95-476: Rosmuc or Ros Muc , sometimes anglicised as Rosmuck , is a village in the Conamara Gaeltacht of County Galway , Ireland. It lies halfway between the town of Clifden and the city of Galway . Irish is the predominant spoken language in the area, with the electoral division of Turlough, Rosmuc, representing one of the highest percentages of Irish-speaking people in the country. The townland of Rosmuck
190-465: A common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony". Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants. The cess , used to fund roadworks and other local expenses, was charged at the same rate on each townland in a barony , regardless of its size and productive capacity. Thus, occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands. This
285-947: A soccer team, Cumann Sacar Naomh Briocain represented the area in the Galway district league. A traditional Sean-nós dancing festival has historically been held in late January or early February, close to St. Brigid's Day (1 February). This festival, Féile Chóilín Sheáin Dharach , was established in 2001. Townlands in Rosmuc include: Gleann Chatha, An Gort Mór, Inbhear, Turlach, Ros Dubh, An Tamhnaigh Bhig, Snámh Bó, Cill Bhriocáin, An Aill Bhuí, An tOileán Mór, An Turlach Beag, Salalaoi, An Baile Thair, An Siléar, Inis Eilte, An Cladhnach, Cladach ó Dheas, Gairfean, Ros Cíde, Doire Iorrais Notable residents have included: Conamara Connemara ( / ˌ k ɒ n ɪ ˈ m ɑːr ə / KON -ih- MAR -ə ; Irish : Conamara [ˌkʊnˠəˈmˠaɾˠə] )
380-621: A thatch -covered long house at Renvyle and acted as both clan leaders and "middlemen" for the Anglo-Irish Blake family of Galway City , who were granted much of the region under the Acts of Settlement in 1677. This arrangement continued until 1811, when Henry Blake ended a 130-year-long tradition of his family acting as absentee landlords and evicted 86-year-old Anthony O'Flaherty, his relatives, and his retainers. Henry Blake then demolished Anthony O'Flaherty's longhouse and built Renvyle House on
475-773: A Chronological account of Irish Events (collected from Very Ancient Documents faithfully compared with each other & supported by the Genealogical & Chronological Aid of the Sacred and Profane Writings of the Globe) . Ogygia , the island of Calypso in Homer 's The Odyssey , was used by Ó Flaithbheartaigh as a poetic allegory for Ireland. Drawing from numerous ancient documents, Ogygia traces Irish history back before Saint Patrick and into Pre-Christian Irish mythology . Simultaneously, however, Máirtín Mór Ó Máille , who claimed descent from
570-684: A boggy area near Clifden in 1919. At the beginning of the Irish War of Independence , the IRA in Connemara had active service companies in Shanafaraghaun, Maam , Kilmilkin, Cornamona , Clonbur , Carraroe , Lettermore , Gorumna , Rosmuc , Letterfrack , and Renvyle . The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), on the other hand, was based at fortified barracks at Clifden, Letterfrack, Leenane , Clonbur, Rosmuc, and Maam. IRA veteran Jack Feehan later recalled of
665-472: A daily basis. The area has been home to a number of literary figures, including Irish revolutionary and language activist Patrick Pearse ( Pádraig Mac Piarais ) who had a summer residence there in the early 1900s and set several of his short stories in the area. Pearse was based in his Rosmuc cottage when he wrote the graveside oration, " Ireland unfree shall never be at peace ", given at the funeral of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in 1915. Another local writer
760-405: A dive for his gun as I passed and we wheeled and opened up. They were shot." As both officers lay dying, the IRA men were seen to bend over them and remove their weapons and ammunition, before withdrawing from the scene with other RIC Constables in pursuit. Peter Joseph McDonnell later recalled, "They had a rifle and a revolver, fifty rounds of ammo, and belts and pouches." Canon Joseph MacAlpine
855-503: A perception that the rounded hills on the horizon and surrounding the district look like the rounded backs of farm animals. As of the 2011 census, Rosmuc townland had a population of 72 people. As of 2006, there were 557 people living in the Ros Muc Electoral Division, and 87% of these were native Irish speakers. According to an analysis of the census a total of 91.9% of adults over nineteen years old said they spoke Irish on
950-793: A permanent and very dangerous enemy out of his mother's former ally; Grace O'Malley. The latter was swift to retaliate by launching an English-backed regime change war, in which she fought against Hugh Roe in order to wrest the White Wand of the Chiefdom away from Tiobóid Mac Walter Ciotach and give it to her son. She was joined in this by the Clan O'Flaherty and the Irish clans of Connemara who followed their mantle. Irish clan chief, historian, and refugee in Habsburg Spain Philip O'Sullivan Beare later went on
1045-567: A quarter), "gort" and "quarter" ( Irish : ceathrú ). In County Fermanagh the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate". Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints". In Ulster, the ballybetagh was the territorial unit controlled by an Irish sept, typically containing around 16 townlands. Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four, eight, and twelve townlands. One of these fragmented units,
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#17331042517121140-525: A remedy for all these evils, had it not been that they were destroyed from within by another and greater internal disease. For most of the families, clans, and towns of the Catholic chiefs, who took up arms in defense of the Catholic Faith, were divided into different factions, each having different leaders and following lords who were fighting for their estates and chieftaincies. The less powerful of them joined
1235-516: A sense of belonging. The Royal Mail's changes were seen as a severing of this link. At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change. However, as local government itself was undergoing changes, the Royal Mail's decision was "allowed ... to become law almost by default". County Fermanagh is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist
1330-459: A ship filled with MacConroy and MacAnally clansmen, than a ship filled with gold"). Even though she has traditionally been viewed as a icon of Irish nationalism , Grace O'Malley, in reality, sided with Queen Elizabeth I against Red Hugh O'Donnell and Aodh Mór Ó Néill during the Nine Years War . Even though O'Donnell and O'Neill were seeking primarily to end the religious persecution of
1425-676: A similarity between the Gaelic baile and the Norman bailey , both of which meant a settlement. Throughout most of Ulster, townlands were known as "ballyboes" ( Irish : baile bó , meaning "cow land"), and represented an area of pastoral economic value. In County Cavan similar units were called "polls", and in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan , they were known as tates or taths . These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600. Modern townlands with
1520-528: A team of horses yoked to a plough). Thomas Larcom , the first Director of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland , made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus: 10 acres – 1 Gneeve; 2 Gneeves – 1 Sessiagh; 3 Sessiaghs – 1 Tate or Ballyboe; 2 Ballyboes – 1 Ploughland, Seisreagh or Carrow; 4 Ploughlands – 1 Ballybetagh, or Townland; 30 Ballybetaghs – Triocha Céad or Barony . This hierarchy
1615-443: A townland is about 325 acres (1.32 km ; 132 ha), but they vary widely in size. William Reeves 's 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near Carrickmore , in the parish of Termonmagurk , County Tyrone , at 0.625 acres (0.253 ha) and the largest, at 7,555 acres (30.57 km ; 11.805 sq mi), was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of Killanin , County Galway . In fact,
1710-420: A townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into hundreds . The concept of townlands is based on the Gaelic system of land division, and the first official evidence of the existence of this Gaelic land division system can be found in church records from before the 12th century, it was in the 1600s that they began to be mapped and defined by
1805-551: Is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway , in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish -speaking Gaeltacht , which is a key part of the identity of the region and is the largest Gaeltacht in the country. Historically, Connemara was part of the territory of Iar Connacht (West Connacht). Geographically, it has many mountains (notably
1900-472: Is available in large dimensional slabs suitable for buildings as well as for smaller pieces of jewellery. Before the Tudor and Cromwellian conquests , Connemara, like the rest of Gaelic Ireland , was ruled by Irish clans whose Chiefs and their derbhfine were expected to follow the same code of honour also expected of Scottish clan chiefs . In his biography of Rob Roy MacGregor , W.H. Murray described
1995-400: Is definitely not in Connemara – some argue for Barna , on the outskirts of Galway City , some for a line from Oughterard to Maam Cross , and then diagonally down to the coast, all within rural lands. The wider area of what is today known as Connemara was previously a sovereign kingdom known as Iar Connacht , under the kingship of the Ó Flaithbertaigh , until it became part of
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#17331042517122090-533: Is now open to the public as a heritage site and is a designated national monument . The local Catholic church, Séipéal an Ioncolnaithe , was built in 1844. Rosmuc, along with its neighbours Camus and An Sraith Salach, is represented by the Na Piarsaigh Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club. This club fields Gaelic football teams in several competitions. The youth team up to minors are called Carna Caiseal/Na Piarsaigh. Until 2016,
2185-570: Is one located along the boreen named Baile Eamoinn near Spiddal . Two others are located at Barr na Daoire and at Caorán Beag in Carraroe . A fourth, Cluain Duibh , is located near Moycullen at Clooniff. Tim Robinson has written of a fifth Mass rock, located in the Townland of "An Tulaigh", which also includes two holy wells and, formerly, a Christian pilgrimage chapel dedicated to St. Columkille , who
2280-446: Is part of the civil parish of Kilcummin. It is estimated that people first settled in Rosmuc in AD 400, one hundred years before Naomh Briocán (Saint Briocán) brought Christianity to the area. It is believed that the name 'Ros Muc' comes from the old Irish "the peninsula of rounded hills", ros meaning "promontory or headland" and muc meaning "rounded hills" or "pig". This may derive from
2375-517: Is said in the oral tradition to have visited the region. The Mass rock was built from several of the many boulders scattered by glaciers around Lough Clurra and is named in Irish "Cloch an tSagairt" ("Stone of the Priest"), but which was formerly marked as " Druid 's altar" and dolmen on the old Ordnance Survey maps. After taking the island in 1653, the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell turned
2470-479: Is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names. Today, the term "bally" denotes an urban settlement, but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland is unclear, as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation. The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn (plural: bailte fearainn ). The term fearann means "land, territory, quarter". The Normans left no major traces in townland names, but they adapted some of them for their own use, possibly seeing
2565-596: The Conmacne lived by the sea, they became known as the Conmacne Mara (sea in Irish is muir , genitive mara , hence "of the sea"). One common definition of the area is that it consists of most of west Galway, that is to say the part of the county west of Lough Corrib and Galway city, contained by Killary Harbour , Galway Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Some more restrictive definitions of Connemara define it as
2660-531: The Anglo-Irish Martin family being greatly affected and the bankrupted landlord being forced to auction off the estate in 1849: As that year of 1847 had been the worst of several consecutive years of famine, it was to be understood that those missing tenants had abandoned their holdings to crowd into the workhouses or the emigrant ships to the New World, or they were dead; in any case they no longer infested
2755-462: The Black and Tans . Crown security forces often requested rides from Conneely, who covertly used the opportunity to ask questions about secret military operations during the drive. On one occasion, two Special Constables accepted a ride to Leenane from Conneely without realizing that they were sitting the whole time next to crates filled with guns and ammunition. After dropping both men off, Conneely delivered
2850-667: The Catholic Church in Ireland by the English Queen her officials, O'Malley almost certainly considered herself completely justified under the code of conduct in siding with the Crown of England against them. The feud began in 1595, when O'Donnell re-instated the Chiefdom of Clan MacWilliam Íochdar of the completely Gaelicised House of Burgh in County Mayo , which had been abolished under
2945-518: The Land War in Connemara." During the famous battle, Mr. Fenton, the landlord's process server, arrived to serve evictions with the protection and support of an estimated 260 officers of the Royal Irish Constabulary . They were met by the violent resistance of an estimated 2000 members of the local population. Tim Robinson writes, "Local Seanchas has it that there were many unfamiliar faces in
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3040-545: The Norman invasion , and most have names of Irish origin. However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors , plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey . The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911. The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands. In Ireland,
3135-521: The Twelve Pins ), peninsulas, coves, islands and small lakes. Connemara National Park is in the northwest. It is mostly rural and its largest settlement is Clifden . "Connemara" derives from the tribal name Conmhaícne Mara , which designated a branch of the Conmacne , an early tribal grouping that had a number of branches located in different parts of Connacht . Since this particular branch of
3230-453: The anti-Catholic activities of the local Irish Church Missions , which, "caused much unrest and bitterness". Local Irish folklore accordingly glorifies a local rapparee known as Scorach Ghlionnáin , who was allegedly born illegitimately in a seaside cave in the Townland of An Tulaigh. He is said to often and successfully have stolen from the Blake family and their land agents and given to
3325-531: The derbhfine of the last Chief of the Name of the Clan O'Malley and Lord of Umhaill as well as kinship with the famous pirate queen Grace O'Malley , ran much of Anglo-Irish landlord Richard "Humanity Dick" Martin 's estates from his residence at "Keeraun House" and the surrounding region, which are still known locally as "the demesne " ( Irish : An Diméin ), as a "middleman" ( Irish : ceithearnach ). From
3420-559: The "quarter", representing a quarter of a ballybetagh, was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608. In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These " termonn " lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders. Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include: "Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" ( Irish : seisreach , meaning
3515-748: The Chiefs of Clan Mac Conghaile (Conneely) also claimed descent from the Conmhaícne Mara . During the early 13th century, but all four clans were displaced and subjugated by the Chiefs of Clan Ó Flaithbertaigh , who had been driven west from Maigh Seola into Iar Connacht by the Mac William Uachtar branch of the House of Burgh , during the Hiberno-Norman invasion of Connacht . According to Irish–American historian Bridget Connelly, "By
3610-528: The Clan's territory. The Chiefs of Clan Mac Conraoi were accordingly numbered, along with the Chiefs of Clans O'Malley , O'Dowd , and O'Flaherty , among "the Sea Kings of Connacht". The nearby kingdom of Gnó Beag was ruled by the Chief of the Name of Clan Ó hÉanaí (usually anglicised as Heaney or Heeney). The Ó Cadhla (Kealy) clan were the rulers of West Connemara. Like the Chiefs of Clan Ó Cadhla clan,
3705-522: The English administration for the purpose of confiscating land and apportioning it to investors or planters from Britain. The term "townland" in English is derived from the Old English word tūn , denoting an enclosure. The term describes the smallest unit of land division in Ireland, based on various forms of Gaelic land division, many of which had their own names. The term baile , anglicised as "bally",
3800-425: The English party in the hope of gaining the chieftainship of their clans, if the existing chieftains were removed from their position and property, and the English craftily held out that hope to them. Thus, short-sighted men, putting their private affairs before the public defence of their Holy Faith, turned their allies, followers, and towns from the Catholic chiefs and transferred to the English great resources, but in
3895-471: The English-administered Kingdom of Ireland in the 16th century. The main town of Connemara is Clifden , which is surrounded by an area rich with megalithic tombs. The famous " Connemara Green marble " is found outcropping along a line between Streamstown and Lissoughter . It was a trade treasure used by the inhabitants in prehistoric times. It continues to be of great value today. It
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3990-629: The IRA's most valuable intelligence officers during the ensuing conflict was Letterfrack native Jack Conneely, who had served as a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers during the First World War . Following the Armistice, Conneely had returned to Connemara and accepted a position as the driver for the Leenane Hotel. Due to his war record, Conneely was trusted completely by oblivious Special Constables of
4085-646: The Irish Chiefs, by promising their honours and revenues to such of their own kinsmen as would seduce their followers and allies from them, but when the war was over the English did not keep their promises." Before the Suppression of the Monasteries was spread to Connemara, the Dominican Order had a monastery about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north of what is now Roundstone ( Irish : Cloch na Rón ). During
4180-471: The Irish acre, the English acre, the Cunningham acre, the plantation acre and the statute acre. The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement. The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres. The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres. Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands. For example,
4275-595: The Sinn Fein political party in Connemara, the militantly anti-monarchist Irish Republican Brotherhood had a number of active units throughout the region. Furthermore, many County Galway veterans of the subsequent Irish War of Independence traced their belief in Irish republicanism to a father or grandfather who had been in the IRB. The first transatlantic flight, piloted by British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown , landed in
4370-524: The West Connemara Brigade decided to follow the IRA's "Two for One" policy by assassinating two Royal Irish Constabulary officers in Whelan's birthplace of Clifden , which until then had been, according to Rosmuc IRA commander Colm Ó Gaora, "gach uile lá riamh dílis do dhlí Shasana" , ("ever single day that ever was, loyal to England's law"). According to Peter McDonnell, the night of 15 March 1921
4465-572: The arms shipment to a safe house along Killary Harbour , where the arms were picked up and carried by sea to the IRA in County Mayo . But the national leadership of the Irish Volunteers was so dissatisfied by the inefficiency and internal squabbling of the IRA in Connemara that, in September 1920, Brigade Commandant Peter McDonnell was summoned to a secret meeting at Kilmilkin with IRA Chief of Staff Richard Mulcahy , who promoted MacDonnell on
4560-573: The centuries of religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland that began under Henry VIII and ended only with Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the Irish people , according to Marcus Tanner, clung to the Mass , " crossed themselves when they passed Protestant ministers on the road, had to be dragged into Protestant churches and put cotton wool in their ears rather than listen to Protestant sermons." According to historian and folklorist Seumas MacManus , "Throughout these dreadful centuries, too,
4655-618: The change completely. Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications. In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses. In 2005 the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced that
4750-455: The changes. It was described as a "ground-level community effort". Taking place in the midst of The Troubles , the campaign was a rare example of unity between Catholics and Protestants , nationalists and unionists . Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage". Those involved in the campaign argued that, in many areas, people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them
4845-829: The coastal areas it was the price they got for their kelp that paid the rent." In response, Father Patrick Grealy, the Roman Catholic priest assigned to Carna, selected ten, "very destitute but industrious and virtuous families", from his parish to emigrate to America and be settled upon frontier homesteads in Moonshine Township , near Graceville, Minnesota , by Bishop John Ireland of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Paul . In 1880 efforts by landlord Martin S. Kirwan to evict his starving tenants resulted in "The Battle of Carraroe" ( Irish : Cath na Ceathrú Rua ), which Tim Robinson has dubbed, "the most dramatic event of
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#17331042517124940-400: The code of honour as follows, "The abiding principle is cast up from the records of detail: that right must be seen to be done, no man left destitute, the given word honoured, the strictest honour observed to all who have given implicit trust, and that a guest's confidence in his safety must never be betrayed by his host, or vice versa . There was more of like kind, and each held as its kernel
5035-508: The crowd – the dead, come up from the Old graveyard at Barr an Doire to protect the homes of their descendants, it was said." ( Irish : "Tá sé sa seanchas áitiúil go raibh éadain strainséartha le feiceáil sa slua – na mairbh a bhí tagtha aníos as an tseanreilig i mBarr an Doire le seantithe a muintire a shábháil, ceaptar." ) After escalating violence forced him to retreat to the RIC barracks before completing
5130-609: The efforts of the Archbishop of Dublin and of Monsignor Joseph MacAlpine, the parish priest of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Clifden and Irish Parliamentary Party political boss of the surrounding region, to save his life out of a firm believe that he had not been involved in Captain Baggelly's assassination, Whelan was found guilty and subjected to execution by hanging on 14 March 1921. In retaliation, Peter J. McDonnell and
5225-463: The end did not obtain what they wished for, but accomplished what they did not desire. For it was not they, but the English who got the properties of and rich patrimonies of the Catholic nobles and their kinsmen; and the Holy Faith of Christ Jesus, bereft of its defenders, lay open to the barbarous violence and lust of the heretics. There was one device by which the English were able to crush the forces of
5320-515: The ground, which was left as a blank canvas on which Capital could paint a fair and profitable landscape. The Sean nós song Johnny Seoighe is one of the few Irish songs from the era of the Great Famine that still survives. The events of the Great Irish Famine in Connemara have since inspired the recent Irish-language films Black '47 , directed by Lance Daly , and Arracht , which
5415-436: The historical territory of Conmhaícne Mara , i.e. just the far northwest of County Galway, bordering County Mayo . The name is also used to describe the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas) of western County Galway, though it is argued that this too is inaccurate as some of these areas lie outside of the traditional boundary of Connemara. There are arguments about where Connemara ends as it approaches Galway city, which
5510-400: The hunted priest -- who in his youth had been smuggled to the Continent of Europe to receive his training -- tended the flame of faith. He lurked like a thief among the hills. On Sundays and Feast Days he celebrated Mass at a rock, on a remote mountainside, while the congregation knelt on the heather of the hillside, under the open heavens. While he said Mass, faithful sentries watched from all
5605-399: The island, but in that year the Royal Mail decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland. Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses. They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and postcodes . In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against
5700-496: The list of chieftains whose names appeared on the document. The Articles deprived all the original Irish clan chieftains not only of their title but also all of the rents, dues, and tribal rights they had possessed under Irish law ." During the 16th century, but legendary local pirate queen Grace O'Malley is on record as having said, with regard to her followers, ( Irish : "Go mb'fhearr léi lán loinge de chlann Chonraoi agus de chlann Mhic an Fhailí ná lán loinge d'ór" ) ("Better
5795-445: The local landmarks is Pearse's Cottage which was built by Patrick Pearse ( Irish : Pádraig Mac Piarais ) in 1909. Pearse first came to the area in April 1903 as an examiner for Conradh na Gaeilge . Rosmuc and its people made an impression on him, and he decided to build a holiday home on a site overlooking Loch Eiliúrach. Pearse's Cottage later became a summer school for students from Pearse's school in Dublin, St. Enda's . The cottage
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#17331042517125890-468: The nearby hilltops, to give timely warning of the approaching priest-hunter and his guard of British soldiers. But sometimes the troops came on them unawares, and the Mass Rock was bespattered with his blood, -- and men, women, and children caught in the crime of worshipping God among the rocks, were frequently slaughtered on the mountainside." According to historian and folklorist Tony Nugent, several Mass rocks survive in Connemara from this era. There
5985-449: The nearby island of Inishbofin, County Galway , into a prison camp for Roman Catholic priests arrested while exercising their religious ministry covertly in other parts of Ireland. Inishmore , in the nearby Aran Islands , was used for exactly the same purpose. The last priests held on both islands were finally released following the Stuart Restoration in 1662. One of the last Chiefs of Clan O'Flaherty and Lord of Iar Connacht
6080-424: The policy of surrender and regrant . Instead, however, of allowing Clan a Burc to summon a gathering at which the nobles and commons would debate and then choose one of the derbhfine of the last chief to lead them, O'Donnell instead chose to appoint his ally Tiobóid mac Walter Ciotach Búrca as Chief of the Name. By passing over the claim of her son Tiobóid na Long Búrca to the Chiefdom, O'Donnell made himself
6175-421: The poor, until enlisting in the British Army and losing his life in the Crimean War . The Blake family are also said in the local oral tradition to have been permanently banished from the region by a curse put on them by a local Roman Catholic priest who dabbled in Pre-Christian sorcery. Elsewhere in Connemara, Anglo-Irish landlord John D'Arcy (1785-1839), who bankrupted both himself and his heirs to found
6270-477: The prefix pol- is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow". In County Cavan, which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol- , some should probably be better translated as "the poll of ...". In County Tyrone, the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" ( Irish : baile beithigh , meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" ( Irish : séú cuid , meaning sixth part of
6365-485: The prefix tat- are confined almost exclusively to the diocese of Clogher, which covers Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, and the barony of Clogher in County Tyrone ), and cannot be confused with any other Irish word. The use of the term can also be seen in the diocese of Clogher parish of Inniskeen area within Louth where the townlands of Edenagrena, Drumsinnot, Killaconner and Torpass were referred to collectively as "the four tates of Ballyfoylan." In modern townland names
6460-465: The record as a very harsh critic of Niall Garbh O'Donnell , Tiobóid na Long Búrca , Grace O'Malley , and other members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland who similarly launched regime change wars within their clans with English backing. Having the benefit of hindsight regarding the long-term fallout from Tiobóid na Long Búrca's uprising against his Chief and many others like it nationwide, O'Sullivan Beare wrote, "The Catholics might have been able to find
6555-543: The region at the outbreak of the conflict, "In South Connemara from Spiddal to Lettermullen the brewing (of poitín ) was very strong and it went out as far as Carna . The people there were against the RIC more or less because they used to search for poitín, save in the Leenane area where the tourists came and Clifden were there were tourists and people who wanted to be friendly to law and good money." According to both historian Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill and former West Connemara Brigade IRA O/C Peter J. McDonnell, one of
6650-433: The rock known as "O'Malley's Seat ( Irish : Suístín Uí Mháille ) at the mouth of the creek known as An Dólain near the village of An Caorán Beag in Carraroe , Ó Máille also ran, with the enthusiastic collusion of his employer, one of the busiest smuggling operations in South Connemara and regularly unloaded cargoes smuggled in from Guernsey . Like many other members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland before him, Ó Máille
6745-417: The seed-potatoes on which the next seasons crop depended. In January 1880 after another tour of Connemara, he reported that the Poor Law Unions of the coastal areas were providing no outdoor relief (i.e. road-building schemes, etc.), and that the people faced starvation in the months before the summer. Not only was potato-blight prevalent, but it seems the kelp market had failed, and for most small tenants of
6840-527: The simple ideal of trust honoured... Breaches of it were abhorred and damned... The ideal was applied 'with discretion'. Its interpretation went deeply into domestic life, but stayed shallow for war and politics." The east of what is now Connemara was once called Delbhna Tír Dhá Locha , and was ruled by Kings who claimed descent from the Delbhna and Dál gCais of Thomond and kinship with King Brian Boru . The Kings of Delbhna Tír Dhá Locha eventually took
6935-640: The site. Even though Henry Blake later termed the eviction of Anthony O'Flaherty in Letters from the Irish Highlands , as "the dawn of law in Cunnemara" ( sic ), the Anglo-Irish Blake family, who remained in the region until the 1920s, are recalled in Connemara, as, "famously bad landlords" with an alleged sense of sexual entitlement regarding the female tenants on their estates and as enthusiastic supporters of
7030-577: The spot to Officer Commanding of the West Connemara Brigade. The assassination of 14 British Intelligence officers from the Cairo Gang in Dublin on Bloody Sunday , was followed by the arrest and court-martial of Connemara-native Thomas Whelan for high treason and the first degree murder of Captain B.T. Baggelly at 119 Lower Baggot Street . Whelan, however, was a Volunteer in the IRA's Dublin Brigade but
7125-453: The term "bally" in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms baile meaning "townland" and béal átha meaning "approach to a ford". An example of the latter is Ballyshannon , County Donegal , which is derived from Béal Átha Seanaidh . "Sub-townlands" ( Irish : fo-bhaile ) are also recorded in some areas, smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names. The average area of
7220-749: The term "cartron" in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer, Cartron and Carrowvere, while the term "sessiagh" survives in the names Shesia, Sheshodonell, Sheshymore and Shessiv. The terms "ballyboe" and "ballybetagh" tend to be preserved in the truncated form of "bally" as a prefix for some townland names, such as Ballymacarattybeg near Poyntzpass , County Down. Less well-known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla ( Irish : Cuige Uladh , "the Ulster fifth"), Treanmanagh ( Irish : an train meánach , "the third middle") and Dehomade ( Irish : an deichiú méid , "the tenth part"). A problem with
7315-512: The third eviction, Mr. Fenton wrote a letter to the land agent at Roundstone ( Irish : Cloch na Rón ); announcing his refusal to serve more evictions. According to historian Cormac Ó Comhraí, between the Land War and the First World War , politics in Connemara was largely dominated by the pro- Home Rule Irish Parliamentary Party and its ally, the United Irish League . At the same time, though, despite an almost complete absence of
7410-688: The thirteenth century, the original inhabitants, the clans Conneely, Ó Cadhain, Ó Folan, and MacConroy, had been steadily driven westward from the Moycullen area to the seacoast between Moyrus and the Killaries . And by 1586, with the signing of the Articles of the Composition of Connacht that made Morrough O'Flaherty landlord over all in the name of Queen Elizabeth I , the MacConneelys and Ó Folans had sunk beneath
7505-457: The title On the Run: The Story of an Irish Freedom Fighter , was published by Mercier Press in 2011. Rosmuc has had a long-term association with Coláiste na bhFiann , which provides host accommodation for students learning Irish during the summer months. The local national (primary) school is named for Saint Briocán. As of 2020, this gaelscoil had an enrollment of 37 pupils. Among
7600-529: The title and surname Mac Con Raoi (since anglicised as Conroy or King). The Chief of the Name of Clan Mac Con Raoi directly ruled as Lord of Gnó Mhór, which was later divided into the civil parishes of Kilcummin and Killannin. As was common practice at the time, due to the power they wielded through their war galleys , the Chiefs of Clan Mac Conraoi also fulfilled their duty to be providers for their clan members by demanding and receiving black rent on pain of piracy against ships who fished or traded within
7695-503: The town of Clifden , is recalled much more fondly. In 1843, Daniel O'Connell , the mastermind of the successful campaign for Catholic Emancipation , held a 'Monster Meeting' at Clifden , attended by a crowd reportedly numbering 100,000, before whom he spoke on repeal of the Act of Union . Connemara was drastically depopulated during the Great Famine in the late 1840s, with the lands of
7790-463: The townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of Uppercross (abutting the main Clonskeagh townland in the barony of Dublin ) was only 0.3 acres (1,200 m ) although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain. The ballyboe, a townland unit used in Ulster, was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture. However, this
7885-507: The townland system. Slight adjustments are still made. There were 60,679 in 1911, compared to 60,462 townlands in 1901. Townlands form the building blocks for higher-level administrative units such as parishes and district electoral divisions (in the Republic of Ireland ) or wards (in Northern Ireland ). Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout
7980-413: Was Pádraic Ó Conaire , who wrote 26 books, 473 stories, 237 essays and 6 plays partly set in the region. These included M'Asal Beag Dubh ( My Little Black Donkey ) and the novella Deoraíocht ( Exile ). The Irish language memoirs of Colm Ó Gaora, the former IRA company commander in Rosmuc during the Irish War of Independence , were published in 2008 under the title Mise . An English translation, under
8075-556: Was a legendary figure even in his own lifetime, entertaining all guests with several barrels of wine and feasts of roasted sheep and cattle, which were always fully eaten before having to be salted. This arrangement continued until around 1800. While hosting Rt.-Rev. Edmund Ffrench , the Dominican Warden of Galway and future Roman Catholic Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora , however, Máirtín Mór Ó Máille presided over an accidental breach of hospitality. As Warden Ffrench's visit
8170-468: Was directed by Tomás Ó Súilleabháin . The Irish Famine of 1879 similarly caused mass starvation, evictions, and violence in Connemara against the abuses of power by local Anglo-Irish landlords, bailiffs, and the Royal Irish Constabulary . According to Tim Robinson, " Michael Davitt , founder of the Land League ... visited An Cheathrú Rua [in 1879] and... found that the tenantry was reduced to eating
8265-620: Was immediately summoned and gave both Constables the Last Rites before their deaths. Townland A townland ( Irish : baile fearainn ; Ulster-Scots : toonlann ) is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha). The townland system is of Gaelic origin, antedating
8360-536: Was misleading, as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality, situation and economic potential. This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families. The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s. It seems that many moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently. These areas were "formerly shared as
8455-426: Was mortally wounded. Sir Richard Martin, who had not been in Connemara at the time, was shocked and angry to hear of his middleman's death, saying, "Ó Máille preferred a hole in his guts to one in his honour, but there wouldn't have been a hole in either if I'd been told of it!" Meanwhile another branch of the Gaelic nobility, who claimed descent from the derbhfine of the last O'Flaherty Chiefs, similarly lived in
8550-518: Was not applied uniformly across Ireland. For example, a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands. Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that, while Larcom used the general term "acres" in his summary, terms such as "great acres", "large acres" and "small acres" were also used in records. Writing in 1846, Larcom remarked that the "large" and "small" acres had no fixed ratio between them, and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland, including
8645-538: Was not involved with Michael Collins ' Squad , which had carried out the assassinations that morning. Therefore, in a break from typical IRA practice in such trials, Whelan recognized the court, pled not guilty, and accepted the services of a defense attorney, who introduced the sworn testimony of multiple alibi witnesses who stated that Whelan had attended a late morning Mass and had been seen to receive Holy Communion in Ringsend on Bloody Sunday. Despite this testimony and
8740-453: Was on a Friday, the Friar's was only eating fish and seafood. When one of the household servants of Máirtín Mór accidentally poured a meat gravy upon his plate, the future Bishop understood that it was unintentional and graciously waved the plate away. The future Bishop's cousin, Thomas Ffrench , however, was less forgiving and demanded satisfaction. This resulted in a duel during which Máirtín Mór
8835-463: Was reformed by Griffith's Valuation . During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland. The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside
8930-612: Was selected, "to go into Clifden, get grub, and have a crack at the patrol." At the time, between 18 and 20 policemen were always stationed in the town. After finding the police had returned to barracks, the IRA withdrew temporarily, spent the night at, "the little lodge of Jim King near Kilcock" ( sic ), and, on the evening of 16 March 1921, the patrol reentered Clifden from the south. A party of six IRA men then approached RIC Constables Charles Reynolds and Thomas Sweeney near "Eddie King's Pub". McDonnell later recalled, "I saw two RIC against Eddie King's window and they noticed us. One of them made
9025-565: Was the 17th-century historian Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh , who lost the greater part of his ancestral lands during the Cromwellian confiscations of the 1650s. After being dispossessed, Ó Flaithbheartaigh settled near Spiddal wrote a book of Irish history in Neo-Latin titled Ogygia , which was published in 1685 as Ogygia: seu Rerum Hibernicarum Chronologia & etc. , in 1793 it was translated into English by Rev. James Hely, as Ogygia, or
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