Search Results for 'St Anthonys Credit Union'

Benny Byrne and Stephen Deveney often met in Cooke’s Bar for a pint and they invariably ended up wondering about the possibility of starting up a credit union in the Shantalla area. They were greatly encouraged by Nora Herlihy, a Cork lady who had done a great deal to spread the credit union idea. So they wrote a letter to the Galway Observer inviting interest in their idea. They got one reply, from Jack Phelan in Ashe Road. They eventually organised a meeting for the formation of a study group in Benny’s house at 20 Shantalla Place on September 26, 1963.

St Anthony’s & Claddagh Credit Union members, along with St Jarlath’s Credit Union, Tuam, with whom they are merging with later this year, are set to take on the challenge of Sleeping Out for Simon on Friday, October 2 which is going virtual this year.

It was Leonard Martin’s idea to bring Santa Claus to Galway for the first time when he introduced him to his shop in Mainguard Street. It was such a novelty that the mayor, Joe Costelloe, came formally to the shop to welcome Santa and shake his hand. Leonard Martin’s shop (where St Anthony’s Credit Union is today) opened in 1941. For most of the year it was largely a hardware shop but at Christmas it became a toyshop exclusively. The man who played Santa Claus was a war veteran named Jack Kerr.