50 years on: the day that Galway burned

Today marks 50 years since the very fabric of Galway city centre went up in flames, the ‘Big Fire’ which ripped through 26 buildings. Here we look back at the inferno which caused an estimated €100 million worth of damage by today’s values.

The blaze began some time before noon on Monday, August 16, 1971 in the warehouse of McDonogh’s at Merchant’s Road – part of what is now the Eyre Square Shopping Centre.  Over the space of six hours, a total of 26 buildings were damaged to varying degrees – some were completely gutted, including McDonogh’s warehouse and yard and Corbetts (now Corbettcourt).

The fire ravaged McDonogh’s yard.

Sixteen fire brigades with 100 men from Galway, Mayo and Athlone fought the blaze and despite its strength at the ferocious speed at which is spread, saw no casualties.

The entire city centre had to be cordoned off and there were reports the flames were visible as far away as County Clare.

As our sister newspaper, the Connacht Sentinel, reported at the time: “The flames raced through the [McDonogh] building which contained large stocks of timber, coal and briquettes.

The flames jumped across the road to the top of the United Dominion Trust building and three times, firemen had to tackle this outbreak.

“Gallons of water were poured on the National Bank premises as staff and volunteers being removing files and documents. The Civic Sword and the Great Mace were among the first valuables removed to safety.

“The Fire Chief said that while water pressure was low at the start of the operation, nothing could have prevented the flames from spreading because of the highly flammable materials involved at the outset.

“Water was taken from the Docks and the River Corrib and thousands of gallons were poured into the area for hours. The army sent in 50 men from Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa to help cordon off the city centre and 26 members of the FCA and Civil Defence were also on duty. All Gardaí in the city area were called in, and traffic of every kind was banned from the main centre.

“Immediately the danger became evident, all the premises along Eyre Square to Williamsgate Street were evacuated and staff and volunteers began removing equipment and files.

“At this stage, the fire had a firm hold on the area between McDonogh’s, Whitehall and Corbetts and despite the best efforts of the brigades, it finally burst out through the shop premises of Corbetts, destroying the entire building.

“The flames then threatened the buildings across the road – Fallers, the Corrib Restaurant, Moons – and water was played on these premises at the peak of the danger.

“All of the other buildings within the fire area were damaged, some very badly. The Blackrock Tailoring Company (more recently ‘Monsoon’, which was almost burned out), Whelan’s Medical Hall, Glynn’s (Treasure Chest), McDonogh’s shoe shop (Logue’s), etc.

Historian and Galway City Tribune columnist Peadar O’ Dowd from Bohermore, was also on the scene and years later recalled: “It was a huge fire which destroyed the south/east block of the square. It was the timber yards and stores of Thomas McDonogh and Sons that bore the brunt of the fire – what’s there now is the Eyre Square shopping centre. The fire raged the whole day long and as far as I know it was smouldering for up to 48 hours after that,” he said.

“We don’t know what time it started but we think it might have been around midday. By two o’clock, however, things were really bad. I don’t know whether the initial blaze began in Corbetts or McDonoghs. The roofs were made of tar and there was coal, timber and many other flammable materials stored in the building.

“We don’t know what caused it – nobody ever found out. But we do know it was an accident – with so much flammable material around obviously something like that might happen. I know people in Ennis, Co Clare could see the smoke, so that gives some indication as to the magnitude of the fire. We were very lucky – much of the city centre could have gone up in flames.”

Despite the terror and devastation, it turned out to be a galvanising force for the many people who poured into the Square to try and help in any way they could.

“So many people who were not directly involved with the fire all joined in to help. I can still see in my mind’s eye people stacking personal belongings up in piles in Eyre Square, all of which had been taken out of buildings,” Peadar remembered.

Workers from the National Bank in Eyre Square bring files to safety.

“The fire brigade stopped it from spreading. There are still photos around of people gathering their belongings and carrying stuff out of buildings,” added Peadar. “There were bank workers hoisting valuables and files out of the Bank of Ireland which was at the bottom of Eyre Square at the time. It was located where the entrance to the shopping centre is now. That was long before computers or the internet, so everything was stored manually.”

In total, the value of the damage was put at £2 million, estimated to be more than €100m in ‘today’s money’.