A STATE funeral is set to be held for the only 1916 Easter Rising leader executed in Cork.
Thomas Kent died by firing squad on May 9 1916 after being captured following a gun battle with British soldiers and members of the Royal Irish Constabulary at his family home in Castlelyons, north Cork.
He became the only rebel leader, apart from Robert Casement, to be executed outside of Dublin after the Rising.
His remains were exhumed from the grounds of Cork Prison in June following a search led by the National Monuments Service’s archaeologist Tom Condit, who had previously been responsible for exhuming the bodies of the Forgotten 10 at Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison.
The Irish government yesterday confirmed that Kent would receive a state funeral on Friday September 18 in his native Castlelyons.
“Thomas Kent was one of many young men who, in pursuit of the goal of Irish freedom, paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Mr Kenny said the funeral would ensure that Kent would “never again [be] described as a forgotten leader of 1916”.
“Most importantly from his family’s viewpoint however, his re-interment will ensure that he will finally be at rest with his brothers and other family members in Castlelyons,” he added.
