Walsh’s Terrace, or Ardán a Bhreathnaigh, at Woodquay consists of 20 houses, some of which are located opposite Corrib Terrace and the remainder along the Headford Road. At the end of 1922, Galway Urban District Council (UDC) purchased the Woodquay site – known as Young’s Field – for £500 for the construction of a score of houses. At that time, Dr Thomas Walsh, the Sinn Féin Professor of Pathology at University College Galway, was chairman of Galway UDC. When completed, in 1924, it was proposed to name the development after Dr Walsh, as it had become customary to name the terraces of houses erected by Galway UDC after the member who occupied the chair when the housing scheme was launched. The Connacht Tribune of 22 November 1924 notes that “Dr. Walsh, while expressing his thanks to the council, declined the honour, and made the happy suggestion that the terrace is called after the name of the late Ml. Walsh, of High-St., Galway, one of the patriot Irishmen who was brutally done to death during the anglo-Irish struggle. The council unanimously agreed, and the terrace will now be known as Michael Walsh terrace.”
from Mise by Colm Ó Gaora
Michael Walsh (sometimes Micheál Breathnach) was born in Headford, Co. Galway on 20 September 1881 to Michael Walsh, a shopkeeper, and his wife, Bridget (née Creaven). Along with his brothers, Michael worked as an assistant at his father’s shop in Headford before moving into Galway City, where he took over a shop and public house – the Old Malt House – that once belonged to the family of Pádraic Ó Conaire, the Irish-language writer. In November 1907, Walsh married Agnes Cotter of An Bhánrainn Bhán (Banraghbaun) at the chapel of Knock, near An Spidéal and they had eight children between 1908 and 1919: Michael Joe, Edward, Patrick, William, John, James, Mary Rose and Fursa.
Walsh was a popular and successful businessman. In December 1911, the Connacht Tribune reported that “The Old Malt House, like the Town Hall or the Courthouse, has become one of the institutions of Galway. It has been the popular venue of many a learned discussion on matters municipal and national; and it remains a widely patronised and well-equipped emporium, where groceries, ever fresh and of the widest range, are always kept in stock. Mr. Michael Walsh, the present popular proprietor, served his time in Galway, and is almost as well-known as the Old Malt House itself, the traditions of which he maintains with honour and credit to himself and advantage to his customers”.
Courtesy of Dr Jim Higgins
Though not a member of the Irish Volunteers or the Irish Republican Army, Walsh was a strong and prominent supporter of the republican movement and the Old Malt House was a rendezvous for local republicans. Walsh was persuaded to contest the East Ward in the municipal election of January 1920 and was one of ten Sinn Féin candidates elected to the Galway Urban District Council. Before long, Walsh and his fellow Sinn Féin councillors rescinded a series of Council resolutions, passed in 1916, which condemned the Easter Rising “organised by the Sinn Fein organisation, and at the same time tendered to the naval and military and police authorities the Council’s best thanks for the services rendered by them as a result of which the City had been saved from disturbance”.
Walsh also made his resources available to the republican movement. He had purchased a farm with a large farmhouse at Lavaddy, near Clarinbridge in 1918, which was afterwards made available to the Irish Republican Army (acting as the executive arm of the Sinn Féin Courts) for use as a jail. It is believed that one escaped prisoner led the ‘Black and Tans’ back to the farmhouse and they subsequently made the connection to Walsh.
Walsh had been the subject of a number of death threats and, in the early hours of 22 September 1920, the Old Malt House was raided by Crown forces. Michael Walsh was absent from the premises, but the assailants terrorised his wife and young children and caused £1,000 worth of damage to the property. In the aftermath, Agnes Walsh spoke with a Connacht Tribune representative about her ordeal: “about 1.20am a score of men, who boasted they were the “Black and Tans,” some in uniforms and some wearing civilian clothes […] prized open the shutters of the shop windows, entered and smashed the glass door from the shop to the taproom. They then rushed upstairs to where she and her children slept […] The entire building was searched for arms, revolver shots were fired, and hand grenades thrown.” Walsh’s oldest child, 12-year-old Michael Joe, went down on his knees before one of the intruders and said “don’t shoot!” – the reply was “No, kiddie, I will not shoot you if you promise to be loyal to the King!”. When Michael Walsh arrived the following morning, “the front windows of the shop were found shattered, all the glass cases were broken, and a considerable quantity of the stock had disappeared. Coats and wearing apparel were missing, and an attempt had been made to remove the safe, which would not go through the door. […] the safe and shop generally bore many bullet marks. All the cash in the till was missing, together with beer, stout, cigarettes, tobaccos, corn-flour, sardines, and groceries”.
Walsh was unnerved by the incident and was advised by a fellow Sinn Féin councillor, Dr Thomas Walsh, to leave the house and move to the country for a while, but he refused as he “thought that the Black and Tans had done all they meant to do.” After the raid, however, his wife and children stayed elsewhere. The Old Malt House was targeted again just four weeks later – this time Michael Walsh was present and working alongside his 17-year-old assistant, Martin Meenaghan. Shortly before 10pm, five men wearing civilian clothing and carrying revolvers entered the premises. Speaking with English accents, they ordered the customers out, closing the doors after them. Claiming to be English secret service men, they raided the till and cash box and took cigarettes and other goods. When Meenaghan poured a glass of rum for his employer, the intruders warned: “it is only going to waste: you will be dead within an hour”. When Walsh asked for a priest, he was told “the priests are worse than yourself; you will not get a priest”. They then accused Walsh of shooting policemen before leading him down Quay Street in the direction of the Spanish Arch.
The following morning a blood-stained hat was discovered on the Long Walk; nearby were two large pools of blood and a spent cartridge. Walsh’s remains were then discovered beneath the surface of the Corrib. He had been shot once in the temple. His killing shocked and outraged Galwegians of all political persuasions. Large crowds lined the streets of Galway on the day of the funeral. As a mark of respect, all work in the city was suspended and all shops were closed. Military and police were stationed at the Pro-Cathedral and at various points throughout the town. In a show of force, a squadron of mounted Dragoon Guards, with their sabres drawn, lined the route to the cemetery at Bohermore, and an armoured car followed the funeral procession. Fearing trouble, the military and police prevented sympathisers from going any further towards the cemetery than Eyre Square.
When questioned in the House of Commons about the killing, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Hamar Greenwood, stated: “I have no information, and I do not accept as true the allegation that the murder of this man [Walsh] was committed by uniformed men. There is no such force as the auxiliary police in Galway or elsewhere in Ireland. There are members of the auxiliary division of the Royal Irish Constabulary. These men are all ex-officers, and I will not accept, except on the clearest and most conclusive proof, the allegation that any of these ex-officers now serving in the auxiliary division are guilty of murder”. In the aftermath, a military court into the death of Michael Walsh took place at Renmore Barracks; its findings were not made public. In 1921, Michael Collins instructed the Galway Brigade IRA to try to identify those involved in the killing of Michael Walsh and others; in relation to Walsh, they ascertained that it was carried out by a Black and Tan named Miller, along with two others who were unidentified.
Michael Walsh is still remembered in Galway. Every year since 1921 an anniversary mass has taken place for him at the Augustinian Church on Middle Street. A plaque in his memory was unveiled on the Long Walk on 22 October 1967, which was replaced in November 2005. It reads: “In Memory of Michael Walsh of the ‘Old Malt House’ High Street who was murdered at the spot by the Black and Tans on the 19th October 1920. R.I.P.”
To learn more about Galway during this troubled period why not visit the Revolution in Galway, 1913-1923 exhibition at Galway City Museum, Spanish Parade, Galway City.
Brendan McGowan, Education & Outreach Officer, Galway City Museum T: (091) 532460 – E: museum:@galwaycity.ie – W: www.galwaycitymuseum.ie