A new book on Galway Chamber of Commerce and Industry provides a record of the social life and times of the city. The book chronicles everything from the 18th century town where long-snouted pigs wandered in and out between the legs of passers-by, grunting at anybody who challenged their right of way, to the thriving cosmopolitan city of today.
The book, Tribes to Tigers, written by Dr Kieran Woodman is, according to the author, an attempt to record people and events in their time, beginning with the last decade of the 18th century and ending with the last of the 20th century.
Dr Woodman outlines the establishment of The Amicable Society back in 1791 and The Royal Galway Institution in 1839, both forerunners of today's chamber.
When The Amicable Society died out in 1837, the Royal Galway Institution rose "phoenix like" from its ashes in 1839.
The major interest of this group was in the belles-lettres such as the poetry of Shakespeare and in all things scientific.
"Their mission to the public of Galway was to combine a reverence for the past, an understanding of the present and an appreciation of where its intellectual and scientific future might lie," he said.
The Galway Chamber of Commerce and Industry was inaugurated in 1923 amalgamating with the Royal Galway Society which was still in existence.
Dr Woodman trawled through the minutes of chamber meetings dating back to the group's establishment and through old editions of the Connacht Tribune to gather the information for the book.
He explained that the chamber had a major role to play in the attraction of industry to Galway over the years, in conjunction with the IDA, and sent many deputations to the Government calling for the development of infrastructure and a transport system in the city or protesting about rates or environmental issues.
Dr Woodman came to study at NUI Galway from Northern Ireland in 1943. He was appointed a statutory lecturer in Comparative Education and Communications, and subsequently became Dean of Arts for six years until 1982.
He then took a sabbatical to spend a year studying for a doctorate in journalism at the Southern Illinois University, and on his return to NUI Galway set up the School of Journalism there.
Another book by Dr Woodman chronicling the history of Galway Harbour, called Annals of Galway Harbour, will be launched in December.
Tribes to Tigers is on sale at Kennys, High Street and Easons, Shop Street, Galway as well as the chamber offices at Commerce House, Merchants Road, Galway.
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