Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2019

Our Reporter

The Renmore Volleyball team who lost out to Tuam in the Community Games Volleyball final in 1973: (kneeling from left) Geraldine Hosty, Mary Leonard, Mary Arrigan, Captain, Mary Monahan and Carmel Cox. Standing Jacintha Keane, Marie Heavey, Brid Dillon, Marion Sweeney, Joan Burke, Deirdre Mannion and Treasa Dooley.

1919

Five to a bed

It was reported from Corrandulla to Galway Guardians on Wednesday that Martin Lardner, his wife and five children were seriously ill from pneumonia. – Dr. Cusack, M.P., appeared before the board and said that he called at the house when he heard of the case.

The father and a baby were dying. The five children were lying in one bed, and it was necessary to climb over them to give them attention.

The nurse in attendance was doing her work fairly well. The people were very badly off.

Mr. Lardner: I was told that the mother was given up. – Dr. Cusack said he would visit the people again and would do all in his power for them.

The Relieving Officer was directed to get all the provisions necessary for the family’s relief.

Fuel price controls

Arising out of a communication received from the Fuel Controller regarding turf prices, Mr. O’Loughlin said they were having neither turf nor coal at present in Loughrea.

Mr. Greene said local coal merchants were charging at the rate of £4 10s. per ton for coal which was considered in excess of that fixed by the local authority.

In reply to a query, Mr. Connell said the Commissioners allowed a profit of 5s. on coal sold by the ton and 7s. 6d. per ton on coal retailed in cwts. – Mr. Greene said those prices were not observed. He thought the matter should be brought under the notice of the police.

Mr. O’Loughlin: As an urban authority we are bound to fix the price of turf.

1944

Disruption avoided

Not only will the postal service to and from Galway will escape the serious disruption which was expected to follow the drastic reduction in train services, but the new arrangements will provide a more speedy service on most days of the week.

The only set-back is that there will be no despatch on two days every week, but, on the other hand, there will be two deliveries of incoming mails on four days instead of one delivery every week day as heretofore.

The postal service for the country areas also has been reorganised to provide the best service possible under the circumstanes.

Street widening

Preparatory work for the widening of Bridge-street, Galway, and part of Lombard-street is now in progress.

The wall which runs from O’Brien’s Bridge to the ruined building opposite St. Nicholas’s Collegiate Church is now being torn down and a wall will be built further back from the present roadway.

The ruined building which was formerly a fish and chip shop in Lombard-street will be pulled down.

The whole work, which is being carried out by Mr. G. Lee, County Surveyor, is estimated to cost £1,162.

The sharp corner at the junction of Bridge-street and Lombard-street will go and its place will be taken by an easy turn.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

Published

2 weeks ago

June 3, 2021

Stephen Corrigan

High fashion at the Athenry Show on September 2, 1972.

1921

Careless farmers

The unfavourable spring and summer of 19230 were not altogether accountable for the partial failure of last season’s potato crop. Planting was deferred until three or four weeks after the usual time, and the spraying of the crop was very carelessly carried out.

Not more than half the usual quantities of spraying materials were sold last year in County Galway. The wagon loads of potatoes which County Galway consumers were obliged to get from other parts of Ireland to go to prove the care and attention taken from growers in other counties.

To meet the increased cost of labour and manures farmers must grow heavier crops, and avoid risks as far as possible. To do so, spraying must be carried out efficiently.

County Galway, with 24,000 Irish acres of potatoes, is the second county in Ireland in respect of area. The total yield in 1920 was about 100,000 tons below that of an average year, which was a serious loss to the farmers and a hardship on the townspeople.

We hope that the lesson of 1920 will not be forgotten, and that farmers will this year spray in time and thoroughly.

One of the farmer’s chief difficulties is keeping of his crops free from weeds. Unfortunately in this important matter some of our farmers are rather careless. They do not realises – probably through lack of education in the matter – that where a crop is allowed to get weedy, the material resources of the land are being doubly taxed, and the crop which it is intended to grow cannot be a viable, much less a financial success.

The farmer has no power over some of the circumstances which determine the success or failure of a crop, and it is, therefore, a short-sighted policy for him not to use every means in his power to check weeds over which he has complete control.

Our attention has been directed to this matter by the number of cornfields in some districts, which are covered with the weed well-known to farmers as “Baráiste”.

We cannot estimate the extent of the damage caused year after year to our corn crops, but it must be very considerable. The yield of gran is greatly reduced, and the quality seriously impaired.

Modern science has given us a simple, effective, remedy involving little labour. This remedy has been used successfully for some years past by the best of our farmers, but we deeply regret the lack of enthusiasm displayed by many of our tillers in connection with the destruction of this objectionable weed.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

Published

3 weeks ago

May 27, 2021

Stephen Corrigan

Galway Sheep Breeders 49th Annual Show at Athenry Mart on September 21, 1972.

1921

Village halls

Young men and women of the present day expect and obtain more time for recreation than their parents. The monotony of young lives in the country districts leads to a desire to leave comfortable homes for the towns, or to emigrate.

In this work of reconstruction, which we hope will not long be delayed every means by which the young people can be induced to remain on the land must be considered.

Village halls can be made to play an important part in this respect by providing facilities for recreation and enabling those with progressive tendencies to continue with their reading and education after leaving the national schools.

To encourage a taste for reading and the acquirement of useful knowledge, every hall should be provided with a small library containing a selection of suitable books. The erection and equipment of such halls should not be left to voluntary effort, but should be looked upon as a national duty for which public money ought to be provided, and for which the country would be repaid in an enlightened, industrious and efficient rural population.

Custom House attacked

A large force of armed men raided the Custom House, Dublin, at one point on Wednesday, held up the staff and set fire to the building, which was completely destroyed. Yesterday morning the flames could be seen issuing from the surrounds.

The many Government departments in the building included the offices of the Local Government Board, Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue, the Old Age Pensions, and their valuable documents have been reduced to ashes.

From the housetops and the streets of Dublin on Wednesday afternoon, thousands witnessed the aftermath of one of the most serious assaults made by the I.R.A. upon the institutions of the Crown – the burning of the famous Custom House.

Following the burning, nearly a score were killed or wounded in a battle between the I.R.A. and R.I.C. Auxiliaries of the F and Q Companies.

The building was so badly devastated that to-day only the walls and a portion of the Local Government Board Office are still standing.

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.

Galway in Days Gone By

Galway In Days Gone By

Published

4 weeks ago

May 20, 2021

Stephen Corrigan

Crowds gather for the opening of St Cuan's Secondary School in Castlelakeney on September 4, 1971.

1921

Timber lands

Anticipating an industrial and agricultural development of Ireland in the future, one wonders where our supplies of timber are to come from.

No doubt foreign countries could supply the need, but why not develop our own resources, and make ourselves self-supporting in this respect?

In recent years, the country has practically been denuded of ripe woods, and nothing, on a comprehensible scale, has been done to replace them if we except the small shelter belts that may be seen growing successfully in many districts.

Farmers who have furnished their new homes in this way have taken advantage of the existing forestry scheme of the committee of agriculture, but we understand that owing to the lack of funds it is impossible to launch and adequate scheme. We can picture under more favourable conditions large tracks of waste lands being purchased and planted with trees, which in time will provide a very valuable asset to the country.

The subject is so important that in at least three or four counties a special rate has been struck. We were glad to see that the Galway County Council arranged to discuss the matter during the year, but owing to other pressing subjects, no progress could be made for the present. We look with hope to the reappearing of this subject in the near future, and to seeing much of the waste lands of the country planted in our time.

Election as expected

The elections for the Parliament of “Southern” Ireland have turned out exactly as every intelligent observer in Ireland had anticipated.

There have been no contests. Accordingly, the Republicans have swept all before them without opposition, and out of the 128 seats in “Southern” Ireland, they now hold 124 – the four members for Trinity College being the sole objection.

Yet those who make presence to wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Ireland, were making preparations for the “Southern” Parliament. Nothing has indicated the wide gulf which separates them from the actualities of to-day so much as these elections.

This week-end the contests for the six counties that are to govern by the North-Eastern Parliament, will take place, and it is anticipated that the result will come as a surprise to many, for it will be found that the Ulster of Sir Edward Carson’s brand is by no means the homogenous community the world has long been led to believe it is.

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.