Manulla native was Mayo Association president six times

IN 1887, at the age of 19, Michael F. Barrett, a native of Lisnolan, Manulla, Castlebar, left his beloved Mayo to go to America and live with his sister Delia in Brooklyn. Patrick, the youngest of the Barrett siblings, followed soon after, writes Tom Gillespie.

Michael embraced his new country, working first as a grocer with Patrick and later in real estate with John Ansbro, another Mayo man.

I am indebted to the National Museum of Ireland’s website, ouririshheratige.org, for the details of Michael’s years in the US where he excelled in promoting his native county.

Despite having to emigrate, his love for his homeland remained, and he became involved with a passion in the Mayo Men’s Association.

Of all the Irish county associations in America, the Mayo organisation was considered the most eminent and patriotic, with Barrett attributed with much of its success (Dunleavy, Thomas. 'Irish-American Letter.' Western People, January 26, 1929).

The Mayo Men’s Association of New York began in the late 1870s, changing name to the Mayo Men’s Benevolent and Patriotic Association when it was incorporated in 1889, and then becoming the gender-neutral Mayo Society of the City of New York in 1985.

Over a 30-year period, from 1897 to 1927, Michael Barrett was president six times, more than any other person in the society’s history. At other times he had the roles of secretary and press chairman for various activities, such as the annual balls and banquets, as well as numerous other positions of office, and he was a constant correspondent to Irish newspapers, describing the association’s exploits.

The members held him in high esteem. Even as early as 1896, when called to address a meeting, his name ‘was the signal for an outburst of applause’, and he was described as ‘A man amongst men…a literary character in social circles – a young Celt gifted with a remarkable power of convictions'. (Connaught Telegraph, November 14, 1896). He was given the title of Dean of the Mayo Men.

St. Patrick’s Day was the highlight of the year and a time of celebration for the exiles in New York. During the parade, Michael Barrett was regularly at the front of the Mayo Men as they proceeded along Fifth Avenue, cheered on by tens of thousands waving flags and banners.

But it was the annual St. Patrick’s Day ball, an important event on the social calendar of the Irish expatriates, which the association was most acclaimed for.

Those held in the 1930s were attended by up to 10,000 people, eager for the annual reunion with their friends, and hundreds of them travelled from as far away as Pittsburgh.

Michael Barrett was there, often accompanied by his brother Patrick, and Delia and John McLoughlin. Frequently he had an official role to fulfil, such as chairman of arrangements or press chairman.

From about 1923 Michael began promoting Ireland as an ideal place to visit for Irish American tourists. As the new Irish Free State, it needed to develop its own industries, and Barrett felt that tourism was one that could be established quickly (Connaught Telegraph, September 2, 1933).

Later, he actively supported the ‘See Ireland First’ campaign that encouraged Americans to make Ireland their first port of call on their travels.

One destination that Michael Barrett was particularly passionate about was Croagh Patrick. What began in 1928 as an American pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick under the auspices of the Mayo Men’s Association of New York, and initiated by Michael Barrett, continued as an annual event for many years.

Michael, with his enthusiasm and intimate knowledge of Mayo, its history and its patriots, was the perfect choice for the tour guide in that inaugural year, a role he continued in until 1935.

Places they visited in 1928 included the historical battlefield of The Races of Castlebar.

At Balla, the visitors were welcomed at a public meeting, and Michael Barrett placed a wreath on P.W. Nally’s monument on behalf of the society.

Barrett’s early recollections of Patrick Nally were of him as a fresh, happy youth who passed out apples from his father’s orchard to Michael and his friends when they were on their way home from school.

Nally was an inspiration to Barrett because of his intense national pride and his refusal, while serving a 10-year prison sentence because of his Fenian activities, to give false evidence against Charles Stewart Parnell in exchange for his own freedom (Connaught Telegraph, December 1, 1935).

The day the pilgrims paid homage to the memory of Michael Davitt at his grave in Straide, they were accompanied by Dr. Michael Davitt, his son. Other places they explored that year were Irishtown, where the Land League had its origins, and Bohola, where Martin Sheridan, the Olympic athlete who represented the United States in 1904 and 1908, was born.

They went to the foot of Nephin mountain, birthplace of Archbishop John McHale. Knock Shrine was also on the itinerary in 1928.

In his later years, Michael Barrett spent much of his time campaigning to support the Irish people in their bid for official recognition of Knock Shrine by Catholic Church dignitaries in Rome. He established the League of Knock Shrine, which met every Sunday evening in the Capitol Hotel, New York. Barrett organised for thousands of petitions to be signed all over the US.

After a year of declining health, Michael Francis Barrett died on July 8, 1940, to the regret of many Irish men in the United States.

John O’Donnell, president of the Mayo Men’s Association, and other official representatives were among the large numbers who attended the funeral and wake.

The Mass at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church was read by his nephew, Fr. William J. McLoughlin, with the assistance of Michael’s friend from the Mayo Men’s Association, Fr. Patrick Cunnane. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn.