The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) is actively recruiting members in Oughterard to its conspiracist political organisation that challenges the constitutional legitimacy of the State.

Galway Gardaí are aware of the activities of the IRB in the Connemara town, including the establishment of a ‘Community Co-Op’ and ‘Community Council’ and plans to set up a parallel judicial or courts system, including a ‘Community Court’ in Oughterard.

The Connacht Tribune understands that Oughterard is one of at least six areas across the State where this organisation has a foothold – there are three Community Councils in Donegal, one in Mayo and one in Dublin. It plans to expand elsewhere in Galway, and it’s believed Oranmore is in its sights.

It’s understood a meeting was held in a house in Oughterard last November where the IRB’s activities in the town were formalised.

This first meeting was to take place in a local business premises, but the venue was changed at short notice. Afterwards the IRB held a Great Famine commemoration in Oughterard, describing it as the ‘Irish Holocaust’.

Though it is a secretive organisation, paradoxically its members openly share material on social media – including a list of the names of those who attended its first Oughterard meeting. It claims a direct lineage to the IRB of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Analysis of the 33 names of those who signed in indicated that 16 are from or live in Oughterard and 17 are from outside Galway, including counties Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick, Mayo, Tipperary, Tyrone, and Wexford.

The IRB’s Oughterard Community Council was chaired by John D Flanagan and its PRO was John B Caulfield, neither of whom are from Galway.

Caption: John D Flanagan, chairman of the IRB Supreme Council, who was installed as temporary chair of the IRB’s community council in Oughterard.

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