Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1918
Scandalous streets
Whilst the roads of Co. Galway have shown a very marked and welcome improvement in every direction, the condition of the streets within the borough boundary is truly scandalous.
At the Urban Council meeting yesterday, the Chairman (Mr. Young) questioned Mr. Binns in regard to the quarry, but beyond a vague statement about the railway there, difficulties of weighing etc., little information was vouchsafed.
The Chairman hoped a start would be made next week. The ratepayers are entitled to hope that some effort will be made – even though this is the wrong time of the year for road-making – to set their house in order.
The Council was persistently warned last winter that if something were not done, the borough roads would get into a starved condition, and that it would take hundreds of pounds to put them into decent repair again. Yet nothing was done, and to-day it is easier to cycle or drive down a Connemara boreen than through the principal streets of the city.
Distressing find
The dead body of a male infant was found on Tuesday at the foreshore, Salthill, by Constable Hanley, of that station. The body, which was wrapped in a white garment, and bore superficial marks of violence, was removed to the morgue. There was a mark as if a cord or string had been tied around its neck. Great violence must have been used in the tying of the cord to cause the wound in the chin. At the inquest, the opinion was formed that death was due to strangulation.
A woman was admitted to the workhouse hospital on Wednesday. In consequence of statements made by her, and information derived from other source, police patrols are on duty in close proximity to the workhouse since her admission.
1943
Shameful women drinkers
The Rev. P. Prendergast, D.D., St. Jarlath’s College, in an address to the Tuam Pioneer Total Abstinence Association at their half-yearly meeting, said that statistics show that the consumption of strong drink had been steadily on the increase for a number of years past.
The most alarming aspect of this increase was that it applied chiefly to young people and, most shameful of all, to women. The drink habit among women, like most of their habits, was governed largely by fashion.
There was a time when no respectable woman in this country would dream of taking a drink. The only women who were ever drunk were those of the itinerant class in the country or of the slums in big cities. But nowadays, alas, it had become the fashion for ladies (if indeed one could call them ladies) who consider themselves as belonging to the better classes, to take their cocktails to excess and that not merely in private, but at public functions such as dances and parties.
These women would probably despise a poor woman in a shawl who would go into a public house and take a bottle of stout. But she, at least, if her action was not very edifying, was straightforward and honest. She had no pretensions about herself and would probably readily admit that the drink was her ruination. This drinking among women was only one aspect of a wider movement among them to imitate men in all things. It was a pity that if they want to imitate men at all, they would not imitate their good qualities.
One factor which had greatly contributed to the increase in drinking was the increase in the number of dance halls, with the consequent increase in the drinking that had come to be associated with them.
This was so well known that there was no need for him to dwell on it. Nor was it necessary for him to point out the serious effects which the taking of drink was known to have on the morals and proper conduct associated with such halls.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
1921
Impure milk
Impure and dirty milk supplies do a serious injury to our population. Milk is, perhaps, the most important part of the diet of our infants, who will some day have to take their part in the work of the nation.
It is our duty to see that all forms of disease, which are likely to weaken the race by sapping its vitality, should be vigorously battled with. No form of food is so susceptible to contamination as milk, for it is a natural and complete food substance which is eminently suited to the growth of all kinds of disease germs, especially the dreaded germ which is the cause of consumption.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of our milch cows suffer from tuberculosis. The disease may not be apparent to the eye but can be easily detected by the veterinary surgeon by means of the “tuberculin test”. Milk from these cows often contains germs of the consumption which is causing such havoc and misery in Ireland.
Something must be done by public bodies to insist on the testing of suspected cows, and the frequent sampling and testing of public milk supplies. Educational authorities should urge farmers to take a personal interest in the matter and stamp out disease by keeping cowsheds sanitary and paying strict attention to cleanliness of milking.
It must be brought home to the farmer that it is his duty to produce an article which is acceptable to the public by being pure, of high quality, and free from the germs of infectious disease. It is only by working on these lines that the farmer can hope to gain the confidence of the consumer.
Races weather
Nothing is more necessary to the complete success of the Galway meeting next Wednesday and Thursday than the rainfall which is pretty general all over Ireland at present.
I learn from a reliable source that Galway is getting its quota and that the course is in good condition. This is all necessary to induce owners and trainers to send on horses, and I have no fear that runners will be plentiful on both days.
Writing as a metropolitan, I can safely predict a great attendance – one can only wish he could predict other things so surely. On all sides one hears the questions, “Are you going to Galway? Have you booked your room” and a reference to “the fun of the fair,” otherwise the Bazaar, nearly always follows.
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.
1921
Silence is golden
Leaders on both sides have stated that the best assistance the country can give in the making of peace is to keep silence.
During the past week there has been a great deal of speculation, most of it harmless enough, as, for instance, the enterprising American journalist’s “exclusive” on the first meeting of the British Premier and the President of the Irish Republic; much of it positively mischievous, as the case of the efforts of a certain journal, which has grown hoary in the reputation for throwing in the apple of discord, to anticipate failure in advance.
Our American colleague was on surer and on safer ground when he told of how de Valera and Lloyd George met.
“Mr. Lloyd George,” he cabled, “was sitting at his desk when the Irish President entered. For just a minute these two gazed fixedly at one another. Then the British Premier walked across the intervening space and shook de Valera by the hand. He led him to a seat where they sat side by side. The atmosphere was tense. They faced one another. Then Lloyd George reached down for a box of cigars. But the Irish President is of Spartan mould. He neither permits himself to drink nor smoke. He politely but firmly waved the box away. Mr. Lloyd George, however, selected and lighted a Havana, and as the smoke curled upwards the atmosphere became decidedly easier!”
Good planning
The wise and practical man always lays by a store against the time when supplies will be scarce. One of the most serious effects of the prolonged drought is the scarcity of supplies of fodder for cattle-feeding during the coming winter and spring.
The hay crop is not more than half the average yield. The corn crop is far below normal. Turnips in many districts are a partial failure. We have frequently emphasised the importance of growing catch-crops to supplement other feeding stuffs raised on the farm, but it is only under circumstances such as the present that their utility is brought home to farmers. Owing to the early harvest, a larger area than is usual can and should be put down this season. This would make good, to some extent, at least, the shortage of hay and other feeding-stuffs.
The demonstration plots laid down by the County Committee of Agriculture have shown that catch-crops, such as vetches and rye as well as other mixtures, can be successfully grown in all parts of County Galway.
We would urge on farmers the desirability – nay, the necessity – of procuring seed and making early preparation for the sowing of an increased area of catch-crops this season.
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.
1921
Peace at last
Hope “hath happy place” in this land of ours to-day. Those who disappoint it are the enemies not only of Ireland, but of civilisation. Before proceeding to the preliminary conference with Mr. Lloyd George at 10, Downing-street, yesterday afternoon, Mr. de Valera said that he thought the outlook for peace both from the British and Irish points of view was better than it had ever been in history.
The Irish leader would not make this statement unless he had good grounds for it. We may accept it as the confident prediction of one who has proceeded with extreme caution throughout these momentous negotiations.
Yet patient confidence in ultimate justice and patient endurance for a little are needed. There are those who would, if they could, thwart the coming of peace, but they will be borne aside by the widening will to peace, and the larger outlook that the coming of the Truce has brought.
The agony of these days that are past, as we hope for ever, is like a nightmare. Only last week, the pages of the “Tribune” told of the trials and tribulations through which the mothers and sisters of County Galway had gone. The stories related at the Quarter Sessions afforded some index of the hell of ceaseless apprehension and the dread which the women and children have had to bear for many months.
It would seem as if there could be no requital for their sorrows upon this earth. But there is sometimes a balance of justice in human affairs. To-day, as Ireland hopes and prays, this balance is about to be meted out as a common national inheritance.
The Truce has been observed in the spirit of mutual forbearance, good-will and generosity. One can conceive that the horrible conditions of the past nine months will ever be recalled. Indeed, there is no person who would desire or contrive at such an eventuality. Its very contemplation makes us fearful of the outcome of these fateful conferences.
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.
1,361 new cases of Covid-19 nationwide
City exhibition explores lockdown experience of children with long-term health conditions
200 submissions received on proposal for expansion of Galway Harbour
Coming up on FYI Galway@5
Henley Forklift group has a fantastic career opportunity for a Forklift Mechanic
Travellers find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place
Residents ‘in hell’ as staycationers party
Decathlon developers failed to take Galway City Council concerns on board
Cycling TD flung from his bike in horror crash
US medtech giant pays almost €40 million for company based at NUIG
