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Wall kicking in Salthill

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  • 02-01-2011 4:33pm
    #1
    Bob_the_dog
    Registered Users Posts: 184 ✭✭


    Why do people kick the wall at the end of Salthill prom. Has the wall done something bad to all Galwegians in the past?

    My new years resolution is to clear up all these annoying questions in my life :D

    Bob


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    #2
    emptybladder
    Registered Users Posts: 332 ✭✭emptybladder


    Uh-oh. Dr McManus is back!


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    #3
    Bob_the_dog
    Registered Users Posts: 184 ✭✭Bob_the_dog


    emptybladder wrote: »
    Uh-oh. Dr McManus is back!

    Who is Dr McManus???

    Bob


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    #4
    Storm 10
    Registered Users Posts: 5,882 ✭✭✭Storm 10


    Its a tradition started many many years ago its supposed to bring good luck to kick the wall with your foot after walking the prom.

    PS Never done me any good all the times I kicked it :D:D


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    #5
    Ficheall
    Registered Users Posts: 9,020 ✭✭✭Ficheall


    It knocks off some of the sand that accumulates on your shoes as you walk along the prom, thereby lightening your load for the return journey.


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    #6
    JohnCleary
    Registered Users Posts: 10,207 ✭✭✭✭JohnCleary


    For generations people have wanted to extend the Salthill prom, so way back people started kicking that damned wall in the hope of pushing it west, thus increasing the length of the prom



    :pac:


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    #7
    RubyGirl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,275 ✭✭✭RubyGirl


    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21201672550


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    #8
    Dunjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,345 ✭✭✭Dunjohn


    Kicking the wall was, I understand, originally introduced by the Council as a safety measure against the considerable and unexpected momentum built up by walking the entire length of the Prom. Prior to that, Prom walkers would simply slap right into the wall, having failed to begin slowdown back at the shelters, resulting in injury and embarassment, particularly if the donkey was there watching.


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    #9
    thenakedchef
    Registered Users Posts: 1,543 ✭✭✭thenakedchef


    Ficheall wrote: »
    It knocks off some of the sand that accumulates on your shoes as you walk along the prom, thereby lightening your load for the return journey.

    Or the dog $hit :D


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    #10
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭Fuinseog


    i miss the donkey that used to be there beside the house at Blackrock. a pity the house was let fall apart, but hard for anyone to live there with the uncouth element that the place sometimes attracted.


    BTW do the gays still meet up at Blackrock after dark?


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    #11
    Das Kitty
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 17,231 Mod ✭✭✭✭Das Kitty


    Fuinseog wrote: »

    BTW do the gays still meet up at Blackrock after dark?

    Only you could turn a thread about kicking a wall halfway through a walk into this!


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    #12
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,717 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    I thought there was an underground pipe that is putting pressure on the wall, and the council had asked citizens to assist by putting some pressure in the opposite direction until such time as they could afford to fix it.


    :D of course, but sure'n it's a good story to tell the Americans (who believe it), and also to tell other tourists as a warning about how the Irish tell tales to tourists.


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    #13
    howyanow
    Registered Users Posts: 445 ✭✭howyanow


    i always was told it was to give you luck for the return journey,i always found it amusing showing people for the 1st time.


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    #14
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    Fuinseog wrote: »
    BTW do the gays still meet up at Blackrock after dark?
    I respect your lifestyle choice and all but please keep this thread about the wall only.


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    #15
    snubbleste
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 31,117 ✭✭✭✭snubbleste


    When will some enterprising graffiti artist put a montage of irish political figures on that wall, so that we gain a bit of pleasure from kicking the wall?

    all that dog poo..


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    #16
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭Fuinseog


    biko wrote: »
    I respect your lifestyle choice and all but please keep this thread about the wall only.

    do they not do it agin the wall?


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    #17
    seniorolaighin
    Registered Users Posts: 105 ✭✭seniorolaighin


    its because if they dont kick it they'll keep walking and wont stop.....:D


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    #18
    Bob_the_dog
    Registered Users Posts: 184 ✭✭Bob_the_dog


    Many Thanks for all the replies

    I particularly like the idea of a politicians face being put on the wall but sadly the wall isn't big enough for all our useless politicians but as least the next time I'm out walking I can visualise there faces.

    How far to the nearest A&E Dept, I have a lof of kicking to do:D


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    #19
    mrsdewinter
    Registered Users Posts: 2,126 ✭✭✭mrsdewinter


    I thought the tradition was as old as Blackrock itself, but a friend of mine used to swear up and down that he only started seeing walkers kick the wall in the 90s. He's wrong, isn't he?


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    #20
    Meteoric
    Registered Users Posts: 196 ✭✭Meteoric


    Well I used kick the wall as a kid in the late 70's and 80's and that was because my parents told me it was what they had done since they were kids so no, it did not start in the 90's


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    #21
    Dunjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,345 ✭✭✭Dunjohn


    snubbleste wrote: »
    When will some enterprising graffiti artist put a montage of irish political figures on that wall, so that we gain a bit of pleasure from kicking the wall?

    In all seriousness, I hope never.


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    #22
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭Fuinseog


    Dunjohn wrote: »
    In all seriousness, I hope never.

    hear hear


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    #23
    Fuinseog
    Registered Users Posts: 5,371 ✭✭✭Fuinseog


    Meteoric wrote: »
    Well I used kick the wall as a kid in the late 70's and 80's and that was because my parents told me it was what they had done since they were kids so no, it did not start in the 90's

    in dem days you did not question such things


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    #24
    roboshatner
    Registered Users Posts: 775 ✭✭✭roboshatner


    what is wall kicking ?
    Bob_the_dog wrote: »
    Why do people kick the wall at the end of Salthill prom. Has the wall done something bad to all Galwegians in the past?

    My new years resolution is to clear up all these annoying questions in my life :D

    Bob


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    #25
    Meteoric
    Registered Users Posts: 196 ✭✭Meteoric


    Fuinseog wrote: »
    in dem days you did not question such things
    Lol, actually I did, was told it was the tradition and that it signified that I'd walked the entire length of the Prom so was a way of marking the half-way point (since we always had to walk back)


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    #26
    Lapin
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 18,184 ✭✭✭✭Lapin


    One of these days that wall is gonna start kicking people back. :eek:


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    #27
    roboshatner
    Registered Users Posts: 775 ✭✭✭roboshatner


    what is wall kicking ? never heard of it.


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    #28
    Mars Bar
    Registered Users Posts: 31,819 ✭✭✭✭Mars Bar


    roboshatner wrote: »
    what is wall kicking ? never heard of it.

    Well, you kick a wall.


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    #29
    roboshatner
    Registered Users Posts: 775 ✭✭✭roboshatner


    Only in ireland
    mars bar wrote: »
    Well, you kick a wall.


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    #30
    Dunjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,345 ✭✭✭Dunjohn


    When people reach the Blackrock end of the Prom, they usually kick the wall before turning back.

    Personally, I reckon it's just a way to keep your pace when you reach the end. It's not a proper tradition, just something that people "do." It's physically easier to turn on one foot and if people didn't do it, and if the wall was higher, they'd be tapping it with two fingers or something.


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    #31
    Blinking_Badger
    Registered Users Posts: 163 ✭✭Blinking_Badger


    is there any danger of the wall collapsing on top of an unlucky kicker after all the bashing it gets? This thought runs through my mind every time i roundhouse it..........


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