SNIPPET: In the summer 1998 issue of "History Ireland" published in Dublin, a special issue devoted to the 1798 Rebellion, there is a story about "The Pikeman of Tralee," by Sighle BHREATHNACH-LYNCH-Lynch, a free-lance art historian who was at the time researching a book on early 20th century sculpture which likely has been subsequently published and may be of interest to researchers. Included in the magazine article is a photo of the Pikeman of Tralee, Denny Street, unveiled in June 1939, as well as a photo of the original Pikeman, unveiled in 1905, destroyed by the Black and Tans in 1921. These photos are evidently part of the Lawrence Collection in the National Library of Ireland, Dublin. There is also photo of (to my view) a marvelous sculpture by Jerome O'CONNOR, of the Pikeman, who lost the commission due to delays because he was dissatisfied with it. Kerry's memorial to the men who fought and died for Ireland in 1798, (a full-length figure,.the pikeman striding forward, radiating a sense of purpose and defiance befitting the commemoration of an armed rebellion) commemorates not only the men of '98 but, as the panels on the elaborately designed pedestal indicate, also the risings of 1803, 1848 and 1867. Unveiled on 6 June 1939 it quickly became a permanent landmark in Tralee. Per the author, it was not the first '98 monument to be erected in Denny Street. It replaced one unveiled in 1905. Some background -- In 1901, in the climate of resurgent nationalism following the centenary celebrations of the 1798 Rebellion, the Kerry County Board of the GAA initiated a movement for the erection of a '98 memorial in Tralee. A local stonemason* was commissioned to carve the statue and plinth. The figure depicts a young pikeman, alert and at the ready. This statue remained in place until 1921 when, during the War of Independence, the Black and Tans dragged it from its pedestal and smashed it. Six years later a local committee, three of whom comprised members of the original committee, decided to replace it. Rather than hire a local stone carver, the renowned Kerry-born international sculptor, Jerome CONNOR, was invited to sculpt the replacement figure. But he delayed so long in completing the commission (being dissatisfied with his initial design) that the committee took him to court. Albert POWER, a highly regarded Dublin sculptor was subsequently called upon to complete the scheme. By June 1939 this third pikeman was ready for unveiling. Per the author, POWER's figure, in terms of its design, recalls that of CONNOR, and, as one would expect of highly-trained professionals artists, theirs are altogether more convincing representations than the original. Per sculptor POWER..."this man represents his country, the man who has lost everything. His house has been burnt, everything has been taken away from him. There is nothing remaining to him but the roots of his trees. Yet he is standing on the roots which support his claim to right and justice and faces life sure of conquering. This man is Ireland." Per the author, what is revealed here are not only POWER's own strong patriotic views, but those of the committee and others supporting the venture - a need to romanticise the past as a heroic struggle against insuperable odds. In the Ireland of the 1930s, when people were trying to put the horrors of the Civil War behind them, the glorification of past national sacrifice provided a comforting diversion from having to confront the country's less commendable contemporary blood-letting. Per the author -- On the occasion of the unveiling of the foundation stone for the first monument in 1902, Maud GONNE McBRIDE was asked to perform the ceremony. Thirty-seven years later she was back to unveil the replacement. Her speeches at both events provide an illuminating insight into the unchanging nature of her personal political aspirations, aspirations which inevitably clashed with the shifting character of political life in Ireland in the first three decades of the century. For her the necessity of fighting for Ireland's full independence was paramount, a freedom which she saw in quasi-religious terms. In the earlier speech she talks of "the holy cause of freedom" while in 1939 she argues that it is the duty of Christians to overcome the British Empire which 'represents for us the world, the flesh and the devil.' By the time of the second unveiling however the whole political climate in Ireland had changed. Independence had been granted to most of the island.! Her continued exhortation for the crowd, particularly the young, to fight for Ireland's freedom was now out of kilter with the new political reality. She chose to ignore the fact that most people, sickened by the atrocities of the Civil War, shunned the kind of violence she so ardently sought. She believed that Eamon de VALERA and his followers had betrayed republican ideals by their decision to engage in constitutional politics in the wake of the Civil War. In her address she bitterly denounced her former allies, now the leaders of the nation, accusing them of having 'succumbed to the forces of corruption of the British Empire.' Added Note: I had wondered who had designed the original Pikeman, and a lister supplied the answer: "Jean, the answer to your question (who designed the original Pikeman)in Denny Street Tralee lies below in this story from The Kerryman Newspaper of 1907." "Pikeman Monument unveiled. Despite an incessant downpour, thousands of Kerry Nationalists from all parts of the country flocked into Tralee yesterday, to participate in the interesting function of the unveiling of the splendid monument erected in Denny Street to perpetuate the memory of "the dead, who died for Ireland" The unveiling privilege was entrusted to that veteran patriot Mr. C.G. DORAN, of Queenstown, whose soul stirring address provoked continuous and enthusiastic cheering. The drenching deluge did not prevent all who arrived in town from all parts of the county from paying an early visit to the monument,, which evoked feelings of the warmest admiration from the most hoary-headed veteran as well as from the most juvenile and enthusiastic Gael. The monument, which was designed by a young Tralee man, Mr. MICHAEL REIDY, Technical Instructor under the County Council Department, is about 30 feet high, and is composed of a harmonious blend of Ballybeggan Limestone and Castleisland red marble - everything which composes pedestal and figure must be put down not only as Irish, but as Kerry products - and Kerry might well feel proud, not only of her products, but of the skill of her sons. MR. J BUNYAN, Listowel, proposed - "That we the Nationalists of Kerry Assembled as the ceremony of the unveiling of the memorial to the men who fought and fell for Ireland, earnestly declare that the principles which they represent can along create the liberty for which our people have struggled through the ages." Regards, KerryKate