The Remains of Kevin Barry’s last cigarette
One of the iconic names that resonate with generations of Irish people from the Irish War of Independence is Kevin Barry, from County Carlow. As the song goes, “But a lad of eighteen summers, yet no one can deny, as he walked to death that morning, he proudly held his head on high”.
Kevin received his early education in Rathvilly National School in County Carlow. During the War of Independence he was a medical student in UCD. He had joined the 1st Battalion, Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers and had been involved in a number of activities in Dublin, Carlow and Wicklow.
On September 20th, he took part in a raid on the British Army in Dublin. Kevin was arrested, tried and sentenced to death. Kevin was executed on the 1st of November 1920 in Mountjoy Gaol, Dublin,
Among his possessions returned to his family from Mountjoy Gaol was the remains of the last cigarette he smoked, moments before his execution. In the 1980s, Kevin Barry junior, Kevin’s nephew, presented the cigarette, along with his wallet, to Carlow County Museum where they are on permanent display.