In these times of Climate Change, because of their extent, forest fires usually draw most attention. Here in Ireland in the past, however, fires in buildings, large and small, drew most attention. St Patrick’s Parish is no exception. Here are three examples.
There was amazement in the air, as people gathered at the top of Prospect Hill, and gazed northwards from the road bridge over the Galway-Clifden railway line tunnel. A low wall guarded the tunnel on the opposite side of where the Dean Hotel is today. There were no buildings there back then on either side of the road on the night of 26 July 1910, as a huge ball of flame continued to rise high in the air over Menlo Castle in the distance. It really shook the town onlookers. Sadly, two people died in this inferno, accidentally set off, it is said, by an overturned lighted lamp. The two people who died in this tragic event were Ellen Blake of the castle family, and servant Delia Earley from Parkavera. The building itself was in two sections. The first, in a tower house design, dating from the early 17th Century, and the newer addition, later adjoined in the late 18th Century, was mostly destroyed, its roof entirely so, and its walls, although still standing, were left in a sorry state. Plans were being mooted circa 2000 A.D. to restore the entire building, but, sadly, as yet, in this regard, no progress has been made.
On the other side of human habitation; those of the ‘lesser-off’, lived in single, thatched homes, especially in rural areas. Attached thatched buildings were constructed on the growing outskirts of medieval towns and cities, and here in Galway, Bohermore was a fine example. Thatched roofs were the original examples here on the outskirts of the town but, in time, slated roofs became the norm. Nevertheless, over a dozen of these quaint thatched buildings existed in Bohermore, until recent times along the main street leading up to the New Cemetery. Sadly, their end, in a way, was rushed by a fire disaster, which occurred about the middle of the last century. Three such attached thatched homes, just above Prospect Hill and facing Waterlane, suddenly went on fire. Despite the best efforts of the fire brigade and local helpers, the fire, which started in the one nearest to Prospect Hill, quickly spread to the other two, and lighted straw fragments from the first roof, blown on an unforgiving wind, set the other two alight also. By the end of the afternoon, the eventual sodden walls only greeted the saddened onlookers. However, most of the furniture and house contents were saved by neighbours. Thatched houses, in the modern urban setting recall memories of another age, and sadly, only three now grace the busy urban setting in inner Galway City today. They are at Eyre Street, Cooke’s Corner and Lower Salthill. None now grace Bohermore.
The final example of a third major conflagration in, or next to our parish occurred only a few short years ago, on the evening of 30August 2016. On the other side of the now unknown road bridge over the long defunct railway tunnel on Prospect Hill, groups of amazed onlookers gathered to view yet another growing inferno. The well noted Shannon Cleaners’ building was ablaze, with fire tenders from city and county doing their very best to quench it. Sadly, it was an impossible task, and the following day we were left with a derelict site.
It was not the end of the world, however, and today in its place stands the new and exciting Dean Hotel. As well as a host of attractions, this building does not let us forget the past. The portion of the former railway tunnel under the new building has been turned into a most exciting gym. The old tunnel roof is preserved and, in a rather strange way, reminds us of another huge inferno, which lit up the night sky, way back in 1910.
