Belcarra Eviction Cottage
19th century cottage that was once the home of a family of nine, and was the scene of the last eviction in this area, when the Walshe family were evicted by the landlord’s agents in October 1886.
History
This 19th century ‘eviction’ cottage at Elmhall on the outskirts of Belcarra was restored and refurnished by Belcarra Community Co-operative as a Heritage Centre.
The cottage was once the home of James Walsh and his family of nine. The family were tenants and were evicted by the Landlord’s Agents, Gardiner, Pringle and Cuffe, on Saturday October 2nd 1886. Nearby is the Tígín which neighbours built and where the Walsh family lived for some time.
It was one of the most horrific evictions ever effected and pictures of the eviction scene are still recalled in the Wynne Collection of photographs which is available in Mayo County Library.
In 2000, the Eviction Cottage Heritage Centre was opened and blessed by Fr Brendan McGuinness. On the day of the opening the community carried out a re-enactment of the Eviction of the Walsh family. Over 40 members of the community volunteered to perform dramatic scenes from our history. The re-enactment of the eviction was recorded for posterity and is available to purchase in the eviction cottage.
This cottage has now been restored as a heritage centre and has been refurbished to how it would have looked before the eviction. There are life sized cut outs in the cottage produced by local artist, Bridie Geraghty, and it is furnished with typical household implements of the era.
