Knockcroghery

The village lies at the foot of a stony ridge, which protects it from the east wind that sweeps in from Galey Bay. This accounts for the original name of the village, 'An Creagán', meaning 'the stoney hill'.

In 1651, during Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Connacht, Sir Charles Coote laid siege to Galey Castle, the seat of the Ó Ceallaigh clan.[2] The Ó Ceallaighs resisted, and for their defiance, they were taken to An Creagán and hanged on the stepped hill just north of the village, now commonly known as Hangman's Hill. The village thereafter came to be known as ‘Cnoc an Chrochaire,’ 'the Hill of the Hanging', now Anglicised as ‘Knockcroghery’.[3][4]

In the early hours of 19 June 1921, the Black and Tans set Knockcroghery village alight.[5] It was an act of vengeance for the killing of a British general in Glassan two days previously by the Westmeath Volunteers. British intelligence agents mistakenly believed that the killers had come across Lough Ree from the Galey Bay/Knockcroghery area.

The Black and Tans arrived in four lorries and parked at St. Patrick's Church. Reportedly drunk and dressed in civilian clothing, they put masks on their faces, fired shots into the air and ordered the people out of their homes. They easily set fire to the thatched roofs of the cottages, using petrol. They were less successful in setting Murray's, Flanagan's and the presbytery alight, due to their slated roofs. Having no time to take their possessions with them, the people rushed from their houses onto the street, still in their nightshirts.[6][7] Canon Bartholomew Kelly refused to leave his house, until the Black and Tans began dousing his furniture with petrol. He jumped out of his bedroom window onto a shed twelve feet below, and hid himself until they had left. His slate roof saved his house from being totally destroyed.[8] Unable to set Murray's roof alight, the Black and Tans set fire to the back door. John Murray reacted quickly to put the fire out, saving the house. The occupants of the thatched houses did not have this opportunity, and their houses burned to the ground very quickly.

Michael O'Callaghan described the scene:

"the raiding forces drove up and down the village, firing shots at random, cursing loudly, and laughing at the plight of the people of Knockcroghery. The people were terrified, particularly the children, whose cries of fear added to the terrible scene."[9]

The flames above Knockcroghery alerted the people for miles around to what had happened, and by daylight, the street was full of people.[10] On the evening of the burning, there had been fifteen houses on the main street of Knockcroghery, most of them single-storey thatched cottages. By the following morning, all but four had been burned to the ground.[11]

The event was reported in the Irish Times in the following days:

"Knockcroghery, a town of about fifty houses, five miles from Roscommon, was, with the exception of three houses, John Murray's, Widow Murray's, and Murtagh's, burnt to the ground. It is stated that at about one o'clock in the morning a large party of disguised and armed men arrived in the town, and without giving the occupants of the houses an opportunity of dressing or saving any of their effects, proceeded to burn out the town. During the burning there were constant fusillades of rifle and revolver firing. Terrified people rushed out of their houses and made their escape through fields. Subsequently the children and aged persons were taken into the Presbytery (which was also attempted to be set fire to) and the Rev Mr Humphrey's Rectory, where they were kindly treated. This morning the town presents a shocking appearance, being a mass of smouldering ruins, with the occupants of the houses homeless and destitute, all their belongings being consumed in the general conflagration.

The official report states that about fifteen houses in Knockcroghery, County Roscommon, were burned down by about twelve or fifteen men in civilian clothes, who arrived about one o'clock yesterday from the Athlone direction."[12]

Jamesie Murray remembered the assistance given to the now homeless people of Knockcroghery:

"They came from all over to help. People brought clothes, and a fund was soon set up. The families who were now homeless were accommodated in the vicinity, many staying with relatives who lived nearby. Farm sheds were converted into temporary dwellings. Canon Kelly and others found temporary accommodation with Knockcroghery's Church of Ireland rector, Canon Humphries.[13] Later, three or four new cottages were built on the Shrah road and given to bachelors, who then took people in."[14]

The village was rebuilt over the next few years, with help from government grants. The rebuilding provided employment locally, at a time when it was needed.[15][16]

On the evening of Thursday 26 August 1920, a 36-year-old RIC constable named William J Potter, who was temporarily stationed in Kiltoom, was cycling with another constable, Michael McMahon, from Roscommon to Kiltoom. The constables were ambushed by a group of armed men on the Athlone side of the level crossing in Knockcroghery, who fired at them. The constables sped past the men in an attempt to escape. However, Constable Potter was shot through the right lung and fell to the ground, where he died.[17][18]

A few days later, while a fair was going on in Knockcroghery, a party of Black and Tans arrived in the village, and in an act of retaliation, rounded up all the men into the handball alley and beat them with bull whips. The Black and Tans seized some tins of paint from a local shop and forced the men to paint over a tricolour that had been painted onto the wall of the handball alley some time previously. They then forced the men to place their hands onto the wet paint and then put their hands into their pockets and wipe them on their clothes.[19][20]

Prior to the 1870s, what is now the parish of Knockcroghery was two separate parishes: Killinvoy and Kilmaine. The church in Killinvoy was built around the 1810s, when the Penal Laws were being relaxed. It ceased to be used as a church in 1883 but continues to be used as a community centre to this day, and is known as Culleen Hall. The church in Kilmaine was a very old, small thatched building. After it ceased to be used as a church, it was demolished and is now the site of Ballymurray National School.

In the early 1870s, the parishes of Killinvoy and Kilmaine were merged into the parish of St Patrick, Knockcroghery. In the mid-1870s, a decision was made to build a new, more centrally-located church. Lord Crofton of Mote Park gave a site on the Southern edge of Knockcroghery for a nominal rent of a shilling per year. Construction work commenced in 1879 and St Patrick's Church was consecrated on 18 October 1885.[21][22] The cost of construction was £3,000, of which, £1,313 remained outstanding at the time of consecration. Donations were received following an appeal in the sermon at the consecration, which assisted in paying down the debt of the construction.[23][24] [25] The churches in Culleen and Ballymurray closed down, but many of the parishioners of Ballymurray refused to transfer to Knockcroghery, and continued attending the old Ballymurray church at mass time every Sunday to say the Rosary until it was demolished in 1886.[26]

The merging of the parishes was completed in 1942, with the opening of the new cemetery in Gailey, which replaced the separate cemeteries in Kilmaine and Killinvoy.[27]

St. Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic)

St. Patrick's Catholic Church is an example of late nineteenth-century ecclesiastical design. It features a two-stage bell tower with pinnacles and a more recently added copper spire. It was built commencing in 1879, with the church being consecrated on 18 October 1885.[40][41][42][43] In the early 1950s, the tower and spire were completed, the bell was installed and the choir gallery was built. At the same time, repair works were carried out, the church was replastered internally and wiring for electric lighting and heating was installed in anticipation of the arrival of rural electrification. In the meantime, lighting was provided by a petrol-powered generator.[44]

The carved limestone baptismal font in St Patrick's Church came from the old church in Ballymurray (now the site of Ballymurray National School). It was initially used as a holy water font inside the front door before being moved to its current location beside the altar to be used as a baptismal font. The smaller carved limestone holy water font, which is built into the wall inside the tower door, is believed to have come from the old church in Culleen (now Cullen Hall).

The stained glass windows on the Eastern side of the church depict the history of the church in Ireland, including the old thatched church in Ballymurray.[45]