On Tuesday, the 15th of March 2022, local historian and past student, Shannon Forde, gave a very insightful and interesting presentation to our senior cycle History students to coincide with History Week.

Shannon Forde spoke on the topic of the War of Independence in Kinsale. She emphasised the importance of research and telling the stories of our ancestors from the past, keeping their memories alive and their contributions to history alive. Her book, entitled ‘Don’t Forget Me Now - Stories from the War of Independence’ was inspired by her own great-grandmother, Margaret Forde, and her contributions to the Ballinhassig Cumann na mBan and her work as the secretary of the Dunderrow ‘squad’ of Cumann na mBan. She discovered that it took Margaret Forde over twenty years to receive a military pension. She also highlighted to the students the small generational gap between her great-grandmother and our current generation of students.

Her research into her own family history spread to the lives of others and cultivated into a collective research around the lives of people and families in the Kinsale and surrounding areas, who made extraordinary contributions to the War of Independence.

Her recently published book ‘Don’t Forget Me Now - Stories from the War of Independence’ is now available in local bookshops. Highly recommended for the people of Kinsale and surrounding parishes.