Commemorative wall in Baile Ghib to remember the settler families

The community of Baile Ghib is planning to erect a commemorative wall to the original Gaeltacht families that arrived and settled in the Meath parish in 1937.

The wall will list in alphabetical order the names of the 61 people who made up that new Gaeltacht settlement in Baile Ghib.

“It will bear the names of 18 people who came from Donegal, 18 who arrived from Mayo, 21 from West Kerry and two from Cork,” says Máirín Ní Shiadhail, one of the first generation of those Gibbstown families who came together to write a book documenting the story the migrants.

The wall will mark the journey of these families from Fanad and Gweedore in Donegal, Belmullet and Tourmakeady in Co Mayo, Ballinskellig and West Kerry and the Bearra Peninsula in West Cork to Gibbstown, where the large Gerrard Estate was being divided. All who moved were native Irish speakers, many of them with no English.

Although it was 88 years ago, the Gaeltacht settlers were a hardy bunch and today, there are still 16 of them alive, including 100 years old Nora Joyce, from Tourmakeady, who is currently living in Canada and her sister, Peggy (95), who lives in New York.

Maggie Lynskey Lynch, who was born in 1931 arrived in Gibbstown with her family from Belmullet. Still hale and hearty, she love her bingo and cards and walked unaided to the graveyard on cemetery Sunday.

Also attending the blessing of the graves was Mary McFadden Dwyer originally from west Donegal. She was born in June 1935 and was at the Blessing of the Graves on June 8th.

Another survivor from those days is Kim Martin Clancy who arrived in Gibbstown from Fanad. She later married the legendary folk singer, Liam Clancy.

Other veterans of the migration still with us are Hugh ó Néill, West Kerry; Kathleen Moriarty Clusker, West Kerry; Bríd Martin Regan, Fanad: Cassie Shiels Browne, Fanad; Treasa Heffron Doran, Belmullet; Fr Fred Lally, Tourmakeady; Sr Nóra Lally, Tourmakeady and John Joe Kavanagh, West Kerry.

Also alive are Maureen Martin, Fanad who lives in Canada and her sister, Kathleen who lives in Palm Springs as well as Teresa Heffron, Doran who was born 1933.

The community in Baile Ghib have been extremely proactive over the years, in recent years they built an altar in the graveyard and in every single case where there is a gravestone with no family to look after it, the local community has been maintaining and restoring them.

Last year, they published a book, ‘Ceann Scríbe Baile Ghib Destination Gibbstown’ which was written and researched by sisters, Máire and Eilín Nic an tSithigh, Máire Uí Chasaide, Máirín Ní Shiadhail and Anraí Mac Garaidh, all children of the first migrants, as well as another local resident, Máire Ní Chonchúir.

During the 80th anniversary celebration in 2017, Ronan Carley, who was teaching in the local school at the time, produced a documentary film, 'An Bealach go Baile Ghib' which was screened in the Solstice, Navan in 2019.

At the moment the poetry and writings of one of that original group. John Joe Kavanagh is being collected for publication with Siobhan Bruen and Karen Carty compiling and designing the book.

Teams from Baile Ghib attended the recent Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta- a gathering of Gaeltacht football teams from all over the country - in Rathcairn.

“It was a great weekend and our local team, the Wolfe Tones, won the Senior Championship.

“There was a great delegation from Donegal A visiting team from Fanad, Gaeil Fhanáda, has so many connections with Gibbstown as many families came from Fanad in 1937. It was magical. Paddy Carr the former principal of Coláiste na Mí accompanied the Fanad Team and we are now trying to establish stronger links with Fanad.

“As well as the families that came here in 1937 from Donegal, we have two men from Fanad that settled in Gibbstown, Gus Callaghan and Con Begley who came to Gibbstown in the mid 90's when they married local girls,” Mairin explains.

While it may be almost 90 years since those first intrepid migrants travelled to Baile Ghib, the links between the communities they left and the Meath community are still strong, and the people of Gibbstown are determined that the story of those migrants will not be forgotten.