Connacht Tribune
Snapshot in time
An historic All-Ireland win is one important event documented in Anthony Cunningham’s new book which captures major social, political and sporting moments of 1957. The Medical Director of Galway Clinic hopes the book will evoke memories for those who were alive at the time while offering younger readers a glimpse of the past and showing how it shapes our lives, as he tells JUDY MURPHY.
Our lives seem to go by in a flash, especially once we hit mid-adulthood. But some years do stand out and that’s especially true when it comes to childhood memories.
For Anthony Cunningham, the Medical Director of Galway Clinic, 1957 was such a year. Anthony, who is originally from Louth, was nine when his home county defeated Cork in the 1957 All-Ireland final. He remembers going to the homecoming, watching the victorious team from the shoulders of a kindly neighbour.
“He told me it would never again happen in my lifetime,” recalls Anthony. “And it wasn’t a curse, just a statement of fact. He was right.”
That was one of several standout moments of 1957 for Anthony, who has now combined memory with diligent research to produce a snapshot in time, with a new book, entitled About 1957 – That Was When!. It’s inspired by the approach taken by US writer and social historian Bill Bryson in his book One Summer: America, 1927, which brought that significant year in American history to life.
Anthony’s book, which is filled with photos, has 13 chapters, including a prologue giving a background to life in Ireland at the time; the levels of emigration, what people worked at and their social circumstances. He describes the publication as being somewhat like RTÉ’s Reeling in the Years, “in that I say what happened, outline its significance and give the fate of the central characters”.
There’s also an extensive bibliography so readers can delve further into particular topics.
These include the achievement of amateur lightweight boxer, Anthony ‘Socks’ Byrne from Drogheda, who’d won a bronze medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, losing in the semi-final in a split decision.
A few months later, in 1957, at an Irish-English International in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Socks defeated Dick McTaggart who had won gold in Melbourne. Anthony vividly recalls the excitement.
“We had a black and white TV. Not many people had televisions then and the neighbours gathered to watch the fight on BBC. There was no RTÉ.”
Socks and his wife emigrated to Canada soon after where they reared their family. Fifty years after the Olympics, Drogheda honoured Socks with a life-sized monument and Anthony also covers this.
Another major incident in his young life in 1957 was the IRA raid on the RUC barracks at Brookeborough, County Fermanagh. It occurred that January as part of the organisation’s ‘Border Campaign’. Two IRA volunteers, Seán South from Limerick and Fergal O’Hanlon from Monaghan, were killed by the RUC in the failed attack.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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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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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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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
