October Talk: The Scariff Martyrs by Tomás Mac Conmara

Surprise! Our October talk will actually take place just a few days later than October, on the 2nd of November. We usually have our talks on the last Wednesday of the month, but this time we will be on the closest day to that that we could get with this brilliant speaker. That will be the Friday that same week, and that falls on the 2nd of November. Hopefully this slight change in the day of the week will not put you out too much and, for some of you, might even suit you better!

On with the show! We really are delighted to host a very well-known speaker, Tomás Mac Conmara, on a topic that couldn’t be more local. Every time you cross the bridge between Killaloe and Ballina, you will see the historic plaque that is shown in the poster above. It was erected to commemorate the shooting dead in that place of four men in 1920. These men were known as the Scariff Martyrs, and they were killed by British forces at the height of the War of Independence.

Tomás has written extensively on the participation of the people of East Clare in these revolutionary times, and is currently working on a new book about the Scariff Martyrs. So if you have any family traditions or know of any stories to do with them or the incidents of that time, please do come along and share them with him.

We are excited to add that this lecture will also have a musical interlude! Local group Cailíní Lua will perform the song ‘The Scariff Martyrs’ (made famous by Christy Moore), the lyrics of which commemorate the topic of the lecture.

We will see you on the evening of FRIDAY 2ND NOVEMBER at 7.30pm in the back room of our venue at Wood and Bell café. Wood and Bell continue to provide our Society with this venue for free, and we thank them for this sponsorship. If you want to thank them for this, why not pop in for your lunch or dinner!

Entry to our October lecture is FREE as usual, and everyone of all ages and levels of interest is welcome.

Help us promote this event by clicking ‘Going’ on the Facebook event here, or sharing this blogpost, or even by putting up a poster for us – you can print out one from this link. See you there!