Haughey and the Castlebar connection
Charles Haughey leads a large crowd of Fianna Fail supporters through Ellison Street in Castlebar on September 28, 1980, on his way to the plaque unveiling at the home of his birthplace. Picture: Frank Dolan
As he looked out at the crowd of thousands gathered in front of the house where he was born on Mountain View in Castlebar, An Taoiseach Charles J Haughey emphatically declared his pride in his home place.
“If a person had to choose a birthplace among all the towns of Ireland, he or she could hardly do better than choose the town of the Land League and the town in which the Republic of Connacht was declared in 1798.
“A person might also be influenced to choose Castlebar for its beauty and liveliness as a town, where all the charm and spaciousness of the west of Ireland can be found in its streets, in its Mall and in its people.
“And for a house one could hardly do better than choose one subsequently occupied by a family who played such a noble part in the War of Independence as the MacEvilly’s of Castlebar,” said Haughey to what was, for the most part, an adoring crowd hanging on his every word.
It was September 28, 1980 and Haughey, the Taoiseach since December 1979, was being feted in Castlebar with the unveiling of two plaques at the place he first drew breath.
Whilst those words suggested a huge grá for the place of his birth, the reality, as with virtually every aspect of Haughey’s life and legacy, was more complex. How much did his Castlebar roots actually matter to him?
He had a remarkable ability to move from blasé and disinterested into a show of charm and eloquence. He was a political chameleon capable of changing states at the drop of a hat. Virtually everything he said and did had to be contextualised.
No political career in the history of the state has been subject to as much controversy, debate and fascination. It all began at a house on Mountain View in Castlebar, currently the home of the Carney family, 100 years to this day, September 16, 1925.
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Normally, it was a knock on the door or a stone thrown at the window at her home in Castlebar that would rouse renowned midwife Bridget Minch into action. It was likely similar in September 1925 when Sarah Haughey went into labour with her third child at their home on Mountain View.
Home births were the norm at the time, and sometimes two midwives attended. They were termed jubilee nurses at the time. Bridget Minch (née Kenny) – known by most simply as Mrs Minch – was certainly there. She was an aunt of Henry Kenny, the All-Ireland winning Mayo star of 1936, future Mayo TD and father of another future Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.
Mrs Minch set off, most probably wearing a blue linen dress, white apron with crossover straps and white cuffs, ‘invariably pushed to her elbows ready for business,’ recalled her niece Kathleen Staunton (McHale) some years ago.
Her typical mode of transport was a high-handled ladies’ Raleigh bike, and, as she headed for Mountain View, little did she know the impact the baby she was about to deliver would have on Irish politics and life in general in the 20th century.
That Haughey was born in Castlebar was very much due to the fallout from the revolutionary years, the embers of which were still hot in Mayo. His parents John and Sarah (née McWilliams) Haughey were from Swatragh in south Derry. Both had been active in the Republican movement, Johnny in the IRA and Sarah in Cumann na mBan.
Johnnie Haughey was Commandant of the 4th Battalion, Western Command of the Irish Free State Army. Taking the Pro-Treaty side was quite unusual for someone from one of the six counties that were partitioned, but Haughey biographer Gary Murphy believes it may have been a devotion to Michael Collins that tipped the balance. The family came to Castlebar in 1924.
Though his full name is always listed as ‘Charles James’, his birth certificate, registered by his mother on November 10, 1925, has just one name: James. To further complicate matters, he was known as Cathal in his childhood. When ‘Charles’ or ‘Cathal’ came into usage is unclear, but the family had a turbulent time after his birth.
Haughey had no memories of Castlebar because in 1928, when he would have been no more than three years old, his father was invalided from the Irish Army with what turned out to be multiple sclerosis. The family had a small farm in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath for a time before moving to Belton Park Road in Donnycarney, Dublin in 1933.
Johnnie Haughey died in 1947 while Sarah Haughey, who cared for her husband and raised their children almost single-handedly after he became immobile, lived in Belton Park Road until her death in 1989.
Cathal Haughey made headlines for the first time – though certainly not the last – when he was pictured on the front of the in August 1938 for finishing first out of 500 pupils in the Dublin Corporation scholarship exams, enabling him to attend St Joseph’s CBS in Marino, known as Joey’s.
Even by then he was, it is fair to say, far more a product of Dublin than Mayo, something he admitted himself in a interview in 1984.
“Well, I was only born in Castlebar. I left at a stage I don’t even remember. As a child I lived in Dublin, to all intents and purposes … But all my life, really, was spent in Dublin. I mean, I’m a Dublin person,” he said.
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The scholarship results reveal the aptitude of the young Haughey and his star continued to rise in UCD where he appears to have first developed a grá for politics, moving towards Fianna Fáil, although some in Fianna Fáil disputed his sincerity because of his father’s background on the Pro-Treaty side.
It was at UCD he first met his future wife, Maureen Lemass, daughter of future Taoiseach Seán Lemass. He was first elected to the Dáil in 1957 and as a minister in the 1960s, introducing high-profile legislation such as the Succession Act, which prevented husbands from disinheriting their wives, and free travel for pensioners.
His first big controversy was in 1970 when he was sensationally fired as Minister for Finance under then Taoiseach Jack Lynch and charged with conspiracy to import arms for the IRA. After a lengthy trial, Haughey and three others were acquitted, but the whole episode permanently defined many people’s views of Haughey, both for and against.
In the political wilderness for seven years, he courted the Fianna Fáil party’s grassroots, attending local party functions nationwide in what became famously known as the ‘rubber chicken circuit’ after the cheap and cheerful meals at such events. Certainly a long way removed from his already expensive tastes.
Fianna Fáil were returned to power in 1977 and Lynch caved and made him Minister for Health, where Haughey legalised birth control, subject to medical prescription. An under-pressure Lynch resigned in 1979, and Haughey defeated his rival, George Colley, for the party leadership.
In December 1979, nine years after he stood trial on subversive charges, CJ Haughey was Taoiseach.
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When Haughey was announced Taoiseach, the rush to claim him as a Castlebar man began. Some skeptics doubted it, being disbelieving of most things Haughey declared.
Tom Gillespie of the was dispatched to see if he could stand up the story. Pat Jordan, church clerk, quelled all doubts when he produced Haughey’s baptismal cert, proving he was definitely christened in the Church of the Holy Rosary. A picture of Pat with the relevant paperwork was used on the front of the paper on December 12, 1979.
But perfectly encapsulating the division Haughey often created even within his own party, that same front page had news of the axing of Achill’s Denis Gallagher as Minister for the Gaeltacht in Haughey’s new cabinet.
Nevertheless, moves among Fianna Fáil in Castlebar for a homecoming for Haughey commenced. There were mixed opinions when plans were announced for the unveiling of two plaques on the wall of the house where he was born, one in English and one in Irish.
Ahead of the ceremonies on September 28, 1980, the then chairman of Mayo County Council, Cllr Frank Durcan described the event as "a vulgar display of ignorance", lambasting Haughey’s agreement to the event as "childish", saying such commemorations should only take place after someone had died.
Legendary scribe John Healy from Charlestown, writing in the , wondered if Haughey might "bless" Ballinafad, outside Balla, as a third-level agricultural college. Haughey engaged on a tour of both Mayo constituencies - East and West - that week before making his way to Castlebar. There, Castlebar Urban District Council accorded Haughey a civic reception before the event at Mountain View. Cllr Durcan and his Fine Gael colleague Cllr Martin Hopkins were conspicuous by their absence.
Dooagh Pipe Band from Achill led Haughey and a crowd believed to be in the region of 5,000 people in a procession from Marsh House to Mountain View.
The unveiling was performed by Monsignor James Horan, who already had reason to be grateful to Haughey.
“Your esteem and concern for the people of Mayo and Connacht has been proved by the recent announcement of a regional airport for our province,” said Monsignor Horan at Mountain View.
The national media found the event quite amusing. Olivia O’Leary, writing in in advance, headlined a skit piece ‘Come in, No. 1 – YOUR SHRINE IS UP’.
The day after, the front page headline was ‘The day they came to honour Charles I’. The same paper described Haughey leading a procession through the town "with almost imperial gait".
Castlebar businessman Cathal Duffy was chairman of the organising committee.
“If we have taken some good-natured stick from the media in recent weeks about this ceremony, we are not so much asserting an historical claim in the face of others as we are celebrating the arrival at the summit of Irish politics, a native son of Mayo who was born in this town and in this house,” he said at the event.
Renowned Castlebar-based journalist John Healy recalls that day in 1980. He was there as editor for the since-defunct newspaper.
“It struck me that Haughey was pleased with himself on the day. Flattered. He might have thought it was a bit OTT but he went along with it. It was certainly something some of the national journalists and commentators were laughing about,” he told the .
After the event concluded, there was a Fianna Fáil rally in the nearby Royal Ballroom at the TF.
Pádraig Flynn, a TD since 1977 and a close ally of Haughey’s, introduced Haughey to the party faithful. The late Tommie Gorman, writing for the , described Flynn as "having the gaiety and panache of a seasoned circus ringmaster". He added that of the five rounds of applause Haughey received, four were encouraged by Flynn.
“The other time they cheered was during the Taoiseach’s references to Northern Ireland, an issue which would raise a rumpus in even a Fianna Fáil graveyard,” wrote Gorman.
However, the greatest applause was undoubtedly reserved for Denis Gallagher, the West Mayo TD who had been axed from Haughey’s Cabinet the previous December.
When Pádraig Flynn was naming out the dignitaries on stage, the introduction of Denis Gallagher saw the crowd erupt into loud and sustained applause and a standing ovation. After Flynn then introduced everyone else, the crowd once again called out their support for Gallagher and wanted him to speak. With a characteristic agreeing nod from Haughey to Flynn, Denis Gallagher was called over.
“Thank you all for this wonderful reception. I did not expect to speak. I am delighted we have Mr Haughey here in Castlebar for this wonderful occasion. Your support for Fianna Fáil leaves us in no doubt on the strength of the party in the area,” said Mr Gallagher.
John Healy still vividly recalls that.
“The TF was jammed, all the faithful were there. The reaction of the Achill people, Denis Gallagher’s supporters, really stands out so much now, 45 years on. I’ll never forget it, it was amazing,” he said.
It likely did not please Haughey that someone else stole the show.
Charlie Haughey’s mother Sarah was present at the festivities that day in 1980, over 50 years after the family left Castlebar. In an interview with the , she fondly remembered her time in the town and the friendships made. She was pleased to see the Egan family still resided in Mountain View.
“If I win the Sweep I will buy a house in the town and come to live here again,” she said.
Some might quip that her son could have facilitated this with the large sums of money he was already secretly receiving from wealthy businessmen.
Earlier that very year, in a state of the nation address, he told the Irish people, "we are living away beyond our means", asking people to tighten their belts, all while he was living far beyond his own means and showed no inclination to tighten his own belt.
It would, after two tribunals in his retirement, become apparent that Haughey had, over a 17-year period at the helm of Fianna Fáil and the country, received cash gifts of more than £8.5 million from a variety of successful businessmen.
While he was lecturing to people about living beyond their means, he was spending outrageous sums of money on a Georgian mansion at Abbeville, buying one of the Blasket Islands in Kerry and wining and dining like a man of much more significant means than a Taoiseach’s salary could allow.
Despite the more than considerable whiff of controversy off him, he was a great survivor too, negotiating several controversies and heaves during the 1980s to cling to the leadership of Fianna Fáil and serve as Taoiseach on three separate occasions.
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Meanwhile, while he was living in palatial style in Abbeville, back in Castlebar, his first-ever home was becoming a political hot potato.
It was in the path of the proposed route for an inner relief road in the town. In 1986, the four Fianna Fáil members of Castlebar Urban District Council proposed to have the building preserved as a historic building in an attempt to stop its demolition.
Cllr Paddy McGuinness alleged that they were being "coerced" by "influential people within their party".
The Fianna Fáil councillors were outvoted by the other five councillors, including party member Cllr Eanya Egan, who also wrote a letter against the preservation plans. Ms Egan, a solicitor, is a native of Mountain View and her family were neighbours of the Haugheys.
“I have no regard for that man whatsoever and he was no addition to Mountain View. What did he ever do for Castlebar? I think his Castlebar connection meant more to Fianna Fáil in Castlebar than it ever did to Charlie Haughey,” Ms Egan told the .
As far as she is concerned, his legacy is clear.
“In my view there were only two good things he did in his political career – that was free travel for pensioners and the Succession Act. Every time I get on the train I say ‘thank you Charlie Haughey!’
“But I despise the man and everything he stood for. He hoodwinked everyone and I think we’re a gullible nation. It disgusts me that he got away with wearing his Charvet shirts while he asked us to tighten our belts,” she added.
The inner relief road never went ahead and Haughey’s birthplace remains standing to this day.
It is now less of a shrine to a former Taoiseach and more a reminder of the very "flawed pedigree" of the man, as his rival in the 1980s, Garret FitzGerald famously said.
Haughey was arguably both the most brilliant and the most corrupt politician of modern Ireland, and the latter will always, rightly, dominate the former whenever his name is mentioned. That is the Shakespearean tragedy and legacy of the man born in Castlebar 100 years ago today.
