A bird's eye view of the vineyard
Making sense of the Paris summit: a quick analysis Tue Dec 10, 2019 03:37 | The Saker The first thing we need to do is the remember what each participant wanted from this summit. Here is a summary of what I think (not how they officially stated
Exceeded expectations: the Turks tested the S-400 Tue Dec 10, 2019 03:10 | Scott Russian S-400s tested in Turkey Translated by Scott Hunor Source: Gazeta.ru https://www.gazeta.ru/army/... The Turks counted on the high combat qualities of the Russian s-400 anti-aircraft missile system and the complexes
Moveable Feast Cafe 2019/12/09 ? Open Thread Mon Dec 09, 2019 20:00 | Herb Swanson 2019/12/09 20:00:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
What really happened in Iran? Mon Dec 09, 2019 18:36 | amarynth By Pepe Escobar – posted with permission A fuel tax hike set the country ablaze and triggered a social backlash On November 15, a wave of protests engulfed over 100
Operation Condor 2.0 ? Expanded Mon Dec 09, 2019 18:01 | The Saker by Peter Koenig for the Saker Blog According to US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, the US will help ?legitimate governments? in Latin America, in order to prevent protests from The Saker >>
A Blog About Human Rights
Latest Updates Thu Nov 21, 2019 20:32 | Human Rights
US Holds China To Account For Human Rights Violations Sun Oct 13, 2019 19:12 | Human Rights
UN Human Rights Council Should Address Human Rights Crisis in Cambodia Sat Aug 31, 2019 13:41 | Human Rights
Fijian women still face Human Rights violations Mon Aug 26, 2019 18:49 | Human Rights
Saudi Human Rights Violation Fri Aug 09, 2019 20:41 | Human Rights Human Rights in Ireland >>
For lefties too stubborn to quit
Immigration as an election issue: Off the agenda, for now? 10:42 Tue Dec 10, 2019 | WorldbyStorm
At any other time an election game changer? but now? 07:51 Tue Dec 10, 2019 | WorldbyStorm
That British election, Brexit and myths about the EU. 06:15 Tue Dec 10, 2019 | WorldbyStorm
1989 Revisited: December 1989 removal of leading role of Bulgarian Communist Party 13:43 Mon Dec 09, 2019 | WorldbyStorm
Education news! 11:35 Mon Dec 09, 2019 | WorldbyStorm Cedar Lounge >>
Life should be full of strangeness, like a rich painting
Some Thoughts on the Brexit Joint Report 11:50 Sat Dec 09, 2017
IRISH COMMONWEALTH: TRADE UNIONS AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE 21ST CENTURY 14:06 Sat Nov 18, 2017
Notes for a Book on Money and the Irish State - The Marshall Aid Program 15:10 Sat Apr 02, 2016
The Financial Crisis:What Have We Learnt? 19:58 Sat Aug 29, 2015
Money in 35,000 Words or Less 21:34 Sat Aug 22, 2015 Dublin Opinion >>
|
Search words: bodenstown
National - Event Notice Sunday June 18 2006 01:00 AM Annual Wolfetone Commemoration in bodenstown!
national |
miscellaneous |
event notice
Wednesday June 14, 2006 16:32 by Ógra B - Ógra Shinn Féin osf6county at yahoo dot com

Annual Wolfetone Commemoration
bodenstown, County Kildare
Main Speaker: Gerry Kelly MLA
Assemble @ 2pm
Sallins, County Kildare
 Wolfetone, leader of the United Irishmen! bodenstown
"What's bodenstown?" a young Sinn Féin activist recently asked me. In times gone by the question would have been slightly alarming. "How could you not know that?" might have been the response. For years bodenstown was the main national gathering of republicans and the occasion of the keynote political message of the year. It has long been eclipsed by the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis and other events but this year the re-constituted Coiste Chuimhneachán Náisiúnta of Sinn Féin is asking republicans to turn the event into a national mobilisation once again.
For the geographically challenged, bodenstown is near the village of Sallins, County Kildare. For the historically challenged it is the last resting place of Theobald Wolfe Tone, founder of the United Irishmen and the first leading light of Irish Republicanism. Tone was a Dubliner but his family had Kildare connections and after his death in British custody in Dublin in 1798 it is believed he was buried in the small graveyard at bodenstown, beside the tumbledown remains of the old church.
It is not known precisely when the annual Republican 'pilgrimage' to bodenstown began. It must have been visited in a semi-organised way as early as the 1840s because Thomas Davis (died 1845) wrote one of his most famous songs about it: "In bodenstown Churchyard there is a green grave..." The centenary of the 1798 Rising in 1898 saw commemorations in bodenstown, including one organised by the '98 Rank and File Committee and at which the orator was James Connolly.
Last year we marked the centenary of the founding of Sinn Féin but the followers of Wolfe Tone were few and far between in 1905. A Royal Irish Constabulary report of the bodenstown commemoration that year, still preserved in the British records in London, states that there were only about 80 people present, showing "the failure of treasonable or revolutionary demonstrations in Ireland at the present day".
By 1913 things were looking up. Large crowds marched to Wolfe Tone's grave. The ceremony was chaired by veteran Fenian Tom Clarke and the oration was given by Pádraig Pearse. He described Tone's grave as the "holiest spot in Ireland" because Tone was "the greatest of Irishmen". bodenstown 1914 was the first occasion on which Óglaigh na hÉireann (Irish Volunteers) and the Irish Citizen Army marched together. Jim Larkin was present. This was in the wake of the Great Lockout and Larkin was cheered by the crowds, showing the solidarity between Republicans and the Labour movement.
One of the best known photographs of bodenstown shows Liam Mellows delivering the oration in 1922. Within days of the commemoration the IRA occupied the Four Courts, the bombardment of which by the Free State government commenced the Civil War.
The Cosgrave government banned the commemoration in 1931 but the ban was defied and 10,000 people took part, including IRA units from most of the 32 Counties. There was even a contingent from Fianna Fáil. But five years later the Fianna Fáil government itself banned the parade and the commemoration took the form of a meeting near Sallins attended mainly by leading republican women, including Hannah Sheehy Skeffington who gave a speech.
In the 70 years since then crowds at bodenstown have ebbed and flowed with the fortunes of republicanism. The huge crowds of the early '30s were replicated in the '70s and early '80s, with large numbers from the Six Counties. It is fair to say that in recent years attendances have not properly reflected the growing national strength of Sinn Féin, with the crowds mainly drawn from Leinster. 2006 is the year to put that right and all areas are encouraged to organise now for Sunday 18 June.
See you at bodenstown.
Gerry Kelly to address bodenstown 2006
The 25th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike will form the theme of this year's bodenstown Commemoration. The main speaker is Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle member and North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly.
Republican former POWs will form the main Colour Party for the parade to bodenstown and are asked to attend wearing black trousers, white shirt and black tie. All republican former POWs interested in participating should contact Olive Sloan at 44 Parnell Square or their local ex-prisoners' group.
All areas are asked to mobilise for this year's event and Coiste Chuimhneachán Náisiúnta requests all Sinn Féin Cuigí to set up commemoration committees for their region, appointing one person in the area to liase with the National Committee.
Areas should contact Ard Oifig with names and contact details of republicans in their area who may not be tied into party structures or ex-prisoner groups, particularly older people. Such individuals can then be invited by the National Committee to attend bodenstown and provisions made in terms of food, seating and transport.
The annual bands competition will again take place at this year's commemoration and participating bands are asked to register in advance by contacting Olive at 44 Parnell Square. The commemoration ceremony will feature readings from the writings of Bobby Sands. A special issue pamphlet on the theme of republicanism's unbroken connection will be distributed on the day.
 Crowds March in Bodenstown!
|
View Full Comment Text
save preference
Comments (10 of 10)