Origins and early history Swinford was created as a planned town by the
Anglo-Irish Brabazon family in the late 1700s. The Brabazons had originally resided in
County Galway, but lost their estates there after fighting on the losing side in the
Williamite War in Ireland. Although their Galway estates were confiscated, they were granted new land in County Mayo as a consolation. In 1769, the Brabazons began granting leases; 40 people were given the right to build houses in a pre-planned pattern and layout in the area that would become Swinford. The then landlord, William Brabazon, encouraged good quality structures by donating lumber and slate towards construction, and the result was that many of the initial structures in Swinford were three stories tall. In 1855, the
Sisters of Mercy established a presence in the town, building a convent near the parish church. They took over operations at the workhouse during the 1880s. In 1906 they established a primary school and a secondary school for girls in the town. In 1916 the Sisters of Mercy took over Brabazon estate house and converted it into a school.
War of Independence Swinford, like other areas in the West of Ireland, was the site of a number of actions during the
Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). According to one account, nationalists in East Mayo had a long running split dating back to the
Parnell scandal, with relations between nationalist factions in Swinford and Meelick particularly poor. The failure to organise in advance of the
Easter Rebellion in 1916 paradoxically meant however that relatively few Swinford men were arrested and interned, meaning they were outside the network of republican leaders that developed in the internment camps and prisons. It was not until approx 1920 that the IRA was structured in Swinford, and from then, with the participation of a group of young volunteers, the activity increased, particularly in the sphere of Republican Courts. On 19 August 1920, IRA members broke into the goods shed at Swinford Railway station and destroyed 10 tons of food and fuel belonging to British security forces. Later that month, on 27 August 1920 IRA volunteers from Swinford and
Bohola attacked and captured
Ballyvary RIC Barracks, and on 27 November 1920 two Swinford men, James Henry and Thomas Fraher were convicted at a military court in
Galway of possessing weapons and intelligence on the
RIC. Both were sentenced to periods of imprisonment. Local folklore has it that other British patrols were ambushed in rural areas outside the town, and that local Volunteers from the (Old)
Irish Republican Army climbed onto the roof of the
Royal Irish Constabulary barracks (now the site of the Gateway Hotel) and burnt it to the ground by breaking slates and pouring petrol into the building. During this period British soldiers were also billeted in the town. ==Transport==