Castlebar Chemical Attack: Victim faces permanent eye scarring

A 27-year-old man has suffered a serious eye injury after being doused with a corrosive chemical, believed to be ammonia, during a daylight assault in Castlebar, Co Mayo, on the morning of Monday, September 7.

Mikey Maughan, originally from Dublin, was walking with his fiancée Ellen near Lough Lannagh Road in Castlebar at around 10.15am when the pair say they were targeted twice within the space of minutes by a man known to Mikey.

"He asked me to fight"

According to Mikey, the first confrontation began when a car pulled up beside the couple as they walked toward town for breakfast.

"He came out then and asked me to fight and started attacking me," Mikey said. "So I started self-defending myself. We were brawling for a few minutes on the street, and then he agreed to go."

Mikey said there was long-standing "bad blood" between himself and the man, though the pair believed the confrontation was over once it ended and continued on their way into town.

Second attack

Five to ten minutes later, Mikey says the same man returned, this time armed with a hammer in one hand and a bottle of chemical liquid in the other.

"He ran at me, and then he squirted the bottle straight into my left eye," Mikey said, adding that he believes the attacker intended to blind him with the chemical so he could then be beaten with the hammer.

Mikey says he “ran for life” and got away from the scene as the pain in his eye worsened.

Several passing cars failed to stop before a motorist eventually pulled over and drove him to hospital.

Hospital treatment

Mikey was initially assessed locally before being transferred to University Hospital Galway, where he was diagnosed with a grade 1 chemical injury to his cornea. He has since developed an infection in the eye, which medical staff say is healing slowly.

Doctors have told him a white mark left on his eye could result in permanent scarring, and that there is no guarantee his vision will fully return to normal. Mikey said the first five nights after the attack were especially difficult, with little relief from the pain.

"I want justice for my eye. I want justice. I deserve justice," he told The Mayo News. "This shouldn't happen to anyone in the world. Everywhere I go in public, I get stared at because there's a big cover over my eye, and it's very, very noticeable."

"We're scared"

Ellen, who witnessed the attack, said she has been left shaken by what happened.

"I can't believe this man hasn't been arrested yet," she said. "I was there looking at it, and I thought I was the next victim. It's very scary to witness it. We're scared."

She said the couple, who plan to marry in February, are now wary of returning to the town centre. "

The couple gave statements to Gardaí in Castlebar on the evening of the attack.

Garda statement

In a statement to The Mayo News, Gardaí confirmed they responded to a report of an assault on a man at Lough Lannagh Road, Castlebar, at approximately 10.15am on 7 September 2026. The man, in his 20s, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Mayo University Hospital. A Garda spokesperson said investigations into the incident are ongoing. No arrest had been made at the time of publication.