Kilmastulla graveyard commemoration

On Sunday next, March 26, at 2pm a commemoration service will be held in Kilmastulla graveyard in memory of Commandant-General Matthew Ryan and Commandant John Sheehy.

Matthew Ryan was born in 1893 and grew up on a small farm in Boher. Son of Con and Mary (née Powell) he had three brothers and three sisters. He attended Ballynahinch National School and worked for Tom Hogan’s Grocery in Castle Street, Nenagh, and later moved to Cork to work for Musgraves as a manager. His family was deeply involved in the Republican movement.

John Sheehy, also born 1893, grew up on the family farm in Killalane, Ballynahinch. He was the son of Michael and Nora Sheehy (née Ryan). Like Matthew, he was from a Republican household. His brother Paddy was interned in the Curragh where he spent 45 days on hunger strike. At one stage during the Civil War, Free State forces threw the Sheehy family out of their Bushfield home and for a time used it as their area headquarters.

These brave men lost their lives in Foilduff on March 27, 1923, and both are buried in close proximity of each other in Kilmastulla graveyard.

All are welcome to Sunday's commemoration.