On Sunday night, the 30th ult., a daring attempt was made to enter an out house of Mr. William Donohoe, shopkeeper, Kinvarra. The parties had succeeded in lifting a large portion of the thatch, and would in all probability have effected an entrance, but fortunately their thievish designs were frustrated by the vigilance of a large bull-dog, whose opportune barking roused the family just in time. The dog gave chase, but owing to a height which he had some difficulty in climbing, he did not succeed in capturing any of them. In the house was stored some wool and a considerable quantity of bacon. Galway Express.
At the last meeting of the Gort Board of Guardians, Mr. Michael O’Donohoe (chariman) presiding, the following resolution was unanimously adopted, on the motion of Mr. Thomas. P. Corless, J.P., Co. C., seconded by Mr James Keane; That we, the Board of Guardians of the Gort Union, in view of the great distress in the Kinvara District and the great delay in commencing the repair of Kinvara Harbour, regret that the officials of the Galway County Council did not lay before the Council at their last meeting the plans of the Board of Works re Kinvara Pier and Harbour, and have them submitted to the Council for approval with a view to hasten the commencement of the work and give much needed employment.
Turlough Hynes was parish priest of Kinvara and lived at Poulnegan. Archbishop James Lynch of Tuam ordained him priest in Cong in 1674. It seems likely that he was of the same family of Frs. Edward and Terence Hynes. A chalice in Kinvara bears this inscription: The gift of Pa French Esq., to the Rev. Fa. Ther. O’Heyne and his successors in the Parishes of Kinvarra and Duras.
The chalice was stolen, broken and repaired. A second inscription on the base records that the cup was replaced by Vicomte de Basterot in 1886.
Rev. Fr. Martin Coen
Last Tuesday, January 1st, the world priemere of the new film “Turf Boats of Galway” was shown in Kinvara and the local makers of this hour long film have made arrangements for marketing 2,000 copies of it, mainly in the U.S. market. If the country at large needs an example of enterprise, this is it.
Behind the film is local man Gerard Conneely, who produced and directed the filming. Shooting totalled five hours and it was conducted earlier this year. Tomás Rua Mac An Iomaire of Carraroe was the cameraman and his brother Liam, was the narrator. Because there are two tracts attached to the film there can be two narrations, and one of these in Irish. Dolores Keane, the popular ballad singer, provides background music. The film will be made into a video cassette tape, suitable for use in the most ordinary video equipment both at home and abroad.
The main target for this tape will be the identified market of Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco, where people with Galway connections live. At present the issue of 2,000 tapes is looked on as sufficient for this first venture.
Gerard Conneely said yesterday; “Our aim is to break even with this venture and with the capital outlay recouped, to undertake another similar video later on in the year.”
The film basically concerns the history of turf boats in use in Galway Bay, from the earliest visual records to the last boats in the 1940’s. There are several old photographs intermingled in the story, as well as such historic photographs as that of the family group conversing with Charles Sturt Parnell at the Quay, Kinvara on November 9th, 1886, two days before the famous Galway Election, involving Captain O’Shea, husband of Parnell’s subsequent wife, Kitty O’Shea.
There are many delightful shots of Cruinniú na mBád and the revival of the Hooker Festivals in recent years. All in all a delightful film and one to be seen for its visual quality and the nostalgia evoked. The exiles will be pleased with its content and the expertise displayed throughout its production.
Connacht Tribune 15th October, 1910 p.4
A report spread around Kinvara early on Tuesday that the Sheriff’s men were “marching” on Kinvara with up-to-date motor cars from Galway, to make seizures on the town tenants on the Sharpe estate. The people were beginning to take things easy when at the toot of a motor car on the Castle road all shops were closed and the situation calmly surveyed from the upper windows. The motor belonged to a well known Galway trader, who looked amused when he heard the consternation his arrival had created. Developments are hourly expected, and the situation is growing serious as time advances.
A report spread around Kinvara early on Tuesday that the Sheriff’s men were “marching” on Kinvara with up-to-date motor cars from Galway, to make seizures on the town tenants on the Sharpe estate. The people were beginning to take things easy when, at the toot of a motor car on the Castle road, all shops were closed and the situation calmly surveyed from the upper windows. The motor belonged to a well known Galway trader, who looked amused when he heard the consternation his arrival had created. Developments are hourly expected, and the situation is growing serious as time advances.
Kinvara was the scene of feverish activity on Sunday when the Ballinderreen Platoon, under Lieut. E. Quinn; Dooras Platoon, under Cpl. M. Fahy, and Kinvara Platoon under Vol. M. Quinn, held a Field Day for the purpose of holding star grading tests. Forty volunteers were tested and although the standard of examination was high, 32 were successful in gaining the coveted “stars”.
Kinvara, Killina and Duras, Galway – Reverend F. Arthur (abridged)
Deaths by famine, 148, in addition to 98 occasioned by a melancholy subsistence on sea weed, nettles, “Bliskane,” & c. Last year the mortality was 52, so that the increase amounted to within a fraction of 400 per cent. Over 1,100 persons were cast out to perish by the order of reduction. There is the parade of relief under the act, but the committee are fastidiously select. Out of a population of 10,000 “there is not 100 who would not be ranked under the first class paupers.”
The reverend gentleman regrets the absence of a Protestant rector “to assist in the great work of charity,” a regret inspired with the most sublime Christianity. And yet the Mail not long since made merry, with that divine desire which proved how well the Rev. Mr Arthur could share the brotherhood of benevolence with one of a difference creed. We seek to introduce no unworthy bickering into the neutral ground of charity, or to interrupt the “truce of God,” with reflections derogatory to any class embarked in the sacred cause of humanity; but if stones have been cast, the Catholic clergy did not originate or perpetuate the quarrel. They calmly bore the faint ebullitions of the old intolerance – which even the fate of thousands of perishing fellow Christians could not altogether repress.
The carnival field in Kinvara situated in a most prominent position in the town is getting a new facade. As part of the scheme to make the road wider and straighter from Kinvara to St Colman’s Church, the old wall and the bend opposite “The Walks” are being demolished and the carnival field will be somewhat narrower. The improvement is being looked on as a further asset to Kinvara when the National Tidy Towns competition and the competition organised by Shannon Development company begin later this year. This field is the property of Mr John Holland, the well known farmer in Kinvara.
The Burren and Beyond 