Omnibus – The Sack recalled

The Sack recalled This is the conclusion of last week's column. It was written by the late Jarlath Pâ€Ë†Burke and first published in December 1991. ACCOUNTS of the Sack of Tuam recall the names of business houses still trading but also mention others who have given way to the march of time. Apart from the Town Hall, which had been flying a Sinn Féin flag after the visit of an American Commissioner and which was gutted by fire, the other major premises destroyed was Canney's drapery, which lay in ruins for years before the site was taken over by the Munster and Leinster Bank, which had previously operated at Bishop Street, and which is now the Allied Irish Banks office. [private]Across the street the Connacht Tribune local office, where district reporter Johnny Purcell was based, and the chemist's shop of Fred Stafford, now Kilgarriff's, were both damaged by fire and gunfire. On the Dublin Road Nohilly's public house was attacked and raided, as the family were well known in the Sinn Fein movement. It was a great meeting house for GAA clubs and teams, and local people will remember Dr Jack Nohilly and his brother Jim, for years a leading light in the Stars Club. Now it is the Hillsbrook Bar run by Paddy and Kathy Kelly, who formerly traded at Barnaderg. With the offices of Conway and Quinn, Solicitors, now the insurance office of Pat Hardiman's company, next door, Bernard O'Brien continues Luke's Shoe Shop, one time Keane's. The only building on the Square which has the same name as in 1920 is the Imperial Hotel, then owned by Mrs Eleanor Burke Guy, whose only son Gabriel was involved in Sinn Fein. He qualified as a solicitor and had offices where the Herald Quickprint shop is now. He became a District Justice in the early years of native government, and lived in Ballina for some years. There was mention of windows being broken in the hotel, and in Hosty's premises, then a double store with grocery and hardware, now divided into a number of shops, Leo's pharmacy, Prendergast's and the adjoining shops which now bear new names and would be completely alien to former residents who had been across the water. I remember Johnny O'Reilly's, adjacent to Canney's, but I cannot identify a Kenny's Bar mentioned in the 1920 reports, although when I was going to the CBS there was a shop called Cunningham's, known as 'Chestercakes' possibly because they made those thick currant biscuits best eaten with lemonade made in Egan's mineral water factory over at the railway gates. Old names still stand on Bishop Street, where Con O'Connor carries on the family house, and Leufer's is where the first Joseph opened his watchmaker's shop almost a century ago. Hynes's was formerly JJ Waldron's fancy goods store, and a part of the house was the offices of PM Hosty, a prominent solicitor and a member of the business family on the Square. On the other side of the street the Browne family continue the business which originated with the Kilgarriffs and included a chandlery as well as wool stores back in the 1800s. They also have the premises long known as Peter McHugh's and last run by the late Tommy Joyce, whose grandfather was the original of the nickname 'Spider'. â€Â¢ â€Â¢ â€Â¢ Serendipity in Sweden BACK in the 21st century, another example of the small world. My cousin Colette Feely and her husband Kevin Murray were in Stockholm, Sweden recently visiting their daughter Sinéad who teaches science at an International school. They visited Viking graves in Gamla (old) Uppsala on the Saturday. Before they left the site they drifted into an old barn which serves as a museum. Colette writes: 'On hearing that we were from Ireland the woman who was one of the guides approached me and our conversation went something like this: â€ËœAre you Irish?' â€ËœYes, Are you?' â€ËœYes, I'm from Galway. Do you know a place called Tuam?' â€ËœYes I'm from Tuam.' â€ËœSo am I! Where in Tuam?' â€ËœDubllin Road.' â€ËœSo am I!' It transpired that she is Patricia Ericsson née Burke, daughter of Bobby Burke late of Tohermore House. We spoke about Tuam and people both of us knew including Jarlath. She is a good friend of Eileen Leufer. It was surreal to say the least of it.' You can see Patricia, Colette and Kevin in the picture. The world is still full of surprises. â€â€ David Burke[/private]