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.
Townland | Placename (Gaeilge) | Placename (English) | Collector | Informant |
Pollaghrevagh | Sliabh na tSasanaigh | The English Hill | Seoirse Morris | Sonny Moran |
Pollaghrevagh | An Pollagh | The holes | Seoirse Morris | Evelyn Duggan |
Pollaghrevagh | Frenches Boreen | Seoirse Morris | Brain Moran | |
Pollaghrevagh | Garraigh na úill | The Apple Garden | Seoirse Morris | Padhraig Moran |
Pollaghreavagh | Frenches Well | Seoirse Morris | Brain Moran | |
Pollaghrevagh | Creig an Pollagh | The Stoney holes | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Pollaghrevagh | The pump | Seoirse Morris | Evelyn Duggan | |
Pollaghrevagh | Garraigh Na Mioltoig | Garden of the Midges | Seoirse Morris | Evelyn Duggan |
Pollaghrevagh | The New Line | Seoirse Morris | Sonny Moran | |
Pollaghrevagh | Tobar Chaonin | The well of the sorrows (?)/The wet well | Seoirse Morris | Evelyn Duggan |
Pollaghrevagh | Cnocán Lurgan | Lurgan’s Hill | Seoirse Morris | Evelyn Duggan |
Pollaghrevagh | Garriagh Watt | Watt’s Garden | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Pollaghrevagh | Milestone | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly | |
Pollaghrevagh | Frenches | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly | |
Pollaghrevagh | Mass Path | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly | |
Pollaghrevagh | The Woods | |||
Cloon | Loughan Mór | The big lake | Seoirse Morris | Sonny Moran |
Cloon | Bótharín Cloch | The stony botharín | Seoirse Morris | Brian Moran |
Cloon | Gort Mór | The big field | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Sean Gort | Old Field | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Lisheen | Children’s burial ground | Seoirse Morris | Noel Moran |
Cloon | Garraigh na féar | The Hay Garden | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Vegetable garden | Seoirse Morris | Brian Moran | |
Cloon | An Coill | The wood | Seoirse Morris | Brian Moran |
Cloon | Scioból dubh | The dark barn | Seoirse Morris | Brian Moran |
Cloon | An Móinín | The little bog | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Tallaimh Úan | The lamb lands | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | An triú cois | The third beside (division of the bog) | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Móin searraigh | Bog of the lambing/calving | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Móin na bhfriasaigh | Bog of the (?) | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Tarna Cois | The second beside (division of the bog) | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Páirc Mhicíl | Micheal’s Field | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | An cead cois | The first beside (division of the bog) | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Garraigh na Mioltoigh | Garden of the Midges | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Tigh Kate Watt | Kate Watt’s House | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Gearraí | Lawn | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Cruchán Garraigh Fada | The top of the long garden | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Garaigh tobar buidhe | Garden of the yellow well | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Tobar buidhe | Yellow well | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Lochán an craiceann | Lake of the (?) | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Garraigh Thomais Mór | Big Tomas’ Garden | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
Cloon | Garraigh Nua | The new Garden | Seoirse Morris | John Kelly |
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M.Fahy: Seo iad na litrithe a fuaireamar ón gceantar
The spellings of the Irish Language Placenames are incorrect and need to be amended,
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