On 20 January 1923, six months into the civil war, four anti-treaty IRA Volunteers from Galway – Martin J. Burke (25 ), Hubert Collins (23 ), Stephen Joyce (29 ), and Michael Walsh (26 ) – were executed at Athlone Barracks, having been found guilty by a Free State Military Court of the unlawful possession of arms and ammunition.
Join historian Cormac Ó Comhraí, author of Sa Bhearna Bhaoil: Gaillimh 1913–1923, on Saturday 21 January, from 2.30pm to 3.30pm at Galway City Museum, as he discusses the Civil War in Galway and the executions at Athlone Barracks.
Attendees may also be interested in visiting the new civil war exhibition at Galway City Museum, entitled ‘War of Friends, 1922-23: the civil war story of Pádraic Ó Máille and Liam Mellows’. This exhibition looks at a crucial period in Irish history of both local and national significance.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed on 6 December 1921, offered limited independence within the British Empire to 26 Irish counties – the Irish Free State – rather than the desired Irish Republic. As a result, the Irish republican movement split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty, Free Staters and Republicans, triggering a civil war that lasted from 28 June 1922 to 24 May 1923. Known in Irish as Cogadh na gCarad (war of friends ), the conflict began without a formal declaration of war, ended without settlement, caused around 1,500 deaths, and left the Free State bitterly divided and on the verge of bankruptcy.
In December 1922, Liam Mellows and three other Republican leaders were executed in reprisal for an attack on politicians Pádraic Ó Máille and Seán Hales. Veterans of the Easter Rising in Galway, both Mellows and Ó Máille had been elected as Sinn Féin MPs for Galway in 1918.
This exhibition features rare photographs and several personal items belonging to both Ó Máille and Mellows. It has been funded as part of Galway City Council’s Decade of Centenaries Programme 2022 and will run until 24 May 2023, the centenary of the end of the Irish Civil War.
Cormac Ó Comhraí will give the second of these talks on Saturday 15 April, 2.30pm to 3.30pm about the end of the Civil War and the executions at Tuam Barracks. To book a place on either of the two upcoming talks, call 091 532460 or email [email protected]. Suitable for ages 12+ and admission is free!
Visitors to all current exhibitions at Galway City Museum are welcome any time from Tuesday to Saturday between the hours of 10am and 5pm. Visit www.galwaycitymuseum.ie and plan your next visit.
