Galway in Days Gone By

1914

The Spy Scare

No one will dispute that to have a camera nowadays is sufficient to get one labelled a spy. The extraordinary lengths to which this scare has extended are nicely illustrated by the following amusing incident which took place at the residence of a prominent gentleman on Wednesday evening.

American tourists are fairly “hustled” at this side of the water, but it is the womenfolk who feel the discomfort of being accosted here and there by police officers.

A party of Americans who had been touring through Connemara and taking snapshots during the week were “held up” at Clifden, and at every village, hamlet and railway station till they arrived in Galway, where they confidently hoped the worries of officialdom would cease.

In the meantime, it appears that the party lost some articles on the Clifden train, and notified the railway authorities. On Wednesday night a gentleman representing the company knocked at the residence of the excursionists with a view to getting a description of the missing articles, and his official appearance so terrified the lady, who looked from behind her husband’s back, that she fainted, thinking the courteous railway official was a detective.

German spy arrested

Cleggan, Monday night:

A sensation was caused at Cleggan on Monday morning by the arrest of a gentleman who is suspected of being German spy. The traveller, who has all the appearance of being a foreigner, arrived in Cleggan by the mail car from Clifden on Monday.

He partook of breakfast at Mrs. King’s, and afterwards proceeded through Mr McEvilly’s fields, where he was apparently photographing the bay and its approaches. His movements were closely watched by the police, who, shortly after, effected his arrest, on his failing to give a satisfactory account of himself.

When taken into custody, the startling find was made of a number of maps and drawings of different parts of the coastline. 

Cleggan, Wednesday:

The gentleman who was arrested as a German suspect here on Sunday, has been released, and is at present staying at the Renvyle Hotel. Suspicion rested on him owing to his foreign appearance and dress. He was asking much information regarding the Marconi works, etc, and was, it is alleged, taking photographs of the bay and its surroundings. However, he was able to give a satisfactory account of himself being an American traveller touring Ireland.

For more from the archives from 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago, see this week’s Tribune