March 22 - Time to honour these local heroes

As the nation has embarked on a decade of commemoration of the 1913 -1923 revolutionary period in Ireland, it is hoped that the memory of the people and events of that period will be accorded suitable recognition. The brave sacrifices made by many Irish people and the suffering of the non-combatant population are most worthy of remembrance.

My motivation in taking pen to paper on this occasion is to highlight five Limerick-born men whose deeds have been disregarded here in their native county. These men are part of a group of c. 170 Irishmen who received the Victoria Cross for “valour in the face of the enemy” while serving in the British army and navy. At this point in time it appears that no memorial or monument exists in Limerick to honour the actions of these brave men.

The Victoria Cross, which is universally recognised as the world’s pre-eminent award for gallantry, was inaugurated under royal warrant by Queen Victoria in 1856. It was considered innovative in that it could be awarded to all ranks in the British defence forces for conspicuous acts of bravery in face of the enemy.

The medal was first presented by Queen Victoria at a ceremony in Hyde Park in 1857. Among those who were awarded the inaugural medal was Knocklong man Sgt. William Coffey VC, DCM, who during the Crimean War threw live shells out of his trench, thus saving the lives of many of his comrades. Fellow Limerickman Private Joseph Bradshaw VC, from Dromkeen, also received his medal for action in the Crimean conflict, where he disabled a Russian rifle pit which had resisted all previous attempts to dislodge them.

Corporal William Nash VC gained his VC and the accompanying £10 annual annuity for rescuing wounded soldiers from behind enemy lines during the Indian Mutiny. Lieutenant Nathaniel Burslem is the only Limerick-born officer to receive the VC; he received his medal for his heroism in the Second Opium War, where he led an attack that breached the Taku Forts in China.

Limerick city born Michael J O’Rourke was the final Limerick winner of the VC; he was a private in the 7th Battalion British Columbia Regiment during World War I. Acting as a stretcher-bearer, over a period of two days, he repeatedly entered no man’s land to rescue wounded comrades, despite withering machine gun fire and being buried on occasions in mud as a result of enemy shelling.

Since the establishment of the Free State in 1922 the position of and the attitude towards Irish winners of the Victoria Cross has been at best somewhat anomalous. Association with British monarchy and their defence forces did not sit well in the fevered post independence nationalist environment and less so during our most recent ‘troubles’.

Most of Limerick’s VCs were from the poorer sections of society. Whatever political sympathies they had were overridden by a need for survival or an escape from the drudgery of cottier class existence. What is in no doubt is that these men were exceptionally brave and in this more politically mature era is it not time for Limerick people to publicly recognise this, by way of a memorial?

Seán Whitney

Hazel Hall, Monaleen, LIMERICK