Time was when the milk farmer’s delivery man used to park his pony and trap or his donkey and cart outside your house, pour your measure of milk into a special measuring jug, and from there into your big jug or can or pail which was left outside the door. He would have a few large churns in the cart with taps at the bottom. These milkmen had their own route and their own customers, and did not try to steal other’s customers. The milk came directly from the cow to the customer.

Salthill was a small fishing village with some scattered farm buildings in the hinterland. There were two small clusters of thatched cottages in addition to the main village, one at Blackrock and one at Rockbarton but these were literally blown away on the ‘Night of the Big Wind’ and the occupants forced to move further inland.

In 1937, County Galway was divided into two constituencies for election purposes, and from then until 1977, when Galway West became a four-seater, this constituency always voted in 2 Fianna Fáil TD’s and one Fine Gael. In 1977 we voted in Bobby Molloy, Bill Loughnane and Mannion of Fine Gael.

In 1961, Seán Keane, a parent of a child with an intellectual disability, wrote a letter to the Connacht Tribune. He was looking for what all parents want for their children, a chance for them to achieve their full potential whether they be disabled or not. He got no response, so 2 months later he wrote again, this time a reply to his own letter. The National Association of Mentally Handicapped in Ireland had just been established, they saw the letter and they asked the local Irish National Teachers Organisation in the shape of Mick Raftery and Micheál McSweeney to call a meeting.