A call has been made to name a street after Christopher Folan, a 17-year-old from Woodquay, who was murdered in his home by British Crown Forces in 1921.
The call has come from Sinn Féin TD, Mairéad Farrell, who has written to the Galway City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, requesting that Queen Street in the city centre be remnamed Bóthar Chriostóir Uí Chualáin/Christopher Folan Road.
A similar request was made in the 1960s. However, the Chief Executive's office has confirmed that the proposal will be considered for inclusion on the agenda of a future meeting of the City Council's Corporate Policy Group which would thereafter refer it to Coiste Logainmneach, the placenames committee.
'A permanent public memorial'
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Christopher Folan was born in his family home on Bohermore in May 1903 before his parents moved to O’Donoghue’s Terrace, Woodquay when Christopher was a child. He later worked as a labourer at the Galway Woolen Mills. He was shot dead, while in his bed, during a raid on his home by the Black and Tans on May 11 1921, a week before his 18th birthday.
“The War for Independence in Galway was a turbulent time politically and socially for the people of this city,” said Dep Farrell [pictured above]. “To be aware of and learn from the history of our town is crucial in charting its future development. Christy Folan was an ordinary young man who lived in extraordinary times that were not of his making. I hope that this proposal can be progressed and that Christy and his family can finally have a permanent public memorial to him in his beloved Galway."
