A commemoration ceremony to honour the patriot dead who are laid to rest in Castlebar Old Cemetery is to be held on Saturday June 25.
Organised by Castlebar Cumann Fianna Fail, the ceremony will take place at the Republican plot, adjacent to the Lough Lannagh Car Park, and will include family members of those who are interred there.
Chairperson of Castlebar Cumann, Conor Smyth, said that in this year of commemoration, it is only fitting that those who gave their lives for Irish freedom should be remembered in their own community.
"This ceremony will be an acknowledgement of the part played by those who have gone before us in the struggle for freedom and independence," he said "and a reminder of the debt of gratitude owed to them by this and future generations."
The Republican plot marks the final resting place of three of those who lost their lives in the Kilmeena ambush; Seamas MacEvilly of Castlebar, John Collins of Belfast and Westport, and Thomas O'Donnell of Rosanrubble, Newport, as well as those who were active in the War of Independence and who died in later years.
Next Saturday's ceremony will commence at 2pm when the attendance will gather at the main cemetery gates on the Westport Road and proceed, led by a piper, to the Republican plot. Wreaths will be laid, prayers recited, the Proclamation will be read, and proceedings will conclude with the raising of the Tricolour. The ceremony will be followed by light refreshments at Lough Lannagh Holiday Village.
The Castlebar Cumann extends a cordial invitation to the people of the town and county to join them in paying deserved tribute to our Republican dead. A special welcome has been extended to the family members and descendants of those whose final resting place is the Republican plot in Castlebar Old Cemetery.
