Tag Archives: Mary Crawford

THE MID-Clare Commemoration Committee has unveiled plans to commemorate the role of the women of Cumann na mBan in Ireland’s revolutionary struggle. The committee, which has been instrumental in marking historic events since it was established a decade ago, believes that the pivotal role of women in events like the War of Independence has been largely neglected. Given the restrictions around Covid-19, it has initiated a school’s project designed to recognise the role of women, including the children’s own relatives. All schools in Mid-Clare Brigade area are invited to participate in the project, and to select Cumann na mBan members and document their contribution to national Independence. Schools and students may use any medium they see fit, including displays, posters, articles, reports, etc, and may return one or more projects. Participating schools will be presented with a specially commissioned Cumann na mBan Centenary Certificate. A presentation ceremony will take place in 2021, subject to restriction. A centenary commemorative booklet of …

TUESDAY was exactly 100 years on from the Rineen ambush and the atrocities that followed, and the events of that day were marked at the site of the ambush and in Lahinch. Due to Covid-19, relatively few people were able to attend the commemorations of what was one of the most notable events in Clare during the War of Independence. Mary Crawford is part of the commemoration committee, which met in Rineen and raised the Irish flag at the site where the IRA engaged with the enemy, killing six RIC men. She said they had decided at a very early stage that holding a mass ceremony wasn’t a possibility. “Last March, when it started to look like we’d have a lockdown we guessed we wouldn’t be proceeding with commemorations really, so we were ready for it. Obviously we’d have something else planned in other circumstances, but we did all we could,” she said. Mary’s grand-uncle was involved in the ambush, …

THE descendants of the Clare volunteers who took part in hunger strikes in Mountjoy and Dundalk prisns in 1917 will travel from near and far to Ennis today for a special commemoration. The Mid Clare Brigade Commemoration Committee have managed to track down the families of the Clare hunger strikers in time for the commemoration taking place this Sunday at the4 Peace Park neaqr Glór. According to Mary Crawford, chairperson of the committee, the families are “delighted” that their ancestors are to be remembered in their home county. “The committee is very pleased to have tracked the descendants of all of the hunger strikers from as far away as Sydney, Paris, the UK and nearer to home. The families have expressed their deep appreciation that their forebears are being commemorated in this way. “We’ve only just got in touch with the granddaughter of one of the hunger strikers, James Madigan, in Australia, who would have loved to have come to …

ST Joseph’s Secondary School, Spanish Point, recently presented its end-of-year awards, one of which was the prestigious Ceist award. Ceist is the trustee umbrella body that governs St Joseph’s. This year, the award was presented to Adam Clohessy, a second-year pupil, for his quick action in helping to save his father’s life. Living in Kilrush, Adam has been attending Spanish Point ASD class for the last two years. The school felt it was appropriate that he be recognised for his actions in saving his father’s life. Adam explained, “I woke up at 5am and my dad was calling my name. I thought he was talking in his sleep but he called again. It was only then I heard a thump. I went to check him and I found him on the floor. He had fallen out of bed and I tried to help him back in but he just kept falling. His speech was a bit slurred, which eventually made …

CLARE Fianna Fáil commemorated the 1916-1923 period and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the political party at a packed event in Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis, last Sunday. The guest of honour was Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, grandson of Eamon de Valera, the founder of the Fianna Fáil party. An exhibition of War of Independence memorabilia, together with family heirlooms and documents, were on display. The exhibition is the largest one seen in the county to date. The event was opened by the organising committee chairperson, Mary Crawford, who paid tribute to all members of the Volunteers and Cumann na mBan for their role in helping to set up the new State. She also paid tribute to the nine Volunteers whose families were in attendance and who lost their lives in the period. A reading of the Proclamation by Eoin Neylon, president, Ógra Fianna Fáil, was followed by poetry, song and music. In his address, Mr Ó Cuív …

MARY Crawford, a member of the national Fianna Fáil 1916 Coiste, has appealed to people in the county to contact the party, if they are interested in having their family members recognised for their roles in that era. “One of the things that Fianna Fáil hopes to do in every county is to get a list of people who were involved in the era 1916 to 1923 or who had relatives involved and who would like to be part of this commemoration. “We are trying to build up a bank of names of people who were involved in the period and to recognise their contribution,” Ms Crawford explained, stressing that the initiative applied to all people, whatever their role. “A medallion will be presented to the families to mark their contribution. Any information we get, I’ll be handing it over to Helen Walsh of Clare County Council. We’ll work with any groups. There are a lot of groups trying to …