Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By – A browse through the archives of the Connacht Tribune
1913
Suicide attempt
A fair-haired lad, of apparently not more than twenty, was put into the dock before Mr. Justice Madden, at the Galway Summer Assizes, and indicted for an attempt to commit suicide on 20th December last. He pleaded guilty.
Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, K.C., who, with Mr. Coll, B.L. (instructed by Mr. Golding, Crown Solicitor), replying to a question from his lordship, said he understood that the boy’s mother would look after him.
He had been in an asylum for some time, and had to be looked after as a result of the severe injury he had inflicted on himself. His mother was a poor woman.
Mr. Justice Madden, in allowing the prisoner out on his own recognisances of £10, said that he had made enquiries, and learned that the prisoner committed this injury on himself probably as a result of drink. He warned him to keep away from drink in the future.
The prisoner was then allowed out, and left the Court accompanied by his mother, who promised to look after him.
1938
New bridges
For the erection of two new canal bridges in Galway City – one at University road and the other at Claddagh – Galway County Council’s finance committee had before them at their weekly meeting six cross-Channel tenders and one Galway tender.
The two new bridges will replace the existing old bridges, and it is the intention of the County Council to proceed later with the replacement of the three other canal bridges in the city.
Shark struggle
Michael Roche and John F. King, two fishermen of Keeraunmore, Aillebrack, had a four-hours struggle with a shark which became entangled in their mackerel nets, last week.
When the fishermen, who were in a currach, held on to the nets, the shark dragged them for miles before they eventually succeeded in dispatching him with the blade of a scythe which they carried in the boat.
They then dragged him ashore and disentangled him from the nets, which were badly damaged. The shark was over twenty feet long.
Weather spoilsport
Because of the inclemency of the weather, all sporting fixtures were postponed in Galway on Sunday. By the aid of the “loudspeaker on wheels”, Galway people were notified early on Sunday morning that the Galway Swimming Club’s sixth annual gala was off.
Connacht title clash
The stage is set for what should prove a titanic struggle when the old rivals, Mayo and Galway, meet in the Connacht Senior football final at Roscommon on Sunday next.
Not alone is the Connacht title at stake, according to some, but also the All-Ireland, as it is freely expressed that the Connacht winners will be favourites for the “major” title.
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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Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
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