Tuam
Monday October 17, 2005
My great-grandfather lived and my grandfather grew up on the Galway Road. It is now a relatively main road – part of the National system. As a result most of the buildings do not date back to the 1800s – it is unlikely his home still exists.
I pass St. Mary’s Cathedral – Church of Ireland – and follow the signs for the city center. I come to the cross roads of a very nice downtown – The Square. Here I find my lodgings, the Corralea Court Hotel. Parking is through a tunnel, barely wide enough for a car, into a back yard. It is a tasteful, modest rehabilitation of an old building. I have a room with twin beds and a bay window over the sidewalk looking out onto the main streets and the square.
Tuam is a people proportioned town. The buildings are not too high and the streets are not too wide. There are a good variety of establishments. The only thing I notice as different from the main street back home is the number of restaurant / pubs and the existence of off-track betting parlors. The sidewalks are active but not crowded. There is a small-scale vibrancy that is pleasing.
It turns out that Internet service is via a DSL line and I didn’t bring an Ethernet cable. Sandra, a delightful young woman expecting her second child on Christmas, suggests the Internet Café down the street. I ask if they have a map and she mentions that the Library is across from the Internet Café and has old maps of the city that might help me in my quest.
I find the Internet Café, bump into the owner and ask if he knows where I can purchase a cable. He doesn’t but his assistant could make me up one if I come back in a half hour. After a pleasant lunch, Carl, a pleasant pony-tailed young man has the cable. I ask if I can hook up my Mac there to send some e-mails before my excursion. He is unfamiliar with Macs and is willing to give it a try. It works smoothly and when I ask how much I owe him he says he has learned something useful so nothing.
Unfortunately the Library is closed on Mondays – and this week only, Tuesday also. There will have to be a next time.
I walk over to the Roman Catholic Cathedral. Tuam is a separate Archdiocese from Galway City. This is a very pretty church, in many ways similar to St. Mary’s where Amanda and I were married – but smaller and brighter. A striking difference is that each of the Stations of the Cross that surround its interior are beautiful large paintings.
I ask a woman cleaning if she can direct me to the Church Cemetery. It is a 10-minute walk across the Catholic girls’ school, past several Catholic colleges and down a residential street. I wander through looking for the name Corliss or Corless on any of the stones. About mid way through my search it begins to rain. I work my way back toward the road and find one very old stone but this Corless does not appear to be related.
I walk back to the hotel thinking how even though many of the buildings have been replaced; these are the same streets my grandfather had walked. Even though he died long before I was born, there was an opportunity to get to know him here.
After drying out at the hotel, I tried the Internet again. It turns out that in this case an Internet room means they supply the DSL line you supply the dial up ISP – I have broadband cable at home and certainly no Irish phone number to dial. I went down to the pub for a light meal – soup and salad. As I headed back up to the room, through the glass of the door I saw a hearse go by followed by over a hundred people. I ran up to the bay window and witnessed a scene right out of Angela’s Ashes. Except for the cars, it was a scene that had played out for my grandfather as it was appearing before my eyes.
After a good night’s sleep, I check out on Tuesday morning. I return to the Internet Café to confirm that the cable works properly. Even though it is not his normal time Carl is there and greets me by name. He checks out the cable – it is fine – and allows me to e-mail some things, again no charge.
I walk down to the Church of Ireland’s Cathedral. The two Cathedrals almost balance each other with The Square as the fulcrum. Unlike its RC counterpart, however, this church is heavy, its grounds cramped and its doors locked.
My last stop is to check out a few bookstores. One is very good and I pick up three books including one called Glimpses of Tuam, and an Irish / English dictionary.
When I return to get the car the gates to the tunnel are closed. This is a courtesy for a funeral that will be coming by soon (I think the body that was transported from the funeral home to the Cathedral last evening), but if I am leaving now they can open them for me. Minutes later I am heading for Galway City.
My great-grandfather lived and my grandfather grew up on the Galway Road. It is now a relatively main road – part of the National system. As a result most of the buildings do not date back to the 1800s – it is unlikely his home still exists.
I pass St. Mary’s Cathedral – Church of Ireland – and follow the signs for the city center. I come to the cross roads of a very nice downtown – The Square. Here I find my lodgings, the Corralea Court Hotel. Parking is through a tunnel, barely wide enough for a car, into a back yard. It is a tasteful, modest rehabilitation of an old building. I have a room with twin beds and a bay window over the sidewalk looking out onto the main streets and the square.
Tuam is a people proportioned town. The buildings are not too high and the streets are not too wide. There are a good variety of establishments. The only thing I notice as different from the main street back home is the number of restaurant / pubs and the existence of off-track betting parlors. The sidewalks are active but not crowded. There is a small-scale vibrancy that is pleasing.
It turns out that Internet service is via a DSL line and I didn’t bring an Ethernet cable. Sandra, a delightful young woman expecting her second child on Christmas, suggests the Internet Café down the street. I ask if they have a map and she mentions that the Library is across from the Internet Café and has old maps of the city that might help me in my quest.
I find the Internet Café, bump into the owner and ask if he knows where I can purchase a cable. He doesn’t but his assistant could make me up one if I come back in a half hour. After a pleasant lunch, Carl, a pleasant pony-tailed young man has the cable. I ask if I can hook up my Mac there to send some e-mails before my excursion. He is unfamiliar with Macs and is willing to give it a try. It works smoothly and when I ask how much I owe him he says he has learned something useful so nothing.
Unfortunately the Library is closed on Mondays – and this week only, Tuesday also. There will have to be a next time.
I walk over to the Roman Catholic Cathedral. Tuam is a separate Archdiocese from Galway City. This is a very pretty church, in many ways similar to St. Mary’s where Amanda and I were married – but smaller and brighter. A striking difference is that each of the Stations of the Cross that surround its interior are beautiful large paintings.
I ask a woman cleaning if she can direct me to the Church Cemetery. It is a 10-minute walk across the Catholic girls’ school, past several Catholic colleges and down a residential street. I wander through looking for the name Corliss or Corless on any of the stones. About mid way through my search it begins to rain. I work my way back toward the road and find one very old stone but this Corless does not appear to be related.
I walk back to the hotel thinking how even though many of the buildings have been replaced; these are the same streets my grandfather had walked. Even though he died long before I was born, there was an opportunity to get to know him here.
After drying out at the hotel, I tried the Internet again. It turns out that in this case an Internet room means they supply the DSL line you supply the dial up ISP – I have broadband cable at home and certainly no Irish phone number to dial. I went down to the pub for a light meal – soup and salad. As I headed back up to the room, through the glass of the door I saw a hearse go by followed by over a hundred people. I ran up to the bay window and witnessed a scene right out of Angela’s Ashes. Except for the cars, it was a scene that had played out for my grandfather as it was appearing before my eyes.
After a good night’s sleep, I check out on Tuesday morning. I return to the Internet Café to confirm that the cable works properly. Even though it is not his normal time Carl is there and greets me by name. He checks out the cable – it is fine – and allows me to e-mail some things, again no charge.
I walk down to the Church of Ireland’s Cathedral. The two Cathedrals almost balance each other with The Square as the fulcrum. Unlike its RC counterpart, however, this church is heavy, its grounds cramped and its doors locked.
My last stop is to check out a few bookstores. One is very good and I pick up three books including one called Glimpses of Tuam, and an Irish / English dictionary.
When I return to get the car the gates to the tunnel are closed. This is a courtesy for a funeral that will be coming by soon (I think the body that was transported from the funeral home to the Cathedral last evening), but if I am leaving now they can open them for me. Minutes later I am heading for Galway City.
posted by J Corlss at
8:15 AM
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