The Last Absolution of the Munsters
THE LAST GENERAL ABSOLUTION – WAR, LOSS AND MEMORY
Commemorating the dead has always been part of the human experience but the sheer number of dead and missing during the Great War (1914-1918) necessitated new forms of public commemoration to reflect this unprecedented loss of life. Organizations like the Commonwealth War Graves Commission were formed to specially oversee the identification, burial and commemoration of those who were lost. These new forms of public remembrance included the construction of large cemeteries, memorial walls and other large-scale monuments, turning what were once battlefields into places of pilgrimage and remembrance.
At a local level, throughout Britain and Ireland, memorials to the Great War dead were erected in churches, schools, cemeteries,barracks, as well as in prominent public spaces, underlining how the war had left its mark on all classes and geographical areas. These spaces became focal points for the wider public to engage with an event that had devastated their families and communities. In the absence of a grave to visit, they also became important places for communal griefand reflection.
Commemoration could also take more personal and private forms. Within the homes of those families left behind, photographs, military medals and ‘Widow’s Penny’ plaques were kept as shrines to the loved ones they had lost. Iconicpaintings such as The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois, came to symbolise the bravery and sacrifice exemplified by those killed in the war and printed copies hung in pride of place in many homes across Cork.
On the centenary of the unveiling of Cork’s War Memorial in 1925, this exhibition will explore the origins of The Last General Absolution, the stories behind the men depicted in the painting and its connections to the city and county.
THE COMMISSION
The painting, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois, had its origins in a commission given to the artist Fortunino Matania by Jessie Louisa Rickard. She was the widow of Lieutenant Colonel Victor Rickard, commander of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, who lost his life at the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915.
Jessie Louisa Moore was born in Dublin in 1876. She was the daughter of Canon Courtney Moore, Anglican Rector, noted antiquarian and founder of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, and his wife, Jessie Mona Duff. She spent most of her youth in Mitchelstown, Co Cork. When she was eighteen years old, she wrote a series of hunting sketches that appeared in The Cork Examiner. These were followed by a hunting story, The Price of a Friend, which appeared in The Irish Times. In October 1901, Jessie married Robert Dudley Innes Ackland. Though the couple had a daughter in 1902, they divorced in 1907, causing a rift between Jessie and her father. The following year, Jessie married Victor Rickard and in 1913, the couple had a son.
After Victor Rickard was killed at Aubers Ridge Jessie published four articles on the Royal Munster Fusiliers in the journal New Ireland. Her account of the Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois on 8 May 1915 formed the basis of the painting which served as a visual memorial to her husband and his men. The articles also appeared in the British magazine, The Sphere, and in her book, The story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and Hulloch, which was published in 1918.
In 1916, Jessie married Lieutenant Colonel Tudor Fitzjohn, but the couple divorced in 1935. During her life she wrote over forty novels which were published under the name ‘Mrs Victor Rickard’. She was received into the Catholic Church in 1925, and in 1946 she came to Cork and lived in the Montenotte home of Denis Gwynn, an old friend and Professor of Modern Irish History in UCC. She died on 28 January 1963 and is buried in Rathcooney Cemetery in Cork.
THE ARTIST
Fortunino Matania was a painter, draughtsman and miniaturist who specialised in historical subjects. Born in Naples on 16 April 1881, he studied art with his father, Eduardo Matania, a leading artist for the Italian weekly, L'Illustrazione. At aged eleven, he exhibited his first work at the Naples Academy. Three years later, he followed in his father’s footsteps and was employed as an artist by L'Illustrazione. At the age of twenty, Matania moved to Paris to work with llustration Francaise. Then, in 1904, he moved to London after Clement Shorter, editor of the British illustrated magazine The Sphere, employed him to provide illustrations of news events from around the world. His pictures were frequently based on eye-witness accounts and became known for their authenticity and photorealistic quality. Two years after moving to London, Matania married Alvira di Gennario, and the couple would have two children.
Matania would produce some of his most famous work while working at The Sphere, including detailed illustrations of many different events from the Great War. To ensure these pictures had a high degree of accuracy, Matania visited the Front on several occasions in order to see the conditions experienced by military personnel. The war pictures he produced at this time, including The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue Du Bois, provide an invaluable insight into the past and form a rich visual record of the conflict.
In 1917 Matania was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. After the Great War, he focused on his main artistic passion, the reconstruction of historical scenes, covering all periods from ancient Rome to Victorian times. In addition to The Sphere, his work also appeared in other leading journals in Britain, the United States, and Italy. Towards the end of his life his work appeared in the British educational journal, Look and Learn. Fortunino Matania died in London on 8 February 1963.
The Painting
The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois, painted by the Italian artist Fortunino Matania, is one of the most iconic paintings relating to the Great War. It depicts the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, formed up by companies near a roadside shrine on the Rue du Bois in France. They are receiving the sacrament of General Absolution which is being administered by the unit chaplain, Fr Francis Gleeson, on 8 May 1915, the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge. The scene is based on eyewitness accounts gathered by Jessie Rickard, the widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Rickard, who was killed in the battle.
The painting was published in the British magazine, The Sphere, on 27 November 1916. It proved so popular that large numbers of prints were later sold by the magazine. It also appeared in the Irish publication, The Weekly Freeman's. After the war many households in Cork displayed a copy of the print to honour family members who took part in the conflict.
The fate of the original painting is unknown. One theory is that it was destroyed in the Blitz on London during the Second World War. In 1919, Alfred Robinson, of Bakewell House, Bristol, commissioned Fortunino Matania to make a copy of the painting that is on display in this exhibition. It was commissioned to celebrate the safe return of his son, Lieutenant Alfred Esmond Robinson MC and Bar, from the war.
The Battle
The Battle of Aubers Ridge, which took place on 9 May 1915, was part of a larger Allied offensive operation known as The Second Battle of Artois. This was designed to reduce the salient formed by the German Army advance into French territory in 1914.
In the winter of 1914-15, the German high command decided remain on the defensive on the Westen Front and concentrate its offensive operations against the Russian Army. The Allies decided to exploit this weakness by launching an offensive operation on the German-held salient. As part of this operation, British forces would launch an attack to capture an area of barely discernible high ground known as Aubers Ridge. This would be a difficult task as the area had flat ground with no cover for the attacking infantry, and the German trenches had been strengthened during the winter.
One unit taking part in the operation was the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, led by Lieutenant Colonel, Victor Rickard. On the afternoon of 8 May, the battalion was marching up the Rue du Bois to the front lines. Before it arrived, it halted near a roadside shrine and the battalion chaplain, Fr Francis Gleeson, administered the Sacrament of General Absolution.
At 5.00am on 9 May, British artillery opened fire on the German lines. Forty minutes later, the Munsters climbed out of their trenches and charged towards their enemy led by Colonel Rickard. As they advanced, they were met by heavy German machine-gun fire that cut through their ranks. British artillery had failed to cut the German barbed wire. Despite these obstacles, the Munsters managed to reach the German front lines trenches, but as they were not supported by units, they were soon forced to retreat. As all the other British units failed to take their objectives, the attack was called off the following day.
The Battle of Aubers Ridge was an unmitigated disaster for the British Army as it suffered 11,000 casualties (dead and wounded). That number included 398 casualties suffered by the Royal Munster Fusiliers. Among those killed in action was Lieutenant Colonel Victor Rickard.
The Story of a ‘Munster’
10142 Private Christopher Barry DCM
Christopher ’Christy’ Barry, the son of John and Mary Barry, was born on 24 December 1894 at 25 Douglas Street, Cork. His father, who made a living as a tailor, died of pneumonia in 1910, leaving his mother to raise Christy, his brother, and four sisters.
On 28 October 1913, probably for economic reasons, Christy joined the British Army in Cork. Upon enlisting, he became a member of the Royal Garrison Artillery. However, the following year, he transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers. On 13 August 1914, Christy travelled to France with the battalion. He subsequently took part in the epic rearguard action at Etreux on 27 August 1914, during the Retreat from Mons; the fighting at Zillebeke in Belgium on 12 November; and the Battle of Givenchy on 22 December. On 25 January 1915, while his unit was in the area of Givinchy, Christy displayed ‘conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty’ by carrying messages between battalion headquarters and the advanced trenches while under heavy enemy fire. He was later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for this act.
On 8 May 1915, Christy Barry was with his comrades when they received the Sacrament of General Absolution from the regimental chaplain, Fr. Francis Gleeson, on the Rue du Bois in France. The following morning, during the Battle of Aubers Ridge, he was killed in action while saving the life of Captain Maunsell Hawkes from Timoleague, Co. Cork. Today he is buried along with many of his comrades in Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery in France.
The Cork War Memorial
At the end of June 1924, members of the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen’s Club decided that the time was right to erect a memorial to the servicemen from Cork who died in the Great War. Subscriptions to fund the cost of the memorial were received from different sources including church door collections and donations from employees of Cork firms.
Once a design had been agreed, the proposal was submitted to Cork Corporation’s Public Works Committee for approval. Though a meeting of that committee held early in August 1924 voted to forward it to the city engineer, Lord Mayor Seán French stated that he would not have his name associated ‘with anything that would perpetuate the memory of England’s tyranny in Cork’. At another meeting of the committee held on 15 October, the city engineer recommended a small park at the southern end of the South Mall as the site for the memorial and the proposal was approved by six votes to five,
The proposal also ignited a war of words in The Cork Examiner. Some of Cork’s ex-servicemen wrote letters in support of the memorial, while republicans, such as Eithne MacSwiney, sister of Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney, denounced it. Passionate arguments for and against the memorial were also made at a meeting of Cork Corporation held on 24 October, but in the end, it was approved by sixteen votes to twelve.
On the morning of 17 March 1925, after attending Mass in the North Cathedral, or Morning Service in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, members of the Cork Independent Ex-Servicemen’s Club, the Cork Branch of the British Legion, and many other veterans marched from the North Cathedral to the South Mall. Hundreds of other veterans and civilians, including war widows and orphans, also gathered there. The monument was unveiled by General Standish Harrison former commander of the Royal Munster Fusiliers Regimental Depot in Tralee Co. Kerry. The inscription on the memorial honours those who ‘fell in the Great War fighting for the freedom of small nations.’
