Connacht Tribune
OPW urged to buy former tourist office for State
Galway County Council is to urge the Office of Public Works (OPW) to purchase the gate lodge of Portumna Castle instead of it passing into private hands.
The detached three-bay single-storey former gate lodge was built in 1860 and is now used as an office. The protected building is up for sale for €100,000.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Ivan Canning told this month’s Loughrea Municipal District meeting he was contacted by somebody in the UK who had discovered the one-bedroom stone building was up for sale. He believed it was owned by the semi-state forestry company Coillte.
Portumna Castle is owned by the State and is managed by the OPW.
“I don’t know what is going on. It’s a piece of history. I wouldn’t like to see it being sold for the sake of €50,000, €60,000, €100,000? Why is it being sold? Why can’t the OPW do some agreement with Coillte to take it over? It was previously the tourist office. It’s here for hundreds of years. It’s an essential part of the castle.”
Senior executive engineer Enda Mulryan said he was aware that the gate lodge was up for sale.
“It would seem to be a perfect fit for the OPW but it’s not something we have an active role in,” he stated.
Cllr Canning said he did not accept it had nothing to do with Galway County Council.
“They’re selling a piece of history in Portumna. I don’t see why Galway County Council can’t make a representation to the OPW to buy it. It will mean something to us if it’s sold into private hands.”
Mr Mulryan said he knew an OPW official in Portumna and he would write to them pointing out that it would make sense for them to purchase the building.
According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, the gate lodge is a good example of Gothic and Tudor Revival architecture with pointed openings and mouldings.
“The unusual stonework, which is cut in irregular lozenge shapes, matches the flanking walls of the associated gate sweep. It forms part of an important group with the adjacent gate lodges, gates and other garden features, all part of the demesne of Portumna Castle.”
The cottage is being sold with 0.6 of a hectare with trees.
Portumna Castle is located next to Lough Derg and Portumna Forest Park and is said to be one of the most significant residences to be built in Ireland during its time.
It was built about 1616 by Richard de Burgo (Burke), who was a descendent of the famous Norman clan – De Burgo, the 4th Earl of Clanrickarde and the Lord President of Connaught.
It’s said that it cost De Burgo a staggering £10,000 to build the castle at that time.
In 1826 the house was gutted by an accidental fire and the family moved to the stables to live there until a new castle was constructed in 1862, which was again burnt to the ground in 1922.
The last Marquis of Clanricarde sold the house to the state in 1948. The castle was carefully and extensively restored and preserved and is now one of the top visitor attractions in the west. The parklands and woods over 1,500 acres are now a wildlife sanctuary and home to lots of little animals and deer.
The three matching gate lodges were designed by Sir Richard Morrison, a prominent architect in the early 19th century.
In 2014 the number of visitors to Portumna Castle reached over 15,000.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
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.
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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.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
