Carnmore, Carnmore East, and Carnmore West townland minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townlands of Carnmore, Carnmore East, and Carnmore West, in the parish of Claregalway, Co. Galway

Located at the southern end of the parish, the townlands of Carnmore, Carnmore East, and Carnmore West are peculiar, being split between two parishes and two baronies:

• Carnmore – Parish of Athenry, Barony of Clare
• Carnmore West – Parish of Claregalway, Barony of Dunkellin
• Carnmore East – Parish of Claregalway, Barony of Clare

In fact, the townland of Carnmore is in the parish of Athenry and should technically not be included in our survey. There was a shift in the boundary between Carnmore East and Carnmore West in the years between 1838 and 1895. The collective Carnmore townlands could almost be considered a district in their own right, with Carnmore having its own school (opened in 1885). Together the townlands cover an area of 2,444 acres with the townland boundary generally following the local topography and defining an area of high ground with the land gently dropping away on all sides.

Carnmore is distinctive in terms of topography, being generally higher in elevation than the rest of the parish. Thomas O’Connor, in a letter to John O’Donovan in 1838, noted the following about Carnmore and in particular the ruins of Cloch Maol Castle, situated in there:

‘There was a castle called Cloch Maol formerly in this parish. A ‘buttment’ of it is still to be seen, according to local information, in Carnmore land, where there was also a monument of stones similar in form to a fort, which probably was the feature that gave name to the land. The people did not, however, latterly call it Carn. It went commonly by the name of fort from its similarity in form to one, as has been already remarked. A small portion of this monument, is said to be still visible. I find it remarked in the Name book that Cloughmeel was once a convent. Does this appear from any authentic source?’

This is indeed an intriguing entry. No ecclesiastical settlement of any antiquity is known in Carnmore and it is unusual for a later castellated settlement to supplant an earlier ecclesiastical one. Nonetheless, we can see that the area around Cloch Maol was perhaps the focal point for settlement from at least the early medieval period onward with a fort (in fact multiple ringforts) and, later, a castle being situated there. The area around Cloch Maol also shows evidence of early field systems and house sites. Cloch Maol itself translates as ‘bald stone’, perhaps referring the thin soil cover and often-exposed bedrock.

At the time of the compilation of the Ordnance Survey Name Books in the 1830s the townlands are recorded as:

• Carnmore – ‘It is the property of Mr. Blake, containing 169½ statute acres, 1/3 rd. of which is cultivated, the remainder dry heathy pasture. It is bounded on North by the road from Galway to Athenry and at an angle near the centre of its West side is a spot called Cruckanashan?.
• Carnmore West – ‘It is the property of Mr. Blake, County of Mayo. All under cultivation with the exception of a few patches of rocky pasture. Near the townland centre stands the ruin of an old Castle, a portion of its North end is subject to Winter floods, and at its western extremity stands a Trigl. Station 136 feet above the level of the sea, near which is a village of houses’
• Carnmore East – ‘It is the property of Mr. Blake of County of Mayo. Half the townland is cultivated. The remainder heathy pasture. The road from Galway to Monivea forms its South boundary. Subject to winter floods. From a very large heap or pile of stones which was there from this heap most of the walls were built that bounds the townland.’

Our work in the townlands during 2021 identified 58 minor placenames and places of interest known locally. These placenames were collected from TJ Hynes, Roddy Kenny, Michael Fox, Malachy Hanly, Phil Clarke, William Flaherty, Fergus Hanley, Joe Lardner, Noel Grealish, John Carr, Declan Collins and Mary Walsh by Pat Coen and Seamus O’Connell.

Carnmore Road Flooding during November 2009

This work is on-going. If you know of any other minor placenames in the parish of Claregalway that may be of interest, and you would like to contribute to our survey, please do get in touch.