‘On This Day in Mayo’ - treasure trove of memorable events
by Tom Gillespie
FORMER Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who wrote the foreword for ‘On This Day in Mayo’ by Claremorris native Máirtín Ó Maicín, described the publication as ‘an absolute treasure chest’.
It was officially launched in the Dome, Bridge St, Castlebar, as part of the Wild Atlantic Words festival, with the cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Councillor Michael Loftus, deputising for Mr. Kenny, who was in the USA.
The book is the result of four years of extensive research and seeks to tell the story of Mayo by connecting the 365 days of the year with an event of significance relating to the county, or with an event pertaining to a person from the county.
Mr. Kenny, in a video link, described the book as extraordinary, and added: “This book ‘On This Day in Mayo’ takes every day from January 1 to December 31 and presents an incident, an event, happening or a story associated with Mayo.
"These stories go from ancient times to the present day and the book is an absolute treasure chest of facts, data and information about our county.
“The most important date in the book is a person’s birth date, so you can find out what other great event, besides you being born on that date in the county, happened.”
Mr. Kenny added: “In my case, April 24 is to do with the Easter Rising and it was a privilege that on April 24, 2016, I was standing across from the GPO and hearing, as Taoiseach, a reading by a member of the defence forces of the 1916 Proclamation - one hundred years to the day. I will never forget that.
“The real beauty of the book is that every page has a different story. The book should be left where it can be read, and talked about.
"It is all in the book - freedom, religion, sport, music, employment, emigration, land, courage, leadership, joy and tragedy, and of course politics. Every story I read in the fine publication I hear a call of the past and a challenge of the future.”
Concluding, he added: “I intend to have the book specially autographed by Máirtín Ó Maicín and will send it by special delivery to the White House to President Biden so that when he retires to private life in Delaware, he can read about the stories of the county which forged part of his forefathers.”
The cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Councillor Loftus, in formally launching the book, said: “When you take this book in your hands you will start reading the wonderful events and people in this book who are Mayo based - it covers people, places and events. It is a wonderful piece of work.
“This book will be a treasure trove of information and knowledge and will stand the test of time. It is one of the finest books I have read. A lot of people have given out about Covid-19 but Máirtín used Covid-19 to work on research for this book.
“But what strikes me most, and this is the important thing I got out of the book, is the importance of our local media, past and present, in getting the news events of our county and putting them on record.
“Today we have Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and fake news, but we are blessed to have some of best local reporters and authors that you could possibly ask and they are the people who give us the correct information.”
He added: “The book has awakened a lot of memories for me and it will for those who are going to read it in the future. In this book you will see events with Mayo connections.
“From a family point of view I was extremely proud to see my father Dr. Mick Loftus included in this book. It is very important to us as a family.
“Like all the pages in this book, we have a great county with people who will make a big difference not alone in our county but our country. The amount of people worldwide with Mayo connections is unbelievable and they have made a difference throughout the world and a lot of it is in this book.”
Author Máirtín Ó Maicín said most of the big signature events in Mayo have been covered in the book, adding: “We all have our own special events but in our county we had the apparition at Knock, the landing of the French in Killala, and the winning of the All-Ireland. But each of us have our own special date that means something special to us.
“It is often said that Ireland punches above its weight and the same thing can be said about Mayo.”
He cited the examples of Tom Reilly from Hollymount, who pioneered sports science; Major Robert Ruttledge, from the same area, who was an internationally acclaimed ornithologist; and Fr. John Blowick from Belcarra who founded the Maynooth Mission to China and many, many more.
On the national and international stage he mentioned Mary Robinson, Margaret Burke-Sheridan and Gina Heraty.