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Offaly Independent, May 24, 1924

Lucky escape for Moate lass!

In the Dublin Law Courts, Mr Justice Samuels and a city common Jury heard an action for £1,000 damages for breach of promise of marriage brought by a young lady from Moate against a young man also from Moate, a farmer.

In her statement of claim, the young woman said the promise of marriage was made verbally and by reason of it not being carried out, she suffered great annoyance and inconvenience and suffered greatly in feelings and reputation and lost the benefit of the said marriage, thereby suffering great loss and damage.

The defendant, in his defence, denied that he agreed to meet the plaintiff and further said the agreement was subject to the condition that the plaintiff’s relatives should provide her a dowry or marriage portion of £200. That condition was not performed.

Defendant also said that he was at all material terms ready and willing to marry the plaintiff if the condition had been performed.

In her evidence, the plaintiff said she was a farmer’s daughter living about 10 minutes’ walk from the defendant. She had known him since she attended school. On St Patrick’s Day in 1922, he sent her a message by a mutual friend saying that he was willing to marry her. She sent back word that she was also willing and that she would consult her father.

She said that a fortnight later she met the defendant and he fixed the wedding date for June and arranged to meet her to discuss the fortune. He said he was willing to marry her but would like to know what fortune she was getting. She told him she was getting £200 and he said he was quite agreeable.

The plaintiff told the court, however, that the defendant subsequently put off the wedding until the Wednesday before Lent of 1923. She met him on a holiday previous to that and he remarked that Easter was not far off and asked if she was ready and had got her new dress for the wedding. She said she had.

He also asked her to go to Athlone with him to buy the ring and to bring the fortune with her. She said she would bring the £200 and he suggested that they should make it £250 or £300 and added that there was a girl he could get £300 with.

The plaintiff said that the defendant did not keep his word to her. She wrote to him asking him to keep his promise and in consequence of the humiliation she suffered, she left the place where she had been residing. The defendant said he had always been happy to marry her for a £200 dowry. However, the jury found for the plaintiff and awarded damages of £175.

Irish Press, May 2 1934

The Irish in Argentina

How Irishmen helped to build up the Argentine was described by Mr J F Grehan in a talk at the Dublin Rotary Club, The Irish Press reported.

Mr Grehan, a Galway man who had spent 25 years in the Argentine, told the gathering that an Irishman, Peter S Sheridan, and an Englishman named Harrat, had developed sheep farming there, a great source of wealth to Buenos Aires.

He said that the many Irish families that stuck to their sheep, despite the allurements of rapid fortune offered by the cattle and cereal business, had suffered much less from the present economic crisis inasmuch as wool had retained a good average price.

Mr Grehan told the gathering that many ranches in Argentina were so isolated in those days that often two, three or more years elapsed between visits by priests, yet the sturdy Irish pioneers handed on the faith.

The great majority of the Irish settlers were from Westmeath, he continued, adding that during the Famine the largest inflow of Irish to the Argentine was recorded.

Mr Grehan said that from the Westmeath sheep farmers had sprung the estate owners of their race, many of whom now had immense wealth and high social position.

Continuing, he said that of the Irish priests who accompanied the emigrants, the most noteworthy had been a Loughrea Dominican, Fr Anthony Fahy. He died in 1871 from cholera, contracted while attending to his victims stricken on the streets of Buenos Aires. To his memory, the grateful colony erected a stately monument in the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.

Mr Grehan paid a tribute to the work of the Sisters of Mercy, the various lay Catholic organisations and ‘The Southern Cross’, the Catholic weekly whose most brilliant editor was William Bulfin, author of ‘Rambles in Erin’ and ‘Tales of the Pampas’.

The item went on to state that the majority of the Irish in Argentina were either landowners or held good positions. It was generally estimated that they numbered 25,000, but if they were to include all the people with Irish blood in their veins, the estimate might be around 200,000.

Westmeath Examiner, May 27 1944

No snobbery here!

Mullingar Town Tennis Club’s 1944 season had commenced just the previous Sunday. But what puzzled the writer of an item about the club was that, looking through the list of members for the last few seasons, they could find that very few of “our country cousins” played tennis.

“I was puzzled to know the cause of this, for I am sure they would make better players than the town folk,” said the writer. He or she set out to find the answer and met a “country colleen” whom he thought who would make a tennis player.

“I asked her why she did not play tennis and her reply was that the tennis fans of the town ‘would have no time for their country cousins’.

“When I told this to a member of the tennis committee, this was his answer: ‘Any country lady or gent who wishes to join the club can do so and the present members will be only too willing to show them how to play the game and to make their days enjoyable in the tennis grounds’.

The writer went on to formally invite country dwellers to try it out: “So now cousins: don’t be afraid to join the tennis club. Come and enjoy the evenings with us. If you don’t like tennis, you have the putting or other games to play.”

Meath Chronicle, May 29 1954

Too good for France

An agricultural instructor in Westmeath nearly lost out on the opportunity to spend 10 days in France – because he was too good at his job here. At the monthly meeting of the County Committee of Agriculture in Mullingar, a circular was read informing the members that there was an opportunity for a horticultural instructor from each county to travel to France to spend 10 days studying French methods of horticulture.

The Chief Agricultural Officer, Mr TF Murphy, said the cost was £70, two-thirds of which would be paid by the department and a third by the committee. Mr Frank Waters proposed that Mr TP Kinsella, horticultural instructor, be not sent out. He said he did not like to deprive Mr Kinsella of a continental tour, but if the French people came over here, Mr Kinsella could teach them quite a lot. After all, he said, Ireland was world-renowned as an agricultural country.

“I have yet to see continental folk coming here,” added Mr Waters.

Mr J Fagan proposed that Mr Kinsella be sent to France and Mr McCauley seconded. This was agreed to, there being no seconder for Mr Waters’ amendment.

Westmeath Independent, May 30 1964

Mass X-Ray

An unusual event was taking place that week in Athlone, a mass chest X-ray, at which members of the public could get their chests X-rayed, presumably to detect signs of tuberculosis. The first day was apparently devoted to public sessions in the Square, the Westmeath Independent reported. On the following days, the unit concentrated on the senior school children and on the staff of Gentex.

During the next two weeks, public sessions were to be held at many points throughout the town, Coosan and Garrycastle.

The paper said it should be possible for every adult to attend and get the all-clear from the unit.

It then quoted the County Medical Officer, Dr MP Flynn, who stated that Athlone had a good record of sustained high attendance for chest X-rays when compared with other towns in Ireland.

“We appeal especially to the elderly to again show that Athlone is in the lead. A healthy community is a good tourist attraction,” he said.

Westmeath Examiner, May 25, 1974

‘A day of sadness’

‘A day of sadness’ was the heading over an item which revealed that due to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings over the weekend, and also as a mark of respect to the late local politician, Charles Fagan, who had died (not in the bombings), a special roads meeting of the county council was adjourned for a week.

Deputy Gerry L’Estrange said the bombings of the previous Friday evening represented a black day for this country and a sorry occasion.

At his suggestion, the councillors passed a motion tendering their sympathy to the families and relatives of those affected by the blasts and condemning ‘the evil men responsible for such a foul and bloody act which resulted in the worst day’s carnage in recent history’.

“We are entitled to ask what do those men with warped minds hope to achieve by murdering their own people and destroying their own country?” the motion concluded.

A separate item on the same page stated that Deputy L’Estrange and another local man, Michael Duffy of Castle Street, were among those who had given valuable assistance to the dead and injured in the wake of the Dublin bomb. Stated the item: “Mr Duffy was one of a number of people from Westmeath who were lucky enough to escape injury and who were near or at the scene of the bombings.”