Mountmellick honours United Irishmen

On Saturday 11 June, at Graigue Cemetery, Mountmellick, County Laois, there was a considerable attendance at the Sinn Féin commemoration of the eleven United Irishmen executed by British Forces in Mountmellick in 1798. The men had been captured by crown forces after a terrible battle outside Monasterevin, after which they were brutally tortured and then hanged in Mountmellick's Wolfe Tone Street, where a monument now stands in honour of their courage and sacrifice.

Willie Brock, after whom the local Sinn Féin cumann is named, was only 18 years old when he was executed on 11 June 1798. The ceremony was held at Brock's graveside.

Cathaoirleach of Mountmellick Sinn Féin, John Nelson, chaired proceedings and Laois County Councillor and Portlaoise Town Councillor Brian Stanley delivered the main address:

He also paid tribute to two other Laois Volunteers, "Volunteer Patrick Kelly from Ballybrittas, who died on 11 June 1997 as a result of medical neglect while imprisoned in English jails, and Volunteer Michael Motley, who died tragically on the 12 June 1993.