Rockwood and Clooncauneen townland minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townlands of Rockwood and Cloonacauneen, in the parish of Claregalway, Co. Galway

O'Flaherty

The minor placenames of the townlands of Rockwood and Clooncauneen, in the parish of Claregalway, Co. Galway

The small townlands of Rockwood and Clooncauneen are located at the southern end of the parish of Claregalway, on the border with the parish of Castlegar. Both also form part of the border between the Barony of Dunkellin (to the north and east) and the Barony of Galway (to the south and west).

The townland of Rockwood measures a mere 41 acres in area. At the time of the First Edition Ordnance Survey in the mid-19th century, the entire townland comprised the demesne lands of Rockwood House and was recorded asthe property of Mr. Galway. It is laid out as a Demesne and is bounded on the west by the road from Galway to Tuam in its centre is a mansion the residence of the proprietor’. It is an unusual townland, and likely to be a relatively recent creation, perhaps carved from a portion of the adjacent townlands of Cloon, Cloonacauneen and Pollaghrevagh to form the Rockwood Demesne, (from which the formal townland was later derived). The northern boundary if formed by the modern Tuam Road, while the southern boundary is irregular and perhaps older – the fact that the southern boundary reflects the parish boundary between Castlegar and Claregalway may attest to its greater antiquity.

Perhaps many do not realise that there are two townlands of Cloonacauneen; one measuring just 29 acres in area and situated in the parish of Claregalway, with the better-known portion (and where Cloonacauneen Castle in located) measuring 449 acres, and forming part of the parish of Castlegar. The boundary between the two comprises a well-defined double-width stone wall, following a straight line from Rockwood House through earlier field systems. It is unclear when this boundary was established though it supersedes earlier settlement patterns. The 29-acre Cloonacauneen townland is prone to flooding, and once largely comprised an interesting turlough system until much of it was recently filled in and stabilised. At the time of the First Edition Ordnance Survey 9 buildings were marked within the townland. 

Our work in the townland during 2020 identified 6minor placenames and places of interest known locally within the townland. These are marked on the map below, and included in tabulated format. These placenames were collected by Seoirse Morris and Pat Coen.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.


TownlandPlacename (Gaeilge)Placename (English)CollectorInformant
CloonacauneenTobereendoneyOrdnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
CloonacauneenTurloughSeoirse MorrisSeoirse Morris
CloonacauneenHolmes HillSeoirse MorrisSeoirse Morris
RockwoodAn Geata DubhPat CoenPat Coen
RockwoodGate LodgePat CoenPat Coen
RockwoodRockwood HousePat CoenPat Coen
This page was added on 03/10/2022.

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