The Galway civic sword and mace are among the finest specimens of municipal corporation insignia in Ireland; the sword in particular is noteworthy and can be compared with the best of civic swords in these islands.
The sword dates from the 17th century, the mace from the beginning of the 18th. They were in use as symbols of authority until the suppression of the old corporation by the Galway Town Commissioners in the second quarter of the 19th century. They were then presented to the last mayor of Galway under British rule, Edmond Blake of Furbo in lieu of monies owed to him. After his death, they passed to his daughter, Anne Blake of Murrough House. In 1930, she sold them to a Dublin dealer for £4,000. Galway Urban Council did their best to prevent them from leaving the country but they were smuggled out in large golf bags and shipped to the U.S.A
They were purchased by William Randolph Hearst and after his death, his widow and son presented them to the City of Galway. The mayor, James Redington, the County manager, C.I. O’Flynn and the Town Clerk, Paddy Watters went to America in 1960 to collect them. At a solemn ceremony in the Aula Maxima, An Taoiseach, Seán Lemass formally handed them over to the corporation on January 19th 1961, thus ending 120 years of exile for the silver insignia. Members of the Fire Brigade, wearing their new blue uniforms for the first time, took charge of them.
Shortly afterwards, the Sword and Mace made their first public appearance on the streets of Galway in a Corpus Christi procession, when two firemen, Nicholas Dolan and Patrick Furey led the parade holding them.
Civic Swords are symbols of a local jurisdiction and they symbolise the legitimate use of force. They were borne before the dignitaries concerned when they went in procession or, were prominently displayed in their presence when they acted otherwise in their official capacity. The custom of carrying a sword before the King of England dates from early Norman times. The privilege was extended by the king, first to the great lords, the earls with palatine ranks and then, by the 14th century, to the mayors of certain towns.
The earliest documentary reference to a Galway civic sword was in the charter given by King James 1 in 1610, giving the mayor authority to have a sword carried before him and provided for the appointment of a sword bearer to carry it. The blade of this sword is not a property one; that is, it was designed for use and not merely for appearance. It is the blade of a fighting sword, older than the hilt and was adapted to serve the purposes of ceremony. It is a double-edged two-hander sword of a type not uncommon in the 16th century.
The hilt of the sword is made up on quillions (the horizontal bars at the end of the blade that protect the user’s hands from the blade ), the grip and he pommel (the knob at the end of the grip which serves as a counterweight to the blade ). They belong to the second period of the life of the sword; that is, they were made as parts of the civic weapon. They also contain silversmith’s marks, The scabbard of the sword contains much evidence of the weapon’s history. It is wooden, covered in crimson velvet and silver mounted. The mounting consists of four separate pieces, each of which contain marks which are clues to its history.
Maces were originally weapons and civic maces are derived from the battle maces of the middle ages which in turn were derived from primitive cudgels. Their symbolic use gradually predominated over their use as weapons. By the 16th century, ceremonial maces were silver or silver-plated objects which were borne base upwards.
The first mention of the Galway Mace was dated 1588. Much of its early history is obscure as is the early history of serjeants-at-mace. The Galway Mace was originally donated to the city by Edward Eyre who was mayor from 1710 to 1712. It is of a type that had become standardised by the 17th century, it weighs 211 ounces and 18 pennyweights and measures 57 inches overall. It is made up of a head, a shaft and a base or lower terminal.
All of this information comes from a fascinating article by Professor Hayes-McCoy in the Galway Archeological and Historical Society Journal, Vol. XXIX, Nos. I & II, 1960.
Our photographs show some of the elaborate engraving on parts of the sword and scabbard and also some of the rich ornamentation on the mace. Both of these historic artefacts are on display in the Galway City Museum in a specially designed room which also shows some important pieces of Galway silver in the shape of Joyce chalices.
