In 1798, after the French general, General Humbert, defeated the British forces in the Races of Castlebar, a further engagement took place outside the town on a site subsequently knowns as, Frenchill.
in 1876, the then editor of the Connaught Telegraph James Daly, along with another local man Patrick Nally, erected a monument to the memory of the fallen French soldiers. The monument bears the inscription: ‘In grateful remembrance of the gallant French soldiers who died fighting for the freedom of Ireland on August 27, 1798. They shall be remembered forever’. In 1878, there was a commemoration held for the 100th anniversary of the 1798 rebellion. Maud Gonne Mac Bride attended. James Daly said at the time that the event was both about remembering dead patriots and undertaking “to abide by the principles of the men of ’98 until their country was free again and took its place among the nations of the earth.”
Recently, the monument has become somewhat overgrown and is not accessible to the public. Some years ago Mao County Council endeavoured to clean up the site with a view to developing it under the heading of culture and heritage.
