Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1914
Mines in Galway Bay?
Considerable interest and some mild excitement were caused in Galway on Tusday afternoon, when the rumour spread abroad that mines had been laid at the entrance to Galway Bay, in the vicinity of Aran Islands.
Sensible people at once discredited the story as one of the many wild and foundationless fictions floating about the country districts in these days, when the mind of the masses appears to be able to accept almost any intelligence relating to the way
In the first place, the mining of Galway Bay, from the British point of view, could only have practical value in the remote contingency of a German invasion of the west coast. From the German point of view, the only value of mines in the Bay would be that they stood a chance, so small as to be almost negligible, of striking one of the cruisers of the Atlantic Squadron that is known to patrol the western coasts.
But although the legend was discounted; it gathered credence as it travelled, and by night, with some it became a fixed belief.
Yesterday (Thursday) morning, however, it was found that, like most legends, there was just a grain of truth in it. On Wednesday morning, it appears, His Majesty’s coastguards on what is known as the war signal tower of Aran, reported that a vessel suspected of mine-laying on the Irish coast had passed the islands and steamed into the Bay.
Since the war began, all the coastguards on the islands have been concentrated at the signal stations, which occupy points of vantage on the islands, and from here a continuous vigil is sustained.
The authorities in Galway immediately became active, and when the SS. Karlsberg from Sweden, bringing a cargo of seventeen hundred tons of timber for Messrs. Thos McDonogh and Sons, anchored off the roads, she was boarded by the officials and a number of police.
A thorough examination of the vessel was made, but nothing was found that lent the smallest colour to the legend, or to the suspicions of the coastguards.
1939
New county hospital
That the building of the proposed new county hospital in Galway now would give employment never so badly needed before was the view expressed by the secretary, Mr. Sean Gallagher, at the meeting of Galway Hospitals and Dispensaries’ Committee.
The matter arose when the secretary, submitting land bonds in connection with a site for the new hospital, said that they appeared to be making no progress regarding the building of the new hospital. Seven sets of plans had been prepared, none of which were sanctioned. The matter had been going on for the past seven years.
Mr. Mannion said that it was high time the matter was brought to a head.
Secretary: I suggest that all the T.D.s in the county be asked to approach the Minister and point out to him what happened when survivors of the torpedoed liner Athenia were landed in Galway. Fifty-seven patients had to be discharged in order to make room for them.
Chairman: All that should be placed before the Minister.
Secretary: The architect for our hospital came to me the other day and said that never before had he been so disgusted at any job.
Mr. Murphy: The new hospital could hardly be built in war times.
Secretary: If the work begun now it would give employment which was never before more badly needed.
Council specs
More than half the office staff of the Galway County Council working in the County Buildings at Prospect Hill, Galway, have had to get spectacles. Blame for this is laid by the E.S.B. on the admixture of daylight and electric light in the winter evenings; the windows are not covered by blinds. A lot of clerks had complained about the lighting and the E.S.B. had submitted a report on the matter.
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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