Letter from Ted Hughes to Sylvia Plath’s mother, Aurelia, March 15, 1963

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Dear Aurelia, It has not been possible for me to write this letter before now...

All you need is love

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Love is in the air. It is hard to miss the oversized cards, bright red inflatable hearts and beautifully packaged chocolates occupying pride of place at the front of shopping aisles. Or the stunning displays of red roses, jewellery and fragrance gift sets. All of which herald the onset of St Valentine’s Day.

Strawberry laser lipo — a safe way to get in shape

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Strawberry laser lipo is a safe, painless, and noninvasive inch loss treatment. It involves no needles and no down time.

Revive Active — osteoarthritis relief at Matt O’Flaherty Chemists

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Many people will be affected by osteoarthritis as they age, and this often painful condition can also affect younger people and even teenagers.

Top natural health speakers for Galway talk

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Evergreen is bringing two of the UK’s top natural health experts to speak at a special one-day event in Galway this March. Dr Marilyn Glenville and Patrick Holford will share the most up-to-date evidence-based nutritional solutions on how to gain more energy and improve health in the stressful lives we live.

Burn more calories every hour, twenty four hours a day

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

With total focus on fixing your metabolism, System 10 can transform your weight loss, energy, sleep, health, and much more. A good metabolism is the foundation of everything you are. A good metabolism gets you burning more fat every hour, 24 hours a day.

Fourteen day miracle weight loss tea available in Galway

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Weight loss and detox could not be any easier than this. A new weight loss tea called Yo Chi has arrived in Therapie Clinic Galway. Yo Chi Tea originates from an ancient Chinese formula developed thousands of years ago, specifically to help with digestion. The blend contains lotus leaf, oolong green tea, and a number of other ancient Chinese herbs, all of which have been specially selected because of their proven natural ability to purify and cleanse the body, and to essentially act as a nuisance in stopping the body from storing up food as excess weight, and burn excess fat which is stored in the body.

Beetroot – a vegetable packed with health benefits

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

This is a great time of year for delicious, healthy, beetroot.

Thai massage — a perfect Valentine’s gift

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

Thai massage is very relaxing and returns your body to a Zen-like state. At the end of a session, you will feel extremely calm and relaxed and ready to conquer the world.

Results made easier at The Coast Club

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

The Coast Club boasts an 18.5 metre swimming pool which incorporates natural daylight.

Great value for money at G Furniture and Carpets

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

G Furniture and Carpets in Northpoint on the Tuam road has some really exciting new products to brighten up your home this spring. The company guarantees the best value for money in Galway in carpets and furniture with its carpet and flooring sale now on.

New year's sale continues at An Siopa Troscan, Moycullen

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

See An Siopa Troscan’s full range of quality Irish manufactured suites, where all the suites can be made to order. The range of styles covers everything from contemporary to traditional. Pictured is the Róisin suite, now an amazing €1,699 (was €1,999).

Colourfence — a long lasting, low maintenance, fencing solution

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

For a permanent, no maintenance solution, to all your fencing problems, look no further than Colourfence. Products from Colourfence carry a guarantee that the purchase will sustain for 10 years without warping or corroding.

Evenings at McCambridge’s

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

McCambridge’s is one of my favourite shops. Not a week passes that I do not go in for something special. You can easily put together a wonderful lunch, maybe some grilled artichokes, artisanal cheese, or organic salmon on the freshest of brown bread. An evening meal is just as easily assembled with confit duck legs and something from the salad bar. There are the ever popular sandwiches from the counter to be eaten by the surging waters of the Corrib on a sunny day.

McCambridge’s wins Food Retailer Off Licence Award 2015

Thu, Feb 12, 2015

McCambridge’s was crowned Best Food Retailer Off Licence of the Year at the National Off Licence of the Year Awards 2015 at the Honourable Society of Kings Inns, Dublin, recently.

Memories of Shantalla Place

Thu, Feb 05, 2015

Shantalla Place was a little development of 23 houses which were built by a man named Birmingham, Nos 1 to 6 are on the Rahoon Road, and Nos 7 to 23 form a terrace just off that road. Originally, it was called Birmingham Terrace, later Sycamore Drive, before they finally settled on Shantalla Place. Mothers on this terrace used to warn their children not ‘to go down to the scheme’ when the rest of Shantalla was being built.

Try regional specialities of Italy at Trattoria

Thu, Feb 05, 2015

In many seaside towns both here and afar, there always seems to be one main street filled with souvenir shops, a smattering of dull bars, and some terrible tourist-trap restaurants. In Galway we buck this trend and are lucky enough to have Quay Street, the buzzing heart of Galway’s Latin Quarter. It has medieval architecture, and a pedestrian street for browsing the many quirky little shops full of wooden toys, vintage clothes, and pottery, alongside the quality woollens and Celtic jewellery. The atmosphere in the pubs is fun and friendly, with the sound of music from trad to rock spilling onto the street. You are guaranteed entertainment from buskers and performers, a festival or passing parade, and it is the best place in the city on a sunny evening, when the outdoor seating is packed with tourists and locals engaged in 'people watching' and enjoying all the sights and sounds on our streets.

Quay Street is also the hard working culinary backbone of our tourist trade with many distinctive restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. Behind the colourful facades there are wine bars, coffee shops, and restaurants with many cuisines from which to choose. But dining out in the centre of Galway is certainly not just for tourists. In the leaner winter months especially they must rely on the local trade to keep afloat in an industry with such notoriously slim margins. While many of us walk past them every day, a lot of them just happen to be very good places to eat, with exceptional variety for visitors and residents. Whether you are looking for a fine dining establishment or a fish and chip joint, you are likely to find something that meets your needs.

Letter to Sylvia Plath from Ted Hughes (March 1956)

Thu, Feb 05, 2015

Sylvia, That night was nothing but getting to know how smooth your body is. The memory of it goes through me like brandy. If you do not come to London to me, I shall come to Cambridge to you. I shall be in London, here, until the 14th. Enjoy Paris...Ted. And bring back brandy. Two bottles.

William Street West c1978

Thu, Jan 29, 2015

William of Orange had a major impact on the history of this city, so I presume it was after him that three streets in Galway were named, Williamsgate Street, William Street, and the one in our photograph, William Street West.

Two new recruits for the Connaught Rangers

Thu, Jan 29, 2015

This very fine painting ‘Listed for the Connaught Rangers, recruiting in Ireland 1878’, was painted by Elizabeth S Thompson, but following her marriage to Lieutenant General Sir William Butler of Bansha Castle, Co Tipperary, is best known as Lady Butler. It is not only extremely unusual for a woman artist to have so successfully worked in the highly masculine field of military art, but Lady Butler was an exception in many ways. She was an innovator, particularly in her sensitive and humane depiction of the ordinary soldier. Detail was all important. She was a regular visitor to Chelsea Hospital, and other retirement homes for soldiers, to question survivors, sometimes getting them to re-enact a particular scene.

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