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Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

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The cocktail bar at Ballybrit draws the crowd at the Galway Races 1965.

1920

Terror in Tuam

As a police van was proceeding to Dunmore from Galway Assizes on Monday evening, with four armed constables, it was ambushed at Gallagh, three miles beyond Tuam, and two of the occupants – Constables Burke and Carey – were shot dead.

All was peaceable until five o’clock on Tuesday morning, when the sleeping inhabitants of the town were startled by volleys of musketry fire.

At first only a few shots were fired; then the fusillade became terrific, and it was accompanied by explosions, as if bombs and hand grenades were being hurled. It soon became evident that the firing was general throughout the town.

Children and women screamed, and all sought shelter in the rear of their premises, where they lay flat on the ground.

Subsequently, cheers broke out, and the Town Hall was found to be in flames. Apparently the cheering was the signal for the congregation. Soon after the outbreak the military who are stationed in Tuam came upon the scene, but were immediately afterwards withdrawn.

Mr. Quinn, a well-known solicitor, who witnessed the thrilling scene from the midst of two houses which were in flames, declared on Tuesday morning that he distinctly heard the officer calling off his men, and shouting “this is not our job,” the inference being that the military did not wish to be associated with the outbreak.

About six o’clock the orgy of outrage ceased, and the townsmen who ventured abroad found many houses in flames.

No harm in variety

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Barna (Galway) Feis which was held on last Sunday, was the large numbers who attended it. Rarely has such a fine gathering been seen at a similar function in a comparatively small village like Barna.

The competitions, too, were successful, but it would have been no harm if a little more variety had been introduced. The school children were very good, but one felt that something was wanting to make the whole thing more interesting; there was a lack of colour and variety in a programme that was followed attentively.

Singing and dancing constituted the entire programme. There were songs by school-children, by young people, and by adults, and there was dancing by the school-children. The dancing did not come up to the mark, and no first or second prize was awarded.

Some of the singing reached a fairly high standard, and “voice” could be detected.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway In Days Gone By

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Some of the attendance at the opening of the new school in Ballymacward on June 24, 1974.

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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Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

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Nurses on strike on May 10, 1980, protesting a sub-standard pay offer. Around 700 nurses took part in the protest, hitting services at Gawlay Regional Hospital where only emergency cases were being admitted.

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.

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Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

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Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

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Brendan Cunniffe from Oranmore and Robert Kelly, Tirellan Heights at the Galway County Fleadh in Tullycross, Connemara, on May 16, 1985.

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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