Galway Advertiser 1994/1994_02_17/GA_17021994_E1_027.pdf 

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Maginn in Galway
As constant readers of this column will already know, I have been engaged, on and off, for the last twenty five years in writing a biography of the celebrated early 19th century Cork-born journalist, William Maginn. And from time to time I have taken the liberty of us ing this space so kindly pro vided by the esteemed editor of this newspaper to present selections from this for thcoming magnun opus which will, I am absolutely convinced, make the name of Maginn as famous as that of such literary luminaries as Martin Tupper, Adelaide Procter, Thomas Morton and Robert Southey. To say that Maginn led a somewhat disordered life would be like saying that Shakespeare wrote a few plays. Brilliant, witty and gifted with all this country's abundent stores of literary eloquence, poor Maginn suffered from several han dicaps: he spent money as if he had a patent to print it, he was too fond of games of chance, his exquisite taste in claret was exceeded only by the quantities of it he drank, and he had a fatal weakness for quarreling and fighting duels. On several occasions dur ing his brief life - he died at the age of 50 years, worn out by his struggles with his legion of creditors although it was consumption that dealt the fatal blow - on several occasions, I say, Maginn visited Galway. His motives for heading towards the Westernmost city of the then United Kingdom may be easily guessed. An additional reason was the friendship that had grown up between Maginn and John Wilson Croker, a leading light in the ad ministration headed up by Sir Robert Peel, who had been born and raised in Galway. The excerpt I am about to present in abbreviated form is taken from an very in teresting article Maginn contributed to The Sun, a now-defunct newspaper that shared many of the disreputable characteristics of its latter-day namesake, in 1840. However, Maginn was a free-booter, who no doubt would have found Kelvin McKenzie, who's just stepped down as editor of that tabloid, excellent company. One interesting feature of Maginn's article is that it brings him into contact with the great Galway historian, J a m e s H a r d i m a n , the renowened author of 'The History of Galway". Maginn travelled cross country by coach from Dublin and he describes the towns through which he passed, like Athlone - " a highly picturesque and romantic looking town" - at last arriving in Galway "at abut a quarter-past ten, after a journey of over fourteen hours" where he found himself once more "among red-petticoated, whitekerchiefed, and graceful but bare-legged Celts who dif fer from the inhabitants of other portions of her Majes ty's dominions as much or more so than they do from the Russ or Greek." After taking lodgings near Eyre Square (unfor tunately he does not say ex actly where), he proceeded to stroll through the town, in the hope of renewing ac quaintance with some of the features he recalled from his last visit, some eight years previously. He appears to have been disappointed with the changes affecting the fabric of the "citie of the tribes": "Dear Old Galway, how changed you are within the last eight years! Where are your dark and mysterious archways, where, according to tradition, the robber us ed to lurk after nightfall ready to pounce upon any belated or unarmed wayfarer? Where your an cient palace homes of the grim old fathers of the tribes? They are nearly all gone, and with them the fond idea so long and tenaciously clung to by an tiquaries of a certain class, that their architectural peculiarities breathed of the sunny south, in fact, were copies from Spanish originals. Apparently what Maginn found was that the the fine cut stone had been " r e faced, newly fronted and modernised". "One gentleman", he discovered on his ramble, "preserves in his yard a number of decora tions, coats of arms, etc., etc., which formerly form ed portions of buildings, which had become ruined, and which are now replac ed, we cannot say represented, by fine modern

OHN HENRY FOLEY was the artist w h o made this fine portrait in b r o n z e of L o r d Dunkellin which was erected in Eyre Square in

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1873.
Lord Dunkellin was a son of Lord Clanricarde and was heir to his estate. He had a distinguished military career, serving in the Cri mean War, and subsequent ly in the Persian expedition. He was elected as a member of Parliament for Galway City and served in that capacity for eight years. In 1865, he was elected as a member for the County, and was a representative in Parliament until his death in 1867.

shops and warehouses." Maginn adds, "That some care had not long ago been taken to preserve the AngloIrish monuments of the old citie is greatly to be deplored." Later that evening Maginn, who had received an introduction to Dr. Har diman, made his way " t o the hospitable mansion of A memorial committee in James Hardiman, of his honour was set up under Taylor's Hill. Our host, the the chairmanship of Lord venerable historian of Clonbrock. A large crowd Galway, kept a large and attended the unveiling generous table, and when ceremony in the Square, at the time came for the which Lord Clonbrock ceremonies of hospitality to .spoke. The sculpture was be performed, the fine officially presented to the figure of the noble old City of Galway. gentleman joined our party The Land War in Ireland of ten for dinner. happened some years later, "Hardiman, like an old and Dunkellin's brother Irish chieftain, which he Lord Clanricarde earned a considered himself to be, very bad reputation as the seated himself at the head of landlord responsible for the the table, indicating that we Woodford evictions. People should do the same. I can looked at Dunkellin's statue not praise too highly the ex in a different way, and so, cellence of the banquet that when the British Army final was set before us - beef from ly left Galway in 1921, a the splendid herds of Mr. crowd gathered and 'attack ffrench of Ballinasloe, ed' the sculpture. They pull capons from Mr. ed it off the base with ropes Haridiman's own small far and dragged it through the myard, several types of streets to the Spanish Arch vegetable, any of which area, where they dumped it however, and there are a would shame the draggled in the river. number of stories about peo produce to be met with in There was no sign of the ple 'rescuing' it to melt it Covent Garden, a rich pud bronze the following day, down or to sell it. Whatever ding made from butter and rice, and an unending supp ly of the finest claret we had ever tasted. To conclude the t o FBC*S festivities, Mr. Hardiman called for his piper, one Paddy Connelly, who played several stirring melodies on that ancient in strument, his cheeks puffed up like some balloon-blower and his complexion as red as the flames from the fire that warmed us against the Atlantic chills outside." Unfortunately I have no space to continue Maginn's fascinating account, but I feel convinced that even the brief excerpt I have given will be appreciated by all lovers of "Old Galway". Meanwhile, I can only say that my biography of this ex cellent and genial son of Cork will contain much more of Maginn's recollec tions of the "citie of the tribes". Morgan O'Doherty.

its fate, there has been no sign of it since. The base of the statue was removed to Castlegar, where it still

stands, supporting the old I.R.A. memorial! T.K.