This month marks the tenth anniversary of Castleisland District Heritage, an initiative that finds its roots in the research of the late school principal, Michael O’Donohoe. As part of National Heritage Week 17-25 August 2024, a selection of Michael’s work will be on display in St Brigid’s Hall, Castleisland at our Celebration Exhibition on Saturday 17 August 2024.[1]
Michael O’Donohoe retired from teaching in 1991 and subsequently spent the next seventeen years researching local history. In a pre-digital environment, he amassed a vast and comprehensive archive with its central focus, the history of Castleisland in County Kerry.
Michael passed away on 26 June 2008 and his papers were placed in storage until 2014, when work began on the Michael O’Donohoe Memorial Heritage Project. It was led by a voluntary committee chaired by John Roche, who retains this position.[2]
Michael’s parents, Matthias (Matthew) O’Donohoe (1898-1995) and Kathleen Conolen (1908-1978) hailed from Co Clare, their wedding taking place in Ballyvaughan Church on 27 November 1934.[3] Matthias (Matt) was a native of Aghaglinny, a townland a few miles from the town of Ballyvaughan. Matt and his brother, Connie, were members of the 6th Battalion, Mid-Clare IRA Brigade (‘A’ Company Ballyvaughan and Noughaval/Noughaville) under Commandant, Seán McNamara.[4]
The following article by Priscilla Lernihan, grandniece and granddaughter respectively of Matt and Connie, sketches this period in O’Donohoe family history:
Matty O’Donoghue was born in 1898 on the 19th of February in a place called Aughlina about two miles outside Ballyvaughan. He was the youngest of a family of fourteen children. His father was a small farmer.[5] He was educated at Ballyvaughan National School. He finished school at the age of 16 and he went to work on the farm at home. Later on he went to live with his aunt, a widow, who was unable to attend to the daily chores of a farm.
Matt’s father died on Mayday 1914; Matt returned home to live. Priscilla continues:
In 1920 he joined the old IRA along with about 20 others to fight against the Black and Tans who had come to Ireland in 1918. Being in a local branch of the IRA he was on the run from the enemy, and could not stay in his own home. On 23rd of May 1921, the IRA ambushed the military barracks in Ballyvaughan, and later on that day a house was burned down. So a small group of men, including Matty (my granduncle), his brother Connie O’Donoghue (my grandfather) and four others went up to a camp on the side of the mountain. They were about to come down to the house for a meal when they spotted the house being surrounded by the Black and Tans.
The men, hopelessly outnumbered, had to remain on the mountain and look on helplessly at the unfolding scene:
Only my great-grandmother and grandaunt were at home at the time. The Black and Tans gave them a quarter of an hour to get their belongings out of the building and then they burned the house down … several incidents took place like this in which Matty and his brother Connie were involved until the truce which was called on the 11th of July in 1921.[6]
When the treaty was signed the IRA split, Matt on the anti-treaty side. He later went to work for the County Council and on 5 October 1933, he enlisted with An Garda Síochána (No. 8422) with a group commonly known as ‘The Broy Harriers’:
He was situated in Kinsale, Kilbritain, and on the 4th of January 1935 he went to Tralee. In 1940 he left Tralee and was re-stationed in Castleisland and remained there until he retired on 18th of February in 1963.[7] He married a woman named Kathleen twelve months after he joined the police force. They had four children – the first, Mary Rose, died at the age of 18 months of pneumonia. He has two sons, Michael and Matthew, and a girl, Breda. Matthew became a dress designer and is quite successful. Michael became a teacher and now teaches in Castleisland Primary School. His daughter now lives in Scotland, and he himself remained in Castleisland after his wife Kathy died in 1978.[8]
Kevin P Donnelly of New Milford, New Jersey, is first cousin of the late Michael O’Donohoe on his mother’s side. His father Michael Donnelly married Ballyvaughan native, Bridget Conolen, sister of Kathleen Conolen, in New York in 1944.[10] Bridget and Kathleen (Matt’s wife) were raised by their grandmother after the death of their mother Margaret in 1912.[11]
According to family lore, the girls lived with their maternal grandmother and her bachelor son. There was also talk of them living in a shop.[12] When their grandmother died they were sent to live with relatives in Ennis. The family recall discussion about the Fanore National School scandal in which a number of men were imprisoned for harassing staff appointed after the principal, Michael O’Shea, was dismissed by the parish priest for allegedly refusing to marry the assistant teacher.[13]
Children of Garda Matt O’Donohoe and Kathleen Conalen
Michael O’Donohoe was born on 26 September 1936 in Tralee, the eldest of three surviving children. In 1945, his family moved to Barrack Street, Castleisland and he was enrolled in the Boys’ National School in the town. He earned a scholarship to the Good Counsel College, New Ross, Co Wexford, subsequently studying at St Patrick’s Training College, Drumcondra, where he played football with the team Erin’s Hope.
In 1956, Erin’s Hope ‘a team of young student teachers a little more than a year in senior ranks,’ faced All-Ireland finalists of 1955 St Vincent’s in the Co Dublin Senior Football Championship final at Croke Park, an eagerly awaited final with ‘a distinctly country versus city flavour.’[14]
St Vincent’s, who fielded at least three-quarters of the Dublin team, had wins under their belt since 1949 while Erin’s Hope had last won the title in 1932 (and once before that in 1887). However, St Vincent’s run came to an end on Sunday 16 December 1956 when they were defeated by Erin’s Hope on a score 1-7, 0-7.
When Michael died in 2008, the late Fintan Walsh, Captain of Erin’s Hope, shared his memories of this sporting period with Michael’s sister Breda. An extract from his letter is reproduced here, with kind permission of Rory O’Donohoe:
Mick O’Donohoe in particular stays in my memory … he was fast and incisive and was possessed of an instinct for making the right choice in any given set of circumstances. He could shake every bone in your body without fouling, and his confidence in his judgement and ability rubbed off on those around him. I was captain of the Hopes for the 1956-7 year – in succession to Tom Long – and it was my job to pick the teams, with my vice-captain Donal Hurley and I remember to this day, 52 years on, the glow of satisfaction when I used write down Mick O’Donohoe’s name at No. 2. I often said to Donal, ‘Well, nothing will happen in that bit of the field at least. That’s as near to total security as you’ll get.’ He agreed. Over the next dozen years or so I played at county and interprovincial level and I can truly say that I never met a better No. 2 than he. I have no doubt that if he’d dedicated himself to getting a place on the Kerry team, he’d have been up there with the greats like Jerome O’Shea and Paudie O’Shea. As well as his excellent physical attributes, I felt that he brought a high level of intelligence into his game. There was a touch of genius there.
Return to Castleisland
Michael graduated as a national school teacher and returned to Castleisland in 1956 to take up a post at his former national school. He was appointed principal of the school in 1988 and continued teaching there until his retirement in 1991.
Michael’s foray into local history after his retirement held his attention for the remainder of his life and he became an authority on the subject within the community, his knowledge often sought by visitors from far and wide.
In his social life, Michael played football for Castleisland Desmonds’ GAA Club and the Kerry football team, and enjoyed other forms of sport including billiards, bridge and snooker. In 2006, the fiftieth anniversary of the Erin’s Hope 1956 victory was celebrated in the Castlerosse Hotel, Killarney.
Michael, who never married, died at the Riverside Nursing Home, Abbeydorney on 26 June 2008 aged 71. The survivors of Erin’s Hope formed a guard of honour his funeral.[15] Michael was laid to rest with his parents in Kilbannivane burial ground, Castleisland.
Aspects of Michael’s personality may be discerned in the short film, ‘The Master’s Legacy,’ produced by John and Michéal Reidy in 2015, in which family and friends recall the man they knew and loved.[16]
Matthew O’Donohoe
Michael’s brother, the late Matthew O’Donohoe, worked as a fashion designer. Here his son Rory outlines his father’s life:
Matt was born on the 2nd of May 1938 in Farranfore while his father was stationed there, and moved to Barrack Street when his father was transferred to Castleisland. He was educated in the Boys National School along with Michael and later attending the Tech.
Growing up, Matt always had a keen interest in plants and horticulture and this led to him gaining a scholarship to Johnstown Castle in Wexford. After a year there he graduated to the Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin as a live-in student. Because of his interest in colour and patterns, he took an evening course in fashion design at The Grafton Academy and was bitten by the fashion bug.
He left the Botanical Gardens and set out to make a name for himself. After some time working in and around Dublin he headed to London to get more experience. On his return to Dublin, he became the in-house designer for a well-known fashion business called Sharon’s just off Grafton Street. After deciding to go it alone, he set up shop with a studio and workrooms in Wicklow Street and there he remained for 35 years.
Very early in his career he met Anne Connolly from Castleshane in Monaghan who was a fashion buyer with Pimms department store in George’s Street. They married and set up home in Templeogue, Dublin in the early 1960s and had five children, Mark, Joseph (RIP), Rory, Barry and Mary. In the 00’s, Matt and Anne retired to Mullingar to be closer to their grandchildren. Although Matt followed his passion for fashion design and continued to keep his hand in fashion, he remained an avid gardener all his life and was renowned for the beautiful gardens he kept. He passed away in 2020, one year after Anne.
Breda Brooks née O’Donohoe
The late Breda Brooks was a great supporter of Castleisland District Heritage. She was delighted when the Michael O’Donohoe Memorial Heritage Project was initiated in 2014, beginning with a local collection to rescue Michael’s papers from storage and make them available to researchers.[17]
Breda, who lived at the former family residence at 11 Barrack Street, Castleisland, passed away at her home on 14 February 2020. She was predeceased by her husband Terry. Here, her son Paul Brooks pays tribute to his mother:
My mother Breda was always a great storyteller, every time I was home my mother would update me in all the events in and around Castleisland. Births, weddings and funerals had all been described in great detail as I had a mug of tea! Our oral history is import, it captures the experience of real people going about their everyday lives while the history books catch the major events while missing the experience of normal people. Michael knew this and spent many hours documenting events around us, local news and events that impacted normal people. His work was a catalyst that has created a solid foundation to help us capture and understand this history. Let’s use this work to capture all the stories of our parents and grandparents and grow our understanding of who we really are. The picture below (left) shows a photo of my brother Kevin’s 50th birthday held at my mothers in Barrack Street – it was the last major gathering we had there and again the walls of the house resonated with chat and laughter and most of all storytelling!
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[1] Exhibition Programme can be found at this link https://www.facebook.com/events/854286229977471/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22extra_data%22%3A%22%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22unknown%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22user_timeline%22%7D%2C%7B%22extra_data%22%3A%22%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22permalink%22%7D%2C%7B%22extra_data%22%3A%22%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22edit_dialog%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D [2] The Michael O’Donohoe Memorial Heritage Project was established in 2013 with a committee of four: John Roche, Chairman; Tomo Burke, Treasurer; Colm Kirwan (RIP) Secretary, John Reidy, PRO. Ten years on, it remains committee led. Current officers are John Roche, Chairman; Jerry Flynn, Vice Chairman, Stephen Wilson, Treasurer; Micheal Kirwan, Secretary. Members of the Committee are Tom Brosnan, Tommy Martin, Rita McCarthy, John Downey and Eileen Brosnan. Office staff Noel Nash and Janet Murphy. The project acknowledges the ongoing support of Crageen Employment Ltd and Mr and Mrs Donie Ring, Castleisland. [3] There are various spellings for Aghaglinny including Aughiglina, Aughiglena, Aughaglina, Aughlena. [4] Reference courtesy Michael Talty, Executive Librarian, Clare Local Studies Centre, Ennis, Co Clare. Matt’s service record is held at the Military Archives http://mspcsearch.militaryarchives.ie/detail.aspx [5] Matt’s father was Michael O’Donohoe (1837-1914) of Aghaglinny, who married Bridget O’Brien (born 1859). Matty’s known siblings were Bridget (1879), Michael (1880), Ellen (1884), Honor (1885), Cornelius (1887), Jane (1889), Anne (1891), Susan (1893), Patrick (1895). Sincere thanks to Martine Brennan for genealogical research. A headstone at Rathborney Graveyard records the deaths of James Martin O’Donohoe, Aughaglina, who died 27 October 1977 aged 37 years, his mother Margaret (Baby) died 20 July 1994 aged 87 Years. Another records the death of Annie O’Donohoe, Aughaglina, who died 4th February 1984. Rory O’Donohoe advises that the old home place lies at the end of the road that runs past Rathborney Graveyard about three to four kilometres away. The ruin can be seen a few hundred metres further on through a couple of fields. [6] ‘I returned to Ballyvaughan district next day and kept a watch out for possible reprisals. Nothing in that line occurred for about a fortnight, when the Tans from Lisdoonvarna suddenly sallied out on a Sunday morning and burned the homes of two men who were in the attack – Connor O’Donoghue, Aughyglimine, Ballyvaughan, and Michael Burns, Arbour Hill, Ballyvaughan’ (Statement of Sean McNamara (MacConmara), Muckinish Castle, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, O/C, 6th Battalion Mid-Clare Brigade, 1921 (https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1072.pdf). The following is a link to a description of the first attack by the IRA in the Ballyvaughan area, reference courtesy Rory O’Donohoe, https://midclarebrigade.ie/blog/ballyaliban-ambush-3rd-jan-1920. [7] Matt’s service record at Military Archives shows that he was stationed at Ballinhassig in 1934. It would seem he was posted from Tralee to Farranfore in the second half of 1942 and remained in Farranfore in 1944. He was in Castleisland Station inHis service record (since supplied courtesy Paul Brooks) is as follows: Kinsale, Cork 19 December 1933; Tralee 4 January 1938; Farranfore 8 October 1940; Castleisland 23 January 1945; Killorglin 10 August 1948; Killarney 17 July 1952. Service ‘Exemplary’ on discharge at retirement 18 February 1963. [8] Profile of Matthias O’Donohoe by Priscilla Lernihan, undated, reference courtesy Rory O’Donohoe. [9] A commemoration ceremony for Sgt Woods was held last year (2023) at the new garda station in Castleisland. See http://www.odonohoearchive.com/scartaglin-december-1923-a-month-of-tragedy/ [10] Michael O’Donohoe wrote that the Conolen (Conelan/Conalen) name was a variation of Connole, Connolan, Connollan, Connollen. A passenger list for the SS Karlsruhe sailing from Galway to New York dated 18 March 1930 includes 20-year-old Bridget Conolen, Ballyvaughan, daughter of Michael Conolen, Ballyvaughan, her passage paid by a cousin, her destination her uncle James Conolen, 103 Bidwell Avenue, Jersey City. Kevin Donnelly writes (by email, 5 July 2024), ‘James Conolen was my mother’s uncle … he sponsored her into this country, and she had to remain on the ship in Brooklyn, NY until her uncle came to get her … I met James Conolen as a young boy. His son became a Roman Catholic priest. He also had a daughter.’ [11] Katherine (Kate) Conolen was born on 20 September 1908 and her sister Bridget Conolen on 25 December 1909. In 1911 Bridget and Kate were living at Ballyconry, Drumcreehy with parents Michael Conolen (agricultural labourer and fisherman, married 7 years) and Margaret Conolen and step-siblings Mary Byrnes age 10 and Edmond Byrnes age 8, both born in Jersey City, USA. In a US marriage index dated 1904, the names of Michael and Margaret are given as ‘Michael Cololin’ and ‘Margaret Byons.’ Margaret died in childbirth on 7 August 1912 age 45, described on the death certificate as ‘widow of labourer.’ Margaret‘s maiden name seems to have been Linnane of Ballyconree (Ballyree, Ballyconry), where she was living at the time the above records were taken. It is likely that both of Margaret Linnane's marriages took place in Jersey City and we are waiting for documentary evidence from New Jersey at this time. Michael ‘Connollan’ appears on a 1903 passenger list to New York and names his place of residence as Derreen (near Fanore, Ballyvaughan), as shown on the Census of 1901. In 1911 his mother Margaret ‘Conalin’, a widow, is resident with her son Austin at Derreen. [12] One Thomas O’Donohoe (born c1830), a carpenter of Creggagh, Derreen, Co Clare, had a son Anthony, shopkeeper, who married Sarah Linnane of Murragh in Ballyvaughan on 6 February 1907. Sincere thanks to Martine Brennan for genealogical research. [13] The affair featured in an RTE Scannal Historical Documentary, ‘School’s Out’ in 2004 and is told in Joe Queally’s The Fanore School case 1914 to 1922 (Ennis, 2016). Short biographies of those interned in Galway Prison in 1915 are given on pp74-77 including 34-year-old Thomas Linnane of Fanore Beg, son of Margaret Linnane, and Martin Byrnes, son of Patrick Byrnes of Dereen. Michael O’Shea, the principal at the heart of the Fanore affair, was born in the parish of Tuosist at Coolounig (Coolownig), Lauragh, Kenmare, Co Kerry c1883. The Census of Ireland 1901 shows he was 18-year-old son of Peter Shea (80 years; died at Coolownig 7 February 1911) and Mary Shea (60 years). In the Census of Ireland 1911 his widowed mother Mary was living with her 44-year-old son Patrick and his wife Kathleen and four children (the eldest three born in America) at Coolownig. On the death of Mrs Kathleen O’Shea at Coolounig in May 1965, she was described as ‘a second cousin of the late Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne’ and survived by her sons Peter, Jim, Joe, Sean and Michael ‘all in the USA’ and Eamonn in England, and daughters Mrs Tessie Lynch, Coolounig, Mrs Mary Murray, Mrs Eileen Verdon and Mrs Kathleen Chamberlain, ‘all in the USA.’ Michael O'Shea was educated locally and attended St Patrick’s Training College in Dublin. His first teaching post was at Kilnaboy National School in Co Clare. He was subsequently in Kenmare before being appointed to Fanore National School in 1908. He married Catherine McDonagh at St John’s Church Ballyvaughan on 1 December 1914 and they had five children, four daughters and one son, Michael O’Shea, who worked for Aer Lingus. Michael O’Shea left Co Clare in the 1920s and took up a teaching position at the Cork District Model School until his retirement. He is said to have lived to ‘the great age of eighty-three years’ (Queally, p78). [14] Tipperary Star, 22 December 1956 & Clare Champion, 8 December 1956. The Erin’s Hope team was Terry McQuinn (Kerry), Mick O’Donohoe (Kerry), Brendan Keane (Mayo), John Joe Breslin (Roscommon), Tadhg Ó Siocrú (Kerry), Martin Queally (Clare), Pat Conefrey (Leitrim), Fintan Walsh (Laois) Cpt, Tom Long (Kerry), Dermot O’Donovan (Cork), Mattie McDonagh (Galway), Michael O Briain (Cork), Tomás McKenna (Kerry), Donal Hurley (Cork), Bertie Towey (Mayo). Subs: Piaras Ferriter (Donegal), Jimmy Casey (Longfordr), Gerry Twomey (Meath), John Browne (Clare), Tadhg Garvey (Kerry), Dave McSweeney (Cork), Paddy O’Toole (Mayo). [15] Guard of Honour: Tom Long, Tom McKenna, Donal Hurley, Michael O Briain; Martin Queally, Tadhg Ó Siochrù, Finton Walsh, Daithi Mac Sweeney, Maurice O’Connor, Ballyduff. [16] http://www.odonohoearchive.com/catalogues/. [17] The background to the project is given in a short film at this link http://www.odonohoearchive.com/catalogues/. A list of patrons is given at this link http://www.odonohoearchive.com/patrons-list/
