Galway In Days Gone By

1916

Rising in Galway

Between 5 and 5.30 this (Wednesday) morning, about six or seven motor cars left Galway for the affected portion of the county for the purpose of seeing how the ground lay; what the fate had been of outlying barracks which might have been invested during the night; for quelling the insurrection; and for making arrests.

All went well until the party reached the cross-roads at Carnmore, where the most serious encounter of the local crisis occurred. At this spot, the police were ambushed by a crowd of peasants who at once opened fire.

Previous to this, it would appear that the cars had pulled up, the travellers apparently having got wind of what awaited them.

The Volunteers had the protection of two large stone walls, and of this they made the most, and the police sought what shelter they could.

For a full half-hour, shots were exchanged and in the course of the encounter, Constable Whelan, Eglinton Street, Galway, received a shot wound to the side of the head, from which he expired ten minutes later,

The remains were subsequently conveyed to the city in the motor on which he had journeyed out alive.

The losses of the Volunteers are not known, but they left a lot of pikes after them when eventually they withdrew, and in the course of the engagement some of their number was seen to fall.

Rail sabotage

The most exciting incidents of the year so far as can be learned in the City, occurred in the vicinity of Oranmore. Early yesterday morning, four armed men entered the signal cabin, and whilst they had the signalman “covered” with their revolvers, one of the number took a shovel and broke the signals.

At the moment Mr. Courtenay, superintendent of the line, was endeavouring to get into communication from Athenry with the Oranmore signal cabin. The armed men, whom the signalman, a newcomer to the district, did not recognise, left after putting the signals out of commission.

Subsequently, as the two o’clock train, which had only established a connection as far as Mullingar, was covering the distance between Athenry and Galway, a sharp look-out was kept, Mr. Courtenay travelling on the train.

But for the effective vigilance of those on the engine, a disaster would undoubtedly have occurred, as a short section of the rails had been removed in the region of Derrydonnell.

The incoming train, which was travelling at 40 miles an hour, was brought to a standstill just in time. Mr. Courtenay, and some of the passengers, immediately left the train and set out on for Galway, walking along the line.

1941

Fair ban

The ban on the holding of fairs in County Galway may be removed next week – at least in respect of a large proportion of the county. The area about Portumna, which is close to the Offaly and Tipperary borders, and possibly an area close to the Clare border in the south of the country, may be obliged to endure the ban a little longer.

Galway has had a clean bill of health, and should foot-and-mouth disease continue to diminish, in the next few weeks, many counties may have the ban entirely lifted.

Even though the ports may not be open for shipment, the holding of fairs in County Galway would bring a good deal of relief in respect of sheep, especially hoggets. Precautions against the spread of the disease continue urgent, and all farmers should be on the alert.

Creggs coal seam

At a meeting of Glinsk and Kilbegnet Parish Council, the Secretary (Mr. A.L. Mullany, B.A., N.T.) read a letter from the Minister for Industry and Commerce stating that he had considered their resolution regarding the belief that a coal seam existed near Creggs, but that the geological survey did not suggest the presence of coal in the district.

Mr. Sirr said they should not let the matter rest there. He was born at the foot of the mountain and from his earliest years had heard the old people of the district talking of the coal that was there.

The Rev. Chairman said that a townland on the mountain side was called Coalpits and there must be some reason for that. Mr. Sirr said they should send another resolution to the Ministry asking to have their claim investigated.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.