Search Results for 'Colonel'

A propulsive and prescient thrill ride that's hard to top

Three Galway pubs, The Crane Bar, Tigh Neachtain and The Kings Head, have been named among Ireland’s top 50 pubs in a new list published by The Sunday Times.

Three Galway pubs, The Crane Bar, Tigh Neachtain and The Kings Head, have been named among Ireland’s top 50 pubs in a new list published by The Sunday Times.

On May 9, 1905, there was a meeting held in the Royal Hotel of golfers that had been banned from membership of the Gentian Hill club by the landlord there, Sebastian Nolan. They decided to form a new club under the presidency of the Hon Robert Dillon. It was reported that on that day a committee had accompanied Larkin, the Bray professional, over a promising new course on Mr Marcus Lynch’s property at Barna and were happy about the suitability of the ground for a nine-hole links.

The first golf course in Galway was constructed by Lieutenant Colonel Jourdain, the last Colonel of the Connaught Rangers, on military grounds at Renmore Barracks, between the rifle range and Cromwell’s Fort, in 1893. Play was originally confined to military personnel, but then some members of the public were invited and it took off so well that the colonel and his friends were invited to lay out a course on Knocknacarra Hill.

On February 6, 1898, Colonel O’Hara from Lenaboy Castle and Henry Hodgson from Currerevagh, Oughterard came together to found The Corrib Fisheries Association for the further improvement of trout fishing on the Corrib. They teamed up with the Board of Conservators of the Galway District to promote proper angling on the Corrib. In 1907, they managed to convince the Department of Agriculture to build a trout hatchery on the Owenriff River in Oughterard. It worked very well for a number of years but eventually fell into decline and closed down in 1924.

Flann O’Brien famously asked if a man spent half his life cycling, is he half-man, half-bicycle? But the absurdly post-modern question in Salthill last week was: is a diving tower blocked off for diving still a diving tower?

The town of Galway was virtually an independent city state, self-contained politically and ecclesiastically, relying on its own resources as it was cut off from the central English authority until the 16th century. Then, the Tudors began to extend their influence westwards so that the city gradually came totally under their dominion. The real symbol of that growing influence was the fortifications, four in number, raised to defend this all-important location against all enemies, notably France and Spain.

Castlebar Fever Hospital was the first structure demolished in 1965 when works on what would become the Sacred Heart Hospital commenced. The Fever Hospital and the Workhouse that shadowed it are at the top of the list of former public spaces in Castlebar with a dark and terrible history.

A rare 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta has become the fourth most valuable Ferrari ever sold at auction, when it recently sold for $30.25 million (around €32.78m).