08.05.2025
6pm Thursday 24 April 2025 - Cork Public Museum
Video Copyright Ronan McGreevy
The evening commenced with a welcome address from Daniel Breen, Curator of the Cork Public Museum, who then introduced Professor Michael B. Murphy, Chancellor of the National University of Ireland. The Chancellor remarked upon the fortuitous coming together of the event. Late last year, NUI published its First World War Roll of Honour along with selected essays on the men and women who participated in and/or contributed to the war effort. The cover image selected for the cover of the book was Fortunino Matania’s famous war painting, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue de Bois – a copy of this painting forms the centre of Cork Public Museum’s exhibition. He also stated that, as former President of University College Cork and now Chancellor of NUI, that it was privilege for him to host the event in honour of the students, graduates, and staff of UCC, and our constituent universities (Universities (University College Dublin, University of Galway, and Maynooth University) who participated in the war. He then introduced Ronan McGreevy, senior journalist with the Irish Times.
Ronan McGreevy then gave a lecture on the historical context of Fortunino Matania’s famous war painting, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue de Bois. In addition, he traced the subsequent history and acquisition of the painting itself. The painting depicts the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, formed up by companies near a roadside shrine on the Rue du Bois in France. They are receiving the sacrament of General Absolution, which is administered by the unit chaplain, Fr Francis Gleeson, on 8 May 1915, the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge. An image of this painting was used on the front cover of the recently published National University of Ireland First World War Centenary Roll of Honour and Essays edited by Ronan McGreevy and Emer Purcell. Fr Francis Gleeson featured in the Roll of Honour, and his life is explored in the book.
The lecture was followed by a response from Gerry White who shared his knowledge of the painting and the Cork men who fought in the First World War. Gerry then gave a guided tour of the new museum exhibition: The Last General Absolution: War, Loss & Memory. Gerry White is a military historian and retired member of the Irish Defence Forces,
Professor Michael B. Murphy, Chancellor of NUI, remarked:
The timely republication of the National University of Ireland’s First World War Roll of Honour and the current exhibition in Cork Public Museum centred on the Last Absolution presents us with a rare opportunity to once again honour the men and women who served in the war and contributed to the war effort.
Ronan McGreevy, journalist with the Irish Times and co-editor of the book remarked:
The Last General Absolution is one of the most recognised paintings from Irish history thought lost forever. The scene of Irish Catholic soldiers in British uniforms receiving general absolution while fighting in France speaks to the many strands of Irish history. To see it go on display in Cork is something many of us who have been fascinated by this beloved work never thought we would see.
Daniel Breen, Curator of Cork Public Museum remarked:
It is a massive honour for the museum to be able to display this wonderful and poignant painting. We are grateful to Willie and Mary Slattery for the loan of the painting which has enabled us to host interesting collaborations with Ronan McGreevy, Michael B. Murphy, Gerry White, and the NUI.
The exhibition at Cork Public Museum runs until May 24th. As part of the exhibition, one of the earliest known painted copies of the iconic Great War painting The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue de Bois will be publicly displayed for the first time. Though the painting is internationally renowned, its close connections to Cork have never been explored. This exhibition will serve to tell the background of the painting, and the lives of the men depicted in it. The exhibition is a collaboration between Cork Public Museum, the Cork Branch of the Western Front Association, Cork City Council, as well as the Dublin Diocesan Archives.
In 1919, the National University of Ireland compiled a war list of all students, graduates, and staff of University College Cork, University College Dublin, and University College Galway, who had died or served in the Great War. As part of NUI’s Decade of Centenary programme, the original honour roll is reprinted in this volume along with a collection of essays. A substantive introduction accompanied by a selection of individual personal profiles brings the men recorded in the roll to life. In addition to NUI’s list, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s Honour Roll is also reproduced along with an essay examining NUI doctors who served during the war. For the first time, a list of the chaplains from St Patrick’s College Maynooth is presented and their lives examined. NUI’s women students, graduates, and staff and the ways in which they contributed to the war effort are also explored.
For sale in good book shops, and online from Four Courts Press www.fourcourtspress.ie
Images from the evening
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