Béal na Bláth wha?
In the interest of fairness, Irish history is incredibly complex, intricate and detailed as even the most studious Irish people find it difficult to follow the historical narrative of our country.
We wouldn’t envy the task of any foreign publication that’s trying to communicate Ireland’s past, especially the period during the revolutionary war, but this gaffe is pretty glaring.
The War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War is a topic that still remains extremely divisive in Irish society as communities and political ideology is still split along it’s rhetoric.
Without trying to stir up a hornets nest, it’s widely held that Denis ‘Sonny’ O’Neill was the trigger-man on that infamous day in August 1922 as Michael Collins, one of Ireland’s most famous revolutionaries, passed away at the age of 31 near Béal na Bláth, Cork.
Regardless of your political leanings, we think that every Irish person can agree that he wasn’t executed at point blank range in Kilmainham Gaol (unlike James Connolly) as suggested here.
Cheers to JOE reader Alma Fox for sending this our way.
Update: The very nice staff at Air New Zealand have since been in touch with this statement apologizing for the mistake. As stated previously, we wouldn’t envy any foreign publication trying to understand the intricate details of Irish history.
This is a really nice touch from the airline:
‘The March issue of KiaOra magazine wrongly states that Michael Collins was executed at Kilmainham Jail in 1916. We apologise for any offence caused. We have spoken to the publisher of KiaOra and can confirm the magazine will print a correction and apology in its April issue.’’
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