Anglo Protestant Ascendency

During the 15th century, Crossmolina passed into the hands of the Bourke Family. In 1526 O'Donnell of Tir Conaill (County Donegal) invaded Tirawley and destroyed Crossmolina Castle.^[11] In response, the Bourkes constructed a replacement in Deel Castle.^[12] Their possession of this new fortress did not last however as during the Williamite War in Ireland of the 1690s Thomas Burke fought for the defeated Catholic Jacobites.

Subsequently, Deel Castle was granted by the English crown to the Anglo-Irish Protestant Gore family. In the 17th century, Francis Jackson, who had fought with Cromwell in Ireland, also received land in North Mayo. The Jackson family later built Enniscoe House. Again, the land taken over by the Jacksons was previously owned by the Burke family.^[13] The arrival of these landlords ushered in the era of Protestant Ascendancy into the area.^[12]

In 1798 Crossmolina was swept up with the events of the United Irishmen Rebellion when French Forces under General Humbert came from Ballina, passed by Crossmolina, towards Lahardane and on towards Castlebar as they went west of Lough Conn to fight the Battle of Castlebar.^[14]

In the late 18th century, the town emerged as a commercial and administrative hub. During this period, local landlords formed the Crossmolina Volunteers militia.^[15] By the early 1800s, a granary and bonded warehouses had been established. Petty Court sessions began weekly in 1823, and by the 1830s, the Revenue Police and Constabulary were stationed there.^[16][17] Regular fairs occurred in May, September, and December.^[18] The 1831 census showed a town population of 1,481 across 296 households, while the rural parish totaled 10,198. Approximately half the town's households were engaged in trade, manufacturing, and handicrafts.^[19]

The town is referenced in the Leigh's pocket road book of Ireland, published in 1827, as a "village in Mayo", whose "most remarkable object is the ruin of an Abbey dedicated to the Virgin Mary".^[9] Crossmolina was also mentioned in Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837). The town contained "one good street and two converging ones".^[20]

Poitin production

Poitín, a traditional Irish spirit made from fermented grain or potatoes, boasts a high alcohol content. Produced in Ireland for centuries, it significantly impacted Crossmolina's local economy. In the early 19th century, Ireland's government worried about prevalent illegal private distillation, leading to frequent conflicts with locals. By February 1816, North Mayo's poitín production alarmed the government enough to station troops in the town to curb the trade.^[21]

In July 1833, a party of Revenue Police, based in Crossmolina, made a routine patrol and made an unexpected discovery—individuals engaged in the illicit distillation of poitín. The police apprehended two members of the group. However, as they were returning with the prisoners, a daring attempt to rescue them was made, with a prominent role played by one of the prisoners' father-in-law. Tragically, the situation escalated, leading the police to discharge their weapons, resulting in the death of one man.^[22][23]

Rural unrest in the 19th century

Land issues in North Mayo were a constant source of tension during the 19th century. Large landowners, often residing in England, rented land to tenant farmers with precarious tenure, risking eviction at any time. This situation led to significant resistance, occasionally violent, when rents were adjusted. Surrounding Crossmolina, endemic poverty prevailed. The 1838 "Royal Commission into the Condition of the Poorer Classes in Ireland" visited the town, and its report highlighted the dire living conditions of the rural poor. Their diet consisted almost entirely of potatoes, with meat consumed rarely, once or twice a year. Laborers earned 6 to 8 pennies daily, partially paid in food.^[24]

In December 1813, violence again broke out when a crowd of local residents, armed with pikes and guns, tried to take back cattle that had been sequestered to pay for outstanding rent arrears.^[25]

Between 1820 and 1840, the "Ribbonmen" agrarian movement was active in Crossmolina. In December 1821, John Carr, Peter Gillaspy, Eneas Early, and Mathew Chambers were imprisoned for their Ribbonmen membership and for administering illegal oaths.^[26] Local magistrate George Ormsby, Esq. of Gortner Abbey, facilitated their imprisonment. Due to significant rural unrest, a yeomanry detachment of three officers and 85 men was stationed permanently in the town starting in 1820.^[27]

Rural violence and political unrest continued through to the second half of the 19th century and even into the early 20th century. In March 1881, the Crossmolina home of the high constable of Tryrawley was attacked by a group of armed men.^[28] In November 1882, the local Parish Priest was arrested for permitting a Land League meeting in the Crossmolina Chapel.^[29] In June 1882, a Crossmolina farmer called Michael Brown was shot and severely wounded. He had taken over a farm that had been boycotted by local residents.^[30] Violence broke out in 1911 when a local man, Patrick Broderick who along with his neighbours, resisted the efforts of over fifty R.I.C. Officers to evict Broderick from his Crossmolina home. Resistance to the eviction was organized by the Crossmolina tenants league.^[31]

The Big Wind

The town was badly damaged during the "Night of the Big Wind" (Irish: Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) that swept across Ireland on 6 January 1839. Almost every house in the town was damaged with four houses destroyed completely. Eight residents were killed.^[32]

Potato crop failures

During the first half of the nineteenth century, potato crop failures regularly led to famines. In 1822, North Mayo experienced a widespread failure. That June, the Archbishop of Tuam visited and reported to the London Times seeing "half-starved men, women, and children" in Crossmolina and surrounding areas.^[33] Local landlords and clergy formed an inter-denominational relief committee. Richard Sharpe, an agent for the Palmer estate with extensive land in Crossmolina, spearheaded relief efforts by organizing oat shipments to combat starvation.^[34]

In early 1831, a potato crop failure led to starvation. Sharpe organized a fundraiser among landlords to buy oats for the starving tenants.^[35] In June 1831, Crossmolina experienced a Typhus outbreak, a disease recurring in North Mayo until the 1920s. Dr. James McNair reported over 100 Typhus cases to the Connaught Telegraph, with 38 in Crossmolina.^[36] The following June, Rev. Edwin Stock surveyed the area, finding over 3,000 families, totaling 17,000 individuals, suffering from food shortages. George Vaughn Jackson, a local landlord and relief committee secretary, described the dire situation in the London Times, mentioning starving mothers, men seeking work, and rampant fever, indicating widespread starvation and disease.^[37]

The crop failures of 1822 and 1832 were precursors to the disastrous famine of the 1840s. By the 1840s, the countryside around Crossmolina was already plagued by destitution, leaving many in dire circumstances. The impoverished population heavily relied on the potato as their main food source. However, in August 1845, disaster struck when a devastating fungus, later identified as Phytophthora infestans, began decimating the potato crops. The once-green stalks of potato ridges quickly succumbed to blight, resulting in a putrid stench emanating from the rotting crops.^[38] The Famine devastated the rural areas surrounding Crossmolina, slicing the population from 12,221 in 1841 to 7,236 by 1851.^[39] It also had drastic effects on the use of language in the area: It is estimated that over 80% of the Crossmolina area spoke the Irish Language prior to the famine.^[40]

By early 1847, the Great Famine's devastating impact in Crossmolina was widely reported in England. Reverend St. George Knox, a local Protestant clergyman, detailed the town's distress in a letter to the London Evening Standard. He noted rising provisions prices, the poor congregating for relief, and sixteen deaths in one month, with about 900 parishioners unable to buy food. Despite these conditions, Knox highlighted the population's remarkable patience and peacefulness, emphasizing "no depredations were committed", despite daily starvation deaths.^[41] An article in the London Evening Standard from January 1847 described a dire situation in the town, with inquests held for those who died suddenly, likely from diseases caused by lack of food. It reported that scores were dying daily in North Mayo from malnutrition-related illnesses, with some eating raw vegetables in desperate attempts to combat hunger.^[42]

Due to the work of the local coroner and doctor (Mr Atkinson and Dr McNair), the names of some of the famine victims were recorded in the local press. The victims often moved from their homes in the countryside to beg in the town.

• At an inquest held in the town in December 1846, local residents Michael Walsh. John Moonelly (Munnelly), Michael McGevir and Anthony Mally were found to have died from starvation.^[43]
• James Fleming (aged 60) and Edward Fleming (aged 13) died of hunger in March 1847 in Corrrabeg, near Crossmolina.^[44]
• Bernard Rogan died in the town in December 1846. He was part of a family from Limerick, who were denied entrance to the poor house in the city. The family became itinerant, began begging and ended up in Crossmolina where the boy died.^[45]
• Michael Moran also died in December 1846. During the last six weeks of his life, he and his family had been forced to beg for food.^[45]
• Matthew Temple starved to death in the town in January 1847.^[46]
• At an inquest held in February 1847, the deaths of Mary Minn and Patrick Gorman - both residents of Crossmolina - were recorded as deaths due to starvation. The inquest recorded a further 16 deaths of residents in the surrounding villages as due to starvation.^[47]
• In March 1847, the body of Bridget McDermott was found dead in the town. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by starvation.^[48]

Land League

Like much of Mayo, the Land League was active in the town and the surrounding area, and several local members were arrested on account of the activities of the League. In March 1881, two Crossmolina members of the League, whose names were Cawley and Daly, were arrested under the provisions of the Coercion Act.^[49] They were escorted to Kilmainham jail under armed guard.^[50] In October 1881, the Rev. McHale - Parish Priest of Adergoole was arrested under the same Coercion Act for holding a Land League meeting in the Roman Catholic Chapel.^[51] A month later, Peter Doherty, a member of the Crossmolina branch of the league was also arrested.^[52]

The activities of the Crossmolina Land League were discussed in the House of Commons during the debate on the Protection of Persons and Property (Ireland) Bill in January 1881. Bradford MP W. E. Forster claimed that armed League members pressured local tenants into refusing rent payments beyond Griffith's Valuation amounts. They also discouraged purchases from a Crossmolina grocer, Hogan, whom Forster described as "a respectable grocer" who declined to join or support the Land League.^[53]

Crossmolina Conspiracy

In May 1883, a number of local men were arrested in what became known as the "Crossmolina Conspiracy". The arrests included Thomas Daly, Thomas Macaulay, James King, Richard Halloran, Patrick Nunelly, and Patrick Nally. They were charged with conspiracy to murder local landlords and their agents. During the search of the prisoners' houses, the police discovered two rifles, a revolver, and explosives.^[54] Patrick Nally - a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood - was later tried, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.^[55] He died of Typhoid in prison in November 1891.^[56] One of the stands in Croke Park was named after Patrick Nally.^[57]

Crossmolina Riot

On Sunday, 28 August 1910, a riot broke out in Crossmolina when the leader of the All for Ireland League (AFIL) - William O'Brien MP - tried to hold an open-air meeting in the town center. The league was a non-sectarian nationalist political party that briefly flourished prior to the first world war. Its main objective was to form a broad coalition between the Unionist and Nationalist populations. The league was opposed by more Catholic nationalist organizations such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and the United Irish League.

O'Brien, anticipating conflict, arrived in town with a large police force and AFIL supporters. Confronted by locals armed with sticks and rocks, he aimed to speak at an open-air meeting on Chapel Street. Police baton-charged to clear a path, allowing O'Brien's attempt to speak. However, the Lahardane Fife and Drum band began to play, and shouting locals prevented him from being heard. Violence ensued, and during the retreat towards Ballina, O'Brien was hit on the head with a stick. A month later, Thomas Moclair was convicted for firing a gun at the event, fined 10s, and ordered to pay court costs.^[58] The event received widespread media coverage throughout the United Kingdom.^[59][60]

War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence was a conflict fought between the Irish Republican Army and British forces: the British Army, the Royal Irish Constabulary. There were a number of sporadic incidents during the war that occurred in Crossmolina and the surrounding areas. A company of Irish Volunteers was established in August 1917. The seven original members of the company were the brothers Martin and Patrick Loftus, Patrick Hegarty, James O’Hara, Ned O’Boyle, Ned Murphy and John Timoney.^[61]

In July 1920, Mossbrook House, a large house just outside Crossmolina was destroyed.^[62] Around the same time, four Sinn Féin activists - who were all brothers from the Hegarty family of Castlehill, Crossmolina - were arrested and escorted to Castlebar under a heavy military escort.^[63]

An RIC policeman – Constable William Kelly – was tried by court-martial for the attempted murder of a civilian in Crossmolina. On 20 December 1920 Constable Kelly was drunk when he confronted a local man and opened fire with his rifle. When he was arrested, he admitted to firing "at a bloody Sinn Feiner." He was found not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of shooting with intent to do grievous bodily harm.^[64]

In October 1920, John O'Reilly – a resident of Crossmolina – faced a court-martial in Galway. He was accused of possessing a revolver and threatening local R.I.C. officers. He warned the officers to resign from the police force. He also threatened to burn down the local R.I.C. barracks. Subsequently, a number of officers posted to Crossmolina resigned from the force.^[65][66]

In Spring 1922, a company of the IRA based in Crossmolina was responsible for attacking and burning the R.I.C. Station in Bellacorick.^[67]

In February 1922, the IRA declared "martial law" in Crossmolina. The Irish Transport and General Workers Union organized a strike in Davis Bros after an Apprentice was fired. During the strike, a warehouse owned by Davis was burnt, destroying a large number of eggs awaiting shipment. A large number of cattle were maimed, belonging to a farmer who condemned the attack on Davis Bros. Ten local men were arrested in connection with attacks on property.^[68]

Irish Civil War

In September 1922, Malachy Geraghty (26) was shot and killed in the crossfire between Republicans and the Free State Army. Geraghty, a cattle dealer from Ballygar, was returning from the Crossmolina fair when he accidentally drove into a firefight in Ballina.^[69] Shortly afterwards, the National Army arrested "Brig-General" Patrick Hegarty, who was the leader of the Republicans in Crossmolina.^[70]

In October 1922, Republicans attacked the National Army Barracks in Crossmolina. After a five-hour gun battle, the Republicans were forced out of the town.^[71] In January 1923, the Barracks were again attacked by a sniper. There were no reported casualties but several private houses in the town were pierced by bullets.^[72]

On 5 January 1923, Patrick Mahon, a native of Crossmolina, was shot dead by a National Army patrol in Ballina. The patrol heard shouts of "Up Kilroy," and "Up the Bolshies". The soldiers went to investigate and apprehended Mahon, who resisted arrest. On being brought to the barracks a National Army soldier pushed Mahon in the back with his rifle and a shot went off, killing Mahon instantly. An inquest later recorded a verdict of accidental death.^[73]

Two irregulars - Nicholas Corcoran and Thomas Gill - were captured by the National Army in March 1923 in Massbrook, near Crossmolina. Corcoran was discovered with a revolver, ammunition, and explosives.^[74] A few days later, Jack Leonard was arrested in his home in Crossmolina.^[75] Leonard was the photographer who took one of the most iconic images of the War of Independence - "the Men of the West". It is the photo of the West Mayo IRA Flying Column, taken at Derrymartin on the slopes of Nephin mountain, in June 1921. It is widely regarded as the best contemporary photograph of an IRA Active Service Unit ever taken.^[76]

Second World War

On 13 March 1942, a Bristol Blenheim crashed in Killeen, Crossmolina, during a training flight from the Isle of Man. Due to wireless failure, the crew lost bearings and eventually ran low on fuel. Making an emergency landing, they overshot the landing spot, crashing through hedges and boulders. Two crew members sustained serious injuries. The less injured were repatriated to Northern Ireland the next day, while the more seriously injured were transported by ambulance a week later.^[77][78]

On 25 October 1942, an RAF plane from Newfoundland attempted an emergency landing in Pulladoohy, near Crossmolina, but crashed upside down, killing the pilot. The Boston Douglas light bomber, carrying three crew members, mistook a bog for a flat field. The Norwegian pilot, Captain Nils Rasmussen, received military honors at Kilmurray Cemetery. Local Defence Force members and the Irish Army assisted the survivors. Sgt Peter Frank Craske of the Royal Air Force and F/Sgt Frederick Michael Fuller of the Royal Canadian Air Force were sent to Northern Ireland shortly after.^[79]

Economic development in the 20th century

In the 1960s, the town benefitted from the construction of the Bellacorick electricity station fueled by peat. Twenty-one houses were built in Crossmolina for the station's operating staff.^[80]

21st century

A new Crossmolina Fire Station, which cost just under €2 million, was officially opened in 2023 by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD. This state-of-the-art facility was the first new station constructed in County Mayo in 19 years. It included a modern two-story building and a four-story tower for training purposes.^[81]

GAA

The local Gaelic football team is Crossmolina Deel Rovers. Founded in 1887 as Crossmolina Dr. Crokes, they became Deel Rovers in 1906.^[88] The club saw major success in the early 2000s, winning the Connacht Senior Club Football Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2002, and as well as obtaining the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship in 2001, and were runners-up for that title in 2003.

Football

Crossmolina AFC is the town's resident football club and was founded in 1992. The club plays in the Mayo Football League system and has seen moderate success, most notably winning the Tim Hastings League 1 title in 2015.^[89]

Murder of Thady Lavin

During the first decade of the 19th century, local peasants formed a secret society called "The Threshers". The group was responsible for a number of "outrages" including destroying crops and breaking into houses. In 1806 a local man – Thady Lavin – had informed the local magistrate of the activities of the group. He was later found murdered near Crossmolina. Six local men - Coll Flynn, Laurence Flynn, Charles Flynn, Thomas Horan, Daniel Regan, and Daniel Callaghan - were convicted of his murder, and hanged in Castlebar in December 1806.^{[99][100][101]}

Drowned woman

In June 1843, the body of a young woman was discovered drowned in the river near Crossmolina. An apron was found tied around her feet, and her knees were bound together with a shirt. A piece of ribbon was tied on one of her arms in a manner that suggested both arms had been bound, and she had managed to free one before her died. The deceased appeared to have been a young woman of considerable beauty. The woman was never identified. ^[102]

Murder of Fr. John Barrett

In February 1839, the Crossmolina Parish Priest - Fr John Barrett - was murdered at Enniscoe Gate, about a mile and a half from Crossmolina. He was attacked late at night while returning from the town to his residence. It was widely speculated at the time that he was murdered because he denounced at the pulpit the activities of a secret society called the "Steel Boys".^[103] In 1842, a local Crossmolina Man - John Walsh - was convicted of being a member of the Ribbonmen and transported for seven years. He was found to be in possession of secret passwords and documents relating to the secret society.^[28]