The man who rescued Lancelot from the River Clare

Thu, Jan 03, 2013

One of the most dramatic and legendary events in the history of Irish foxhunting took place with the Galway Blazers on December 19 1953 between Cregg Castle, Corrandulla, and beyond the Clare river, near Anbally. This is great fox hunting terrain. It’s level going, open and free. When on a good scent the hounds will skim the walls, and allow no time for man or beast to make mistakes if they want to stay close to them. December 19 1953 was a clear, frosty day. The hounds were in full pursuit ‘skimming the long low walls the way the swallows do’. After a four mile chase they hit the river Clare about a mile short of the nearest bridge at Corofin village.

'It was Christmas day in the workhouse..'

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

Many people will be familiar with the first line of this famous Victorian dramatic monologue, written by the English journalist George R Sims in 1879.

St Mary’s College, 1912 – 2012

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

Our photograph today which shows the beginnings of the construction of St Mary’s College was taken in 1911.

'It was Christmas day in the workhouse..'

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

It is Christmas Day in the workhouse,
And the cold, bare walls are bright

And the cold, bare walls are bright

A wife politely tells her husband to calm down

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

Winston Churchill was 66 years of age when he became prime minister of Great Britain on May 10 1940. It was a moment of extreme crisis in Europe. Belgium, Holland and France were collapsing under the fierce onslaught of the German invasion. A large British army was retreating in the direction of Dunkirk. There was opposition within the government to Churchill.

‘Hopeless but not serious’

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

Eamon De Valera and Winston Churchill were never friends. Famously de Valera had brilliantly defended Ireland's neutrality during World War II following a verbal broadside from Churchill. One can imagine that matters between the two leaders were cool to freezing.

According to Dennis Kelly, a former literary assistant to Churchill, the British prime minister liked to tell the following amusing story: 'British bomber over Berlin, caught in searchlight, flak coming up, one engine on fire, rear-gunner wounded, Irish pilot mutters: Thank God Dev kept us out of the bloody war.'

'Kiss your wife, and you kiss your husband'

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

One of the film highlights of the year for me was Anna Karenina, a British adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's great novel of the same name.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm meets Charles Dickens

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

This year marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. He was born February 7 1812, and died at only 58 years of age in 1870. His output was so prolific – vast novels with hundreds of characters – and his life was so frenzied, that it seems miraculous that he lived as long as he did.

Apart from his writing, theatricals, travels, and editing magazines, he gave popular public readings from his books which were sell out performances. Audiences came in their thousands, and were disappointed to be turned away.

The amazing 'Brocken Spectre'

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

Early last February local photographer Sean Tomkins found himself walking along a very foggy Atlantic coast in County Clare.

'Galwegians are particularly vindictive'

Thu, Dec 27, 2012

An unflattering picture of Galway in the mid 19th century is recorded here by a German teacher Adolf Helfferich. Earlier this year Eoin Bourke, emeritus professor of German at NUIG, published a very interesting collection of German traveller's views of Ireland from before the 1798 Rising to after the Great Famine (Poor Green Eirin published by Peter Lang and Co).

Remembering Myles Joyce

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

In April 1980, I interviewed Mrs Sarah Lynskey from Bridge Street, on her 100th birthday, for this column. In the course of our conversation, she told me her earliest memory was of “kneeling on the Salmon Weir Bridge with my mother and a lot of Claddagh women praying. I know they were Claddagh women because I can still see the triangles of shawl as they knelt on the bridge. We were praying for a fellow, they were going to hang him the next day. Joyce was his name”. She was talking about Myles Joyce, an innocent man who was to be hanged along with two others for the Maamtrasna murders.

Ten things an Irish woman could not do in 1970

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

What dominated our news and much of our conversations during the 1970s (at least in the early years), was the deteriorating crisis in Northern Ireland. When I think of that decade I remember the initial hope that something would be settled quickly rather than letting it drag on fuelled by appallingly bad political decisions, thuggery, and deeply imbedded hatred. Seamus Heaney remarked that in the early 1970s ‘there was a promise in the air as well as fury and danger’. But in Northern Ireland any nervous sense of hopeful expectation quickly soured; as Heaney recalled: ‘Soon enough it all went rancid.’ In John Montague’s poem The Rough Field, he observes: ‘In the dark streets, firing starts.’

All that glitters

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

In 2001, Mariah Carey was in an awful film called Glitter. Now, thankfully, the must-have party trend for this year (of glitter and all things sparkly), is a lot better than the film, which I believe was not exactly a success at the box office. Adding a hint of shine here and there to your outfit will never be easier as the high street shops and boutiques embrace this look with open arms, and let’s be honest, our eyes tend to be drawn to something shiny. Taking inspiration from a floor length Dolce and Gabbana dress, sequins are really flattering to wear, shorts and minis are the key statement piece and naturally shoes and accessories are where we can have a little fun.

Something special at Silver Wood Jewellery

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

Silver Wood Jewellery opened in High Street last July, offering a beautiful array of jewellery for every occasion.

Best foot forward for the Christmas party season at Born Footwear

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

With Christmas around the corner it is time to get your party looks ready. Celebs are rarely seen now unheeled so why not join them with a new pair of heels for the Christmas party season. Stilettos are a timeless tool for every woman’s classic collection. Designed to force you to stand on your tip toes, tense your calf muscles, and push your chest forward, they elongate your legs, making them appear slimmer, and give you a better posture. Born Footwear stocks a range of Bebo stilettos with peep toe and closed toe that would glam up any outfit for nights out this party season. Our range of stilettos start from €49.95 to €59.95 in a variety of colours from silver, gold, black, and nude.

Every woman’s go-to pair are the black stiletto. The combination of the high heel and the point give you an air of elegance and without doubt will make you look like you have dropped a few pounds. Alternatively, a fashion trick dating back to the 1980s is the nude heel. These will automatically elongate your legs and, better yet, they will go with absolutely everything. The Bebo black and nude stilettos, priced at €49.95, come in both leather and in suede and in both peep toe and closed toe so you will be sure to find a style that suits your night out.

Win a Christmas turkey and ham with Eat Galway

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

To celebrate the run-up to Christmas we have a fantastic prize of an Irish turkey and ham for one lucky reader.

Taxing times, mistletoe and wine...

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

I think it is fair to say that the developing Irish wine market has hit something of a snag. Thanks to the unbalanced and, quite frankly, bizarre new tax on wine, all of our small retailers will have to increase the cost of wine in their shops at various stages between now and the New Year as their duty-paid stock runs out. This means that their customers will see various price increases per bottle, as many of the big supermarkets may very well hold their price, either by losing margin or by negotiating better deals with the big wholesalers. That some wine shops will close is certain, as the difference between what they can offer their customers and the below-cost selling of the supermarkets widens even further.

It is this below cost selling by the multiples that has been blamed as the cause of many of the social problems associated with alcohol. They unfairly use alcohol as a loss leader to build market share in the grocery sector. Yet the loophole still exists that when alcohol is sold below cost price, the retailer is entitled to a refund of the VAT differential, meaning in effect that the Government and taxpayers (that's you and me, folks) are subsidising any large retailers who can afford to sell alcohol below cost price. This is not by any means a fair or level playing field. In the absence of any coherent, balanced, national retail strategy, it is up to us as local people to buy from local businesses who wish to make an honest living by selling quality products to us.

Connemara Coast Hotel, Furbo announces new bilingual menu

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

An bhfuil ocras ort? Fancy something tasty for lunch like steig chaoldroma, or perhaps a trinsuir de bhia mara, fresh from Galway Bay?

B&Q survey finds the Irish are tops for home improvement and gardening

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

A Europe-wide survey by the owners of B&Q Ireland indicates that a large proportion of Irish homeowners spend money on home improvement, and that, along with the UK, Ireland is the country where homeowners are most likely to carry out internal and external painting and decorating themselves.

Gift somebody a pain-free Christmas

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

Nobody wants to be in pain for Christmas, especially while others are busy celebrating the season. So why not demonstrate goodwill by giving a Care Cure acupuncture and Chinese medicine gift voucher?

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.