Galway Advertiser 1984/1984_09_27/GA_27091984_E1_008.pdf 

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Cuckoo's Nest "Works"
Dear Sir,

I w o u l d like to congratulate you on your two recent editorials (13 Sept./20 Sept.) on the subject of mental illness and the crude attack on human freedom and dignity that some forms of treatment represent. H o w right you are about the tribal witch doctor or, more correctly, shaman, showing greater respect for those he treats, than does the D r . Frankenstein type figure who sends the electric current through the poor patient's brain, ignorant and uncaring of I must apologise for my the damage he may inflict intemperance. But to upon that unmeasurable suggest that this treat thing, the soul. I have had ment 'works' makes about some experience o f as much sense as to claim someone subjected to this that decapitation 'works' treatment, and the change for removing headaches. in personality and, what is Yours sincerely, more to the point, the Bernard Barton, terrible damage to selfKiltullagh, respect when the person Athenry. learned what had been done to him, were so painful that I carry the memory with me like a Dear Editor, scar. I would like to protest T h e article on your strongly and hopefully, front page carries the with effect, against the h e a d l i n e : " C u c k o o ' s behaviour of a landlord Nest" Works for M o s t presently included on the Patients. Quite apart from U . C . G . student accom the fact that this way of modation list, and living describing the treatment in the area between contradicts the article C i r c u l a r Road and itself, what in the world Claremont Park. can it mean? " W o r k s " for The Saturday before whom? W h a t criteria are last, a friend and I , who is used to measure 'success'? a single parent, reached The individual I referred an agreement with a to looked for a long time certain gentleman to rent afterward as if he had his bungalow from the been hit over the head following Friday, after with a large plank. A n d f u l l y e x p l a i n i n g o u r the memory loss -- c i r c u m s t a n c e s . The " p a t c h y a n d usually landlord was put out that temporary"--how patchy? we couldn't move in right A n d what if loss is not a w a y a n d p a y r e n t "temporary", b u t immediately, but we were permanent? Since mem obliged to give a week's ory is such an important notice. constituent of personality, The agreement con is not the implication here cluded, we paid a deposit that a portion, never mind and received our key to how much, of the the house. T h e next day, personality of the when my friend arrived at individual is lost, perhaps the house, intending to irrevocally? G o o d G o d , carry some luggage up, even brain scientists she discovered that other acknowledge how little tenants had occupied the they understand of this premises but they were organ that Sir Charles apologetic, grasping the Sherrington, one of the situation immediately. greatest, had the humility T h e landlord then had to describe as the "organ of liaison". But the little the gall to use a moral technocrats of medicine objection to unmarried are not troubled by such mothers, trying to justify himself for re-renting the considerations. house. According to him, M u c h more ought to be his "change of heart" had said about the implica occurred on consideration tions o f this c r u d e of the fact that my friend tinkering with the citadel had no husband. His of our integrity. I will s e n s i b i l i t i e s w e r e n ' t conclude with just one. nearly as acute when he W e are told that "the was trying to persuade us treatment appears to suit to pay for the accommo cases of severe depressive dation even before we had illnesses, certain manifes moved in. tations of schizophrenia, For some people, some manic excitement and of those good old moral some geriatric mental convictions do indeed disorders". N o w , leaving have their use. They can aside the elderly, whose even earn you five days' dignity, in any case, has extra rent! and no one will already been compro ever believe that it was mised by most hospital only the extra few bob you procedures, let us take an were really after. example of each of the other categories. Dostoe M s . C. Naughton.

vski, the author of 'The Brothers K a r a m a z o v ' , was subject to quite appalling bouts of depression; Van G o g h , as is well known, suffered from a form of schizo phrenia; the poet Shelley exhibited manic excite ment on numerous occasions during his brief life. M y question is: if these men (and an equal, if not greater, number of women could be men tioned) had been 'signed in' to mental hospitals, offering electrocon vulsive therapy, would it have been right to have proceeded with it? If not, why not?

Liam O'Flaherty
Dear Sir, I am writing to complain about your editorial on Liam O'Flaherty. The facts of the case are simple. T w o years ago, Liam O'Flaherty like many another veteran Dear Sir, who fell foul of the church in the s t r u g g l e f o r M o v e d by the spectacle of the apparent destruction independence, became of a portion of the venerable old walls of Galway in reconciled and made his this Quincentennial Year, and yet ready to peace wih G o d and the acknowledge the fallibility of my fellow men -- Catholic church. It was a (women I exempt; they are infallible and put to flight great relief to him, and a even the papal pretensions), I composed this trifling source of great joy. It was ballad, with the intention of reconciling the parties his own choice. Your involved, through the administration of that universal editorial suggests pres anodyne, laughter. Whether I have succeeded is, of sure. L i a m acted as a free course, not for me to say. man, as he always did. It I remain, Sir, was by no means a death Your most humble servant, bed conversion, as your Morgan O'Doherty, editorial suggests. Lichfield House, Fr. Dermot McCarthy Ballynapper, C o . Galway. happened to be the priest who mediated in this A n Excellent N e w B a l l a d of reconciliation, and it was 'The W a l l s o f G a l w a y ' obviously a great source of joy to him as it would be to any priest, to You good folks of Galway I'd have you draw near, experience the movement The deeds of your council men you now shall hear, of grace and life and peace Of how they knocked down a big chunk of our past in someone who had long With a brilliance of foresight that's ne're been felt constricted and ill at surpassed. ease. Y o u r editorial casts a Chorus : very unworthy slur on Fr. O you've heard of the stout walls of Limerick, McCarthy by suggesting And the brave walls of old Derry town, that this reconciliation But don't look for the walls of old Galway, could be known only to For the council have knocked them all down. himself and to Liam II O'Flaherty, who was now One day the boss summoned his workers around, "otherwise engaged". A n d said, "Boys, we've oders to pull to the ground, The implication is, "we Those derelict buildings near Spanish Parade", have only his word for it". So off marched the council men in their brigade. In fact, the reconciliation Ill was known to all the They hacked and they blasted as fast as they could, family, and Liam made no A n d rattled the windows in that neighbourhood, secret of it. A n d long before nightfall the men gazed with pride, Your editorial obviously O n big mounds of rubble and brick side by side. resents this reconciliation, IV and prefers the other Above in the College was Professor Rynne, Liam O'Flaherty, the W h o , when he did query the cause of the din, bitter anti clerical, flailing Soon learned with rapidly mounting dismay, the Catholic Church. That an old city wall had been blasted away. Every man to his taste, I V suppose. There have " Y o u dunces, don't you realise what youv'e done ? always been anti clericals Y o u ' d some of the old city wall -- now you've none ! and agnostics among us, D i d nobody think they should get some advice ? some of them very good O r was it all done with a throw of the dice ? people. At the very least VI they can keep us on our toes. W e accept them and N o w after this outburst it got quite confused, tolerate them, because As insults were hurled and each party abused; our tradition is basically Some held that the wall was just any old wall, very tolerant. But are we But Rynne and his boys wouldn't buy that at all. to take it that this mean, VII carping spirit is now the Sweet reason prevailed in the end as you know, official stance of the A n d Rynne the Professor declared with a glow, Advertiser, and that it is to " I care for the loss of the wall not a fig, -- be a platform for anti We're having an archaeological dig !" (The chorus is repeated at the end of each verse, but it clerical agnosticism ? was too tiresome to type it out each time). Your editorial does neither justice nor honour to L i a m O ' F l a h e r t y . Galway Corporation this None of us really knows Pageant might never have how matters stand taken place at all. T o all between any man and the people who supported G o d , and we are warned the production by their in the Gospel not to judge Dear Sir, attendance and those who any man. But if Liam I n this Quincentennial loaned props for the stage, O'Flaherty chose to make costumes, etc., sincere Year many wonderful his peace with G o d and things took place in this thanks is expressed. the church, we should I trust this letter will be City to celebrate same, respect that, and be glad amongst them being the accepted by all in the for the joy and gladness it spirit in which it is meant, Pageant " W h e r e Once brought him. as it would be impossible Stood Treibesmen", pro Perhaps yuour editorial to thank separately the duced in the Collegiate large number of people writer needs to disabuse Church of St. Nicholas. himself of a myth too-- involved. The success of this the myth of 'the wild Yours sincerely, venture was due to the co man', the man who is an operation of all kinds of Phyllis Carpenter, untamed force of nature, people from all walks of Hon. Secretary, h a r d - d r i n k i n g and life. Without the help of Select Vestry, philandering. All too the Galway Quincenten Collegiate Church of often the reality behind nial Committee and the St. Nicholas. this is a pathetic shell of a

T h e Walls of G a l w a y

fellow, full of pretentious guff and empty of good sense or decency, leaving a trail of wreckage behind him, as he neglects the responsibilities and fidelities that make human life bearable and joyful. The relevance of the medical profession to the rest of the editorial is more than a little opaque. The quotation from Adolf Hitler looks positively sinister. I gather that it is a mere coincidence, but I'm sure you will agree that it is an unfortunate one. Lest I end on an utterly negative note, let me say that I look forward to the Advertiser for the rich and varied fare it offers. I'm sorry to be infesting the letter columns. But I think you are yourselves asking for it. Yours faithfully, Colin Garvey, o.f.m. E d i t o r ' s N o t e : T h e com ment referred to by Fr. Garvey simply made the point that our objection was not concerned with Liam O'Flaherty's con version but the fact that it was made public in the manner in which it was.

missions. H e sends greetings to all in Galway who may remember him, to the Order in Francis St. and N e w c a s t l e . Fr. Anthony introduced us to the Archbishop, another Franciscan father, who incidently is one of only two covering the whole of Northern Africa. W e eventually bade our farewells to the good father, with still ringing in our ears "Slan Lib", and went back on to the streets and alleys among a very strange people and way of life different from ours, and on to the burning sands of North Africa. It was a pleasure to have met Fr. Anthony and little did we think we would be talking about Galway that morning, nearly 2,000 miles from home, which goes to show, "what a very small world we all live in". Yours Sincerely, Sean McNamara, 117, Abbey Road, Popley, Basingstoke, Hampshire.

Oh Landlord!

"Are You From Galway?"
Dear Sir, What a very small world we all live in. Whilst on a recent holiday with my wife in Morocco in N o r t h Africa, and not wishing to miss Holy Mass on Sundays or the 15th August, we searched out a Catholic Church amist all the mosques, temples, etc. in a predominantly Moslem country. There, only a few minutes walk from the world famous Casbah and Arab Markets, we found a beautiful church. There was a Franciscan priest standing at the door greeting those, mostly of Spanish origen, who were entering. I said, good morning father, what times are Holy Mass said. L o , and behold, if the reply wasn't, "are you from Galway". W e were both taken by surprise at this and of course I replied yes, but now living in Hampshire, England. The good father then informed me that he had recognised my accent. H e was delighted to welcome us to his church, which incidently was in Tangiers. H e then told us he had spent several months in Galway some years ago, staying at the Franciscan College in Newcastle and T h e Abbey Church in Galway. M a s s was delayed that morning as he relived his days on the Corrib, walks to Salthill etc. and his lectures at U . C . G . His name is Fr. Anthony Campus, O . F . M . a Spaniard, now stationed in T a n g i e r s in the

'Power Of The Dalys'
Editor, A friend recently provided me with a copy of your July 26th, 1984 edition, containing the a r t i c l e entitled '500 Years, The Power Of The Dalys'. This essay was of particular interest to me, being a presumed descendant of the Daly clan, as well as the fact that I happen to occupy the position of Mayor in my hometown of Media, Pennsylvania, U . S . A . 1 must say that while I was certainly impressed with the length of duration of the family's prominence, I was not sympathetic with their proported opposition to the betterment of the T o w n e of Galway. If, after all t h e s e y e a r s , an apology to the people of Galway from a member of the Daly clan is warranted, please consider it given. In America, when one thinks of a M a y o r Dal(e)y, invariably, images of the former Mayor of Chicago come to mind. It is personally refreshing to me to find out that the family's propensity for elected office originates back in the 'old sod' and from a clan w h o at least knew how to spell the name correctly. I send my greetings and well wishes to the good people of Galway. Very truly yours, Frank W . Daly, Mayor, Media Borough.

COMMITTEE THANK Y O U