Search Results for 'The Times'

More than 200 cyclists from all over Ireland completed the second Étape Connemara 150km cycling challenge in aid of the fight against heart disease and stroke.

The succession by the infamous Marcella Netterville to a large estate near Mount Bellew, Co Galway, in the 1820s owed as much to chance as it was to her unlikely mother-in-law, with the wonderful name, Kitty Cut-a-Dash. The Nettervilles were an ancient Norman family, who came to Galway from County Meath after purchasing land from the Bellew family. A judicious marriage with the Trenchs of Garbally, Ballinasloe, increased their holdings. It appears that for a time both the Nettervilles and their tenants lived at peace and in some prosperity, at least until Frederick Netterville began to spread his wild oats somewhat wide of the field.

In late October 1890, Arthur J Balfour, nephew of the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury of the time, and recently appointed Chief Secretary of Ireland, went on a walking tour of the distressed districts along the Galway and Mayo coast. Accompanied only by his sister, and local officials who joined them as they passed through different districts, they travelled without police escort. Remembering that it was only eight years since the Phoenix Park Murders* it was a brave gesture. But Balfour was probably the best of them.** He was genuinely anxious to improve the conditions of the area. He had influence in London, and an imaginative grasp of his brief for Ireland. He met and talked with the local community leaders, listened to what they had to say; and sat by the open fires listening to the mná tí.

People across Galway county and city will be going to the polls, to elect local councillors and MEPs, between 7am and 10pm on Friday May 23.

ANDREW MAXWELL, one of Ireland’s leading comedians and a double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, comes to the Róisín Dubh this Saturday.

Double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Andrew Maxwell, will return to Ireland touring his new show Banana Kingdom. With this blissfully funny show, Andrew will cover most of Ireland taking in 27 venues across the country, and will visit Galway on Saturday March 15 at the Róisín Dubh.

Earlier this year Galway Diary discussed the evictions implemented by Marcella Netterville and John Gerrard on their 7,000 acre estate at Ballinlass, near Mount Bellew Co Galway. In 1846 more that 400 families were heartlessly thrown out on the road, without any compensation. The land was being cleared to fatten cattle, which would have been far more profitable than tenants; many of whom, as the Great Famine tightened its terrible grip, were unable to pay their way. The Times of London famously commented that the Ballinlass evictions showed ‘the sublime indifference to social considerations of which no one but an Irish landowner is capable.’

COMEDIANS MARK Thomas, Sean Hughes, and Jason Byrne are confirmed to play the Róisín Dubh and ‘Róisín Dubh presents...’ shows in 2014.

ANDREW MAXWELL will undertake his most extensive Irish tour to date in 2014, taking in 27 venues across six weeks.

STEVE HUGHES, the Australian heavy metal drummer turned hit comedian is coming to Galway with his new show While It’s Still Legal.