IT’S ALL ABOUT naming things in Ireland today with a famous bridge and a new ship set to be given some very prestigious titles.
In Fermoy, Cork, a famous bridge over the River Blackwater looks set to be named for Thomas Kent, the only man outside of Dublin who was executed following the 1916 Easter Rising.
A famous picture exists of Kent, along with his brother David, being led across the same bridge en route to his execution.
The local Castlelyons (from where Kent hailed) 1916 Commemoration Committee have made a submission to local council that the bridge be renamed for the long-dead patriot, whose remains were believed to have been discovered in Cork Prison recently.
Local Sinn Féin councillor June Murphy told TheJournal.ie that she thinks renaming the bridge would be “a lovely way to commemorate his name”.
“I can’t tell you whether or not it will happen, but it has all the councillors backing for sure,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Defence Forces’ newest ship is to continue their recent trend of being named for a famous literary figure.
The LÉ William Butler Yeats, the third new ship for the Naval Service, will follow hard in the boatsteps of the LÉs James Joyce and Samuel Beckett as it represents Ireland on the seas.
The ship is scheduled for delivery in July 2016 and will be an identical build to its sister ships.
The Samuel Beckett was delivered in 2014 while the James Joyce arrived at base for the first time at Haulbowline last Friday.
The commission of the LÉ William Butler Yeats was announced by Minister for Defence Simon Coveney who said the literary naming of the ship will mean “greater recognition of our Naval Service ships when visiting foreign ports” and that it was “very appropriate to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of W.B. Yeats by making this announcement”.
The naming continues a strong link between W.B. Yeats and Irish Naval Service as the first foreign mission by an Irish Naval Service ship, LÉ Macha, in 1948 was to repatriate the poet’s remains to Ireland following his passing in France.
It has been a hectic few months for the Irish Naval Service, with the William Butler Yeats’ sister ship the LÉ Eithne being deployed constantly to help deal with a migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.
Over the last two months the ship has rescued almost 4,000 people as they try to make their way to Europe by sea.
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