Galway Advertiser 1980/1980_08_14/GA_14081980_E1_004.pdf 

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Mr. Adrian Qoherty kindly gave us this photograph of Woodquay which shows Tom Casey's flour and bran shop on the left. Left of that out o f picture was a common, a vacant field knows as the Gorry Glass or the Goreen Glass. It was later taken over by Joe Young and corresponds to where the garage is now. To the right of Casey's

was William Glynn who sold a lot of milk. Mick Glynn was a famous oarsman in his day. Next door was Tim Lally's pub, later Walshe's and now Ely House. Next door was Murphy's pub Mr. Murphy was from Kilbeg. Beside that was Dooleys shop and yard. They made mineral water here. They also made pikes and pitchforks. Next to that was O'Halloran's house. Mr. O'Halloran was a foreman carpenter in McDonagh's. Then there was Miss Paisley's boarding house and the building at the corner was Creavins boot shop. The buildings at the end facing us

were Burke's Sweet shop, now occupied by Celia Wall and Mrs. Greaney's (where Heaney's is now); out of picture on the right was Peter Cosgraves. Among those along the right hand side were Greaney's pub, James Forde's pub, Sarsfields Grocery shop, Fahy's, Fitzpatricks, Kavanaghs, Forde's, Miss Dooley's shop, Michael John Noone, Hessions, Rabbittes bakery shop and Johnny Lee's pub and boot shop. On fair days there would be rows of cartloads of turf along here. Outside Dooley's shop people gathered to sell scallops for thatching. The name Woodquay is self

explanatory. It is derived from Barr na Chalaidh, appearing as "Barrcally" on a 1622 document. It takes a real local to be able to pronounce 'Borahalla' properly. On the 1820 Galway map the buildings in this photograph were not there, just Sickeen and Rosemary Avenue. In fact water ran along here, roughly to where Heaney's is n o w w h e r e i t went underground under Abbeygate Street and re-emerging at Newtownsmith. The area to the left of and behind our photographer, or North of W o o d q u a y where t h e

Commercial is was known as Horse Island. It is referred to on the 1652 map as Insula equorum, vulgo "Illiain na chgapiall." The Irish name Oilean na gCapaill was still current locally about 1905, but one never hears it now. There was also here a field of about two acres, owned by the friars which was referedred to as Gorta Calaidh, or Portcalla. Finally this week we would like to compliment the corporation for the restoration of the weighing scales to the Small Creans. They were well worth preserving, particularly in

their original setting and they give a nice old-world look to that Square. The corporation have also been doing a wonderful job on the canal on either side of the bridge at Parkaveara. Under their S t u d e n t Summer Scheme supervised by Bernie McKeon, they have cleaned up the banks and part of the canal bed, they are putting in topsoil on some places, and are shortly about to plant shrubbery. It has already in its half finished state greatly improved the area. T.K.

galway gleanings

Two short items of surely, if the reminder topical interest which we system is to be discontinued, offer as a sop to the Editor's people should be given fair crazy notion that people and widespread and good should be right up to date warnings? Have a look at with die latest trivia, even your licence and see that it is from their sick bed! up to date -- even if you When did you last look at have not got a reminder. your driving licence? If and when you do, and find that Irish Games it is out of date, you may Considerable pressure is /probably retort with the being mounted in some excuse that you got no G.A.A. circles to try and get reminder in the post to R T E t o b r o a d c a s t a renew it. Of course we all c o m m e n t a r y on the accept that there is no All-Ireland Hurling Final in obligation on your friendly Irish on the second television local authority to send you a c h a n n e l . Certainly with reminder, but as we have Galway playing in that final, grown used to such a service the Connemara Gaeltacht over die yean, most people could reasonably expect have come Ao accept it as equal treatment on this one normal, and usually would occasion in the year's story not think/' to renew their of neglect. But surprisingly licence until the reminder enough, the people who came in the post to them. intend to raise the matter However,, it seems that a with the Minister for the decision has been taken to Gaeltacht if necessary, are discontinue this practice, not from Galway at all, but apparently on the grounds from rival Co. Limerick. It that at 15p a time, the postal seems Bord na Gaeilge has costs are too heavy. While spent a considerable sum of one may question the money and energy in part of situation where one official Co. Limerick over the past authority now finds that the 12 months in a scheme to charges of another public get the Irish speaking youth service are beyond their of that county to have the capacity, one can also accept language established as part the logic of the decision. But of their normal living

experience. Several towns in the country have been involved and one of the voluntary associations which has been actively assisting in the work has been the Limerick G.A.A. These people now feel that there is little point in learning Irish (as they have done) or trying to get it established as a normal part of t h e i r experience (as they have been trying to do), if official national bodies from the G.A.A. to R.T.E ignore the provision of a service in Irish on such an important and historic occasion as this All-Ireland. They are not suggesting that the game be covered in Irish only. After all, there are two charm ells, R.T.E have paid for the picture in any case, and all that would seem to be required is one extra commentator and a little bit of good will at the top. Several Limerick followers are convinced that there would be an audience for such a commentary throughout the land, and are convinced that it would be especially welcome in Co Galway, which contains what is supposed to be the largest Gaeltacht community in the country. What have the Galway G.A.A. authorities to say about the idea? Bord na Gaeilge or even the Minister? One thing the Limerick crowd are determined to ensure : if Irish-speaking Galway is denied coverage of the big game in their own language, the fault will not be with the Shannonsiders. They have already asked for the service, which, on the face of it, should suit the Galway

audience better. Similarly in the case of any pre-All-Ireland publicity on RTE. If the so called "Gaels" of Montrose insist in conducting most of this in English, Limerick will have no part of the blame. They are quite prepared to go along with the full aims of the Gaelic Athletic Association as best they can. The Montrose establishment is another matter. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT The nasty business of capital punishment has been in the air again and the number of people who seem to think that we gave up the idea of hanging people long ago is almost as big as those shrill voices who see the rope as the easy solution to all our problems. While the reasons are not clear (but were probably in order to satisfy some cabinet members who felt the move to abolition was too sweeping, and would lead to a n a r c h y ) the Irish Government in 1964 decided to retain the death penalty for a very limited number of murders -- killing a foreign diplomat, a Garda on duty or a prison officer. This type of compromise was also used when the death penalty had been originally removed from the law of other Western European countries. At the time of the legislation t h e m o v e was quite progressive by European standards and few probably believed that the type of "reserved murders" in question would arise in Ireland. Time passed. More and more countries abolished the death penalty

totally. The experience of other countries was borne out in the Irish case. The myth that a threat of capital punishment was a major factor in keeping down the number of murders proved as unrealistic in the Irish case as in others. But the threat of reverting to the rope remained on Irish statute books long after it had gone for good in many other states. Inevitibly and sadly, sooner or later, the spectre of the gallows swinging back (! ) into business would arise again -- and now in an era where Mr. Pierpoint, the British executioner who used to provide his services here as well, had retired, not to be replaced, in the UJC. HARDENING ATTITUDES Mr. Haughey and his Government colleagues are, no doubt, as aware as a n y b o d y else of the hardening of some international attitudes to capital punishment in the wake of i n t e r n a t i o n a l terrorism and other trends towards human behaviour which is less tinged with the basics of a Christian moral system. The virtual abolition of capital punishment in the United States in the early 1970's has recently been followed by a back-lash which has seen some of the crudest executions in that country in decades - all the more disagreeable because of media attention, including live television coverage, which they have commanded. Yet the trend, very definitely, is towards total abolition, which, in practice, means removing the

p o l i t i c a l decision to commute some and not commute others, from the p r e s s i n g problems of governments of differing strengths caught up in differing struggles for survival and popularity. DETERRENT FUTILITY? Interestingly enough, the most eloquent anti-hanging Tory is Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, who was the first Northern Ireland Secretary of State back in 1 9 7 2 - ' 7 3 w h e n the temptation to take life in order to deter others from so doing must have been very considerable indeed. Mr. Whitelaw, in the last Commons debate on the subject clearly spelled out the futility o f the "deterrent" case, and also described t h e practical difficulties of such a policy from the point of view of those who might wish to operate it. However, we wonder what the Taoiseach's opinion on the matter is now. It is unlikely that there is the political will in the country at present that would ensure the death penalty would be carried out for such 'capital' crimes. Even so, there is a growing lobby that firmly believes -- rightly or wrongly -- that the death penalty and its execution would be a severe deterrent to the growing gangs of murderers who roam around this island killing and robbing. Its not only the Gardai who are demanding better means to fight serious crime -- but the public as well. compiled by Nollaig 6 Gadhra