UN colour party and 1916 descendent for Foxhall
A colour party from the UN Veterans Association and a descendent of 1916 leader Liam Mellows will be attending the unveiling on this Saturday (February 18) of a refurbished monument to Civil War soldier Captain Thomas Prendergast from Louisburgh who died at Blindwell near Foxhall 95 years ago.
The event will take place at 2pm and by coincidence the UN Irish army veteran who will raise the tricolour at the memorial to Capt Thomas Prendergast on Saturday is retired Corporal Tom Prendergast who lives at Sylane and is also a native of Mayo.
There will also be a descendent of 1916 leader Liam Mellows who led the rebellion in Galway at the event. She is Brige Woodward who is involved in the museum at Louisburgh. A number of cousins of Capt Prendergast will also be travelling from West Mayo for the ceremony. Afterwards everyone in attendance will be invited to a free afternoon of music, song and light refreshments at Tierney’s Lounge, Foxhall.
The memorial will be unveiled by Mrs Myra Concannon, daughter of the late Capt Pete Brennan who unveiled the original memorial in the 1940s. The event will be uploaded to the Galway Co Council 1916 Website and together with the Centenary 1916 event from Kilconly on April 24, 2016 will be archived in the National Library of Ireland.
Capt Prendergast was 20 when he died when the truck he was in hit a tree trunk barrier at Blindwell. He was a member of the West Mayo Brigade of the old IRA.