Publication about South Mayo town to be launched next month

The ninth edition of Clann Mhuiris, the annual journal of Claremorris Historical Society, will be launched on Friday, November 7. Former MEP Mr Jim Higgins, will launch this year’s edition at 7.45pm in Claremorris Library. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome. It will also be available from that weekend in the usual outlets.

As well as the usual selection of photographs from the Main Street Gathering Page, this year’s edition contains a wide variety of articles relating to people and places associated with Claremorris who, in their own way, can be said to have ‘made history’. In his article on Father James Corbett and the Claremorris Fenians, historian Gerard Delaney relates how despite the opposition of the church at a higher level, many local clergymen were deeply involved in the national and Land League movements at a pivotal time in the history of the area.

Cormac Hanley contributes a deeply personal account of the life of his uncle, the legendary Henry Dixon, who won two All-Ireland medals with Mayo in 1950 and ’51 and whose remarkable football career spanned three decades. Another local man, Joe Gilmore of Brickens, is remembered by his son James, who relates some extraordinary tales of life on the road with the famous film-maker and cinema operator who brought the glamour of the ‘movies’ to towns and villages across the region from the 1950s to the 1980s.

The stories of two Claremorris priests, an uncle and nephew from the Griffith family, are told by John Griffith and a remarkable memoir by the late Conor Maguire of his life on the run as a judge of the Republican Courts between 1920 and 1922 is reproduced for the first time since 1969.

The history of the Sisters of Mercy in Claremorris is the subject of a detailed and most informative article recounting the long and dedicated contribution of that order to education and community service since its first establishment in Claremorris in January of 1877.

The story of four colourised postcards which were posted from Claremorris in the early twentieth century but which have since returned to their town of origin is related by Colmán Ó Raghallaigh, while Pat Gleeson contributes a fascinating description of the high altar in St. Colman’s Parish Church and tells the hitherto unknown story of Patrick E. Tomlin, the man who built it.

This year’s edition concludes with a further instalment of John Coakley’s series on the history of Clanmorris, which explores the subject of social change in the Barony of Clanmorris between the years 1703 and 1838.

Priced at just €10, and featuring many rare photographs, Clann Mhuiris, will once again make an ideal Christmas gift for Claremorris people at home and abroad. It will also be available from the usual outlets in Claremorris. 

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