July 2, 2010

Date Published: {J}

Telephone system

The secretary of the General Post Office wrote to the Ballinasloe Urban Council regarding the telephone system, that an officer will visit the town. The quoting of terms for extending the telephone is dependent on the sufficient number of subscribers.

Mr. Elder: What advantage?

Chairman: In my mind, it would be a great advantage. Every town is getting in the telephone system.

Abusive language

At the City Petty Sessions, a woman summoned her son for abusive language. Mr. O’Dea, solr., appeared for the defendant.

Complainant swore that defendant was her son. When he takes drink he comes to her house and annoys her. He did so on last Thursday week.

Mr. O’Dea: On the day in question, did you attack him first? – I did not.

Did you attack him and break his ribs on a previous occasion? – He came to the house and we assaulted him.

Did he pass the half-door on the day in question? – He did not.

Was it a match he wanted? – He wanted a book from his brother, and said if he did not get it, he would dash his brains out.

Mr. O’Dea: He is a literary man (laughter).

Constable Farrell swore on the 9th of June he saw the defendant. He had a cut in his head which he said was inflicted by complainant and her family.

The Chairman said defendant should keep away from his mother’s house. The case was dismissed.

1935

Boating accident

A boat in which Thomas Flaherty, Claddagh, Galway, was crossing the Corrib River between O’Brien’s Bridge and the Salmon Weir Bridge on Saturday evening capsized and he was thrown into a strong current. A powerful swimmer, accounted one of the best in Claddagh, Flaherty had little difficulty in swimming to a point on the bank, from which he was later rescued by boat.

It appears that Flaherty, who is a bailiff employed by the Galway Fishery Conservators, was crossing to clean the Nuns’ Island weir. He stepped on the side of the boat and the boat dipped and took in a lot of water.

When Flaherty saw this, he jumped back into the boat. The weight of the water in the boat broke a bar connected with the wire stretched across the river by which Flaherty was guiding the boat across.

The boat drifted away and struck a rock a short distance down.

The impact caused Flaherty to stumble and he fell out. He swam to a wall on the bank and remained there until a fishing boat in charge of a Mr. McDonagh put out from the Tower near Wolf Tone Bridge and took him aboard. A big crowd collected on O’Brien’s Bridge and witnessed the incident.

Storm havoc

The most devastating thunderstorm experienced here for over sixty years swept over South, West and North Connemara on Tuesday evening and the early hours of Wednesday morning. Damage was heavy and extensive, but no loss of human life is reported so far.

Telephonic and telegraphic communications were completely disorganised by lightning and repairs to the telegraph wires were still being carried out on Wednesday evening.

Numbers of sheep and cattle were killed especially in the hill country around the Twelve Pins. From Rosmuck, Lettermore and Carraroe, phenomenal damage to houses by flooding is reported.

The thunderstorm was accompanied by a cloudburst in Recess and Maam Valley district. The resultant floods caused severe damage to a bridge between Maam Cross and Oughterard on the main Galway-Clifden road.

Mails and newspapers coming to Clifden on Wednesday morning were delayed for several hours en route. A gang of twenty workmen were sent out from Galway to assist in repairing the bridge. The road near Recess post office was very badly flooded – a landslide carried a bit of cliff across the road near the post office.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.