New book on Mayo's revolutionary years to be launched in Castlebar tomorrow

MAYO was a hotbed of activity during the revolutionary years and renowned Dutch academic Joost Augusteijn explores the fascinating period in the county’s history in his new book.

‘Mayo – The Irish Revolution, 1912–23’ will have a launch event tomorrow (September 30) at 4pm in Castle Books on Main Street in Castlebar where Augusteijn will give a brief talk and sign copies of the book.

The land question had a crucial formative influence on Mayo politics in the decades before the First World War and this book shows the part played by many prominent nationalist figures such as Davitt, O’Brien, Dillon and MacBride in shaping the political landscape in Mayo.

It explores how the Irish Parliamentary Party’s very powerful position, built upon a solid local support base during the Land War, was successfully challenged by Sinn Féin after 1916. The impact of the First World War on this shift within local politics and on the position of more marginal groups in Mayo, notably unionists and labour activists, is also assessed. Augusteijn highlights how a small group of republican activists, operating in a few localities, gradually radicalized and became involved in conflict with the authorities, taking with them ever growing sections of Mayo’s population. This explains the strength of the republican counter-state in the county, why force was only used there towards the end of the struggle for independence, and how it came to have one of the leading anti-Treaty forces during the Civil War.

Warm welcome

THE obvious question –  how did a Dutch historian develop such a keen interest in Mayo? 

“Mayo was originally an accidental choice for my PhD research in the 1990s, but I enjoyed research here more than elsewhere because the people were more welcoming and open to me as an outsider, and it is a beautiful place,” said. Augusteijn.

“What also intrigued me was that the IRA was particularly strong in Mayo, but only became really violent at the end of the War of Independence and became one of the few counties where the IRA maintained its strength in the Civil War well into 1923 and even beyond,” he added.

Being very familiar with the overall picture in Ireland at the time, Augusteijn reflects on how Mayo stood out.

“In this period Mayo was the poorest and most populated rural county in Ireland, with a very radical history, being the place where the Land League and the United Irish League had been founded. This caused an interesting tension between strong support for the Irish Party and local MP John Dillon, but at the same time a radical tradition with a strong centre of republicanism in Westport, around the MacBride family and others. The almost wholesale change from support for constitutional to revolutionary nationalism after 1917 was remarkable, and possibly explained this lack of the use of force. Despite the eventual outbreak of conflict what was quite unique is that there was very little violence against civilians in Mayo and even against unionists,” he said.

Personal stories

HE found the personal stories he encountered in his research particularly engaging.

“For me reading personal stories in the archives which combined with more factual information about events and circumstances can make the choices people make understandable is the most fascinating aspect of historical research. Why did these people in these circumstances decide to do these things? That is what I look for. When going through the archives you never know what you are going to find. As with finding the possible origins of the scandal around the Magdalen Laundries in Mayo,” he said.