New Centenary Memorial Monument in Srah
We are delighted to announce that the design has been completed for the new Centenary Memorial Monument to be located at Srah and an order has been placed with McDermott Memorials in Partry for its supply and installation.
The Centenary Memorial Monument is being erected to honour all the South Mayo Brigade Volunteers that took part in the Tourmakeady Ambush and the women that assisted them.
The commemoration committee has selected this design to meet the challenge of representing and honouring all the volunteers, both men and women, that were part of the ambush, and it also gives family members and visitors to the area a place to go to honour their memory.
The Centenary Memorial Monument is designed to meet the commemorative principles listed below:
▪ All Volunteers that are listed in the Military Archives as having taken part have their names inscribed on the monument.
▪ The women that we could identify that assisted the volunteers also have their names inscribed.
▪ The Irish language is given primacy on the front surface, Irish on top and English underneath.
▪ The front surface (side 1) will have the memorial dedication with the Brigade Leaders names on it. The dedication will be to the South Mayo Brigade volunteers who took part in the Tourmakeady Ambush.
▪ The remaining three surfaces (side 2, side 3 and side 4) will have the names of all the volunteers inscribed, arranged in company groups shown below. The townland address of each volunteer is also shown.
▪ Side 2 – Srah Volunteers, their names will be inscribed in Irish as they came from the Gaeltacht.
▪ Side 3 – Ballinrobe and Clooncastle/Robeen Volunteers, their names will be inscribed in English.
▪ Side 4 – Cross and Kilmaine Volunteers, their names will be inscribed in English. Also, the women in Cumann Na mBan that assisted the volunteers, those from the Gaeltacht have their names in Irish, otherwise in English.
▪ The location of the Monument will be in the centre of the space chosen for the monument in Srah. There needs to be 360-degree access around the monument so that viewing of all 4 surfaces is available and the same for each surface. 4 Metres circumference should be minimum space required.
▪ The height of the Dark Grey Granite will be approximately 5 feet tall and 30 inches wide square at base tapered to 28 inches wide square at top. It will also have a plinth on top with the same granite used with dimensions 26 inches wide square and 1.1811 inches high (30mm).
▪ It will be mounted on a 90 inches x 90 inches x 4” Granite base that sits in a concrete base.
▪ The Tourmakeady Ambush Commemoration Logo on top of the Monument will be made of Stainless Steel and fixed to the top of monument.
▪ The map of the lake will be inscribed on each of the 4 sides with Company location names shown on it.
We are confident that the monument will be in place in a matter of months. We sincerely thank all the people who supported the funding of this project through Book purchases, donations to the GoFund Me site, individual contributions and Corporate Contributions.
Sketch of what the new Centenary Memorial Monument will look like
Side 1 - the Memorial dedication with the Brigade Leaders names on it
Side 2 – Srah Volunteers, their names will be inscribed in Irish as they came from the Gaeltacht.
Side 3 – Ballinrobe and Clooncastle/Robeen Volunteers, their names will be inscribed in English.
Side 4 – Cross and Kilmaine Volunteers, their names will be inscribed in English. Also, the women in Cumann Na mBan that assisted the volunteers, those from the Gaeltacht have their names in Irish, otherwise in English.
In Micheál Lally’s book, “The Tan War - Ballyovey, South Mayo”, he relates how his father Tom Lally of Srah told him that after the Kilfaul Ambush:
“People had lost faith in Crown Forces and began to depend more on the Volunteers. A few weeks after the ambush as I was cycling to Ballinrobe and passing McDermott’s the stone cutter, he called after me, ‘I have been on the lookout for you for some time’, he said. Then he invited me into the house, ‘I want you to know that you can count on my support whenever you need it, my greatest regret is I can’t be with ye as I am too old’, then he took out five pounds from his pocket and gave it to me. ‘I want you and the lads to have this’ he said. Five pounds was an awful lot of money at that time, but it wasn’t just the money, it was his words of encouragement that meant so much.
It is fitting that McDermott Memorials, the same business now run by the grandsons of the man mentioned above, who supported the volunteers in such a generous manner, are supplying and installing the new Monument in Srah. History travels in circles.