News
Family’s upset at U-turn on Rising’s sole fatality
Descendants of Patrick Whelan, Galway’s only 1916 Rising fatality, are disappointed they weren’t told of a ‘U-turn’ not to include his name in a commemorative plaque unveiled on Tuesday.
Constable Whelan, a policeman, was shot and killed during an exchange of fire between Castlegar and Claregalway Irish Volunteers and the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) at Carnmore Cross on the morning of April 26, 1916.
Constable Whelan was the first fatality of the Rising outside of Dublin, and was the only one in the West of Ireland during Easter Week. The 34-years-old was, according to accounts, shot in the face, during an exchange of fire as part of the West’s uprising.
Descendants of the Kilkenny native were invited to Galway for the unveiling of a plaque supposedly in his honour at Carnmore Cross on Tuesday.
Eleven relatives (seven grandnieces and nephews, four great grandnieces and nephews and a great, great grandniece) travelled for the memorial, including two from abroad. But they were stunned to discover on the day that there was no mention of Constable Whelan on the plaque. Worse still, during an official speech at the unveiling, no mention was made of Constable Whelan.
“We were expecting to see his name on it. When it wasn’t there, we were just shocked – we couldn’t believe it. It was quite embarrassing,” said grandniece Eileen Morrissey, from her Whiteswall home in Kilkenny.
It has led to accusations that Galway’s local authorities are trying to “airbrush” Constable Whelan out of history, and to “pander to Republicans and Sinn Féin”.
Fine Gael City Councillor, Pádraig Conneely, also described the decision to unveil the stone without reference to him as a “cop-out”.
But his party colleague, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Pete Roche, denied this claim and said Galway respectfully honour his memory.
“We had to be sensitive to the volunteers’ families and to the Constable’s. This was never a stone to commemorate Constable Whelan, it was a stone to commemorate the engagement at Carnmore Cross betwen volunteers and RIC, in which one policeman died. To name him would mean it was a commemoration to him but that was never the case.”
Councillor Roche said he usually speaks ‘off the cuff’ at occasions such at this but he was asked to ‘stick to a prepared script’, which did not mention Constable Whelan. “It was safer because it was, let’s say, contentious,” he said.
He said there were threats and suggestions from locals and political sources that the plaque could be damaged if it was seen to honour a man who died for the British.
Councillor Roche added: “It was a difficult situation; a balancing act. The Council took all views on board, and for safety it was decided that it was better to mark the place where this engagement happened, at Carnmore Cross, and then to honour the Constable at Bohermore.
“We couldn’t take the risk that the plaque would be damaged (if it had Constable Whelan’s name on it) because that would have caused great hurt and pain to the family. We respectfully decided to respect the wishes of locals and didn’t include his name but we invited his family to the unveiling of the plaque, and they were treated like royalty.
“I would hate to think that the family would feel that we were disrespectful to this man, who died tragically. Galway County Council never gave the impression to the family that Constable Whelan’s name would be on this plaque. It was a plaque to commemorate the place where this engagement happened, and yes, this man died. But his memory was honoured at a ceremony in Bohermore Cemetery, where the City Council invested considerably in restoring his gravestone. The wreath-laying ceremony at Bohermore was humble, and dignified and a fitting tribute to this man. It was very respectful.”
Councillor Conneely disagreed. “The Councils buckled under pressure from Sinn Féin and others,” he said.
“It is regrettable that politics has got in the way of history. This happened 100 years ago but people today are using it for petty political reasons. Constable Whelan was an Irish man, from Kilkenny, a Catholic. He joined the RIC, like many other Irish people, for a job.
“He was stationed in Galway. He was a nice man, very well-liked by all accounts. He was engaged to be married to a local Bohermore woman. He was killed doing his job, carrying out his duty.
“He was the only fatality of the Rising in Galway and it is an absolute and complete cop-out from the Councils that they unveiled a stone, a commemorative stone, that makes no reference to him, despite it being flagged in our 1916 commemorative programme and despite the family being told that the plaque would be unveiled to commemorate his death,” said Cllr Conneely.
Ms Morrissey said the family was written to earlier this year and invited to an event to commemorate Constable Whelan. She said the clear impression given was that the plaque would honour her relation.
“We agreed but on the basis that it would be apolitical. We just wanted to remember our tall, handsome granduncle,” she said.
Sinn Féin senator, Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, on behalf of himself and the party’s five Galway Councillors, wrote to co-ordinator of the Galway City Centenary Committee in January objecting to Constable Whelan’s inclusion in the Rising celebrations.
He acknowledged that the only fatality in Galway should be recognised. “However, as an RIC officer he was part of the crown Forces violently opposed to the volunteers, and we find it inappropriate to hold such a commemoration as part of the city and county’s centenary celebration of 1916,” wrote Senator Ó Clochartaigh. Celebrating Constable Whelan as part of 1916 commemorations was a “contradiction”.
Ms Morrissey added: “The most important thing for us in all of this is that Patrick Whelan was a decent man, he was well liked by locals and thousands of people from both sides attended his funeral. He was very highly spoken of and we have the letters to back that up.”
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
