40th anniversary of opening of Mayo's Michael Davitt Museum

By Tom Gillespie

THIS week marks the 40th anniversary of the official opening of the Michael Davitt Centre and Museum in Straide, where the patriot was born 178 years ago in 1846.

The official opening was performed by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Sean MacBride (pictured).

According to their mission statement, the purpose of the Michael Davitt Museum is to exhibit, preserve, collect, document and promote the legacy of Michael Davitt’s life and career.

It relates this unique historical, cultural and educational experience through authentic original print materials and objects for the benefit of the Irish people and international visitors.

Michael Davitt was and is a key figure in Irish history. He was a man of the people; a good man with a strong social conscience, who dedicated his life to making life better for all those who didn’t have a voice, and to ensuring that culture became embedded into the fabric of society.

For this reason, the Michael Davitt Museum is much more than just a history museum; it’s a social and cultural treasure trove, containing fascinating artefacts along with many of Michael’s personal possessions, including original documents, photos, original Land Acts, letters, postcards, posters, rosary beads, and much more besides.

For added authenticity, and to help visitors become immersed in the story of Michael Davitt, the museum is housed in the magnificently restored pre-penal church that was used before the enactment of the 1690s Penal Laws, and which lies adjacent to the 13th century remains of the historic Straide Friary, founded in 1249.

Founder of the Land League, Michael Davitt, who was born and raised right in Straide, is buried in the cemetery behind the museum, which also happens to be the final resting place of Anne Deane, president of the Ladies Land League.

The hero and patriot Michael Davitt was born in Straide on March 25, 1846, during the Great Famine. He was the second of five children, four of whom were born in Straide; Mary in 1841, Anne in 1848, and Sabina in 1850.

Michel’s only brother, James, was born in Haslingden on June 30, 1853, and died two years later on March 12,1855.

His father and mother, Martin Davitt and Catherine Kielty, were tenants on the John Knox estate at Straide.

Following their eviction from their home in Straide, the family was forced to go to the workhouse in Swinford.

After Catherine discovered the rules of the workhouse required Michael to be separated from her, the family immediately left the workhouse and like many other evicted families at this time, decided to emigrate in search of a better life.

Arriving in Liverpool by boat from Dublin, they set out on foot to Haslingden, almost 50 miles away. Haslingden was an area of England where locals from the Straide area had already found work.

Davitt’s father managed to find temporary lodging for his family. However, after only two days there, they were evicted for a second time when it was discovered that Michael had the measles.

Davitt’s father then set up a tent against a wall and James Bonner, a worker from Co. Armagh, took the sick child and family into his house, even though he had four small children of his own.

The census of March 1851 shows the Davitts as lodgers in Owen Egan’s house in Wilkinson Street. At that time, there were a total of 15 people living in the small house.

Later the Davitts’ succeeded in renting at Rock Hall, where families from the west of Ireland lived.

Michael’s father and mother found work as hawkers, and a year later Martin found work as a farm labourer. Martin Davitt was literate in English and wrote letters home for other families while also teaching them to read and write in English.

At just nine years of age, Michael Davitt started working in a cotton mill at Ewood Bridge, on the outskirts of Haslingden. He passed himself off as being over 13 years old and worked 60 hours a week. His pay was 2s.6d a week.

He later moved on to Whittaker and then to Stellfoxe’s Victoria Mill near Baxenden, outside Haslingden. It was here that he got his right arm caught and badly injured in a machine on May 8, 1857, resulting in amputation.

After Michael Davitt recovered from his operation, John Dean a cotton manufacturer, became his benefactor and Davitt got a second chance at education in the local Wesleyan school run by George Poskett, which he attended for four years.

A visit to the Michael Davitt Museum will transport visitors back in time to the 19th century. It will allow them to see what life in Ireland was like during this difficult era of the Great Famine.

The museum is a fascinating social commentary on society and cultural norms, as they were 178 years ago. Whether you are a proper history lover with a pre-existing love of Michael Davitt, or you’re just curious to learn a little more about what life was like back in the mid-19th century, the museum has something to offer every visitor of all ages and interests.

The museum itself is an excellent example of early 17th-century architecture that was a pre-penal church, which is where Davitt was christened.

Visitors can enjoy a 12-minute audio-visual story of the life of Michael Davitt, see his walking stick and rosary beads, the mantelpiece and grate he sat beside in his Dublin home and view the original copy of the ‘Pictorial Illustrated London News’, and the pictures printed during the Land War. Visitors can also see his handwritten letters, including one he wrote to his mother while in Dartmoor Prison.

The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is adults €8/children €3, family (two adults and three children) €20.