Archive News
November 10, 2011
Date Published: {J}
1911
Suicide bail
A man against whom a true bill was found by the Grand Jury at Galway Quarter Sessions for attempted suicide, was allowed out on his own recognisances. The Recorder asked if the prisoner was able to plead.
Dr. Kinkead said he thought the prisoner was. Since he entered the prison he had behaved in a rational way, and seemed to be all right. The police record was that he had been in Ballinasloe for three years, and that he had been discharged two years ago. The prisoner’s own statement confirmed this report.
His Honor: He has been in gaol since the 16th October. Would any further imprisonment under the doctor’s care be an advantage?
Dr. Kinkead: I do not know that it might. He seems to be all right at present. If he were a lunatic he would have made a better attempt; the wound was only a slight one.
The prisoner’s father said if his son was allowed out, he was prepared to give bail for his future good behaviour. The prisoner was allowed out on bail of £20.
Galway storm
Although the recent storm – if storm it could be called – did not pass over Galway without leaving some traces of its ravage, the damage, on the whole, was slight. On Saturday night, a brisk breeze grew towards midnight to a stiffish squall, and later to a fitful gale, which brought down a plentiful crop of slates all over the town. When it became serious, everyone’s thoughts turned seaward, but we are happy to state so far there is no report of any fatality to hand.
1936
Bad literature
At the monthly meeting of the members of the Galway Division A.O.H. (Board of Erin), Very Rev. A.J. Considine delivered a vigorous speech in denunciation of the sale of bad and immoral literature. Father Considine, who was received with loud applause, said he was very glad they had taken the initiative on this matter.
He expected that the Hibernians would do so, for he recalled with pride it was they who took the first steps in Dublin some time ago to institute proceedings against the vendors of immoral postcards. Those proceedings were successful in court, and he understood that what had been a nuisance and a poison had been thoroughly abated, if not altogether removed.
There was no doubt about it that immoral newspapers and magazines had been sold in Galway. He held in his hand one of these newspapers, which he purchased the day before, and in the first two pages, there were reports of ten cases of divorce, six of abduction and four presentations of medical men for performing illegal operations on women.
It was right to say that some time ago, some of the priests called on the various newsagents asking them to discontinue the sale of certain newspapers. They gave an undertaking that they would do so, and as far as he know, they loyally adhered to it. The paper he alluded to was bought at a place that the priests had not called on, but he was sure that the authorities responsible for it would be amenable to suasion as were all the other vendors.
He wished the new committee God-speed in their crusade for clean living and pure thinking, with which he whole-heartedly identified himself, and he had no doubt at all that their efforts would be crowned with complete success (loud applause).
Forestry report
The report of the German forestry expert, referred to by Mr. Derrig during an election campaign speech at Clifden, is still being eagerly looked forward to in Connemara. It was hoped that as a result of this report, much-needed employment would be made available throughout the Gaeltacht.
There seems to be no doubt whatsoever that the report will be favourable as regards the planting of trees in Connemara; for similar undertakings on a small scale have previously been carried out with success by private owners.
The progress of modern science has tended to increase rather than dispense with the utility of timber, with the result that the world’s supply is running alarmingly short. This being so, a scheme of tree-planting in Connemara would not only be a very necessary expedient at the moment, but would prove to be a sound investment in the years to come.
Leaseholders’ association
At a meeting held in the Town Hall, Galway, on Thursday afternoon, a branch of the National Leaseholder’s Association was formed for Galway City and a provisional committee was appointed.
National Director, Mr. Owen Mulholland explained in detail the aims and objects of the Association and read a list of provisions of legislation proposed by the organisation, and which, he said, would be submitted to the leaders of the parties in the Dail before next Easter.
The proposed legislation, he pointed out, sought to have Fair Rent Courts established with a view to reducing all excessive ground or base rents on all private houses and business premises and introducing a national purchase scheme for town leaseholders to enable them to buy out their lease rents at a fair price, either outright or spread over a period of years, and to make every house and business premises a freehold, just as farms are today under the Land Acts.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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