Back in September 2007, we posted a scan of an old letter found by our friend John Monaghan while renovating the cottage he was moving into in Headford. The letter had been taped to the back of a kitchen cabinet and upon reading it Johnny was shocked and moved by his discovery. Johnny has a huge interest in the local history of his area and began researching the letter and its writer. His findings and the scan of the letter are presented in this post from 2007 http://www.mooregroup.ie/2007/09/civil-war-in-connaught/.
The letter was written by Francis (Frank) Cunnane of Headford to his Mother on the eve of his execution along with 5 others in 1923. As an artefact of a tragic time in Irish history, it’s an important document and we felt it deserved to be reproduced. After the scan of the letter, you can read a transcript version of it. We’ve also presented a timeline from the War of Independence through the Civil War to put the letter in context, with a more detailed account of the events leading to Frank’s execution. John has since tracked down and returned the letter to Frank’s descendents.
That post has been the most read post on our blog and has elicited responses from all over the wider Irish world, with descendents of Frank and other family members commenting and getting in touch.
That’s where Niall Teague and band, The Fast Company enter the story – http://www.myspace.com/thefastcompany. Niall is a friend and sometime colleague of Moore Group. He is also is a song writer and performer. Originally from Belfast now living in Galway, Niall was inspired to write this fantastic ballad based on Frank Cunnane’s letter. His band, ‘The Fast Company, features some of ‘Galways best emerging talent’ (Jimi Mc Donnell, The Connacht Tribune), including Padraic Joyce, Kelvin Busher, Javi Mula, Una Mac Lochlainn and Maidhc O’hEanigh and they play original tunes and folk songs with a line up of vocals, double bass, fiddle, flute, banjo/mandolin, percussion and guitar.
The song is a beautiful tribute to Frank and the men who made such great sacrifices almost 100 years ago.. I’m sure Frank and his family would be delighted with it.
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