Search Results for 'Paschal Spelman'

At the beginning of the last century, William Joseph Silke came to Galway from Kilconnell. He had occasion to visit the shop owned by Mrs Teresa Mannix on the corner of Upper Dominick Street and Pump Lane. She was a Macaulay from Scotland and was the widow of a Mr Mannix from Galway. They fell in love and eventually married and together, they had four children, Willy Joe, Michael John, Tess and Annie May.

Seamus Kavanagh grew up in the village of Finod, near Easkey in Co Sligo. He went to the Technical School there and the principal suggested he apply for a position as a trainee electrician with T Naughton & Sons in Galway. His colleague at work, Paschal Spelman introduced him to the Order of Malta which became a life-long interest. He did a correspondence course and qualified as an electrician. Rural electrification brought about major changes in the home, and new electric appliances were in high demand, and Seamus found himself selling these and travelling throughout the county installing them.

Galway is what it is because of the people who shape its character, those who dedicate their lives to making it an experience that so many wish to taste. At its heart is the iconic Hardiman, a hotel that has been an enduring symbol of hospitality, elegance, and tradition stretching back to the 19th century. And for the past 45 years, no one has embodied this spirit more than Margaret Glynn.

Our first illustration today is of the cover of the sheet music for the song ‘Galway Bay’ as sung by Bing Crosby. It was written by Dr Arthur Colohan, apparently in memory of his brother who was drowned somewhere near Seapoint. I have also been told that it got its first airing in the hotel at the top of Prospect Hill. It seems Colohan, a medical student, was in there with a group of his fellow undergraduates when he told them he had written a song and sat down at the piano to play and sing it for them. The legend is that they fell all over the place laughing. He of course had the last laugh as his song became one of the world’s best sellers, topping the charts in Britain in1950.

One of Galway’s best known businessmen Dermot Murray, Ard Aoibhinn, Dalysfort Road, died peacefully at University College Hospital last Friday.