Liam Mellowes was an Irish Republican Socialist and Sinn Féin politician. He was a leader of the 1916 Rising, organising the uprising in Galway. He fought bravely in the Tan war, and was elected to the first Dail. He played a pivotal role in the creation of the 1919 Democratic Programme. In fact, It was Mellowes who provided the cutting edge civil rights proposals introduced in the 1919 programme. He refused to accept the terms of the treaty with Britain, and fought against the Freestate in the civil war. Mellowes was executed by the Freestate in 1922.
Liam Mellowes was an Irish patriot, who should be remembered in the same light as Michael Collins, Padraig Pearse and James Connolly.
But that is not the case.
Liam Mellowes is the forgotten figure of Irish history. He has been airbrushed from our history books by state censors, who fear his republican socialist legacy and prefer to have his noble egalitarian ideas confined to a forgotten age.
It is obvious why Fine Gael would favour this. They are the descendants of the ones who murdered Mellowes. But why have Fianna Fail and Labour forsaken this patriot?
Maybe because they do not appreciate the values for which Liam Mellowes lived and died. Perhaps they prefer that the idea of a public representative actually caring for the people of his nation be forgotten.
Only one party proudly remembers the importance of Liam Mellowes, and adhere to his teachings. That party is Sinn Féin.
Every December, members and supporters of Wexford and Wicklow Sinn Féin gather in the small north wexford village of Castletown, where Mellowes is buried. They gather to remember and honour and great Irish patriot. They gather to reaffirm their commitment to follow in Mellowes path and to finally bring about the Ireland of equals so long desired by the people of this island.
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