Updated 9.17pm
THE STATE FUNERAL of Thomas Kent, one of only two men to be executed (Roger Casement being the other) outside Dublin following the Easter Rising in 1916, will take place tomorrow afternoon in Kent’s home county of Cork.
Kent’s remains arrived this afternoon at Collins Barracks in Cork City.
The body will lie in repose at the barracks overnight with a ceremonial guard.
The barracks and chapel is open to allow the public to pay their respects. Local media report that three of his nieces were present this evening.
‘Thousands’ of people have turned out to file past the coffin, according to the Evening Echo.
The state funeral itself will take place in Kent’s hometown of Castlelyons at St Nicholas’ Church from 1.45 pm tomorrow afternoon. RTE will be televising the ceremony (which will be attended by the President, Taoiseach and Tánaiste) live from 1.30pm. The ceremony itself will be celebrated by Bishop of Cloyne William Crean.
The re-interment ceremony which follows will feature all key elements of a state funeral including a military firing party rendering honours, the Last Post and Reveille bugle calls, and the National Anthem.
Kent’s remains were discovered in Cork Prison earlier this year and were subsequently verified via DNA testing as being his.
Often referred to as the “forgotten patriot”, Kent and his brothers were among the nationalists who stayed at home after Irish Volunteers leader Eoin MacNeill countermanded orders to stage the rising on Easter Sunday 1916. The rising eventually proceeded the following day, Easter Monday.
He was arrested on 2 May 1916 at his family home and executed aged 52 following court martial on 9 May. His brother William was also tried but was acquitted.
Following the offer of a state funeral being accepted by Kent’s family the Taoiseach said that the funeral “will ensure that Thomas Kent is never again described as a forgotten leader of 1916″.
In July it emerged that local councillors in Castlelyons were hoping to have a bridge in Fermoy named after Kent.
A famous picture exists of Kent and his brother David being led across the bridge en route to his execution.
Originally published 10.32am
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