Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty was an Irish Catholic priest who ran an underground escape line and maintained a network of safe houses in Rome during World War II. Over 6,500 people were saved through the efforts of the network, with almost 4,000 in their care at the liberation of Rome in 1944. It was the Monsignor's intrigue and ability to evade arrest that earned him the nickname the "Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican".
Hugh's mother went home to Cork for his birth, before returning to Kerry where he grew up. He attended the local presentation brothers school ("The Mon") before going to college in Limerick under the patronage of the Bishop of Cape Town. He was posted to Rome in 1922 and served as a Vatican diplomat in Egypt, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Czechoslovakia. The below photo was taken in Haiti.
When Mussolini was removed from power in 1943, thousands of Allied POWs were released. Following the subsequent German occupation of Italy, they were in immediate danger of recapture. Some of them, remembering visits to POW camps by O'Flaherty, reached out to Rome and asked him for help.
O'Flaherty did not wait for permission from his superiors but set about recruiting aides for a support network, including the British POW escapee Major Sam Derry. When outside the Vatican, O'Flaherty wore various disguises, giving rise to his nickname as the "Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican".
SS arrest efforts and assassination attempts against him failed, and he prudently began to meet his network contacts on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica. Herbert Kappler, head of the SS in Rome, ordered a white line be painted on the pavement at the edge of St. Peter's Square (signifying the border between neutral Vatican City and Italy), stating that the priest would be shot and killed if and when he crossed it.
Following the war O'Flaherty regularly visited his old nemesis in prison, being his only visitor. In 1949, Kappler converted to Catholicism and was baptised by the Monsignor.
Following a stroke, Hugh O'Flaherty returned to Kerry, where he died in 1963. He is the subject of various works including the 1983 movie "The Scarlet and The Black" and the one man play "God Has No Country" by the late Killarney playwright Donal Courtney.
He witnessed occupation first hand growing up in Ireland but his love and compassion embraced all, irrespective of race or creed. Hence as he would say: “God Has No Country”.
Among some of the memorials to his legacy, there is a tree is planted in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and a grove of trees in Killarney National Park.
Stage 1 - Mural
There is a plaque beside this giant 2013 mural about the naming of the road. Note the date on the plaque. Now calculate DAY - MONTH (subtract). Let this answer be "A".
Stage 2 - School
This is "The Mon" where he went to school. On top of the small wall (directly in front of the slate sculpture) is an inscription. The plaque marks which anniversary of the school. Let the digital root = "B". (e.g. 186th anniversary = 1+8+6 = 15 = 1+5 = 6)
Stage 3 - Statue
A bronze statue capturing the energetic Monsignor in full flow.
On the plaque headed "Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty Memorial" the date of unveiling is shown.
Let the Day = "C" and the Month = "D". Ignore the year.
Final Stage (BYOP):
Cache is located at
N 52° 03.4B1 W 009° C.9[A+B+D]
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