Bravest Little Street in England has strong Mayo links

A NEW book, Chapel Street: The Bravest Little Street in England, has strong Mayo connections.

Chapel Street was a row of old Georgian terraced lodging houses in Altrincham, Cheshire, home to some 400 Irish, English, Welsh and Italian lodgers. Its population featured a number of residents native to the county, while author of the book, Sheila Brady, has roots in Ballyhaunis.

From Chapel Street's tight-knit community of just 60 houses, 161 men volunteered for the First World War.

They fought in all the campaigns of the war, with 29 men killed in action and 20 dying from injuries soon after the war.

More men were lost in action from Chapel Street than any other street in England. As a result, King George V called Chapel Street ‘the Bravest Little Street in England’.

The men of Chapel Street heeded the call of the Catholic Church to come to the aid of 'Little Catholic Belgium' after Leuven, the seat of Irish culture and language in Europe, was ransacked by the Germans. This was seen as a direct attack on Ireland and the Church.

The Archbishops of Tuam and Galway bestowed blessings on the men who left their dependent families behind.

The men enlisted in 23 regiments and corps of army, navy and air, including the Canadian Army. They fought in all the battles of the Somme, including Ginchy, which is featured in the book. They also fought in all the theatres of war, including Gallipoli, Salonika, where the war was won, Italy, modern Iraq, and Palestine - helping to liberate Jerusalem at Christmas 1917 after 678 years of Muslim rule.

Collectively the men experienced all the horrors of war, including being shot, shelled, gassed, taken prisoner of war, torpedoed and ship wrecked, with more men recorded as 'Missing in Action' than anywhere else.

They were awarded many gallantry medals, and took part in many daring raids and rescues, even rescuing a future Prime Minister.

In April 1919, a memorial was unveiled outside All Saints Church by the Earl of Stamford to commemorate those who served and those who did not return.

Some 70 survivors of the original 161 volunteers marched on parade, accompanied by a brass band. Those who were unable to walk due to their war injuries rode in a specially provided carriage.

To mark the occasion the King sent a five page telegram to acknowledge the men of Chapel Street.

The men that came home returned to a society unfamiliar with the processes of rehabilitation. Fiercely proud, they organised their own Roll of Honour, which recorded all the names of those brave men who volunteered.

This book highlights their journeys through war and peace.

The men from Chapel Street were mostly Irish, born in Mayo, Galway and the Sligo area. Others came from Cork, Leitrim and Limerick, with few from Dublin and Northern Ireland.

They came to England in two waves, escaping famine and poverty in Ireland.

On arriving at the dockside of Liverpool, they journeyed to Altrincham where they settled and raised their families, with children and grandchildren born in England, on the same street, alongside the other nationalities there.

They became a community who apparently spoke a 'foreign language'.

Sheila explains: "I became involved with research and then writing the book when I found that my Gt. Uncle had been awarded the Military Medal for saving the life of an officer, who later fathered children's author Dick King Smith.

"It became a quest of importance when I realised that this Irish community was slipping away from history."

Sheila's grandfather fought in WWI, though he doesn't feature in the book as he didn't live on Chapel Street.

He was, she said, of the view that if a country was worth living in, it was worth fighting for.

Royalties from the sale of the book will help support the vital work of the charity Walking With the Wounded and its housing, health, employment and training programmes for ex-service personnel.

Chapel Street: The Bravest Little Street in England is widely available in Smyths, Books @ one, Waterstones, Dubray, Alan Hanna's, The Bookshop, Charlie Byrn's, and Eason, or online.