THE latest addition to the list of club accomplishments embellishing the foyer of An Sportlann in Castlebar relates to a donation by the Mitchels towards the restoration of a cell in Kilmainham Gaol almost 60years ago. The contribution of £100 – amounting to €2,500 in today’s money – was presented by the then club secretary Gerry McDonald, at a function in the prison. But for some unknown reason it was not officially recorded in the club records, and the event got lost in the mists of time. Kilmainham Gaol, where the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed,and where Grace Evelyn Gifford married Joseph Plunkett a few hours before he was executed for his part in the Rising was, inconceivably, allowed fall into disrepair in the early decades of the last century.The Government at the time had considered demolishing the derelict gaol, but the cost was prohibitive. Republican interest in the site grew and from it a grassroots movement for the preservation of the building, Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Society, was established. 

Work was undertaken on clearing the site in 1960, rubble and weeds were cleared from the yard where the leaders were executed, and gradually the gaol that shamefully was about to be physically deleted from history was eventually restored. Among the dozens of famous Irish people imprisoned in the Gaol were Mayo nationalists Michael Davitt and Ernie O’Malley. It was from that prison O’Malley made his famous, perilous escape in 1921 with two other prisoners. In the yard of that same Gaol, too, was executed Westport’s JohnMcBride in May 1916 for his part in the Rising. Facing the British firing squad, McBride said he did not wish to be blindfolded: “I have looked down the muzzles of too many guns in the South African war to fear death and now please carry out your sentence.”

He is buried in the cemetery at Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin. To that cause Castlebar Mitchels donated the money following appeals to GAA Clubs and other bodies around the country. A sum of £315 was also donated from the Town of Castlebar. From what group in Castlebar it has not been established, but seems likely to have come from the civic body. Among those who contributed £25 or more to the project were Eamon DeValera, Arus an Uachtaran, two separate donations (£100 and £50); Mrs Helen Roelofs, wife of Ernie O’Malley, (£44. 8s); Leinster GAA Council (£100) and many others including donors from America and Northern Ireland.

The contribution from Castlebar Mitchels was perhaps in keeping with their standing as one of the leading GAA clubs in the country. A year earlier they had created history as the first GAA Club to fly to America, a hair-raising journey by all accounts. How sight of the Kilmainham Gaol contribution was lost in the carefully kept annals of the club is not clear .It came to light recently when a member of the club recounted being among the delegation that handed over the cheque. Club secretary Martin Moran pursued the matter with Kilmainham Gaol archivist Aoife Torpey who confirmed the donation.

- Sean Rice, Mayo News, 21st February 2019