Lost figure from history discovered by chance

Stories from within a three-mile radius of her own front door have provided local historian, author and journalist Mary J Murphy with the subject matter for not one, but two fascinating books.

The first, Viking Summer, based on the filming of Alfred the Great around Galway in 1986 was published in 2008.

Now the second, a fascinating account of society beauty, model, milliner, arts patron and entrepreneur Eva O’Flaherty is just gone to press. The story of this extraordinary woman, born in Lisdonagh House, Caherlistrane in 1874 might have slipped quietly into local folklore but for a chance encounter between Mary and a neighbour, Brendan Gannon in the parish GAA grounds in 2009.

Mary, her husband Gerry and their three children are big fans of Achill Island and holiday there every chance they can get. On hearing that they were just back from Achill, Brendan informed her there was a strong connection between Caherlistrane and the Mayo island. As Mary puts it in her introduction to the book, “every writerly atom in my being went on red alert’, on hearing of the link.

Two years of painstaking research later, punctuated by many happy coincidences, the book has gone to print and will be launched in Scoil Acla on the island next month.

“Her family on both sides were nationalist royalty,” says Mary of Eva O’Flaherty whose enterprising nature provided employment for women on Achill, offering them a chance to stay at home at a time when emigration – seasonal and permanent – was the norm.

Eva’s story is an extraordinary one and how Mary came to hear of it is equally extraordinary.

Brendan Gannon, who first told her about Eva, had worked with the Hoover Company in the 1950s, during which time he was sent to fix a broken machine at knitwear factory, St Colman’s on Achill. While he was there, one of the employees realised he was from Caherlistrane in Galway.

Mary Glynn took him to meet her boss, Miss Eva O’Flaherty, who had left Caherlistrane many decades before but still had connections with the area.

Eva, who had been a renowned beauty in her youth, was by that time almost blind and was in poor health. She asked Brendan to return to Achill with his father to help her organise her funeral arrangements. Realising she didn’t have many years left, Eva’s wish was to be buried in her home parish of Caherlistrane, in the family vault in Donaghpatrick Cemetery.

Brendan’s father, John helped her plan this and after she died, on April 17, 1963, Brendan oversaw her interment in the family plot – his father had predeceased Eva.

Armed with that information from Brendan, Mary J Murphy began her research, which revealed a fascinating woman from a fascinating family.

Their base was Lisdonagh House on the shores of Lough Hackett – formerly Lough Cime – in Caherlistrane. Now a heritage guesthouse, Lisdonagh House was reputed to have been built by the Reddington family around 1720. The O’Flahertys moved in there in the mid 19th century and Eva was born here in 1874.

As Mary leans on a table in the hallway of the beautifully refurbished house, explaining Eva’s complex family tree, it’s obvious just how much research she has put into this project. She draws the tree from memory, explaining how Eva’s mother, who had been widowed at a young age with seven children, married the much older Martin O’Flaherty, Eva’s father. Eva’s mother was Mary O’Gorman from Co Clare, whose father, Richard had been a brother of one of Daniel O’Connell’s right-hand men. Eva’s own father had been a member of the Young Ireland movement and was friends with all the major political figures including Charles Gavin Duffy, John Blake Dillon; “the lot”, says Mary.

Mrs O’Flaherty died in 1881 on April 17 – co-incidentally Eva died on the same date in 1963.

Then, when Eva was 12, Martin O’Flaherty had to auction the house because of what his daughter subsequently described as “his unfortunate business dealings”.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.