The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in Korea has honoured three Columbans posthumously with Independence Hero Awards.
The honour was conferred on Irish Columbans Frs Patrick Dawson (1905-1989) and Thomas D. Ryan (1907-1971) and Australian Columban Fr Austin Sweeney (1909-1980).
In a post on social media, the Irish Ambassador to Korea, Ambassador Michelle Winthrop wrote: “Today three of our finest @IrishColumbans were posthumously awarded the Independence Hero Awards. Such a privilege to accept the honour on behalf of Fr Dawson, Fr Ryan and Fr Sweeney in a very moving ceremony. 감사합니다 to Korean Independence Heritage Foundation for this honour.”
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Kang Jung-ai announced the three as the “Independence Activists of the Month” for December 2024.
Courtesy: Embassy of Ireland, Seoul
In a press release titled: “Independence Activists of December 2024: Three Irish Catholic Priests Who Spread Hope for Independence in Jeju” the Ministry stated: “These Irish Catholic priests, who shared the truth of Japan’s wartime defeats and offered hope for independence to Koreans, are recognized for their contributions to Korea’s independence movement.”
The Patriots and Veterans Administration Agency (PVAA) said the three Columban missionaries condemned Japanese colonial rule and instilled anti-Japanese sentiment among Korean Catholics on Cheju Island.
In 1942 they were arrested by the Japanese police and sentenced to between two and five years imprisonment each.
The priests also encouraged Koreans by predicting the defeat of Japan in World War II, the PVAA added. They had served on Cheju, off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, from the 1930s.
Courtesy: Embassy of Ireland, Seoul
The priests “supported Korea’s independence in spite of persecution from the Japanese police.”
Liberation Day is celebrated annually by both North and South Korea to commemorate the end of Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula with Japan’s World War II surrender in 1945. Japan had made Korea a colony in 1910.