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Ireland's sole Confederate monument at risk of removal amid U.S. uproar
[Wash Times] A local lawmaker in Galway County, Ireland is lobbying for the removal of a monument honoring a native son who fought for the Confederacy as similar tributes continue to come down across the pond in the old South and beyond.Councillor Shaun Cunniffe this week said he’ll use an upcoming municipal meeting in the town of Taum to discuss the future of a plaque commemorating Richard 'Dick' Dowling, Ireland’s only Confederate memorial, according to The Irish Post. Dowling was born near Tuam in 1837 but fled to the U.S. as a kid when his family emigrated during the Great Famine. He eventually settled in Houston, Texas, and a plaque currently inside Tuam Town Hall recognizes him as a "business and civic leader" credited with starting the Lone Star State’s first-ever oil company. The monument only hints as Dowling’s involvement as a Confederate lieutenant, however, and Mr. Cunniffe said he wants it gone given the current controversy unfolding in the U.S. surrounding similar monuments. "Having thought about it, I think it’s fair to say that even though he was a great businessman and civic leader, [he was] a successful Confederate in the army. The whole point of the Confederate war was to support slavery in the South," Mr. Cunniffetold The Journal, a Dublin-based news site. Posted by: Besoeker 2017-08-27 |
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