Description

With a rebel heart like many of her ancestors—who often unwittingly left their mark on their times—it is no surprise that Emily M. Weddall did the same in her lifetime.
In 1906, Emily arrived on Achill Island with her husband, a retired sea captain, to set up home.With ample funds and strong connections to influential figures, she was well placed to play a pivotal role in shaping the island’s cultural heritage. In 1910, she co-founded Scoil Acla with Tomás Ó Raghallaigh. The school was supported by Eva O’Flaherty, Anita McMahon, Darrell Figgis, An Paorach, and Paul Henry, as well as the Achill people. The summer school is possibly her greatest legacy and still going strong.

As the cultural revival gave way to political revolution, Emily and her fellow Scoil Acla founders helped establish Achill as a center of Republican activity throughout the Revolutionary Era. She was imprisoned several times during that period, notably during the Easter Rising. She also opened her home in Keel as a safe haven for rebels on the run, with no regard for her own safety. A sign hung on her gatepost with the message, “Failte Roimh Gach Gael” (“Welcome to all Irish”). This originally expressed the spirit of the Celtic Revival, but took on a far deeper and more radical meaning during the Revolutionary Period.

Emily’s main story unfolds in early 20th-century Ireland, spanning the final days of British rule to the birth of an independent Irish state, closely mirroring Achill’s own social history. Even in the quieter years that followed the Revolutionary Period, island life remained vibrant. New personalities arrived, carrying a renewed revolutionary spirit expressed through art and culture, often with Emily at the centre of it all. The influence of Emily and her companions, along with the creative spirit of the Achill people of that era, helped shape the island’s rich and enduring identity.