Rememberin Special
s the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK approaches on November 22, we take a look back at what the President meant to the people of Galway, following his visit on an unseasonably cold mid- summer Saturday in June 29, 1963. The tale of when photographer Stan Shields bypassed the President’s security is well known, as the young snapper hopped into the car beside the most powerful man in the world, after the President announced to his cavalcade “It’s ok, he’s a friend”. On his first big assignment for the Connacht Tribune,
Photos By JFK Library and Museum Stan was given the mammoth task to get a photo for the front page, in the days before everything went digital, and his eager young eyes caught the attention of JFK. And he wasn’t the only one to give the men in black the slip. Galway’s famous barber and boxing coach, Chick Gillen, ran out from his premises on Dominick Street and, breaking security, warmly welcomed the President to the city. The motorcade made one formal stop at the home of Mayor Paddy Ryan, to greet his 82-year-old mother, Catherine Morrison. Witnessing the fanfare was John O’Sullivan from Salthill, who was standing outside the Great Southern Hotel, as it was then known. “There were these helicop-
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By Avril HORAN
ters, huge things, which arrived at the sports ground. There was fantastic excitement about the visit and there was a real ‘feel good’ factor in the air. Even the build up was exciting, when roofs were being searched by the Americans. It was a funny thing to see the Americans armed while the gardaí were unarmed. To have an Irishman in the White House was fantastic. It was like having Obama today. And when JFK came over here, it suddenly put Ireland on the international stage. It gave a very positive feeling to the country which had been suffering since the war. “In my mind’s eye, the ‘50s were very grey. The houses weren’t painted, they were grey, the cars were grey, the weather