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The History of Connemara, Clifden (2025)

20/08/2025

The poet Patrick Kavanagh would have looked down on Connemara in July 1940, as he ascended Ireland's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick:

'And so we wait in Westport while pilgrims by bus and train, on foot and on bicycles pass through on their way to the sacred hill.

The night is calm, but through that calmness blow the freshening currents of deep spiritual intensity.

'At four o'clock I took a bus to the foot of the Reek.

Did you ever do it before?" is a question that is passed around.

Croagh Patrick is more than a mountain of traditional pilgrimage; it is a symbol of that eternal hill over whose rough sides we must pilgrim in faith that the Light of the Holy Spirit touches the summit.

Croagh Patrick is not a place to which tourists may come in pursuit of pleasure. Tonight we seek joy.

Pleasure can be bought with the coin of the realm, but joy can be bought only with the coin of the heart.

Already as we begin our climb, the first faint touch of dawn is in the East ...

Clew Bay is coming to light and life. Up the pilgrim way, crowds are moving, many of them barefoot, but none of them down-hearted.

Just around the next turn is the "cone" of Croagh Patrick, we are told struggle upward. Many of the pilgrims are fasting.

I can hear the hosts of pilgrims saying the rosary as they make the Stations. Masses are being celebrated in the tiny chapel and all round the "cone" priests are hearing confessions.

Croagh Patrick is a high peak of religion and scenic glory.

As I turn my gaze round, I see inland lakelets like silver coins counted in the green lap of Connacht.

We are physically weary, spiritually exhilarated. Pilgrims are coming up and others going down.

Now there is a slight change in the gaiety that was here last night.

Solemnity is here. And there is a sense of the dramatic which marks a difference between Croagh Panic and the other pilgrimage, Lough Derg.

Lough Derg represents the meditative, hermit-like quality in ireland's faith, but Croagh Patrick is the glorious singing, laughing scene of an Ireland young in spirit and truth and enthusiastic in performance.

Croagh Patrick was a great experience.

I shall go there again.'

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

Pictured are pilgrims ascending Croagh Patrick, courtesy NLI.

20/08/2025

Patrick Joyce's death at the hands of the IRA in 1920 led to a cycle of reprisals

Joyce was born near Headford in Co. Galway, the son of a farmer.

He was academic and excelled at school, securing a place in teacher training college and qualifying as a national school teacher in the early 1890s.

He married a fellow teacher, Spiddal native Margaret Donohue, in around 1892. They went on to have four children.

Joyce first taught in the Lettermore and Carraroe areas, where his knowledge of Irish would have been vital, before he secured a job as principal of the school in Barna village.

He first lived in the teacher's residence in the village before setting up home in Cappagh, between Barna and the city.

Joyce was outspoken in his views and was a regular letter writer to newspapers in Galway on any number of issues.

He was particularly strong on teachers' rights and was a president of the Galway Teachers' Association.

He supported the war effort in WW1 and was vocal in his condemnation of the Easter Rising and republicanism.

He strongly disliked Mícheál Ó Droighneáin, the teacher in nearby Furbo.

O Droighneáin was commandant of the East Connemara IRA and had been imprisoned after the Easter Rising, losing his job in the process, although he had the support of the local priest Fr Lally.

As 1920 wore on, the IRA began to believe thay there was an informer operating in the Moycullen and Barna districts.

Well-timed and accurate raids were occurring regularly in the area, indicating that Crown forces had access to inside information.

In the summer of 1920, a nationalist named Joe Togher who worked in the Galway Postal Service captured letters passing through the post office which were addressed to different officials in the British Service.

The letters were sent on to Mícheál Ó Droighnean.

The letters mentioned the details of twenty active republicans, including Ó Droighneáin, and other sympathisers, such as Fr Michael Griffin.

The writer urged the authorities to apprehend them, giving them some tips on where they could be found.

Although anonymous, suspicion immediately fell on Joyce.

O Droighneáin arranged to enter Barna school by night and secure samples of the teacher's writing. This was completed successfully and the commandant felt sure the samples matched the handwriting in the letters.

A messenger was immediately sent to IRA Headquarters in Dublin with the samples taken from the school, and instructions were sought on what to do next.

Richard Mulcahy himself sent back word that he trusted the local brigade to judge the handwriting and to take necessary action.

O'Droighneáin remained perturbed, however, and waited until the middle of October, 1920 when three more letters were intercepted.

These were addressed variously to Renmore Barracks, the officer in charge of the Lancers at Earl's Island, Galway, and to Sir Hamar Greenwood, Chief Secretary, at Dublin Castle.

The anonymous letter to Greenwood complained that no action had yet been taken against the republicans previously reported by the writer.

O'Droighneáin decided to act.

On 15 October 1920, at 11pm, seven men from the East Connemara brigade, with canvas masks over their heads, approached Joyce's house.

In response to an urgent knock on the door, Joyce opened up and immediately a canvas bag was clapped over his head.

He was brought upstairs and ordered to dress.

His wife asked 'Where are you going?'

Patrick Joyce replied 'I don't know.'

As the men left, the family were warned not to leave the house until 7am the following morning.

They later said they could hear noises outside through the night and they believed guards were posted around the house until around 4am.

The prisoner was walked away from the house, and on to the Cappagh Road, a quarter of a mile away. There, a sidecar was ready, waiting to take him to the rural townland of Lissagurraun, Moycullen to be court martialled.

The court took place in a ruined house in front of three republicans acting as judges.

Joyce denied that he had been communicating with the British authorities.

He was confronted with the letters and still continued to deny the allegations. He was nevertheless convicted of spying and was sentenced to death.

52-year-old Joyce begged for a reprieve, stating 'I have only a few years left. Let me go home to my family and I promise I will do you no more harm.'

The appeal was considered.

One member pointed out that Joyce knew the face of everyone in the shed, however, and would be able to point them out in future and that they would be effectively signing their own death warrants if they let him live.

It was decided therefore to carry out the death sentence.

A priest who had been summoned for the court martial, Fr Tommy Burke, then heard the condemned man's last confession, Joyce kneeling and saying a prayer for his ex*****oners.

His last request was that his body be returned to his family for a consecrated burial.

He was then shot.

He was buried in a shallow grave nearby, the IRA deciding it was too risky to grant his last request.

The incriminating letters he was said to have written were put in a bottle and buried nearby.

The following morning, Patrick Joyce's eldest son Joseph cycled to Eglinton Street Police Station to report the abduction.

The British forces were incensed and initially assumed Joyce was alive and being held captive.

Posters were erected in Barna warning that if he was not released, there would be reprisals and the village would be blown up.

Over the next few days, locals in Cappagh and Barna were questioned and violently mistreated, one man being shot in the leg.

Several other men were threatened and beaten and cows, pigs and geese of local people were killed.

Other men were lined up against the wall in a mock ex*****on in an attempt to make them talk.

Despite extensive searches, including of all the islands in Lough Corrib, police did not find Joyce.

In fact, the body of Joyce lay near Lough Dale, north of Barna village, and was not found until 1998.

He was identified by the items he had been buried with: a fountain pen, a Claddagh ring, a pair of glasses, a stick of chalk and a pocket watch with his name engraved on it.

The killing had a profound effect on many people.

In the case of the Joyce family, after Patrick's death they left Galway for Dublin, never to return.

The Galway IRA was not in the habit of executing informers and Micheal O'Droighnean, who had carried out the killing with a heavy heart, was deeply affected and thirty years later stated he could not sleep a wink afterwards.

Fr Burke said it was the most harrowing experience of his life.

Sadly, it did not end there and a fatal reprisal, the ex*****on of Fr. Michael Griffin, would soon follow.

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

19/08/2025

Granuaile (Grace O'Malley) was born in Co. Mayo in 1530 and would come to be strongly linked with Connemara, as well as neighbouring Co. Mayo, due to her many bold and brave deeds.

One theory as to how Grace was given the nickname Gráinne Mhaol or Granuaile (Bald Grace) was that she cut her own hair short as a child so as to resemble a boy and join her father’s seafaring expeditions which did not allow girls.

Her ploy was successful and she proved herself an adept sailor who travelled all over Europe.

Aged just 16, she married Donal of the O’Flaherty tribe of Connemara which had previously been sworn enemies of the O’Malleys.

She moved to her husband’s home at Bunowen Castle, near Ballyconneely in Co. Galway and lived there with Donal. The pair eventually had three children.

The marriage eased tensions between the two clans and added to Grace's wealth and status.

When her father died, she assumed control of his whole fleet which was able to control much of Ireland’s west coast.

She continued to sail to many countries, trading all sorts of goods. Many of the tactics used to gain control of the sea were not strictly legal and Grace soon earned another nickname: the Pirate Queen.

Donal O'Flaherty was killed in battle in 1565 and after this, Grace married another powerful chieftain, Richard Bourke.

She continued to prosper, dividing her time between the sea and her several castles, including at Bunowen and Renvyle in Connemara.

She fought many battles against neighbouring tribes, especially the Joyces, and proved a fierce opponent.

The west coast of Ireland had always proven difficult to control from an English perspective, largely due to the O’Malleys, and presidents of the provinces were appointed from 1569 onwards in an attempt to make maintaining control easier.

Richard Bingham was appointed president in 1584 and was nicknamed ‘The Flail of Connacht,’ due to his violent methods of controlling the region. At one session in Galway in 1586, he put seventy people to death. He was also a sworn enemy of Gráinne Mhaol.

She requested and was granted a meeting with Queen Elizabeth I to complain about his arrest of her family members.

It is said that Granuaile refused to bow to Elizabeth as she was herself a Queen and thus an equal. The pair communicated in Latin as Grace spoke no English and Elizabeth no Irish.

Queen Elizabeth must have been impressed by her visitor as she agreed to return many of Grace’s titles and some of her land.

Grace continued her life at sea until an old age, before she died in 1603, although by that stage one of her sons had fought with the British at the Battle of Kinsale, showing that Irish history is often more complicated than it seems.

To this day, Granuaile is remembered fondly all along the western seaboard as having stood firm against British attempts to control the seas around Counties Mayo and Galway.

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

18/08/2025

The twelfth of the thirty Connemara casualties of the 1920 - 1923 period was John Geoghegan.

John Geoghegan was an IRA volunteer from Uggool, just outside the village of Moycullen in Co. Galway.

Trained as a teacher, Geoghegan did not pursue this profession, choosing instead after the death of his father to work as a farmer on their fifty acres of land in Uggool.

Geoghegan attended school locally and was well known in GAA circles, being considered a capable goalkeeper in both hurling and football.

He was also an Irish language enthusiast.

Although his father had been a member of the RIC, Geoghegan was a republican through and through and worked on the election campaign of Sinn Féin's Padraic Ó Máille in 1918 before taking up a position as a councillor on Galway District Council for the same party.

It was dangerous to be a public representative at the time - Sinn Fein councillor Michael Walsh had been summarily executed by Black and Tans at the Long Walk in Galway in late 1920.

Geoghegan was also well respected in IRA circles and was known to have carried dispatches for the organisation, something else which may ultimately have marked him out in the eyes of Crown Forces as a legitimate target.

Geoghegan, aged 26 by 1921, was well aware that his life could be in danger.

His home had been raided numerous times. On one of these occasions, he was told for his own safety not to sleep at home any longer.

He refused, stating that if the house was raided and he was not there, the Crown Forces might shoot one of his brothers instead.

At around 2:30am on the morning of 20 February 1921, the kitchen window of the Geoghegan's cottage was smashed in.

Voices then shouted in 'We want John Geoghegan.'

Geoghegan's mother opened the door and two armed men, one in military uniform, the other with his face covered, entered.

They made straight for the bedroom which John Geoghegan shared with two of his brothers and, rousing the men, told them that they only wanted John Geoghegan and for him to get dressed and follow them.

They added that he was a traitor and a friend of Michael Collins.

John began to dress but the men told them not to bother putting on his boots as they would 'not keep him long.' He was then forced outside.

After a few seconds, the family heard several gunshots. After waiting a couple of minutes, frantically wondering what had happened, they left the house to search for John.

It transpired that he had had been shot dead just beside the Loughkip River, some twenty-five yards from his home.

A notice stating 'Your faithfully, M . Collins.' had been pinned inside his coat, perhaps in order to make it look like an IRA attack.

If so, it fooled no-one.

The assailants were already gone by the time Geoghegan's body was found but the house of a man named Davoren two miles away was afterwards searched by the same men, all the windows being broken.

Fortunately, Davoren was not home, the crown forces threatening to burn the house down when they discovered this fact.

John Geoghegan's funeral took place later that week and was said to have been the largest funeral in Moycullen's history at that time.

A military inquiry concluded that Geoghegan had been shot “by persons unknown with murderous intent' but, as ever, no-one was charged with his murder.

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

Pictured is the Moycullen Gaelic football team, c. 1915. John Geoghegan is in the back row, second from the left. Courtesy Galway City Museum.

17/08/2025

J. Bruce Ismay, the owner of the Titanic, lived out his days in Connemara, attempting to escape the shame which was attached to his name after the tragedy when he escaped the sinking liner as 1,500 of its passengers died in the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Ismay was born into a wealthy shipping family and he helped his father to turn their 'White Star Line' company into a shipping behemoth.

The company's pride and joy was to be the unsinkable Titanic, built in Belfast and advertised as the safest, most modern and most luxurious transatlantic liner ever built.

These claims were to prove unfounded after the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to take on water on its maiden voyage.

Panic and pandemonium ensued, there not being enough lifeboats for the 2,200 passengers.

At 1:40 a.m. on April 15, 1912, Bruce Ismay stepped into the last lifeboat to leave the Titanic as it was being lowered into the icy waters below.

The sinking of the Titanic was one of the biggest news stories in history. Once it became apparent that Ismay had survived while many women and children passengers had perished, there was fury.

He was greeted with derision, anger and hostility everywhere he went for the next number of months.

The rumour that he had dressed as a woman persisted, although he was vindicated in the subsequent enquiry which concluded:

"Had he not jumped in he would merely have added one more life, namely, his own, to the number of those lost.” The public was less forgiving and Ismay quickly resigned as chair of the company.

The first indication that Bruce Ismay was to live in Connemara came in March 1913, less than a year after the tragedy, when the Connacht Tribune announced that he was to erect a fishing lodge near the village of Casla, some twenty-five miles west of Galway City.

Why he chose Casla is not certain, although it was not far from the hunting lodge of the former Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Dudley, in Screebe who was well known to him.

The land he purchased was situated on hundreds of acres of moorland and amply served by lakes and rivers, something which also attracted the keen fisherman.

Perhaps, also, he felt that in remote Connemara people might be less concerned about the furore surrounding his controversial escape from the Titanic.

One newspaper described it as a “lonely prison chosen by himself to escape the jeers of the world.”

The house, when built, was large and comfortable, in stark contrast to the poor situation of the people around him.

Ismay also drove a Rolls-Royce, something which was surely a source of fascination at a time when motor cars of any description were largely unknown in the west of Ireland.

Local people were nevertheless happy with the job opportunities offered by Ismay, and he was remembered as a good employer, although he was sometimes referred to in Irish as “Brú síos mé” (‘lower me down,’) in a play on his name and a reference to his getting into the lifeboat in 1912.

Ismay lived in Casla for nearly twenty-five years and regularly welcomed visitors who engaged in fishing and shooting on his expansive grounds.

Mrs Florence Ismay also resided at the lodge and was mentioned in local media as contributing money to local causes and visiting schools where she handed out sweets to the children.

On 5 September 1922, as the civil war raged, the lodge was set on fire by the IRA.

Help could not be summoned as there was no bridge into Casla at the time, it having been blown up several weeks before. Ismay's was one of hundreds of 'big houses' to suffer this fate.

Many home owners chose not to rebuild or return in these circumstances, although Ismay held no animosity and he announced within a year that he planned to rebuild the lodge.

He said that it was not any of his neighbours who burned it, as he had been on friendly terms with them all. Ismay received £7,000 in compensation from the state and the house was rebuilt on a grander scale in 1925.

He lived there for over a decade, usually for around six months a year, until 1937 when he died after a short illness in London.

His wife continued to visit Casla regularly. She erected a memorial to her husband in the garden which read:

“He loved all wild and solitary places where we taste the pleasure of believing what we see is boundless as we wish our souls to be…”

It appears that in the beauty of rural Connemara, J. Bruce Ismay could find some measure of relief from the torturous memories of that tragic night in 1912.

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

16/08/2025

There was at least one casualty on the Titanic from Connemara.

The ill-fated ship went down off the coast of Newfoundland when it struck an iceberg in the early hours of 15 April, 1912.

The 'unsinkable' luxury steamship had been constructed in Belfast and called at Cobh, Co. Cork before it embarked on its journey.

For this reason, there were many Irish amongst the over 2,200 passengers, including at least nine from Galway.

1,500 of these ultimately lost their life in the tragedy and one, John Flynn, was a native of Clonbur in Joyce Country, Connemara.

John was a native of Carrahakeen, just east of the village, and was born in the mid 1860s.

He was the son of farmers John and Catherine Flynn and had two sisters, Bridget and Mary.

He emigrated to America at some point towards the end of the nineteenth century.

By 1912, he had married Mary Cassidy, a native of the Doorus peninsula in nearby Cornamona, and the pair had six children.

He appears to have done well for himself and worked in steel mills throughout Pennsylvania before setting up his own business.

In 1912, Flynn decided to return home for a visit. This was relatively unusual at the time as the journey across the ocean was arduous.

Nevertheless, Flynn made the trip and spent several weeks at home with his recently-widowed sister Bridget, who was then in her 60s, helping her to run the family's small farm.

An urgent letter from America then arrived which convinced John that he should return to his adopted home.

John thus bought a return ticket for America in Kyne's Shop in Clonbur. This cost £6, 19s.

He then travelled to Ballinrobe, staying the night at the Railway Hotel.

The following day, he boarded a train and made his way to Cobh where he boarded the Titanic with hundreds of others.

He was travelling as a third-class passenger and was described as an agricultural labourer.

Even third class passengers were said to have enjoyed a high level of luxury compared to other liners of the day and there was good food, clean surroundings, and many more creature comforts.

Sadly, the ship was not to reach its destination and lifeboats were one item which was not in abundance.

John Flynn died in the Titanic and his body, if found, was not identified.

A memorial was erected to John Flynn in Clonbur, Galway to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of (possibly) Connemara's only fatality on the Titanic.

Another interestling Connemara connection was Jack Phillips, the chief radio officer on the Titanic and the man tasked with sending distress messages as the ship sank. He did not survive.

Several years earlier, Phillips had spent three years at the Marconi Station in Clifden, where he had mastered his trade.

In a bizarre third connection, Bruce Ismay, owner of the White Star Line, lived out his life in Casla, Connemara too.

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

15/08/2025

1936 had some good news in Connemara.

'The advent of an early Lent seems to have given rise to a boom in the matrimonial market in Connemara. There was at least one marriage in practically every church in Connemara during the week,' reported the Connacht Tribune.

There was some more good news with the reopening of the marble quarry at Cregg due to a growing demand for Connemara marble.

Meanwhile, at a different quarry, at Inver, there was a miraculous escape in 1936.

Mrs Joseph Ridge of Ballinafad, returning home from Gortmore Vocational School, stopped to talk to two workmen.

She was only on the scene for a few moments when an explosion occurred. All three were thrown to the ground and a large boulder was blown over their heads.

When Mrs. Ridge awoke, she found her two compatriots unconscious. She escaped without a scratch and rendered first aid.

Other workmen and villagers who came on the scene became faint on seeing the condition of the workmen. Mrs. Ridge, although she showed coolness and restraint, also later suffered from severe shock.

It was also reported in this year that hundreds of Connemara men had travelled to England for work that summer, some of them leaving wives and children behind.

A lack of industry was blamed for the exodus.

Education was considered by many as the antidote but the Fianna Fáil government refused to grant the money for a vocational school at Clonbur in 1936, much to the annoyance of the local community, vocational schools having opened in Clifden, Rosmuck and Carraroe in the previous half-decade.

In Cleggan National School, it was reported that the boys of the school had gone on strike and refused to attend. The exact reason was not given, although the local attendance officer visited the homes of the boys in questions and gave them a telling off, something which quickly brought the strike to a conclusion.

Liam O Buachalla of University College Galway stated that Connemara was ideally suited for factories owing to the ample water and fuel available locally. He urged the government to do more to secure local employment.

Indeed a site was bought in 1936 for a beer factory in Spiddal which was to open the following year.

Perhaps this was an effort to stem the flow of poteen in Connemara, a far more potent alcohol. A huge co-ordinated poteen raid at Spiddal, Moycullen and several offshore islands uncovered more than 700 gallons of wash early in the year.

There also remained rumours that Aillebrack could be chosen as the site for a transatlantic airport, several aviation experts visiting the area in 1936.

Not far from Aillebrack, the wreckage from a plane was washed ashore in 1936. It was initially believed to be that of Swedish airman Kurt Bjoerkvall. The aviator had been attempting a transatlantic crossing, still a dangerous pursuit in 1936.

The airman was located safe and well in France days later, however, and it was never ascertained from where the wreckage came.

In what must have been an exciting year in Aillebrack, in May a French trawler discharged several shots at a fisherman near Slyne Head who was attending to his lobster pots. The matter was reported to the Gardaí but the French trawler had covered all identification marks and could not be traced.

In April, after a long spell of wet weather, the rain-sodden road near Maam collapsed, taking a lorry with it, although the driver escaped uninjured.

A man also saved two children who were drowning at Spiddal when he entered the water fully-clothed and dragged them to safety.

Poor weather was characteristic of 1936 and made saving turf difficult. The Aran Islands were even stated to be in the grip of a turf famine in the summer.

Another terrible storm occured in December causing slates to fly off roofs in Clifden. The newly-built labourers' cottages in Dooneen outside the town were extensively damaged. One journalist visited the houses where he said the occupants were 'huddled in terror in their backrooms.'

Meanwhile, on Church Hill in the town, a shed collapsed in the same storm killing hens, geese, ducks and a dog while the electric lighting plant on Market Street was destroyed, plunging the town into darkness.

A further strange weather event occurred in September when a whirlwind was said to have struck the village of Gleannntrasna near Rosmuck. Water was said to have poured down chimneys in torrents in this strange weather phenomenon and locals fled into the fields in terror.

In terms of entertainment, there was a monster boxing tournament at Oughterard in this year while the Renvyle Races on Tully Strand had a generous prize of £6 for its signature Plate Competition.

Dramatic Clubs were another feature of almost every village in Connemara at this time. Letterfrack Dramatic Club staged 'The Lord Mayor' in Leenane during the winter months in front of a packed house, the proceeds going to the refurbishment of Leenane Church.

Several other churches in Connemara, including Camus and Furbo, were reconstructed in this year with the Catholic Church remaining a powerful force in Connemara.

500 Gardaí attended the Garda District Ceili in Clifden in October, with special buses bringing in the lawmen.

In less happy news for the Gardaí, a farmer from Lettermore was arrested after discharging a shot at a neighbour whose dog had been chasing his sheep.

Later that year, a man from Oughterard was beaten in his own bedroom at night by masked intruders, and several shots were fired at him, just before Christmas 1936. There was no follow up to this strange affair which seemed to stem from a personal grudge.

Six other Oughterard men were amongst the 600 who left Galway for Spain with Eoin O'Duffy to fight for Franco in the Spanish Civil War in this year.

Now that the Connemara Railway was no more, there were many complaints about the state of the roads and the poor quality of the buses that could be found on them.

A bus driver appeared in court in Connemara in 1936 for 'overloading his bus with parcels' although he stated in his defence that no matter what he did, the passengers would not allow him to put their possessions in the hold.

Many drivers were also summoned in 1936 for a lack of insurance and tax on their own private motor vehicles.

Dr Helen Dawon visited much of the west coast of Ireland in 1936 to determine what ethnic profile the people had. She stated that the typical man of Connemara differed markedly from those from the east of County Galway and had 'a long face, deep jaw, hooked nose, dark hair, light eyes and was fairly tall, bony and handsome.'

Meanwhile there was a war of words between the government and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Birds.

The former had backed a campaign to cull animals such as the hill fox and the grey crow. The latter stated that the method to do this, poisoning lands, was invariably killing off many of Ireland's rarest bird species including the kestrel and different types of owl.

Finally, in other local news, Mrs Mary Joyce of Emlaghroe died in this year aged 102. She remembered the famine well and stated that aged 11 she had attempted to save the life of an old man on the side of the road near Oughterard.

For more stories of life in Galway and the west of Ireland, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' In all good bookshops or pick up a signed copy at:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1867494645/little-history-galway-ireland-colm8.htm

Picture is entitled 'Bringing Home the Turf, Connemara' and taken from Liam Mac an Iomaire's 'Ireland of the Proverb.'

The History of Connemara

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