Padraig Gearr Ó Mannin () was a United Irishman who participated in the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

. Ó Mannin was a native of Carnacregg,

Menlough Menlough () is a village in the civil parish of Killoscobe in northeast County Galway, Ireland. It is located 35 km from Galway, 27 km from Tuam, 30 km from Ballinasloe, and 20 km from Athenry. Together with nearby Skehana, ...

. Following news of the French landing under General Jean Humbert at

Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is the townland of Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a num ...

on 23 August 1798, and of the rout of government militia at the

Battle of Castlebar The Battle of Castlebar was a military engagement of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 which occurred on 27 August 1798 near the town of Castlebar, County Mayo. A combined force of 2,000 French Revolutionary Army troops and United Irishmen rebels ro ...

on the 27th, a party of several dozen men from

and its surrounding area assembled and marched towards County Mayo. However, after only a day, they were informed of the failure of the rebellion and were forced to return home. For several decades after there was bad blood between the United Irishmen of Counties Mayo and

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, with the former taunting the Galwegians ''Where were the Galwaymen in the fight at Ballina?'' Upon his return, Ó Mannin lived unobtrusively with his mother. However, a regiment of British foot soldiers were passing through Menlough, to participate in the

Battle of Ballinamuck The Battle of Ballinamuck (8 September 1798) marked the defeat of the main force of the French incursion during the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland. Background The victory of General Humbert at the Battle of Castlebar, despite gaining him arou ...

. Ó Mannin was forced to hide in his garden to avert arrest. Two straggler soldiers entered his house and demanded food and drink from his mother. Upon finishing their meal, one of them noticed some bacon hanging in the kitchen. ''The bally old bitch did not give us a feed of the bacon'', said one, to which the other replied ''She did not! Kill her!'' At the sound of her screams, Padraig Gearr leapt over the garden fence, and with his blackthorn stick, he beat both soldiers till they were bleeding and prostrate on the floor. They recovered and made off. Some days later, the regiment returned to Menlough and stopped outside Ó Mannin's house, and an officer called upon him to give an explanation for the incident. The officer accepted his explanation, but said ''I'll put a sword in your hand and you must fight the pick man of my regiment in single combat.'' Ó Mannin replied ''No, but take out any two in your regiment with their swords and I'll fight them with my blackthorn and I will fight your whole regiment in pairs.'' The officer was much impressed by Ó Mannin's bravado and said so. ''You are a brave man. here is a half

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

, and drink to my health.'' Ó Mannin lived on, and upon his death was buried at Killascobe, where his grave could be pointed out by his descendants as late as the 1940s. For some reason, it is known as the grave of ''Billy Ó Mannin'', which was perhaps a nickname. The surname is generally now rendered as Mannion

References

* ''Punann Arsa'', part I, Martin Finnerty, Galway Observer, 1951. * ''The Surnames of Ireland'',

Edward MacLysaght Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght (; 6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986) was a genealogist of twentieth-century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames built upon the work of Rev. Pat ...

, 1978. {{DEFAULTSORT:O Mannin, Padraig Gearr People from County Galway United Irishmen

See also

References