Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1916
Rising in Galway
Between 5 and 5.30 this (Wednesday) morning, about six or seven motor cars left Galway for the affected portion of the county for the purpose of seeing how the ground lay; what the fate had been of outlying barracks which might have been invested during the night; for quelling the insurrection; and for making arrests.
All went well until the party reached the cross-roads at Carnmore, where the most serious encounter of the local crisis occurred. At this spot, the police were ambushed by a crowd of peasants who at once opened fire.
Previous to this, it would appear that the cars had pulled up, the travellers apparently having got wind of what awaited them.
The Volunteers had the protection of two large stone walls, and of this they made the most, and the police sought what shelter they could.
For a full half-hour, shots were exchanged and in the course of the encounter, Constable Whelan, Eglinton Street, Galway, received a shot wound to the side of the head, from which he expired ten minutes later,
The remains were subsequently conveyed to the city in the motor on which he had journeyed out alive.
The losses of the Volunteers are not known, but they left a lot of pikes after them when eventually they withdrew, and in the course of the engagement some of their number was seen to fall.
Rail sabotage
The most exciting incidents of the year so far as can be learned in the City, occurred in the vicinity of Oranmore. Early yesterday morning, four armed men entered the signal cabin, and whilst they had the signalman “covered” with their revolvers, one of the number took a shovel and broke the signals.
At the moment Mr. Courtenay, superintendent of the line, was endeavouring to get into communication from Athenry with the Oranmore signal cabin. The armed men, whom the signalman, a newcomer to the district, did not recognise, left after putting the signals out of commission.
Subsequently, as the two o’clock train, which had only established a connection as far as Mullingar, was covering the distance between Athenry and Galway, a sharp look-out was kept, Mr. Courtenay travelling on the train.
But for the effective vigilance of those on the engine, a disaster would undoubtedly have occurred, as a short section of the rails had been removed in the region of Derrydonnell.
The incoming train, which was travelling at 40 miles an hour, was brought to a standstill just in time. Mr. Courtenay, and some of the passengers, immediately left the train and set out on for Galway, walking along the line.
1941
Fair ban
The ban on the holding of fairs in County Galway may be removed next week – at least in respect of a large proportion of the county. The area about Portumna, which is close to the Offaly and Tipperary borders, and possibly an area close to the Clare border in the south of the country, may be obliged to endure the ban a little longer.
Galway has had a clean bill of health, and should foot-and-mouth disease continue to diminish, in the next few weeks, many counties may have the ban entirely lifted.
Even though the ports may not be open for shipment, the holding of fairs in County Galway would bring a good deal of relief in respect of sheep, especially hoggets. Precautions against the spread of the disease continue urgent, and all farmers should be on the alert.
Creggs coal seam
At a meeting of Glinsk and Kilbegnet Parish Council, the Secretary (Mr. A.L. Mullany, B.A., N.T.) read a letter from the Minister for Industry and Commerce stating that he had considered their resolution regarding the belief that a coal seam existed near Creggs, but that the geological survey did not suggest the presence of coal in the district.
Mr. Sirr said they should not let the matter rest there. He was born at the foot of the mountain and from his earliest years had heard the old people of the district talking of the coal that was there.
The Rev. Chairman said that a townland on the mountain side was called Coalpits and there must be some reason for that. Mr. Sirr said they should send another resolution to the Ministry asking to have their claim investigated.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
1923
Gloom after war
The special correspondent of the “Independent”, who has been writing of the aftermath of civil war in the West, notes that a feeling of apathy, due to the uncertainty of events, exists amongst the sorely-tried people of Connemara; that politics are referred to only with disgust and that not more than fifty per cent. of the people would vote at a general election; that poverty and unemployment are rife, and there is a growing tendency towards emigration; and that there are bitter complaints of the huge impost of rates and taxes.
It is only too true that there is enough of material for the pessimist to brood over, and that a feeling of gloom permeates country towns. But it is a poor tribute to patriotism that has survived such horrors to encourage this gloom.
It is the duty of all of us to get this pessimism out of the national body and to rid ourselves of the notion that we have not enough Christianity and moral sense left to restore our people to cheerful and ordered progress and industry.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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1923
Peace negotiations
As we go to press, An Dáil is discussing the Peace negotiations between the Government and Mr. de Valera. It was announced on Wednesday for the first time that such negotiations were begun following Mr. de Valera’s “cease fire” proclamation of April 27, and that by the 30th of the month Senators Andrew Jameson and James Douglas were asked by him to discuss proposals.
They said it was for the Government to discuss; they could only confer. Into the ensuring conferences the Government declined to enter personally, but on May 3 the senators placed before Mr. de Valera the Cabinet’s terms, which were that future issues should be decided by the majority vote of the elected representatives of the people, and that as a corollary and a preliminary to the release of prisoners, all lethal weapons should be in the custody and control of the Executive Government.
Mr. de Valera relied to this on May 7 with a document in which he agreed to majority rule and control of arms, but added that arms should be stored in a suitable building in each province under armed Republican guard until after the elections in September, that the oath should not be made a test in the councils of the nation, and that all political prisoners should be released immediately on the signing of this agreement.
“You have brought back to us,” wrote President Cosgrave, “not an acceptance of our conditions, but a long and wordy document inviting debate where none is possible”.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
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Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
1923
State of the parties
Speculation as to parties after the next Irish elections is exceedingly interesting, especially in view of the enlarged franchise.
In Dublin, the view appears to be held by a number of people that Labour will make a great bid for power.
Dublin, however, has a curiously insular habit of thought where matters that concern all Ireland and in which Ireland has a say are concerned. We hope this insularity will rapidly disappear under the new conditions.
The country as a whole is backing the Farmers’ Party, and has not the smallest doubt that it will be the strongest combination in the next Dáil, and that it will oust the purely political parties, the one because it has resorted to force, the other because it has been compelled to use force to supress force, and the Labour Party because Ireland feels that at the back of its policy lurks the danger of Communism.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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