Galway In Days Gone By

Senseless attack

An old man named Walsh, a farmer living at Tristane, near Ballinasloe, was visited by a number of masked and armed men during the week-end and dragged from his bed, taken outside and, it is alleged, ill-treated.

The men decamped leaving the old man prostrate on the doorstep where he remained some time exposed to the cold and wet. Mr. Walsh is over 70 years of age and has suffered from heart failure for many years, sometimes so acutely that he has been compelled to remain in bed for days.

On this occasion, he was suffering from an acute attack. The greatest indignation is felt in Ballinasloe and district at the callous act as Mr. Walsh was well known, a prosperous farmer and highly popular with all classes.

Mr. Walsh was, in his younger days, a stock master and a good judge of cattle and sheep. He is looked upon as a broad-minded and kind-hearted neighbour. It is, therefore, difficult to suggest any motive for the act.

Pictured: Sinéad O'Connor with Patricia Forde, then Galway International Arts Festival Artistic Director, at the Warwick Hotel, Salthill, in July 1991. Sinead made a surprise appearance at the hotel and performed with The Stunning during that year's Arts Festival.