The return of the native to a Sligo village

When passing through the sleepy village of Aclare in south Sligo, it is difficult to believe it was once a thriving business hub of retail outlets and pubs. While it retains all its former charms, much of the hustle and bustle of former times are gone.

Aclare, has an idyllic setting; built on the banks of the river Inagh and nestling in the foothills of the Ox Mountains. It is easy to visualise it being used as a film location or featuring as the backdrop to a Colm Tóibín novel.

Local boy 

The promotional website, Choose Sligo, highlights Aclare in its pages and gives a good account of the village in former times.

The small village of Aclare lies in the shadow of the stunning Ox Mountains. Aclare (the ford of the plain) is built on the river Inagh, a tributary of the Moy. One of the earliest references to Aclare is found in the Annals of Ulster where it is stated that in the year 1512, O'Donnell of Donegal attacked McWilliam Bourke of Connacht at Aclare. The village of Aclare has strong links with traditional Irish music, and many great musicians and singers hail from this south Sligo village.

It was an unusual day indeed, the day that a priest from Michigan in the United States arrived into Aclare in the mid-1980s and promised to put it back on the map. Local historian, Marie Flemming, in a tribute piece, takes up the story of a native son returning home.

By now most people have heard the story of how Fr McGuinness was driving through Aclare one day and stopped to ask a young boy if he had he ever heard of the McGuinness’ of Aclare? When the young boy said no, the priest declared: “I’ll make sure they remember the McGuinness name around here.” 

Early days 

Stephen McGuiness was born Patrick Stephen McGuinness on December 24, 1893. He was the youngest of 12 children born to James McGuinness and Ellen Durkan at Clooneen, near Aclare. Stephen went to Kilmactigue National School and St Nathy’s College in Ballaghaderreen before joining some of his siblings in the United States. He left Aclare in 1914 but later in life, he seemed to still feel the pain of that departure.

“I was lonely, even the dog was lonely. We had a dog at that time that seemed to know everything that was going on in the family.” 

Stephen was ordained a priest in 1920 and went on to spend much of his life in Michigan.

It seems that in and out through his priestly duties, young Fr Stephen developed a particular flair for making money. He may well have been forced into it as his description of his income as a priest was severely imprinted on his memory. In a 1986 television interview with the late Tommy Gorman of RTÉ, Fr Stephen, then 92, recalled those early days. 

“When I first went to Michigan, I was only getting $40 a month with board and room.” 

Despite his poor rate of pay, Fr Stephen headed to his local bank and there made the acquaintance of the assistant manager. While Fr Stephen had a talent for managing his money, the assistant bank manager had a talent for managing people who had a talent for managing their money. At that very first meeting, the bank man told Fr Stephen that he would eventually be a rich man. A prediction that, through the course of time, was indeed to prove true.

Back home again

By the time that Fr Stephen retired to Sligo in the mid-1980s, he had become quite wealthy. His considerable wealth was amassed through his own shrewd investment strategies and through bequests received from his older siblings. It would appear his older brothers and sisters also had a talent for making money and because Stephen was the youngest of 12, one by one, the accrued wealth of the siblings fell to their baby brother.

As Fr Stephen was now getting on in years, he decided to dispense his life savings for the benefit of others. And so, his native Aclare came immediately to mind. Aclare, like all small towns in Ireland at that time, was losing ground in one of the worst economic downturns in our history. Businesses were closing and talented young people from the locality were heading in their droves to England and the United States. The following is an outline of Fr Stephen’s achievements in those early days. Ironically, this summary was documented in a High Court wrangle between Sligo County Council and AIB Bank in 1994 over some of Fr Stephen’s deposits.

The late Fr McGuinness was a native of Aclare in the County of Sligo. In or about the year 1983, he conceived the desire to benefit the area of Aclare. His first steps in that direction took the form of acquiring a playing field for the area. Through the co-operation of various people and bodies Fr McGuinness was able to achieve his ambition by being in part instrumental in the building of a factory in Aclare. The construction of the factory cost £83,000 and Fr McGuinness contributed £25,000 towards that objective. 

The County Council passed a resolution on the 23rd of June, 1984 creating the Aclare (Fr Stephen McGuinness) Civic Improvements Scheme. Fr McGuinness then turned his attention to further benefiting the community and approved of the suggestion which was made to him that an Urban Renewal Scheme for the village of Aclare should be carried out and he enthusiastically agreed to make available further funds towards such a scheme.

Aclare today 

There is no doubt that the generosity of Fr Stephen McGuinness gave a considerable boost to the small town of Aclare back in the tough times of the 1980s. Indeed, many of his projects from that time still bear fruit. Aclare presents a strong front to the world; reflecting times past in much of its built heritage and with an ambitious eye firmly fixed on the future. It is safe to say that the haemorrhage of young talent to other countries is now a thing of the past and the factory spaces that were created with the help of Fr Stephen’s life savings remain vibrant and continue to provide valuable local employment.

Going back to the tribute paid to Fr Stephen by Marie Flemming, the following extract best reflects the ambitions of a man who was happy to share his talents for the benefit of others.

Fr McGuinness’ hope was to halt emigration from this part of south Sligo and as he said, “I have no hesitation in spending the fruits of seventy years savings. I think I owe something as a former citizen of Aclare and when I am able to, why shouldn’t I contribute? What good is your money if you don’t use it right and give it to your country above all places, to build it up and Ireland today (1986) needs help. It’s no use having us Irish going all over the world to earn a living and be boasting about Ireland and still doing nothing for it.” 

A fantastic wall mural, painted on the wall of Kennedy’s shop in Aclare, includes an image of Fr Stephen. His portrait sits proudly between two icons representing both the musical and sporting heritage of the local parish. A nearby signpost positions Aclare half way between the neighbouring towns of Tubbercurry and Swinford. Nearby, Fr Stephen McGuinness rests in peace in Kilmactigue Cemetery, close to the little town he loved so well and gifted to so generously. He died in April 1987 at the age of 94.