Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Time Gone By – A browse through the archives of the Connacht Tribune
1913
Irish Volunteers
A meeting of delegates from the various societies in Galway was held in the Town Hall on Sunday for the purpose of taking initial steps to form a branch of the Irish Volunteers in Galway.
The following societies were represented – A.O.H., U.I.L., Sinn Féin and the Gaelic League. A large number of University students were also present.
A resolution was unanimously adopted constituting the meeting into a Provisional Committee for the purpose of arranging the details in connection with the formation of a corps of the Irish Volunteers in Galway. It was also decided to get into communication with the promoters of the movement in Dublin.
Arrangements were made for a monster public meeting to be held on December 10 in the Town Hall, at which volunteers will be enrolled.
Lantern an heirloom
Constable McGlade summoned John J. Broderick for using a vehicle without a lighted lamp being attached.
The defendant had an old lantern fixed on to the cart, but in his opinion it had not boon used for seven years. It was kind of a decoy (laughter).
Defendant: It was a new lantern. Defendant’s mother appeared, and stated that the lantern was newly-bought by her husband in November. There was a great storm on the night in question, and the lamp went out at Boyhill. The constable had made a mistake.
Constable: I don’t think I have. Apparently that lantern is in the family for a generation.
Chairman: We will not go into the history or pedigree of the lantern. Whether it was a new or old is nothing to us. Fined 1s and costs.
1938
Salthill improvements
Plans for the development and improvement of the foreshore at Salthill, the removal of all loose boulders, the building of a reinforced concrete revetment wall, the provision of railings along the entire length of the promenade, the provision of a swimming pool, lavatories, seats and shelters, the laying of concrete roads and gravelled paths in Salthill Park, the provision of tennis courts, and a concrete pitch for amusements, terraced slopes, seats and shrubs in the park, and other improvements in the city, all at a cost of about £54,000, are contained in a report prepared by Mr. C.J. O’Callaghan, borough surveyor, and submitted to the Galway Corporation.
“I have considered the development and improvement of the foreshore at Salthill Promenade. At the present time, rock and loose boulders form some protection for the promenade wall. At low tides, the place is unsightly, and I propose that all loose boulders be removed and broken, and that existing rock be blasted away to under low tide level; that this rock be used as displacers in forming a reinforced concrete revetment wall at the base of the existing wall,” said the surveyor.
Kept home from school
Excuses offered to District Justice W.P. Cahill at Kinvara District Court, for keeping children at home from school during periods saving hay, raising the potato and beet crops, etc., were that labour was difficult to obtain this year, and owing to the unfavourable weather harvest work was backward and they were obliged to keep the children to help at home.
John Linnane, one of the parents summoned, said that on previous years it was easy to get labourers from Connemara. This year it was very difficult to get these labourers, as they were not visiting the district seeking work, and they were, it was believed, going lo England instead.
Being short of help, he kept the children at home from school a few days. For years previous to this year, he said, he always had Connemara labour with his crops. The Justice marked the summons against him ‘Cautioned’.
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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