On this day, 1 November, 1755, the Lisbon earthquake caused a 2-metre tsunami that hit the coast of Galway, causing some serious damage to the Spanish Arch section of the city walls of Galway. By Ian Brophy The earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake,was a series of earthquakes Read more…
By Ian Brophy On this Day…….19 August. On this day, 19 August, 1504, the Battle of Knockdoe took place. Regarded as one of the bloodiest battles to take place during medieval history, it occurred near Lackagh, north of Galway. The battle of Knockdoe; ‘ Cnoc Tuagh ‘, meaning ‘the hill Read more…
By Ian Brophy, Galway Civic Trust On this day, 29 July, 1326, Richard de Burgo, the ‘Red Earl’, died at Athassel Priory in Co. Tipperary, and was buried there. Athassel Priory was founded by the Augustinians under the patronage of William de Burgo, sometime in the late 1100’s. William de Read more…
By Ian Brophy On this day, 15 June, 1919, a plane landed in a bog outside Clifden, Co. Galway. It sluggishly came to a stop, up-ended, and took a nose-dive. This most inhospitable, barren landscape – Derrigimlagh Bog – was already the home of the first transatlantic wireless station. Read more…
On this day, 16 May, we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Brendan. By Ian Brophy, Dúchas na Gaillimhe Brendan was born during the Middle Ages in 484 A.D.in Co. Kerry. He was baptised near Ardfert,Co. Kerry by Bishop Erc. At the tender age of one, he was sent to Read more…
By Ian Brophy, Galway Civic Trust On this day, 23 April, 1937, a Salmon was caught in the traps on the Galway Fishery. This specimen fish weighed in at 43 lbs, was 4 ft in length and 27 inches in girth. The Galway Fishery is a severed (several) Read more…
On this day, Isabella Augusta Persse was born. She was born into wealth, her family being the wealthy Persse family, the distillers of Persse’s Galway whiskey. She was the 12th of 16 children. She received her education at home, where her future was strongly influenced by the family nanny, Mary Read more…
On this day, or thereabouts, Patrick Conroy was born. ‘ Much folklore surrounds his life and his biographers have encountered difficulty in establishing certain facts about him ‘; this is a quote from the Dictionary of Irish Biography. There appears to be an incorrect date for his date of birth Read more…
For it was on a Tuesday, a cold day; there was a bite in the air. He requested an extra garment to protect him from the chill in the air; lest the crowd see him shivering and mistake it for cowardice. He left his home and was escorted to Whitehall, Read more…
On 6 December we mark the Feast Day of St. Nicholas (of Myra). St. Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century bishop of Greek descent from Myra, now in Turkey. Relatively little is known about the life of Nicholas. While on a visit to the Holy Land, a storm almost destroyed Read more…