Galway In Days Gone By

Terror of the District

At the City Petty Sessions, Mary Anne Halloran summoned Anne Grehan, Munster Lane, for abusive language, and sought to have her bound to the peace. A young girl named McDermot, of the same street, had a similar summons against the defendant.

Mary Anne Halloran swore she is in the employment of Mr. Griffin, baker. Defendant lives next door to her. On the date in question she called her filthy names and made charges against her.

Ellen McDermot also gave evidence that defendant called her names, because she keeps company with last witness. She followed witness through the town and abused her.

Sergt. Golding gave evidence of the character of the defendant, whose conduct, he said was very bad. She has four or five youngsters, and her husband is at the front.

Mr. Daly: She is the terror of the district. Some of these people think they should excite the sympathy of the Court because their husbands are at the front.

Defendant was bound to the peace for 12 months herself in £5, and two sureties of £2 10s. Each, and in default a month in jail.

Attempted murder

Joseph Kearns, a young farmer’s son, aged 25, residing at Ballyhugh, Gort, was fired at on last Friday night, when the thumb and finger of his hand were blow off, and the second finger badly shattered.

Young Kearns had been in at the merry-go-rounds in Gort that night, and, accompanied by a young newsboy named Wm. Balincher, was returning home. While in the act of lighting a cigarette, and while the light from the match reflected his face, the shot was fired. The thumb and finger were holding the cigarette.

The motive for the undoubted attempt to murder is stated to be attributable to feminine jealousy.

No doubt the attempt on the man’s life was deliberate, and the sneaking would-be murderer behind the ditch has done his best to disgrace the county.

1940

Tourism boom

The Easter tourist traffic in Connemara was rather good on the whole and exceptionally good in some parts. Mr. Noel Huggard, proprietor of the Ashford Castle hotel, told our correspondent that he was compelled to decline over two hundred advance bookings.

Parking problems

With the coming of the tourist season the vexed question of parking again arises. The parking in Galway City has been described by an authority as “the worst in Ireland”, and any remedy to deal with it should find favour generally.

The regulations as they effect the difficulty in Dublin have not met with the wholehearted approval of the public. Motorists have, more or less, always enjoyed freedom of parking almost anywhere they pleases so long as they did not cause an obstruction to the public thoroughfare, and it was not to be expected, therefore, that they would all take to the idea of having to put their cards away somewhere less central or convenient.

Although no ideal parking place in Galway has suggested itself, there are a number of places which might be made available, and whichever places are decided upon their location, having regard to the size of the city, could not be so much out of the way that they would seriously inconvenience anyone.

Migration impact

Twenty families, comprising over sixty people, will be migrated on Friday from the Cloughbrack and Clobur areas to new farms in County Meath.

Our correspondent was informed in Clonbur that this large-scale migration will seriously damage the trading of the little town. Business men pointed out that the families who are leaving the district were all very good, industrious and thrifty and never owed a shilling in any of the shops.

They made a lot of ready money on sheep rearing and on wool. No later than last week, one wool buyer alone paid out £500 for wool at the Clonbur market.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.