THE THIRD EARL OF CLANCARTY

Written by Barry Lally (Originally Published in Jun/Jul 2017 issue of Ballinasloe Life Magazine)

Availing themselves of the opportunity presented by the state of anarchy prevailing in Ballinasloe in the months preceding the outbreak of civil war in 1922, on a night in May, some local members of the anti-Treaty I.R.A. mutilated and decapitated the bronze statue of the Third Earl of Clancarty that had stood on its plinth within a railed enclosure on Station Road since 1874. After sectarian slogans had been daubed on neighbouring walls, the severed head was carried into town and thrown through the plate-glass window of Rothwell’s shop on Dunlo Street.