It’s in the right place now.

Cork Public Museum has welcomed the return to Cork of a small shaving kit used by Commandant Leo Murphy who died at the hands of Crown Forces during the War of Independence.

Commandant Murphy, a Ballincollig native, was shot and killed by soldiers from the Manchester Regiment during a surprise raid on a secret IRA meeting at O’Donovan’s Pub (now O’Shea’s) in Waterfall, on the outskirts of the city, on June 27, 1921.

As Murphy lay dead at the side of the road, his pockets were searched, and the contents were kept as ‘souvenirs of war’.

One of the items removed was a small personal shaving kit used by Murphy while on the run. It ended up on display in the Manchester Regiment Museum in the town hall of Ashton-under-Lyne, in Tameside, Greater Manchester.

The museum recently closed, and the Manchester Regiment Collection passed to the care of the Portland Basin Museum in Tameside.

Last year, Cork Public Museum Curator Dan Breen contacted his counterpart in the Portland Basin Museum, Rachel Crnes to enquire about the possibility of arranging the loan of the shaving kit for display in Cork.

Today, Lord Mayor of Cork Kieran McCarthy and museum curator, Dan Breen welcomed descendants of Walter ‘Leo’ Murphy to the museum for a private viewing of the shaving kit before it goes on public display.

It will be displayed in the museum’s War of Independence exhibition, By Every Means at Our Command, alongside one of Murphy’s hats, which was previously donated to Cork Public Museum.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy travelled to Tameside in January to officially receive the shaving kit and bring it home to Cork.

“From his early days in Na Fianna, Leo Murphy’s story was one of courage and resilience.” said The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy.

“His promotion to quartermaster of the third Battalion by the age of nineteen in 1920, is an indication of his leadership qualities and the high esteem in which he was held by all within the Cork IRA.

“Our commemoration of his life and times in our time shines a spotlight on his leadership and sacrifice”

The shaving kit can be viewed by the public at Cork Public Museum from Friday, March 15th.