An old Galwegian gave us this interesting study of the bottom of Quay Street, and of Blake’s Castle in particular. Blake’s Cattle was one of a number featured on the 1651 map of Galway. It had at one time belonged to the O’Halloran sept, but then the Anglo-Norman Blake family took it over. It was forfeited by them in 1641 and was granted to a family named Morgan from Monksfield.
For a time it served as the county gaol. In 1788 John Howard described it as follows: “Galway County Gaol is near the river. There is a new court but no pump. The criminals are in two long rooms with dirt floors and no fireplace, the debtors have small rooms above stairs. Allowance to felons, a sixpenny loaf of household bread every other day (weight, three pounds twelve ounces ) which they often sell for four pence halfpenny to buy potatoes.” The gaolers’ salary was £20 and on April 1 of that year there were four debtors and seven felons in the gaol. In 1807, construction began on the new County and Town Gaol which was on the site where the Cathedral is today, and on its completion, the gaol moved from here.
At the end of the 19th century Blake’s Castle was being used as a corn store. During the last century the ESB put an ugly substation in there, and the building deteriorated to the extent we see, with only the south wall facing the street and parts of the east and west walls remaining.
The little lane known as Quay Lane, behind the houses we see on the right of our photograph, was known on the 1651 map as “Boaher eddir da Stronda”, described as the lane between two strand gates.
Most of the empty site to the left of the castle was originally Burke’s Distillery. When it went out of business, it was taken over by McDonogh’s which had a chemicals plant there. There were two small houses beside the castle which were occupied by Bridget O’Connor, who had a sweet shop, and by the Monahan family. All of this site is now occupied by Jurys Hotel, and the facade of the castle has been cleaned up.
Further up Quay Street you can see McDonagh’s fish shop. The original building there was a garage and haulage store, four storeys high, but it was destroyed in 1932 by a bad fire. It contained hay and petrol, so the fire made rapid progress, and soon the roof fell in and a wall collapsed. Showers of burning debris and sparks were wafted far over the town. “The Fire Brigade kept gallantly on, helmets wreathed in sparks and their playing jets sizzling instantaneously into steam.” Houses and tenements nearby had to be evacuated but the firemen eventually brought the blaze under control, and McDonaghs was reduced to embers. Some time after our photograph was taken, the building was knocked and redeveloped into what it is today
This image points out to us just how much this part of Galway has changed, and in a short space of time.
An Taisce will host a lecture in The Ardilaun hotel on Wednesday, next, October 19, at 8pm. The subject of the talk is ‘Eamonn Ceannt’ and it will be given by his biographer, Willie Henry. All are welcome.
