Aughalasheen And The

Historical Aspects

Aughalasheen village is located to the North East of the Mullet Peninsula and its main town is . It is approximately 6kms from Belmullet. lies to its North. It belongs to the Parish of Kilmore in the Killala Diocese. It is also part of the Barony of .

It wasn’t until 1273 that the Norman Invasion reached Erris (over 100 years after the Normans first arrived in Ireland) when the Norman family of Barretts (who came from Munster) conquered Dónall Iorrais Ó Conchubhair (descendant of Ruairí Ó Conchubhair, High King of Ireland). The Barretts built three castles on the Mullet; Miles Barrett built a small castle in Knocknalina, the site of the post office now.

The arrival of the Normans was not as disastrous in the long- term as later arrivals. The Normans became more Irish than the Irish, they married the Irish, spoke the language and gaelicised their name. The Irish, however, never regained their lands though they were returned as tenants. The families of Breathnach (Walshe) and McAndrews came to Erris about this time.

English law declined until the the latter part of the sixteenth century. In 1584 Richard Bingham became Governor of Connaught. The Crown Queen Elizabeth sold or granted large plots of land to Lords. The Lords collected rent from their tenants in the barony and they in turn would pay rents to the Queen. Richard had a reputation of being a cruel man; burning, looting and killing without mercy. He immediately set about collecting the rents and forcing the Irish chieftains into submission. From 1539 monasteries and the Catholic faith and teaching were suppressed. Mass was prohibited. Masses in the Mullet were said in houses or at open air altars. Catholics continued to bury their dead in church grounds, however, land changed hands frequently. The most prominent names of freeholders were of Norman origin: Barretts, Bourkes and Cormicks.

In 1695 SirArthur Shaen inherited the lands of Erris from his father. It is thought he lived in Shanahee. He started but did not complete Shaen’s Cut – the forerunner to the present canal joining and Broadhaven Bay. He discovered ore in Cloneen and built a furnace on the banks of the Cloneen River. Patrick Dixon of Gort an Éadain recalls a story his Grandmother Mary Barrett told him. ‘The furnace was not a great success and a local oracle foretold that it would never be a success until a child was burned in it. A child was found and was nearly sacrificed until luckily a gentleman rode by and saved the child’.

During the seventeenth century native Irish families from the North of Ireland arrived in the Mullet following plantations in . These included: Reillys, O’Donnells (they were to become powerful landowners), Connells, McManamons, Gallaghers and Geraghtys. Sir Arthur had no male heir. His two daughters inherited his lands equally. Francis married John Bingham and Susanna’s second husband was Henry Boyle Carter. The Carters were absentee landlords until the last quarter of the nineteenth century but the Binghams became resident landlords when Major Denis Bingham came to live here in 1796. The British at this time feared an attack by Napoleon in France. In an effort to defend the coast they built signal towers running clockwise from Dublin to Malin Head. In 1803 the signal towers were erected in the Parish, one in Glosh and the other one on Sliabh Mór (Tower Hill). Signals were made by showing flags and four hoops covered in black canvas in various combinations. In this way they could communicate with adjacent stations (Tower Hill was in contact with the tower on ) and naval ships offshore. The threat of attack wa