Newsletter No. 22 Summer 2016 Upcoming Events and Lectures Contents the Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna

Oranmore Castle by Daniel Grose, 1792. Cumann Staire agus Seandálaíochta Oirdheisceart na Gaillimhe

Newsletter No. 22 Summer 2016 Upcoming Events and Lectures Contents The Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna. Still under a Green Flag by Liam Moloney 3

Thursday, April 21st @ 7:30pm - Lecture Recommended Sources by Steve Dolan 4 Professor Terry Dooley, Director of the Centre for the GAA Heroes of Old - Meelick 5 Study of Historic Irish Houses & Estates, will present a An Englishman in Loughrea 5 lecture on ‘big house’ destruction during the War of Postcards: Loughrea town by Julianne McDonagh 6 Independence - ‘Is everything we love gone forever?’. Galwaymen at War by Marie Bennett 8 ______Law and Order in Galway by Ronan Killeen 9

Visit the Workhouse for ongoing exhibitions this Summer One Man’s Rising by Michael Howley 12 ______Portumna Bridge by John Joe Conwell 14 Knockbaun Children’s Burials by Christy Cunniffe 16 Field Trip: The next field trip takes place on Saturday The RIC and the Rising by Philip Keane 19 May 21st at 11am. Our own Dr Christy Cunniffe takes Tales from the Workhouse 20 us on a tour of Lorrha as guests of the Lorrha Dorrha What it says in the Papers 20 Historical Society. For more info, please email sega- [email protected] or phone 086 4070851. SEE PAGE 18. Chairperson’s Update ______The year has certainly begun with a bang with all the A lecture titled ‘Joseph O’Flaherty - Dissent in 1916 1916 commemorations and indeed our own Spring pro- Loughrea’ by Pól Mag Lionáin takes place at the Ab- gramme. Our AGM in February saw the entire commit- bey in Loughrea on Tuesday April 26th next @7:30pm. tee re-elected and I would like to thank both them and ______you, our members and readers, for your ongoing support.

Athenry Historical Network hosts a lecture by Adrian As we move into the summer, we will be no less busy. I Martyn on the ‘Battle of Athenry 1316’ on Friday can also tell you that, in partnership with others, we have April 29th next in Athenry Town Hall @ 8pm. been putting much work into developing a full heritage ______programme and I look forward to sharing more details on The ‘Farming and Country Life 1916’ event will take same when we can. place at the Teagasc Mellows Campus, just east of Athenry, on June 10th & 11th. See local media for more. Ann O’Riordan, Chairperson.

The Irish Workhouse Centre and SEGAHS The seasonal SEGAHS newsletters are published in partnership with the Irish Workhouse Centre, home of the society. The Irish Workhouse Centre is open from 1st March to 31st October 2016, with guided tours 7 days a week from 09.30 to 17.00. For more, please visit http://irishworkhousecentre.ie/. If one believes the tall tales of his voyages, the connections between the Irish and Mexican cultures are tracea- ble back to Saint Brendan. More recently however, in 2013, President Michael D Higgins laid a wreath at Cha- pultepec Park commemorating the Mexican soldiers who jumped to their deaths in 1847 rather than surrender to the Americans in the Mexican-American war. This event brought to the fore the relationship between the two nations. In the latest of his contributions, Liam Moloney casts an eye over Galway-Mexican ties.

Still under a Green Flag - Galway’s Impact on Mexico Liam Moloney

Ireland’s history with Mexico is a long and complex one. Under Spanish rule, many of the Spanish Viceroy's were of Irish descent including Juan de O'Donojú y O'Ryan (1762–1821), the last Spanish ruler of the colony before Mexico's independence. Since then, a substantial number of politicians of Irish descent have risen to positions of power.

El Zorro Whatever about Saint Brendan, the country’s influence in Mexico goes back to at least 1642 when Wexford’s Wil- liam Lamport tried to unite the natives with creole elites and blacks in rebellion against the Spanish crown. Despite his exploits, with some historians suggesting he is the original ‘El Zorro’, Lamport over-stretched himself. He was captured, and after 17 years in jail was executed in 1659.

As with so many other countries where the Irish have left a lasting legacy, rightly or wrongly the Catholic church would play a huge role in the building of that legacy. The first major figure, unsurprising for those who realise the impact the county has made, was a Galwayman - Fr French – in the seventeenth century.

Fr Peter French In his history of Galway, Hardiman (1820) described Fr French as someone ‘who, for upwards of thirty years, was a celebrated missioner among the Indians of Mexico’ before he ‘returned to his native town. The apostolical character compiled a catechism or exposition of the Christian faith in the Mexican tongue, and converted multitudes’.

French had studied in Louvain and taught in Rome before his extraordinary exploits in ‘New Spain’. He died back home in Galway in 1693 where it was said his Irish and English had deteriorated to such an extent that he now pre- ferred to converse in his adopted tongue.

Soldiers Undeniably however, the best known Irish-Mexican is Galway’s John Riley (Seán Ó Raghailligh) from Clifden. He was though not the only Galwayman who fought in that conflict (Mexican-American War, 1846-48).

Mexican-American War Riley famously deserted the US army, founding the Batallón de San Patricio or Saint Patrick's Battalion, and fighting bravely against the US. Irish soldiers had suffered mistreatment in American ranks and, coupled with cul- tural alienation and being unable to practice their religion, hundreds joined Mexican ranks.

Among the battles they fought in was the Battle of Buena Vista (or Battle of Angostura) in northern Mexico on 23 Feb 1847 as the US Army used artillery to defeat the larger native army. Gal- waymen fought Galwaymen and among the dead in American ranks was Gal- way’s Patrick Logan. Another Galway- man, Thomas Donahue, fared better. Meanwhile, in Mexican ranks, in addition to Riley were Martin Lydon, Peter Neil, and later James McDowell who all served in the San Patricios. Another major battle was the Battle of Churubusco which took place on 20 August 1847. Here, outnumbered three-to-one, the staggering bravery of the San Patricios would not be enough to carry victory. In the aftermath, at least fifty of the San Patricios who had survived and were captured were hanged in the largest mass execution in US history.

Many in the United States saw / see Riley as a traitor who deserted for better pay or conditions and the war as being justified, though most historians, primarily outside the US, argue(d) the war was a land-grab. Ulysses S Grant later described the conflict as ‘the most unjust war ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation’, with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo adding insult to injury. The Nation (right), which opposed the war, gives an Irish perspective.

Writers & Historians In the last century, one of the more prominent connections between the countries was Thomas Concannon (Tomás Bán Ó Conceanainn) - writer & historian and husband of TD and Senator Helena Concannon. Qualifying as an Account- ant in the US, the Aran Islander moved south of the border establishing his practice in Mexico. On a holiday at home in 1898 he became so involved with the Gaelic League that he remained in Ireland. A loss to our Mexican cousins, Concannon was an significant figure in Irish nationalism.

Back to the Church Rounding off another of the links between Galway and Mexico is Fr Damian Louis Byrne from Prospect Hill in the city, just one of many priests and nuns from the county who served in Mexico. Byrne was a Dominican priest who had studied in a school for missionaries in Cuernavaca in Mexico, before later returning to the country to the Mexi- can province as provincial. His spiritual contribution to the country would be immense.

Para dejar el pellejo, lo mismo es hoy que mañana

References Hardiman, James, The History of the Town and Country of the Town of Galway (Galway, 1820). Hogan, Michael, The Irish Soldiers of Mexico (Mexico: Fondo Editorial Universitario, 1997). Irish Times, 22 Oct 2013. Maher, Helen, Galway authors: a contribution towards a biographical and bibliographical index, with an essay on the history and literature in Galway (Galway, 1976). Ó Fógartaigh, Séamus. 'The Man Behind the Mask of Zorro' in Irish Roots No. 54 (Second Quarter 2005). Rootsweb web-site, Thomas Donohue detail, see http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlgalway/galwayd.pdf . Sunday Independent, 8 Aug 1926. The Nation, 12 Feb 1848. For Logan’s details see http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.logan/1347.1.1/mb.ashx

Note: While caution is always advised when researching on-line, the language used on some ‘history’ sites on the Mexican-American conflict is troubling. This is therefore not a good topic to be researched on the internet. Recommended Sources in Local History Steve Dolan

Continuing our series on the sources of information available to local historians, here we are highlighting the nuggets of information available in journals and magazines, primarily those from the nineteenth century.

Our readers will be well familiar with the sketches of Irish life as depicted in Punch, the Graphic, and the Illustrated London News. These publications are among the better known sources for images of nineteenth century Ireland and are possibly over-used, or misused. While the depiction of Irishmen during the nineteenth century is often an unpleas- ant one, or even racist in nature; they are nonetheless very valuable and often make a point beyond the obvious.

There are currently an increasing number of repositories digitising a broad volume of titles. The one major disap- pointment in all of these developments is that access to such repositories are often available only to academics and their students. One hopes that, in time, history societies and heritage groups may be able to come to an arrangement to facilitate wider access to these great sources.

The digitisation of journals covering arts and sci- ence provide a fresh source for images or detail. For example, the sketch (right) of ‘The Unwelcome Intruder’ is from the London Reader magazine 135 years ago and accompanies a story on Athenry town. A poem, ‘The Eviction’, is also attached:

God help the poor in winter’s cold. The tender young, the trembling old. When north winds blow O’er lea and moor, When snowstorms drive, God help the poor.

Digitisation of more popular magazine publications like the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News is also ever-expanding. For example, the sketch the ‘Galway Races’ is from the edition of 16 Aug 1879.

Also useful are European and American publications like L’Univers Illustre and Harper’s Weekly which are widely available through on-line repositories. As always, for assistance or more details, feel free to contact the editor. GAA Heroes of Old - Meelick

In the early years of the GAA in Galway, one of the leading hurling clubs was unquestionably Meelick. Indeed they were Galway’s first county champions in 1887, having defeated Kilbeacanty in the final and Beagh in the semi-final. The Free- mans Journal of 17 Aug 1887 (below right) reported on a major hurling tournament that year. HURLING TOURNAMENT AT KILTORMER. (FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT) Ballinasloe, Tuesday. A hurling tournament under the rules of the Gaelic Ath- letic Association was held yesterday at Kiltormer, a town about six miles from here on the road to Wood- ford. The following teams were present Meelick, Kil- tormer, Laurencetown, Clontuskert, Killoran, Cappatagle, and Clonfert. There were about two thousand people assembled to witness the play. Everything passed off in the greatest order and decorum. The following officers had charge of the proceedings – Referee, Mr An- drew Manning, PLG: field umpires, James Lynam, R F Walker : goal keepers, Messrs James Kilmartin, PLG, M Cosgrove, John Egan, and Patrick Manning. Mul- The Meelick side pictured above included: Jackie Staunton, Thomas lagh and Clonfert commenced operations, the time allowed being two thirties. The play was splendid on Foley, Pat Mannion, John Coulahan, Michael Mannion / M Man- each side and resulted as follows - Mullagh, two points ning, Paddy Cullen, Michael Cosgrove, P Manning, Patrick Larkin, J and two forfeits; Clonfert, two forfeits. Cappatagle and Horan, James Kelly, Willie Madden, Thomas Hanley, Joe Ryder, Killoran next went to work. Play was excellent. Re- Martin Quinn, John Cosgrove, Jack Lowery, Patrick Haverty, Owen sult – Killoran, six forfeits to nil. Laurencetown and Griffin, John Cosgrove, Johnny Callinan, James Lynam, Arthur Cos- Clontuskert then played remarkably well. Laurence- town, one point and four forfeits; Clontuskert two for- grove, Pat Madden, M Madden, James Clarke, J Scally, Willie Cou- feits. Kiltormer and Meelick teams did not play, as lohan, John Bohan, James Mahon, J Cosgrove. the evening was very far advanced, and having turned The above list is compiled from the Meelick sides which represented inclement. There was a posse of police present under Galway vs Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final (before defeat to charge of Head Constable Hensey, but whose duties Tipp), and the side which defeated Athlone on Easter Monday 1897 were confined to admiring the prowess displayed by the several players. as reported in the Western News. Please allow for errors in reporting. Others known to have played for Meelick in this era include Michael Conway, Michael Foley, Jim Griffin, Martin Griffin, James Haverty, Michael Kelly, Michael Kirby, Darby Mannion, John Mannion, James Melody, Joe Reynolds, and John Saunders.

Our thanks to Paul Scarry for sending in the image and helping with the detail.

An Englishman in…. Lawless Loughrea In an uncomfortable mirror to the face of the county at the beginning of the century, albeit arguably a much-biased English mirror, on 19 April 1908 the New York Times published an account of ‘an English explorer’, Charles E Hands, in Ireland. The following is an abridged reproduction of his report:

‘You come to lawless Loughrea by a little branch that strikes off from the main Galway line at Attymon Junction, near Athenry. At the junction there is nothing to be seen but a damp platform, green fields, and grey sky, and that is about all there has been to see all the way across from Dublin. Between Attymon and Loughrea – somewhere less than a half hour’s run in a train that is part empty goods wagons and part nearly empty passengers coaches – there is one station at Dunsan- dle. All the rest is wet green fields and grey sky. So you realise before you get there that the trouble with the country and the cause of all Loughrea’s disorder and crime is the curse of excessive agriculture…. There is widespread belief in Eng- land that the Irish are an ungovernable people. With some the belief has been carried to the extreme of assuming that the Irish are so utterly ungovernable that they ought to be let govern themselves. But it is not necessary to spend more than a few hours in lawless Loughrea to find out that this belief is erroneous. It is another Saxon misconception of the Irish character. The Irish are so amenable to authority that they will let anybody govern them who really takes the trouble to try. The Church and the United Irish League govern them vigorously and rigorously, and they accept the exactions of both without a kick or a struggle. The Irish have no respect for the law, which is why they make indifferent jurymen, but they have a tremendous respect for authority, which is why they make excellent Soldiers’. Postcards from the Edge

Two postcards are profiled in this edition, both from Loughrea town, showing images of economic and political activity. Our thanks to Julianne McDonagh for forwarding same with the details below.

The first postcard is of Main Street and dates to c.1910. The availability of census data from 1901 and 1911 mean that the various businesses in operation in postcards can be studied and specifics garnered once the year of a postcard image is known i.e. the details of Main Street in 1911 can be viewed at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ pages/1911/Galway/Loughrea_Urban/Main_Street/.

For those interested in earlier Loughrea- specific material, the Loughrea Illustrated Journal newspaper which ran to 1884 provides a wealth of detail though only a handful of editions survive. The below advert from the paper’s inception is taken from the Tuam Herald of 17 Jan 1857. The Loughrea Nationalist (1902-1905) is also excellent. But sadly unlike many other large towns, Loughrea does not have a continuous narrative from one publica- tion. Bernie Lally’s book ‘Print Culture in Loughrea, 1850-1900’ is warmly recommended for those interested in this topic.

There are also some excellent publications on the town which go some way to capturing the ‘horse and cart’ era. Pic- tured below right is the OS map of the town in the mid-eighteenth century with the old town boundary highlighted.

NOTE: An issue highlighted again and again in the images being sent to us is the prevalence of unnecessary ‘visual clutter’ in many of our towns when compared to a century ago. While the advent of electricity and telecommunica- tions brings challenges, the extent of apparently unnecessary signage, poles, bollards and so on, in our towns today are at blight proportions. With even a little bit of thought, this can be improved upon. Restoring some beauty to the county’s visual landscape isn’t just about the upkeep of retail and residential holdings, some planning is needed. The second Loughrea postcard depicts the 1906 eviction of Martin Ward, a national and indeed international political event. Somewhat staged it may be, but sometimes a picture does paint a thousand words.

The background to the image (left) had seen Martin Ward rent a two-story thatched premises from the Earl of Clanricarde as far back as 1890. Ward then spent several hundred pounds improving the building before opening a general merchant's business. On the opposite side of the street he also established a saddlery.

When Ward later applied for a lease on the building he was refused, but he was assured that he would never be dispossessed so long as he paid the rent. That promise was reneged upon however, and on 29 April 1905 Ward received a letter from Clanricarde's agent with a notice to vacate the promises.

The note, read by people world-wide through newspapers, stated ‘...you're doing a good trade and I have mentioned you as a capable, energetic man of business. It would be well, I think, for the country if it had more traders like you... but as secretary of the Loughrea branch of the United Irish League you have [caused pain and annoyance]...'

Ward refused to accept the notice and instead had hundreds of copies of the letter printed and sent throughout Ireland, the U.S. and indeed the U.K. Pictured right is what happened next as covered by the Manchester Guardian on 30 May 1906, as the numbers of police were proving too strong.

Notwithstanding the removal of goods, the men in the building, aided by support arriving, managed to hold their positions. Soon, Bishop O’Dea intervened and government officials were sent to negotiate. The end result was the passing of the Town Tenants’ Act which stated that a tenant could not be evicted for any reason other than non-payment of rent. A whole new era of tenant rights was born in Loughrea.

On 1 June 1906, the Irish Independent carried the above sketch ‘Evicting the goods from the store’. Galwaymen at War Marie Bennett Continuing our series on the ‘Wild Geese’ from the county who have distinguished themselves in battles around the world, in this edition we mark battles in the Czech Republic, Texas, Malaysia, and Canada.

260 Years Ago The Battle of Lobositz (Lowositz in the Czech Repub- lic) took place on 1 Oct 1756. It was the opening land battle of the Seven Years' War, as Frederick the Great's Prussian Army were halted in their tracks by the Austri- ans under Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne. Serving under Browne was Patrick O’Malley, though he would perish at the beginning of this conflict. O’Malley, whose family seat was in Rosehill in Mayo, was the son of Mary-Magdalen Blake and nephew of Robert Blake of Dunsandle, Loughrea. Pictured is ‘Prospect der Ba- taille bey Lowosiz’ by Ben Jochai. 170 Years Ago The Battle of Resaca de la Palma (modern Texas) took place on 9 May 1846, one of the first engagements in the Mexican–American War. Among the US fatalities was Private Roger Griffin (Company B, 8th Infantry, a 24 year old farmer), and among the wounded was Pri- vate John Flannery (Company E, 8th Infantry, a 23 year old shoemaker). Fellow Galwaymen would later make their mark in the San Patricios – in battles covered on pages 2-3. Pictured is a sketch of the battle (lithograph by Klauprech & Menzel).

140 Years Ago The Battle of Kota Lama (north-west Malaysia) took place on 4 Jan 1876 during the Perak War when the local Sultan attempted to end foreign influence in the region. British troops arrived en-masse to end local re- sistance, culminating in the defeat of rebels at Kota La- ma, one of the final engagements of the war. Among the British forces decorated in the Perak War was Joseph Gleeson from Portumna, a fine soldier who was later awarded the medal for long service and good conduct. Pictured is a sketch from 1876 - ‘The Expedition Against the Malays of Perak: Officers Quarters’.

130 Years Ago The Battle of Ridgeway (Ontario) took place on 2 June 1866 when Irish troops defeated Canadian defenders near the US (Buffalo) – Canadian border. Among the victorious Fenians was Galway’s James Burke, though he was later captured and charged. Meanwhile, among British forces defending Canada from the Fenians was Portumna’s Patrick Golden (47th foot). The county’s history is littered with such stories of Irishmen fighting on opposite sides in battles across the globe. Pictured right is a print of the battle by Thomas Kelly. In this series, in addition to US and British military records, the work of Eoghan Ó Hannracháin on the Wild Geese will be relied upon, as will various individual biographies. Please feel free to contribute to this series. A specialised area of study, Ronan Killeen has had a strong interest in criminality and law and order in Ireland for many years. In 2011 he completed his thesis on three cases of capital punishment in Galway, 1885-1923.

A Brief History of Law & Order and Crime in Galway and Ireland Jail Ronan Killeen

Irish Prisons 1700-1900 In the 18th century each county had its own prison located in the chief town of that county and would save on the cost by using town and county jails jointly. The law also stated that every county would have a house of correction called a bridewell; where drunkards, petty thieves, rioters and vagrants were held before their trail albeit this could extend to years in exceptional circumstances. Lunatics were also sometimes kept in bridewells.

As well as jails for criminals and those accused of criminal acts, there were also jails for debtors i.e. for anyone who could not pay their debts and were liable for imprisonment. These were actually quite a large proportion of the prison population with many imprisoned for owing small sums. The debtors’ prison was known as a ‘Marshalea’; the ward was called the Marshall.

According to Joseph Starr (1995) in History Ireland, the overcrowding prisons report in 1796 lists 51 jails throughout the kingdom which would appear to have been more than enough for the population of about five million. Starr asserts that: ‘The crowded jails and marshaleas grew out of the custom paying fees to prisons officials. No inmate was allowed to leave without paying fees to the local sheriff; warden or marshal and their assistants. This custom led to great hardships. Jailers and marshals received very little in the way of salary. Parliament legislated on the subject for the first time in 1635 when it empowered justices of the peace to appoint the salary of the keeper of the local house of correction’.

A serious problem from the outset was alcohol. Given the condition of jails it was natural that many prisoners turned to alcohol which was inexpensive and easy to obtain. It was pointed out that ‘a noggin or gill of…whiskey, is sold in Dublin so cheap as one-and-a-half pence or two pence, and half a pint for three pence or four pence’. On one occasion, in 1741, sloppy jailing allowed an escape (below).

The quickest way to obtain the necessary money for contraband substances was extortion. All attempts to stop the selling of liquor in prisons were usually frustrated by jailers who usually kept a tap in the prison. Three times Parliament tried to make alcohol free in the years 1763, 1783, 1786, unfortunately the acts remained inoperative.

Due to the modest salaries and the want of regulation, serious complaints of corruption, cruelty and neglect were being levelled against jailers and marshals throughout the eighteenth century. Many of these changes were by no means groundless. In 1698, parliament dis- covered that a great number of prisoners were starved to death and for this reason parliament required every parish to levy a reasonable sum of support for local prisons. And there was evidence that some good was done, but it was very much haphazard.

Prison Reform During the 18th century prison reform came in the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ - a period where many intellectuals firmly believed that men were perfectible and that, having achieved that state, an era of peace and progress would emerge. With these ideas, some ‘men of standing’ set-out to reform every aspect of life ranging from education, through to politics and social life, and to prisons.

The common view remained that those in the jail were wicked and deserved their punishment. The reformer, John Howard, was not one of those. He made his first trip to Ireland in 1775 and over the next 13 years returned five times describing the situation ‘as savage as the inland parts of Russia’. The Country Journal, 12 Nov 1741. Howard also railed against corruption and, in the jails, he declared that he never saw prisons or abuses as bad as Ireland. Positively, in 1786, perhaps the greatest of all prison reform bills was passed. What this new act did was create new regulation of prisons with many laudable articles.

Inspectors, were to visit prisons at least once a week and forward reports to the officer who was to be the apex of the system. The in- spector-general was required to visit every prison once every two years. During 1787-1788 Howard was delighted to discover that the grand juries had spent money liberally to supply prisoners’ medication for health but regrettably there were still some abuses including dirty prisons, negligence, and dishonesty.

Galway Jail 1400-1892 The earliest known record of a jail in Galway goes as far back as 1496 on Mainguard Street. The Galway Town Gaol was located under the Old Tho- sel (sketch right from James Hardiman’s History of Galway) but was transferred to Mainguard Street in the 1650s. In 1674 it was used as a temporary county jail, a makeshift arrangement that continued for twelve years.

In 1686 Blake’s Castle was acquired by the Grand Jury and was used as a county jail until both prisons were transferred to Nun’s Island. In the following century, in 1788, Howard visited both prisons. He noted that an exercise yard had been provided in Blake’s Castle, but not Mainguard Street.

In the years 1791 and 1792 the County Galway Grand Jury passed presentments for the construction of a more spacious prison and the necessary Act of Parliament was finally passed in 1802. Between 1804 and 1810 two jails were built on adjacent sides of Nun’s Island. One was the county jail, and the other serviced the town.

Management, Staff & Labourers of Galway Jail 1878-1892 Curtin’s The Women of Galway Jail: Female Criminality in Nineteenth Century Ireland describes to use the running of the prisons:

‘Between the years 1878 and 1892, there were between fifteen and twenty-four people employed in the prison. This included a Gover- nor, a chief warder, two chaplains, a surgeon/apothecary, a clerk, and a schoolmaster/schoolmistress. The warders were all male, and the only female staff members were either matron’s assistant; matrons; or servants.’

Elizabeth Fry, another prison reformer, emphasised the need for female staff, unfortunately this remained largely unchanged in Gal- way. The statistics show that while there had been two-to-four female employees working in the prison during this period, in many years there were only two members of staff who were women.

Women did not have an easy time in prisons, and in truth this generally mirrored the hardships outside. In one article sourced it was stated that the only prisoners in Galway jail were prostitutes await- ing trial - from the Galway Vindicator on 14 March 1866.

At 6.30am in 1882 - the winter timetable of Galway prison - the warders would summon the prisoners out of their cells by calling ‘All out’. A routine, in which exercise, eating, labour and schooling was scheduled was set out by the General Prisons Board (GPB). There was no schooling of women prisoners between 1877 and 1888, despite the fact that school was scheduled. Most able-bodied prisoners, both men and women, were sentenced to hard labour. The GPB had been strongly influenced by the prison reformers of the nineteenth century. Prisoners were classed by their ‘moral character’, the length of time they had spent in prison, and their behaviour. This system, reformers believed, encouraged prisoners to work and to reform.

Prison Life As an incentive, prisoners would be awarded ‘marks’ which were accumulated in order to progress from one class to another and which could also be translated into money. The Governor of the jail was obliged to submit a yearly return detailing work engaged in by prisoners. Much of the work done by the prisoners was done for the upkeep of the prison.

Prisoners were engaged in the following labours such as tailoring, tin-smithing, whitewashing, sewing and washing clothes and bed- ding, cooking, knitting, and nursing sick prisoners. The more traditional types of prison labour such as mat-making and the picking of coir and oakum also occupied prisoners of both sexes. Prisoners were paid for these labours and on their release could claim wages.

Unruly prisoners would be punished by four categories of punishment permitted by the prison authorities – iron handcuffs; corporal punishment; punishment cells; and dietary punishment. The offences which led to such punishment were in four groups; violence; es- capes and attempts to escape; idleness, and ‘other breeches of regulations’. Whipping and leg irons had been abolished in the 1860s, and the corporal punishment appears to have been in place for men only. From 1884, irons and cuffs were no longer used.

Prisons and Courthouses in Galway An architect from Westminster, Mr Hardwick drew up plans for a new prison modelled on that of Gloucester Jail. Richard Morrison was the supervising architect of the new construction which was to cost £27,000.

An area of three acres and eleven and half perches were purchased on Nun’s Island for a cost of £664.37, on the understanding that a roadway would be provided outside of a prison.

During ‘The Night of the Big Wind’ (6 Jan 1839), the roof was stripped of the county courthouse and most of the windows were propelled in.

Little seems to be known of the earlier county court-houses but at least one was located in Courthouse Lane (known today as Druid Lane), left off Quay Street in the 1600s. This is now the location of the ‘Hall of the Red Earl’ run by Galway Civic Trust.

The town courthouse was designed by Alexander Hayes who submitted his plans to the Town Grand Jury after the body decided to abandon the Old Thosel in 1820. Work started on the building of the new town courthouse in August 1825 and the building was con- structed opposite the County Court-house. The two separate and distancing courthouses operated separately but eventually merged in the latter half of the nineteenth century when the Town Grand Jury agreed to pay a portion of the County Courthouses upkeep.

Sources Curtain, Geraldine, The Women of Galway Jail: Female Criminality in nineteenth century Ireland, (Arlene House, 2001). Vaughan, W. E., Murder Trials in Ireland 1836-1914, (Four Courts Press in association with the Irish Legal History Society, 2009). Starr, Joseph, ‘Prison Reform in Ireland in the Age of Enlightenment’, History Ireland, Issue 2, Vol.3 (Summer, 1995) .

Over recent weeks we have been treated to much coverage of the 1916 Rising. For a different perspective we have asked the descendant of one of the personalities in the Galway rebellion, as featured in the RTE programme ‘Ireland’s Rising’, to provide a diary of the rebellion.

One Man’s Rising, A Diary of Peter Howley and his Galway Rising Michael Howley

The context of the rising has been well-documented in recent months and it goes without saying that these were unsettled times, especially in Co Galway. Land remained a major issue in an era of small holdings, high rents, and evictions. My ancestor, William Howley Sr., was a leader of Peterswell Land League and a member of IRB. The timelines in the run-up to the rising involving his three sons, were as follows:

1914 The three brothers Michael, William, and Patrick Howley join the Irish Volunteers. At this point there were 80 men in the Ardrahan Company and initially efforts amounted to simple drilling. With the outbreak of the Great War came an evitable split. Many who did not fight and die in France took on duty to guard the shores of Ireland. The Howley brothers left the Ardrahan Company which disbanded soon after. They joined the Ballycahalan Company under Capt. Peter Deeley.

1915 Liam Mellows arrives in Co Galway and the Ardrahan Company reforms with Peter Howley (PH) as captain of 20 men. The company keeps in close contact with Padraig Fahy of the Ballycahalan Company. That Oct and Nov sees a re- view of Galway Volunteers in Athenry with 500 men present. When boarding the train in Ardrahan, with the Kinvara and Ballycahalan Companies, they fire shots over an RIC man’s head (Cannon). While the Ardrahan Company all had shotguns, the Kinvara Company had no equipment. Stephen Jordan (Athenry, later TD) and the O’Rahilly were also present.

1916 Lectures by Mellows at Hynes’ Mill in Gort were rousing and rekindled the focus of local Volunteers. Holy Thursday – Orders from Eoin McNeill to go to communion on Sunday and for a drilling of Volunteers in Gort for Easter Monday. Padraig Fahy confirms the Rising and he and PH are ordered to take arms to Clarinbridge to Fr. Harry Feeney’s house, to Eamonn Corbett (later a TD), to Martin Niland (another TD), and to Michael Kelly of Coldwood. Easter Saturday – Went to Fr. Feeney’s Clarinbridge with Padraig Fahy. The decision was taken to attack the RIC barracks in Ardrahan and Peterswell. No dispatches from Dublin at this point. Easter Sunday – After Mass, they went to Early’s Wood (Gort 4 miles). PH mobilised the company. Easter Monday – P Fahy advised that the rising was postponed for three months. However, a dispatch was received from Mellows to mobilise the Ardrahan Company and to go to Tullyra to block the road. PH notified the Ballycahalan Compa- ny also. His brothers Michael & William mobilised the Ardrahan and assembled at William Sr.’s house. They marched to Tullyra for 11am with shotguns for every man and two revolvers. Tuesday – Peter Howley’s task was to delay the expected advance of the British military forces and to notify Athenry and Mellows of the British position. The Chief Scout was Thomas McInerney and he liaised with the different companies. The RIC barracks at Ardrahan and Peterswell were evacuated to Gort. Wednesday – The barracks at Clarinbridge and Kinvara were attacked and the Ardrahan company remained in position at Tullyra. The main body of Volunteers moved to Moyode. Thursday – PH was contacted by the Ballycahalan Company. Main body of Volunteers now in place at Moyode Castle. Friday – The company was ordered to leave Tullyra and act as an advance guard for the main body of Volunteers who were coming from Moyode to Limepark.

Present were Mellows, Alf Monaghan, Eamonn Corbett (later a TD), Martin Niland (TD), Frank Hynes of Athenry, and Michael Newell and Brian Molloy of Castlegar. Brian Molloy was later charged in connection with the death of RIC constable Patrick Whelan, who was the only person to die as a direct result of the Rising in Galway.

Limepark House, April 29th 1916 300 – 400 men leave Moyode Castle on Friday, April 28th, at about 5pm, for the 15 mile journey to Limepark. Fr. Martin O’Farrell PP Leitrim parish was present and had heard terrible stories from Dublin on the fate of the rebels there. The Cu- mann na mBan were sent on a spurious errand to ensure that they wouldn’t travel with the men, but Julia Morrissey did.

Lorries, cars, carts, sidecars, and bicycles were spaced through the column, but most men walked on the broken surface, many in bad boots. They rested for half an hour in Craughwell where there was little support. There was no food and the men were ravenous with hunger. Many dashed into houses, asking for food, eating raw bacon and vegetables and, on one occasion, Martin Newell remembered eating unbaked dough. They reached Limepark between close to midnight on the Saturday- reports vary. Limepark house was chosen as a place to make a stand as it was unoccupied and secluded, sur- rounded by woodland and thick shrubbery, hopefully making it easier to defend than Moyode. Fr. Tom Fahy from Athenry, later Monsignor of Galway, and Fr. Farrell had travelled together by motorcycle and met the Volunteers at the gates of Limepark. Fr. Farrell was driven to an almost manic state by his concern for the men and their possible fate. He reportedly cried out: ‘ye’re going to your deaths. Ye will all be killed’.

The company of nearly 400 men assembled in the front lawn of Limepark House, a bril- liant spring moon lighting the scene. Mellows and his staff repaired to the front room of the house to hold a conference. 12 men were present in the room: Mellows, Fr. Tom Fahy, Fr. Harry Feeney, Alf Monaghan, Frank Hynes, Eamonn Corbett, Martin Neilan, Larry Lardner, Nick Coyne, Sean Broderick, Mike Athy and Dick Murphy. Mellows had little sleep in five days and promptly fell asleep on the floor.

Fr. Fahy addressed the gathering and informed the men of the destruction and surrender in Dublin, that Ireland had not risen, and that Galway was now alone with a ring of police and British soldiers closing in. The Sherwood Foresters were rumoured to be in Athlone but this subsequently proved false as they were still in Dublin. In any event, that battalion were inexperienced, as had been exhibited in their engagement with the rebels in Dublin on the Wednesday.

HMS Gloucester had however arrived in Galway Bay on the Thursday and deposited one hundred Munster Fusiliers to engage the rebels. A vote to disband was taken and went 6 to 5 in favour. Mellows awoke and the discussion started again. Mellows refused to disband the men. Fr Fahy again raised the impending spectre of the Sherwood Foresters adding that they were ordered to take no prisoners. Another vote passed by 10 to 2—the dissenters being Mellows and Alf Monaghan.

Mellows ceded command and Fr. Fahy went out to address the men. They then remembered the five RIC prisoners in the basement that they had seized in the attack on Moyvilla RIC station. The men feared that the prisoners would identify the men involved. Fr. Fahy spoke with the prisoners and they swore to him that they would not inform on the men. They subsequently honoured this promise.

After four-five hours of deliberations, Fr. Fahy stood alone on the front steps of Limepark house and faced the body of men, and one woman, standing in the moonlight. He praised their courage and said that they had shown that the spirit of Irish men was alive, but that they had drawn down a hornet’s nest of military and police. The only sensible course was to disperse, go home, hide their weapons and wait for another day that must surely come.

The staff officers came out, gathered their companies and dispersed across the fields, leaving behind the detritus of a failed rebellion. In the excitement, they had forgotten their cook, Jim Barrett, who remained in the basement with the prisoners. He was brought out and made to leave for Athenry, but turned to offer his raincoat to Mellows to disguise his uniform.

It was now about 5am and Peter Howley brought Mellows, Alf Monaghan, and Frank Hynes to his father’s house - about a mile away. William Howley Snr was friends with Mellows since the latter’s arrival in Galway the previous year. Peter Howley’s sister, Bridget, a member of Cumann na mBan, prepared a meal for the men and they stayed there until 7am.

Peter Howley then brought the men to Peterswell Cross, and directed them to Patsy Corless’ house in Ballycahalan - a safe house. Peter Howley returned home and was arrested, along with his brothers. Meanwhile, the men left Corless’s and went to Drimminalough, where William Blanche kept them safe until they escaped into Clare. Mellows reportedly used a Nun’s habit as a disguise.

Saturday - Peter Howley and his brothers, William and Michael, were arrested at 6pm on Saturday by a large number of RIC men led by Ardrahan RIC Sgt. Elliott, before they could escape. They were taken from Gort to Renmore Barracks and on to Eglington Street barracks. The number of Co Galway arrests in the aftermath was second only to the Dublin arrests.

Monday, May 1st – Peter Howley was taken by minesweeper to Cobh and then on to Dublin. He was interrogated by a military tribunal in Richmond Barracks, where he met Eamon De Valera, Thomas Ashe, and Noel Lemass.

Aftermath – Extraordinary support was given to the RIC and British authorities from Galway city in this period. Hun- dreds of arrests due to informants followed, often of men with limited or no involvement in the Rebellion. The Volunteers were condemned, assaulted, and verbally abused. As we now know, the executions in particular dramatically altered public perception and the interned men eventually returned to Ireland closer to heroes than villians. PH was taken to Wandsworth Prison in London on Tuesday May 9th and the following month was taken to Frongoch. He was released in August 1916.

Portumna Bridge John Joe Conwell

In April 1907 Laurence Coleman and his wife, Mary, along with her brother, Patrick Smith, and sister, Annie, were returning from Lorrha to their home in Derryhiney in the dark of night in an inside trap drawn by a mule. When crossing Portumna Bridge the animal became restive, and in jumping out to get control of him, the two unfortunate men landed in the river instead of on the road and both were drowned. Shortly afterwards Smith’s body was recovered from the river near the bridge and Coleman’s was found at Derry Island some days later.

Their remains were brought to Portumna Workhouse and an inquest was held in Portumna Courthouse. The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of accidental drowning but also strongly made the point that there was in- sufficient protection on the bridge. They suggested that the height of the railing should be at least five feet instead of two feet ten inches. Coleman left behind a wife and family while Smith was a member of Portumna Brass and Reed Band which attended his funeral with their musical instruments draped. All business premises in the town remained shuttered while the cortege travelled back across Portumna Bridge for burial in Lorrha.

Portumna Bridge was described at that stage by the Nenagh News as ‘a veritable death-trap’. Later that year North Tipperary County Council sent a memorandum to the Lord Lieutenant seeking to have the bridge rebuilt. In 1908, he appointed a Viceregal Commission to enquire into the feasibility of erecting a new bridge at Portum- na. The Commission met at Portumna, Nenagh, and Limerick under the chairmanship of Mr Charles Doyle, KC. Its first meeting heard that a diver had examined the wooden piles of the sixty seven-year old bridge and found nearly all to be in a bad state of repair with ‘the bridge keeping up the supporters instead of the supporters keeping up the bridge’. The assistant county surveyor for Tipperary North Riding, Robert P. Gill, estimated that a new bridge would cost £17,000 to £20,000 to construct. Various witnesses were called to give evidence to the Commission. Edward Flynn, foreman of the Grand Ca- nal Company at Portumna Harbour, stated that the company had landed 5,010 tons of merchandise there during the previous year and that the outward traffic amounted to 1,617 tons. It was stated that up to 400 tons of the ar- tificial manure arriving at the quay was destined for north Tipperary. Walter Joyce, a commission agent from Carrigahorig who sold an average of 322 tons of milling stuffs, stated that his supply of flour came down the river Shannon from Belmount in King’s County to Portumna pier and was brought across Portumna Bridge to his premises from where it was distributed. He also stated that Ballantyne’s flour, which came from Limerick, was distributed in north Tipperary and elsewhere from the company’s depot at Connacht Harbour by Mr Bourke of Portumna. Michael Boland, lessee of the tolls and customs of Portumna fairs and markets, informed the Commission that half of the stock for the fairs came across the bridge from Tipperary with three-quarters going back across the bridge afterwards. On these occasions the bridge became congested by droves of sheep and cattle, particular- ly at the wider Hayes’ Island section. A number of Portumna businessmen gave evidence as to the extent to which the bridge was utilized by the people of the town and neighbouring counties. William Trench, a landown- er from Redwood, proposed to the Commission that any new bridge across the river should accommodate rail as well as road traffic as a separate railway bridge might cost up £30,000. In attempting to reduce the expected financial burden to be levied on each local authority many witnesses sought to convince the Commission members that their particular county had very little trade with Portumna and rarely crossed the bridge leading to the town. William Walsh from Riverstown stated that there was very little traffic on the road from Birr to Portumna except some ‘egglers and rabbit dealers’ as Portumna was noted only ‘for eggs, emigrants and rabbits’. The recommended charges were as follows; Galway Co. Council was to pay 36% of the total cost; Tipperary (N. R.) 32%; King’s County 13%; Clare 6%; Limerick Co. Borough 6%; Queen’s County 3%; Roscommon 2% and Westmeath 2%. The bridge was designed in 1909 by C. E Stanier of London to the specification of John Moynan, surveyor of Tipperary North Riding. It is a steel plate girder construction on cast iron pillars, nine feet in diameter. These concrete-filled pillars are continued upwards above a parapet of riveted steel plates and are tapered to dome tops with decorated finials. The entire bridge consists of five fixed spans and a separate swivel section. This section on the western side, over a forty-foot wide navigation channel, has unequal arms of sixty feet & forty feet spans.

It opens to the south on a pivot support on the Galway side with four guide wheels. A spur wheel, which opens the bridge, worked in a cast iron steel rack connected to the underside of the bridge. The driving force for the opening and closing was provided by a falling weight in a tower; one half of the fall opened the bridge and the other half closed it. Before the next opening the weight had to be manually winched back up to the top of the tower. This system prevailed until 1974 when the operation of the swing section became automatically con- trolled. The bridge is the largest early-20th century example of its kind in Europe. The steel structure of the main bridge and the pivoting swing section over the navigation channel are of great technical and engineering interest.

The contractors for the new bridge were Heenan and Froude of the Newton Heath Ironworks in Manchester. During the construction work T.R.W. Suggett, the engineer to the contractors, made Willmount House his temporary residence while another engineer, Noel H. Wilson, resided in New Street, Portumna. The initial contract price for the bridge was £21,699 which was £16,000 lower than the highest tender. However, it soon became ap- parent that additional work was required which would increase the final cost.

A Portumna Bridge Joint Committee of the vested interests was formed in 1910 and at its inaugural meeting in Portumna Courthouse, James Cosgrave of Portumna, was elected its chairman. Arnold Power of Nenagh, was appointed solicitor and secretary at a salary of £150 per year. John Moynan was appointed as the committee’s engineer and was to receive of 2½% of the outlay. The clerk of works, Nenagh native, Michael John Kennedy, earned a salary of £4 per week as per the Freeman’s Journal, 20 Aug. 1910 .

By August 1911 Moynan reported to a meeting of the Joint Committee that the temporary bridge over the river was complete. He stated that further progress would have been made but due to a shipping strike, 400 tons of steel that had been ordered from Manchester three months earlier had remained in Dublin. In September the bridge contractors advertised for good stonecutters who were accustomed to working with blue limestone and could supply their own tools. In January 1912, one of the fifty-ton cylinders toppled over while being lowered into position on the riverbed and resulted in the death of John Monaghan of Portumna and Myles Walsh of Lim- erick. Both bodies were later recovered by a diver. Another Portumna man, Michael Noonan, had a miraculous escape but was unable to attend the inquest in Portumna workhouse due to shock. The jury at this inquest found that the two men died by suffocation and that sufficient precautions had not been taken to prevent the accident.

In March 1912 The Irish Times reported that owing to a shortage of coal, work on the new bridge was suspended and that many of the workmen who were laid off spent much of their time trout-fishing in the river Shannon. Nonetheless, the new bridge was completed and having cost of £29,522, was officially opened in April 1914.

To mark the occasion a large reception, hosted by the con- tractor Heenan, was held in Taylor’s Hotel, Portumna. In- cluded in the large attendance were Noel Wilson, Michael. John Kennedy, John Moynan, Judge Doyle, T. P. Goodbody, P. Fogarty, John Morrissey, J. Moran and Laurence Taylor (hotel proprietor). Pictured is the Irish Independent, 3 June 1913.

The road over the bridge was completely closed to traffic for nine days in October 2008 as the firm of L&M Keating from Co. Clare undertook the work of replacing the old swing span. The new section was fabricated in Carlow town and the work included the provision of new foundations, mechanical and electrical components as well as new plant and control rooms. Some additional repair work to the remainder of the bridge was undertaken as part of the project which cost €2.2 million. This was seventy times more than the entire bridge had cost to construct in the early years of the 20th century. Knockbaun Children's Burial Ground Dr Christy Cunniffe

Of all the archaeological monuments that survives in the Irish landscape, the children's burial ground has to be the most provocative. It is a monument that can raise deep emotions, is generally poorly understood and for some reason yet to be answered, a monument type that is more prevalent in some counties than others. For example the largest number, 479, have been recorded for Co. Galway, while Co. Mayo has 219, Co. Clare 137 and Co. Roscommon 89.1 This short paper looks at just one example in Derrygoolin South in the parish of Wood- ford.

Figure 1 Knockbaun burial ground (Photograph: C. Cunniffe).

Knockbaun children's burial ground (GA134-001----) is situated on a hilltop in the townland of Derrygoolin South in the parish of Woodford (Fig. 1). It is noted as 'Knockbaun Grave Yard' on the first edition map (Fig. 2). It is located relatively close to the townland boundary between Derrygoolin South and Derroran West. This is also a County boundary since 1898, when a part of Co. Galway was annexed to Co. Clare under the Local Gov- ernment (Ireland) Act 1898. Children's burial grounds are often liminal in nature and thus located on or near a boundary. The monument under discussion here commands good views over Lough Derg with the island of Inis- cealtra clearly visible from the site. It lies within walking distance of a number of deserted clachan settlements. These are evident on the first edition map suggesting that it may have served the burial needs of the various fam- ilies who inhabited these settlements.

Initial examination of the site suggests that it may be a reused prehistoric burial mound, though this could be a mistaken view. The prominence of the site on a hilltop suggests that it could have functioned as a small prehistoric cairn. The abundance of bluebells on the site suggests a place that was carefully tended to by someone in the past. A number of rows of north south aligned stone markers indicate the positions of the tiny infant burials that took place here. Many of the grave-markers consist of small sandstone slabs, others are small field stones. A larger boulder referred to below also marks a burial. While we have no proper idea of the numbers buried here, we can estimate from the stone markers that survive that there is at least 50 burials. Of course, it is likely that not all burials were marked and therefore we can suggest that the real number was greater than this. In discussing various children's burial grounds or 'Kyles' in north east Clare, Paddy Madden when discussing this site just over the border in Co. Galway states that: 'the best preserved to this writers knowledge is Knockbaun in Sean Hickey's field, Derrygoolin. He himself and generations of his family before have preserved it completely intact even though the temptation at times to oblit- erate it must have been great as it is situated in the middle of a fertile field'.

He describes it as oval in shape and 'about forty metres in circumference and eight in diameter. The neat head- stones are laid out in an orderly fashion in five straight rows. One very large rock straddles the mound. Perhaps this marks the last resting place of a tramp who was found dead on the roadside nearby. It is known for definite that he was buried in this Kyle'.2

The 'very large rock' is of special interest as it draws on a rich vein of local lore to explain its presence here among smaller stones. Of course it could have had an earlier use here also.

Figure 2 First edition map sheet 58 Osi.ie

An interesting piece of information reported by a Woodford correspondent and carried in the Ballina Chronicle May 15 1850 states that:

'awful deaths by starvation occurred on the 21st of April. The Widow M'Namara and her son, a boy of 15 years of age, both died of hunger, and having no friends to bury them, they were left for nine days in a miserable hut where they lived. They were paupers, and some people demanded a coffin from the relieving officer, which he refused, and in consequence they had to bury them in their old garments on the top of a hill, in the wild moun- tains of Derrigoolan, in the Portumna union, where there is a place marked out for burying such people as can get no coffins, and where members lie interred that died of destitution.3 This is an interesting insight into a local graveyard that has fallen out of use. It is regarded as a children's burial ground today, but as can be seen from the reference it was also used to bury adults, as in this case of famine related deaths. While the extract from the paper does not name Knockbaun specifically, it does refer to a hilltop graveyard and as no others are known about in the townland it is logical to assume that this is the site referred to. The survival of this latter newspaper reference allows us to identify with certainty one of the graveyards associated with the famine in the Slieve Aughty's.

A trawl through the available documentary sources shows that both a Michael Mc Namara and a Pat Mc Namara are recorded for Derrygoolin in the Tithe Applotment Books in 1824, while a Pat McNamara appears in Derry- goolin South in Griffiths Valuation for 1856.4 The Mc Namara name still survives in the area.

Sources 1. www.archaeology.ie 2. Patrick Madden 'Graves without grace: A look at some Kyles in North East Clare'. Slieve Aughty Journal Vol.1. (nd), p.4. 3. Ballina Chronicle Wednesday, 15 May 1850 published earlier in the Limerick Reporter, cited in http://www.irelandoldnews.com/ Mayo/1850/MAY.html. 4. Thanks to Monica Hynes of East Galway Family History Society, Woodford for furnishing this information.

Field Trip - Lorrha Saturday May 21st led by Dr Christy Cunniffe (Galway Community Archaeologist)

We will meet in Lorrha Village, Co. Tipperary at 11.00am. We would advise people to park on the main street and walk down to the Church of Ireland, parish church where we will gather and start promptly at 11am.

Start at St Ruadhan's medieval parish church where we will discuss the Early phase of the settlement. We will see two high crosses, part of the enclosure the damliac or stone church and the history of St Ruadhan. This church is multi-phased, so is a good example of how a large barn church of the 10th/11th century was modified through time, ending up as modern Church of Ireland parish church.

We will also visit the Anglo-Norman Motte close by and discuss the implications of their presence on the political landscape. After that we will visit the 12th-century Augustinian Priory where we will hear why the Augustinians may have settled here, what they may have done while here and also look at the church itself.

Then we will visit the 13th-century Dominican Friary. It is also multi-phased. Added to this we will visit the Catholic church where we will see some wonderful stained glass by Mayers and some later woodwork by Imogen Stuart and Mi- chael Killen and others. Before we leave the site we will look at the medieval mill and its associated millrace.

Lorrha is quite an intact Early Christian settlement, and in fact, could be viewed in ways as a proto monastic town. The modern streetscape is dictated by its early-Christian enclosure.

After the trip we will take break for lunch of soup and sandwiches in the Friars Tavern. Please let us know if you intend to attend as we need to know numbers for lunch in advance. For further information email [email protected].

1916-2016 - Remembering the Somme a century on… In addition to our ongoing 1916 Rising activities, we continue to remember the dead in the Great War dead each month on our facebook page. This summer we remember the Somme. More than a million men were killed or wounded, including thousands of Irishmen, in one of the bloodiest battles of all time. Pictured above is ‘The Real Ireland: The Heroism of the Irish Soldiers Fighting for the Empire’ from the Illustrated London News of 13 May 1916.

Articles: If you have a heritage-related article or query that you would like to share with the society, we would be happy to hear from you. You can contact us at [email protected], or on facebook page at www.facebook.com/SEGAHS, by following us on twitter @SEGAHSIreland.

Downloads: We have continued to make the previous editions of the SEGAHS newsletters available on-line, with index and contents of same available on request and through local libraries and universities. See http://clonfert.org/download.htm.

Membership: SEGAHS welcomes all new members. As a member of our society you will learn a great deal about your heritage in an interactive way by having access to regular lectures and gatherings. Annual membership is only €20. The RIC and the Rising in Galway Philip Keane

The areas of Clarinbridge, Oranmore, and Carnmore all saw activity in Easter 1916, with the latter seeing the killing Con- stable Patrick Whelan (below right is the Galway Express of 29 April 1916). That said, it is the lost big houses of Moyode and Limepark which remain the symbols of the rising within the county for many. Firstly, Moyode House in northern Ki- lonierin was occupied under the command of Liam Mellows, with around five hundred Volunteers. In addition to a very strong Athenry-area contingent, the ranks included companies from various Galway parishes surrounding Athenry and from across the county and as far afield as Kinvara in the south and Dunmore in the north.

The reaction of the RIC in Athenry and elsewhere in Galway was a confused one. This initial inaction is quite understand- able as they were operating in an information vacuum. The telegraph lines were now down and for the most part Consta- bles took up defensive positions. Elsewhere in the county, Tuam was also in a confused state and little or no activity took place in Ballinasloe. The force was operating in a vacuum on Easter week in various areas and in Galway they appear to have been unclear as to the extent of the rising inside or outside the county. The barracks at Clarenbridge was attacked with another notable skirmish at Oranmore. In Craughwell the Volunteers actually offered assistance to the RIC.

Unsurprisingly therefore, the Athenry RIC did not seek to engage the Vol- unteers directly when they arrived at Moyode. The Volunteers at Moyode were poorly-armed and they soon abandoned their positions when news reached of Pearse’s surrender on April 29th. A military train had been on its way from Athenry to Dunsandle at this time, but it then continued on to Loughrea as all the rebels had left Moyode for Limepark (Ardrahan).

Some RIC men in the area did however seek to assert their authority. For example, Nicholas Collins from nearby Riverville Barracks (Loughrea area) was later awarded ‘£5 war stock’ in recognition of his efforts to detain Volunteers. Pictured below is the Galway Express of 15 July 1916 .

Notwithstanding that Galway did ‘rise’ in parts, one might also consider the reasons behind some of its limitations. Entire chapters in books are dedicat- ed to such considerations (and speculation) but few credit the Constabulary. The role of the RIC in limiting activity in the county is not something that will sell books this year, but it appears irrational not to recognise same.

From a new series on life in the workhouse, our friends in the Workhouse Centre bring us this story from 150 years ago:

Tales from the Workhouse - Nenagh Guardian, 12 June 1866 and the Portumna Petty Sessions CSPS1/8118

Among three charges against Margaret Abberton at the Portumna Petty Sessions on 11 June 1866 was a charge of assaulting a fellow in-mate with ‘an iron tongs hot out of the fire’, though that charge was dismissed. She was also charged with assaulting a Porter, Mi- chael Carey. That summons read that Abberton ‘did assault the Complainant while in the discharge of his duty as Workhouse Por- ter at Portumna Workhouse on the 1st of June 1866’. Margaret was imprisoned in Galway gaol for one month with hard labour.

What it says in the Papers… Remembering the dead in the Eighteenth Century

From both a genealogical and local history perspective; newspaper stories, adverts, and commentary can be invaluable resources. And while obituaries and death notices are less frequent in eighteenth century newspapers, many appear among other news stories from the region and are not necessarily exclusive to the gentry. Pictured are three such articles.

Below is the London Evening Post, 6 Oct 1747; top right is the Freeman’s Journal, 21 Sept. 1782; and bottom right is the Connaught Journal, 19 March 1792. All three use strong, affectionate language and snippets such as these can often suggest abundant areas for further research.

Is eagras deonach é Cumann Staire agus Seandálaíochta Oirdheisceart na Gaillimhe (SEGAHS) a bunaíodh chun bua na staire, na seandálaíochta agus an bhéaloidis in Oirdheisceat na Gaillimhe a chun chun cinn. Is fédir teagmháil a dhéanamh leis an chumann ag an seoladh ríomhphoist [email protected], ar an suíomh Idirlín www.facebook.com/SEGAHS, nó trí chabaireacht linn ar twitter ag @SEGAHSIreland.

South East Galway Archaeological & Historical Society (SEGAHS) is a voluntary organisation highlighting the richness of the history, archaeology, and folklore of South East Galway. If you would like to make contact, you can do so by e-mailing us at [email protected], by visiting our webpage at www.facebook.com/SEGAHS, or by following us on twitter @SEGAHSIreland.

Produced with the assistance of Galway County Council, with special thanks to Marie Mannion.