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Old Galway
QUEEN’S COLLEGE, GALWAY, THE EARLY DAYS
by Tom Kenny
The Queen’s Colleges in Galway Cork and Belfast were established in 1845, and shortly afterwards, construction of the quadrangular building started in Galway. In May, 1847, despite the Famine, William Brady, the contractor for the building, advertised for thirty stone cutters and thirty stonemasons. Large working sheds were erected on the site so that the work could be carried out in inclement weather. There was no big rush to work from the stone men as the money he offered was below the going rate, but as it was a long term job with shelter provided, so it had a security of employment not available on other building projects. In the end, the building of the College did have a beneficial effect on the depressed conditions in Galway at the time.
The first students walked in the gate in October 1849, 175 years ago. The Colleges had been denounced as ‘godless’ by the Catholic hierarchy so Galway had, from the beginning, difficulty in attracting students. But, by 1859, 18 of the 31 students who sat the matriculation exams here were Catholics. There were eleven entrants for arts, twelve for medicine, one for law, three for engineering and four for agriculture.
THE FRANCISCANS IN GALWAY
by Tom Kenny
In the graveyard at the back of the Abbey Church in Francis Street stands an interesting memorial carrying the De Burgo coat of Arms and a long broadsword. The inscription tells us that it was erected in memory of William De Burgo who founded the Franciscan friary on St. Stephen’s Island in 1296. The site was roughly where the Courthouse is today and the island was formed by the Galway River on one side and a branch of that river which ran through what today would be Woodquay and Mary Street and re-joined the main river. A second and smaller island lay between St. Stephen’s and the town wall, so that in order to maintain communications with the town, two bridges were necessary, one at the junction of Mary Street and Abbeygate Street and the other at the Little Gate. The Abbey buildings lay immediately north of the present graveyard and between them and the river was ‘Sruthán na mBráthair’, a small stream that enabled the friars to bring boats in from the main river. The monastery was known as the Abbey of St. Francis.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CLADDAGH
by Tom Kenny
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Claddagh started to go into decline, thanks mainly to the local fishermen not updating their methods of fishing. This economic decline continued into the last century so, when the Urban District Council announced in 1916 that they were starting a reclamation programme of the 30-acre field that was known locally as ‘The Swamp’, it caused a lot of excitement locally. A small working committee was established to carry out the details of organisation. From then on the area was to be known as South Park. I am not sure where that title came from, maybe they regarded the Square as East Park, Salthill Park as Westpark, but where was North Park?
FAIRS AND MARKETS IN THE SQUARE
by Tom Kenny
In 1902, the number of fairs listed for Eyre Square was; January 1st; March 20th & 21st; April 14th & 15th; May 30th & 31st; June 20th; July 13th & 14th; August 6th; September 3rd& 4th, 20th & 21st; October 21st; November 2nd (pigs only); December 8th & 9th. This list gives one an idea of how important and busy the Square was for commerce at the time. These were occasions when the country came to town, when rural people brought in their produce and hoped to convert it into cash.
There was a variety of fairs, cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, hay markets, turf markets, sock markets, egg and butter markets, potato markets and sadly, the hiring fair. This last one was the worst one of all and dealt in humans, spailpíns, out-of-work labourers, usually from west of the city who would gather at the railings opposite the Skeff and hope they might be hired by farmers who usually came from east of the city, or oyster growers from Clarinbridge. There cannot have been much dignity attached to that fair.
ST. ENDA’S COLLEGE, A BRIEF HISTORY
by Tom Kenny
On this day, October 10th, 1937, Coláiste Éinde opened on Threadneedle Road for the first time. The school had been founded by the state in 1928 shortly after the state itself was founded. The aim was to teach 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, educated a new generation of boys through Irish.
It started life in Furbo House, an old house belonging to the Blake family. The school was not long there when some kind of domestic dispute arose between members of the owner’s family which made the their stay there very short and they had to evacuate the building at Christmas, 1930. The college was transferred to Talbot House in Talbot Street, Dublin the following month. There were 29 pupils in the first class. The second group of scholars came to the college in the school year of 1931/32. Two years later, the college moved to a premises in Glasnevin.
THE AGE OF SAIL
by Tom Kenny
“A river mouth opening upon one of the finest natural harbours would seem to offer an ideal situation for a town or trading station”. These were the first words written in Professor Mary Donovan O’Sullivan’s very important history Old Galway, which would indicate her surprise that such a fine location would not have attracted a Norse settlement. Water, in the form of the sea, the river and the many streams, was a major factor in the development of the town of Galway from when the Anglo Norman invaders settled and built their castle and town.
For these settlers, the sea at the bay was the only link with the authority to which they owed allegiance and so boating and shipping were the breath of life of Galway. The citizens endeavoured to maintain control of the bay and tried to prevent the native Irish from having the same access to boats. As the wealth and influence of the merchants grew, their success in business depended to a large extent on the port and on their ships so the power of seafaring became more and more important. The levies on imported goods helped to build the city walls and give security to the inhabitants. Trade was the staple of the city.
150 YEARS OF RUGBY
by Tom Kenny
Queen’s College Galway Rugby Club was founded in 1874, 150 years ago, making it the oldest rugby club in Connacht. They have a long and proud history and have helped nurture and boost many rugby careers helping players to the highest levels. They were a founding club of the Irish Rugby Football Union. They won their first Connacht Senior Cup in 1897 and have managed to hold that trophy aloft many times since. Their first victory in the Dudley Cup, played for by the three Queen’s Universities, was in 1905. They have featured many times in the Bateman Cup, an exclusive competition in which clubs participate by invitation only.
They have fielded teams at minor, junior and senior levels, and won trophies at all of them. Many of their players have featured on Provincial teams, on Irish Universities International teams and ten of their players have been capped for Ireland, several while playing for UCG.
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
by Tom Kenny
Our main photograph today (which comes courtesy of the National Library) is an aerial one of part of Salthill taken in 1953. The main feature is the Warwick Hotel, the white building in the foreground. To the left of it you can see Hotel Summerset Hotel and the little shop, An Bearna, run by James and Maura Codd. Behind the Warwick you can see Lenaboy Park and towards the top of the photograph, the newly built houses of Devon Park.
All of this land was originally part of the O’Hara Estate. A Mrs. Holmes was related to the O’Haras and managed to persuade them to sell her some of their land, the ‘lower pasture lands’ furthest away from their house, down near the original gates to their estate. This land is known as Lenaboy Park today. She built herself a house called ‘Greenmount’ on the main Salthill road and ran it as a B&B for a number of years. It eventually became too big for her, so she converted some farm buildings in the park into a house for herself. She asked the Council to supply water and sewage and roads estimating the cost to be not greater than £900 and she in turn made over to the council the right of way between the park and what we now know as Devon Park. She then began to sell off plots in the park to people whom she approved of and thought they would be ‘nice’ neighbours.