According to some sources the Bank of Ireland was established in Galway City ‘about 1823’ two hundred years ago. There were some earlier ‘private’ banks that played an important business role around Galway. These included French, Joyce and Lynch. It has been said that the circumstances surrounding banking in the city in the early years paved the way for the Bank of Ireland. On 30 October 1802, Joyce’s Galway Bank was registered by Walter Joyce and his junior partner, Mark Lynch. In 1807, Lynch resigned from the firm and set up a separate bank under the name ‘Mark Lynch and Son’. It seems that Walter Joyce retired about the same time, and his brother-in-law, John Appleyard entered the business. Another family member, John Joyce, was also involved in the banking business. He is described as ‘Banker and Merchant’ on a plaque at St Augustine Street. His bank notes also displayed the Joyce coat of arms. He died in 1818.
Another private banking business, ‘French and Company’, was established in Tuam by Sir Thomas French in 1804. The firm was reorganised in 1807 when Michael Morris, William Keary and Charles French were brought into the business as partners. About the same time, a branch was opened in Lower Dominick Street. Their banknotes were in widespread circulation throughout Connacht.
However, tragedy struck on 9 December 1814, when the principal partner, Lord French, committed suicide. The additional shock to the public was the discovery that the bank was in an insolvent position. The confidence previously enjoyed by the firm suddenly ceased, and the business came to a standstill without any payments being made to creditors. The collapse of this firm seriously weakened confidence in the banking system in the West of Ireland. It seems likely that this resulted in the closure of the Joyce Bank and Lynch Bank, both in 1815. One account of the closures states, ‘The failure of these banks was undoubtedly due to lack of capital, loss of investments, failure to retain sufficient liquid assets, and to ignorance of elementary banking principles rather than to fraud’. It was also mentioned that they had operated more or less on a local level, and the failure of crops or the bankruptcy of merchants also tended to cause panic, resulting in people withdrawing their money. During the Napoleonic War, the circulating money in County Galway had been almost exclusively bankers’ notes, chiefly from the French and Joyce banks. At the time, their bank notes were preferred to those of the Bank of Ireland.
However, such confidence relied on the stability of both firms, and this suddenly changed after the collapse of these banks. Confidence was essential and a short time later it was reported that scarcely any banknotes were accepted unless they were from the Bank of Ireland.It seems that the closure of these firms more or less paved the way for the Bank of Ireland to move into Galway.
According to The Galway Weekly Advertiser in July 1825, three Commissioners of the Bank of Ireland arrived in Galway to investigate the possibility of setting up a branch in the city. A few days later they travelled to Tuam for the same purpose as some board members felt that it might be more centrally located in the county. However, some sources indicate that the Bank of Ireland opened a branch about the year 1823 in Back Street (St Augustine Street). The arrival of the bank must have been a welcome venture by many people, particularly the gentry and the business community of the city. With the collapse of the other banks, it was a concern for many people having money stored in homes or business premises because of the fear of burglary and robbery.
There was also a degree of ignorance among some members of the general public regarding the value of money at that time, and the banks could help in this situation. One can see this from J.C. Foster’s – Letters on the Condition of the People of Ireland:
In Galway I was assured, so little do the people know the commercial value of money, that they are constantly in the habit of pawning it … I went to a pawn-broker’s shop; and on asking the question the shopman told me it was quite a common thing to have money pawned; and he produced a drawer containing a £10 Bank of England note pawned for a shilling; a £1 Provincial Bank note pawned for six shillings.
These people believed that having coinage was more valuable than ‘paper’ money. According to some sources, there was a scarcity of coinage, which may have been a contributing factor. Nevertheless, the opening of the new bank would help to solve this problem.
On 1 August 1823, new opposition appeared on the horizon when the Galway Savings Bank was established and opened for business. They had their offices at Upper Dominick Street. However, Bank of Ireland was drawing more custom and its success is evident from the fact that by May 1824, the Savings Bank had lodged £4,800 with Bank of Ireland. Business at Bank of Ireland continued to increase over the following years and by 1830 a new and larger building was required. Those involved also felt the bank should occupy a more prominent position in the city, so a site at Eyre Square was chosen. This location was formerly known as Gallows Green. It was the place where criminals and Irish rebels paid with their lives for crimes against law-abiding citizens and the authority of the Crown. Public hanging was a regular occurrence and this spectacle served as a sobering reminder to any would-be criminals before entering the old city.
The site chosen was formally occupied by a Market House during the eighteenth century. The new bank was designed by architect James Cusack. It seems he incorporated portions of the Market House into his design. He also made use of some existing cut stonework, which can be seen in the fine arcade or arches surrounding the windows on the façade of the building. These are believed to have been salvaged from the old city Tholsel (Municipal Building) in Shop Street as it had fallen into ruin by that time. Across the front of this limestone Ashlar building, there are heavy nineteenth-century cast-iron railings mounted on a plinth. These acted as a protection from cattle and sheep as fairs were held regularly in Eyre Square. The building accommodated a cash office, agent’s office, porter’s room, parlour, two safe rooms and a cellar. There were stables in the yard at the rear of the bank for horses, and also a coach house. There was also a fuel shed, stores and Merchant’s Room that could be accessed from the yard.
One source mention that, ‘When the Back Street staff transferred there (Eyre Square) in 1830, they occupied what was once a former Market House and banking has been carried on in this building ever since’. According to Samuel J. Maguire (writing for the Galway Reader in 1950), in May 1830, John and Barry O’Hara were appointed as joint agents of the Galway branch of Bank of Ireland. On 1 June, business commenced at the new premises at 43 Eyre Square.
Despite having opened state-of-the-art premises, it does not seem to have attracted the business expected. It was mentioned from time to time at meetings of the Court of Governors of the Bank that business conditions in the West of Ireland were far from satisfactory. It would seem, therefore, that the Galway branch was something of an initial disappointment to the Directors. However, this obviously changed because, according to the terms of the 1845 Bank Act, Galway was one of the towns chosen by the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes as a place for the distribution of finance throughout the province. The failure of the potato crop in 1845 (Great Famine) and during subsequent years caused much distress across the county.
The Government in London issued a loan of £80,000, and it was arranged that the Bank of Ireland would act as agent for the Board of Public Works in the handling and distribution of relief funds. The first delivery of funds arrived in Galway Dock on H.M.S. Comet in August 1846. It was delivered to the bank in Eyre Square; the sum allotted to Galway for distribution amounted to £35,000. The bank became the main distribution centre for famine relief funds across Connacht over the following years.
Further extensions and alterations to the bank were carried out by Millar and Symes in 1905. Millar and Symes were an architectural partnership that was formed in Dublin by Richard Chaytor Millar and William John Symes in 1874. William Symes died on 16 April 1892, and although the business was now being run by the Millar family, they continued to function under the company name. Richard’s son, Adam Millar, entered the business in 1898 and succeeded his father as architect to the bank in 1907. The Millar family was associated with the Bank of Ireland for three generations.
In 1915, the bank became involved in supporting Galway soldiers fighting on the Western Front during the Great War 1914-18. Some of the fundraising events were held in the bank. In April 1916, the British military authorities were placed on full alert in the city when it became known that the Bank of Ireland was one of the buildings that rebels had planned to occupy during the 1916 Rebellion. However, these plans could not be carried out because of the swift action taken by the police and military authorities in arresting local rebel leaders. Additional redevelopments have taken place at the bank over the years. During one redevelopment to the rear of the bank backing onto Rosemary Avenue, the once iconic arch was removed. It was re-erected in 2000 as the entrance to the river walk at Newtownsmith. It is now dedicated to all Irish men and women who gave their lives to promote peace and democracy and home and abroad. This is just a brief history of the early years of the Bank of Ireland in Galway
