Galway abattoir

Thu, Feb 14, 2013

In the early days, farmers killed their own livestock, and in urban areas the killing was done by butchers. These victuallers would hang raw carcasses of meat outside their shops to show how fresh they were and to attract customers. It was only when the city fathers built an abattoir at the junction of Newtownsmyth and Bowling Green that slaughtering became subject to veterinary inspection and control in Galway. Our photograph was taken in 1966 and shows sheep awaiting their turn to enter the slaughterhouse through the grill gateway. They had already been in the yard for five days. The yard was connected to the abattoir buildings.

St Joseph’s Church

Thu, Feb 07, 2013

On this day, February 7, in the year 1886, St Joseph’s Church was consecrated. It was to be the main church of the Parish of Rahoon, which at that time extended from Corcullen to Furbo. There were already two chapels in the parish, one in Bushypark and one in Barna, and they served their own areas. For those parishioners living closer to the town, there was no designated church. Some would attend Mass in the chapel of the Presentation Convent, but it was not very large and worshippers often had to kneel on the ground outside, irrespective of the weather conditions. The parish had a big population and major annual events such as confirmation had to be moved to the Pro-Cathedral.

Calling all Claddagh School past pupils

Thu, Jan 31, 2013

The historian James Hardiman, in describing the Claddagh, said: “It is said that they considered it a kind of reproach either to speak English or to send their children to school, and that a schoolmaster among them would be considered a phenomenon; but of late there are some exceptions to this rule. How far education would make these people happier in themselves, or more useful members of society, is a matter of doubt, but it is certain that the trial has never been made, although a most respectable convent lies at the head of their village, to which they are liberal benefactors.”

The Claddagh Quay

Thu, Jan 24, 2013

This photograph of the quayside in the Claddagh is one of the remarkable images in a book entitled Jane W Shackleton’s Ireland compiled by Christiaan Corlett and published by Collins Press. Jane Shackleton was given a camera and she went around Ireland with it between 1891 and 1906. She built up a remarkable collection, some of which are included in this delightful book.

The General Post Office

Thu, Jan 10, 2013

Records show that post office business has been conducted in the Eglinton Street area since the 1850s. The Ordnance Survey map of 1872 shows the ‘Postal and Telegraph Office’ in the house at the corner of Francis Street and Daly’s Place, where Emerson & Conway solicitors are today. Prior to 1885, the local postmaster Mr Cornwall provided the premises but, as business expanded, the building became too small. It could not accommodate parcels and a separate outside premises for a parcel office was rented at a cost of £15 a year.

When buses came to Galway

Thu, Jan 03, 2013

The first public transport system in Galway was the horse drawn tramway. It ran until World War I when the British army commandeered most of the horses. By this time motorised transport was also providing competition, and this speeded up the demise of the tram system.

The man who rescued Lancelot from the River Clare

Thu, Jan 03, 2013

One of the most dramatic and legendary events in the history of Irish foxhunting took place with the Galway Blazers on December 19 1953 between Cregg Castle, Corrandulla, and beyond the Clare river, near Anbally. This is great fox hunting terrain. It’s level going, open and free. When on a good scent the hounds will skim the walls, and allow no time for man or beast to make mistakes if they want to stay close to them. December 19 1953 was a clear, frosty day. The hounds were in full pursuit ‘skimming the long low walls the way the swallows do’. After a four mile chase they hit the river Clare about a mile short of the nearest bridge at Corofin village.

When buses came to Galway

Thu, Jan 03, 2013

The first public transport system in Galway was the horse drawn tramway. It ran until World War I when the British army commandeered most of the horses. By this time motorised transport was also providing competition, and this speeded up the demise of the tram system.

St Mary’s College, 1912 – 2012

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

Our photograph today which shows the beginnings of the construction of St Mary’s College was taken in 1911.

Remembering Myles Joyce

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

In April 1980, I interviewed Mrs Sarah Lynskey from Bridge Street, on her 100th birthday, for this column. In the course of our conversation, she told me her earliest memory was of “kneeling on the Salmon Weir Bridge with my mother and a lot of Claddagh women praying. I know they were Claddagh women because I can still see the triangles of shawl as they knelt on the bridge. We were praying for a fellow, they were going to hang him the next day. Joyce was his name”. She was talking about Myles Joyce, an innocent man who was to be hanged along with two others for the Maamtrasna murders.

The Bish, one hundred and fifty years

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

On this day one hundred and fifty years ago, St. Joseph’s Secondary School formally opened. It represented a triumph for Dr McEvilly, Bishop of Galway, who had worked tirelessly to get the Patrician Brothers to Galway to add to the educational facilities for Catholic boys in the city. Indeed the bishop’s association with the school was such that it became known as ‘The Bish’. Others regarded it as a seminary for preparing boys for the priesthood and so it was also known colloquially as ‘The Sem’.

Kirwan’s Lane

Thu, Nov 29, 2012

This medieval street dates back as far as the 16th century and is believed to be one of only five medieval lanes that still exist in the city out of an original 14. It is considered by historians and archaeologists to be one of the richest areas “in terms of its medieval layout, building design and street plan”. It evidently received its name from the Kirwan family, one of only two of ‘the tribes’ who were of Gaelic origin. They were successful merchants and landowners who moved into the city around 1490, and whose wealth helped Galway reach the peak of its splendour during the 16th and 17th centuries.

St Bride’s nursing home

Thu, Nov 15, 2012

St Bride’s was situated on Sea Road and was opened in 1916 by Dr William AF Sandys. He was soon joined by Dr Michael O’Malley and by Dr Joseph Watters, who was the anaesthetist. Both doctors Sandys and O’Malley lived in the Crescent, so it was very convenient for them. It was a private nursing and maternity home accepting medical, surgical, and maternity cases. Generations of Galwegians were born here, and many more would have had their tonsils out or their appendix removed here.

Taibhdhearc Na Gaillimhe

Thu, Nov 08, 2012

The history of theatre in Ireland goes back to the start of the 17th century. The beginning of the 20th century saw the emergence of plays written in Irish and that movement was given a significant boost with the opening of An Taibhdhearc on August 27, 1928. It is the oldest operational theatre in Galway and is Ireland’s National Irish Language Theatre. The title is made up of two Irish words, taibh meaning ‘spectacle or ghost’ and dearc meaning ‘behold’.

Finding fathers in the ruins of war

Thu, Nov 08, 2012

One of the most extraordinary meetings in the aftermath of any war took place in May 2004 in Oranmore Castle, the home of the late Commander Bill King RN, and his family.

The Town Hall

Thu, Oct 25, 2012

In the excitement of going away on holiday I gave the Advertiser the wrong text with last week’s photograph, so herewith the correct text and photograph.

Courthouse Square c.1890

Thu, Oct 18, 2012

This interesting aspect of Courthouse Square shows the Town Hall on the left and The Convent of Mercy National School in the distance. The Mercy Sisters arrived in Galway in 1840 to a house in Lombard Street. The following year they bought JoycesDistillery and Mill house and stores on St. Stephen’s Island together with the excellent dwelling house and offices in which Mrs. Joyce resided. They converted these and opened a school there and called it St. Vincent’s Academy. They were very busy during the Famine and ran three soup kitchens, one in St. Vincent’s, one in Bohermore and one in Bushypark.

Courthouse Square, c1890

Thu, Oct 11, 2012

This interesting aspect of Courthouse Square shows the Town Hall on the left and the Convent of Mercy National School in the distance. The Mercy Sisters arrived in Galway in 1840 to a house in Lombard Street. The following year they bought Joyce’s Distillery and Mill house and stores on St Stephen’s Island together with the excellent dwelling house and offices in which Mrs Joyce resided. They converted these and opened a school there and called it St Vincent’s Academy. They were very busy during the Famine and ran three soup kitchens, one in St Vincent’s, one in Bohermore, and one in Bushypark.

In 1875 they built the primary school in our photograph on a vacant site across the road. The design was Gothic and very attractive and was built to accommodate 700 pupils. The Reverend Mother had a tunnel built under the road to connect the school and convent. English, French, arithmetic, music, domestic economy, and book-keeping were on the curriculum. In 1902, Irish was added, and from 1922-24, Pádraic Ó Conaire taught there, his aunt Sister Magdalen Conroy being a member of the community. Nora Barnacle went to school here.

Lady Gregory’s Secret, and other frailties...

Thu, Oct 04, 2012

If anyone thought that academics sharing their enthusiasm for the landscape, writers and artists associated with Coole Park, Co Galway, would be boring and stuffy, they had a surprise last weekend. There were some jaw-dropping moments when Lady Augusta Gregory’s secret love affair was revealed; and when WB Yeats went off the rails in the years following her death, and had a series of love affairs.

One hundred years of St Bridget’s Terrace

Thu, Oct 04, 2012

There can be few streets in this country that are as well documented as St Bridget’s Terrace. It was built 100 years ago on St Bridget’s Hill. The hill overlooked the town and was of great strategic and military importance. Both the Cromwellian and Williamite armies camped there when attacking Galway. During the 17th century, the hill was known as ‘Gottyganavy’. In 1710 the name had evolved to ‘Knocknegany’ and on Logan’s 1818 map of the city, it is depicted as Cnoc na Gainimhe (the Hill of Sand, or Sandpit Hill).

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