Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Time Gone By – A browse through the archives of the Connacht Tribune
1914
Cyclist killed
It is with feelings of regret we announce the death, under very melancholy circumstances, of Mr. George Macauley, timekeeper at the Marconi works, Clifden, which occurred during the early hours of Sunday morning.
It appears that, while cycling homewards to Ballinaboy, some two miles from Clifden on Saturday night, he lost control of his machine close to the Monastery at Ardbear, where there is a very precipitous hill.
It is believed the machine ran into a large stone placed over a gullet opposite the monastery gate, with the result that the poor fellow was dashed against the wall, receiving an ugly wound on the right cheek and also a wound on the jaw.
It must have been in the fall his side came in contact with some portion of the bicycle, causing internal injuries. A short time afterwards he was found lying on the roadside in a dazed condition by a comrade of his, Mr. R.J. Henry, who is also an employee of Mr. Marconi’s.
Mr. Henry, after requisitioning help, conveyed the deceased to Ardbear hotel, a little way off, where everything was done for him, but notwithstanding, he succumbed to his injuries about 4 o’clock on Sunday morning.
Ghost ship?
The Irish National Volunteers had better be on their guard. There is a “mystery ship” (we are not romancing) off the Irish coast. Is she the mysterious Fanny that left another shore some weeks ago, and is she conveying arms to the Ulster Volunteers so that they may stifle the voice of the nation. Or is she merely a myth – fresh from the Tory lie manufacturers of the North?
The story of the mysterious ship supposed to be endeavouring to land arms on the West coast of Ireland is regarded here as an absolute myth, quite on a par with other absurd rumours that have been of late been set afloat, such as the landing of a German airship at Mayo and the arrest of the Ulster Volunteers leaders.
Anyhow, landing on the West coast would be by no means so simple an operation as it might seem.
1939
Eyre Square dance hall
Galway Corporation, at their meeting in City Hall, had before them only two tenders for the letting of Eyre Square during Race Week, one from Mr. Thomas O’Toole, lessee of the Salthill Dance Pavilion, and £305 11s., and the other from Mr. John Allen, Walshe’s Terrace, at £411.
Replying to Mr. Lydon, Alderman O’Flaherty said the figure last year was about £480. Mr. Faller said they would have to ensure that the Square would be left in the same condition after the week.
Ald. Miss Ashe said that God and the world knew that the man who was in charge of the dance saloon could not be held responsible for the condition of the lower portion of the Square.
The Ban
The Ban on the election of those who attend “foreign” games or dances as officers of the Gaelic League removed last year, was re-imposed at the annual congress of the Gaelic League held in the Mansion House, Dublin on Tuesday.
The motion to re-impose the ban was carried by forty-two votes to thirty-five. Some delegates did not vote.
Criostoir Mac Aonghusa, Rosmuc, Connemara, opposing the motion, said the ban was interfering with the freedom of the individual. The G.A.A., which had criticised the Gaelic League, should first put its own house in order.
These restrictions were a worse form of puritanism than any existing in Belfast, and young people would not come into the Gaelic League because of those rules.
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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