Taoiseach Micheál Martin became visibly emotional while visiting a Singapore prison where his uncle was held captive for three years by the Japanese Army during World War II.
Philip Finbarr Martin was freed from Changi prison in 1945 and Mr Martin toured the site on Friday which has been recreated as a museum and chapel.
Philip Martin was imprisoned for three years after the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942 while serving with the British Royal Engineers.
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The Fianna Fáil leader told local tour guide Rachel Eng how his father, Paddy Martin, believed his brother was dead and it was only until the British published names of liberated prisoners of war [POW] in newspapers that they learned he was alive.
Mr Martin said his family believe it was his uncle’s engineering skills that kept him alive because the Japanese needed people to build the death railway - a 415km Thai/Burma Railway which was constructed during Japanese Occupation.
During the railway's construction, around 90,000 Southeast Asian civilian forced labourers died, along with more than 12,000 Allied prisoners.
Mr Martin said how he was pleased to get the opportunity to visit the site and told of the emotional impact on him.
He said: “We were told many stories about how cruel and traumatic it was and how much weight they lost and so on..he was eight stone when he came out of that prison, the father would say to me.
“They had to go through extreme lengths to access food and there were all sorts of stories about them when they were out doing work they would try to bring back raw chickens and eat them raw and they ate a lot of insects to keep them alive.
“But to actually be here then and see his name on the screen is an emotional experience in itself.
“To be here physically to put context to it almost verifies it.”
Speaking to reporters in Singapore, the Taoiseach told how his father has fond memories of the return of his uncle Philip to Cork after he was freed.
He said: “They all met when Philip came home, they had a good session in Cork and there’s a lovely photograph of them in Patrick Street together.
“There were four brothers, they all went different ways.
“One fella joined the Irish Army for some reason so there’s a stubborn streak too but the other three were in the British Army.
“They were going to do great things together, form transport companies and all that but of course they went their separate ways and did different things.
“Philip later served in the Middle East and my first cousin was saying he was a football scout and sent good footballers the way of Nottingham Forest and had correspondence with the Nottingham Forest manager which I’ve seen copies of and they would discuss different players, he was a good soccer player himself.
“I spoke to Philip’s daughter over the years in terms of his experiences and they were difficult..in terms of trying to survive, mainly a lot of weight loss, the difficulties in accessing food and it was a story of many, many families, British, Australian, Irish, who got on the wrong side of the war so to speak.
“I don’t think he would have even envisaged, it was the late 30s, he would have joined.
“He was born in Cork near Collins’ Barracks.”
At the end of the tour of the museum, Mr Martin was shown his uncle’s name which has been digitised and is on display to inform visitors about the nationality and names of prisoners of war that were held at the former internment camp.
Philip Martin was one of 42 Irishmen held captive here.
The Taoiseach informed staff at the museum how he had come across another Irishman who spent time at Changi prison with his uncle while out canvassing in Cork a number of years ago.
He said: “He told me if you’re half the man your uncle is, you’re OK.”
Asked by the Irish Ambassador to Singapore, Pat Bourne, whether the man voted for him, the Taoiseach laughed and said he did.
Mr Martin was shown a number of artefacts throughout the tour which included diaries kept by prisoners and cutlery provided by the families’ of prisoners of war.
Around 850 people died while at Changi jail and food and overcrowding was a major issue with 12,000 people squeezed into the premises built for 600.
Mr Martin signed the guest book in the chapel yard which read: “Thank you for a most informative and insightful guide of Changi.
It was a most moving and emotional experience particularly to see my uncle Philip’s name on the screen.
“History and archives are so important.”
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