Galway supporters at the 1966 final

Thu, Nov 05, 2009

In 1966 Galway were fortunate to get out of Connacht by beating Mayo. To an extent they were also lucky in a hard fought semi-final against Cork. They eventually won what was regarded as the best game of football seen in years, by a score of 1-11 to 1-9. And so they were into their fourth All-Ireland final in a row and going for three wins in a row and the question was, would this team reverse the three losses in a row that Galway suffered at the hands of Kerry 1940, Kerry 1941, and Dublin in 1942? Meath still stood between them and Sam.

The crucial match that Loughrea lost

Thu, Nov 05, 2009

One of the many voices in our kitchen when I was growing up was Michael O’Hehir and the Sunday afternoon game. The GAA (Chumann Lúthchleas Gael) has been blessed with its RTE broadcasters. I don’t think anyone can equal the inimitable Míchéal Ó Muircheartaigh, whose all inclusive broadcasts today are a performance in themselves. I think I am the same as most people to say that I turn down the sound on the TV, and turn up the volume on the radio when Ó Muircheartaigh takes flight.

I don’t know what technique Ó Muircheartaigh uses to memorise all the background information of the players, their clubs and colours, the boreens where they live and play, and their mothers, not to mind the local neighbours glued to their broadband internet in Honolulu and other exotic places that he throws out with delight; but O’Hehir had a different intimate touch. In his autobiography, published in 1986, he recalled that in his early days of broadcasting, he would picture in his mind’s eye a man called Patrick Garry, from Ballycorrig, Co Clare. “For some years before I started, he had been bedridden,’ he wrote.“So I’d imagine myself talking directly to him.... In those formative years it was not the people of Ireland or anywhere I was speaking to, but to Patrick Garry, doing my best to tell him what was happening.’

A bit of this and a bit of that

Thu, Nov 05, 2009

This week I have a few different items to mention and would like to suggest that it might be a good time to shop around for Christmas wine. There are some really good deals available now and also watch out for some up and coming wine fairs such as Cases Wine Fair on the Tuam Road. It is on today (Thursday) from 6.30pm to 10pm and the €20 ticket will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Research Institute. There will be 120 wines to taste and cheese from Sheridan’s. As wine makes a really acceptable present I suggest you make an early Christmas present list and note anyone who would like a bottle or two or indeed a full case! If you are buying a pretty expensive wine for a wine lover, ask the advice of the wine shop’s most senior person and usually you will be well advised. We are well served in Galway with wine shops — O’Brien’s, McCambridge’s, Woodberrys, Harvest, Cases, Fine Wines, The Wine Buff, Noel O’Loughlin at Galwaybaywine.com, upstairs over Sheridan’s Cheese Shop, The Vineyard, and the organic wines from Dirk at the Saturday Market in Galway, off Shop Street. In fact, now that I list them all (hoping I have not forgotten any) I am amazed that there are indeed such a number.

Tuna

Thu, Nov 05, 2009

You know, it’s easy to forget sometimes that we, as a nation, are incredibly well placed at the edge of the Atlantic to take advantage of some pretty incredible seafood. And one such treasure from the sea is tuna. Many an Irish person is of the opinion that tuna is some kind of tropical fish which primarily arrives on our tables and in our lunch boxes via a tin and can opener, but the reality is that tuna is abundant off our coast at certain times of the year. Interestingly Ireland has the potential to tap into ‘big game fishing’ as a small industry, as I believe catching a tuna with rod and line is possibly the greatest fishing challenge of all.

Scholars from St Brendan's, 1956

Thu, Oct 29, 2009

St Brendan's National School opened on St Brendan's Road, Woodquay, in 1916. It was an all-male school which initially catered for boys from Woodquay, Sickeen, and Bohermore. After World War II it began to attract pupils from Shantalla and Newcastle. The school closed down in the 1960s with most of the boys transferring to St Patrick's. The school building was hidden behind a high wall, and it was later demolished. Part of the boundary wall is still visible at the back of the rather dull office block that replaced it.

The Strange case of Warden Bodkin’s hand...

Thu, Oct 29, 2009

Week II
What did John Bodkin, the last Catholic warden of St Nicholas Collegiate Church, mean when, handing over the keys of the church to the Williamite soldiers in July 1691, he cried: “My God, that my right hand may not decay until the key of this church be restored to its proper owners?”

What did John Bodkin, the last Catholic warden of St Nicholas Collegiate Church, mean when, handing over the keys of the church to the Williamite soldiers in July 1691, he cried: “My God, that my right hand may not decay until the key of this church be restored to its proper owners?”

Get the royal treatment at Royal Villa

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

The re-emergence of Royal Villa in Salthill has been greeted enthusiastically by the hundreds of customers who were regulars when the Royal Villa was upstairs in Shop Street for many years. After a gap of three years, during which time Charlie Chan opened a very swish restaurant in Oranmore, he decided to open another Royal Villa close to the centre of town. The new Royal Villa is run by the next generation of the family, Yvonne and soon-to-be husband Jeff are at the helm and it looks like it may be the most successful venture for the Chan family. It is located over the Atlantaquaria in Salthill.

Cupcakes and cookies

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

Have you noticed lately, when passing a coffee shop or tea house, that there is a new trend happening? The cupcake is making a come back, and nowadays they really are coming in all shapes and sizes. Not to mention cookies in their many forms, and these aren’t just everyday cookies. The cookies of today are big, tasty, decadent things which come in a multitude of flavours ranging from chocolate chip through pecan and ginger.

Galway company wins All Ireland Landscaping Award again

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

Moycullen company Radharc Landscaping has triumphed again at the Association of Landscape Contractors of Ireland national awards ceremony, receiving the prestigious Bog Oak Trophy for the best landscaping project in Ireland.

The National Landscaping Awards ceremony took place last Friday night in Mullingar, celebrating the best in Irish landscaping. Radharc, which also won this coveted award in 2004, was once again deemed honoured for its project in the Large Private Garden category. The award was presented to directors Charles Hosty and Brian Whyte by Minister for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sargent.

Love your colours

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

Part one

Transform your life

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

Many of us do not know what we want from life. We are not fully aware of ourselves and our needs. We operate on convenient autopilot, not quite happy or fulfilled but too tired or apathetic to make any real changes.

Transform your life - Tips

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

* “Remember life is an amazing adventure. Your attitude towards it creates your experiences.”

* Go for what ‘feels’ right not for what you ‘think’ is right for you.

Prospect Hill en fete in the 1960s

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

This photograph was taken by Helen Spellman in the early 1960s and shows Prospect Hill all decorated with banners and flags. There appears to be the beginnings of a religious procession at the very top of the hill, which presumably was the reason for all of the colour.

The strange case of Warden Bodkin’s hand...

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

In March 1838, workmen, under the supervision of a Mr Clare, were carrying out repairs on the vaults and tombs near the main altar of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church. They made a remarkable discovery. A body, which had rested in a tomb for 129 years, had been discovered incorrupt. Incredibly it was the remains of the last Roman Catholic warden John Bodkin, who when handing over the keys of the church to Williamite soldiers, after the town’s surrender on July 26 1691, cried out in despair: “ My God, that my right hand may not decay until the key of this church be restored to its proper owners”.

Distorted views of the Claddagh in the 19th century

Thu, Oct 15, 2009

English travellers came to Ireland in great numbers during the 19th century, and Galway formed an important stop on the typical tour. The stopover invariably involved token visits to Lynch's Castle, St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, and Queen's College. A visit to the Claddagh was part of the complement of must-see places, and it eventually became one of the most written about sites in Ireland. Many of these commentators travelled the same routes, stayed in the same country houses or hotels and the resulting texts are frequently similar in both content and perspective. The sameness of description permeates many travel accounts and over the century, new information is rare.

Portrait of the writer as a young man

Thu, Oct 15, 2009

The great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (Oct 27 1914 - Nov 9 1953) had absolutely no interest in school. He attended Swansea Grammar where his father, DJ Thomas, was the much feared English teacher. Both the boys and the staff were afraid of his temper, so much so that when Dylan, frequently bored with school, walked out murmuring that he was gong to write ‘bloody poetry’, if he met the headmaster on his way, the head would only nod, and say; “Don’t get caught, will you?”

In was amused to see that when the Galway writer Walter Macken was at the ‘Bish’ and asked to be excused from class for the toilet, Bro Leonard, who had a sense of humour and knew most of the boys hopped out for a ‘quick smoke’, would say: ‘Do you want a match Macs?’

Galway vintners

Thu, Oct 08, 2009

During the reign of Edward VI, when the Puritans controlled Galway, it was provided that “No man should keep an Ale House without being licensed, under penalty of three days imprisonment and a fine of twenty shillings”. It was added: “But because many Ale House keepers in those days were not able to pay that Forfeiture, and it was seldom levied by reasons of poverty, which made people unwilling to prevent the offenders.” Therefore a further punishment was added by statute during the reign of Charles I which not only inflicted the forfeiture of 20 shillings to the use of the poor, to be levied by the constable or church warden, by warrant of a justice before whom the offence was proved, and which distress may be sold three days afterwards; but it provided that if no distress could be taken, the justice should deliver the offender to the constable to be whipped. For the second offence, the offender was to be committed to the House of Correction for a month. A married woman who kept an ale house without licence made her husband liable for punishment.

Portrait of the writer as a young boy

Thu, Oct 08, 2009

Girls can be cruel. In 1921 Walter Macken was six years old, and in middle babies at the Presentation Convent school. ‘Middle Babies’ had to be a challenge for any six year old boy (who already saw himself as a pilot ‘flying’ through the lanes around St Joseph’s Avenue where he lived). Today the Pres has a thriving national school, in Walter’s time it was predominatly a renowned ‘Girls’ school. It did offer places to boys to a very junior level (you started in infants, then middle babies, and then first class), before the boys moved off to ‘The Bish’ or ‘The Jes’, Mary’s, or Endas.

My top style guide for jeans

Thu, Oct 08, 2009

Everyone should a have a couple of pairs of jeans in their wardrobe. They are so versatile and will take you effortlessly from day to evening.

Autumn/winter trends from Style Plus

Thu, Oct 08, 2009

Autumn is here and it’s time to get out the warmer pieces that have been hiding in the back of your wardrobe since the end of April, and invest in a few key pieces to get you stylishly through the winter.

E-paper

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