From the archives: Time of Mayo pub raid checked by customer with post office

By Tom Gillespie

AN uncle of mine, Alfred (Alfie) Gillespie (pictured), was a prominent witness in an ‘after-hours’ case that was taken against a publican, Mrs. Margaret (Mary) Clarke, of Main Street, Castlebar, for an alleged breach of the licensing laws, on Tuesday, April 5, 1949.

At the centre of the case was the actual time the guards raided the pub, and Mr. Gillespie phoned the post office from a nearby kiosk to establish the exact time, which was crucial for the defence.

The case was heard in Castlebar, before District Justice Liam Coyne, and Supt. Richard Heydon prosecuted and Mr. P.J. Durcan, solicitor, defended.

Guard P. Campbell said he was on duty with Guard Casey and he saw a man named Donoghue leavng the premises. Witness requested him to to come back in to the premises and he did so.

He found three other men in the bar. He asked the manageress, Miss Massie Prendergast, to account for the presence of the men. She said she was sitting at the fire talking about horses. At that stage one of the men said it was only 10.40 p.m. Reynolds was his name and when he produced his watch it was 10.45.

During a discussion about the time Miss Prendergast produced an alarm clock and the time on it was 10.43.

To Mr. Durcan, witness said he was on duty on the opposite side of the street.

Mr. Durcan to witness: What time did you take up your stand there? Was it before closing time? - I was not there before closing time.

Mr. Durcan: Will you explain why you stated on the summons that the time was 10.40 - I am perfectly sure it was 10.40.

Mr. Durcan: Do you know that one of the men, after leaving the premises, went to the phone kiosk, phoned the post office, came back and said the time then was only 10.40? - That never happened. When Miss Prendergast showed him the alarm clock it was 10.43, and he told her the clock was slow.

Mr. Durcan: You found two men on the street outside? - I only found one man.

Mr. Durcan: I put it to you that you also found Mr. Gillespie outside? - Mr. Donoghue had left the premises and Mr. Gillespie was inside.

Mr. Durcan: When did you make up your mind to raid the premises? - When I saw Donoghue leaving and the time was 10.40.

Guard Casey said it was 10.40 when he saw a man leaving the premises.

Mr. Durcan: When was it 10.40? - When I saw the man leaving.

Mr. Durcan: Why did you not raid the premises before that? - Our attention was not drawn to the premises until we saw a man leaving.

To further questions, witness said there was a discussion about the time. One man left the premises to ring the P.O. Guard Campbell was not present then. It was outside the premises that that happened.

Mr. Durcan: Mr. Gillespie ascertained that the time then was only 10.40 although you were about eight and 10 minutes on the premises.

Miss Prendergast, in evidence, said she was a niece of the licensee and managed this shop. She alway complied strictly with the licensing laws and only on the odd occasion catered for bona fide travellers.

At 10.25 she served the last drinks and told customers to hurry. She then closed one door of the shop while she was awaiting the men to leave. She did not serve any drink after 10.25. She saw the two guards standing opposite the premises. Mr. Donoghue left the premises first and Mr. Gillespie about a minute later. She had no assistance that day and therefore could not have been sitting at the kitchen fire as she had to serve in the shop.

Half the front door was closed. There was a discussion about the time and she showed her clock to the guard and the time then was 10.40. Since that date her premises had been raided three times. Two of the raids took place on a Sunday evening.

She was quite definite about the time as she had checked the clock with the wireless later that night and found it to be accurate.

Alfred Gillespie, Creagh Villa, Westport Road (now the Lough Lannagh Holiday Village), in evidence, said that Miss Prendergast shouted ‘Time' at half-ten. He finished his drink and left the premises. He was possibly standing on the step outside the door when the guards came along.

As far as he could remember, it was Guard Casey who told him to come back again to the premises. Her did not think it was 10.30 at the time, and he was rather surprised when the guard told him to come back in. He thought at first that they wanted him for something else.

He told the guard that the time was only 10.30 and they said it was 10.40. Later he phoned the P.O. and found that the time was only 10.40 then. There was no doubt about the fact that he was outside the door when the guards came along, and the guard was wrong when he said that he was inside the premises. He told Guard Casey he had phoned the P.O. and found that the time was then only 10.40, and Guard Casey told witness he had no business telling him (guard) the time.

When cross-examined by Supt. Heydon, witness said he was standing on the step outside the premises when the guard came along. When he rang the P.O. it was 10.40 and he told the clerk to take a note of it.

In reply to the District Justice, witness said that the guard was wrong when he said he was inside the premises. It was Guard Casey who told him to come back in.

Guard Casey, recalled, said he told the witness to come back to the shop.

Michael Donoghue bore out the evidence of Mr. Gillespie and the publican.

As Mr. Durcan was calling Mr. Reynolds to give further evidence for the defence, the District Justice dismissed the summonses.