The Galway Rising brought to life in Kinvara

A SHOOT-out at the parochial house? That’s what happened in Kinvara at dawn on Easter Tuesday morning, 1916, as police raided the house in an attempt to arrest the curate, Fr John O’Meehan, the quartermaster for the Kinvara Volunteers.

It is years since Kinvara residents, John and Emer Mahoney, first heard the story but it took them until last month to finally bring it to life at a special performance by An Tine Beo in the historic Delamain Lodge.

“When volunteers arrived to collect Fr O’Meehan, the ensuing shots sounded the start of the Galway Rising. The Galway Rising is often overlooked but a force of 800 Irish Volunteers and Cumann na mBan, led by Liam Mellows, attacked police barracks, inflicted casualties and took prisoners, though poorly armed with shotguns and pikes against a well-equipped Constabulary force. Forced into an orderly retreat against a superior force consisting of armed police, the Connacht Rangers, the Munster Fusiliers and bands of loyalist sympathisers, the Galway Volunteers diverted British reinforcements from the Dublin Rising. The rising in Galway so alarmed the Government that HMS Gloucester, a cruiser and its attendant flotilla, were despatched to Galway Bay to prevent any landing of German arms. The heavy naval guns even shelled Volunteer positions in Oranmore during that fateful week,” explained Emer.

The couple came across the story in the writings of Pádraig Ó Fathaigh from Ardrahan.

“He left an account of the story, written in 1966, in The Connaught Tribune. Since then, there has been a book written about him and his experience as a Gaelic League organiser and the intelligence office of the IRA brigade level so he was running a couple of police spies. He was arrested in the encounter at the gate of Delamain when they came to collect the priest. The RIC were there at the same time and he literally wrestled them down to the ground and the other volunteers got away.”

Kinvara’s Delamain Lodge, again resounded with gunfire recently as An Tine Beo, the South Galway commemorative drama company presented their latest production on the Irish struggle for independence: Galway Rising 1916.

The play was written and directed by John and Emer.

They based roles and locations on actual people and places connected with the Galway Rising. Actions closely followed details derived from official accounts, participant testimonies and family oral tradition.

“The present owner of Delamain, Dr Robert Branick of San Francisco, graciously allowed the use of his home for this production and performed the role of Fr Burke, the cautious parish priest. We had been talking to Bob during the summer about this event and we said ‘you could easily write a play about it’ and he said we could perform it there. We try to perform in locations significant to the events and since this all happened at his gate, it seemed like the right place to do it,” Emer outlined.

The valiant patriot, Fr Meehan was portrayed by John Mahoney and the formidably protective housekeeper, Annie Nally by Theresa Hynes of Ballindereen.

Brian Crossan (Longford) powerfully portrayed the inspirational leadership of Commandant Liam Mellows; Colm O’Shaughnessy (Kinvara) played the wily Brigade Intelligence Officer Pádraig O’Fahy; Oisín Fennel (Kinvara) was ready for action as Volunteer Tom O’Dea. Emer Mahoney (Kinvara) played Breda Walsh of Killeeneen the indomitable leader of the Cumann na mBan; Edel Hynes (Ballinderreen) brought to life the brave and resourceful Mary Niland, who acquired weapons and supplies under the  eyes of Crown forces, as well as collecting much-needed intelligence and Ryah Hotchkiss (Kinvara) as the ever-watchful lookout and scout, Tess Walsh.

The power of the British was projected by the Royal Irish Constabulary led by John Mahoney (Boston, USA) as the ruthless County Inspector Rutledge; Ray McConnell (Dublin) played the bullying Sergeant O’Reilly, while Constable McBirney, suffering from qualms of doubt and fear, was played by Christy McLynn (Kinvara). The British Army was represented by the dour Connacht Ranger Captain O’Hara, played by Colm O’Shaughnessy.
The audience was made up of invited guests and before the play, they were treated to a lively performance of  Irish traditional music performed by Edel Hynes on accordion, Sharon Crossan on tin whistle, and Colm O’Shaughnessy on bodhrán. Patrick Pearse’s poem The Fool and the 1916 ballad, Banna Strand were rendered by John Mahoney and Emer Monahan, respectively.

Previous productions by An Tine Beo commemorated the struggles in South Galway (1920-21), the Dublin Rising (1916), and Wexford Rising (1798), as well the Famine (1849) and the campaign of Owen Roe O’Neil (1649).

While the group has no concrete plans afoot, they are considering future projects.

“There are a couple of stories from the War of Independence that we would like to try. There is the story of Mrs Quinn in Kiltartan, a woman who was standing at her own door in November 1920 and she was shot. It has always been put down as an accidental shooting but we have another theory behind that. So we want to develop that story a bit. We included it in our major work on South Galway, the full circle, which was a three-hour work performance with a cast of 35 that we did six or seven years ago. Her story was one element of that but we would like to go back and develop it. We don’t have a timeframe for that yet, but possibly we’ll perform it in the summer,” Emer concluded.