Search Results for 'William Henry'

The name Persse is synonymous with Galway, the first members of the family having arrived in this country with the Cromwellians and many of them making significant contributions to life here since, the best known being Isabella Augusta Persse who later became Lady Gregory.

A new documentary which captures the unique heart of the historic Galway Market has been released. Galway Market traders in association with film maker Dawid Piotr Szlaga of Wild Islands Pictures, have produced a short film on the iconic market which has been in operation for centuries in the shadow of St. Nicholas Church in the heart of Galway city. This project was supported by Galway 2020 European City of Culture and features original music by Gabriel Gonzalez.

Reading through William Henry’s comprehensive digest of the story of Galway * from its original foundation on the banks of the Corrib to the present day, I am reminded that there was an extraordinary burst of optimism and creative energy in the middle of the 19th century despite the ravages of the Great Famine barely a decade before.

This drawing of Blake’s Castle was done in 1847 by George Victor Du Noyer, a Dublin born artist, geologist, and antiquarian who spent much of his life recording natural features and archeological sites around the country in the 19th century.

At early Mass on Christmas morning 1842, there was a dreadful accident at Galway’s Pro-Cathedral during which 37 people were killed, and many more were injured. Known as the Parish Church, and completed just twenty-one years before, it was by far the largest Catholic church in the town, surprisingly built in preCatholic Emancipation times.

In the year 1900, Patrick Holland had a travelling shop near Athenry. He later opened a shop there and is credited with having the first car in the town. In 1914 he met Dorinda Egan and it was love at first sight. They married and had five children Brendan, Michael, Maureen, Angela and John. They eventually moved to Galway in 1930, and tried to set up a business in Dominick St. but the bank would not give them the money. They eventually managed to buy the premises of Mary Leahy’s Newsagency in Williamsgate Street.

A programme of Commemorative events has been organised to commemorate the centenary of the murder of Fr Michael Griffin during the War of Independence.

These two women are chatting at the doorway of a Claddagh house on Dogfish Lane c1920. The lane is cobbled, the geese and hens are pecking around, the thatch roof is perfect, there are flowers on the windowsill, everything is calm and peaceful, but what are they talking about? Could it be about piseógs, about the ‘good people’, the fairies, the banshee?

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Not only is it interesting to see the initials of the people Lady Gregory admired on her ‘Hall of Fame’, the famous autograph tree at Coole Park, Co Galway, it is perhaps more interesting to see the names she leaves out.