Mayo memories: Working from home with a portable typewriter
By Tom Gillespie
THE new portable typewriter came in a shiny, blue plastic case. I can’t remember what it cost me in 1970. But I know it took me several months to pay it off. I purchased it from John Kilkelly on Main Street, Castlebar.
I had been working for The Connaught Telegraph for two years when reporter and sports writer Sean Rice left to join The Connacht Tribune in Galway, and I was assigned to replace him in the south Mayo area.
Part of my duties were coverage of the regular district courts in Claremorris and Ballinrobe.
I already had experience of court work, reporting on the weekly sitting in Castlebar and the monthly session in Balla.
Justice Hugh McGahon sat on the bench in Castlebar and Balla, where he lived, while Justice James Gilvarry, from Killala, administered the law in Claremorris. Both were colourful characters and had the height of respect for the Press. Justice McGahan, having come from a newspaper background, always knew what would make a good headline.
Back then, as I had no transport, I either thumbed a lift to these court sittings or got a lift from a solicitor who had business there.
After I acquired the portable typewriter I well remember the first court case I typed up. It concerned a farmer outside of Claremorris who discharged a shotgun within 60 yards (I think) of the public road.
After the court I returned to Castlebar and typed it up sitting in the sunshine in the lawn of my mother-in-law, the late Dot Redmond, in Balloor.
Court work back then was so different, and certainly not as dramatic as some of the present day hearings.
However, we did have our memorable moments.
One Monday morning in November 1972 I was covering Ballinrobe Court with colleagues John Anderson (Claremorris) of the Western People and Larry Long (Tuam) of The Connacht Tribune, father of Dr. Kieran Long in Castlebar.
The sitting, before Justice McGahon, was due to start at 11 o’clock, and we were upstairs in the old courthouse which was opened in 1752 on Main Street and over Dermot O’Connor’s pub.
As the solicitors, gardaí, defendants, witnesses and lookers-on were gathering, solicitor Patrick Brennan - later Justice Brennan - arrived to inform those present that the ballroom in Claremorris had been bombed during the night, causing extensive damage to the building. A rival ballroom owner was later charged and convicted over the attack.
The Ballinrobe courtroom was a high-ceilinged, freezing cold room. The only heat came from an open fire fuelled with turf and briquettes. The layout was such that the main bench with the Justice, court clerk from Tuam and one reporter - John Anderson being the senior scribe - had their backs to the fire. We sat next to John holding an advantaged position over the proceedings.
The location for the Claremorris court was far more comfortable, it being in the function room of the Western Hotel on Dalton Street, which was run by a sister of the late Senator and long-serving Mayo county councillor Martin J. O’Toole.
Entrance to the ‘courtroom’ was through the archway so those in attendance did not have to go through the hotel, and the bar in the function room was sealed off.
Again, we sat next to the bench with Justice Gilvarry and the court clerk from Tuam. Such positioning allowed us access to the summons’ and charge sheets containing the names, addresses and charges of those facing justice.
Another incident, many years later, brought about a change of procedures in the handling of prisoners in custody.
It happened in Castlebar Courthouse at the Wednesday sitting. Justice Patrick Brennan was in charge and he sat on the highest bench, in front of which was the court clerk, with the Press bench in front and facing the witness box.
In the body of the court was a young man in custody. He showed little interest in proceedings and was eating an apple.
Suddenly, out of the blue, I felt something whizz over my head. It was the apple butt and it had been aimed at the Justice, just missing him by inches.
Following this, those in custody remained handcuffed until their cases were called.
Over 25 years of court reporting I also attended district court sittings in Westport, Newport, Achill, Kiltimagh and Ballyhaunis.
In those days monthly or by-monthly sittings took place in nearly every town, among them being Killala, Ballina, Belmullet, Foxford, Ballycastle, Swinford, Kilkelly, Ballycroy and Crossmolina.
Sadly, most of these small and not-so-small courthouses have long since been closed and centralised by the Courts Service, mainly in Castlebar, but also in Ballina, Belmullet and Achill. The unused buildings, in some cases, have been adapted to other uses, while one in particular, Westport Courthouse, lies vacant and is a testament to the judicial system of bygone days.
Heretofore, those involved in court business could have done so in their own communities. Now, however, they must travel to the larger towns for this purpose.
As well as reporting from the district courts, I also covered the Circuit Court, High Court and the Special Criminal Court, all sitting in Castlebar.
The portable typewriter served me well. It lasted a few years until it finally died, when the keys came apart.
When typing up a report back then we did it in triplet, using sheets of carbon paper between the sheets of newsprint paper, a dramatic change to when we upgraded to computers with cut and paste facilities and an unending memory bank.