The attached photo was taken at the recent commemoration in Riverstick to mark the centenary of the death of Denis Barry.

Denis Barry, born in Riverstick in 1883 played hurling with his local team, Ballymartle, and later with Blackrock, he had a love for the Irish language and contributed to our country’s independence. He took part in the 1916 rising, was arrested during the Civil War and joined a mass hunger strike in October 1923 in protest against imprisonment without trial or charge. He died on November 20, 1923, at the Curragh Camp.

Both past pupils Shannon Forde and Emma Hurley were involved in the commemoration and the erection of a new plaque to remember the sacrifices that were made for the establishment of an Irish Republic.

Shannon Forde is a historian and the manageress of the Lusitania Museum at Old Head and Emma Hurley is currently studying History at University College Cork.