Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa (1834-1915) (Source: http://www.westcorkpeople.ie/the-history-corner/the-legacy-of-odonovan-rossa/)

This weekend saw the first state commemoration of the 2016 Centenary Commemorations – the commemoration of the centenary of the funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, on 1 August 1915. The funeral – and perhaps more importantly the panegyric delivered at his graveside by Patrick Pearse, which is seen as kickstarting the new iteration of the IRB, and paving the way for Easter Rising – was the largest seen in Dublin since that of Parnell in 1891. Yet what of the coverage of the death and funeral of this persona, this connection with founders of the IRB, and in particular in his home region of West Cork? What does this tell us of how O’Donovan Rossa was viewed – albeit posthumously – amongst his people? And what does it tell us about the newspapers in his home region during a period…