Welcome
A LOVE of history and a deep interest in their local area in particular
led a group of Tuam people to come together over sixty years ago with a
view to preserving a record of the town’s illustrious past and to foster
and promote that knowledge for the benefit of future generations. Their
foresight and vision was, thankfully, appreciated by their successors ever
since and the Old Tuam Society is still a thriving organisation.
According to an item in The Tuam Herald dated September 26, 1942 the new
society was open to “all those who are interested in its aims, namely the
preservation and study of the antiquities of Tuam and district.” Young and
old were welcome as well as “members of the fair sex.” An invitation was
issued to Tuam people scattered far and wide to join the circle for an
annual subscription of two shillings and six pence.
To cynics of the time who might have wondered why those good people went
to the trouble of “the preserving and studying of history and the relics
of a barbarous past” as a spokesperson for the society described their
work, the Herald correspondent of the time quoted the late Most Rev. Dr.
Healy, Archbishop of Tuam when he had addressed the same question at a
meeting of the Galway Archaeological Society previously.
Said Dr. Healy: “As to its utility, these studies will not put money in
your purse and they are not designed to minister in any way to your
sensual enjoyment but there are nobler aims in life than to make money or
gratify the senses. Not on bread alone doth man live: he has an
intellectual and moral nature higher than the brutes. He has got
aspirations and yearnings that mere sensuality can never gratify nor even
stifle.”
Fine sentiments, expertly expressed but whether they would influence
today’s teenagers is debatable. However people in Tuam and its hinterland
at the time were, thankfully, only too happy to co-operate with the aims
of the fledgling society. Brid Lynch, a remarkable Tuam woman of many
talents who is still very active in her local community was a founder
member and is one of the the few surviving early members, along with
Michael Barrows and Mrs. Mary Gaynor.
Brid remembers those early days. “We were a small group of about seven or
eight people but we were very dedicated in everything we did whether it
was our talks or lectures or going cycling to local places of interest in
the area like Abbeyknockmoy, Kilbannon or Ballinrobe. I once remember Lady
Molly Cusack-Smith accompanying us on horseback. My good friend Mary
Gaynor used to go to the meetings with me to the meetings after choir
practice.”
Those meetings were always held in the Imperial Hotel, owned by the Guy
family at the time. The first O.T.S. president was Dr. Thomas Bodkin
Costelloe or Doctor Tom as he was affectionately known. He was one of the
main driving forces as was his wife Eibhlín Bean Mhic Choisdealbha who in
her own right is still remembered for her marvellous collection of songs
and folklore of the area entitled Amhráin Mhuighe Seola.
Tuam historian John J. Waldron, whose family owned a shop where the New
Brogue pub now stands, was of course another leading light and
inspiration. Could it be that his great interest in the town and its
environs might be due to the fact that he was born by a remarkable
coincidence, on the feast day of St. Jarlath, June 6th 1896.
Then, as now, the co-operation of the local paper The Tuam Herald was
crucial to the success of the group as it conveyed its activities, news
and views to a wide audience. In a 1942 plea to Herald readers the Old
Tuam Society outlined its intention to “collect and publish any material
concerning the history of Tuam.” The public were asked to “give or loan
any old newspapers, periodicals or photographs that may be of local or
even national interest that they might have in their possession.”
The correspondent went on to declare confidence in the society due to the
presence of the redoubtable Dr. T. B. Costelloe as its first president.
“Dr. Tom has given a lifetime of service to the town in various
capacities, is an ornament to his profession and was a backbone of the
Gaelic League from its foundation.” The good doctor was also described as
a “nationally known authority on the antiquities of Ireland.”
The eulogy continued with the bold declaration that “if those of us that
he has brought safely into this world during his professional career could
possibly be brought together we could safely protect County Galway from
any foreign invader and have a supply of Red Cross nurses as well.” (Some
of the first committee were trained nurses). We current committee members
are a tame lot in comparison with our predecessors.
The following joined the Old Tuam Society on that historic first night
over sixty years ago: Dr. T.B. Costelloe, William J.V. Comerford solr.,
Supt. Walsh, G.S., John Henry Corcoran, Mr. and Mrs. Michael O’Brien,
Messrs. Tom Higgins, John Burke CTC (Tuam Herald), Michael Lardner, Martin
(Solid) Rooney, D.J. Murphy N.T., Dr. Jack Nohilly, Mrs. Mai O’Brien, The
Misses Walsh, Dr. Grace, another J.H. Corcoran, Jack Bray, Joe Cooney,
Jimmy McDonnell, Eddie Cooley, The Misses Higgins (Nora and Brid), Gerard
O’Connor, B.Comm., H. Herbert, Mrs. Joyce, Miss Rose Hosty, J.J. Waldron,
Mrs. Corry (Ulster Bank), Martin Glynn, Mrs. William Heneghan, Fred Fore,
Jarlath O’Connell solr., Jarlath Burke, John Hession
