Tag: Currane History

In 1847, the year of the famine, Fr Mick was transferred to and given charge of the parish of Achill. Nangle’s mission was at the peak of its power. The story of Mick’s seal for his parishioners had preceded him to Achill and Nangle and his followers proceeded to persecute and annoy the priest in every possible way.
Fr Mick settled in Cashel as being the most suitable centre from which to carry out his duties and Nangle made every effort to root him out of there but failed. As a final resort the acquired the property from the O’ Donnelly of Newport and then he successfully proceeded to evict the priest. He was forced to leave Cashel and he took up residence in the Valley House. Even there the persecutors followed him and the stairs were cut away while the priest was in an upper story. The underhand methods used by Nangle to persecute the priest were displeasing even to certain members of the Prodestant Society of Achill. In those days and Mr William Pike of Derraree gave the evicted priest a small portion of land in Bleanaskill on which to build.
Just as in Islandeady Fr Mick spent himself for his flock and he laboured for them late and early. He even became permanently crippled while attending one of his parishioners on one occasion. He had been called to administer the last rites of the Church to a dying man in Ballinglanna Corraun when he was thrown from his horse and his knee was broken. From that he was compelled to use two sticks
On another occasion he had been called out to Dooega at 1 a.m. to attend a dying man and as there was no regular road to Dooega Village in those days he asked old Mathew Heaney to accompany him while they were away another party called for him to attend a sick person in Meewillan Corraun. The Meewilan party returned home after telling the priests housekeeper that a fire would be lighted in Meewillan if the priest was urgently needed that night. When the priest and Mathew returned from Dooega the signal fire was seen in Meewillan .its meaning was explained to the priest
Who immediately saddled his horse and rode rapidly to Gob na Fearta opposite Meewilan Here he forced the horse into the tide and swam him across the half-mile of intervening sea until he came ashore on Gob na nAistri .He was just in time to administer the last comforting rites to the dying man. The probability is that had he waited to travel the longer but safer road to Belfarsad the patient would have gone to His maker, unfortified by the last Sacrments. Such was Fr Mick Gallagher.one of Achill’s most illustrious sons, who never spared himself night or day in the interests of his people and like his Divine Master whose faithful servant and disciple he was, he favoured not the rich more than the poor.
For the most part, Fr Gallagher’s work was a “labour of love” The contributions from his poverty stricken parishioners never amounted to much. On one occasion his yearly collection in Upper Achill amounted to a mere £5. Were it not for his fathers resources the good Saggart would not be able to live by the Gospel” On another occasion his Easter collection in Lower Achill amounted to15/- He gave the entire collection to a poor man for the relief of the latter’s family.
During Fr Micks period of residence in Bleanaskill he was in the habit of employing two men each year in the spring time to carry out tillage operations on his small holding. Part of their duties was to go to the shore and on the rocky section cut a quantity of sea weed to be used as a fertiliser for potatoes. One spring time, the men working for Fr Mick brought a boat with them to that portion of the shore lying westwards of Cormack’s residence in Currane. Cormack was the landlord and one of the men left the boat to cut sea weed growing on a rock some distance out from the shore.
Cormack clamed this particular rock and the sea weed on it as his particular property.s he summoned Fr Mick trespass and damage. This might appear to be a strange action action on the part of catholic landlord. But Fr Mick was a most bitter opponent of landlordism and his opposition made Cormack bitter and revengeful.
Just as in a previous law suit in which Fr Mick was engaged the case went from court to court until the costs amounted to several hundred pounds and although Cormack offered to settle the whole matter for a nominal _ .Fr Mick feeling he had justice on his side. Stubbornly refused all offers of settlement and the case was finally dismissed. Fr Mick how had to bear his own law costs Here again his fathers savings came to the rescue but by the time the debts were paid the purse was empty.
Fr Mick Gallagher died a comparatively young man being only 60 years but his years on the mission had been most strenuous ones he had worn himself for his people it will be rembered that he broke his knee cap while attending to his sacred duties and because of unskilled attention at the time and because he himself would not give the limb the rest it required to heal properly it told so much against him in the last years of his duties. Sending a younger man to assist him.
On September 2nd 1867 Fr Mick passed to his eternal reward. From Dooagh to Currane from Achill Beg to Tonragee. His people flocked in hundreds to pay their last respects to their beloved Fr Mick when the news of his death reached them. While they stormed heaven in their sweet native Gaelic pleading for eternal repose for his soul.
Before he died he left written instructions that he was to be buried with his father and brother in Kildownet on the day of his funeral Fr Richard Prendergast of Newport wanted to have the remains interred in Kildownet Church. But Wm. Pike intervened and insisted on the terms of the will being carried out.
Fr Mick was placed with his father and brother in old Kildownet cemetery

On the 14th Dec last the fishing boats of the fishermen of Currane Achill. Were seized by Irish Free State Forces and removed to Westport Quay where they have been retained since.
Complaint has reached us that the fishermen thus deprived of the means of earning a livelihood are in a very bad state and the District Councillor of the division at Westport Workhouse on Thursday to apply that out-door relief be provided for them.
It seems strange that the boats should be retained so long. Their condition has not improved by the lying up atWestport Quay and quite possible some of those boats are now almost worthless.
We trust this matter may receive attention from those in a position to deal with it. The loss of boats in this the cod fishing season is a very serious loss to those poor fisherman.
This report was taken from the Mayo News of March 10th 1923.
Our research tells us that the Free State Army or Black in Tans seized eight boats from Clochan and some older people remember that day and remember seeing the boats going over to Westport one after the other.
The boats seized were. Michael Sheans Michael Jims Michael the Tailors Pat Liams
Michael Phatch Mhor. James Mauds, Pat Mhiceals.
The boats were returned and £8. Compensation paid to the Fishermen.

Rev. Sir,
In justification of my character I think it is necessary to lay before the public the bad usage you have given me at Mass last Sunday and likewise all the provocation I gave you for doing so.
You are aware that I am a man that lives by my industry, and of course I both weigh and pay with every person without regarding what religious opinions they may hold, provided I find them honest in their dealings. I therefore have sold to the Colony people some potatoes, for which you have treated me at Mass in a most unmerciful manner by cursing and abusing me, and then turning me out of the Chapel in presence of all the congregation as you would a complete heretic .
Indeed if I were going to change my religion I would not blame you for cursing me the same as you do every other person that turns Protestant, but this is not the case with me, I only gave them the value of their money the same as I would to any other person, and I won’t be prevented from doing so, and you may curse away as much as you like because I am sure that God won’t suffer them to fall upon me in such a case.
Now as you have put me to it, I shall expose before the public your mean principles, even in the private affairs of your own congregation. You know that the last time that you held confessions in my house, after going to the next village, you told the neighbours there that you hoped they would give yourselves and your horses better usage than I did, that you were never in so poor a house, that I starved both yourself and the horses therefore in repudiation of such a statement I shall only appeal to Messrs. T.& R.& M’G. three respectable persons whom I brought to dinner with you and keep you company on that occasion.
You know that it happened upon a Friday, and ye could eat no meat, I therefore prepared a good seasoned Ling for your dinner, and plenty of whiskey, and I gave you plenty of bread and butter and tea, for breakfast and supper, and after that as much punch as you were able to drink, and the horses got plenty of potatoes, as there was no oats to be got, and all the thanks ye had for me, was to begin to speak bad of me behind my back.
I am, Sir, your humble servant,
Patrick Mc Hugh.
Duniver, July 5, 1839

Patrick J. O’ Malley retired president of the Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labour, at one time was the most powerful labour leader in the city. He rose through the ranks to become regional director of the United Auto Workers, a post he held for 19 years until his retirement in 1968.
Mr O’ Malley of Fairview Park was admitted to Lakewood Hospital on Sunday with congestive heart failure and died there yesterday. He was 80 years of age. He was a farm boy, born in County Mayo, Ireland, who first saw trade unionism at work when he was a coalminer in England at the age of 17. Four years later he immigrated to Cleveland where his three sisters had preceded him.
Mr. O’Malley brought with him a brogue and a feisty temperament. Both diminished somewhat through the years. His style as a labour leader was marked by fairness and a give and take. If his temper flared, he was quick to make amends, a long time colleague said. He became a naturalized citizen Jan. 22nd 1932. He had been a member of the Irish Republican Army, fighting the English but did not like to talk about those early days.
His first job here was in the mailing room of The Plain Dealer. He told a reporter about being fired from that job, and three other jobs soon thereafter because of his quick temper. In 1928 he got a job with White Motor Co. as an inventory clerk and timekeeper. When the old CIO union organized there five years later, he was one of the first to sign up. That was the start of his long career in Labour. The union at White became local 32 of the UAW and Mr.O’Malley eventually held every office. He was Cleveland Federation of Labour president from 1958 –1968 on a part time basis. At his retirement as regional director of the UAW in 1968 he became the federation’s full time president.
Ironically, 1968 was the year the UAW withdrew from the national AFL-CIO and Mr O’Malley became a member of the International Association of Machinists to keep his eligibility for the top job, which he held through the early 1970’s. He had also been vice president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.
In his early days in Cleveland he played soccer for Celtics and marched in the back of St. Patrick’s Day parades, playing the bagpipes in a marching band. In 1959 he was grand marshal of the parade.
In 1964 he received the Civic Award from the Greater Cleveland Knight’s of Columbus and in 1968 was named Irish Good Fellow by the Irish Good fellowship Club. He had been on the boards of many civic and welfare groups and in 1970 was appointed foreman of the September term of the county grand jury. In 1967 he received the distinguished service award from the United Appeal of Greater Cleveland. After his retirement he served five years on the Fairview Park board of zoning appeals.
His wife of 53 years, Mary died in 1981. He is survived by daughters Patricia Ratty and Nancy Mc Namara, 10 grand- children and three great grand- children and three sisters, Mary Annie and Betty.
Service will be at 10 a.m. at St.Angela’Merici Catholic Church, 20970 Lorain Rd. Fairview Park.

To compromise is to doubt your own convictions, run the old adage and it’s one that Padraig Joyce might well have coined himself.
Padraig who ?
Sorry we should have said “Seoighthe”, for that’s how he was known the length and breadth of his beloved Achill ,that fair place that he worked so tirelessly for throughout an all too short a life.
“Seoigthe” was born in Mewillian, Currane in 1920. He was educated at Currane N.S. Coláiste Einde, Galway and St. Patrick’s teacher training college in Dublin. He was principal of Derreens N. S. from 1948 to 1982.
He had a consuming life-long interest in the Irish language, Irish culture and Gaelicgames.
Together, they were the aphrodisiacs that gave him such a zest for life, and outside his school and his family, he dedicated his life to all things Irish.
“Seoigthe” was a man of considered opinion, but having made up his mind on an issue, he was steadfast in his views. The logic that he brought to debate in getting his message across often caused ire among his opponents but was rarely successfully challenged. He had an abiding concern for Achill and it’s people and this concern led him to be a founder member of the Achill Civil Rights Association in 1970 and later to the setting up of Comhar Chumann Forbartha Acla. Both are worthy of special articles in themselves, what can be said with certainty is that “Seoighthe” never spared himself in his efforts to achieve the goals of both bodies.
Sport to him meant only one thing, the Gaelic Athletic Association. He had a distinguished career in the Association, first as founder member of Achill G.A.A.Club and long-term administrator, and later as President of the West ;Mayo G.A.A. Board and the Mayo Minor Board. As with all his commitments to his own community his service to the G. A. A. was voluntary and unstinting.
A man of literary bent, it was only natural that he should write. His skills in this area found expression in a book of short stories “Diabhal Smid Bhreige Ann”, published in 1981 by FNT/ Mayo News. He had a long and happy association with “The Mayo News”, contributing to the “Flashes from Achill” for many years. Happily that association continues through his daughter, Dereens School Principal Catherine Seoigthe. His son Micheál, now based in Dublin, was also a valued member of our staff for many years and was the first full-time Advertising Manager appointed with “The Mayo News”.
Pádraig died in 1987 after losing his battle against terminal illness. In an action packed life-time he achieved more than most of his peers and certainly contributed more.
He will always be remembered with fondness and affection at “The Mayo News” and our special centenary supplement would not be complete without this small tribute to him. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

Before 1880 there was very little emigration from Achill. Male farm labourers simply moved to Eastern counties for seasonal work. They were hired at hiring fairs for the season.
There was a major increase in emigration after 1880. The reasons for this were high rents, failure of the potato crop and the arrival of better transport.
It was around the early 1880’s that migration to Scotland began. Workers walked 100 miles to Sligo and from there caught the boat to Glasgow. They worked for the potato farmers from June to November and then returned home. In later times transport by boat was provided from both Achill and Westport for seasonal workers. In 1894 a rail – line was developed to Achill, it took the workers straight to Dublin where they boarded the boat to Glasgow. In June 1911 2,100 workers left Achill to pick potatoes in Scotland, they were known as “tautie hokers”.
Achill people began to emigrate to the U.S.A. in the 1880’s. The construction of the Erie Canal was in progress at this time. It linked the Hudson River in New York with Lake Erie which is one of the “Great” Lakes. Thousands of men including many from Achill were employed on this construction. The canal ended in Cleveland, Ohio and the workers settled there when the job was finished.
Today 30,000 names common to the Achill area are visible in the Cleveland telephone directories. These names are Gallagher, Lavelle, Mc Ginty, Sweeney, Mc Samara, Burke, O’Donnell, Corrigan, Joyce, Ferry, Catalan and many others.
In the early part of the 20th Century the older members of families and almost all fathers of families in Achill worked as agricultural workers in different parts of England. They returned home to Ireland in the winter months. Younger workers, women and teenage girls migrated to Scotland until the late 1950’s.
After World War 2 many Achill emigrants took jobs in the building industry and this has continued to the present day. These workers returned home to their families for short holidays in summer and at Christmas.
Since the 1960’s the pattern of emigration from Achill has changed. The main reason for this is education. In earlier times people left school after National School. Nowadays young people do not leave until they have completed their Leaving Certificate. Even then most do not emigrate. They move on to 3rd Level Education and are then available for a better variety of jobs. Many find jobs in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and indeed emigrate to such countries as Britain and Germany or some if they are lucky enough to obtain a visa, emigrate to the U.S.A. Few return to set up home in Achill, and as a result of this the population is declining rapidly.

Population of Achill 1911:  6,800
Population of Achill 1991:  2,800

Deaths in Achill 1995: 101
Births in Achill 1995: 8

A recent mini – census compiled by Loch Gael Community Group (Fast) shows the present population of the Currane Peninsula. It is divided into eight sections. Those sections are Pre – School 20 National School 97 2nd. Level 86 3rd Level 40 Employed 172 Unemployed 108 Housewives 81 Pensioners 166, giving a total population of 770 approx. However this does not include fathers or youths who are forced by unemployment to work overseas.