History
The town has only existed since about 1800 but grew rapidly: by 1821 it had a population of 600. During the Great Famine (1844 - 1848) many farmers were evicted by the unpopular landlord Moroney. In the years after the famine the (Protestant) Moroney family went on with rack renting and evictions. At one time the population had enough and started a boycott. The government did not like that and imprisoned al pub-owners and shopkeepers who refused to serve the family or their servant. So at the end of 1888 most pub-owners and shopkeepers were in jail.
Milltown is also home to the site of the Rineen Ambush which is located near Rineen on the main road to Lahinch and Ennistymon. On September 22, 1920 a RIC tender was ambushed there by Mid-Clare Brigade IRA mainly in retaliation for the killing of Martin Devitt at Crow's Bridge earlier in the year. The ambush led to the deaths of six policemen. In reprisal for Rineen Ambush, the RIC ran amok in Ennistymon, Lahinch and Milltown Malbay killing six people and burning 26 buildings, including Ennistymon and Lahinch Townhalls.
The Atlantic Hotel was one of the victims of the War of Independence. Owned by the Moroney family and mainly visited by English gentry it had no future and closed down around 1925.
Read more about this topic: Milltown Malbay
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“[Men say:] “Don’t you know that we are your natural protectors?” But what is a woman afraid of on a lonely road after dark? The bears and wolves are all gone; there is nothing to be afraid of now but our natural protectors.”
—Frances A. Griffin, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 19, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)
“History, as an entirety, could only exist in the eyes of an observer outside it and outside the world. History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.”
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