Archive News
Vienna evokes memories of thriving times in a big city
Date Published: {J}
I never thought that I’d wake again to the sound outside the window of three men operating a digger before eight in the morning. But then this was Austria, a long way – geographically and economically – from Celtic Tiger Ireland.
The skyline around Vienna is dotted with giant cranes and the world of commerce is thriving in a city where the historical mark of the Hapsburgs intertwines on every corner with the wealth and well-being of this modern metropolis.
We were there last week to accept two newspaper awards – a certificate of excellence for our Galway City Tribune and a magnificent trophy for our sister paper, Gaelscéal, chosen by the panel of international judges as one of half a dozen of the best newspapers of 2011 from 27 European countries.
The European Newspaper Congress also chose to show the best of the old and new Vienna; the two-day conference of 500 journalists, editors, designers and managers was held at the city’s ultra-modern conference centre a stone’s throw from the Danube while the Winners Dinner was in the magnificent old Rathaus, the Town Hall in the heart of the old city.
The point of all this talk of Vienna was that it gave us an insight into the Ireland we had once been so proud of – and then the Austrians took it a step further.
Because while they had all the big stores – from Armani and Versace to Jack Wolfskin and Timberland – they also had the added dimension of a street culture, where restaurateurs and café owners were able to leave hundreds of tables outdoors overnight without fear of some toe-rag coming along to kick them up and down the street.
Newspapers are sold from clear plastic containers combined with a little money box where there is sufficient trust around to believe that the reader will insert the price of the paper rather than simply lift the open flap for their daily read.
Bars run tabs for customers who never fail to present themselves for the bill, irrespective of how long they have enjoyed the hospitality – although it must be said that one of the things missing from the streets was drunken idiots – and the underground requires little more than very occasional spot checks because everyone buys a ticket.
For a city with a population of 1.8 million people, Vienna is a piece of cake to get around – because the ultra-efficient underground, with just four lines and a network that a six year old child could master, takes you to wherever you need to go within six minutes of your arrival at a station.
It is also steeped in European history with the mark of the Hapsburg dynasty to be seen on every corner – and the legacy of a city that was home to Mozart, Strauss and many others is the half a dozen magnificent opera houses when any one of them would be a jewel.
The city that is also home to the Vienna Boys Choir has an exemplary approach to its music; you can pay close to €100 to enjoy the nightly opera over dinner – or you can stand at the back and enjoy the same performance for €3.50.
Each night thousands pour onto the street like the best dressed group of fans to ever leave a football match – only they’ve come from another musical extravaganza.
And for all of their commercial awareness and big label stores, the Austrians haven’t lost the run of themselves. Because the commercial heart of this old city doesn’t beat on a Sunday; apart from the souvenir shops, the rest of them are closed.
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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