Historic shaving kit returns home
A small shaving kit used by Commandant Leo Murphy who died during the War of Independence has come home to Cork.
Commandant Murphy, a Ballincollig native, was shot and killed by soldiers from the Manchester Regiment during a surprise raid on a secret IRA meeting at O’Donovan’s Pub (now O’Shea’s) in Waterfall on 27 June 1921. As he lay dead at the side of the road, his pockets were searched, and the contents kept as so called ‘souvenirs of war’.
One of the items removed was a small personal shaving kit used by Murphy while on the run. It ended up in display in the Manchester Regiment Museum which recently closed, and the collection was passed to the care of the Portland Basin Museum. Last year, Cork Public Museum Curator Dan Breen contacted his counterpart in the Portland Basin Museum, Rachel Crnes about the possibility of arranging the loan of the shaving kit for display in Cork.
It will be displayed in the museum’s War of Independence exhibition, By Every Means at Our Command, alongside one of Murphy’s hats, which was previously donated to Cork Public Museum. Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy travelled to Tameside in January to receive the shaving kit.
He said: “From his early days in Na Fianna, Leo Murphy’s story was one of courage and resilience. His promotion to quarter master of the 3rd Battalion by the age of nineteen in 1920, is an indication of his leadership qualities and the high esteem in which he was held by all within the Cork IRA. Our commemoration of his life and times in our time shines a spotlight on his leadership and sacrifice.
“It also, through the Tameside Museum side, showcases why we need to keep searching for objects and documents associated with our War of Independence to make sure the full story is told. My sincere thanks to Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council for their courtesy and co-operation and to Cork Public Museum for their consistent guardianship of Cork’s past.”
The Lord Mayor and Dan Breen recently welcomed descendants of Murphy to the museum for a private viewing of the shaving kit before it went on public display.
Dan Breen said: “The return of the shaving kit to Cork brings closure to one chapter of Irish War of Independence but it highlights the complex history shared by the cities of Cork and Manchester and acknowledges the potential for future collaborations to better understand it.”