Throwback Thursday: Guns, Guinness, and Celtic Crosses in Mayo

This week, many fascinating tales are captured within the pages of The Mayo News.

However, what stories were catching the eye and making the headlines in years gone by?

Here, we'll run you through the wildest and most fascinating stories detailed in our column inches in times past as we take a stroll down Mayo's own Memory Lane.

1965: GUN FIRED FOUR TIMES OUTSIDE STRAIDE PUB

A Charlestown man was fined £20 in court in Castlebar for firing four shots on the road outside a public house in Straide.

John Hassett was charged with unlawfully assaulting Patrick Sheerin by pointing a loaded shotgun at him and unlawfully discharging it.

Aloysius Roache of Mucknagh Parke in Castlebar was later charged with assaulting Mr Hassett by headbutting him in the stomach.

After closing time in the bar, a scuffle took place where Hassett was knocked to the ground. Afterwards, he went to his car, returned with a shotgun, and fired two shots into the air. After he was told to go home, he drove 150 yards before returning to the scene and shooting twice more before being disarmed.

1985: BARREL OF GUINNESS STOLEN

On October 9, 1985, a barrel of Guinness, which was stolen from Westport Railway Station, was found later in a tent at a roadside campsite.

As a result, a father and son (John Collins Snr and John Collins Jnr) were charged in relation to the larceny.

Brendan Bolster, Station Master, Westport, said a barrel of Guinness was returned by O’Reilly’s of Castlebar and collected by the CIE crew and taken to Westport Rail Station on August 1. 

The barrel was about three-quarters full and, when full, would be valued at £90.

2000: High-speed car chase after money theft

On October 11, The Mayo News reported that a Newry man was fined £650 after he was found guilty on larceny charges.

The court was told, that Thomas Neilson and two other men had stolen £110 from a car which was parked at Silver Strand Beach. 

The owner of the vehicle, Mr Eamonn Cullen - who was on the beach at the time - spotted the men through his binoculars and chased after them in his car.

Two Garda patrol cars had subsequently become involved in a high-speed chase  and the three men were eventually apprehended at Belclare after they abandoned their car.

Witness Cullen said, he was walking back to the car and as he did so he saw one of the men sitting up on the bonnet of the vehicle.

"This guy seemed to be pretending  to do some exercises  and it was obvious he was providing cover for one of the others who were with him."

The three men jumped into their car and drove off but driving at a high speed they passed a Garda patrol car in Louisburgh, Sgt Gabriel Power alerted the colleagues in Westport.

Another Garda, Jim Corrigan, said he then set up a checkpoint at Croagh Patrick but the car "failed to come to a halt". 

Eventually, Corrigan found the car abandoned in a gateway nearby Belclare. He saw the three men running away and they were eventually arrested by Gardaí.

Also in the year 2000:

Mayo win the LGFA All-Ireland Final versus Waterford.