Peter Greene (politician)


Peter Greene was Mayor of Galway from 1954 to 1960.
Greene was born at the family home at the Fishmarket Pub, Spanish Arch. His father was Coleman Greene of Carna and his mother was Julia McGrath from Newcastle. He was a member of the Old Irish Republican Army from 1917 to 1926, when he joined Fianna Fáil. The following year he married and subsequently fathered three children. He represented the East Ward on the Urban Council from 1934.
As Mayor, he opened the first Galway Oyster Festival in September 1954. He was also Mayor during the K.L.M. Hugo de Groot disaster in August 1958, of which there were no survivors. Only thirty-four bodies were recovered. In 1960 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands awarded Mayor Greene the Insignia of the Order of Orange-Nassau, in recognition of the efforts of the Mayor and people of Galway. It was formally presented to the Mayor by the Dutch Ambassador in the city's Great Southern Hotel.