Our Lady’s Boys Club

Thu, May 31, 2012

Our photograph today is of a 1950s soccer team representing Our Lady’s Boys Club, taken in Terryland where facilities were quite primitive at the time and, as you can see, the preferred mode of transport apart from shank’s mare was cycling. The team is, back row, left to right: Patsy Burke, Richie O’Connor, Brod Long, Brendan Dowling, Paddy Power, Tommy Carr, Paddy Beatty. In front are Danny Collins, Billy Carr, John Rushe, Steve Mannion, Gus O’Connor, and Barney Birkett.

The case of the Craughwell Prisoners

Thu, May 31, 2012

In the 1880s the Land War was at its height. It was a prolonged period of bitter civic unrest which pitted an unprotected peasantry against some ruthless landlords, who had the law and power of eviction at their disposal. Following the Great Famine a weakened tenant peasantry was easily removed from the land. It began a pitiful trail to the workhouse, and the emigrant ships. But as the century progressed the situation changed. The highly organised Irish National Land League supported evicted farmers; while members of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Westminster fought for legislation which would eventually see a redistribution of land to tenants.

Legislative development, however, would take years. There were other weapons which supported the tenant in the meantime. Secret societies, such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the‘ White Boys’ and many others, exerted huge pressure on the people to resist rent increases, and to remain silent as to its membership. An effective weapon was boycott. A landlord who was boycotted meant that he could not buy food locally, and his domestic and estate staff would leave him. Animals were sometimes maimed, or released to wander the roads. Walls were knocked, hay barns set alight. He could apply for police protection, and with difficulty, have food brought to him from outside his area. John W Lambert of Aggard House, the owner of an estate of 3,440 acres, had a grave dug in front of his house as a warning. He was boycotted

Coping with life’s pressures

Thu, May 31, 2012

What sort of things put you under pressure? Paying bills, lack of job security, traffic congestion, family rows?

Living with MS

Thu, May 24, 2012

When Anne-Marie Hayden was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a progressive neurological condition, at age 20 she entered a “completely different world”.

The Great Gourmet Challenge set to promote the wonders of the west

Thu, May 24, 2012

Recently referred to as “one of the country’s most exciting chefs” by Taste of Ireland, Jonathan Keane, head chef at Co Mayo’s boutique hotel, Lisloughrey Lodge, has overhauled the entire menu and is setting himself up for a challenge to showcase the wonders of the west.

Delicious authentic Indian cuisine in Kashmir

Thu, May 24, 2012

Galway has always been known for its diversity — a town of exotic sailors and Connemara tribes, this medieval city has been a melting pot for as long as it has existed. We have well established Chinese and Thai restaurants, and more recently some terrific Japanese ones. For fans of Indian food, however, Kashmir has been offering consistently delicious examples of this varied cuisine to Galway diners for some time now. Indian food is the 'Marmite' of global cuisines — it evokes a love or hate attitude that other ethnic traditions just do not get. There is often an excess of heat over flavour that has alienated many a diner. Not so at Kashmir.

This is Indian food cooked as it should be. Nearly every dish is labour-intensive with very few that can just be thrown together. Vegetables, herbs, and different combinations of intoxicating spices create the base of each of the sauces, all made from scratch on the premises, which means they are largely gluten-free as well as uniquely flavoured. The food was also noticeably less greasy than similar meals I have eaten at other Indian restaurants. I tootled along one weekday evening with a curry-loving friend. The decor is as you would expect, with comfortable dark furniture, and gilded idols keeping an eye on the room. Faint notes of incense hung in the air and the piped music is pure Bollywood.

Artisan Restaurant welcomes two new appointments and launches new summer menu

Thu, May 24, 2012

Winner of the Best Restaurant in Galway at The Restaurant Association Best in Ireland Awards, Artisan has welcomed two new additions to its award-winning team and launched a delicious new summer menu. Newly-appointed head chef Mark Campbell has put together a superb offering of culinary options guaranteed to suit all palettes.

Irish brown soda bread

Thu, May 24, 2012

This brown bread is light and fluffy. Since it has a moist consistency, it does not require kneading…just mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

On the wine shelf

Thu, May 24, 2012

Les Auzines Fleurs Blanches 2009 (Independents, €9.99)

On the cookery book shelf

Thu, May 24, 2012

Made at Home – Preserves
Dick and James Strawbridge

Bring the outdoors inside this summer

Thu, May 24, 2012

Planting season is upon us. Garden centres and DIY stores will be buzzing with people popping in to buy seeds and plants to transform their gardens from dull, wintry, places to bright summery spaces. This summer those who consider themselves to be green fingered may just be turning their hand to more than planting in the garden — they may be planting their homes.

Solar panel prototype wins Avaya prize

Thu, May 24, 2012

A final year student in electrical and electronic engineering has been awarded the Avaya Prize for the best final year project in the College of Engineering at NUI Galway.

Style Isle

Thu, May 24, 2012

This season has so many trends going for it that I can safely say it is hard to keep up. And coming from me, that's a pretty serious matter. One trend that has completely dominated this year is the clash. No, not the British band of the 1980s — prints, colour, and textures can be mixed and matched and there are no rules. You can literally wear what you like with whatever you like. The best place to start with the clash, is prints; florals in particular.

Notes for the season

Thu, May 24, 2012

Getting cheeky
For me, applying blush is the hardest make-up technique to get right. Getting the right colour, placing it in the right area, and using the right amount of pigment all seem to create the perfect storm for human error, so I am always asking the girls in the Brown Thomas make-up hall for techniques.

Style Counsel

Thu, May 24, 2012

The Down Syndrome Centre is urging women to donate dresses to one of Ireland’s most fashion-forward fundraisers, Buy My Dress, supported by Kellogg’s Special K. The Down Syndrome Centre hopes to raise €120,000 this year through the fundraiser, which will take place at various locations around the country on Saturday. The Galway Buy My Dress event will take place in the Hotel Meyrick on Saturday from 11am to 5pm.

Find the perfect hat at the Galway Hat Shop

Thu, May 24, 2012

Do not choose your headwear for this season’s weddings without first visiting the Galway Hat Shop, which offers an amazing selection of hats and headpieces. All the new colours and styles for summer 2012 are now in stock. You can choose from every shape and size imaginable. You can either hire or buy your hat; every budget is accommodated for with pieces ranging from €25 to €800. You can also have a hat or headpiece dyed to exactly match the colour of your outfit.

The Galway Hat Shop in Corbett Court Shopping Centre has one of the best selections in the country. Women travel from all over the country to visit the shop.

Get in shape for summer at the Coast Club

Thu, May 24, 2012

May is drawing to a close, swimsuit season is just around the corner and you want to get in shape fast. Sound familiar? The good news is that you can slim down and shape up in as little as four to eight weeks.

Revolutionary new heart screening system coming to Galway

Thu, May 24, 2012

Pulsewave Ireland is returning to Galway with the revolutionary Bpro pulse wave analysis device, providing affordable and accurate heart and artery screenings.

Landing fish at Blackrock

Thu, May 17, 2012

Our image today is of a painting entitled Morning – Landing Fish at Blackrock, Galway Bay by an English painter named Thomas Rose Miles dated c1895. There is probably a little artistic licence taken but it is a fascinating study of the bay which is very difficult to capture in paint. There is just a thin strip of land visible on the far side, nothing very dramatic, and of course the light and colours change constantly. The sunlit area we see on the Clare coast corresponds to Ballyvaughan and the landmass to the west of that has been darkened for artistic effect. Though they are probably not visible in this reproduction, there are a lot of fishing boats on the bay.

Clifden’s Parisian boulevards

Thu, May 17, 2012

The man who opened Connemara to the traveller, and built an infrastructure to encourage trade and commerce in what was a wilderness of bog, mountain, and a rocky sea coast, was the Scottish engineer Alexander Nimmo. He was originally commissioned to investigate the possibility of draining the bogs, and replace them with a landscape of arable land suitable for farming. But Nimmo was the original man who thought outside the box. In his report of 1812 he outlined the total neglect of the region which had about 30,000 inhabitants, mostly living along her coast, eking out a bare subsistence livelihood. But he saw huge potential in the natural wealth of Connemara for tourism, and limited industry. He reported that there were large quantities of fish in its lakes and sea, and abundant seaweed for manure and for the manufacture of kelp. Its agriculture was undeveloped, its bogs badly harvested. All this neglect could be remedied

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