New book by Seán Cadden to be launched in Louisburgh this evening

Over 60 years ago when he first started working as an agricultural advisor for Teagasc, Seán Cadden was told stories that lit a spark in him.

Elderly farmers in the Louisburgh area, whose memories stretched back to the 19th century, told him about the shocking evictions of the Dhulough area between Louisburgh and Leenane to create Ireland’s largest sheep farm under Captain William Houstoun and the eventual return of locals to their land in the early years of Irish independence.

As an agricultural advisor he was also intrigued to hear about the unique farming system employed by the Houstouns, brought about by their importing of the Scotch Blackface sheep to their 45,000-acre farm.

Sixty years on, those conversations with elderly farmers in Louisburgh have led to the publication by Mayo Books Press of Seán’s book 'Seventy Years in the Wild West: The Rise and Fall of Ireland’s Largest Sheep Farm, Southwest Mayo, 1851 to 1923'. The launch of the book will take place this evening, Friday, September 5 at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall in Louisburgh. Ciarán Staunton will perform the launch and the event is hosted by the Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage Group.

For anyone interested in the history of the time, this is a compelling piece of work because it transcends political, social, agricultural, religious and local history. It is a story which has largely remained under the radar until now.

Power of Oral History

The book is an example of the power of oral history. We are reading a book published by Mayo Books Press in 2025 that was sparked by the memories of men who could recall the latter part of the 19th century. And that they told the right man – a young, alert agricultural advisor who made it his mission to do justice to the story and the family histories of those impacted by the evictions.

But those oral histories are only the spark for the book. Anyone who knows Sean Cadden will know how fastidious and diligent he is. Upon retirement from Teagasc, he threw himself wholeheartedly into extensive research for this book. At his side throughout was his wife Peggy, a renowned local historian herself.

“Peggy and I spent many days scrolling through the Westport Estate papers in the National Library in Dublin. It was very satisfying work because I knew most of it was new to me,” he said.

The couple were busy besides. They were among the driving forces in the exceptional Tiernaur Oral History Group publication 'Remember Us: The People’s War, Newport Area, Mayo 1914 to 1924'.

Seán was also one of four editors (along with Harry Hughes, the late Vincent Keane and James Kelly) in Westport Historical Society’s book 'The Men of the West – West Mayo Brigade, War of Independence 1919-1921'.

So Seventy Years in the Wild West took over ten years for Sean Cadden to write, often having to go on the long finger while he worked on other projects.

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As much as he loved working on those books, Seventy Years in the Wild West is his magnum opus, the book he was, arguably, born to write.

He sets out the terrible way small farmers were treated with the Marquis of Sligo and the Earl of Lucan evicting families from 44 townlands in southwest Mayo. Houstoun’s Dhulough Farm, then the largest farm in Ireland, stretched across 37 of those townlands, leasing from Sligo and Lucan while John Louden did likewise with the remaining seven townlands, to create Killary Farm.

Last plantation

“This could be described as the last plantation of Ireland,” writes Cadden in the book. “The inhabitants did not have to move to Connacht; they were already there, but to a nearby overcrowded townland with bad land.”

Coming just after the Famine, these evictions compounded the population loss of the area.

William Houstoun built Dhulough Lodge where he and his wife Matilda lived for 20 years. A renowned novelist, Matilda Houstoun penned the famous Twenty Years in the Wild West, the inspiration for this book’s title. Matilda concedes in her book the ‘misery’ their arrival visited upon many local families.

Agrarian agitation in the early part of the 20th century forced the sale of the farm to the Congested Districts Board and the descendants of many of those families evicted just after the Famine found themselves back home with more than 90 farms created. However, many more were forced to emigrate long before then.

The book also includes a wealth of genealogical information on the farmers and their neighbours along with a wealth of photographs. It is on sale in all good bookshops and online at mayobooks.ie.

A side from this evening's launch in Louisburgh, a Westport launch will take place on Thursday, September 25 at 8pm in the Plaza Hotel. Catherine Kenna, Head of Countryside Management with Teagasc will perform the launch. The Castlebar launch will be part of the Wild Atlantic Words Festival on Thursday, October 9 at 7.30pm. Harry Hughes of Westport Historical Society will launch the book there.