Cloon and Pollaghrevagh townlands minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townlands of Cloon and Pollaghrevagh, Claregalway, Co. Galway

O'Flaherty

Larkins 1812 Map of County Galway showing Pollaghrevagh marked as 'Pollacreewa'. The area around Cloon is marked as Englishfield (Sliabh na tSasanaigh)

The minor placenames of the townlands of Cloon and Pollaghrevagh, Claregalway, Co. Galway

The townlands of Cloon and Pollaghrevagh are located southwest of the village of Claregalway and cover an area of approximately 440 acres and 417 acres respectively. Although they are two distinct townlands located to the east and west of Cloon Road, the area is generally referred to as Cloon, and the name Pollaghrevagh is seldom used by anyone in the locality. At the time of the  Ordnance Survey Name Books in the 1830s, the townlands are recorded as:

  • ‘Pollaghrevagh is the property of Lord Clanmorris, half under tillage the remainder bog and rocky pasture. There stands a Trigl. Station on its east side 67 feet above the sea and near… …a mansion the residence of Browne Esqr. called Rockland House. A portion of the south end of the townland is bounded by the road from Galway to Tuam’  
  • ‘Cloon is the property of Mr. French of Cloonacauneen. It is all under tillage and is bounded on the south by the road from Galway to Tuam. There is a small lake in its centre which is subject to flood in Winter’

At the time of this survey Cloon is recorded locally as Clúain meaning ‘meadow or bog island‘ and Pollaghrevagh is recorded as Pollach Riabhach meaning ‘grey holes or pits’, or perhaps more accurately, brindled holes. Clúain most likely refers to the nature of the land in the area, comprising relatively good quality grazing lands or meadow in the southeastern portion of the townland which is higher and drier than the bogland to the north. Pollach Riabhach may refer to an area to the north of the townland of Pollaghrevagh that comprises a lumpy deposit of glacial sand on the edge of the bog.

The townland boundary between Cloon and Pollaghrevagh is likely to be a relatively recent one, and follows the line of Cloon Road. This road is straight apart from a slight turn halfway along the roadway. Such straight local roads are more often than not dated to the Early Modern period, and Cloon Road, with its rough-cut stone walls, probably dates to the late 18th or early 19th century. It may have been constructed at the time of the establishment of the Rocklawn or Rockwood Estates. However, people have been living in Cloon and Pollaghrevagh for much longer than this: in the late-90s a fragmentary rattle pendant was discovered at the base of a drystone wall during minor topsoil clearance in Cloon. The artefact was a heavy piece of crudely cast bronze, disc shaped or sub-circular in outline, tarnished but with evidence of polishing and patination, and tentatively dated Late Bronze Age, 9th to 8th century BC. Further to this, at the eastern end of Pollaghrevagh townland there is a ringfort marked on the First Edition Ordnance Survey sheet – these ringforts typically date to the Early or High Medieval period (4th -11th Century AD).

The First Edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch Sheet shows that in the mid-19th century, the village of Cloon was far more sparsely populated than it is today, with settlement concentrated at the northwestern end of the townlands where lands had been striped and sub-divided, away from the Rocklawn and Rockwood Estates.

Our work in the townlands during 2020 identified 42 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 Seoirse Morris from Sonny Moran, Noel Moran, Evelyn Duggan, Brian Moran and John Kelly. The placenames collected are almost entirely as Gaeilge (with tentative translations offered), and refer to fields, turloughs, 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.


TownlandPlacename (Gaeilge)Placename (English)CollectorInformant
PollaghrevaghSliabh na tSasanaighThe English HillSeoirse MorrisSonny Moran
PollaghrevaghAn PollaghThe holesSeoirse MorrisEvelyn Duggan
PollaghrevaghFrenches BoreenSeoirse MorrisBrain Moran
PollaghrevaghGarraigh na úillThe Apple GardenSeoirse MorrisPadhraig Moran
PollaghreavaghFrenches WellSeoirse MorrisBrain Moran
PollaghrevaghCreig an PollaghThe Stoney holesSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
PollaghrevaghThe pumpSeoirse MorrisEvelyn Duggan
PollaghrevaghGarraigh Na MioltoigGarden of the MidgesSeoirse MorrisEvelyn Duggan
PollaghrevaghThe New LineSeoirse MorrisSonny Moran
PollaghrevaghTobar ChaoninThe well of the sorrows (?)/The wet wellSeoirse MorrisEvelyn Duggan
PollaghrevaghCnocán LurganLurgan’s HillSeoirse MorrisEvelyn Duggan
PollaghrevaghGarriagh WattWatt’s GardenSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
PollaghrevaghMilestoneSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
PollaghrevaghFrenches Seoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
PollaghrevaghMass PathSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
PollaghrevaghThe Woods
CloonLoughan MórThe big lakeSeoirse MorrisSonny Moran
CloonBótharín ClochThe stony botharínSeoirse MorrisBrian Moran
CloonGort MórThe big fieldSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonSean GortOld FieldSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonLisheenChildren’s burial groundSeoirse MorrisNoel Moran
CloonGarraigh na féarThe Hay GardenSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonVegetable gardenSeoirse MorrisBrian Moran
CloonAn CoillThe woodSeoirse MorrisBrian Moran
CloonScioból dubhThe dark barnSeoirse MorrisBrian Moran
CloonAn MóinínThe little bogSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonTallaimh ÚanThe lamb landsSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonAn triú coisThe third beside (division of the bog)Seoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonMóin searraighBog of the lambing/calvingSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonMóin na bhfriasaighBog of the (?)Seoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonTarna CoisThe second beside (division of the bog)Seoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonPáirc MhicílMicheal’s FieldSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonAn cead coisThe first beside (division of the bog)Seoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonGarraigh na MioltoighGarden of the MidgesSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonTigh Kate WattKate Watt’s HouseSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonGearraíLawnSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonCruchán Garraigh FadaThe top of the long gardenSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonGaraigh tobar buidheGarden of the yellow wellSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonTobar buidheYellow wellSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonLochán an craiceannLake of the (?)Seoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonGarraigh Thomais MórBig Tomas’ GardenSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
CloonGarraigh NuaThe new GardenSeoirse MorrisJohn Kelly
This page was added on 29/01/2022.

Comments about this page

  • M.Fahy: Seo iad na litrithe a fuaireamar ón gceantar

    By endaof (31/01/2022)
  • The spellings of the Irish Language Placenames are incorrect and need to be amended,

    By M. Fahy (30/01/2022)

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