Galway In Days Gone By

1916

Unbecoming behaviour

At Galway Petty Sessions, Head-Constable Killacky summoned John Moloney for misbehaviour at Dominick Street. The evidence of the complainant was that on the previous Thursday night, a man got sick in Shop-street and a crowd collected. The defendant with two others crossed the roadway and opposite Mr. Cloherty’s premises, took hold of one of three girls who were walking together and swung her round in a most unbecoming manner, with the result that the others screamed and ran off. The other fellows who were with the defendant ran away, and complainant did not get their names.

Chairman: This is a very uncommon offence.

Complainant: A very common offence, your worship.

Chairman: Is it?

Complainant: Yes, by this class of boy. They go in crowds around the town. She was a respectable girl going on her business. This class of girl works hard all day in the factory, and afterwards they cannot go down the town with any degree of decorum because rowdies like this molest them.

Defendant (a respectable looking young fellow): I was going down town and this girl was coming up and she passed a joke on me, and I passed one on her.

Chairman: Was any such thing going on?

Complainant: No, sir; it could not be. I believe he only goes about the town. I have had several complaints from his parents – both his father and mother – about his conduct for the past few weeks.

Chairman: Oh that’s bad. I think if we had the power, we would be inclined to deal very stringently with you, Moloney, because we could not think of allowing such conduct to go on in the town. I have been often down the town late at night, and I think the girls walking up and down are very well behaved always, their demeanour being such as would not invite any liberties on the part of young people like you; and if you are guilty of things like that, the magistrates think that it should be nipped in the bud at once.

You are fined 20s., and bound to the peace to be of good behaviour for 12 months, yourself in £5, and two sureties of £5 each, or, in default, a month in jail.

1941

Plague of tinkers

Deputy District Justice F.J. Mangan at Gort Court on Saturday sent several members of the “tinker” tribe to prison for drunkenness and disorderly conduct on the public street.

There was no appearance for the defendants, and in asking the Justice to take a serious view of the disgraceful conduct of these vagrants, Supt. O’Halloran said that they seemed to make Gort their headquarters on the occasion of fairs and markets.

They congregated there in droves and became a general pest; there were numerous complaints of their annoyance from the people of the town about their language and conduct while drunk on the streets.

Some of them, added the Superintendent, were selling pipe covers, but this was only a cover for begging and pestering the people at fairs and markets, while in the early hours of the morning at fairs, they were also about the streets drunk and disorderly and abusive to people attending fairs. The Acting Justice imposed sentences of fourteen days in several cases and imposed fines of 5s. in others.

Tuam train service

The G.S.R. replying to the request of Tuam Town Commissioners for a better train service (especially with the morning mail from Dublin which does not reach Tuam until 5pm), stated that it is not possible to make any change at present owing to the fact that there is only one train from Limerick to Sligo which connects with the morning train from Dublin for passengers and mail. The company, however, promised to keep the matter in mind to see if any early improvement could be effected,

The Dept. of Post and Telegraphs did not reply at all to the Commissioners’ application to have a bus run with the mails from Athenry to Tuam, thus enabling the mail to be delivered three to four hours’ earlier, and the Commissioners decided to request a reply to their letter.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.