Curraghmore, Montiagh North and Montiagh South townlands minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townlands of Curraghmore, Montiagh North and Montiagh South, Claregalway, Co. Galway

The townlands of Montiagh North, Montiagh South and the townland of Curraghmore are located to the very west of Claregalway parish, and with the exception of Montiagh Village, were very sparsely populated in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. A great deal of the land in these townlands comprises bog or reclaimed bog that is almost completely flat, low-lying, and prone to flooding from the River Clare which separates the townland of Montiagh South from Montiagh North and Curraghmore. At the time of Griffiths Valuation in the 1850s, there were no houses at all recorded in the townland of Montiagh North, just two houses in the townland of Curraghmore, but 43 houses in the townland of Montiagh South.

The 19^th century village of Montiagh has been greatly defined by its relationship with the River Clare, and was really a small, low island or arable land surrounded by bog. This is easily visible in the Ordnance Survey maps of the 1830s which shows the clustered houses in the village that were only accessible via an unfenced trackway from Cahergowan, and which were frequently cut off from the rest of the parish during winter by flooding from the River Clare to the north. Trees lined the village to the southwest, to protect the settlement from the prevailing wind which crossed the uninterrupted expanse of bogland.

The townland of Curraghmore translates as The big Marsh and measures 792 acres in area. It borders Lough Corrib to the west. In the 1850s, just two houses were located in the whole townland. They belonged to families named Feeny and Burke, and the ruins of these houses can still be seen today not far from Curraghmore Bridge. Michael Burke held a herd-house, though it is difficult to know what amount of farming could have been done in the townland, given the boggy character of the land. Their houses are not recorded on the First Edition Ordnance Survey, and are only known to have existed around this time from Griffiths Valuation about two decades later. Consider too, how isolated this place must have been, located 1½ miles out into the bog before the construction of the Curraghline in the 1860s. The only real means of getting there must have been by boat along the Clare River.

The townlands of Montiagh North and Montiagh South are located west of the village of Claregalway on either side of the River Clare, and cover an area of approximately 454 acres and 331 acres respectively. At the time of the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s, both townlands are recorded together as ‘Montiagh’ in the Ordnance Survey Name Books, and are described as being ‘the property of Lord Clanmorris, 2/3ds. bog, the remainder under tillage and subject to winter floods’. At the time of this survey Montiagh is recorded locally as Mointeacha meaning ‘bogland’ although today, many people consider that Mointeacha is derived from Móin Teach, meaning the house or houses in the bog. It may even be a reference to the material that houses were built from here, with earthen cabins not being uncommon in many parts of Ireland up to and into the 19^th century.

Our work in the townlands during 2021 identified 40 minor placenames and places of interest known locally. These are marked on the map below, and included in tabulated format. These placenames were collected by PJ Duggan from Sean Concannon. The placenames collected are almost entirely as Gaeilge, and refer to fields, wells, houses, canals, the River Clare, and other elements of the local landscape. The placenames collected often reflect the village’s close association with the River Clare and the impact of flooding on the area. Placenames like An Cé (The Quay), Oileán na Conáill (O’Connell’s Island) and Oileán na mBád (Island of the boats) refer to islands in the flood lands, and to navigation of the River Clare and the flood lands by boat. And of course, the placename Na Riasca is one which occurs frequently in the parish of Claregalway, and refers to land which is marsh, bogland or moor, which often floods. Particularly interesting in the village of Montiagh is the placename Bóthar na Bláth (the road of flowers).

[1] An interpretation kindly offered by Luke Concannon