What a difference a century makes. One hundred years ago Muintir Mhaigh Eo, Áth Cliath, the Mayo Association of Dublin, was formed by Major John MacBride of Westport for the betterment of those who had to leave the county and migrate to the capital, writes Sheila Sullivan.
Trips home to Mayo in the early 20th century were arduous and infrequent, and bonds with the native place intensified through separation. The association provided crucial links and support.
Dr Thomas Mitchell, former Provost of Trinity College and 1992 Mayo Person of the Year, has written that the success of the association surpassed "that of any other of its kind and can find explanation only in the nature of Mayo itself, a county hard to leave for those born within its borders". Even in the new century, with frequent travel, the yearning of the diaspora remains. Former president Mary Robinson, who is living in Manhattan, told Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show recently that she was never happier than when she was in Mayo.
To mark its centenary, Muintir Mhaigh Eo, Ath Cliath has published A Century of Service, edited by Christy Loftus, a journalist with the Western People and a native of Newport. The book is intended to be part history and part celebration of the success of contemporary Mayo. Loftus hopes "it will show the progress we have made over the years and will be used as a touchstone for Mayo people well into the future." The Taoiseach launched the book at EBS headquarters in Dublin on November 14th. Speaking to 120 people, Mr Ahern said: "It is incredible to think that when the Dublin branch of the Mayo Association was formed back in 1905 a journey from Mayo to Dublin took longer than the journey today to Los Angeles, and it's a sobering reminder of just how far we have come in the country in the past 100 years."
Last Monday Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, introduced by Loftus as "the Taoiseach in waiting", was bringing it all back home to Castlebar. "The beauty of the book," Kenny said at the launch in the county library, "is that when you read a chapter you can absorb that as an entity in its own right, and you can move on to the next chapter, which is an entirely different style of writing and an entirely different story about an entirely different issue." He hoped young people would be reading the book in 50 years.
"I wanted to show off Mayo because when you look around you and see the attractions that we have in the county, it's clear to me and to quite a lot of people that much of what we have is undersold," Loftus said. "We have the National Museum here in Turlough. We have Carne golf club which, according to the golfers, is probably the most exacting and one of the most beautiful golf courses anywhere in the world, and we have it back in Belmullet and nobody knows about it."
The book's cover is a montage of a Liam Lyons photograph of a hooker sailing off Currane and a Michael McLaughlin shot of a rare wall painting in Clare Island's Cistercian Abbey, overlaid by a letter written by John MacBride in 1912 to a cousin living on Islandmore in Clew Bay.
Inside, lawyer Frank Durkan recalls Paul O'Dwyer from Bohola (1907-1998), a one-man civil rights movement and a driving force among the Irish in New York. Durkan quotes American journalist Jack Newfield on O'Dwyer: "He never compromised his integrity, he never slandered an opponent, he loved the oppressed and he never hated the oppressor. He is as much a landmark as the Statue of Liberty." Judge Mary Devins discusses the refurbishment of Castlebar Courthouse and the administration of the law in District No 3. An Ulsterwoman, she observes: "The soft cadence of the Mayo voice struck me on first coming to the county but I have learnt that when the voice of a witness is at its softest and most beguiling, that is the time for my judicial antennae to stand to attention."
All-Ireland footballer and journalist Denise Horan describes Croke Park in 1999 when the Mayo ladies' team won, and what it felt like to wake up the next morning as champions. Eamonn Mongey writes about the "rebellion" organised by Mayo players before going on to win All-Ireland titles in 1950 and 1951.
There is poetry from Sean Lysaght and Gerard Reidy. Anne McCarthy, Arts Officer, lists the growing number of arts venues in the county: the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar, the Custom House Studios in Westport, the Ballina Arts Centre, the Heinrich Böll Cottage in Achill and the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle.
County Manager Des Mahon looks to the future. John Garavin, a native of Kilmeena, Westport, provides a history of the association, which he wrote with the encouragement of Paddy Moran. There are chapters on Ballinrobe racing, Knock Airport, Tom Shiel on folklorist Joe Byrne, Sean Walsh on musician John Hoban and Park Ranger Cameron Clotworthy on the blanket bogs of Ballycroy National Park. All contributions, including one from this diarist, were donated to the publication.
A Century of Service is available, price €25, in the main bookshops in Castlebar, Westport and Ballina, from chairman Jim Murphy at 087-650-2690 or from culkin@eircom.net.