Name Michael Griffin Role Irish priest | Died 1920, Ireland | |
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Father Michael Griffin (18 September 1892 – 14 November 1920) was an Irish Catholic priest.
Griffin was born in the townland of Gurteen, County Galway, to Thomas George Griffin, a farmer, and Mary Coyne (also Kyne). In the 1901 and 1911 censuses, the family was recorded as living in the neighbouring townland of Gortnacross. Griffin's father was chairman of Galway County Council upon his death in 1914 and had been associated with the Land League, Parnell and was imprisoned for his activities in the 1880s.
Griffin was ordained at St Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1917. A priest of the Diocese of Clonfert, he served in the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora. In June 1918, the curate was transferred from the parish of Ennistymon, County Clare, to Rahoon, Galway City.
On the night of 14 November 1920, during the Irish War for Independence, Griffin, a known Irish republican sympathiser, was taken from his home at 2 Montpellier Terrace and taken to Lenaboy Castle, where he was questioned. On 20 November, his body was found in an unmarked grave in a bog at Cloghscoltia near Barna; he had been shot through the head. On 23 November, after Griffin's funeral mass at St Joseph's, the funeral cortege took place through the streets of Galway. Three bishops, 150 priests and in excess of 12,000 mourners participated. The priest was buried in the grounds of Loughrea Cathedral.
A group of enthusiasts gathered together in Galway in the spring of 1948 to form a football club and they decided unanimously to name the club "Father Griffins". There is also a road in Galway City called "Father Griffin Road".