The life and legacy of Julia Morrissey, one of the leaders in the Galway Rising of 1916, will be commemorated at an upcoming event in Athenry, marking the 50th anniversary of her death.
Founder of the Athenry branch of Cumann na mBan, Morrissey played an integral role in the Galway Rising of 1916. A staunch ally and supporter of revolutionary Liam Mellows, Morrissey met Mellows in 1915 when he took up lodging in her house in Athenry, while on a mission to recruit like-minded individuals to the cause. Forming a close bond, Morrissey and Mellows would eventually embark on a relationship.
A year later, in 1916, Mellows would lead a poorly armed company of 800 men and women in a series of forays targeting Royal Irish Constabulary barrack buildings in Oranmore, Clarenbridge, and even taking the town of Athenry. With the Galway contingent making up the largest number of volunteers in action outside of Dublin, Morrissey’s support of Mellows played a significant role in the company’s success, with the Athenry woman leading her own team of 50 female recruits.
Forming a close bond, Morrissey and Mellows would eventually embark on a relationship. In 1922, four years after the Rising, Mellows, a then senior leader in the anti-treaty IRA faction, was executed by the Free State Government. Morrissey never got over his death. During the 1930s, Morrissey was confined to St Bridget’s Mental Asylum in Ballinasloe.
Morrissey was never remembered for her role in the Rising, nor did she receive the veterans pension awarded to those who fought in the struggle for independence. She would later pass away in 1974, and was buried in an unmarked grave in her parent’s plot in the Dominican Abbey, Athenry. In 2017, following the discovery of her grave by the group Relatives and Friends of Galway 1916 to 1923, and a headstone was donated by a local stonemason.
This Saturday, March 9, Sinn Féin will commemorate the life and death of Julia Morrissey at an event in Athenry. Beginning with a procession through the town which will be leaving the 1916 Commemorative Garden at 11:45am, the procession will travel to Morrissey’s grave in the Old Abbey Cemetery where the event will get underway at 12pm.
Proceedings will be chaired by local Sinn Féin representative Louis O’Hara with Mairéad Farrell TD delivering the main oration. Sinn Féin representative Louis O’Hara has encouraged people to attend the commemoration this Saturday to remember one of Athenry’s and Ireland’s forgotten heroes.
