Murphy’s Town Hall Athenry 10 27th February 1915 – Connacht Tribune of 6th March 1915, page 7, under the heading The Case of Mr Mansfield, carried a very in-depth report on: “The half-yearly meeting of the County Galway National Teachers' Association... in the Town Hall, Athenry, on Saturday...” 28th & 29th April 1915 – Connacht Tribune of 24th April 1915, page 8, carried the following advertisement for a picture screening in the Town Hall on these dates: 19 “Don’t Forget to Visit the Finest Pictures out of London. Also the Great Character Actor, VERNONNE.” 12th & 13th May 1915 – Connacht Tribune of 1st May 1915, page 4 carried the following in relation to performances by Mr Vernonne at Athenry and Clifden: “A large audience assembled at the Town Hall, Athenry, on Wednesday and Thursday, and gave Mr Vernonne a very enthusiastic welcome. He has re-booked Athenry for May 12 and 13...20 Mr. Vernonne delighted ...with his first class and up to date pictures, and his own incomparable songs and sketches... Miss Wren very ably presided at the piano.” 14th May 1915 – Connacht Tribune of 6th March 1915, page 6, reported on: “A meeting of the Galway County Board G.A.A... held in the Town Hall, Athenry, on Friday, 14th inst. Mr. G. Nicolls, Chairman, presided, and the other members present were: Rev. M. Broderick; Messrs. T. Kenny, P. Callanan, P. Donnelly, P. Finnerty, J. Hynes, M. Whelan, J. Haverty, E. Keane, S. Jordan (Secretary), S. Burke (Woodford H.C)...” 12th June 1915 – The quote below, (relating to events in June 1915), is extracted from the Weekly Freeman 1st January 1916, page 10, and Connacht Tribune of 1st January 1916, page 2: “At Athenry Petty Sessions on Friday Stephen Jordan, Athenry was again charged with having been guilty of conduct calculated to prejudice recruiting on June 12 at a picture house performance in the Town Hall, Athenry...” “Evidence was given by Constables Doherty, Stafford, Murphy, Cullinane and Donohue to the effect that on the occasion of an exhibition of pictures they were in the Town Hall and heard the defendant hiss the pictures of King George, Lord Kitchener, and the crowned heads of Allied countries, and cheer pictures of the Kaiser and Turkish troops. Mr R Murphy, proprietor of the Town Hall stated that no lights were thrown, as alleged by the police, from the side which would enable the police to identify anyone... Mr L Lardner stated that he attended the entertainment. He did not hear any observations made by the defendant. The pictures were given a mixed reception of cheers and hisses... Mr John Cleary gave corroborative evidence...” 2nd July 1915 – Connacht Tribune 19th June 1915, page 8, carried an advertisement for an auction in the Town Hall on this date, @ 12 o’clock, of A Valuable Business House with Store, Yard and Garden Attached: “...in which a successful trade has been done... a fine two storey building. It consists of a shop 41 feet by 16, with hall, kitchen and sitting room on the ground floor, all in excellent repair, with counter and shop fittings. The upper rooms consist of a parlour, 5 sleeping rooms also a bathroom. There is a yard, with store and meat garden attached. It is suitable for drapery, grocery, hardware, etc., and is situate in the best part of this thriving town...” 21 26th August 1915 – Cumann na mBan held a meeting in Athenry Town Hall, for the purposes of establishing a local Branch. It was organised and addressed by Miss Elizabeth Bloxham 22 (source: a poster held in the National Library of Ireland as part of their Ephemera Collection): “Women of Athenry come and join the Irishwomen’s Council and take your place in the fight for Ireland’s Liberty.” 2nd October 1915 – Connacht Tribune 2nd October 1915, page 2, carried the following under the heading Domestic Economy: 19 This presumably referred to a slide show of some sort, possibly a Magic Lantern style projector? 20 This presumably refers to Vernonne’s appearances on 28th & 29th April 1915, as cited above 21 The ad doesn’t specify what “the best part” of town is! 22 Elizabeth Bloxham was one of the founding members of the organisation. CnamB image above is from the author’s personal collection.
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