Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1916
Bishop O’Dea’s letter
Dear Rev. Fathers and dearly-beloved brethren in Christ. I Do not like to close this letter without a word on temperance. Thank God, there is a vast improvement. Excess is less frequent; and what is better, men are ashamed to be seen under the influence of drink.
But drink is still a curse, the worst curse of our Irish homes. In God’s name, then, if you feel the burden of this curse, cast it off to-day in honour of Christ’s thirst on the Cross.
I make this appeal especially to you, the few women of these dioceses, who have been abusing your separation allowances. At the beginning of this Lent, Christ, our lord, asks you from His Cross to give up this brutal habit, which is so unworthy of a woman, and so destructive to yourself, your children, and your home.
I desire to make a similar appeal to the few parishes in which “poteen” is still made. I am quite satisfied from all I have been hearing for the last six years that this “poteen” is a veritable curse to every parish in which it is made, a curse alike to those who make it, and to those who drink it.
For what are its fruits? Can it be denied that in every parish where it is made, it has led to frequent and shocking drunkenness, savage fighting, and bloodshed, appalling perjury in Court, sudden and unprovided deaths, gross disrespect to the dead at wakes and funerals, wilfully setting men drunk to make them tools of wickedness, and much evil besides.
As your Bishop and for your own good, I ask you, in all earnestness, to put an end once and for all to poteen-making. You may lose a little by doing so, but I am certain that by and by you will be better off, even in this world. Money made from poteen melts like the winter snow, and too often it leaves a curse behind.
1941
Butter and tea
There has been a great deal of grumbling and much criticism of the Government in connection with the reduction in the supplies of butter and tea. That, we suppose, was inevitable, but the fact remains that we must face up to the conditions that exist and that no amount of fault finding is going to make things any better for us at the moment.
Tea has become a luxury – almost. We will have to accustom ourselves to less generous libations and to the use of substitutes – so long as they are available. Adam’s ale can scarcely be called an exhilarating tipple, but it is very welcome in the trackless desert. As to butter, the majority of people have been accustomed to put too much on their bread anyway and a thinner coating will do them no harm.
The great fact, however, is that we have hitherto been spared ensnarement in the actual combat that is desolating the greater part of Europe and that these little discomforts which we are being asked to ensure are infinitesimal beside the hardships of the people in the war-torn countries.
We should be thankful – very thankful – that we are so fortunate and should endure cheerfully our stinted rations, in addition to doing our utmost to make them go as far as possible.
Vanishing buses
Unless the citizens of Galway can bring pressure to bear in the right quarter, the already attenuated omnibus service of the city will be still further reduced for an indefinite period on and from Monday next, March 10th.
The latest service which it is proposed to discontinue is that which runs between Eyre Square and Seamount. Not only does this half-hourly service cater for a large residential population, including the students and staff of Coláiste Éinde, but it is also largely utilised by the members of the Golf Club, and, in the summer months by members of Galway’s two swimming clubs, and hosts of visitors.
The announcement that the Galway-Salthill service will be speeded-up slightly from Monday affords little consolation to the hundreds of people living in the area between Dalysfort-road and Knocknacarra.
If they are not to be subjected to a great deal of hardship and inconvenience, these people must be provided with an adequate service, at least for some hours in the morning and evening and at mid-day.
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
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.
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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