Barry Murray.
As the hen harrier flitted through the heather, illuninated by the bright sunshine, on Sunday the 29th March 2026, we listened intently to the beautiful singing of ‘The Dying Rebel’ by the two McCabe sisters from Newtownbutler.
All of this created a serene, family-centred atmosphere at the newly unveiled People’s Monument at the Knocks, Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh.
The crowd that gathered reflected the living continuity of the struggle, spanning generations, from babies only months old to nonagenarians (in their 90s), each present as part of a shared history and collective memory, a reminder of the part we will continue to play in determining our future.
The monument commemorates all IRA volunteers killed in action by crown forces during the last thirty year war of national liberation. It also commemorates the many volunteers who were never known and who have since died.
However, a very central part of the monuments erection is to remember ALL of the people who assisted the Republican struggle, in Fermanagh and elsewhere, against British occupation. It is also there in solidarity with all the families who suffered loss or endured the trauma of long years visiting political prisoners; and their sons and daughters under constant threat of harassment or even death.
Inevitably, it was the women who suffered the most. In fact it is the mothers and daughters who always suffer the most brutal attacks in any wars. They have that special bond of nature and humanity with their children. They have, by extension, a deep rooted compassion for human life. And because of the female/ male division of tasks in the world they are mostly on the outside of the actual fighting but in a much more difficult and dangerous place.
In a male dominated world women and children bear the brunt of war crimes. Their trauma is seriously increased by the threat of and actual rape, during wars and genocides. Rape is, especially used as a war tactic to break the resistance. Worse than that, women and children are considered inevitable and even "acceptable " collateral damage in war. This, we are witnessing in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere.
Even in the absense of war, women are being subjected to horrendous violence and deaths in Ireland today.
The People’s Monument, therefore, recognises the suffering, endurance and trauma of those women who suffered silently throughout the thirty years of war here…and struggles before that. It speaks to the too often unacknowledged labour, sacrifice, and resilience of women in the struggle.
It affirms a fundamental truth of revolutionary politics, that without the active support and participation of the masses, and particularly of women, no genuine liberation is possible.
Therefore, the ‘People’s Monument’ asserts that resistance to imperialism is not only justified but is inseparable from the struggle against capitalism and patriarchy. It reminds us that the fight for national liberation must also be a fight for social and economic transformation.
As Mao Zedong stated, “Women hold up half the sky.” And without the liberation of women, there can be no full liberation of humanity.