Sacred Ireland by Jon Michael Riley Ireland1 | Page 34
O’Connel Street, Dublin. Jim Larkin was a famous trade
union leader and social activist in the years prior to the
Easter Rising of 1916. The Larkin Monument stands near
the General Post Office which was headquarters for the
Easter Rising. Much of O’Connnell St. was destroyed then,
but the GPO survived and is now a symbol of Irish Freedom.
So is the 394 ft. high Spire of Dublin, erected in 2003 on
the former site of the British Horatio Nelson Pillar. It was
destroyed by the IRA on the 50th anniversary of the Easter
Rising, March 8, 1966.
On August 22, 1922, Michael Collins, the brilliant and colorful early 20th century Irish freedom fighter,
was ambushed and killed here at Beal na mBlath (Mouth of Flowers) in County Cork. His convoy was
stopped about where the car is in this photograph. Fresh flowers can be found at this memorial every
day of the year. And on August 22nd, there is a well-attended service held around this special memorial.
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