Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Time Gone By – A browse through the archives of the Connacht Tribune.
1913
Brother’s assault
At Galway Petty Sessions, a painful case connected with a dispute between two brothers was heard when Mr. Michael J. O’Brien summoned his brother Thomas for assault.
Mr. Daly, solr., said that on Saturday last, the defendant went into complainant’s shop in Shop-street, knocked him down and almost choked him.
In last November and January, defendant also gave great trouble to the complainant, and when in Dublin, he had stated he would come to Galway and have his brother’s life.
Michael John O’Brien said he carried on a butcher’s business in Galway. On Saturday, his brother entered his shop for the first time since January. Defendant jumped on witness and said he would have his life. His ear began to bleed. Defendant pulled his coat off and half-tore his collar.
A man named Mullins came in and pulled defendant off witness, who was then lying on the floor. On another occasion he came in and smashed all the crockery. He assaulted his uncle and his sister. Witness did not owe the defendant one shilling.
Defendant said he was sorry, but that the complainant owed him money. Mr. Daly suggested that the case should be adjourned to the next court day, and give the defendant an opportunity of leaving the country.
Complainant said he wanted the defendant bound to the peace. Defendant was bound over to keep the peace for twelve months.
1938
Clifden deluge
Prayers for rain were answered in a very decisive manner in the Clifden area on Saturday evening, when “the heavens were opened” and a miniature deluge occurred. It had been raining sporadically all day, but at 6pm, a shower fell which had all the semblances of a cloudburst, and was confined to an area of within five miles radius of Clifden.
The shower, which lasted a little less than an hour, transformed the Clifden River from a trickling stream into a raging torrent, whose banks overflowed in places for more than fifty yards inland.
The Clifden tennis courts, situated near the river, were submerged under several feet of water, as was also the road leading to Lee’s Terrace and the houses there were isolated from the rest of the town.
Several by-roads in the vicinity of the town were completely washed away, and now resemble the bed of a river. Amongst those by-roads was a recently constructed bog road to Glenbricken, which was washed down a hill and deposited on top of a potato plot.
The flood swept down hills at the back of the labourers’ cottages on the Galway road, crashed on the back doors, and came pouring out through the front doors like on many waterspouts.
Although rain continued to fall normally during Sunday, the flooding had completely abated on Monday morning, when there were signs of a return to the warm weather of the past few months.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
1923
Capital of Connacht
Retail shopkeepers in County Galway towns complain very justly that they have to go to Dublin and cross-Channel for their goods, whereas in the all too few instances in which they can purchase in the county town at wholesale rates, they find they can do much better as to price and quite as good as to quality.
Has Galway ever considered what it would mean to the town if the wholesale trade were developed to any extent within its walls?
It would mean that instead of crowded streets on Saturdays and occasionally on Wednesdays, we should have eager, active businessmen thronging our thoroughfares every day of the six; that we should have streams of vehicles coming to and going from the city; that business would be stimulated, employment increased and prices reduced.
It would mean that shipping in our harbour would grow and expand, slowly and, perhaps even painfully, at first, that coastwise traffic would be developed, and that Galway would in course of time become in fact, as well as in the name, the capital of Connacht.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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1923
Optimistic outlook
The optimism of Mr. P. J. Boland was a refreshing thing at the inaugural meeting of the Galway Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. He saw great good in Galway: it was a delightful place to live and in a place worth working for.
It possessed the elements of greater good in the future; a prideful local patriotism; a desire to see things better done here than elsewhere.
That was a factor that should be availed of but was not. Why? Because men talked and talked of what should be done, but had no organised driving force to translate their ideas into action. Hence the present effort to establish a Chamber of Commerce.
This optimism is a heartening thing, and it will be justified if the new members enter the Chamber of Commerce in the spirt shown by the chairman of the inaugural meeting.
When the Sligo Chamber was being inaugurated of the 29th December last, a Senator A. Jackson, D.L., who presided, pointed out that there was scarcely an important town in England, Wales or Ireland, and certainly not a seaport town that had not a Chamber of Commerce in existence for many years.
He pointed to the significant, but fairly well-established fact in the matter of projected legislation far more importance was paid to representations from Chambers of Commerce than to representations made by municipal bodies or harbour boards.
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.
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
Post office raids
A series of wholesale raids on unprotected Connemara sub-post offices are reported. Lettermore and Cashel offices were raided and robbed on Friday night.
Carraroe, Costello and Kilkerrin were also visited by armed men and any money and stamps available were taken. The sums abstracted from these offices vary from £20 to £30.
Telegraph and telephone instruments were broken wherever they were found, and in consequence, the people living in these remote areas on the western seaboard have been much inconvenienced.
Costello bridge was blown up on Friday night last, when most of the raids took place.
1948
Telephone service
In the course of his address to the annual meeting of the Galway No. 1 branch of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union on Sunday Mr.
Everett made a statement regarding the telephone service at Galway which is of great interest to the business community in particular.
He admitted that the delay during busy periods of the day on the Galway-Dublin trunk service amounts at times to about two hours, and that this has on occasions been exceeded owing to one or more of the three existing circuits being out of order.
Delay on busy periods on the lines connecting Dublin with Tuam, Loughrea, Athenry, Clifden and Claremorris was also admitted.
The fact of these days is only too familiar to telephone subscribers in the West. Repeated protests on the matter have been sent forward by the Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce of Galway among others, but hitherto there has been no tangible result.
The facilities now available might perhaps have been adequate twenty years ago, but they are insufficient, to put it mildly, for present-day requirements and business is very seriously handicapped in consequence.
During the war years there was not only a shortage of the equipment which would be needed for improved facilities, but such equipment as could be obtained was more urgently needed for security purposes. It seems however that the war-time difficulties are well on the way to disappearing and the minister was in a position to make some promise of improvement.
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.
Farrell says eviction ban lift will be “judged harshest” of Government’s bad housing policies
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City seeks to annex Oranmore, Claregalway, Moycullen and Barna in boundary extension
Man awarded €142,000 over unprovoked attack in toilet of County Galway pub
Woman convicted of harassing social media guru
Galway family’s plea – help us save our home
Bono has finally found what’s he’s looking for!
