Archive News
April 28, 2011
Date Published: {J}
1911
Policeman runs over boy
As a little lad of 4 years and 5 months was playing on the roadway at about 5 o’clock at Eyre-square on Easter Monday afternoon, he was run over by a policeman riding a bicycle. The incident was witnessed by some people who were on the scene, and general indignation was expressed at the action of the constable who, it is stated, rode away after the incident had occurred.
The boy’s father immediately reported the matter to Mr. Hears, D.I., and to the Head-constable, who took a statement from him, but up to now the name of the constable – who, it is presumed, hails from a county station – has not been disclosed; although Mr O’Dea, solr., who has the matter in hand, has demanded it. The police, it is understood, are making all inquiries.
Scandalous outrage
On last Sunday night at Craughwell railway station what would, from the details to hand, appear to have been a wanton and cowardly attack was made on the train conveying the Galway Gaels from Cork where they had been engaged with the Gaels of that county in the final for the Croke Cup in hurling and football.
The entry of the train to the station was heralded by a volley of stones from behind hedges close to the station. As the tickets were being collected, another fusillade started and the windows of the compartments were completely wrecked. To avoid the onslaught, the passengers had to get on all fours. Some were injured and many ladies fainted.
The only reason that can be assigned for the discreditable display is that a split has taken place amongst the local Gaels, and during the attack the name of one gentleman prominently identified with the Gaelic movement in the county was greeted with boos and hisses.
The attack was so continuous and heavy that the collection of tickets had to be abandoned until the train reached Athenry, where passengers and train presented a most sorry appearance. The affair has met with general condemnation.
1936
Galway airbase
At 7.10pm on Wednesday evening, a Crilly Airways ‘plane arrived at Oranmore Aerodrome, Galway, from Baldonnel, Dublin. Major F.L. Crilly, managing director, said: “Two years ago, we offered to open a service between England and Ireland, but your Government did not then consider that the time was opportune. I have not yet been to Cork or Foynes, but I am well satisfied with Galway’s aerial possibilities.”
Captain G.S. Jones-Evans, pilot, said that this was the first occasion on which he had landed at Oranmore. With but very few improvements, he said, Oranmore could be made a first class landing ground.
Wonderful horse
There is a horse in the town of Ballygar that is gaining a great reputation as a leg breaker. Last week, the horse was borrowed by a schoolteacher from its owner. When the teacher took out the horse, it lashed out and the man’s leg was broken. He was removed to Central Hospital Galway. A few days afterwards, the owner of the horse took it out and it lashed out again and broke his leg.
Murder bus
A special ‘bus which arrived in Ballinasloe on Sunday evening took up to twenty witnesses to Dublin who are giving evidence in the ‘Curley murder charge’. Superintendent Dunphy, Inspector Monnelly, Sergeant Cahill and other officers of the guards in Ballinasloe also left for Dublin.
Dangerous corner
James McMullan, a driver of a demonstration lorry (two tons) for McCairns Motors, Dublin, had a nasty spill on the Ballinasloe-Portumna road last weekend. The driver, who was accompanied by Charles P. Miller, Galway, lost control and the lorry went head on into the ditch.
Several efforts were made to get it out of the ditch, but it was found that the vehicle was so deeply embedded in the drain that it had to be abandoned and left there for a couple of days.
The lorry was badly damaged and broken up and part of it, including the spare wheels and tools, were taken into Ballinasloe guards’ station. Mr McMullan, the driver, was fortunate in not being badly injured. With the exception of a few cuts and a tooth or two broken, he received no other injuries. The second man was not injured.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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