Galway to mark centenary of 1918 election

Thu, Dec 13, 2018

In the UK general election of 1918 Irish men, and for the first time, Irish women, struck a major blow for Ireland's right to self-determination, by electing 73 Sinn Féin MPs - almost 70 per cent of the vote.

Merlin Park House

Thu, Dec 06, 2018

The Blake family started work on the construction of Merlin Park House in 1808 and it was completed in 1812. It cost £12,000 to build and provided much needed employment for many local skilled workers and labourers. Getting materials to the location proved difficult – it was said that more than 40 mules were used to transport goods and building materials from Galway to the site.

The Galway Mechanics’ Institute 1838-2018

Thu, Nov 29, 2018

Mechanics’ institutes originated in Scotland in the 1820s. In 1826 a committee formed the first such institute in Galway when it set out a library and newspaper reading room in the ballroom of the Corn Exchange in Eyre Square. Its primary aim was educational and it had rules prohibiting discussion of politics and religion. Difficulties arose when some of the patrons of the facility presumed they could tell the members how to vote in an election and so the institute collapsed.

The palace of dreams

Thu, Nov 22, 2018

Eighty nine years ago this week, on November 22, 1939, the Estoria Cinema opened at Nile Lodge. It had 776 seats and two showings a night at 6.45pm and 8.45pm. It cost two shillings to sit in the balcony and the prices for the parterre were 1/4 and 9d (including tax). There were matinees on Thursdays (half day in Galway), Saturdays, and Sundays. You could book at the cinema or by phone (Galway 101) from 12 noon to 2pm and from 6pm. The building was constructed by John McNally & Co with John Connolly as foreman. The design was by Hubert O’Connor and Ralph Ryan was the electrical consultant.

Galway and the Great War 1914-1918

Thu, Nov 08, 2018

On August 4 1914, Lt Col Henry Jourdain, Commander of the Connaught Rangers in Renmore Barracks, Galway, received mobilisation orders which changed the lives of thousands of families throughout the city and county. Urgent appeals for recruits were sent out. Hundreds of young men began arriving from all over Connacht. Temporary military camps were set up outside the barracks to cater for the recruits.

The Salthill Citizens’ Association, c1946

Thu, Nov 01, 2018

The first concerted move to improve Salthill (that I know of) was in 1882 when funds were collected locally and the Salthill Improvement Company was set up to improve the resort. The prevention of pollution was a priority. The company had its ups and downs and eventually died off. The first meeting of the Galway Urban District Council in 1925 had a deputation from Salthill who listed proposed improvements, In the 1930s a Salthill Development Committee was set up.

Galway City Museum to mark the end of WWI

Thu, Oct 25, 2018

On Saturday November 10, the eve of the centenary of the armistice which ended WWI, Galway City Museum will host a special lecture on The Great War of 1914 to 1918.

The Columban Hall

Thu, Oct 25, 2018

The Columban Hall is described as a bizarre high-Victorian building with a gabled facade of opus incertum with a small porch, polychrome arches to the windows, a star shaped west window, and a curious chunky top-knot. It was originally built as a Congregational Church, designed by Raffles Brown and completed in 1863. Our photograph (courtesy of the National Library) was taken just a few years later.

Christabel Pankhurst in Galway

Wed, Oct 17, 2018

Our image this week is of a newspaper advertisement for an extraordinary meeting that took place in the Town Hall 100 years ago today.

OBITUARY - The death of Monivea’s Msgr. James J. Loughnane PA. VF. in Los Angeles.

Mon, Oct 15, 2018

Monivea native Monsignor James J. Loughnane Protonotary Apostolic, Vicar Forane & pastor of St. Denis in Diamond Bar, passed away at the age of 81 at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton on Monday evening the 17th of September following complications post emergency surgery.

Waterside, c1885

Thu, Oct 11, 2018

Some 100 years before this photograph was taken, most of the area we are looking at would have been under water, the river covered much of what is Woodquay today. Most of the people who lived in the area would have been small farmers or fishermen, their houses (outside the city walls) made of blocks of stone, often with moss stuffed into the crevices and a roof covered partly with straw, partly with turf. The river provided a rich source of food, though in the city, the fishery, from the Salmon Weir to the sea, was privately owned.

Patrick O’Brien - volunteer

Thu, Oct 04, 2018

Patrick O’Brien was born in Waterdale, Claregalway in 1895. He joined the volunteers in 1914 and did drilling and training in arms for active operations.

New Docks Road, c1900

Thu, Sep 27, 2018

This photograph was taken from the far side of the docks c1900 and shows New Docks Road in the distance and Bonham Quay on the right.

Hill’s of Lower Dominick Street

Wed, Sep 19, 2018

This photograph, dated 1905, was part of an advertisement for Hill & Co Cycle Makers and for Hill’s Dublin Studio, a photographic gallery. Both of these were located in this building in Lower Dominick Street. You have to hand it to Edmund Hill, he was a dab hand at publicity, and advertised extensively.

Coláiste Éinde, ninety years

Thu, Sep 13, 2018

Coláiste Éinde was founded very shortly after the State itself was founded. The aim was to educate boys through the medium of Irish so that they would go on to St Patrick’s teacher training college, get secure employment for life, and in turn, teach a new generation of boys through Irish. It started life in Furbo House, an old house belonging to the Blake family. A domestic problem arose within the family who owned the house, so the school’s stay there was brief and they had to leave at Christmas 1930. The college was transferred to Talbot House in Talbot Street, Dublin, the following month.

Taylor’s Hill school, one hundred and sixty years

Thu, Sep 06, 2018

One hundred and sixty years ago on Saturday, September 8, 1858, the Dominican sisters opened their school on Taylor’s Hill. Three years before that, they had taken over a house there known as Seaview (sometimes known as Mount Eaton), which belonged to the Sloper family; a simple country house with eight rooms, a medley of kitchen premises to the rear, stables behind the house, and with it, five acres of land.

Taylor’s Hill school, one hundred and sixty years

Wed, Sep 05, 2018

One hundred and sixty years ago on Saturday, September 8, 1858, the Dominican sisters opened their school on Taylor’s Hill. Three years before that, they had taken over a house there known as Seaview (sometimes known as Mount Eaton), which belonged to the Sloper family; a simple country house with eight rooms, a medley of kitchen premises to the rear, stables behind the house, and with it, five acres of land.

Lady Mary Heath in ‘The Swamp’

Thu, Aug 30, 2018

Lady Mary Heath was a famous pioneering pilot. She was born in Knockaderry near Newcastle West, Co Limerick, in 1896. She was an accomplished sportswoman who helped introduce women’s track events to the Olympics. The 1920s was an era when the world seemed to have gone aviation mad, thanks to the exploits of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. In 1927, Lady Mary became the first woman to hold a commercial licence in Britain, the first woman to parachute out of an aircraft, and the first pilot to fly a small open-cockpit plane from Cape Town to London. She set records for altitude in a small plane. For much of the 1920s she was one of the best known women in the world, brave, determined, and accomplished.

An Taibhdhearc, ninety years a’growing

Thu, Aug 23, 2018

On December 3, 1927, a group of people met with the idea of setting up an Irish language theatre in Galway. The committee elected were Dr Séamus Ó Beirn, president; Seán Mac Giollarnáith, treasurer; Liam Ó Briain and Séamus Luibhéid, secretaries; An tAthair Pádraic Ó hEidhin, Liam Ó Buachalla, Síle Ní Chinnéide, Tomás Ó Raghallaigh, Mícheál Ó Droighneáin, Donal Ó Riordáin, and Tomás Ó Máille.

The art of hurling

Thu, Aug 16, 2018

In the year 1527, it was decreed in one of the Galway Statutes that “At no time to use ne occupy ye hurling of ye little balle with the hookie sticks or staves, nor use no hand balle to play without the walls, but only the great foot balle”. It seems the authorities of the day were trying to limit the playing of hurling, but they might as well have tried to hold back the tide.

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