Galway In Days Gone By

1915

Smeared with tar

An extraordinary and wanton attack on three young ladies was perpetrated on Sunday week at Tonaghmore, Cummer, Galway about six miles from Tuam. The circumstances of the strange affair are wrapped in mystery as no evidence of a motive manifests itself.

The ladies, it appears, were walking along the public road when two men jumped over the wall on the roadside and ran in their direction. It is alleged that they emptied a tin vessel and a football, both of which contained molten tar on the two girls.

The poor, terrified girls were smeared with the nasty liquid in a shocking manner, their heads, faces, hair, clothes and the upper portion of their bodies being completely covered.

The perpetrators of the atrocious deed, in Hun-like manner, promptly left their hapless victims to the mercy of fate and retreated into the darkness.

Not content with their original crime, they discharged revolver shots in close proximity to the poor girls. They proceeded to a house where a social party was summoned to meet and rent the air with shots fired in quick succession.

The occurrence has aroused considerable indignation in the locality, and has been strongly condemned by the general community as a vicious act of blackguardism on inoffensive victims.

In connection with the affair, two arrests were made by the police on Monday night, whose names are John Murphy, Kilcurriff and Peter Glynn, Tonaghmore, were removed to Tuam on Tuesday morning under armed police escorts.

Police activity

During the week the constabulary in Turloughmore have been actively engaged in trying to prevent further breaches of the peace in consequence of a serious affray in which shots were fired, that occurred on Sunday night. On Monday night, three houses in the district were fired into after the police had ceased patrolling. Extra police from Tuam are on duty nightly since these occurrences.

1940

Baptism of fire

The victims of a terrible Chilean earthquake, an enjoyable time at the New York World’s Fair, where he was a bodyguard for the King and Queen of England on the occasion of their visit, and, more recently, active service in the biggest sea battle fought in the present war, are some of the experiences of 23-years-old Patrick Shaughnessy, St. Brendan’s-avenue, Wood Quay, Galway.

Mr. Patrick Shaughnessy, formerly a pupil of St. Brendan’s national school, was a ‘bus conductor in Galway prior to leaving for England about three years ago. He is now first-class stoker on H.M.S. Exeter, the 8,000 ton cruiser which, with the smaller cruisers, Ajax and Achilles, crippled the 10,000-ton German pocket battleship, Graf Spee, in mid-December and drove her limping into the port of Montevideo, from which she steamed a few days later to be scuttled by her own crew.

He visited Galway for a month’s leave last August, but was recalled after three days owing to the threatening situation in Europe. The weeks rolled by and war broke out but no news was heard from him.

Then came the story of the battle off Montevideo and his parents became anxious when it was learned that the Exeter had suffered heavy damage in the battle. Their fears were, however, allayed shortly after when his sister, Mrs. J. Glynn, Courthouse Square, Galway, received a wire from him informing her that he was fit and well and had received no injury in his first baptism of fire. He is still with his ship “at an unknown station”.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.