Newspaper’s heydays recalled

By Tom Gillespie

THIRTY-nine years ago this photograph of the staff members of The Connaught Telegraph was taken in the Welcome Inn Hotel, Castlebar, by photographer Tom Campbell.

Back then, in 1982, there were 20 employed at the newspaper and printing works, which were located in two separate buildings on Cavendish Lane.

At the top of the lane, next to where the TSB is, was the main office and reception. Off that was a door into where the main printing press was housed. A rickety 36-step staircase led up to the two-room newsroom where I was located along with editor Tom Courell, Tommy Gillespie, managing director, and other journalists, Tom Kelly and John Melvin.

Clare O’Grady from Westport was on journalistic work experience, which must have proven successful as she went on to become editor of the Irish Independent.

Henry McGlade, while not a staffer, wrote a weekly entertainment column and also organised the annual Connaught Telegraph Entertainment Awards, which over about 10 years raised funds for many worthy local charities.

Henry had, and still has, a keen eye for what was and are up-and-coming artists.

He proved this when one of the singers at one awards concert in the Welcome Inn Hotel was Daniel O’Donnell, where he received his very first cut glass trophy as an artist with a big future in front of him.

Another first, at a concert in the Royal Ballroom, was to a young Tuam group who went on to take the entertainment world by storm - the Saw Doctors. They, too, got their first accolade from the Connaught.

The old newsroom was directly above the large printing press, which came to life every Wednesday. From lunchtime, the back section of the Connaught was printed and the noise from the press was deafening.

Nonetheless, we worked away typing up the stories for page one. We became so immune to the clattering of the printing press that we could hold a normal conversation between ourselves or over the phone.

That night the front section of the Connaught was printed and then the two sections had to be folded together.

We worked all through Wednesday night to get the paper out. Again, we took no notice of the pounding printing press, so much so that if the door opened, as it often did, we could detect it above the awful noise.

A regular night caller was the late Kevin Collins from Castle Street.

Gardaí on night duty often popped in for an early read.

We would take a tea break at around 2 a.m. and that was when the weariness would set in. Beside the folding machine were piles of off-cuts of newsprint which we often jumped into for a quick snooze.

The advertising manager was P.J. Hennelly from Manulla, a dynamic powerhouse and community leader who later became president of Castlebar Chamber of Commerce.

Ironically, the present advertising manager, Bernard Hughes, also holds the prestigious title of president of Castlebar Chamber.

Along with P.J. in the advertising department back then was the late Pat Doherty from Ballina.

Reception was staffed by Joan McDonnell from McHale Road and Marian McKeown from Mountain View.

Joan had the distinction of being with the Connaught all her working life, retiring several years ago at the age of 72. Her father worked at Josie Bourke’s garage opposite the Connaught on Cavendish Lane. He bumped into Tommy Gillespie one day and said he had a daughter who had just finished secondary school and asked was there any chance there might be a job for her in the Connaught - the rest is history.

Auld stock himself, Johnny Mee, a typesetter with the Connaught for 56 years, retired from the newspaper in January 2006, and like myself he still contributes weekly to the publication, which has the distinction of being the oldest Irish provincial newspaper in continuous circulation since St. Patrick’s Day 1828.

Johnny, a local historian of note, had the distinction of being mayor of Castlebar on several occasions when he was a member of Castlebar Urban Council. He also served on Mayo County Council for a number of terms.

For many years Johnny edited the annual Castlebar Parish Magazine, which sadly was not published in December because of Covid.

The present editor is Joe Redmond, another retired and long serving member of the typographic staff at Cavendish Lane.

Another retired typesetter, Frank Burke, joined the Connaught in 1969 when Kevin McAleese from Ballynew, Castlebar, decided to seek his fortune in England. He joined British Telecom and is now happily retired in Newcastle.

Computerisation had vastly changed newspaper production. However, it has put additional pressure on journalists who now make up pages on screen.