Micheál Ó Droigheaín (1889-1964),

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

national school teacher and

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

of the South

Connemara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

Brigade,

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

, fl. 1916–1922. Ó Droigheaín's family lived at Gate Lodge,

Bearna Barna (Bearna in Irish) is a coastal village on the R336 regional road in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. It has become a satellite village of Galway city. The village is Irish speaking and is therefore a constituent part of the regions o ...

, County Galway, on an estate held by the Blake family (see

The Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway ( ga, Treibheanna na Gaillimhe) were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families ...

). He was interned in

Frongoch Frongoch is a village located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, on the A4212 road. It was the home of the Frongoch internment camp, used to hold German prisoners-of-war during First World War, and then Irish Rep ...

after participating in the Galway Easter Rising of 1916. Following his release he became commandant in 1919, and retained this position following the reorganisation of the Connemara units by

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, ...

in September 1920. His property was among those attacked and burned in the Barna area as reprisal for the kidnapping and killing of Patrick W. Joyce (teacher) by the unit for spying. Joyce's body was buried in a bog and only discovered in 1998. In 1922, the

Earl of Westmeath Earl of Westmeath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1621 for Richard Nugent, Baron Delvin. During the Tudor era the loyalty of the Nugent family was often in question, and Richard's father, the sixth Baron, died in prison ...

, who had inherited the Blake estate, sold the house and nine acres to Ó Droigheaín.

References

* ''The History of Galway'', Sean Spellissy, 1999. People from County Galway Irish schoolteachers Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members 1889 births 1964 deaths {{ireland-bio-stub

See also

References