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OF THE DEAD
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MEMORIALS UNVEILED
AT BALLINAHAGLISH
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BIG CROWD AT REPUBLICAN
CEREMONY
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(“Western People,” August 25, 1951)
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WO well-kept graves in Ballinahaglish (Parish of
Backs, Knockmore) Cemetery were the centre of a stirring ceremony on Sunday
when over 500 people gathered to honour the memory of two young men and to
witness the unveiling of two memorials by Dr. John A. Madden, Dublin, to the
memory of Lieut. Thomas James and (21), Corroy, and Lieut. Patrick Morrison
(19), Ballinahaglish, both officers in the North Mayo Brigade I.R.A. and both
of whom were killed at the battle of Clifden (Co.Galway), on Ocotber 29th,
1922.
Last Sunday, 29 years later,
their comrades gathered around their graves to honour their dead and to relive
that fierce engagement that cost so many lives on that October morning so long
ago. The town of Clifden, a strategic centre, was chosen for attack by the
I.R.A., the entire operation under the command of Comdt. P. J. McDonnell.
Of the estimated 100 men who took part in the attack 32 of the North Mayo
Brigade under Comdt. J. Gallagher,
Lakefield, and Vice.-Comdt. M. Bourke,
Corroy, were detailed to render impotent a Marconi radio station and prevent
the garrison there from joining forces with the garrison in the town. Through
some mishap the garrison in the station learned of the forthcoming attack and
part of them slipped out with the result that the 32 I.R.A. men, before they
could take up positions, were ambushed. Lieuts. James and Morrison were both
mortally wounded in the ensuing fight, one being killed immediately and the
other lingering for two days.
On last Sunday, of the 32 men engaged in that
encounter twelve marched proudly in the parade that preceded the ceremony.
Fourteen others in the United States marched in spirit. Headed by the Lacken Pipe Band, the parade started
from Corroy factory. It included such noted personalities as Mr. P. J. Ruttledge, T.D.; Senator Seamus Kilroy, P. A. Calleary, the
Brigade Engineer; Matt Kilcawley,
Enniscorne; Vincent Calleary,
Ballina; P. Boland, Chairman of the
Memorial Committee; J. O’Donnell,
Foxford; Denis Sheerin, Ballina; T. Bourke, Secretary Memorial
Committee, and many others too numerous to mention. They came from Ballycastle,
Killala, Bonniconlon, Foxford, Ballina, Enniscrone, Dublin, Crossmolina, and it
must have been a source of pride to the relatives of the deceased men that so
many should remember.
MONAGENARIAN FATHER
Pride of place in the parade was
given to Mr. Pat James (96), father
of Lieut. Thomas James, and with stood the other members
of the family, including Martin James (brother); Mrs. Sally
McNicholas and Mrs. T. O’Hora (sisters); Vincent James (nephew); Mrs. Martin James and Mr. T. O’Hora (in-laws). Mr. J. O’Hora, nephew, was unable to attend.
Representing the Morrison family
were John and Michael Morrison (brothers); Mrs.
Mary Quinn, Corcoran Terrace, Ballina (sister); Patrick and John W. Morrison
(nephews); and Mr. James Quinn
(brother-in-law).
The general public brought up
the rear of the long parade which wound the one and half-mile journey to the
cemetery and included Captain McDonagh
and Lieut. McCormack, both of
Ballina F.C.A. who attended the ceremony in their private capacities. At the
head of the parade a 29 year old green, white and orange banner, bore the
following inscription: “In memory of the
late Lieut. Patrick Morrison and Lt. Thomas James, killed in action at the
Battle of Clifden. 29th October, 1922".
The unveiling of the striking
memorials followed in the cemetery. Erected by the aid of local subscriptions
and by generous donations from old comrades overseas the memorials took the
form of two exquisite Celtic Crosses lettered in gold lead and the work of
Messrs. Diamond of Skreen. Surmounted by the inscription: “Gael dilis—Laoch
Calma, Siothan Siorrai d’anam, the memorials read:-- I mbuam Chuinne ar Padraic
O Muiggheasann, Maile na h-Eaglaise, Beal an Átha, Lifteanant san iad Cath
Briogaid Mhuigheo Thraid orm Poblacht na hEireann a fuair bás ag triod ar son
na saoirgeachta ag on gClochán, Co. na Gaillimah, ar an 28ad Deire Fogmhair,
1922.
Ar deis De go raib a anam.
Ar na chur cuas ag a chomradai.
A similar inscription decked the
memorial over the grave of Lieut. James, while on top of each grave rested a
wreath from Rehins Cumann na mBán.
THE ORATION
The oration at the graveside,
delivered by Dr. J. A. Madden,
Brigadier North Mayo Brigade, and Command Adjutant, Western Command I.R.A., was
a simple tribute to the memory of the two young men who also linked their lives
with that of Vice-Comdt. Michael Burke,
also buried in the graveyard, who gave a long period of service to the Republic
and which service was ultimately the cause of his early death.
Recounting the battle in which
both men had lost their lives, Dr.
Madden said that by their death both men inscribed their names on the
roll of Irish martyrs just as surely as anybody who proceeded them. In order to
understand why two simple boys were called upon to make the supreme sacrifice,
Dr. Madden took his listeners back to the 1916 Rising when the spirit of
nationhood was again fanned into life and the effect his epic had on the
patriotic boys. Going on to recall the tyranny of British rule in this country,
Dr. Madden said it made him smile when he heard of British outcries against the
Communist regime, when they remembered that thirty years ago they had an
equally bad regime in this country from their neighbours and young boys like
James and Morrison stood up to it.
Recalling the struggle and the
events that led up to the Treaty, Dr. Madden, while making it clear that he not
want to rake up old sores, said that if they were to do justice to the memory
of those two men they should put their actions in the right perspective and
when the treaty was signed, and when Lloyd had perpetrated the greatest act of
treachery against this country when forcing the Irish representatives to sign,
splitting the country from top to bottom as he had intended and “doing what
Elizabeth had given armies to do,” these young men made up their own mind that
the Treaty was not what they had struggled for so long.
Continuing, Dr. Madden sketched
in the eventful events after the Treaty, the slow evolution of freedom up to
1939 and said that if he just finished on that he would just have admitted that
Morrison and James had laid down their lives in vain, but he believed that by
their deaths they achieved as much as Pearse and his comrades did by going into
the G.P.O. He believed that it was the action of those young men and others who
died to keep up the spirit of the Republic alive that resulted in our stand in
1939 when we went our way again when a Government without the ideals of
Morrison and James might have walked this country into a world war.
Referring to the Six Counties,
Dr. Madden said that the full aim of the men like James and Morrison would be
achieved when the Republic would extend to the 32 counties. “That would be the
great monument we could have to their memories and to the memories of all who
died in the 700 years previously,” he concluded.
A decade of the Rosary was
recited in Irish.
At the gravesides a firing party
under Mr. Stephen Donnelly, Ballina,
fired three volleys over the graves and the Last Post was sounded by a member
of the Lacken Scout Patrol. The
firing party consisted of John Flynn,
Mount Falcon (one of the members of the Clifden attack); T. Holmes, Tullysleva, and Patrick
Clarke, Farrandila.
Also present were Mr. Gerard Barley, Parliamentary
Secretary to the Minister for Lands, and Comdt.
John Gallagher.
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