Archive | Historical Documents

Fenianism grew out of the failed attempts of Young Ireland 1848 rising. Founded simultaneously in Ireland and the US. by James Stephens and John O’Mahony in March 1858, its primary goal was to foment rebellion in Ireland John McCormack was born in Castlebar in 1850 the son of Samuel McCormack from Thomas Street., he had […]

My dear Johnnie, Here at last are the few notes which I took down from Daddy about two years ago. At that time, they looked complete enough as they were intended for Michael Kilroy who knew the background to the events and the district in which they took place. You not being, perhaps, so well […]

Margaret Mulroe and Nora Dunne These two women suffered greatly as a result of the direct involvement of Patrick and his brother Michael Tunney in the fight for Irish freedom. Their home in the mountains, south of Westport, was the headquarters of the West Mayo Flying Column of the I.R.A. It was an easy target […]

First-hand account By Patrick Tunney The Western People In the throes of fear, terror and anxiety, the year 1920 dawned throughout Ireland, with the death of Terence MacSwiney, the burning of the Loughnane Brothers, Galway, and the assassination of Mayor O’Callaghan, Limerick; Canon Magner, Cork; Peadar Clancy and Dick McKee at Dublin Castle; Tom Ashe […]

A force of 100 strong E company, Auxiliaries, were stationed in Westport, one week after the Carrowkennedy ambush, arriving on 11th June 1921 and left on 18th January 1922. They were billeted in the Railway Hotel, Joyce’s Private Hotel, offices of solicitor Mr. John Kelly and private residence of PJ Doris. A report stated that when […]

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The White Cross is a forgotten organisation that provided a lot of help during the War of Independence. Attached is a summary of the amount dispensed and a letter from Fr. Conroy from the Report of the Irish White Cross on 31st August 1922 by W. J. Williams. Sean Cadden Click to View

Dr Myles Mac Evilly With the authorisation of James Chambers, Commandant of the Castlebar Battalion of the West Mayo Brigade IRA, a local committee was formed at the beginning of January 1922 to collect funds “to provide a Castlebar Memorial Cup to perpetuate the memory of Captain James Mac Evilly and his four comrades who […]

Were German submarines successful in landing weapons for the IRA on the North Mayo Coast during WW1? The arrival of the first German submarines in the Irish Sea in January 1915 was followed a month later by a declaration from Imperial Germany that the seas around the whole of the British Isles were an ‘area […]

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