Today, September 9, or 9/11 as it is now more universally known, we recall the loss of life resulting from the highjacking and deliberate crashing of passenger aircraft in America. The World Trade Centre, Washington D.C and Shanksville were where these tragedies unfolded. In October 2008 I visited Shanksville, long before the erection of the official memorial and was struck by the emptiness and wild silence of this place where lives ended on that September morning in 2001. This is a reposting of my thoughts and photographs from that visit.
https://thesilvervoice.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/lets-roll-flight-93-11-september-2001/
Monthly Archives: September 2014
Revisiting Shanksville on 9/11 – Let’s Roll
Filed under Ireland
Revisiting Shanksville on 9/11 – Let’s Roll
Today, September 9, or 9/11 as it is now more universally known, we recall the loss of life resulting from the highjacking and deliberate crashing of passenger aircraft in America. The World Trade Centre, Washington D.C and Shanksville were where these tragedies unfolded. In October 2008 I visited Shanksville, long before the erection of the official memorial and was struck by the emptiness and wild silence of this place where lives ended on that September morning in 2001. This is a reposting of my thoughts and photographs from that visit.
https://thesilvervoice.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/lets-roll-flight-93-11-september-2001/
From Kilfinane to Kalgoorlie
On April 27, 1926 two policemen from the special Gold Stealing Detection Unit boarded their bicycles and pedalled off to carry out surveillance on an illicit gold plant in the goldfield area of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. They were Detective-Inspector John Walsh and Detective-Sgt. Alexander Henry Pitman. On a recent trip to Australia, I happened on their graves in the Catholic section of Karrakatta Cemetery, outside Perth, Western Australia.
Grave of Detective-Insp John Joseph Walsh murdered April 1926
Grave of Detective. Sgt. Alexander Henry Pitman murdered April 1926
The monuments on these two graves are high and imposing, but as they lie very close to, and face a very high boundary hedge, it was not possible to take clear photographs of the front of the graves.
Pitman’s Grave partly concealed by foliage
These two graves are marked as part of an Historic Trail , with Walsh listed as Irish-born on the adjacent plaque. I was therefore compelled to discover more.
Alexander Henry Pitman – Image from the Karrakatta Heritage Trail Plaque
John Joseph Walsh – Image from the Karrakatta Heritage Trail Plaque
The plaque referred to a monument to the men that was originally in Perth City,at the front of the Police Headquarters building in East Perth, but had been relocated to the Police Academy at Joondalup, just minutes from my sister’s workplace on the adjacent Edith Cowan University Campus. I set about finding it, and wanted to check if I could get access to it, so I wrote to the Western Australia Police Department asking for permission to photograph the monument at the Police Academy campus,and I was thrilled to bits when permission was granted to visit and take photographs. And so, on my last full day in Australia, between torrential thundery showers, I walked across the huge parade ground towards the statue commemorating the two policemen.
The flagpoles on the Parade Ground frame the memorial to Walsh and Pitman on the far side of the water
Crossing the water feature at the Police Academy was almost surreal as I felt I was coming to a very special place.
The Memorial to Pitman and Walsh dominates this area which is dedicated to all WA Police Officers who have died in the line of duty.
The Memorial was made in Italy with funds raised from policemen all over Australia. It is of the goddess Themis, familiar to many as the ‘scales of justice statue’ usually blindfolded,holding scales aloft in one hand a sword in the other. In this case however, the ‘Justice’ figure has eyes downcast and holds the sword downwards, bearing a wreath. There is a Swan emblem on the shield,representing the black swans of Perth.
On either side of the base are beautifully worked images of Pitman and Walsh
Immediately behind the Memorial is a Remembrance Garden in memory of all Western Australian policemen who have lost their lives while on duty.
The contrast between the classically styled Pitman/Walsh memorial and the ultra modern design of the Memorial garden is quite stark, but adds to the sense of sombreness and certainly adds to the story that law enforcement people have been losing their lives across decades and generations.
The list makes sobering reading and I was struck by the high number who have died in road traffic accidents
On returning home to Ireland, I began researching the story of Walsh and Pitman, to put with the photographs I had taken in Western Australia. I was quite horrified to discover the horrible details of their deaths. Having been missing for some time, a search was mounted and following reports of a terrible stench and many flies near a mineshaft, their decapitated, dismembered and partly burned bodies were discovered 60 feet below ground. Three local men were arrested. One turned King’s Evidence and the other two, William Coulter and Philip Treffene were hanged for the double murder of Detective-Inspector John Walsh and Detective-Sgt Alexander Henry Pitman.
I was then very surprised to find that John Walsh was a native of County Limerick, Ireland, not far from where I live. He was born in Kilfinane, to Ellen nee Bourke and James Walsh on 14 February 1862. He attended Ardpatrick National School, studied medicine in University College Cork for a couple of years, but by 1881 he was in Sydney Australia where he joined the police force. He eventually arrived in Western Australia, after serving in Queensland and the north-western part of New South Wales.
This streetscape of Kilfinane may well have been familiar to the young John Walsh.
Ardpatrick is a small village just minutes from Kilfinane. Until 1861 they were in the same parish. The church in Ardpatrick dates from 1835 and is adjacent to the school. There are many original features still remaining in the school, which is now used as a community centre.
Ardpatrick National School next to the Church
The fine church bell dates from 1856, and the young John Walsh probably heard it peal on many an occasion.
Original window on Ardpatrick school
Ardpatrick schoolhouse is a protected two storey building. The boys classroom was on the upper floor, with access via stairs on the church side of the building nearest the bell.
I stood looking at this for a long time. I couldn’t help but contrast the image of a small boy who climbed these stairs to learn and who ran down them to play, passing that beautiful small window and perhaps glancing at the church bell, with the image of the gruesome, horrible way in which his life would end, thousands of miles away in Kalgoorlie.
My grateful thanks to Beth Naylor, Public Affairs Officer at Police HQ, Perth, Western Australia, for her help, courtesy and kindness in facilitating access to the Walsh-Pitman Memorial at the Police Academy Campus at Joondalup, WA
I am also indebted to the Ardpatrick Community worker (whose name I do not have) who was watering flowers,and allowed me access the school building.
Notes:
*When making this post that I noticed the shamrock embellishment on Pitman’s headstone, indicating some link with Ireland. I have been unable to prove a direct connection, but it is possible that his wife’s family was Irish. His mother -in-law, Margaret Shepherd Fitzgerald who sadly died on May 18th, 1926, only one day after her son-in -law’s funeral, was buried in the same grave. Perhaps the headstone reflects her direct link to Ireland. More research required.
References
Australian Dictionary of Biography
http://monumentaustralia.org.au
Gruesome details of the discovery and retrieval of the bodies
Filed under Emigration from Ireland, Ireland, Irish Australian, Irish Diaspora, My Travels
Postcards from Rathkeale, Co. Limerick
Rathkeale, County Limerick is a town on the road between Limerick and Kerry, just 2 minutes off the N21. The town sits on the banks of the picturesque River Deel which makes its lazy way towards the River Shannon.
The River Deel….
..passes under the bridge on the way to the Shannon
The opening of the town bypass some years ago has removed the bumper to bumper traffic that clogged the streets, and it is now possible to look at and enjoy this historic town at leisure.
The name Rathkeale is derived from the Irish Rath Gael meaning Gael’s Fort. This ancient fort was named in the Book of Rights (in Irish Leabhar na gCeart) which details rents and taxes due to the King back in the year 900.
The Holy Trinity Church dates from 1831, or possibly 1825, and was erected on the site of an earlier church. It is a very attractive building, with a lofty square tower, set in well-kept grounds.
The graveyard has some very old headstones, dating from the 1700’s. Buried here are many Palatine families who settled here in the early 1700’s, with their very distinctive family names, such as Bovenizer,Teskey, Shier, Sparling.
Some inscriptions can be seen here http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~joanne/monumental_inscriptions.htm.
Here too is the very imposing Massy Vault, built about 1800 and restored in the early 1900s.
Right beside the Holy Trinity Church is Rathkeale National School, catering for Church of Ireland children.
The old school sign in old Irish has been taken down..
A view of the town from the school
Rathkeale No.2 School
Further up the street there are some fine period houses with lovely features.
A beautiful Georgian door
A rather nice knocker
A fine bootscraper..
Another bootscraper
The town benefitted from the Andrew Carnegie library grants in the early 1900s and the refurbished library now also houses an arts centre
At the top of the street is the very impressive 19th Century Town Hall, with belltower, clock and imposing steps. It tells of a time when Rathkeale was a prominent county town.
The Old Town Hall, Rathkeale
The ruins of an Abbey founded by Gilbert Hervey for the Augustinian Canons of the Order of Arosia in the year 1280 dominate the limerick side of the town. In 1436, St. Mary the Virgin allegedly worked several miracles here. The monastery was suppressed in 1542. The ruins were lovingly restored by the local community in the 1970s and are a great asset to the town.
The town has some fine buildings…
A fine streetscape
Solid bank building
and interesting laneways…
A laneway beside the Roundhouse (which is not round!)
Stepped laneway
No parking allowed!
And interesting shop window where English Soccer Clubs and horses have parity with Virgin Marys
Shop selling Grave memorials in all shapes
Grave memorials to suit all tastes
Further down the street is a house with a plaque commemorating Séan Finn who fought in the Irish War of Independence. He was killed on March 30 1921 near Foynes, Co Limerick.
Plaque commemorating Séan Finn, who lived at this house died 30March 1921
Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church dominates the entire landscape. It is a high gothic-style structure built on a hill, with a high spire. The church dates from about 1864 with the spire having been completed in 1881.
The church interior is cathedralesque, with high ceilings, ornate pillars and stained glass windows.
The detail on the pillars is very interesting, comprising flowers of every description possibly of some significance as it is said that the bulk of the money needed to erect this church was raised abroad.
Birds of prey and flowers
A squirrel with an acorn…
one of m y favourites was this one with a beautifully executed daffodil
Stars and stripes and shamrock
Close up of Stars and Stripes
Thistles
Just down the road from the Catholic Church is the Palatine museum, housed in this beautiful cut stone railway station house that was moved stone by stone from its original location a few hundred metres away to make way for the new road. It is now the definitive centre for all things Palatine, the Palatines being a group of German people who settled in this vicinity in the 1700’s
Just alongside the Palatine Museum there is access to the Great Southern Greenway, a beautiful walking and cycling amenity following the route of the old railway line.
And finally….before you head off to the sumptuous surroundings of Rathkeale House Hotel for a cuppa to send you on your way, I hope you get a chance to see Marilyn Monroe in her iconic pose from The Seven Year Itch on the main street.
Rathkeale has become something of a hidden gem, now that it has been bypassed. It does not always get positive publicity, but there is a lot more to it than we see in reality TV shows. Whether you are a local or a passing visitor, you could easily spend 15 minutes or an hour or so here, exploring some or all of the wonderful heritage and enjoy stepping back in time to when a town like Rathkeale was in its heyday.
When I was taking these photographs I met a neighbour, Catherine O’Sullivan in the street and when I told her what I was doing she said to me: ‘I love Rathkeale’. Now I know why.
A SILVER VOICE FROM IRELAND 