Connacht Tribune
Passing of Roger Moore sees flood of reminiscences from his time in West
The death of legendary actor Sir Roger Moore – best known for his time as James Bond – brought memories flooding back of the time he shot a movie in Galway which turned the docks into a Norwegian port.
North Sea Hijack may not go down as one of his most memorable roles – but it did bring him into contact with a whole array of Galwegians, not least a man with worldwide acclaim of his own….for shellfish.
“He was a very nice man, actually,” says Willie Moran, sixth-generation owner of the famous Moran’s Oyster Cottage at The Weir in Kilcolgan. “He wasn’t a very talkative fella, but he was sincere, and nice.”
The 62-year-old says he met Moore “several times” when the actor was in the area shooting for the 1980 action film North Sea Hijack, also released as Ffolkes.
The film was shot over several weeks in Galway in 1979. Ostensibly set in and around the North Sea, it was filmed around the Galway City Docks—which were changed to look like a Norwegian port—as well as in Galway Bay and Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara.
Moore used to come into the restaurant often. “He liked to eat a few oysters in the evening, and walk out along the cliffs here. He used to find it very relaxing,” says Willie.
And on his last night—as befits a Bond—he had a bottle of champagne to say farewell.
“I was only a young lad at the time,” Willie laughs, remembering the film star as “very distinguished-looking”. But the quiet and private man was notoriously difficult to photograph. “Nobody could get a photo of him,” reveals Willie.
Other Galwegians also cherish their memories of Moore.
In a post on the Facebook group Galway Memories, Trish Aherne described a surprise visit: “I was a boarder in Oranmore at the time, and one Saturday morning when we were doing dishes after breakfast, Roger Moore walked in to the refectory unannounced, and hung out and chatted with the boarders for a few minutes!”
Geraldine Phillips recalled a different chance encounter. In another post to the group, she explained that she had been having a rough day in 1979 when she got stuck at Moran’s and sat down for a coffee.
“In I go and there is nobody there but a fella sitting at the bar,” she wrote. The man tried to start a conversation with her. “I never looked up from my coffee when he said ‘beautiful weather’ and I muttered ‘Yes’ as I didn’t want to talk to that strange man at that particular moment.”
Geraldine described how she was “in no mood to be chatted up by some eejit sitting in Moran’s at two o’clock in the afternoon,” so she spoke to him “sharply” and turned her back.
“He left about five minutes later and the barman asked me ‘Do you know who that was?’” She responded that she didn’t. “He was laughing his head off and he said ‘That was Roger Moore.’”
In her defence, Geraldine said that “it was dark when I came in from the sun outside so I really only saw a figure at the bar…then I sat two stools away from him not having a clue who he was and wouldn’t look at him because I thought ‘This fella thinks he can chat me up, no way.’”
She regrets it now. “Serves me right,” she said, laughingly calling herself “a right Madam”.
Moore was the first Bond man to come to the historic restaurant.
But he was soon followed by another – Pierce Brosnan, who held his wife’s birthday party there.
Willie, a former World Oyster Opening champion, says it was a “big thing” to have Moore in Galway, particularly at the peak of his career.
The beloved actor passed away in Switzerland on May 23.
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.
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.
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
