Margaret O’Connell (née Walsh) (b. 1917)

The four year old girl was playing happily with her siblings in the sandpit beside her home in Cappoquin, when a group of men dressed in black ran into the yard, shouting and waving their guns. The children cowered in terror as the Black and Tans ordered the family to get out of the house and stand in line against a wall. Margaret Walsh recalls being lifted up by her distraught mother and being brought to stand with the other family members. They were threatened with being shot in what was a mock execution in reprisal for Republican activity in the area. This memory is seared into the brain of Margaret O’Connell as she is recorded at her home in Mallow 87 years later. She has lived in Mallow for the greater part of her life, and here she recalls the fair days in the town on the first Thursday of each month. She discusses the old street names and the people of the town and their various occupations.