Knockcroghery () is a village and townland in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located on the N61 road between Athlone and Roscommon town, near Lough Ree on the River Shannon. The townland of Knockcroghery is in the civil parish of Killinvoy and the historical barony of Athlone North.
Knockcroghery developed as a largely linear settlement close to Galey Castle, a 14th-century tower house overlooking Galey Bay. By the 18th century, the village comprised a number of small houses, shops, blacksmith, mill, church and a fair green. For a number of centuries, the village economy was focused on the making of clay tobacco pipes, with eight kilns employing approximately 100 people by the 19th century. In the early 20th century, much of the village was burnt in a reprisal attack by the Black and Tans during the Irish War of Independence, and a number of buildings in the village centre date from a subsequent rebuilding exercise.
As of the early 21st century, it is classified as a "key village" for planning purposes by Roscommon County Council, with Knockcroghery acting as a commuter village for Athlone, Roscommon town, Longford town and Ballinasloe. The village had a population of 388 people as of the 2022 census of Ireland.
Name The village lies at the foot of a stony ridge, which protects it from the east wind that sweeps in from Galey Bay. This accounts for the original name of the village, 'An Creagán', meaning 'the stoney hill'.
In 1651, during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Ireland, Charles Coote laid siege to Galey Castle, the seat of the Irish clan Ó Ceallaigh. The Ó Ceallaighs resisted and for their defiance were taken to An Creagán and hanged en masse on the stepped hill just north of the village, now commonly known as Hangman's Hill.The Irish Press, 15 May 1959 The village thereafter came to be known as Cnoc an Chrochaire ('Hangman's Hill'), now Anglicised as 'Knockcroghery'.
History
Development Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ringfort sites in Knockcroghery townland itself, and in the surrounding townlands of Glebe and Lisnahoon.
The area's first appearance in the historical records is in the year 1156, when the king of Connacht, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, established a harbour at Galey Bay, which was an ideal location due to the natural shelter provided by the enclosed bay and its proximity to the over-land route from Athlone to Roscommon, which followed a similar route to the present-day N61 road. A defensive fort was later constructed at Galey Bay, and associated human settlements developed nearby, including at the present-day townland of Galey, close to the current site of St Dominic's GAA club. The original road to Galey Bay ran along the present-day local road past St Dominic's club, before turning north towards the bay. In the late 19th century, the current road was constructed along the route from Curry, and replaced the old road entirely, most of which is now buried and identifiable only by the route of some hedgerows on private land. The new road is believed to have been constructed by the Crofton family in order to access their boathouse at Galey Bay more directly from their residence in Mote Park.
Knockcroghery village developed as another settlement associated with the fort at Galey Bay, along the main over-land route between Athlone and Roscommon.
A mill and adjacent stores were constructed on the river at the northern end of the village, but these had fallen into decay by the 1830s.
As of the early 19th century, the village had a population of approximately 180 inhabitants.
By the 19th century, the village had grown to include a number of small thatched homes, several shops, a blacksmith, a mill, a post office, police barracks, a church and a fair green. By the 1830s, there was one three-storey slate-roofed building, four two-storey thatched buildings and approximately 40 single-storey thatched cabins. The thatched cabins tended to be quite long, with three or four rooms. An Anglican church was built in the early 19th century and a school was opened in the 1830s. While the school was being completed, classes were held in the nave of the church. The school remained in use until St Mary's National School opened in the village in 1960, and the old school became the village hall.
Clay pipe industry
From the 18th century onwards, the village was known for the production of the tobacco clay pipe, or "dúidín".
The development of the clay pipe industry in the village is attributed to a man familiar with the process having moved to the village and having taught it to others. Knockcroghery was not a particularly favourable location for such an industry, given that the nearest source of suitable clay was some three kilometres away and the fuel for the kilns was more expensive there than in other parts of the country.
By 1832, approximately eight kilns were operating in Knockcroghery and between them were producing an average of 70,000 pipes per week.
The pipes produced in Knockcroghery in the 1830s were said to be of good quality but with small bowls and short stems. As a result, they were held in low regard in the larger towns and were principally used for handing out at wakes, given that a smaller amount of tobacco was required to fill each pipe for guests.
By the late 19th century, there were up to 100 people involved in the manufacture and distribution of the village's clay pipes. Production ceased abruptly on 21 June 1921 when the village was burned down by the Black and Tans during the Irish War of Independence.Patrick Murray, 'Buried Treasure', The Silhouette (No. 4), Spring 1948, pp. 6-9 Today, a visitor centre and workshop are located on the original site of Andrew and P.J. Curley's pipe factory, where pipes are handcrafted using the original methods of production.
There had also been a crockery industry in the village until the mid to late 19th century, until imports from Staffordshire made the business unviable.Tuam Herald, 9 April 1887, page 4, 'The Pipe-Making and Crock-Making at Knockcroghery'
Irish War of Independence
Terror at the fair On the evening of Thursday 26 August 1920, 36-year-old Royal Irish Constabulary Constable William J Potter, who was temporarily stationed in Kiltoom, was cycling with fellow Constable Michael McMahon, from Roscommon to Kiltoom. The Constables were ambushed by the Irish Volunteers on the Athlone side of the level crossing in Knockcroghery, who fired at them. As the pair sped past the Volunteers and tried to escape, Constable Potter was shot through the right lung and fell to the ground, where he died.Constable Shot Dead in Roscommon, The Irish Times, 28 August 1920, page 7.Dublin Evening Telegraph, 27 August 1920The Globe, 27 August 1920 Constable McMahon survived, but resigned from the RIC shortly afterward. Constable Potter's assassination led to Kiltoom RIC barracks being abandoned.Burke, J. (2021) 'Roscommon: The Irish Revolution, 1912-23' Four Courts Press: Dublin, p. 97.
A few days later, while a fair was going on in Knockcroghery, a party of Black and Tans arrived in the village and, in retaliation for Constable Potter's death, they rounded up all the men into the village's Gaelic handball alley and beat them with bull whips. The Black and Tans also requisitioned several tins of paint from a local shop and forced the men to paint over an Irish tricolour that had recently been painted onto the wall of the handball alley. The Black and Tans then forced the men to place their hands onto the wet paint and then put their hands into their pockets and wipe them on their clothes.Incidents in the Provinces, The Irish Times, 26 October 1920, page 6.
Burning of Knockcroghery On 20 June 1921, British Army Colonel Commandant Thomas Stanton Lambert's motorcar was ambushed by the Westmeath Irish Volunteers in Glassan. The Volunteers had planned to capture Lambert and hold him until a prisoner exchange was arranged in return for General Seán Mac Eoin. When Lambert's motorcar did not stop at the barricade on the Glassan Road, the IRA men opened fire. Lambert suffered bullet wounds and died the next day. British military intelligence mistakenly believed that the killers had come across Lough Ree from the Galey Bay/Knockcroghery area.Patrick Coyle and Michael Carty, 'War of Independence in Roscommon 100 Years Ago', Roscommon People, 4 June 2021, at p. 22
At approximately 1 a.m. on 21 June 1921,'Town gone', The Evening Telegraph, 21 June 1921, p. 1. a group of 12 to 15'Roscommon village in ruins', Galway Observer, 25 June 1921, p. 4 Black and Tans wearing civilian clothing and masks descended on Knockcroghery from the Athlone direction, in retaliation for the attack on Colonel Commandant Lambert the day before.Burke, J. (2021) 'Roscommon: The Irish Revolution, 1912-23' Four Courts Press: Dublin, p. 115.The attack was previously incorrectly recorded as 19 June in some sources (), but it is now long accepted that it took place on 21 June 1921, in retaliation for the killing of Colonel Commander Lambert the day before, on 20 June (Patrick Coyle and Michael Carty, 'War of Independence in Roscommon 100 Years Ago', Roscommon People, 4 June 2021, at p. 22; Regina Donlon (2022) 'The burning of Knockcroghery Village, Co. Roscommon, 1921', Four Courts Press: Dublin, at pp. 10, 32 and 40; ). They arrived in four lorries and parked at St Patrick's Church. Reportedly drunk, they fired shots into the air, ordered the people outside, and began setting fire to their homes. The residents were given no opportunity to get dressed or to save their houses or possessions. The summer having been particularly dry, the Black and Tans easily set fire to the thatched roofs of the cottages using petrol, and most burned to the ground very quickly.Healy, P., God Save All Here (1999) at p.21.Roscommon People, 24 June 2016, at p. 39 Murray's, Flanagan's and the presbytery were not so easy to set alight, due to their slate roofs.
Michael O'Callaghan described the scene:
The Irish Times reported:
One of the first houses to be targeted was that of Patrick Curley, who owned one of the two significant pipe factories remaining in the village. Two Black and Tans, apparently officers, burst his door in and put him out at gunpoint. They sprinkled his floor with petrol and set the house on fire. He and his children fled through the nearby fields.Regina Donlon (2022) 'The Burning of Knockcroghery Village, Co. Roscommon, 1921', Four Courts Press: Dublin at p. 33. Unable to set John S. Murray's roof alight, the Black and Tans set fire to the back door. Murray reacted quickly to put the fire out. Next door, Mary "The Widow" Murray refused to leave her home when ordered out by the Black and Tans. She gathered her six young children around her and defied the Black and Tans to burn the house with them inside it. Eventually, an officer ordered his men to leave the family alone and the house was spared.Jack Kirwan (1989) 'Knockcroghery Night of Terror', Roscommon Association YearbookCoyne, F. (1990) 'The Burning of Knockcroghery', Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Journal (Vol. 3), p. 28"If a train stops here, nobody can get on", Sunday Independent, 9 August 1970 Canon Bartholomew Kelly refused to leave the presbytery until the Black and Tans began dousing his furniture with petrol. He jumped out of his bedroom window onto a shed twelve feet below, hid until they had left, and then fled through a nearby field. His slate roof, together with the quick actions of women such as Jenny Quigley in bringing sand and water to extinguish the fire, saved his house from being totally destroyed.Regina Donlon (2022) 'The Burning of Knockcroghery Village, Co. Roscommon, 1921', Four Courts Press: Dublin at p. 35.