Clevelanders flock to view Pat Chambers Civil War Collection

Hundreds of Clevelanders flocked to three separate venues in the US city to view the Pat Chambers Civil War Collection which featured Civil War links between West Mayo and Cleveland.

The Michael Davitt Museum brought the Pat Chambers Civil War Collection to Cleveland last week as part of the official 20th Anniversary Twinning celebrations between Mayo County Council and the City of Cleveland.

Letters and documents dating back to the War of Independence and Civil War periods were discovered by local farmer Pat Chambers in September 2021, hidden inside the stone walls of an old shed in the townland of Doontrusk near Newport.

The collection had belonged to Tom Mulchrone, a leading republican in the Newport area at the time of the War of Independence and Civil War who was married to Pat’s great-aunt Mary Hoban.

The jar lay undiscovered for nearly 100 years and its contents included information on Civil War activities in the Newport area, the Newport Sinn Fein Accounts and payments made relating to the visit to West Mayo of future Taoiseach, Sean Lemass.

Pat Chambers meets some of the Mayo Diaspora in Cleveland who viewed the Civil War Collection last week

Some of the documents inside the jar included letters between Tom and his brother John, who lived in Cleveland in which they discussed the campaign in Ireland. A letter from Cleveland to The Mayo News detailed the strength of feeling in that city in respect of the treaty, while a further letter from that same city lamented the death after an engagement with Free State forces of anti-treatyite, Jim Moran in March 1923. The letter also revealed that substantial fundraising was taking place in Cleveland to support the struggle in Ireland.

Hundreds of Clevelanders flocked to three separate venues – Great Lakes Brewery, the Westside Irish American Club and the Eastside Irish American Club to not only view the original documents but also watch a presentation by the Michael Davitt Museum which provided further relevant information and context.

John Reid and Yvonne Corcoran Loftus of the Michael Davitt Museum and Pat Chambers at the exhibition of the Pat Chambers Civil War Collection in Cleveland

The speakers included Yvonne Corcorcan Loftus and John Reid from the Michael Davitt Museum and Pat Chambers who gave an outline of the family history and how the jar full of documents was discovered. They were also joined by local historian and author Seán Cadden while Professor Emeritus at the University of Portland and local historian Mick Mulchrone was also present.

The presentation in Cleveland was supported with funding from Creative Ireland and the Michael Davitt Museum believe that the events in Cleveland have the potential to further enhance tourism ties between Mayo and North East Ohio.

The museum also wish to thank Colleen Corrigan Day, Margaret Lynch, Gerry Quinn, Mick Mulchrone and all that were involved in organising the events.