New book chronicles Mayo in a time of revolution
It provides a fascinating insight into life in the county during this turbulent period
A new book on the War of Independence and Civil War provides a fascinating insight into life in Mayo during this turbulent period.
Rebels in the Courthouse is Mayo County Council’s centre-piece for the Decade of Centenaries, 2012-’25.
The 434-page hardcover volume focuses on the personal stories of dozens of men and women from Mayo who were willing to risk everything in the struggle for Irish independence.
At the heart of this gripping narrative are the 34 councillors who were members of the first Republican Council from 1920-’25, but many other personalities feature too, including the women of Cumann na mBan in Mayo whose stories have only come to light recently through the release of the Military Service Pension Archives.
Drawing on many previously unpublished sources, author James Laffey presents a compelling and heartbreaking portrait of a county at war.
The book reveals the enormous pressure faced by the county council as the War of Independence intensified and the British government withdrew vital funding.
It describes the violence and intimidation visited upon councillors and their families, the repeated police raids on the council offices in Castlebar and the heroic efforts of the then county secretary Michael Joseph Egan to prevent the local authority from plunging into bankruptcy.
The book contains remarkable details about the council’s elaborate efforts to hide its cash from the British authorities, including the use of a Castlebar baker as a ‘secret trustee’.
The author also reveals for the first time the intriguing background to a raid on the council’s offices by armed and masked men in February 1921.
Events inside and outside the chamber are chronicled in painstaking detail, allowing readers to gain a valuable insight into the social conditions in the towns and villages of Mayo during the early 1920s.
The Civil War was bitterly fought in the county and Castlebar became the headquarters for the anti-Treaty resistance in Connacht as prominent councillors like Tom Maguire, Ned Moane and P.J. Ruttledge made a last stand against the new Free State Army.
Rebels in the Courthouse contains significant new material on this tragic period in our county’s history and chronicles the breakdown in relations between the IRA in Mayo and the pro-Treaty government, culminating in an armed stand-off at the Mall in Castlebar when Michael Collins held a pro-Treaty Rally on April 2, 1922.
Just weeks later, Mayo was making national news again when a revolver was brandished during a fierce debate between pro and anti-Treaty councillors in Castlebar Courthouse.
From early July 1922, Mayo was cut off from the rest of the country for several weeks and this dramatic period is dealt with in considerable detail through contemporaneous newspaper reports, eyewitness accounts and poignant letters from some of those who participated in the various battles.
Mayo County Librarian Austin Vaughan, who commissioned the book, said: “Rebels in the Courthouse is a very comprehensive, engaging and revealing account of the most dramatic years in our county’s history.
"There is a wealth of information in this book that has never before been published, including more than 200 photographs – many of them colourised for the first time – as well as dozens of newspaper advertisements from the period.”
Rebels in the Courthouse is a limited edition, high-quality publication that is the perfect Christmas gift for anybody with an interest in Mayo history.
The book retails at €25 and is available in all local bookshops and online at www.mayobooks.ie.