New book details unique Mayo migration story

A new book details the migration of families from Belmullet and Tourmakeady to Gibbstown in Co Meath almost 90 years ago.

'Ceann Scríbe Baile Ghib - Destination Gibbstown’ recalls the journey of these families from Fanad and Gweedore in Co Donegal, Belmullet and Tourmakeady in Co Mayo, Ballinskellig in West Kerry and the Bearra Peninsula in West Cork to Gibbstown, where the large Gerrard Estate was being divided. All who moved were native Irish speakers, many of them with no English.

In 1937, the Land Commission divided the Gerrard Estate in Gibbstown into 22-acre farms, and among those to receive land were 59 Irish-speaking families from the western counties of Cork, Donegal, Kerry and Mayo. They, in turn, gave up their farms to be divided among those who remained in these congested areas. Difficult decisions were made by elderly heads of families to accept the offer for the benefit of their children and future generations.

The book gives an insight into the emotions their ancestors experienced as they faced the unfamiliar. For many, the heartache of bidding farewell to relatives and friends for what they knew was the final time showed immense courage and strength of character. Their sacrifice was immeasurable. The younger travellers were excited as they looked forward to a new adventure. However, the transition was not without challenges. Some families didn’t settle for one reason or another and returned to their old homesteads. It was a condition of the agreement with the Land Commission that they had a year to make up their minds.

For many of the migrants, learning the English language became essential for doing business with locals. Many struggled with the move to completely new surroundings and quite a number of families returned home, unable to cope. When the migrants first made the move they attended the English-speaking Oristown school, where were 180 children crammed into two small classrooms.

The Western People covered the migration from North Mayo with a reporter from the newspaper travelling to Erris on the morning that members of 12 families set off on the long journey to their new homes in Co Meath. The report, which is published in the book, makes for poignant reading almost 90 years later.

Assumpta Diamond’s parents were among those who made the trip from Mayo to Meath. A total of 12 families from Erris moved to Gibbstown.

“My Dad Michael Diamond came from Ardmore Point in Binghamstown and Mam, Ellen Heffernan, came from Doolough,” said Assumpta.

They both made the move to Meath in 1937. The pair did not know each other when their families moved from North Mayo but became neighbours and eventually a married couple.

“They lived next door to each other on the Mayo Road when they came here. It was mostly Mayo people who lived on the road when they came up and settled here,” said Assumpta.

Michael and Ellen were both 21 years old when they migrated to Meath.

“My grandfather died and left my grandmother with a young family of nine. There was no such thing as a widow’s pension at that time and it was a tough life so she took the chance of coming up,” said Assumpta.

She arrived with her son Michael and six of his siblings with the two eldest going off to work in Scotland.

Assumpta’s father worked ‘on the beet’ in Scotland before returning home to work the family farm in Meath where he and his wife Ellen reared a family of 10.

“There was no television at the time and no central heating!” Assumpta recalls.

She said her parents never lost their memories of Mayo.

“Dad would have remembered the Inishkea drowning tragedy [in 1927]. He would recall his mother with her hand on her forehead looking to see where the seagulls were diving in the hope that it would indicate where a body was,” said Assumpta.

“They both had tremendous love of Mayo but life here was so much better at the time.

“They would take us back to Mayo to show us where they came from and we would always have a great grá for Mayo from listening to our parents talk about Mayo. My father would get so emotional when he would bring us back. He would walk the foundation of where his home was and he would cry. He had such a love for Mayo.”

Assumpta said Gibbstown was a much more welcome option for families than having to emigrate further afield.

“Having so many other families come up from Mayo with them was lovely. There were Connells, Heffernans, Toghers, Munnellys... there were quite a few families who came up at the same time.” 

She said it was common for the Mayo families who moved to Meath to inter-marry.

“My father’s sister married my mother’s brother. My uncle was the first man to marry a ‘native woman’ from Meath as they called them at the time! But most of them would have married people from Mayo.” 

She said there was said to have been some upheaval in Gibbstown when families from Mayo and elsewhere first made the move there but she never heard either of her parents speak negatively about the local reaction to the new residents.

No stone was left unturned when it came to researching the journeys of the Diamonds, the Heffernans and their ilk.

The book has been researched and written by Máire Uí Chasaide, Máire Ní Chonchúir, Anraí Mac Garaidh, Máirín Ní Shiadhail, Éilín Nic an tSithigh, and Máire Nic an tSithigh. Through intensive and painstaking research involving walking the highways and byways of the counties mentioned, trawling through their parish and civil records, visiting cemeteries, seeking out old newspaper articles and assembling a collection of photographs and family trees, this book of over 800 pages was brought to life.

The Mayo launch of the book took place in Erris on Saturday last at Áras Inis Gluaire in Belmullet.

A large crowd were in attendance where old friendships and familial ties were rekindled as this very unique Mayo migration was celebrated.