Some Stories from Volume 52

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Dragons in the Galway Arts Festival. Courtesy Joe O’Shaughnessy and the Connacht Tribune

The West Awakens

Jack Kavanaghy
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Galway Musings

I’d spent ten days in a room in Dublin, coughing with Covid; so, I took the train to the City of the Tribes to feel alive again. To enjoy the western air, the music, stories; spend a day at the races, maybe, or just celebrate life. Where better to do that than Galway in July? I stayed in the Claddagh, the fishing village just across the River Corrib. The place is forever stamped in global folklore with the heart and the crown of the Claddagh ring symbolising fidelity. to the one for whom your pulse races. Like many a Galway treasure, the ring design came from afar, brought back by Richard Joyce ...

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Claregalway Castle and Abbey circa 1840s by Samuel and Anna Maria Hall

The Halls

Lisa Henry
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Local History

The Halls were an Irish born husband and wife team working as writers, editors and sketch artists. They visited Galway during the early 1840s and created some wonderful images of places such as the Spanish Arch and Buttermilk Lane. Anna Maria Hall nee Fielding was an Irish novelist. She was born on 6 January 1800 in Dublin. She lived with her mother, a widow, named Sarah Elizabeth Fielding and her stepfather, George Carr of Wexford. Anna Maria left for England with her mother when she was fifteen years old. She received some education from Frances Arabella Rowden, a poet with a gift for passing on her talent ...

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Victorian Penfold pillar box, opposite the Connaught Building, Mainguard Street, c. 1900

The Royal Post Boxes of Galway

Brendan McGowan
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Local History

The practice of sending written messages is almost as old as writing itself. Indeed, the ancient Egyptians and Chinese established early postal systems to support their empires. Around 2500 years ago, the Persian Empire – which stretched from present-day Egypt to India – developed a vast network of roads and staging posts, each one a day’s horse ride apart, that allowed horse riders to quickly carry written communications over great distances – an impressive 320 kilometres per day. The Irish postal system, by comparison, is only about 400 years old ...

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Brothers and legends Jimmy (left) and Sean Duggan displaying their skills at NUIG when they were both conferred with the Honorary Degree of Master of Arts in recognition of their lifetime contribution to Galway hurling. Joe O'Shaughnessy and the Connacht Tribune

Jimmy Duggan – Hurling Legend

William Henry
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Local History

Jimmy Duggan died peacefully on Sunday 29 October 2023 at the age of 93 surrounded by his family and loved ones. The passing of this wonderful man brought great sadness to his family, friends and the entire GAA community. Jimmy was without doubt one of the most legendary hurlers of his time. Jimmy was born in 1930 the son of Martin and Mary Duggan. His brothers, Sean and Paddy, were also noted hurlers and his sister, Monica was an exceptional Camogie player. The Duggan family hurling lineage dates from the 1890s when their granduncles were members of the famous College Road team ...

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Tonerys Bar on Bohermore

The Little Shops of Bohermore

Fr Brendan Darcy, S.M.A.
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Local History

I have never been sure where Bohermore (the big road) begins or ends. As a child I used to remember it as a great “dry river” beginning somewhere beyond Castlegar and making its way to Eyre Square in Galway City. As it approached the city it was joined by tributaries like most big rivers, except these took the form of little boreens, laneways and in more recent times, terraces. Nowadays, from St Bridget’s Terrace down to Eyre Square is called Prospect Hill. There were a few little shops on the top of the hill before heading up to Bohermore opposite the County Buildings, Ford’s Garage and the Union Hall. There was Kelly’s where you got the thickest penny ice cream in Galway between two half wafers ...

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The Galway County Club was supposedly built on the rock from which Galvia fell and drowned. Author’s Collection

Galvia – First Galway Girl

William Henry
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Local History

Over the centuries there have been a number of theories regarding the origins of the name Galway. One of them involved the death of a beautiful princess named Galvia (Gaillimh). According to tradition, she was of the Firbolg tribe, who settled in Ireland. Legendary tales inform us that they were descended from an earlier group of people who left Ireland and settled in different parts of Europe. They were enslaved by the Greeks and forced to work on barren lands in a bid to make these places fertile. The work involved carrying bags of clay and spreading the soil across the sterile areas. This is how their name supposedly evolved, ‘Fir’ meaning Man and ‘Bolg’ referring to the bag. . They eventually escaped and returned to their old hunting ground and settlements in Ireland ...

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