11/29/2013 Gerry Hanley
The widow of Patrick Ryan tells us that when he was Mayor in '62/'63 the first transatlantic phonecall via Satelite ( Telstar) from Europe to the United States was made from Galway to Menlo Park.
She remembers it well because the telephone that was used was the one in their
home and she did the catering for the group that gathered there.
11/30/2013 Gerry Hanley-1
1. I remember Maurice Semple in Galway. His widow is still with us....
3. There is a James Hanlely mentioned.... the name James has been in my family
for generations !
11/30/2013 Gerry Hanley-2
The word 'mac' in Irish means 'son' - often abbreviated as Mc....
So McGlynn means the son of Glynn.....
There are a few Glynn families in Menlo to this day.
We now surmise that Denis Oliver may have been from the Claddagh - another
old fishing village in Galway (google it), and he and Glynn married two sisters....
12/1/2013 Gerry Hanley
As Mayor Ohtaki prepares to depart I can’t begin to describe the success of the visit
- from our perspective - many new discussions started and new green shoots emerging.
The unveiling at the pier was a fitting finale. Best quote of the day from the eldest man living in Menlo Village '' I’m around a long time and I have seen all the events, and today was the best day that there has been in Menlo during my years''
1. It emerges that the the two sisters married to Oliver and McGlynn were possibly named ''Reynolds''
2. There is some evidence that Denis Oliver may have been from the Claddagh - a small fishing village in Galway - located where the Corrib river meets Galway Bay (also within the city).
There are two professional photographers due to publish the photos on their websites and I will advise when this becomes available.
12/2/2013 Gerry Hanley
The essence of folk lore and oral tradition is that it is passed down from one generation
to the next. Mayor Conneely and Mayor Ohtaki, in showing due respect to the old villagers in the way that they did and paying tribute to their ancestors, have caused a lot of discussion on these topics over the last week.
I am not pretending this is a work of research - merely the best answers that I have to these questions at this point in time (and a lot more information than I had a week ago ).
There have always been Glynn families in this area. Two were in attendance at the unveiling. The ruin of the Glynn cottage is identified. No memory of any Olivers, but there always have been Olivers in the Claddagh , another fishing village, so there would
probably have been a lot of contact between these places. The Reynolds theory took on a much greater significance for me when local man, Mike Lawless, showed me a very old ''Reynolds'' gravestone during our visit to the cemetery on Sunday.
Evidence to the above, or some other variation of it, will emerge in time. So for the moment it can only be classified as 'Breaking News' - to be confirmed - but I know the people that have drawn these conclusions and they are well intentioned and we are working without much written records.
I will keep you posted as I intend to delve into a bit more in the weeks ahead. Several participants over the weekend have expressed an interest in having meetings on local history.
Comment by Gerry Hanley email 12/10/2013 re The Almanac 12/10/2013:
Eamon O Cuiv, in the photograph, was named after his grandfather Eamon De Valera, who was a leader in the 1916 revolution but spared execution because, being born in Manhattan in 1882, he held a US passport.
He later formed the Government and was the main writer of our constitution and famously rebuffed Churchill in declaring Ireland neutral in WW2 via a worldwide radio broadcast.
He was later President for many years, particularly in 1963 when he hosted the visit of JFK. He was the dominant force in Irish politics from 1917 to 1973.
Eamon O Cuiv left his native Dublin in the 1970s to live in west Galway and has represented the area in the ''Dail ''( meaning our House of Representatives in the National Parliament ) for many years.