Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-22
the following inscription was formerly
to be seen over the west gate to the city.
Prom the fury of the OFlaherties
Good Lord deliver ms
Quaint Old Houses.

| Prom the fury Of the O'Flahertes
| Good Lord deliver U.s."
| Quaint Old Houses.
There are some quaint old houses. one OF
them on the principal street known as the
Lynch mansion, being deliberately deco
rated with carved holdings. drip stones,
| cOrnices, balustrades, medallions. crests,
| coats-of-arms, and other ornaments in
which the lynx and the monkey, which
were also used upon the family arms. APP
pear frequently. The same story Is told
TO account for the monkey that is used
| to explain the appearance of that animal
| upon the escutcheon of the Earl of Des-
mond-that the heir was rescued by a
monkey when the house was burning.
| The Burkes, the Joyces and the Lynches
| were the leading families here. and the
| records show that the eighty four MEM
bers of the Lynch family have held the
| office of lord mayor.
Condemned and Executed His Own
A tragic story of James Lynch, the sec
! ond mayor, after the charter of the city
was granted by Richard Ill. is kept in
the minds Of the people by tablet i'm
bedded in the wall of a ruined house on
one of the principal streets. 1t bears this
| inscription:
This memorial of the stern and I'M
| of this city, James Lynch Fitzstephen,
elected mayor AID, 1893, who condemned
and executed his own guilty son. Walter.
| on this spot. has been restored to it's
ancient site. with the approval of the
town commissioners, by their chairman,
the Very Rev Peter DAILY, p p. and
Vicar of ST. Nicholas
The Rev. Mr.. DAILY has immortalized
himself in this simple way and his char
acter may be judged by the fact that his
| name appears even more prominently on
the tablet than that of the unnatural
father whose act he perpetuates. The
story goes that Mayor Lynch. being one
of the most successful of the shipping
merchants in the city, visited Spain in the
very year that Columbus discovered
America to make the personal acquaint-
ance of his customers and. being treated
with generous hospitality, invited the son
of one of his friends to return with him
to Ireland. The young man spent sew
eral months in Galway as the guest of
Mayor Lynch. and as the companion Of
his son Walter. The latter. a great ia
vorite in the city. was engaged 70 a young
lady of good family. who behaved rather
imprudently with the young Spania I'd.
This excited the jealousy of Walter
Lynch. who murdered his playmate and
then. from remorse. gave himself up to
justice. He was tried. convicted and
condemned to death by his own father,
sitting as judge of the court, and when
the sheriff. in obedience to public opin-
Judge Lynch hanged his son with his
own hands. AS there were other judges
and courts in Ireland, and as changes of
venue were common in those days, as
they are now, one cannot SympathiZe
with this Spartan heartlessness.
Quaint Old st. Fechin's Church.
There is a quaint old church. built in
1890, in honor of St. Fechin. who was
born about the year 600 in County Sligo.
founded numerous monasteries and
churches along the western coast of Ire
land. and was the first to bring the Cos
pei to County Galway. Queens College.
supported by the government, has a fine
Gothic building. copied after All Souls at
Oxford, with about three hundred stu
dents. and there is another college. under
the Christian Brothers, which is very
prosperous.
The most interesting sight in Galway
are the fat salmon lying motionless on
the waters of Tough Corrib-one of the
largest fresh water lakes in the country
into Galway bay. The river is short and
swift and flows through the center of
the city. Its banks are walled up with
masonry and it is crossed by series of
ancient iron bridges.
Salmon Are Plentiful.
From the railways of the bridges one
can see thousands of salmon through
that when they are running in the spring
the stream is black with them. They
come in from the sea and go up ladder
that has been built for them over the
rapids into Tough COrrib.
The exclusive right of fishing this river
was granted in 1921 by King John to one
of his favorites, and the monopoly has
been recognized ever since. 1t has been
sold many times. The last purchaser was
an ancestor of a Mrs. Hallett, who en-
sOx-, q {ryH1a
a big stone house on the river bank sur
rounded by high walls. series of traps
extend from her garden across the river.
covering four-fifths of it's width,
of parliament so that the fish can 60 up
and down freely, but as they are all
strangers in Galway. and young and
reckless, many of them run into the trap
the property of Mrs. Hallett. She ships
them to London and makes three or four
thousand pounds a year by selling them
there. Last night 1O7 salmon were caught
In all of the five traps, but this is the dull
season. The fishermen in charge told
me that in the spring they often caught
as many as two or three hundred a day
in each of the traps
Amy one who desires to try his luck
with fly can do SO by getting permit
from Mrs. Hallett. for which the fee is
81 80 day or $25 year.
Self-Ruling Claddagh Fishermen.
Near the mouth of the river and at the
head of the Bay of Galway is an ancient
village called Claddagh, whose inhabi-
tants have been engaged in the herring
and salmon fisheries for ten centuries and
have lived apart from the world, having
their own municipal organization, their
own laws and courts and customs and
manner of dress. From the beginning of
time they have been ruled by one of their
own number, elected by themselves for a
term of years. who exercises executive,
legislative and judicial functions. and
from whom there is no appeal They have
judicial proceedings, but when there is
they take it to their chosen umpire, who
case. And his decision is always accepted.
ever been before Galway court, either
as plaintiff or a defendant.
They live in low matched cottages.
grouped in irregular streets on the bank
of the river, with large and very mod
ern looking church. which they attend
regularly. They are remarkable for their
piety and their morals. They will not
work nor will they leave their village for
any reason on Sundays or religious hOi-
days. They never allow strangers to
live among them. their young men and
women never marry outside of the colony.
they take care of their own sick and
poor and although they only five
minutes walk from the principal street of
Galway they are as isolated as II they
til. =