Mayo history: Ballyhaunis was in a woeful condition in 1894

PART 1

By Tom Gillespie

AT Christmas 2008, my old class pal, Eddie Bourke, a native of Mountgordon, Castlebar, through his publishing company, De Burca Rare Books, sent me a copy of ‘An Antiquarian Craze’ - the life, times and work in archaeology of Patrick Lyons, RIC (1861 to 1945), which was written by Belmullet native Máire Lohan (nee Carroll).

Sergeant Lyons served with the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1886 to 1920. While stationed in the west of Ireland, he developed a keen interest in documenting the field monuments he noticed on his patrols.

In one chapter in the book, author Máire recalls how Lyons was transferred to Ballyhaunis on November 1, 1894, where he was stationed for the next 18 years.

The woeful condition of Ballyhaunis when Lyons began his work there is graphically illustrated in a letter to the editor of the local paper:

‘Since the arrival of the rainy season the streets of this town have been sadly neglected.

‘Playful attempts have, from week to week, been made to sweep off the mud, or rather to sweep it into small heaps which have lain on, or close to, the channels until added to in successive weeks.

‘Then, at intervals of from three to four weeks, the remains of these mud-mounds have been carted away. The town is reeking with filth, the streets are impassable, the lanes are in a similar way and the yards - indescribable.

‘Pass the entrance to one of the latter (of course there are some exceptions) and you may have a liberal education in ‘how to neglect sanitation’. Why allow manure pits at the very back doors of inhabited houses?’

The Mayo countryside, too, was in a very distressful state at this time, as was the country at large.

The National Land League of Mayo, founded in Castlebar in August 1879 under the leadership of Michael Davitt in a struggle to reform the land-system, had spread countrywide within two months to become the Irish National Land League, with Parnell as its president.

Mayo played a prominent role in the struggle and ‘agrarian outrages’ (maiming of cattle, destruction of property, wounding and even killing of land agents, landlords, and those who were considered ‘land grabbers’) were commonplace in the 1880s, the violence being fuelled by the fact that two-thirds of Mayo tenants were not eligible for rent reductions under the 1881 Land Act.

Gradually the struggle eased as various land acts, culminating in that brought in by Chief Secretary Wyndham in 1903, increased the space and scope of the transfer of ownership from landlord to tenant.

During Lyons’ early years in Ballyhaunis, the necessity for a police presence at three local evictions made newspaper headlines, and, though Lyons is not mentioned by name, it is quite probable that he was present: ‘Immense crowds of people had assembled on the scene and their attitude certainly seemed to be one of determined hostility’; ‘when an entrance had been effected it was found that some of those who had barricaded the doors and windows had obtained access to the roof through the chimney.

One of the persons on the roof had a military horn upon which he blew repeated calls which had the result of collecting up the few stragglers who were still absent from the 'scene of operations’.

‘A horseman was noticed careering over the farm. The sheriff mounted a horse and endeavoured to capture him.

'A most exciting and amusing race ensued, and the attempts of the bailiff to secure the horseman created considerable merriment, the chase continuing for a considerable time, but notwithstanding the assistance given by the police, the bailiff came off a bad second.’

Lyons was promoted to sergeant on July 1, 1896. One of the regulate duties of a sergeant was attendance at court, principally to bring charges of law-breaking, but also sometimes to give corroborating evidence for the defence.

The Ballyhaunis Petty Sessions were regularly reported in the Western People and Lyons’ presence is first mentioned on August 21, 1897, where he is entitled Inspector of Weights and Measures and prosecuted Patrick Waldron for having in his possession a 1lb weight which was 1 ounce and 9½ drachms light.

Lyons next appeared in the following July when he brought a prosecution for drunk and disorderly behaviour and the use of foul language (which he was requested to show in writing to the judge).

During the next 15 years or so, Lyons is reported to have been in attendance at 138 cases: lesser crimes range from obstructing the sidewalk, allowing animals to wander on the public road, selling sheep without a certificate that they had been dipped (in a prosecution Lyons stated that ‘there were close on 450 defaulters in the district’), adulteration of whiskey, breaches of the Licensing Act; more serious crimes included robbery and larceny, cruelty to animals and children, assault (often while drunk) on civilians and police and four cases of murder, including infanticide.

The enforcement of the Licensing Act 1872 (and its later amendments), with its complicated provisions regarding six-day licences, which in 1902 were held by 57 premises in Ballyhaunis, seven-day licences, i.e. premises which could also open on Sunday, and regulations regarding bona fide travellers, i.e. persons who had travelled at least three miles and were entitled to extra drinking time, needed constant surveillance.

As reported in the Western People, the prosecutions read like a game of cat-and-mouse in which magistrates and meticulous policemen battle with clever lawyers, whose clients produce the most ingenious excuses for opening their premises, or being present therein, outside legal drinking hours.

Excuses for the illegal opening of premises include: the claim of a publican’s daughter that ‘she had only opened them that instant to get a bottle of soda water for a child of hers who was unwell’; on being found open at 6.50 p.m. 'the defendant believed it to be seven o’clock having got the time from the post office the night before'.

Sergeant Lyons said that he proceeded to the post office and found the clock there, according to his watch, was 'two minutes slow’.

NEXT WEEK: Ballyhaunis district was free of poteen-making