Old Galway
Bowling Green of Yesteryear
In 1883, a sub-committee of the Town Commissioners reported on the sanitary conditions of the houses in this area. Some were occupied in tenements, others were held by single families.“In none of these houses is there any provision as to water closets, privies or drains which, in itself is deplorable; but your committee feel it would be but ill discharging their duty if they stopped short
Changing Fashions, Eyre Square
There is a wonderful mix of the modern and the traditional in this photograph which was aken at the corner of Eyre Square and Rosemary Avenue in the mid 1930’s. The lady in the foreground is earing a plain black shawl, a petticoat and a ‘práiscín’ which was a heavy canvas apron worn to protect the skirt. Two others are wearing beautifully patterned shawls which must have looked very elegant and colourful. They had probably come into town to sell their wares, and then went shopping with the proceeds, and their baskets are now full. The other ladies in picture are all dressed in more ‘up
Pádraic Ó Conaire, Prince of Storytellers
"A short walk on the gravelled path and I was before the man I had come to see. There was a great peace about him as he sat there, leg crossed upon leg, hat rakish on his head, mute in the sculptured dignity of stone. Ever since I had learned the Gaelic, I had loved him, this strange man of dreams whose friends were the birds and the furry people of the wood, the wind and the small white stars."Ever since a gentlemanly Christian Brother had loaned me his books, I had hungered for the solace of the white roads that twist through the heather hills and furze-haunted fields of Banba;
Our Lady's Boys Club, A Galway Gem
This happy group of Boys Club lads was taken in the mid fifties and includes Paddy O’Connell, Dominick Curran, Seanie Flaherty, Joe Walsh, --- Harty, Tommy Gannon, Dessy Fitzpatrick, Tommy Gannon, Michael Burke, Tom Cunningham, Bartley Hynes, Tony Conboy (taking the shot), Sean McNamara, Gerry Ryan, Willie Golding, Colie Rushe, William McDonagh, Peter Folan, Leo Creane,Francis Walsh, Danny Collins, Jackie Molloy, Dominick Geary and Paddy McDonagh.The main objective of the Club (the oldest Boys Club in the country) when it was founded in 1940 was “To provide for the relief of poverty by serving homeless kids in need,
The Great Famine in Galway
Like most towns in Ireland, Galway was used to food shortages, they had occurred here in 1816, 1817, 1822, 1831, and in 1842 there were food riots in the city. Nobody, however, was prepared for what happened in 1845 when the potato crop failed. As winter approached, the situation did not seem any worse than usual, though people were concerned about food being exported from the docks while there was a shortage locally.As the full extent of the crop failure became evident,the workhouse became overcrowded, the Fever Hospital on Beggar’s Bridge (which got its name from inmates begging on the bridge)
Galway Minors, All Ireland Champions, 1970
Now that Alan Mulholland’s Under-21 team have kick started the Galway GAA season in such spectacular fashion, we thought to show you some champions of yesteryear, the county minor team who won the All Ireland in 1970.They are, back row; Mickey Rooney, Cortoon ; Alfie Marren, Kilkerrin/Clonberne ; Michael Meehan, Kilkerrin/Clonberne ; Sean Higgins, Kilkerrin/Clonberne ; Stephen Cloonan, Athenry ; Michael Geraghty, Glenamaddy ; Iomar Barrett,Mountbellew ;John Kemple, Tuam Stars.In front are John Tobin, Tuam Stars ;Tom Connor, Killanin ; Peter Silke, Dunmore McHales ; Joe Corcoran, St. Michaels, captain ; P.J.
Calling All Jes Past Pupils
The Jesuits first came to Galway in 1645 and settled in a 3-storey building on the site of the present ‘Four Corners’, thanks to the generosity of Edmund Kirwan, a wealthy Galway merchant. Most likely, it was in these premises that their school was conducted, against a background of wars and dissensions. Yet it flourished, in spite of all priests being banished from the city by the Cromwellians, and later the Williamites.The Jesuits came back in 1728, but their mission was withdrawn in 1768 due to a lack of manpower. They were invited back in 1859 by the bishop and set up a college in Eyre Square. The college’s present location on Sea Road dates from 1863.They had to
Merchant's Road, After the Fire
This photograph was taken in the late seventies, and shows how quickly streetscapes can change. Merchant’s Road was originally known as ‘Back Street’ because it was at the back of (outside) the old city walls. As the docks were developed, a lot of warehousing and industrial buildings were constructed around the area to facilitate companies who were importing and exporting from the port, and so Merchant’s Road came into being. It was a drab street, quite a bit of the area we see in the foreground was warehousing like the tall building we see in the centre of our picture.All of that was to drastically change on the morning of August 16th,1971 when a huge fire broke out and