The minor placenames of the townland of Cahergowan, Claregalway, Co. Galway
The large townland of Cahergowan is located southwest of the village of Claregalway and covers an area of approximately 841 acres. Today, much of the modern village of Claregalway is located in the northeastern portion of the townland. In the 1830s, the Ordnance Survey recorded this townland as ‘Cahergowan or Summerfield’, although today, Summerfield is seldom used to identify the locality. The Ordnance Survey Name Books record the townland as: ‘the property of Lord Clanmorris, and under tillage with the exception of some portions of rocky pasture. It is bounded on the east by the road from Galway to Tuam and it contains a large portion of bog on its west side, in its centre a large village of houses, and a great portion of it centre is subject to Winter floods.’
At the time of this survey Cahergowan is recorded locally as Cathair Ghobhan meaning ‘fort of the smith‘. No provenance is given for the origin of the placename Summerfield, but a simple interpretation of this name is an area of ground that is used for pasture predominantly during the summer months. A large portion of the north of the townland was boggy, wet and subject to flooding during winter, and the name Summerfield might reflect this.
There were two significant settlement clusters in the townland of Cahergowan in the mid 19th century, both of the fringes of the bog. The first of these was at the end of what is known today as Clogher Road, and comprised 26 buildings grouped around a network of small fields and bótharíns. However, the name Clogher is not recorded at this time, and is not marked on a map until the time of the First Edition 25-inch Ordnance Survey toward the end of the 19th century. The second mid 19th century settlement cluster was located at Búisín Pádhraic and comprised approximately 55 buildings, again grouped around a network of small fields and bótharíns.
Together with Montiagh, the settlements at Clogher and Cahergowan/Búisín Pádhraic represent a distinctive settlement pattern on the edge of the boglands. These settlement clusters, known as Clocháns, were relatively densely populated areas on poorer quality land at the fringes of the wetlands, and away from the estate lands of Rocklawn and Rockwood.
Our work in the townland during 2020 identified 45 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 Mike Hession from Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty and Gerry Cullinane. Included in this are numerous names provided by Clogher resident Phillip Cribbin who inherited the list of field names provided by his late bother-in-law Johnny Casserly who resided in Cahergowan. The placenames collected are frequently as Gaeilge, and refer to fields, wells, houses, hills, bogs, gardens, and other elements of the local landscape.
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.
Placename (Gaeilge) | Placename (English) | Collector | Informant |
Triangulation Pillar | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Tobar Well | Cahergown Well | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane |
Mass Path | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Tobar Casbhailte | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Sandpit | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Limekiln | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Oileán Droichead | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Commonage | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Commonage | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Johnny Casserly’s plots | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
The Hurling Field | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | ||
Right of Way | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Martin Walls House | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Clochán an Sagart | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Foot Bridge | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Búisín Pádhraic | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Julia Fordes Home | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Páirc na h-Altora botharín | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
An Lisín | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Páirc na h-Altora | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Fr. Mannion’s House | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Noones Family Home | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Ram Pháirc | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
McGuinness’s | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
An Páirc fada | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Batty and Paddy Coady’s sand pit | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
The Canal | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Well at Sonny Kellys house | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Tóim na Talúna | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Tobar an Clochair | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Gallasses | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Bóithrín na Laca | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
An Ríascaigh | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
An leagan | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Bun na Ríascaigh | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
An Móinchéan | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Cnocán Droighnín | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Páirc Ainmhithe | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Pairc na Mánaigh | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Quarry | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Páirc Daithí | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Tobar Páraic | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Páirc na bpoill | Mike Hession | Páraic Noone, Tomás Noone, Martin Flaherty, Gerry Cullinane | |
Well | Enda O Flaherty | Enda O’Flaherty |
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