Waterdale, Gortcloonmore, Gortadooey, Lecarrowmore and Cloghaun townland minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townlands of Waterdale, Gortcloonmore, Gortadooey, Lecarrowmore and Cloghaun, Claregalway, Co. Galway

This block of townlands are located to the north of the parish of Claregalway, between the Cloonbiggeen River and the Waterdale/Cregg River. The Ordnance Survey record the areas of these townlands as follows:

• Gortcloonmore (517 acres)
• Waterdale (679 acres)
• Gortadooey (130 acres)
• Cloghaun (11 acres)
• Lecarrowmore (47 acres)

The placename ‘Waterdale’ could possibly be a mangled phonetic adaptation of the original name for the area Eóchaill meaning Yew Woods. The original placename is first recorded in 1591 on Brown’s Map of Connaught, and is still in use in 1714 when it is marked on Herman Moll’s Map of Ireland as ‘Youghill’. It would seem likely that the name Waterdale was only adopted/adapted when the demesne lands of Waterdale House were established. Regardless, the placename Eóchaill was established long before the demesne which superseded earlier settlement: an exceptionally fine example of a Ring-Barrow Cemetery in the townland of Waterdale is a testament to just how long people have been living in this area. The Ring Barrow burial tradition dates back to the Neolithic period and continued into the early medieval period. Barrows are typically defined as circular enclosures of earth and/or stone, often featuring a bank and ditch, though there are also examples without these features, consisting only of a simple mound.

In the 19^th century, settlement in the locality was concentrated at the eastern end of Gortadooey townland, and in the townland of Waterdale where Waterdale Demesne then dominated the landscape. From an illustration published for the purposes of the sale of Waterdale House in 1855, the house appears as a fine, two-storey, five-bay property with extensive gardens set in a landscape of mature woodlands in that year. Waterdale Demesne was originally the property of the Stauntons. The Stauntons, came from Buckinghamshire, England, and settled in county Galway in the mid-17th century. The demesne house at Waterdale is marked on Taylor and Skinners maps from the 1770. Indexes relating to 18th century wills mention the will of James Staunton “Of Waterdell”, county Galway, in 1782. The house is not listed in the 1901 Census and local knowledge suggests it was demolished after the estate had been acquired by the Land Commission in the early 1900s.

The townland of Gortcloonmore (which can be translated as The Field of the Big Meadow) was sparsely populated during the 19^th century, with just 12 residents in a small village to the southeast of the townland in the 1860s – the remainder of Gortcloonmore largely comprised bog prior to drainage of the land. Just 18 people are recorded as living in the townland of Gortadooey (The Black Fields) in Griffiths Valuation although with considerably better land than Gortcloonmore according to the Ordnance Survey Name Books:

‘…the property of James Lambert, Esq., Cregg of Clare. All under tillage and near its north end is a remarkable fort on the Parish boundary. The road from Claregalway to Shrule bounds its west side. Near its eastern side stands a Trigl. Station’

‘Lecarrowmore is the property of Lord Clanmorris. 2/3ds. bog, the remainder under tillage and subject to winter floods. It contains a large village of houses near its centre’

The quality of land improves moving eastward from the low-lying peaty boglands, and historical settlement in this area reflects this. The tiny townland of Cloghaun which measures just 11 acres can be translated in various ways: The Little Bridge; Stepping Stone; A Stony Ford; a stony place. A bridge here crosses the Cloughan River and the placename is undoubtedly a reference to a long-established routeway and fording point. The townland is isolated in the parish of Claregalway, with the remainder of a larger Cloghaun townland being in the parish of Lackagh near the exceptionally dense vernacular settlement of Liscananaun – a very interesting area on the northern bank of the Waterdale River with medieval settlement worthy of study.

Our work in the townlands identified 45 new minor placenames and places of interest known locally within the townland. These placenames were collected by Seamus O’Connell from Mary Costello, Peter Greally, P. Keane, Michael O’Connell, George Fox and Gerry Forde. A special thank you to John Duffy who submitted additional placenames in the townland of Waterdale that he collected from Peggy Duffy. The placenames collected refer to fields, wells, houses, bótharíns, burial places, and other elements of the local physical and vernacular landscape.