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.