Galway in Days Gone By
Threatening language, pigs & hens drowned and a Galway Races ‘experiment
Stories from the pages of the Tribune from 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
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1913
Threatening language
At Portumna Petty Sessions, James Donohoe, Derraking, had Michael Daniel summoned for threatening language and to show cause why he should not be bound to the peace. Mr. James J. Kearns, solr., appeared for the complainant.
Mr. Kearns said the language and threats were used on the 15th July on a turf bank which was being cut by complainant, of which Mr. Young was landlord.
Some time previous to July, Mr Young came on the property, and objected on the occasion to the quantity of turf cut by Donohoe and other tenants, but said he would not interfere that year. Michael Daniel is a son of Mr. Young’s herd, and on the date in question, he threatened Jas. Donohoe. Donohoe’s father was cutting the bank for over 50 years.
James Donohoe added that Daniel told him to clear away. He said that he would do six months for him. He told him to bring out his father. Daniel had a stick. His father did not come out. He was afraid of Daniel.
Cross-examined by defendant: Two other men were in the place. Martin Donohoe, father of witness, said that on the date in question, one of his sons came for him. He did not go out. He was afraid of Daniel. Defendant was bound to the peace for 12 months.
1938
Pigs and hens drowned
A story of a flood in Oughterard that drowned pigs and hens was told to the county finance committee of the Galway County Council by Mr. Harry O’Toole.
Mr. O’Toole told the committee that the river was narrow at a sharp turn of the bed in Oughterard and was unable to take away all the water in time of flood. After the rain of the previous day the flood that morning (Saturday) was unusually heavy and a number of people had to go out and transfer fowl and bonhams to a place of safety. Some hens and pigs were, in fact, drowned.
Mr. Perry, former county surveyor, had intended to blast away part of the bend to give the water a clear run and to build a 100 yards long wall to confine the river, but did not get an opportunity to do it. He wondered if the Council would get that work done now.
On the suggestion of the chairman, it was agreed to ask Mr. M.J. Kennedy, county surveyor, for a report.
1963
Galway Races experiment
Galway Races of 1963 will be remembered primarily as the meeting at which the experiment of opening with evening races was inaugurated. A decision on whether the experiment is to become a regular feature of the famed three-day event will be taken later.
As has been usual for the past few years race eve in Galway-Salthill on Monday was quiet with large crowds making the most of the glorious heatwave.
Beaches along the coastline were packed and the bed bureaux in Eglinton Street and at Salthill were fully geared to meet a record demand for accommodation. The splendid weather continued on Tuesday and in the afternoon the trek to the course was off.
The evening meeting was launched to very favourable circumstances from the point of view of the weather. The intense heat of the afternoon had faded by the time racing began.
The attendance figures and the tote figures for the opening day last year and the experimental evening meeting make an interesting comparison. There was an increase of over 1,000 in the attendance on Tuesday evening, while the tote figures were up substantially.
The general opinion appeared to be strongly in favour of the evening meeting. Business people in the city were especially emphatic that it was a most welcome development affording their staffs an opportunity of attending.
1988
Ballyforan death knell
The death knell has finally been rung for the ‘miracle’ multi-million pound industry which was to provide 600 jobs for the East Galway area, with the confirmation from the Bord na Mona chief executive that the proposed Ballyforan peat briquette plant had been completely ruled out of the company’s plans.
Tickets ‘foul up’
There was growing consternation this week among loyal Galway hurling supporters who are unable to lay their hands on tickets for Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final clash against Offaly.
And they are blaming the Hurling Board for the method of distributing the rather limited number of tickets the county received from G.A.A. headquarters.
Supporters were under the impression it would be a first-come, first-served basis on which the tickets would be distributed, but to their dismay, they have had to file applications with the Hurling Board and await their luck.
Record house bid
Auctioneer Martin Tyrrell announced a new record price of £75,000 for a house at Ballymote, Tuam. The price includes carpets, curtains and some extra items.
1923
Gloom after war
The special correspondent of the “Independent”, who has been writing of the aftermath of civil war in the West, notes that a feeling of apathy, due to the uncertainty of events, exists amongst the sorely-tried people of Connemara; that politics are referred to only with disgust and that not more than fifty per cent. of the people would vote at a general election; that poverty and unemployment are rife, and there is a growing tendency towards emigration; and that there are bitter complaints of the huge impost of rates and taxes.
It is only too true that there is enough of material for the pessimist to brood over, and that a feeling of gloom permeates country towns. But it is a poor tribute to patriotism that has survived such horrors to encourage this gloom.
It is the duty of all of us to get this pessimism out of the national body and to rid ourselves of the notion that we have not enough Christianity and moral sense left to restore our people to cheerful and ordered progress and industry.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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1923
Peace negotiations
As we go to press, An Dáil is discussing the Peace negotiations between the Government and Mr. de Valera. It was announced on Wednesday for the first time that such negotiations were begun following Mr. de Valera’s “cease fire” proclamation of April 27, and that by the 30th of the month Senators Andrew Jameson and James Douglas were asked by him to discuss proposals.
They said it was for the Government to discuss; they could only confer. Into the ensuring conferences the Government declined to enter personally, but on May 3 the senators placed before Mr. de Valera the Cabinet’s terms, which were that future issues should be decided by the majority vote of the elected representatives of the people, and that as a corollary and a preliminary to the release of prisoners, all lethal weapons should be in the custody and control of the Executive Government.
Mr. de Valera relied to this on May 7 with a document in which he agreed to majority rule and control of arms, but added that arms should be stored in a suitable building in each province under armed Republican guard until after the elections in September, that the oath should not be made a test in the councils of the nation, and that all political prisoners should be released immediately on the signing of this agreement.
“You have brought back to us,” wrote President Cosgrave, “not an acceptance of our conditions, but a long and wordy document inviting debate where none is possible”.
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.
1923
State of the parties
Speculation as to parties after the next Irish elections is exceedingly interesting, especially in view of the enlarged franchise.
In Dublin, the view appears to be held by a number of people that Labour will make a great bid for power.
Dublin, however, has a curiously insular habit of thought where matters that concern all Ireland and in which Ireland has a say are concerned. We hope this insularity will rapidly disappear under the new conditions.
The country as a whole is backing the Farmers’ Party, and has not the smallest doubt that it will be the strongest combination in the next Dáil, and that it will oust the purely political parties, the one because it has resorted to force, the other because it has been compelled to use force to supress force, and the Labour Party because Ireland feels that at the back of its policy lurks the danger of Communism.
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.
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