St Mary’s Church of Ireland was built in 1822. Sam Maguire, along with his family were a part of The Church of Ireland and worshipped here every Sunday. Sam passed away on the 27th of February 1927 at the age of 49, he is laid to rest here to this day.
The original “big wind” occurred on January 6th, 1839 when the worst storm in Irish history occurred. It was a hurricane that had grown in size and savagery as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean. When it hit the west coast of Ireland the waves were so high that reached over the top of the Cliffs of Moher. Three hundred people died on land and on the sea.
Another very severe storm with very strong winds occurred on Friday, January 11th, 1974 and this was also christened a “Big Wind”. This wind knocked down the monument over Sam Maguire’s grave.
Following a public meeting it was decided that the people of the parish of Dunmanway should be afforded the opportunity of providing the necessary funds to aid the replacement of a new monument to Sam Maguire and a church gate collections was taken up at churches of all denominations in the parish and the people responded very generously indeed. A sum of £340 was realised from this collection. Sam’s gravestone was erected by the people of Dunmanway and his many friends in Ireland and England in recognition of his love for his country.
A set of 8 bells were installed in 2017 to remember Sam Maguire, titled the “Sam Maguire Community Bells”. They werecreated to tell his story, and the story of Dunmanway town through eight different themes.
The eight themes for the bells selected were 1. Sport, 2. Wars and Revolution, 3. Agriculture, 4. People of Dunmanway, 5.Migration, 6. Religious Traditions, 7. Education and Arts, and 8. Industry and Commerce.
The original “big wind” occurred on January 6th, 1839 when the worst storm in Irish history occurred. It was a hurricane that had grown in size and savagery as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean. When it hit the west coast of Ireland the waves were so high that reached over the top of the Cliffs of Moher. Three hundred people died on land and on the sea.
Another very severe storm with very strong winds occurred on Friday, January 11th, 1974 and this was also christened a “Big Wind”. This wind knocked down the monument over Sam Maguire’s grave.
Following a public meeting it was decided that the people of the parish of Dunmanway should be afforded the opportunity of providing the necessary funds to aid the replacement of a new monument to Sam Maguire and a church gate collections was taken up at churches of all denominations in the parish and the people responded very generously indeed. A sum of £340 was realised from this collection. Sam’s gravestone was erected by the people of Dunmanway and his many friends in Ireland and England in recognition of his love for his country.
A set of 8 bells were installed in 2017 to remember Sam Maguire, titled the “Sam Maguire Community Bells”. They werecreated to tell his story, and the story of Dunmanway town through eight different themes.
The eight themes for the bells selected were 1. Sport, 2. Wars and Revolution, 3. Agriculture, 4. People of Dunmanway, 5.Migration, 6. Religious Traditions, 7. Education and Arts, and 8. Industry and Commerce.