My wife and I were in Ireland in August and, of course, we found Civil War-related sites at the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean.
We went to Ballymote in County Sligo on the west coast of Ireland. Ballymote is a small village of about 1,700 people that was founded in the 12th Century. During the 18th Century, Colonists from Britain tried to become rich by exploiting the indigenous Irish peoples in Sligo. When the Famine hit in the 1840s, Sligo was particularly impacted as British landlords threw many tenant farmers off their land which left a large death toll in the region. The Great Hunger radicalized many native Irish in Sligo. Michael Corcoran was one such Sligo man who fled to the United States in 1849. Corcoran had served in the British Revenue Police, but he clandestinely was a Ribbonman, a clandestine group of rural people fighting against English rule in Ireland. Corcoran settled in New York City and joined the 69th New York State Militia, the most famous Irish militia unit in America.
At the end of the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, Corcoran was captured by the Confederates and imprisoned in a well-publicized captivity. After he was released, Corcoran formed the Irish Legion which served in the Army of the Potomac. A monument to the 69th New York already existed in Ballymote, but with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2014 Ireland decided to erect a monument honoring all Irish immigrants who fought in the Civil War. On May 5, 2015 the statue was dedicated.
The statue depicts a Civil War soldier on horseback. Behind it are three flags, the U.S. Flag, the Irish Flag, and either the European Union Flag or alternately another U.S. Flag. Below it are carved the words:
We sent you our starving and our evicted
you gave them freedom and opportunity
1861-1865
You sounded the call of arms
We answered with loyalty and courage
We gave service, limb and life
The first line references the Great Hunger or “Potato Famine” that sent more than a million Irish to America in the 1840s and 1850s.
Below it, it says:
To the honour and lasting memory of Irish emigrants and People of Irish heritage who served and died during the American Civil War
Dedicated on May 9th 2015 the 150th anniversary of the end of the War
By
In the presence of
His Excellency, Kevin F. O’Malley, United States
Ambassador to Ireland
Deputy John Perry said that “The 150th Anniversary of the ending of the American Civil War is a suitable occasion to mark the Irish contribution to the United States at a significant point in its history. When the American Civil War started, the recent Irish famine emigrants together with earlier emigrants of Irish heritage answered the call to arms. At least 200,000 Irish soldiers served in the armies of the North and the South; the significant majority of them serving in the Union Army. With the unveiling of this new monument to commemorate the Irish contribution during the American Civil War, we enhance public understanding of the prominent contribution made by people that left Ireland and served in the War on both sides and we broaden our links to the wider Irish American community.”
At the time the monument was dedicated some dissidents were opposed to its purpose. The monument honors all those Irish immigrants who died in the Civil War, including those who died fighting for the Confederacy. The Sligo News pointed out that some of the Confederate Irish who died might have been slave owners. Although over 90% of Irish who fought in the Civil War were enlisted in the Union Army, there were tens of thousands in the Confederate Army.
The monument has a handsome bronze statue of a rider and horse but I could not find out if this was trying to depict an actual soldier or a unit. Perhaps the sculptor decided that to depict 200,000 men who fought on both sides in the artillery, infantry, cavalry, militia, Regulars, Marines, and navy, that a statue that does not associate the monument with a specific unit would be more appropriate.
The site is well landscaped, although it is right beside a busy road that makes it hard to approach the statue.
The monument is on Rural Route 293 where it intersects Camross near the Town Park.
Beyond the monument is the village itself, which looks much as it did in the 19th Century. We had lunch at the Picnic Basket which was inexpensive and had an adequate breakfast and lunch menu. My wife liked the fish dishes there.
My wife likes to take pictures of me taking pictures of Civil War sites.
Just follow the Rural Route into town and the 69th New York Regiment will be your next stop.
If you are in Dublin, go to the Shelbourne Hotel which entertained Grant and Sheridan after the Civil War.
All color photos taken by Pat Young.
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Many of the Irishmen who ended up in the South had no idea that is where they were headed. They thought New Orleans must be by New York. Once there, they were often given dangerous jobs that the bosses did not want to risk a slave performing. It was cheaper to get another Irishman than buy another slave.
I have nothing but respect for these men.