New British monarch’s deeply personal connections with Sligo

EARLIER this week the visit of the then Prince of Wales to Mullaghmore in May 2015 was described as lifting “a cloud” in Anglo-Irish relations.

National and international media outlets have explored the new King’s personal connections with Ireland in great depth.

For the most part, their focus has largely been on his historic visit to Mullaghmore in 2015 to visit the place where his beloved great-uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and three others were blown up by the IRA while lobster fishing. Prince Charles, speaking in Sligo seven years ago, referred to Mountbatten as “the grandfather I never had”.

Reflecting in 2015 on that visit to Mullaghmore, The Guardian newspaper reported how of recent public gestures on Anglo-Irish reconciliation, the pilgrimage of remembrance by the Prince of Wales to Mullaghmore was undoubtedly the most personal.

They reported how he told well-wishers who had gathered at the pier slipway that leads out to Mullaghmore Bay where the Shadow V exploded a few hundred yards from the harbour on August 27, 1979, that he never thought his visit to Mullaghmore would happen.

Visiting Mullaghmore was an ambition he had held for decades. When he did visit some, locally, voiced the opinion that while he was welcome, they would have preferred it if the visit had been a private one. At the time there were concerns expressed as to how the visit would impact on the village.

Charlie Flanagan, minister for foreign affairs in 2015, said the visit to the village was a “landmark day in the relationship between Ireland and Britain,” but “a day of mixed emotions” personally for Charles.

“It had a personal resonance. It was a cheerful day tinged with great sadness because it brought back the memory of Mullaghmore and his very personal relationship with Mountbatten,” he said.

The Mountbatten family holidayed at Classibawn Castle every summer, for King Charles III, the visit to Sligo and to Mullaghmore in particular was deeply personal.

In an emotional but hectic visit to Sligo, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived by helicopter to the grounds of the then IT Sligo. From there a heavily guarded cavalcade brought them to The Model where he was given a tour of the Niland art collection, meeting with the daughter of William Butler Yeats.

A visit to IT Sligo followed and a meet and greet with students and lecturers. This was followed by an ecumenical service in St Columba’s Church in Drumcliffe, and from there on by road to Mullaghmore.

Later a visit to Sligo Races proved a huge success, the prince offering Charlie Flanagan, Irish minister for foreign affairs, a tip to back ‘Mystic

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla - then known as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall - sign the visitors’ book at The Model. They are accompanied by Ciaran Hayes, then chief executive of Sligo County Council.

Princess’ which he duly did and then watched his tip romp home at 12/1.

But it was his speech at The Model arts centre in Sligo before his visit to Mullaghmore, which was subsequently hailed as hugely significant on Irish/British and global terms.

The Prince of Wales spoke of his grief on learning of the deaths at Mullaghmore. “I could not imagine how we would come to terms with the anguish of such a deep loss since, for me, Lord Mountbatten represented the grandfather I never had.”

He added: “Through this dreadful experience, though, I now understand in a profound way the agonies borne by so many others in these islands, of whatever faith, denomination or political tradition.”

Addressing the past turbulent history between Britain and Ireland, he said: “We need no longer be victims of our difficult history with each other. Without glossing over the pain of the past, we can, I believe, integrate our history and memory in order to reap their subtle harvest of possibility. Imagination, after all, is the mother of possibility. Let us, then, endeavour to become the subjects of our history and not its prisoners.”

An unnamed official who accompanied Charles to Mullaghmore, has been quoted this

week as stating at the time of the visit how the visit to Mullaghmore addressed tensions that had lingered for four decades.

“He lifted a cloud from Mullaghmore and Sligo, a county that felt it never fully recovered from 1979. He spoke very, very movingly,” the official said. Since that 2015 visit, the new King’s regular Irish visits have become less formal. He has also been credited with making regular visits to the Irish Embassy in London, somewhat unusual as he rarely visits other embassies in the city, certainly not as frequently.

There have been reports that he is keen to return to the west of Ireland, how likely that is in his capacity as King Charles III, is hard to say but not beyond possibility, and in view of the profound effect and his emotional links to the northwest, there’s reason to believe that such a future visit would include time in this county.

The Wednesday visit was perfectly timed for the Sligo Weekender, the front page the following day, May 21, 2015, proclaiming “Eyes of the world on Sligo” above a picture of Charles on the pier meeting local well-wishers who had turned out to see him and the Duchess of Cornwall.

“For Prince Charles the day was full of poignant memories, recalling the death in 1979 of his godfather and mentor Lord Louis Mountbatten in an IRA bombat Mullaghmore. “It was fitting then that one of the survivors of that bomb, Timothy Knatchbull, would be there to greet Prince Charles in the shadow of Benbulben and escort him to the steps of Classiebawn Castle, the home where Lord Mountbatten spent his summers.”

The Sligo Weekender featured all aspects of the visit over its first six pages, a small triumph in its own small way for a newspaper going to print on the afternoon of such an important visit.

The Sligo Weekender front page on May 21, 2015. This edition of the newspaper was produced the day of the visit.

A pedestrian crossing in Dublin similar to Cllr Gilroy’s proposal.

A PROPOSAL to have a pedestrian crossing in Sligo painted in the PRIDE colours as a gesture of support to the LGBTQ+ community is unlikely to happen as local authorities such as Sligo County Council must install road markings according to a set of guidelines.

Cllr Donal Gilroy has proposed that a pedestrian crossing near the Sligo commercial centre would be painted in the PRIDE colours to “show that after the awful events of 2022 that Sligo is a place of welcome to all”.

He said he was making the proposal as a gesture of support and was aware that a crossing had been painted in PRIDE colours in Galway and there were examples in other cities.

In a response Sligo County Council indicated to do so would contravene regulations they were bound to follow.

The reply stated: “Chapter 7 of the Traffic Signs Manual entitled ‘Road Markings’, prescribes the standards which apply to the provision of markings on public roads in Ireland. Most road markings are regulatory markings.

“Regulatory road markings give instructions, indicate prohibitions, and inform road users of restrictions which must be obeyed. Markings at pedestrian crossings are regulatory markings therefore Local Authorities are compelled to install road markings as prescribed in the Traffic Signs Manual.”