Cregboy townland minor placenames

The minor placenames of the townland of Cregboy, Claregalway, Co. Galway

The townland of Cregboy covers an area of approximately 676 acres, south of the village of Claregalway. At the time of the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s, Cregboy was recorded in the Ordnance Survey Name Books as being:

‘the property Mr. Lynch, half the surface of this townland is covered with limestone rock, the remainder under tillage’.

At the time of this survey Cregboy is recorded locally as Creg Buidhe meaning ‘yellow cliffs’ although the word Creig may also be translated as ‘rock’ or ‘bare rock’. The placename almost certainly makes reference to the rough rocky, ground across large parts of the townland (Creige). Buidhe or Buí may refer to lichen or gorse that was present on this rocky ground. In recent years, large tracts of this scrubland have been cleared. The ground below has just the thinnest of soil cover, if not comprising of just bare rock. It is not dissimilar to the landscape of the Burren.

And like the karst environment of the Burren, the townland includes part of a very fine example of large turlough, though the majority of the seasonal lake is actually located in the neighbouring townland of Kiltullagh. Nonetheless it is a striking feature of the setting of the townland of Cregboy, measuring, 73 acres in area. Towards its southern end is an elaborate stepped well that is only accessible during prolonged periods of dry weather. Spellissy (1999, 248) notes that the earliest Galway races were held at Kiltullagh until 1867. The site of this race-course was this large turlough which, being free from field boundaries and bowl-shaped, was an ideal venue. Spellissy also notes that the races were not run here in 1868 because of flooding.

Although the townland is well populated today, in the mid-19th century there were just two house clusters marked along Cregboy road on the First Edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch Sheet. The remainder of settlement was located on the Galway-Tuam Road at this time. Much of the townland is marked as rough grazing in small parcels of land. No minor placenames were recorded within the townland at this time.

Our work in the townland during 2021 identified 22 minor placenames and places of interest known locally within the townland. These placenames were collected by Pat Coen, Marie Dempsey and Seoirse Morris from John and Tom Fahy and from Martin Giles. The placenames collected refer to fields, wells, rocks, houses, trees, ringforts, sites associated with the War of Independence, and other elements of the vernacular landscape.

The placename ‘Park’ is associated with the part of Cregboy that is closest to the modern village of Claregalway. It appears in the Tithe Applotment Books in 1827, but is considered obsolete by the time of the Ordnance Survey just a few years later. The placename Baile Fánach is associated Cregboy Road. There are several definitions in the dictionary for ‘fanach’ such as ‘aimless’, ‘wandering’ and ‘futile’, though it is more likely to be derived from fána, meaning ‘sloping’ as the townland slopes gently downward toward the turlough at its southern end. The placename appears as ‘Ballyfanagh’ in the Tithe Applotment Books.

The rough nature of the landscape, and the scrubland in the townland likely made it an ideal hiding place for volunteers during the War of Independence, and we find references to ‘Hiding Spots’ within the townland that were used during the war. Also of note is the placename Sean Teach an Phobaill – believed to be a site where a church was once located in the townland and referenced in the Schools’ Folklore Collection, though there is no remaining built evidence for it.