Geevagh - History

History

In common with much of County Sligo, there are many signs of ancient habitation in the locality, including cairns, megalithic tombs, and ring forts. Later signs of early Christian structures includes the ruins of a church attributed to Saint Patrick. Many of these old structures have spawned a rich story-telling tradition in the locality with many outlandish tales explaining their origins, such as the tale "Balor of the Evil Eye" being associated with the disappearance of Lough Nasool.

There are however real and present evidence of many church ruins including in particular the notable Ballindoon Abbey on the shores of Lough Arrow, a Dominican Priory from the early 16th century. It contains the grave of Terence McDonough, a member of the local clan that governed much of the area prior to the post - Cromwellian seizure of the land in the parish and its dispersal amongst English settler families such as King and Nicholson, and later its transfer to landlords such as Duke, Keogh and Whitney. Despite undoubted hardship, including sustained emigration, the community survived through resilience, finding sustenance in the family, the Roman Catholic church, the Gaelic Athletic Association, music and the local pubs, though not necessarily in that order. The year 2008 marked an interesting centenary in the history of Geevagh. It is difficult from today's position to realise the distressed state of the parish in 1908. Widespread evictions from the local Keogh estate meant many poor families eked out an existence of sorts on the rough barren slopes of Carran mountain. A campaign of non payment of rent exposed many families to such a fate, and in an effort to prevent further evictions, the Land League organised demonstrations to prevent delivery of eviction notices by local postmen.This led to several confrontations in January 1908 between a large number of citizens and the police. Court cases ensued against around two dozen locals, some of who ended up serving hard labour in prison for up to six months. While the court cases and prison terms were ongoing, the local community rallied around the families of the prisoners, making sure their farms were worked and tilled. It was not until summer 1909 that a resolution came with the release of the last prisoners, to much local rejoicing by the parish as a whole. John C. Mc Ternan in his book "Olde Sligo" (1997) records the 1908 events in interesting detail.

In the years post millennium, the outlook of course was much brighter. Coinciding with a pick up in the Irish economy in general, plus excellent work from the local headmaster John Hughes, and the then parish priest Fr O'Connor and others, a new school was built in 2001. This was followed by several new building projects around Geevagh crossroads, invigorating the local area and making it a home to new families adding their lot to people whose families have lived there for 10+ generations. However in keeping with many other communities post the 2008 financial crisis, emigration became the only option for young people in a stagnant economy. Despite this a stubbornly optimistic outlook could be found in the local community.