Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1914
Meeting sabotaged
One of the largest and most representatively attended public demonstrations ever witnessed in the Town Hall, Galway, was held last evening, in response to the invitation of the Urban Council that the manhood of the city and surroundings should meet together in this crisis in the country’s history to support the attitude of the Irish Leader in regard to the present war.
The Hall was crowded in every part, and a huge mass of people clamoured for admission at the doors. A feature of the proceedings was the large number of Conservatives and ladies present.
Mr. Stephen Gwynn, M.P., received a most enthusiastic ovation, the little clique had all the day been threatening to break up the meeting, not daring to show their identity by openly interrupting.
Mr Gwynn had not been speaking ten minutes when suddenly the hall was plunged into darkness by a pre-arranged plan. Five of the main cables had been cut by the riverside and at a signal, the sixth was severed. Almost at the same moment, little glass globes containing sulphuric acid and carbide of calcium were flung towards the platform and into the body of the hall.
They burst, emitting a foul-smelling liquid that created a disgusting stench throughout the hall. Fortunately, there was no panic.
There were a number of ladies in the front seats, and the cowardly action of the contemptible little clique might well have precipitated a panic.
It was announced the meeting would be held on the Courthouse steps.
1939
Connemara self-sufficient
Connemara is determined to become as self-sufficient as possible for the duration of the present war. The potato crop, which is being dug at the moment, is one of the best for ever so many years, and now almost every farmer in the area is preparing to sow winter wheat.
Many small farmers have gone back to rearing bonhams, which was one of the best paying industries in Connemara up to recent times. At least two years supply of turf was saved this summer, so no one in the area need worry about coal.
Good supplies of fish for local consumption are being landed at Cleggan, Roundstone and Kilkerrin, and the surplus is being cured by local dealers. On the whole, Connemara has no need to fear a famine.
Press censorship
The result of the Press censorship in Connemara has been a crop of most fantastic rumours, and our representative there is being literally bewildered with tips of real “hot news”.
Heretofore, the unsurpassable objection to such stories was “there was nothing about it in the paper”, but now that objection no longer holds good. When one hears down in Carraroe that certain people were arrested in Leenane, one can neither reject nor accept the story. The same is the case when one is told in Leenane that a submarine put into Clifden.
The type of rumour mentioned may be harmless enough, but when stories get out regarding the stability of the State and the doings of people in high places, a lot of havoc can be wrought.
The obvious remedy for such a state of affairs is a free Press in regard to domestic happenings at least.
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
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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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