Sitting quietly at the edge of the footpath outside Hynes’ shop on Forster Street is an old water trough that seeks little attention and is passed daily by many who never wonder as to its origin. Of course, why would an old trough have a history, it’s just something from the past that was used to give animals a drink during the fair days in the Fairgreen long ago. Or passing horses travelling across town, back in the days before cars were the common mode of transport. When you think of it, the tram that travelled to Salthill from town was a horse-drawn tram and was stationed at the building that was Powells in Forster Street, what is now Park House Hotel. Perhaps the horses from the tram company would be brought across the road for a drink before their day’s work or in the evening. So who put the trough there? And what is the inscription CSPCA? The letter C is a mystery, and what does it represent? The trough was financed by a bequest from a very wealthy Australian couple, George and Annis Bills, who left the huge sum of £70,000 for the welfare of animals of the City.
