Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Time Gone By – A browse through the archives of the Connacht Tribune.
1913
Frightening visitors
At the Galway Urban Council, Mr. R.W. Simmons, photographer, came before the Council and said he wanted to make a few observations as to the statements and articles appearing in a Dublin paper about fever in Connemara.
He said the articles would have a bad effect on the tourist traffic, and were very detrimental to the interests of Galway. In fact, there was no fever in Connemara. There had been only one case in the place where it was alleged to have broken out.
He had seen a report from the local doctor stating that there was no fever, and had also received a letter from another Connemara doctor stating that no fever had occurred in his district for 30 years.
That was only one letter out of many, and he thought the Council should call upon the ‘Independent’ to contradict the statements. One paper had contradicted them in a half-hearted way, but the Council should pass a strong resolution on the subject, for it was a great injury to Galway.
Mr. Costello: There is another thing, a number of good-natured people have put their hands into their pockets to help these people. We ought to be thankful to Mr Simmons for making that statement. We have to maintain the character of the town for good health.
1938
Hotel saved from fire
In response to an urgent ‘phone call, the Galway Fire Brigade drove to Mountbellew through a blinding hailstorm, in the early hours of Sunday morning. The ‘phone call was to the effect that some outhouses adjoining Mr. Wm. Fahy’s hotel in Mountbellew had caught fire.
When the brigade arrived at 3 a.m., a large galvanised shed containing tons of hay was completely enveloped in flames, which reached a height of sixty feet. The men of the brigade connected seventeen 40 ft. lengths of hose to the river which runs nearby, but because of the recent drought, they were unable to get sufficient pressure, and it was found necessary to put the turbines working to raise the level of the water in the river.
By the time the hoses were brought to play on the fire, the huge hayshed was doomed, and the brigade concentrated on preventing the flames from spreading to the hotel. This they succeeded in doing, but it took them five hours to get the fire completely under control.
The blaze could be seen for miles around, and attracted many people from outside the town, who, together with hundreds of the townspeople, watched the brigade at work.
Busy mother
A sow, the property of Thady Flynn, Knockavannie, Tuam, had a litter of twenty-six bonhams.
Tuam gridlock
A committee of the Tuam Town Commissioners met Superintendent Cronin, Garda Siochana, at a special meeting to consider the question of getting bye-laws made for the town, especially as to traffic regulations.
The Commissioners are particularly anxious to have the traffic regulated on the Square, where, it is alleged, obstruction takes place on a large scale on fair and market days. The matter was fully disclosed and whilst nothing definite has yet been decided about the new bye-laws, it is stated that special parking spaces are to be marked out in the town, including the Square.
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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