Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1916
Letters to the editor
Sir,
Referring to the presentation of a gold wrist watch, etc., made in the Town Hall here on Saturday last by Lady Clonbrock, on behalf of the “ladies and women of Ballinasloe and the County Galway” to Sergeant Michael Ward, I was compelled to say what I felt – namely, that the ladies and women of the town and county had put the men of Ballinasloe and of the county to shame.
Is it, I now ask, possible that these men are dead to all sense of chivalry, and so apathetic as not to recognise, in a substantial manner, as other towns and counties have done, the gallantry, grit and bravery, in the face of death, of this Irish soldier and hero, whose devotion to duty courage and dash, have brought honour to the land of his birth, and particularly to his native town and county.
I am convinced that the matter only needs to be brought to the notice of his fellow town and county men to have his bravery and devotion to King and country suitably acknowledged. This humble but brave man has been decorated for his pluck not only by the King, but by the Emperor of Russia and the President of the French Republic.
Will the men of Galway – I make no class or political distinction – permit it to be said that they alone failed to honour the only living Galway man who has up to the present during this dreadful war, conspicuously brought them honour and fame?
I extremely regret that it should be left to my feeble effort to move in this matter, and should any success follow, I shall, until more formal arrangements are made, gladly accept and acknowledge any subscription that may be sent me.
- Rothwell, Ballinasloe.
1941
Waiting for drink
An application brought by Peter M. Kelehan to have a new hotel at Newcastle-road, Galway, licensed was refused by his lordship, Judge Martin J. Connolly, S.C., at Galway Circuit Court.
Objections to the granting of the licence were made by the Very Rev. P. Canon Davis, P.P., St. Joseph’s (Rahoon), Parish Priest of the parish in which the hotel is situated; by the Garda authorities; and by local members of the Licensed Grocers and Vintners Association.
Mr. C.J. Conroy (for the applicant) said that these premises were situated on what was one of the main roads coming into the city from Connemara and they were located some sixty or seventy yards from the Central Hospital on the opposite side of the road.
The hotel was built by the applicant’s family by direct labour and was completed sometime in 1940 at a cost (including furnishings) of £2,500. The applicant, who was brought up in a public house and therefore had experience of the trade, was, with the help of his sister, running the hotel, which catered mostly for middle-class people – and catered well.
In July, 1940, continued Mr. Conroy, it was opened for hotel business. At that time a shop was carried on in a front room which had now been converted into a dining-room. Since that time, visitors staying at the hotel had been mostly people from neighbouring counties – relatives and friends of patients in the Central hospital who stayed for a day or two days – and also people holidaying in Galway.
The nearest publichouse was Mr. Peter M. Cooke’s on one side, which was 300 or 400 yards from it, and on the other side, the applicant’s father’s publichouse, which was two miles distant. There would be evidence that people staying in the hotel from time to time had asked for drink which had to be gotten for them from other places. The nearest licensed hotel was the Hotel Enda, about half-a-mile away.
Superintendent Seamus O’Neill said that he was objecting to this licence on the grounds that the premises were unsuitable and that there were already too many licensed premises in Galway.
The Very Rev. P. Canon Davis said that he objected to a licensed premises so near the Central Hospital because of the danger of intoxicating spirits being brought into the hospital.
In reply to his lordship, Canon Davis said that he was afraid, too, that the facilities for getting drink might be abused by people waiting for funerals to leave the hospital.
Giving judgment, his lordship said he would have liked to grant the application, but he could not because he was not satisfied that the premises conformed with the requirements of the Act.
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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