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.