Old Galway
150 YEARS RACING AT BALLYBRIT
by Tom Kenny
We know that horse races were organised in different parts of County Galway from the middle of the 18th century in places like Kilconnell, Eyrecourt, Rahasane, Ballinasloe, Ballymoe, Carraroe and Bermingham House near Tuam. They were known as ‘racing matches’. In 1764, there was a 5-day meeting held at Knockbarron near Loughrea and between 1829 and 1857, 15 meetings were held in Kiltulla near Ballybrut. In 1867, a series of races were organised at Bushfield near Oranmore.
FORTHILL CEMETERY, 1905
by Tom Kenny
It is often said that one cannot claim to be a true ‘old Galwegian’ or ‘auld shtock’ unless one has some relations buried in Forthill Cemetery at Lough Athalia. It is probably the oldest cemetery in Galway. The Augustinians have been associated with it since the year 1500. The Augustinian convent or priory was built there by Margaret Athy at the request of a friar, Richard Nagle and it probably stood on level ground at the upper level of Forthill. The grounds of the priory extended quite a bit along the shores of Lough Athalia, at least to the site where St. Augustine’s Well is today. Nothing at all remains of the priory except some drawings on the 1625 and 1651 maps.
THE FORSTER PARK HOTEL
by Tom Kenny
There was a long discussion at an Urban District Council meeting in July 1935 about whether to allow purchasers of plots in front of the house at Forster Park, recently occupied by Dr Michael O’Malley, to proceed with the building immediately, or to force them to defer construction until the road along the promenade had been widened. The plots had been advertised as building sites. One of the objectors said “We are a long time looking for a town planning scheme in Galway, and now that we have it, I strongly object to this building. We have one of the finest hotels in the country (The Eglinton) and now you want to destroy it”.
MOUNT ST. MARYS
by Tom Kenny
In the late 12th century, the Diocese of Annaghdown came into existence in the area surrounding the city of Galway. In 1324, it was united with Tuam but the Anglo-Norman families refused to accept direction from Tuam. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII made St. Nicholas’ Church a Collegiate Church governed by a warden (not a bishop) and 8 vicars. Edmund ffrench, the last warden was made Bishop of Kilmacduagh in 1824. On April 27th, 1831, the Bull ‘Sedium Episcopalaism’ was issued by Pope Gregory XVI erecting the Diocese of Galway. On October 23rd 1831, the first Bishop of the Diocese, George Joseph Plunkett Browne was consecrated and in 1844, he was succeeded by Laurence O’Donnell. John McEvilly became Bishop in 1857.
MENLO OARSMEN
by Tom Kenny
One of the great sporting achievements of the last century was the remarkable success of a group of Irish speaking farmers and local men from Menlo. During a very wet spring when they could do little work on their farms or on the bog, as they watched rowing crews going up and down the river, a group of them decided to form a rowing club. They asked to become members of Menlo Emmett’s Hurling club and adopted the name. Many of them would have spent a lot of time on the river, but that did not mean they knew how to handle a racing boat. When they took their clinker out for the first time, it took them a good while to steady the boat. A local man watching, described them as “The Wobblers” and this name stuck for a few years.
HUGHES’ PUB, WOODQUAY
by Tom Kenny
Sixty years ago yesterday, on the 26th of June 1969, Michael Hughes opened his pub in Woodquay. Our photograph (which was taken in 1953) shows what it looked like before Michael took it over. It was known as Molly Greaney’s and that is the lady herself on the right. Next to her is her brother Tommy who worked as a rep for Dwyers of Cork. The next two men with caps are Brendan Noonan and his brother and their father is the man with the hat. They were carpenters. The man in the foreground is Tommy O’Brien who worked with an oil company. We don’t know who the two men in caps on the left were.
OUR LADY’S BOYS CLUB
by Tom Kenny
This club is one of Galway’s treasures. It was founded in 1940 by Fr. Leonard Shiel S.J. at a time when there were no after-school recreational facilities for working class-area boys in the city. The Jesuit Community gave them the use of a clubhouse at the back of the Columban Hall and here the boys were involved in many activities that helped prepare them for life. They were taught loyalty, self -respect, how to help others and the importance of team spirit. Much of this was through the medium of sport – soccer, swimming, boxing, Irish dancing, table tennis, snooker etc.
ST. NICHOLAS’ COLLEGIATE CHURCH AND THE CITY
by Tom Kenny
Next year the magnificent building of St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, this venerable edifice in the centre of our city will celebrate 700 years of continuous Christian worship in Galway. The church is the largest mediaeval parish church in Ireland and its history is a kind of microcosm of the history of Galway. It is thought that it was first built early in the fourteenth century. There was a legend that a man from the Aran Islands died in the sixteenth century, aged 220 years who could remember a time when the building did not exist. It sounds like a good story.