Old Abbeygate Street
There is a real vintage feeling to this photograph of Abbeygate Street which dates from the 1970’s. The double yellow lines are about the only ‘modern’ thing about this image. The street has undergone many changes since.The house we see on the left was occupied by Mr. Kemple and his daughters.The house next door was occupied by the Heaney family and was described as “A large two-bay,three-storey house of cut limestone which dates from the early nineteenth century. The shopfront is simple though it has the letter H incised on the plaster brackets of the fascia.
Note the tall, narrow, round-headed doorcase and the skew-backed voussoirs in the lintels”. This butcher shop was opened by Michael Heaney c. 1860, and it finally closed down about twenty years ago.
Next door was Moloney’s sweet shop and beside that lived the Barrett family. Mrs. Barrett was famous for her cake making. Beside them were the Shapiro family and the rounded archway in that building led into Shapiro’s Yard. Ellie Carty and her brother occupied the next house, and the large building next door to that was known as Carter’s Tenements, “A five-bay three-storey house with tall windows, dating originally from the early seventeenth century, having a tiny 17th century window high on the north gable and the remains of a pointed doorcase and 17th century windows on the rere”. Local legend has it that it was once a police barracks, but by now it was owned by Michael Cunningham and his family who had a shop on the ground floor. It had a high counter with a glass case on top and was a general grocery where they sold sweets and ice cream as well. Among the others who lived there were the Haynes Family; Mary Anne O’Toole; Michael, Chrissie and Rose Anne Melia; Anthony Morris; Julia Murphy; Lizzie Hehir; Martin Cunniss; Molly Hosty and Daught; Michael Tuite who was a famous Galway character known as ‘Shoots’.
The next house was that of the O’Halloran family, whose children included Fr. Colman, Imelda, Bella and Albert. The Galway Observer Newspaper was next door. It was founded in 1882 by Alexander Scott and the final edition was published on October 1st, 1966. It was latterly owned by John Scott and his sisters Rose Anne and Tilly, who was the only female intertype operator in the country. Next was Hanley’s Fashion Shop which had previously been occupied by O’Dea’s Pub. Beside that was John Rabbitte’s Metalworks, which, in earlier times was a forge owned by Pat Griffin. He was known to all and sundry as “Lá Garbh”, because no matter what the weather was like, that was how he always described it.
Finally, a special request from an old Galwegian .... can anyone tell me where Morgan’s Lane was ? It may have been just an entry, but I have not been able to find it.