The murder of Fr Michael Griffen (aged 28) in Galway in November 1920 was seen by many as one of the most grotesque acts carried out by either side in the Irish War of Independence.

  On the night of 14 November Griffen was lured from his house in Galway city on the pretence of assisting a person who lay seriously ill. Three men played their part in the ruse but more were involved in the interrogation that followed. It is widely believed that the perpetrators were members of the Auxiliaries and had taken Griffen owing to his republican sympathies. He was brought to Lenaboy Castle and questioned. A search was conducted throughout the area in the days that followed but no trace of Griffen could be found. Then on 20 November his body was discovered by a farmer near Barna. The body had been buried in a bog. At the inquest it was revealed that Griffen had been shot in the head and that death was instant. The murder of Fr Griffen, had been ordained in St Patricks College, Maynooth in 1917, was condemned throughout Ireland and indeed in the House of Commons where it was debated. An estimated crowd of 12,000 people gathered outside St Joseph’s Church in Galway City for his Requiem Mass, which was concelebrated by the Archbishop of Tuam, the bishops of Galway and Clonfert, and almost 150 priests from across the West of Ireland.  

Source : Fermanagh Herald, 27 Nov 1920, page 5.

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