Claregalway has seen it fair share of battles and confrontations throughout history, most likely more than we know. With its forts the castles in the area, stories of these events have lived on in history. Events such of local men fighting in the great battle of Knockdoe in 1504 to the troubles of 1916 Easter Week Rising, the Irish War of Independence in 1919 to 1921 and the Irish Civil War (Irish: Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) where there was the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire. Not until 1949 did the Irish Republic come into existence.
