We have three photographs today of the Small Crane (where was the Big Crane? ), all taken about 1890 with the potato market in full swing. The market was held here regularly and was an occasion where the town met the country. Farmers from as far away as Inverin would bring their potatoes into town to sell to shopkeepers and to individual customers. The scale, which you can see in the background, was used to weigh large sacks. In some of the images, you can see potatoes stacked loosely beside the creels. The scale was kept steady by large rocks. Some of the farmers are resting on sacks of potatoes while waiting for customers.
You can tell by all the puddles and the fact that all the boys are wearing caps that it has been raining. The boy in the centre of the main image is in bare feet and the woman to the right of him is keeping a baby warm under her shawl. Also in this image, you can barely make out the tracks of the Salthill tramway in the near foreground.
You can see a hut in the background of one of the images. It was a toll hut and was there to collect a toll from anyone bringing a large quantity of goods into town. There were a number of these huts scattered around the periphery of the city: one at Merchant’s Quay, at Forster Street, Bohermore Gap, Woodquay, Railway Gap (just beside the station ) and one at Newcastle Gap. So, for example, for every tun of wine you imported to the city, you were charged 3d, for every horse load of fish 3d, for every calf, a halfpenny, for every piece of English cloth 3d, for every piece of Irish linen containing 12 yards, a halfpenny, for 2,000 onions, a penny. All of these prices were on goods to be sold. The toll did not seem to be very much, but it added up to quite a sum for the Corporation.
A great pastime among the farmers while waiting for customers was betting on who could lift the heaviest load. One way was to lift a half hundredweight of potatoes in each hand and hold them over your head. Another was to catch one hand by the wrist behind your back and lift the half hundredweight with your free hand, which sounds like a good exercise for the kidneys. A lot of money used to change hands at these shows of strength.
On Logan’s 1818 map of Galway, this area is known as “Lands of Bohernabradadgh”. On an estate map of 1876, the area is called “Fahey Beg” and on which six plots are owned by a Mr JB Ellard. It does not feature as a placename on the1911 census.
The houses in the background were occupied by Richard Ward, ‘Babs Griffin’, John Noone, and Patrick Griffin. There was a horse trough behind the scale to the right.
These photographs were taken from near Sullivan’s Entry, a small entry off Sea Road which contained about four houses. Nora Barnacle’s parents lived there once.
