Pat Nally

Patrick William Nally (13 March 1857A – 8 November 1891)[1][2][3] was a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and well known Connacht athlete from Balla, County Mayo.

A prolific sportsman, Nally organised some of the sports events in Ireland open to the working class instead of the ruling elite, and in turn, he was highly influential on Michael Cusack, who would go on to found the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Highly active in the Land League and the IRB in Connacht, In 1881 Nally was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in Mountjoy Jail, Dublin, for what became known as the "Crossmolina Conspiracy", in which he and others were accused of plotting to kill a landlord's agents.

Nally was educated at St Jarlath's College in Tuam, County Galway, where he made important connections with other Irish nationalists.

When speaking on Land League platforms, Nally did not make grand statements about reorganising society, but instead focused on a more legalistic argument that tenants should pay no more than the rents specified in Griffith's Valuation of 1854.

On 15 May 1883, Nally and six others were charged with being the leaders of a secret society of assassins who were planning to kill agents of a landlord in Crossmolina, County Mayo.

[11] In the meantime, the RIC were ordered to search Nally's home, and subsequently, the British press reported that two rifles, a revolver, and explosives were found.

Nally's imprisonment meant he could not attend the first meeting of the Gaelic Athletic Association on 1 October 1884, an organisation many felt he had directly inspired.

However, Nally's name was replaced just days before the election was due to take place owing to the objection of C. S. Parnell, who pushed for J. F. X. O'Brien (himself a member of the IRB) instead.

Publicly, it was announced in October 1891 that Nally would be granted early release from prison in November on account of good behaviour, and his supporters began organising a welcoming committee for him.

[11] His funeral was organised by James Boland, with whom he had conspired in Manchester,[13] and saw a large turnout, including eleven members of parliament as well the leaders of the GAA and IRB.

[11] Throughout his life, Michael Cusack held Nally in great reverence and repeatedly made it clear that nobody had done more to persuade him to found the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884.