Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1921
Demanding better
There is a general demand all along the system of the Midland Great Western Railway Company for a better service of trains. We sincerely hope the directors will do more to meet that demand than the alteration in the time of departure of the afternoon mail train from Galway which came into operation on Monday last.
Whilst that alteration was welcome in that it revealed a desire to meet public criticism, it does little or nothing to remove the grievances that bear so heavily upon the travelling public.
The main line from Galway to Broadstone is still two trains short per day. In the circumstances of time, it may not be feasible to restore immediately the pre-war train service; but steps should be taken in the public interest to put on one additional passenger train at the earliest moment, and to enable western businessmen to clear their evening posts. It would be nothing short of a public scandal if a public carrying and transport company were to take advantage of the conditions of the time to enter upon a policy of reaction, and to deprive the people of amenities that they had hitherto freely enjoyed.
The argument that the amount of custom drawn from the western counties does not justify a full service of trains must have applied before the war as well as to-day.
Death toll rises
Tragedy, grim and terrible, followed swiftly upon the heels of the Headford ambush. In addition to the shooting of Thomas Collins of Keelkill, which occurred on Tuesday, the 18 inst., the day of the ambush, three men in the districts surrounding Headford were shot dead on Saturday last.
An official telegram reached Dublin Castle on Sunday stating that on Satruday, three men named Michael Hoade, Caherlistrane; John Kirwan, Ballinastack; and William Walsh, of headford, were shot dead while attempting to evade arrest.
Writing on Sunday, our North Galway correspondent have harrowing details of the events of Saturday. In many districts around Tuam (he stated) scenes of awful terrorism broke out on Saturday morning. Several lorries full of armed men went through the country, and people going to Tuam market had to endure the ordeal of indiscriminate rifle firing over their heads.
Details of the shocking occurrences to hand are meagre, but the following tragic happenings are reported:
William Walsh, Clydagh, Headford, was taken out from his breakfast table and found shot dead.
Michl. Hoade, shopkeeper, Caherlistrane, who was also shot dead, resided with a sister, who ran upstairs on seeing the armed party going to the house. Her brother was taken out and brought back a corpse.
Jim Kirwan (26), Ballinastack, was unloading a cart of manure when an armed party went to his house. It is alleged that they ill-treated another brother inside the house and asked the father where is other son was. He told them he was outside in the field.
The armed men went out, and Kirwan was fired at and mortally wounded. Poor Kirwan died shortly afterwards. The horse was also killed. The party went back into the house and told the father his son was shot outside.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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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