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The Galway Archaeological and Historical Society (GAHS) was founded on the 21st March 1900 at the Railway Hotel to promote the study of the archaeology and history of the west of Ireland. Since 1900 the Society has published 73 volumes of its Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. See our Journal menu links for more details. Most of our back catalogue of journals are now available through the online academic database JSTOR. The Society runs a lecture series in Galway City, as well as outings to various sites of interest during the summer. It is also involved in liaison with national and local authorities in relation to heritage matters concerning the City and County of Galway. We invite you to become a member, overseas members are also welcome. All members get a free copy of the GAHS Journal normally issued towards the end of the calendar year.… Read the rest
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Where to start with 1982? A cursory glance would show that Garret FitzGerald was Taoiseach on January 1st that year, and held the same office on December 31st. But what an abundance of incident in between! Two general elections; a government falling unexpectedly on a budget vote, and another losing a vote of confidence; two separate heaves against the leader of the country’s largest party; political scandals involving personation and interference with the Gardaí; alleged ‘collusion’ with police in another state to falsely imprison a witness; the arrest of a murderer in the Attorney-General’s flat; a post-election deal that worked, a by-election stroke that did not; and a general feeling that political life was being ‘scripted by a satirist of genius.’ In this lecture Dr. Séan Ó Duibhir will outline the background, and address a number of the key features, of what has been described as the ‘most dysfunctional government in Ireland’s history’.  Available to view on YouTube: https://youtu.be/F3gdGcd5j-0… Read the rest
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I measc scéalta béaloidis na Gaillimhe, tá cáil ar leith ar scéalta stairiúla a bhaineann leis na Loingsigh. Ba theaghlach iad a raibh an-tábhacht ag baint leo mar cheannaithe agus mar cheannairí na cathrach sa 15ú agus sa 16ú haois. Ceann de na scéalta sin ná eachtra inar shábháil moncaí, a bhí mar pheata ag an teaghlach, leanbh ó thine a réab trí Chaisleán na Loingseach ar Shráid na Siopaí. Insíodh an scéal céanna, a bheag nó a mhór, faoi oidhrí de chuid Iarlaí Chill Dara agus Iarlaí Dheasmhumhan, an dá phríomhchraobh de mhuintir Mhic Gearailt, a bhí ar na mórtheaghlaigh shean-Ghallda ba chumhachtaí in Éirinn sna meánaoiseanna. Baineann na leaganacha sin den scéal leis an 13ú agus an 14ú haois. Fiosrófar leaganacha éagsúla agus bunús an scéil sin, mar aon leis na cúiseanna go bhfuil sé le cloisteáil sa Ghaillimh, i bhfad ó thailte na nGearaltach. Is as Corcaigh ó dhúchas do An Dr. Dónal Ó Catháin. Tá BA sa Ghearmáinis agus sa Ghaeilge aige ó Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, MA sa Nua-Ghaeilge ó Choláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh, agus PhD sa Nua-Ghaeilge ó Ollscoil na Gaillimhe. An tráchtas a bhí aige ná ‘Gearaltaigh Dheasmhumhan mar phátrúin agus mar údair i… Read the rest
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Rural Ireland was transformed across the twentieth century. Moving from an agricultural backwater in Western European terms to playing host to one of the world’s leading agri-food sectors. This transformation necessitated concerted efforts and interventions, chiefly on the part of progressive farmersthemselves. They were abetted largely in turn, however, by the public agricultural advisory service (operated today by Teagasc). This joint approach to the development of rural Ireland was pursued for most of the twentieth century at a county level. For the first time, this paper will bring tolight the formative endeavours in agricultural development that were conducted in County Galway. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Ó Fathartaigh is a lecturer and historian based in the Social Sciences Research Centre, University of Galway; the Archives of Rural History, Bern; and Dublin Business School. He is the author of Developing Rural Ireland and Irish Agriculture Nationalised, co-author of Birth of a State: The Anglo-Irish Treaty and co-editor of The Treaty: Debating and Establishing the Irish State. His broad-ranging research and commentary on the origins of the Irish state and the development of rural Ireland has been published and broadcast widely. County Galway is one of twelve county case studies that feature in… Read the rest
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In the middle of the nineteenth century thousands of Irish children were imprisoned or transported to penal colonies. In Galway, children as young as two years old were arrested for begging, and sent to jail. In 1858, a new law was passed which facilitated the opening of reformatory schools for the incarceration of young offenders. The only reformatory to open in Connacht was at Ballinasloe, and was managed by the Sisters of Mercy. In this lecture, Dr. Geraldine Curtin outlined the background to the Ballinasloe reformatory’s establishment, discussed the circumstances of the children detained there and of the staff who ran it. Considered in its time to be the best reformatory in Ireland, the day-to-day lives of its residents were examined. A graduate of the University of Galway, Dr. Curtin holds a Ph.D in Modern Irish History, with a particular focus on juvenile crime in Connacht in the nineteenth century. In 2001 she published The Women of Galway Jail. Dr. Curtin works in the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room at the University of Galway.… Read the rest
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Born in Galway, raised in Conamara, and educated at Rockwell and Blackrock colleges, Pádraic Ó Conaire (1882-1928) – or Paddy Conroy as he was also then known as – emerged as the most exciting and widely-read Irish-language writer of his generation while working as a civil servant in London. He returned to Ireland in late 1915, to begin a new chapter in his life. In this online lecture (20:00 Meán Fómhair 20 September) Brendan McGowan of Galway City Museum will provide an overview of Ó Conaire’s life and literary career prior to his return from London, before focussing on his activities from the time of the 1916 Rising to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921. Mr Brendan McGowan holds an MA in Heritage Studies from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and an MA in Museum Practice and Management from the University of Ulster. Mr McGowen has previously held roles with Glenveagh National Park in Donegal and The National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Mayo, prior to taking up his current role as Education Officer at Músaem Cathrach Na Gaillimhe. Mr McGowen’s primary, but by no means exclusive, research interests concern the Gaelic Revival and Revolutionary period… Read the rest
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Ní mar a shíltear a bhítear. Is iomaí mí-thuiscint atá ag daoine ar cén saghas éadaí a bhí á gcaitheamh ag daoine anseo fadó. Tá liosta mór fada d’fháthanna leis sin agus ina measc is féidir linn an locht a chur ar Hollywood, na Sasanaigh, faisean, polaitíocht agus ár n-aeráid, dár ndóigh. Fiú leis na dúshláin sin, tá foinsí ar fáil chun tiacht ar eolas atá caillte le cuimhne na seacht sinsear. I léacht léargasach agus shuairc, beidh Tonaí Ó Roduibh ag dul i bhfad níos faide siar ná plé ar chultacha leipreachán, féillí beaga agus báiníní le cabhair ó shean-cháipéisí scríofa ag Gaeil agus ag Gaill agus ón seandálaíocht. ‘Item, that no man, nor man child, do wear no mantles in the streets, but cloaks or gowns… doublets and hose, shaped after the English fashion, of the country cloth or any other cloth [it] shall please them to buy. Item, that no man, woman, or child, do wear in their shirts or smocks, or any other garments, no saffron, nor have any more cloth in their shirts or smocks, but 5 standard ells of that country cloth.‘ Litir ón rí Sasanach Anraí VIII go Gaillimh. Nasc chuig an léacht… Read the rest
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