Seat Ateca wins Autobest award

Thu, Dec 22, 2016

The Seat Ateca has won the “Best Buy Car of Europe in 2017” at the AutoBest 2017 awards.

Voices at Christmas

Thu, Dec 22, 2016

‘If we had extra geese or cockerels my mother and myself would bring them to the market in Loughrea on the second Thursday before Christmas that was known as 'Big Thursday'. The market was held on the main street that time, you would not collect much money, maybe three shillings per goose but that would help to buy the Christmas.

My 'Lidl' dream became a big success!

Mon, Dec 19, 2016

I've worked in many Galway restaurants and hotels over the years but always wanted my own business. I loved the idea of a food van, travelling around meeting different people from all over the country so I converted a van into a fully working kitchen.

The magic of Glynn’s

Thu, Dec 15, 2016

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.

The night Stephen Gwynn MP nearly lost his pants

Thu, Dec 15, 2016

The outbreak of World War I brought to a head the divided camps among Irish nationalists, both of whom wanted Home Rule, or Independence, but both saw different ways to achieve it. Probably because of the large army presence in the town, and the natural benefits that the army brought to traders, as well as the family connections that had developed over the years between town and soldiers, the majority of people in Galway town favoured the British military approach.

Season's eatings — enjoy a festive treat with fresh fish cooked to order

Tue, Dec 13, 2016

If you are looking for the freshest seafood that Galway has to offer, then Hooked on Henry Street is the plaice to be.

Sample the new menu at The GBC and help them celebrate 80 years in business

Mon, Dec 12, 2016

The GBC celebrated eighty years in business in 2016 and felt it was fitting to mark the occasion by updating their restaurant’s menu and marketing themselves to a wider audience. The menu, now runs all-day from 12PM, still has all of the “Old Favourites” for those who enjoy a more traditional meal when dining out, as well as plenty of new dishes.

Part gentleman’s club, part psychiatrist’s couch - Gallagher Galway

Thu, Dec 08, 2016

The profession of barbering is one of the oldest in the world. The devil’s in the detail, which makes it a true craft, a craft that can take a lifetime to master. But mastered it is in Gallagher Galway.

Pádraic Ó Conaire and the Rising

Thu, Dec 08, 2016

Pádraic Ó Conaire was born on February 28 1882 in a pub by the docks, to middle-class Catholic publicans. He briefly attended the Presentation National School, but when his parents both died young he went to live with some of his extended family in Rosmuc. He later went to school in Rockwell and from there to Blackrock College in Dublin. He emigrated to London and took a lowly job in the civil service. He joined the local branch of Conradh na Gaeilge and flourished as an Irish language teacher and writer. In 1901 he published his first short story, An t-Iascaire agus an File.

Wrestling with ‘foreign born professors’ at UCG

Thu, Dec 08, 2016

It is easy to imagine the paroxysms of fury, outrage and purple faces that must have gripped the venerable membership of the UCG governing body, when they heard that the chairman of the Galway county council, Máirtín Mór McDonogh (who was also a member of this academic conclave) soundly rap them on the knuckles.

Experience the Camino de Santiago in 2017 with Into the West Adventures

Mon, Dec 05, 2016

Experience the Camino de Santiago in 2017 with Into the West Adventures,your local walking tour company. The Camino provides the opportunity to take a break from everyday life and to reconnect with yourself with like minded people. Pilgrims travel from all over the world to walk the Way of St James, all with a common purpose and a common destination.

Staying healthy at Christmas

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

"It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas." Yes it may only be November but shops have their decorations on display, the council is putting up Christmas lights, and the temperature is starting to plummet. And when December 25 arrives everyone indulges, from presents, lazing about on the sofa, to food and drink.

Persse’s Distillery, Nuns Island

Thu, Dec 01, 2016

In 1840, the Joyce family offered their distillery at Galway for sale. It was described as follows: “That large and valuable distillery establishment at Nun’s Island, at presently occupied and worked by Messrs. James and Patrick Joyce. Within the walls that surround the distillery there is a mill to which there is a store capable of containing several thousand barrels of grain and two kilns, Queen’s warehouse spirit and barm store with various other offices and conveniences. The distillery contains a wash still of 5,000 gallons; a Low Wine still of 3,000 gallons; 3 brewing coppers fit to contain about 200 barrels each, 7 fermenting backs of 14,000 gallons each; One mash Kieve with machinery capable of mashing 200 barrels of grain, and a mill capable of grinding over that quantity daily.

More than eighty Galway girls emigrated on the ‘Earl Grey Scheme’

Thu, Dec 01, 2016

Between 1848 and 1850 more than 4,000 adolescent female orphans emigrated from Irish workhouses to the Australian colonies arriving in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Their emigration become known as the ‘Earl Grey Scheme’ after its principle architect, Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies at the time of the Great Famine, suggested the move, and organised its operation.

All New Movers & Shakers at Eyre Cocktail Bar

Mon, Nov 28, 2016

Eyre Cocktail Bar at The Skeff has launched a new winter cocktail menu. The mixologists have crafted what they are describing as “21 seasonal sensations to warm up any night out.”

Soul food at its very best in Galway city.

Thu, Nov 24, 2016

Tasty, Healthy Asian Bistro in the heart of Galway city – The Noodle House is a bright and airy bistro-style restaurant which offers a traditional Chinese fare. The philosophy of the Noodle House to to provide nourishment and health for the body and soul.

St Patrick’s NS, a bird’s eye view, 1959

Thu, Nov 24, 2016

This photograph was published on March 13 1959 by Alexander ‘Monkey’ Morgan (1919-1958), a wartime pilot for the Royal Artillery Air Corps, who launched a peacetime career in aerial photography before his tragic death in a plane crash. It is a detail from one of the images he took for the Irish Independent between 1951 and 1958. Some 200 of these have now been published in book form under the title Ireland from the Air. The book is a crystal ball into the past. The images are of such high quality that the detail just leaps out. Our image today is just a section of one of the photographs which we have enlarged.

Australia offered some relief for Famine orphan girls

Thu, Nov 24, 2016

The extreme winter conditions of 1846/47 exacerbated the mounting crisis that the Great Famine had already created. The number of deaths from hunger in Galway town averaged between 25 and 30 a week. As well as the main workhouse on Newcastle Road (now the University College Hospital) auxiliary workhouses had opened at Barna, Newtownsmyth, Merchants Road, St Helen Street, and in Dangan. Six soup kitchens operated throughout the town feeding some 7,000 people a day and more as newcomers streamed in from rural districts. On one bitterly cold morning two children were found frozen to death on High Street. Another child dead nearby.

Enjoy an immersive Chinese experience at Canton Kitchen

Thu, Nov 24, 2016

Located in the heart of Salthill, Canton Kitchen has been proudly serving the people of Galway quality Chinese food for three decades. What began as a simple takeaway 30 years ago has evolved into an immersive restaurant that caters for both loyal and new customers.

Over fifties Christmas lunch and dancing at The Ardilaun

Thu, Nov 24, 2016

The Ardilaun hotel team are busy organising a fun filled Christmas social on Thursday December 1 for an afternoon of fun, food, and dancing. Gather your friends for a pre-Christmas treat, as there is no better way to get into the festive spirit.

E-paper

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