Extract from
The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Kilmacduagh
by J. Fahey, D.D. V.G.
When the commerce of Galway began to decline, in the early part of the Eighteenth Century, an illicit commerce with Kinvara and the surrounding districts sprung up, and continued for a considerable time. And if the efforts and enterprise of the “smuggler” be ever dangerous, yet all the circumstances of the time to which we refer seemed to recommend them to popular favor.
It is certain that the illicit importation of wines, tobacco, and brandy to the Kinvara coast, towards the close of the last centuries, secured for Kinvara considerable notoriety, and with it a dangerous but profitable trade. The charmingly situated cottage which overlooks the harbor, and is the Presbytery, was then the residence of “Captain de Lemaine”. As current rumor had it, the “Captain” was familiar with the character and value of the mysterious cargos which frequently arrived from abroad. And it was admitted that the excellence of the Bordeaux brandy and tobacco which his extensive vaults contained, could not be easily surpassed.
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1893