Lakeview and Lydacan townland minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townlands of Lakeview and Lydacan, in the parish of Claregalway, Co. Galway

The townlands of Lakeview and Lydacan are located to the south and east of the village of Claregalway and cover an area of approximately 353 and 852 acres respectively. At the time of the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s, Lakeview was recorded in the Ordnance Survey Name Books as being ‘the property of Mr. Lynch. It is all under tillage. At its north end is a large island which… …is subject to winter flood. There stands a R. C. Chapel near its northwest end, part of which is bounded by the road from Galway to Tuam’. In the same source Lydacan was recorded as ‘the property of Mr. Lynch of Galway. Half this townlands surface is covered with limestone rocks, the remainder under tillage. There stands a substantial building near its west side, the residence of Mr. Gunning. A small portion of the north end of this townland is subject to Winter floods’.

At the time of this survey Lakeview is recorded locally as Druim na Gaoithe meaning ‘The windy ridge’ and Lydacan is recorded as Laighdiceán which had been interpreted ‘The small divisions’. However, the southern portions of Lydacan townland where it borders the townland of Carnmore East are also known locally today as Tón Rua.

Much of the modern village of Claregalway is in fact situated in the townland of Lakeview/Druim na Gaoithe, with this townland having seen much change since the 1830s. Most notable is the fact that Claregalway Parish Church was once located at the modern Lakeview road junction with the Galway – Tuam Road, and that a roadway once led from the Carnmore Road to this church. Much of this roadway no longer exists, although portions of it are still preserved by a number of field boundaries. We could also note that the line of this road would have continued on to the location of the medieval parish church (GA12431; still extant on what is known as Friars Island) associated with the medieval borough of Claregalway , and so this former road may be even of medieval date, perhaps associated with the landscape of the medieval borough of Claregalway, Claregalway Abbey and nearby Claregalway Castle. 

Our work in the townland during 2020 identified 46 new minor placenames and places of interest known locally within the townlands. These are marked on the map below, and included in tabulated format. These placenames were collected by Marie Dempsey from Martin Cormican, George Glynn, Pat Walsh, and Tommy and Paddy Joe Moran. The placenames collected refer to fields, wells, houses, bótharíns, and other elements of the Lydacan Estate landscape in particular .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.