In front of the landmark which was Leader's Shop - the Irish Civil War Memorial with a Celtic-style Cross cut in Limestone, above a granite mount.
Quick Video, Easter Sunday, 2020. During the Covid 19 lock-down in Galway.
This Memorial is in three pieces now.
- The upper half, the Cross was a religious sculpture and the base used to be the bottom half of Lord Dunkellin statue which was positioned in Eyre Square, Galway.
- The middle section is made from salmon-coloured Granite, and without Lord Dunkellin on it, was inscribed with the names of local Castlegar men who lost their lives during the conflict. The West facing side is without inscription.
- Dunkellin's Statue was "dismantled" to put it mildly in 1922, and the bronze section that most signified the man and his Establishment, was said to be melted down?.
- See a proposal for the very same base in 1930; where they were going to put a sculpture of Padraic O Conaire, on Dunkellin's empty Pedestal - Library in new window
- There is a wonderful Photograph of the unveiling of this Monument in 1951, in the "Galway Independent" of March the 23rd, 2016. It shows the Monument and a bare Field behind it - no sign of Leaders.
Years covered were 1916 to 1923, and it was unusual enough to have a Monument made from two totally different stone types. A railing is well maintained around the base of the Memorial.
Coordinates; 53.295357, -9.014453 - Tuam Road (N17), Castlegar, County Galway.
See this today, on Google's Street View (new window).
See FlashEarth Map in new window.
See Castlegar I.R.A.
Update; See Tom Kenny's article on this subject. Includes an old photograph.
^ Some Black and Tans as they were known.