Pages from the Past

150 Years Ago 1859 Breaking the Sabbath A group of 'seven or eight' young boys appeared before the Athlone Petty Sessions in March 1859 summonsed by the police for kicking a football in a field adjacent to the town on the previous Sunday. The defendants pleaded ignorance of the law, the Westmeath Independent reported, and were fined 1s each. The fine was subsequently remitted on condition the parties paid the cost of the court and promised to observe the law in future. Damages for losing his portmanteau on the train A 'gentleman of fortune' who resided at Thomastown, Athlone, brought an action against the rail company, Midland Great Western Railway, for damages following the loss of his suitcase whilst travelling. Mr Naghten, in June, 1858, had travelled to Dublin on business, bringing with him 'a large portmanteau, in which contained several suits of clothes for morning and evening wear, together with shirts, cravats, scarfs and some jewellery'. Mr Naghten remained in Macken"s Hotel in Dublin for a week and on June 24 returned home, in company with a Mr Bond, bringing his portmanteau with him. On arriving at the Broadstone train terminus, he gave his portmanteau to a porter, who labelled it for Athlone. However, on arriving to Athlone, the portmanteau was not to be found. In subsequent correspondence between Mr Naghten and the rail company, Mr Naghten mistook the day of travel, stating the occurrence had happened on June 17. When the rail company could find no record of the plaintiff travelling on that date, it opted to defend the action. In court, both Mr Naghten and Mr Bond were examined and both proved they had travelled from Dublin on June 24. The defendants then withdrew their defence and the jury found in favour of the plaintiff in the sum of £50 damages and costs. 100 Years Ago 1909 Wanted - A Wife Almost one hundred years ago this week, the Westmeath Independent reported the meeting of Strokestown Workhouse Guardians which featured a document put forward by an individual who described himself as the 'troublesome Mick Concannon, of Cartron, Elphin.' The Westmeath pointed out that Mr Concannon was 'praying that the Guardians would be so good as to procure him a wife. He stated that he was considered ugly by his former lovers, but the ladies of the workhouse could see for themselves whether he was or not.' Although having been promised a house by the Council, Mr Concannon stated that 'what good was a house without a woman to keep it clean.' The letter wound up with a request that the Guardians might line up 20 or 30 willing woman from the workhouse so that he might be able to choose a suitable one. News from abroad The Westmeath Independent of one hundred years ago regularly featured snippets of news from across the world. Among them, in the February 6, 1909 edition, was the story of a Ms Ida Brewer of Linconshire who was drowned while skating with her two brothers and a friend. Before taking to the ice, Ms Brewer jokingly remarked to a friend, 'she had made her will in case she was drowned.' Unfortunately, this is what actually occurred. Also that week it was reported that a Vienna art dealer had made a gruesome discovery. At an auction, he had bought a beautiful urn, richly embossed which had a seal with the date March 15, 1735. 'He had the greatest difficulty in opening it, but it at last gave way, when suddenly the room was filled with a foul odour. Seeing some object at the bottom, he drew forth a soft object, which on examination proved to be a human heart. 50 Years Ago 1959 Athlone"s boy ambassador makes waves in Manchester A popular Manchester weekly 'The Catholic Guardian" had 'very nice things' to say of Master Paul Brock, 14-year-old son of Mr and Mrs A. Brock, O"Connell Street, Athlone, following his recent fortnight tour of the English city, the Westmeath Independent reported this week five decades ago. The Manchester paper stated: 'A success story with a difference is that of boy-wonder accordionist, Paul Brock, three times All-Ireland junior champion who, at fourteen, has become a concert-tour celebrity in Ireland and Scotland. Besides appearing on Radio Eireann, he has been guest artist at exclusive functions in London and Dublin. On his extensive Scottish tour last year, during which he starred with Jack Cruise and Bridie Gallagher, the Girl from Donegal, his amazing virtousity held audiences spellbound and received eloquent praise from press critics'. In 1955 at the age of ten, he won the All-Ireland Under-14 Championship and proved his consistency by repeating the feat in 1956 and 1957. On the last occasion, he was also finalist in the under-18 group, but being already a title holder was not allowed to compete in the final. Extolling the Athlone"s teenager"s virtues 50 years ago the Westmeath Independent enthused: 'Despite his musical genius, Paul is essentially a schoolboy, modest and unaffected by success so early achieved His accordion, a Continental button-key worth almost £300, is probably the only one of its kind in Ireland today'. The paper concluded that a return to the Marist College for school studies meant Paul had to postpone an appearance on BBC Television until the Easter holidays but he did manage to fit in a trip to see Manchester United play and was introduced to their legendary manager Matt Busby as well as each member of the team.