Search Results for 'Blacks Royal Hotel'

Charles Bianconi is generally regarded as the man who put Ireland on wheels. He developed a network of horse-drawn carriages that became Ireland’s first integrated transport system, building on the existing mail roads and coach roads that were already there. There was a general tax on coaches at the time, which precluded the middle classes from using theirs, and a relatively peaceful period after the Battle of Waterloo meant that a great many horses, bred for the army, became cheap on the market. His system offered connections with various termini, his prices were cheap and so he was well patronised, in spite of the discomfort felt by passengers. Often, when going up a hill, some passengers would alight to make the carriage lighter for the horses.

The Galway and Salthill Tramway Company was inaugurated in 1877. The Town Commissioners gave the project every encouragement and extended the time limit in which the tracks had to be laid. The single tramline was two and a quarter miles long with eight passing loops, roughly 250 yards apart. The rails were heavy steel, the gauge was three feet wide and the trams were horse-drawn, there was no electricity in Galway for another 12 years or so. The cost of construction was £13,000. The depot was in Forster Street and the western terminus was opposite the Eglinton Hotel.

This photograph of a cattle fair on Eyre Square was taken looking toward the west. The buildings in the distance were, on the far left, Gilbey’s, drinks distributors which later moved premises to William Street; next to it was Webb’s Hotel. This was originally built in 1810 and was known as the Clanricarde Arms. It was later known as Kilroy’s Hotel, then Murphy’s, until it was taken over by Joe Delaney and he changed the name to The Imperial Hotel.