been made to honour IRA volunteer Sean South in the city of his birth.

At present, only a small plaque honours the man – who died following a 1957 raid on a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Co Fermanagh – outside his original home in Henry Street.

But now Sinn Fein councillor John Costelloe is to seek for there to be a more prominent monument to the soldier.

He said: “You go around the world and Sean South’s name is immortalised. For a man to come up from Limerick and take on the might of the British Empire took some guts. His name is as relevant now as it was back then. We learn from our history and mistakes, and we should honour our heroes.”

Having sought a statue on numerous occasions, Cllr Costelloe is to put a question into the next metropolitan meeting raising this again.

“Times are changing. People’s attitudes are changing and I feel now is the right time for Limerick to stand proud,” said the City North member.

Sean South is remembered by Limerick people far and wide in the track Sean South of Garryowen.

This is in spite of the fact he came from the other side of the city centre.​

Written by Limerick man Sean Costelloe to the tune of another Republican ballad Roddy McCorley, Sean South from Garryowen can frequently be heard at sporting fixtures across the county.

It was following the raid in Co Fermanagh that South died, aged only 26 or 27.

And while many consider him to be a Republican hero in Limerick – with a memorial on his passing each year – his legacy outside these borders is more mixed.​

Some suggest that the 1957 raid on the Brookeborough barracks was a terrorist act, with South considered by some to be “a well-known fascist and an anti-Semite”

Indeed, in letters to this newspaper, he appeared to promote the practice of McCarthyism against communists in the United States.

He also wrote to condemn what he felt were immoral messages in some Hollywood films, and believed the American film industry was controlled by “Jewish and Masonic executives dictating to Communist rank and file.”

Each year, Sinn Fein in Limerick hold a memorial to South near to the anniversary of his passing on January 1, 1957.

Many prominent party members have attended including former president Gerry Adams and the party's current leader Mary Lou McDonald.