Hastings Farmhouse restoration project launching on Saturday clarechampion.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from clarechampion.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(Image Credit: Facebook/National Society of Black CPAs)
In 1929, General Wilmer F. Lucas made history as the first Black person to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York. Lucas was also the fifth Black person in the entire country to receive the CPA designation.
This time period was a pivotal moment in history, marking the beginning of the Great Depression (1929-1939) and a decade of regulatory reform. Massive stock market losses, unemployment increases, and debt challenges led to the worst economic strain during the 20th century. Despite being in the center of the market meltdown, Lucas positioned himself to create opportunities by investing in various forms of education.
This is the extraordinary story concerning the capture of General Cuthbert Lucas by the IRA and how a young student from Lackendarra, Glantane was instrumental in saving the town of Fermoy from total destruction by British forces afterwards.
Gen. Lucas was the most senior army officer ever captured by the IRA and the British Secretary of State, Winston Churchill, was aghast at such a daring capture and annoyed that such a senior army officer could expose himself to such danger. Before the centenary of the War of Independence expires it is opportune to relate the story of how events unfurled that famous day.