Storm Arwen passed through this week, and in Murrisk at least, it kicked up less of a fuss than many of the breezy evenings we have experienced since late September.
The Mayo coastline has a long history of notable seasonal storms that wreaked havoc on shipping and coastal communities. On occasion, these storms ventured inland, as on Oíche na Gaoithe Móire in January 1839.
Unlike the unpredictable seasonal storms, Gale Day was the pre-determined date when rent was due. In 1870, the principal landlord in the Castlebar area was George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan. The 3rd Earl was among the most ruthless of the notorious landlords who lived off the Mayo tenantry.
On rent days, tenants gathered and queued outside the rent office on the Lucan Demesne in Castlebar. On Wednesday, 12 October 1870, Lucan’s agents worked hard to collect the cash, issue receipts, and deal with arrears. When the rent office closed, the banks had ceased trading for the day, so the money was locked away. Sometime during the night and under cover of darkness, the lock was cut off the door, and all the cash was taken. The perpetrators left no trace. The night of the break-in was well chosen; an insider was suspected.
In addition to the storm that undoubtedly raged for some hours in Lucan’s rent office following the discovery of the theft, a week-long storm pounded the county. Several hours of rain fell each day. Trees were toppled, and rivers broke their banks resulting in severe flooding. Few ventured beyond the safety of their homes after dark – the weather undoubtedly conspired with the thieves to deprive Lucan of the takings of the Gale Day.
The storm did not abate. The weekly steamer that sailed the route between Westport and Liverpool was thrown upon a sandbank in Clew Bay; a bridge between Westport and Aasleagh was washed away. The old castle at Creevagh, some six miles from Ballycastle, was levelled.
The arrival in Castlebar of the mail car from Athenry was delayed due to a fallen tree. Telegraph wires were taken out, and by late Tuesday, it was noted in Castlebar that news from the outside world had all but dried up. On Thursday, magistrates met in Westport Courthouse to approve emergency works to repair damage and erect a temporary bridge. Lucan’s men were on the Green in Castlebar, lopping branches off trees damaged in the storm opposite Charles McCormack’s premises. There were calls for Lucan to plant young trees as the old ones were nearing the end of their long lives.
On Tuesday, the 14th, (Kings ) Hussars Regiment under the command of Captain W. F. H. Palmer concluded their business in the Cavalry Barracks in Castlebar. Not long after their departure, the 2nd (Royal North British ) Dragoons (Scots Greys ) under the command of Captain Francis Lambe Phillips, arrived wet and wind-beaten. The military was also on the move in Ballinrobe. Captain, the Hon. John St. Vincent Saumarez, took his troop of the 14th Hussars south. On Wednesday, the constabulary raided the house of gamekeeper Egan at Windsor and seized three guns and Egan. On the same day, Constable Foy of the Revenue Office made several raids in the Pontoon area. In operation, when the armed officers descended on it and its operatives, a Poteen Still was seized and arrests made.
A connection between Mayo and the outside world was evidenced in correspondence published by the Nation. The letters recorded substantial cash donations by persons in Breaffy, Castlebar, and Islandeady, to relieve French soldiers wounded in the Franco-Prussian War. Fr. John Fitzgerald of Islandeady and the Revd. Thomas Roynane were active in collecting and remitting the funds.
As the week concluded, the storm-beaten, rain-drenched, and rack-rented people of Mayo were undoubtedly thrilled with news from Lord Sligo, informing them that he had arrived in California and was in good health and spirits – he would not be returning to his Mayo estate before the following spring: Sligo was on tour. Back home, an altogether different type of storm was fermenting with the passing of the mostly ineffectual Landlord & Tenant (Ireland ) Act 1870.
