From the archives: Mayo farmer sent 1824 half-crown to Princess Elizabeth as wedding present

By Tom Gillespie

ACCORDING to a report in The Connaught Telegraph 76 years ago, of Saturday, November 8, 1947, what must definitely be accepted as one of the most unusual and original presents presented to Princess Elizabeth for her forthcoming marriage was that of an 1824 half-a-crown, 123 years old, issued in the reign of George IV, despatched on Friday last by Michael Walsh (Thomas), Bunaveela, Keenaghbeg, Ballina.

Princess Elizabeth (21) and Philip Mountbatten married on November 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth became the 10th member of the royal family to be married at the Abbey.

When I met Mr. Walsh, wrote Tony Gallagher, the Ballina representative of The Connaught Telegraph, he was engaged on road works near his home, which is situated in the heart of the Nephin Mountains, 15 miles from the nearest town of Crossmolina.

“When I first got the half-a-crown in change, I intended presenting it to the National Museum, but later I changed my mind and wrote to Princess Elizabeth, asking if she would accept it as a wedding present,” explained Mr. Walsh.

In reply to his offer, Mr. Walsh received the following letter:

Dear Sir, I am directed by the Princess Elizabeth to thank you for your kind offer, and to say how very much Her Royal Highness appreciates your kind offer of a wedding present.

It will give her great pleasure to accept your gift of a half-crown issued in the reign of His Majesty George IV, and I am to convey her Royal Highness’s sincere thanks to you for your kind message of good wishes.

Yours,

Jean Epihinstone,

Lady-in-Waiting.

Pleased with this courteous reply, Mr. Walsh immediately went to Crossmolina Post Office, where, by registered post, he sent off the valuable half-crown to the Princess.

In the course of an enclosed covering letter to Her Royal Highness he said:

“I am the proprietor of a lodge in the wilds of County Mayo where the hares and the deer and the wild birds roam at will.

“I hope that when you become the future Queen of England that you and your Royal husband will one day pay a visit to the west of Ireland when you will be graciously received in my humble home.”

Explaining his livelihood in such desolate surroundings - green fields are few and far between - Mr. Walsh, who was married and the proud father of a baby girl aged six months, said that their main source of income was by the saving of turf for Mayo County Council, at which work his wife aided him.

He also earned a small amount by rearing sheep and a few cattle, but owing to the nature of the land the rearing of cattle was not a success. Sheep, then, was their mainstay, but if the weather such as that of the previous spring (1946) came often, they would be a total loss.

His donkey - the only other animal he owned - was his proudest possession, he added, and helped to a great extent with the work on the bog.

When I arrived at his home, which nestles by the waters of one of the most picturesque mountain lakes in Mayo, wrote Mr. Gallagher, and in which there is an abundance of brown trout, over 20 people - mostly the housewives of the district - were gathered awaiting the fortnightly visit of the travelling shop from which they obtain their food rations. Should this vehicle disappoint they are obliged to travel six miles to the nearest shop.

This journey, I can assure you, over such roads as I travelled on Monday, is one that is not very often made, and it is no wonder to find that not one family of the district was absent when the lorry with the valuable rations of tea, sugar, butter, and, most precious of all – tobacco - arrived.

Discussing his visits to the towns around, Mr. Walsh said he attends some of the monthly fairs in Crossmolina, but visits to Ballina, 30 miles away, are rare.

The nearest church, Keenagh, is as Mr. Walsh described, ‘one-and-a-half hour's walk’. Equally far is the white-washed school where Mr. Walsh concluded his education in the fifth standard. Still, he said, he acquired a great love for reading, and spends many of the long winter nights engrossed in his books, amongst which is a history of George IV.

Reverting to the inevitable emigration question, Mr. Walsh said that most of the young men in the locality go to England for a number of years.

People like himself were obliged to remain at home, but found it very hard to exist on the £50 or so which they realised on turf production each year. Were it not for the unemployment relief scheme run by the county council many families - few as they are now (1947) - would not be able to exist.

The most welcome visitor to the district is the postman, who makes his rounds every three days on a donkey.

From the west the setting sun gently disappeared behind the mountain background, painting a pathway of gold across the waters of the little lake, followed by an eerie silence which gave a solemn aspect to the faces of the gathered people.

With these last glimpses of a beautiful paradise, of wild, rugged and enchanting scenery, we took leave of our host by an unforgettable roadway.