Maidhc Wallace (c.1886-1916) @ La Somme

An rud nach bhfuil greanta i gcloch, tá sé greanta i gcuimhne na ndaoine, arbh cleachtas í ó cheart, agus ceird ag daoine áirithe. Scríobh mé cheana anseo faoi fhidléar, Michael Brabson, a mhair san 18ú aois déag i gCill Éinne. Baineann blag na míosa seo le fidléar as Cill Mhuirbhigh a mhair os cionn céad bliain ó shin. B’é sin Maidhc Wallace a rugadh c.1886. Bhí teach a mhuintire ar an láthair chéanna is atá Tí Uí Chonghaile anois, teach mo sheanmhuintirse. Inniu, i mbinn theas an tí úd, tá crois álainn chloiche a ghearr Maidhc. Go deimhin, tá lorg a lámh mar shaor cloiche ar fud an bhaile. Is é a ghearr an tobar in éadan na haille ag Gleainnín an Tairbh agus freisin an bád sa leac os cionn Tobar an Dúin chomh maith lena ainm agus a ghairm: “M. WALLACE, FISHCURER.” Bhí cáil ar Mhaidhc as a neart agus as a chumas ag caitheamh meáchain agus ag imirt liathróid láimhe. Shiúladh sé féin agus Johnny Mhicil Sheáin Eoghain Ó Conghaile soir chuig pinniúr Chill Éinne le dhul san iomaíocht agus deirtear gur bhuaigh siad Craobh Chonnachta. Cloisim freisin go seinneadh sé an t-amhrán Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair.

Tobar Ghleainnín an Tairbh, Cill Mhuirbhigh
An tríú cuid idir an dá bhuicéid

I 1916, tháinig oifigeach earcaíochta airm go hÁrainn. Caitheadh oíche chinniúnach Tí Johnston – áit dá raibh baraille portair á roinnt, deirtear – agus, lá arna mhárach, bhí Maidhc agus ceathrar eile as Fearann a’ Choirce, Gort na gCapall, Cill Mhuirbhigh agus Creig a’ Chéirín liostáilte. Sular fhág sé an t-oileán, chroch Maidhc bogha na fidle ar tháirne os cionn na tine agus dúirt lena mháthair nár cheart d’aon duine eile lámh a leagan air.

Ní mhaireann fianaise dá sheal san airm i Reisimint Laighin, ach tá mé den bharúil gur ghlac sé páirt i gCath Guillemont, ceann de Chathanna an Somme. Ar an 4 Meán Fómhair, gortaíodh Maidhc sa bholg nuair a bhuail píosa de shliogán faoi. Cé is móite d’iarrachtaí na ndochtúirí ag an No.21 Casualty Clearing Station ag La Neuville, bhásaigh Maidhc go moch ar maidin ar an 5 Meán Fómhair 1916. Chuir an tAth. J. Crotty an ola dheireanach air agus ansin scríobh seisean litir chuig máthair Mhaidhc ag inseacht di faoina bhás. Ach bhí a fhios aicise cheana féin, deirtear, go rud éigin cearr: an mhaidin sin, thit an bogha den táirne os cionn na tine.

Is iad Pádraig Gillan, Mícheál Tom Burke Ó Conghaile, agus Seán Ó Conghaoile (nach maireann) a roinn liom formhór an eolais thuas. Tá mé buíoch dóibhsean agus don Dr. Marion Broderick a roinn liom an grianghraf a ghlac sí le gairid ag uaigh Mhaidhc i Reilig La Neuville in aice le Corbie i dTuaisceart na Fraince. Chuir sí féin agus a fear Máirtín Mac Giolla Pháraic bláthfhleasc ar a uaigh chomh maith le cloch dhuirlinge ar a raibh ‘Árainn’ scríofa agus bratach na hÉireann péinteáilte agus, ar deireadh, cuimilteán dá ainm a thóg a mac Rónán ón leac i gCill Mhuirbhigh. Is é Pádraig Gillan, a bhfuil gaol aige le Maidhc, a thug aire na huibhe don litir a seoladh go hÁrainn ón Somme.

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That which is not memorialized in stone lives on in community memory, which is, by rights, a practice and, for some people, a craft. I wrote before about the fiddler Michael Brabson who lived in the 18^th century in Cill Éinne. This month’s blog concerns a fiddler from Cill Mhuirbhigh who lived over a hundred years ago. Mike Wallace was born c.1886 and his family home stood on the site now occupied by my grandparents’ home, Tí Uí Chonghaile. Today, the gable of that house contains a beautiful stone cross that Mike carved. Indeed, his stonework can be seen throughout the townland. It was he who carved from the face of the cliff the three-part well at Gleainnín an Tairbh [The Little Valley of the Bull] and also the unfinished boat in the flagstone above Tobar an Dúin [The Well of the Fort] along with his name and occupation: “M. WALLACE, FISHCURER.” Mike was known for his strength and ability at throwing a shotput and also at handball. He and Johnny Mhicil Sheáin Eoghain Ó Conghaile used to walk to the alley in Cill Éinne to compete and it is said that they won a Connacht title. Mike was also known for performing the song Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair.

In 1916, a British Army recruiting officer came to Árainn. A fateful night was spent in Tí Johnston – with a barrel of porter, apparently – and, the following morning, Mike and four others from Fearann a’ Choirce, Gort na gCapall, Cill Mhuirbhigh and Creig a’ Chéirín found they had been enlisted. Before he left the island, Mike hung his fiddle bow on a nail above the fireplace and told his mother no one else should touch it.

Mike’s military record from his time in the Leinster Regiment does not survive, but I reckon that he participated in the Battle of Guillemont, one of the Battles of the Somme. On 4 September, Mike was wounded in the abdomen when he was struck by a shell. Despite the efforts of the doctors at the No.21 Casualty Clearing Station at La Neuville, Mike passed away on the morning of 5 September 1916. Fr. J. Crotty performed the last rites and then wrote a letter to Mike’s mother telling her of his passing. But she already knew, it is said: that same morning, Mike’s bow fell from the nail above the fireplace.

Most of this information was contributed by Pádraig Gillan, Mícheál Tom Burke Ó Conghaile, and the late Seán Ó Conghaoile. I am grateful to them and to Dr. Marion Broderick who shared with me the photograph she took at Mike’s grave in the British Army war graves cemetery at La Neuville near Corbie in Northern France. She and her husband Máirtín Mac Giolla Pháraic placed a poppy wreath on the grave, along with a stone with the word ‘Árainn’ and an Irish flag painted on it and also a rubbing of Mike’s carving of his own name in the flagstone in Cill Mhuirbhigh, produced by their son Rónán. It was Mike’s relative, Pádraig Gillan, who for so long cared for the letter that was sent to Aran from the Somme.